Rear-Wheel Drive Cadillac Flagship Sedan Approved

      With the Cadillac STS and DTS no longer in production, there has been a lot of speculation on what the automaker would bring in as its next flagship. Well today, GM Inside News received information from sources close to product planners at General Motors that Cadillac has given the green light for a flagship sedan based on a new, rear-wheel drive platform.

The report states that the platform is referred to internally as Omega and will likely be a larger offshoot of the Zeta architecture that currently underpins the Chevy Camaro and a number of vehicles in Holden’s lineup. The new Cadillac has a target launch date of anywhere from 2015 to 2017.

The news is in line with statements made by Cadillac’s Global Marketing Director James R. Vurpillat who spoke with Ward’s a few months ago about the upcoming XTS sedan. The XTS, expected to launch shortly as a replacement for the STS and the DTS, will likely receive all-wheel drive with a choice of a V6 and V8 engine. But Vurpillat stated that the XTS would likely be a temporary replacement until Cadillac produces a more proper and larger flagship sedan. “Our priority is to get the main segments covered,” Vurpillat said, “Then we can start thinking of cars in the S-Class and 7 Series range. I’d like to have a car like the concept Cadillac Sixteen.”

The CTS, SRX and Escalade have proven to be legitimate competitors in their respective segments, but Cadillac hasn’t had a true player when it comes to large luxury sedans. A proper rear-wheel drive flagship sedan seems like a no-brainer and it couldn’t come soon enough.

Source: GM Inside News