DANA POINT, Calif. -- Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen has shed some light on how the brand plans to achieve its ambitious goal of launching three crossover nameplates within a few years.
At least one of those -- a large, three-row entry -- will use a long-wheelbase version of the platform that will underpin the XT5, which goes on sale in April, de Nysschen said. The XT5 will replace the SRX midsize crossover, the brand's top seller and its lone crossover.
"It's one of the benefits of having this very flexible architecture," de Nysschen said at the XT5 media drive here this month. "We can expand it, make it longer and wider. That gives us the ability to develop the car very quickly, as opposed to starting from scratch."
The three-row crossover is expected to go on sale by the second half of 2018.
De Nysschen's explanation clarified a flap over spy photos released this month that purported to show a camouflaged big Cadillac cross-over undergoing road tests.
"It's not running yet," he said. "It is a program request that we initiated with the engineers only last year. They are working at remarkable, record-breaking speed to get us the car."
The same crossover platform will be used on vehicles of other GM brands too, including the GMC Acadia, which goes on sale in late spring. The long-wheelbase version also is expected to underpin the next-generation Buick Enclave and Chevrolet Traverse, both expected in 2017.
Sources have told Automotive News that Chevy plans a new midsize crossover on the short-wheelbase version of the same architecture, to be slotted below the Traverse in 2017.
Cadillac also is developing two smaller crossovers to fill the lineup below the XT5.
