Cadillac is reportedly planning a new flagship four-door, and it won't be based on its alphanumeric naming system a la the
CT6. It'll be the Escala, the
stunning concept fastback it revealed in 2016 in
Pebble Beach.
The news comes
via Autoline, which cites AutoForecast Solutions. The Escala is said to be planned for production starting in December 2021 at
GM's Detroit-Hamtramck plant, which currently builds the
CT6,
Buick LaCrosse and
Chevrolet Volt and
Impala. That suggests the Escala, which was branded as a four-door coupe, will likely keep that layout. It'll also be built on the CT6 platform.
Cadillac has been talking about fitting a flagship sedan above the CT6 for years, and the Escala's design language has been influencing bits of other Cadillac models, from the
refresh of the CT6 to the broad grille shape on the
new XT4 crossover, which debuts at the
New York Auto Show next week.
The concept Escala featured a wide, muscular stance and a minimalist, white mid-century modern interior aesthetic, with tail lamps that evoke waterfowl in flight. Interestingly, it came equipped with a 4.2-liter twin-turbo V8 with cylinder deactivation, which Cadillac President Johan De Nysschen said at the time was "absolutely worthy of a car of this caliber." But with such a long horizon before production, there's obviously lots of time to develop a more pragmatic production model and cue ravenous speculation. Or, for that matter, to decide to rename it something like the CT8.
