Sports cars have often set the bar in new automotive technology and trends. Things like dual-clutch transmissions and forced induction engines were practically engineered for the sole purpose of taking a sports car to the absolute edge of excitement and danger.

The Cadillac ELR was confirmed for production by GM with the release date remaining unclear, but now we have learned that the new Chevy Volt-based Cadillac will be introduced in 2013 as a 2014 model, hitting showrooms late in 2014.

Overlooked in all the excitement surrounding the Chevrolet ‘SS Performance’ slip earlier this week in an OnStar app is the possibility that the Cadillac ELR could also bow in 2014.

Cadillac is prepping a new member to its stable. No, it’s not the Nurburgring-tested ATS we’ve heard oh-so much about. It’s also not the XTS flagship sedan that Cadillac has desperately needed these past few years. In fact, it’s not a car at all.

It’s called “Super Cruise” and is essentially a semi-autonomous technology that enables a vehicle to incorporate fully automatic steering, braking and lane centering under certain driving conditions. Furthermore, Cadillac says this technology could be ready for production by mid-decade. 

Some of the fundamentals of this Super Cruise technology can already be found in existing Cadillac models, notably the 2013 XTS and ATS, as part of the Driver Assist Package. Notable features within this umbrella include adaptive cruise control at all speed ranges, lane departure warning, intelligent brake assist, automatic rear braking, automatic collision preparation and rear vision camera with dynamic guidelines.

D3 Cadillac has always impressed us with its Cadillac builds. Most recently, they captured our attention with a 1,000-hp CTS-V at the 2011 SEMA Show and now they’ve taken to the streets of Southern California to show off what that what the company builds is “not your grandpas Cadillac.”

With the Long Beach Grand Prix in town, the guys at D3 Cadillac grabbed IndyCar driver J.R. Hildebrand and Formula Drift driver Tyler McQuarrie and armed them with two of its creations, a 750+ hp ‘Legionnaire’ and a more street-friendly 560-hp or so CTS-V. Both vehicles featured in the video are 2012 CTS-V coupe models and shows off just how much fun a Cadillac can truly be.

Watch the video below.

Originally marketing its CTS cars in 2003, Cadillac stepped away from styling that said “sunset years” and “Florida” in favor of a more modern luxury look.

Price, looks and size… these are the few factors that used to decide what vehicle you’d park in your driveway. Looking for a cheap and small car? A Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic will do. Need something bigger, perhaps a mid-size Hyundai Sonata or an SUV. Things used to be pretty easy.

With increasingly high gas prices and an overall movement towards green, fuel efficient vehicles, fuel economy has become more important. In fact, for many price, looks and size are now completely trumped by fuel economy.

“Buyers just look at the MPG on the sticker,” says IHS Automotive Analyst Devin Lindsay commenting that car buyers are now completely mesmerized by the EPA sticker label.

Take a look at the Toyota Prius, for example. It’s not terribly big, is fairly expensive, and looks… well… weird. But that didn’t stop three million of them from being sold, all thanks to a hybrid gas-electric engine that provides excellent fuel economy.

The Prius isn’t the only option for someone looking for a fuel efficient car, however; especially those in search of a more engaging driving experience. If you want to cut down on trips to the pump, and still drive a fun, powerful, good looking car, your best bet might just be in a diesel powered vehicle. That does mean you’ll almost certainly have to drive German, although a flood of new diesel-powered vehicles are about to hit our shore.

Rounding off the American luxury brand’s lineup, the Cadillac SRX debuted yesterday at the unfolding New York Auto Show featuring a restyled front end and refreshed interior.

While the same host of luxury appointments you might expect from the brand like leather and wood trim are present, the upcoming model’s most interesting feature is its new infotainment system, called “CUE.”

Don Butler, vice president of Cadillac Marketing explained the system during a press conference today. Butler referred to the system as “intuitive technology” which might be hard to take at face value, but the brand is doing everything in its power to make that true.

The new 2013 Cadillac XTS is Cadillac’s new flagship luxury sedan, and when it hits dealers in the spring it will start at a base price of $44, 995. 

Today at the 2012 New York Auto Show, Cadillac was recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as being the most improved luxury brand in the business.

How a car company is perceived by the general public is a massive part of selling cars, and holds the key to success or failure. Kelly Blue Book, the company which exists to measure all statistics relating to cars, released their study today on how each automaker is viewed in the marketplace.

There are 12 categories tested in the study, each one pertaining to how the companies are perceived by customers, with categories ranging from coolest brand to most prestigious brand. The information comes from over 12,000 new car buyers who report back to KBB on what they think about all the manufacturers.

Diesel engines offer unique advantages, with plenty of torque making tiny power plants more useable in small cars, while making modest size engines a functional alternative to much larger gasoline ones in SUVs. Towing, after all, is not something hybrids are known for. Additionally, diesel engines can provide fuel economy closer to that of a hybrid, without any of the worries surrounding new technology; plus, there’s no battery pack compromising passenger or storage space.

