There's big news coming from Cadillac these days. After revealing plans to move its global headquarters to New York City, become its own business unit, and introduce a new naming scheme for its car lineup, GM's luxury division is also aiming to enter several new vehicle niches by the end of the decade. The announcement comes straight from Cadillac's new global chief, Johan de Nysschen, and hints that the South African-born executive is already elbow's deep in developing the American brand into a strong competitor for Germany's main brands - Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi. De Nysschen's first goal is to create a Cadillac-badged rival for the Mercedes CLA and the Audi A3 sedan.
Both compacts have been launched with great success in the United States. The CLA sold like hotcakes in its first months, resulting in low supply and a recent decision to boost U.S. stock to meet customer demand. Cadillac is aware of that de Nysschen said there "definitely" will be a compact smaller than the ATS to compete against the CLA and A3. The executive refrained from spilling more details on the compact, but added such a vehicle is essential if Cadillac is to become a strong global manufacturer.
But the CLA-rivaling sedan isn't the only brand-new vehicle de Nysschen is pushing for. A crossover between the SRX and the Escalade, as well as something below the SRX are also being considered. He even went as far as to say Cadillac could also use a model positioned above the flagship CT6 sedan due in 2015. Of course, none of the latter are set in stone, but the compact is likely the next all-new vehicle to come from Cadillac after the CT6.
Click past the jump to read more about Cadillac's future plans.
Cadillac Considers a Mercedes CLA Competitor originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 26 September 2014 19:00 EST.
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