Automotive News reports Cadillac is gearing up to produce a new flagship sedan. Unnamed sources indicate General Motors has given the go-ahead in an attempt to counter German luxury manufacturers in more segments. Word has it the machine will ride on a rear-wheel drive chassis in order to attract BMW 7 Series buyers and will likely debut around 2015.

GM is already moving to reposition the Cadillac stable to better engage BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Those efforts started with the addition of the small ATS and the XTS large sedan, though Cadillac is expected to launch a larger CTS model next year to compete more effectively with the BMW 5 Series.

So, where does the newcomer fit into that mix? The unnamed model will reportedly ride on a new Omega platform and will borrow design elements from the very-attractive Cadillac Ciel Concept that debuted at Pebble Beach. Details are scarce, but Automotive News reports the model may make use of a 3.6-liter V6 as well as a V8 and an eight-speed automatic transmission.

The article also makes mention of a new large crossover on the horizon. The bruiser is expected to make use of the Lambda platform, which underpins models like the Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia. GM certainly knows how to milk a cow dry.

The next 24 months will be a busy time for Cadillac in terms of new products as the Detroit automaker has plenty on its plate including the presentation of a flagship limousine loosely based on the well-received Ciel convertible sedan concept.

A report from Automotive News (sub. required) citing sources from within General Motors outlines Cadillac's plans for the 2013-15 model years.

According to the insiders, GM has given the green light for the development of a full size, rear-wheel drive luxury sedan that will sit atop of the range rivaling the Audi A8, BMW 7-Series, Jaguar XJ and Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

This model will be built on a new platform codenamed Omega and is expected to be offered with a choice of V6 and V8 engines, possibly in supercharged form, an eight-speed automatic transmission and the option of all-wheel drive. The styling will draw heavily from last year's Ciel study. The as-of-yet unnamed flagship is said to arrive sometime in 2015.

Putting aside the new 2013 XTS front- and all-wheel drive sedan that is currently Cadillac's largest saloon model and which went on sale in June, the wreath and crest brand will launch the updated SRX crossover this fall and the BMW 3-Series-rivaling ATS sedan in August.

The Alpha rear-wheel drive platform-based ATS will likely spawn a V-Series Performance model and a coupe within the next two years, while Autonews reports that plans for a convertible variant have been put on hold for the time being. Cadillac will not be making a sport wagon variant.

Next up for Cadillac will be a replacement for the all-important CTS that is due to arrive in sedan guise in the second half of 2013 as a 2014MY. It will grow in size to better compete with the BMW 5-Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

The CTS Coupe and V-Series performance variant will follow by 2015, while sources state that there won't be a station wagon model.

Other models planned by Cadillac are said to include an all-new SRX crossover in late 2014 or early 2015, a larger crossover based on the Lamda platform that underpins the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia, a replacement for the Escalade SUV built on the next Chevy Tahoe / Suburban and GMC Yukon platform, and the ELR Coupe equipped with a similar electric propulsion system to the Chevy Volt in late 2013.

The Cadillac Ciel four-door drop-top concept took the automotive world by storm when it debuted last year at Pebble Beach. The big, bold, and expressive Ciel looked like nothing the Europeans (or Japanese) would ever attempt. Simply put, the Ciel was beautiful, but it was also an ultra-low-volume four-door convertible. In order to justify actually building the Ciel, Cadillac needs to build a hardtop sedan version, and this is what we think a production-ready Cadillac Ciel sedan may look like.

The biggest difference between the Cadillac Ciel sedan renderings and the convertible is the fastback-style hardtop, which gives the Ciel sedan a coupe-like profile. Up front, we expect the Ciel sedan will ditch the slim LED light bar headlights in exchange for some more DOT-friendly units. The new LED headlights would be similar to those on the concept, but they’d be wider and include foglights, while still retaining the Ciel’s distinctive front-end design.

The Cadillac’s front end may remain intact, but the production-spec Ciel — whatever it may eventually be called — will likely lose its distinctive suicide doors. Unlike the concept, the door handles may feature integrated LEDs (similar to the XTS), which jazzes up the otherwise plain doors.

While the Ciel sedan may lose the side vents and “Ciel” badging, it could keep the swooping chrome line that stretches from wheel to wheel. A production-ready Ciel sedan would probably keep the concept’s 22-inch wheels, and go without major changes to the rear.

Like the Cadillac Ciel Concept, a showroom-ready Ciel sedan would be rear-drive and powered by a 3.6-liter twin-turbo V-6 and an electric motor, backed-up by a small lithium ion battery. If power output is unchanged in the transformation from concept to production, the Ciel will crank out 425 hp and 430 lb-ft of torque. For those who demand more power, a Ciel-V or Platinum-trimmed Ciel could make a great brand flagship.

Should Cadillac build a Ciel sedan that looks like the car pictured here? Sound off in the comments below.

General Motors wowed the crowds in Monterey this year with the Cadillac Ciel Concept. In addition to being a larger-than life convertible, the vehicle featured a level of attention to detail that hasn't been seen from the Wreath and Crest in over a century. That includes the beautiful olive wood interior. The good people at Cool Hunting recently sat down with GM Design to discover exactly what went into crafting the intricate pieces. Their story is more interesting than we thought the assembly of an interior could be, so interesting in fact that we went back to GM to get some more images of the process.





As it turns out, the interior wood trim was hewn from a 300-year-old olive tree that fell in a storm just outside of Naples, Italy. The tree was shipped to a Pennsylvania woodyard where it was then sectioned and kiln-dried. That's where the designers from General Motors caught up with it and sent the 30-inch wide planks through a planer from the 1940s, then sanded and arranged them on a gantry, and then photographed the planks so that their unique grains could be recreated in a special computer program. From there, the chunks were sent to 3D Mass Design and Engineering, where they were cut to GM specifications and glued into their final configurations. Then, Metalcrafters in Fountain Valley, California took on the task of test-fitting and applying the final stain and finish.

How's that for craftsmanship?

Car and Driver is back with more info on the potential future of Cadillac, having discovered that our finest domestic luxury brand has filed a trademark application for the name "LTS." The reasoned speculation: that since Cadillac tends to use the names it files to protect, LTS could be applied to one of the two rear-drive sedans expected to arrive soon – either the eventual successor to the just-introduced XTS or an Omega-platformed top-tier flagship. Another possibility is the name XLS.

More interesting are the dimensional roles that Car and Driver predicts for the coming lineup. With the CTS growing in order to put some girth between it and the ATS, making it a straighter comparison to the BMW 5 Series, the XTS replacement would fit between the 5 Series and 7 Series, and the flagship "would exceed even the long-wheelbase 7 in size." That might leave the flagship no larger than the current DTS, which is already 2.4 inches longer than the 760Li, but if the report is correct it will be interesting to see how Cadillac differentiates that middle sedan from the other two.