With those advantages, not to mention a push by automakers to meet increasingly strict corporate average fuel economy standards, a slew of diesel models are set to arrive on our shores in the near future. If you’re considering the switch to diesel power, here are a few options you’ll soon be able to consider.

At least that’s the news according to statistics released by the two American automakers. Chrysler said it sold 34 percent more vehicles this March, versus the same period last year, delivering some 161,381 cars and trucks, versus 121,730 in March 2011.

In two days’ time the 2013 Cadillac SRX will make its debut at the 2012 New York Auto Show to display new technology and illustrate the brand’s intent to continuously improve its vehicles.

This year marks Queen Elizabeth’s diamond jubilee, and to celebrate, a gathering of sixty rare and beautiful cars will be brought together at the quadrangle in Windsor Castle in England. 

Only cars of the highest caliber have been invited to the event, and will be arriving at the castle from all over the world. One car from every year starting from 1952 will be featured, representing every year since the Queen was inaugurated. The earliest car featured is a 1952 Bentley R Type(54′ R Type Shown Above), and the newest car will be a 2011 Lamborghini Aventador, Ferrari FF or a Porsche 991.

Most of the cars have already been selected, but an open casting call is out right now for owners of specific cars to volunteer to bring their fine machines to the Castle to be displayed for the Queen.

We have to wonder how much the Queen really likes cars? Hopefully she appreciates what she is getting, as this will undoubtedly be one of the nicest gatherings of rare luxury cars ever.

Below is a list of the cars that will be featured at the event. Some of them have been found already, and some haven’t. If you are the owner of one of the cars on the list and would like to participate, click here for more information.

The all-new Cadillac XTS will start production this spring and when it finally hits dealerships, it will be the industry’s first car to feature directional tactile sensation to warn drivers of potential crash threats.

J.D. Power and Associates’ annual Customer Service Index Study offers crucial automotive information for consumers and the latest results are out.

Lexus tops the list  this year in the luxury segment while MINI made the top spot for mass market brands.

J.D. Power statistics are based on responses from over 84,000 new vehicle owners that rate dealer service performance during the first three years of vehicle ownership. Five facets of customer service are measured in the study: service quality, service initiation,  service advisor, service facility and vehicle pick-up. The responses are gathered from around the world to avoid regional bias, with statistics from 16 countries including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany and India.

The study is divided into two categories: luxury brands and mass market brands.

For the luxury brands segment,  Lexus was rated with the best customer service for the fourth consecutive year, scoring 861 points of a possible 1000. The average luxury brand CSI ranking score was 835. Rounding out the top five top brands, from second to fifth are Cadillac, Jaguar, Acura and Porsche.

In the mass market segment, MINI took the top spot with an overall CSI ranking score of 809 where the average score for all automakers in the mass market segment was 778. While the company didn’t win overall,  GM dominated the top five mass market brands. From second to fifth they are Buick, GMC, Chevrolet and Hyundai.

Overall, J.D. Power reports that almost every brand has improved on the Customer Service Index scale in 2012, with 28 of the the 33 eligible brands improving their score. A leading factor in overall attitudes towards customer service is the change from less repair work to more maintenance that is happening at dealers thanks to better built cars, J.D. power says.

In 2012 72 percent of vehicle owners say that their latest dealer encounter was for routine maintenance and not repair work, a 9 percent increase from 2011.

Review the J.D. Power CSI charts below for a list of all car manufacturers.

Cadillac has gone through some major changes in recent years, breathing new life into their brand and trying to target a new generation of automotive enthusiasts.

When it comes to hero cars, Batman and his bat mobiles or James Bond and his Aston Martins don’t have anything on Mad Max and the devilish rides he and the lawless motor tribes drive.

Hype around Cadillac has been directed to its ATS and CTS sports sedan offerings so often lately that sometimes we forget the company made a name for itself from its grand luxobarges. 

Take a long look at the track-prepped matte-black CTS-V above. That’s just one of the many cars entered in this weekend’s Cadillac Challenge. The event is the first of its kind, encouraging Cadillac owners and drivers to get down and dirty on the track.

Surely things are changing around the automotive manufacturing world. Ford continues to push its  EcoBoost engines and now GM appears to have a pair of twin-turbo V6 engines currently in development.

General Motors will end its internal-only approach to transmissions, opting to buy some 8-speed units from suppliers to mate with its upcoming twin-turbo V6. For the most part, however, GM will continue to develop and manufacture its own auto-boxes, with a new generation of 8-speed units arriving soon. But not soon enough.

Presidents Day is here, so why not talk about presidential rides? Here are ten stories from Cadillac about the presidential luxury cruisers from the past and present.

Cadillac has released a dozen or so new photos of its upcoming 2013 ATS sedan along with a new video showing off its lightweight chassis, further teasing us about the new model that hasn’t even had its pricing announced yet.

Announcing its 2011 financial results, General Motors has reported record profits of $7.6 billion, an incredible 62 percent increase from last year. Its previous record was $6.7 billion in 1997.

Imagine calling in sick because you hurt yourself cranking too hard in a rush to leave the house. Well, it’s been a century since that excuse held any water thanks to Cadillac.

Imagine, if you will, a group of Cadillacs driving together. In your mind, it’s a serene, soft cruise, with the drivers enjoying the scenery, the road, and more importantly the buttery-smooth ride of their American luxury cars.

Not anymore. Many Cadillacs, like the CTS-V, include a viciously powerful engine, not to mention suspension and braking components designed for maximum performance. These machines need the apex of a mind-bending corner to reach their limits and the purity of a race-track to fulfill their purpose.

That’s the main reason Cadillac enthusiasts, as well as tuning group D3 Racing, have partnered to create the Cadillac Challenge. It’s the first Cadillac-exclusive race that allows owners to compete with one another in a “Time-Attack” format. David Caldwell, a PR representative from Cadillac, said “There are certain cars that compel their owners to drive them to the fullest extent. I think that’s how this idea and series was conceived for CTS-V drivers.”

Cadillac Global Vehicle Line Executive, Dave Leone, recently disclosed at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show that future models of their new ATS will offer a torque-vectoring system in either its rear- or all-wheel drive configurations.

Cadillac‘s 2013 XTS will get new safety features starting this fall that make it GM’s most technically advanced production car to date.

For those that don’t know what an MMO is, it stands for Massively Multiplayer Online and has become a huge genre in online gaming. Essentially any game that allows hundreds to thousands of people to coexist in a a video game environment is considered an MMO. One of the more popular MMO racing simulator games is iRacing, and the game recently added the Cadillac CTS-V Coupe race car to the list of participating vehicles.

Whether you’re heading to the Chicago Auto Show and want to know what to check out, or your trip is a bit more virtual, AutoGuide editors have compiled a list of the must-sees at this year’s event.

When Cadillac aired its 30-second “Go To Green Hell” Super Bowl ad for the upcoming ATS sedan during the last two-minutes of the game’s last quarter, a total of 111.3 million viewers tuned in, effectively making this ad the most watched television commercial in U.S. history. Could the marketing department at GM have somehow foreseen the future and realized the game of the year would come down to the wire?

GM global chief marketing officer Joel Ewanick said, “Cadillac is expanding with new models challenging the world’s best luxury cars. This stunning viewership data proves that Cadillac’s big message reached the largest audience… When it comes to Super Bowl ads, everyone has opinions on their favorite, But its a fact that this Cadillac spot had the biggest audience during the game.”

While Ewanick’s quote suggests that the reception for the advertisement reflects approval for the product, these statistics are more representative of the time it aired. If the same ad had aired at any time other than 9:39:37 PM, the title for “most watched ad” would have likely gone to a commercial with more supermodels, pyrotechnics, and special effects.

Watch the ad after the jump.

A few days ago, Motor Trend reported that Cadillac was putting its ATS Coupe on the shelf for the time being, and that the convertible and wagon variants were going to be dropped completely.

Putting profits ahead of product, General Motors has reportedly decided to shelve production plans for a coupe version of the recently introduced Cadillac ATS.

While not cancelled, the model has been delayed as part of a larger plan by GM to slow spending and increase profits, helping bolster its slumping share price.

The ATS was long rumored to also get convertible and wagon versions, but those models have reportedly been dropped completely. One of the few variations of Cadillac’s 3 Series rival that will head into production is one with a diesel powertrain, although no announcement has been made as to when that version will join the lineup.

[Source: WideOpenThrottle]

See AutoGuide’s First Look Video of the Cadillac ATS below:

Cadillac has some big plans for its new 2013 XTS sedan that made its debut at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show. GM has announced that Cadillac will unveil the XTS W20 Livery Sedan Package at the upcoming 28th Annual International Limousine, Charter and Tour Show, but the big news is that Cadillac Master Coachbuilder (CMC) is working on an extended sedan and limousine variant of the new XTS.

Car companies, much like any other, can go one of two routes when dreaming up a Superbowl commercial: funny or serious.

Cadillac may be in the process of fitting its new ATS platform with a two door Roadster body that would take the four door sedan and make it a slick two seat sports car.

Cadillac‘s latest in-vehicle connectivity and control module, called CUE, has been given a big boost by receiving the Top Gadgets of 2012: Editor’s Choice Award by Popular Mechanics magazine.

One of the stand-out cars at this year’s North American International Auto Show, the Cadillac ATS looks extremely promising. In the 4th installment of Cadillac’s “The Journey” series, we witness GM’s commitment behind this product, from conception, to development, to its debut at the Detroit Auto Show.

For some of the more minor auto shows, a Top 10 list of the most important cars often covers most of the new debuts, but not so at the North American International Auto Show. Held each January in Detroit it’s the obvious launch site for major products by the Big Three domestic automakers and over the years has also become the venue for important new models by the rest of the auto industry.

With the 3 Series now directly in its sites with the ATS compact luxury sports sedan, Cadillac is looking to take on the BMW X3 as well.

Unveiled on the eve of the Detroit Auto Show, we had our first chance to run our paws over Cadillac’s new luxury sports sedan, the ATS. The car is a bold move by Caddy, which claims the ATS was built not just to compete along segment hallmarks like the BMW 3 Series, but to beat them.