Platinum goes green? The 2010 Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept showing in Beijing uses a hybrid powertrain.
What was once an insignificant auto show on the edge of the automotive world is rapidly becoming a place where the industry’s leading players are pulling out all the stops.
So, no surprise to see General Motors’ high-line brand take what will soon become its flagship sedan to the 2010 Beijing Motor Show, here putting an even more exclusive patina on the new model in the form of the Cadillac XTS Platinum Hybrid Concept.
The “base†XTS made its debut a little more than three months ago, at the Detroit Auto Show. The rear-drive sedan is, for the moment, still described as just a concept vehicle, but it is, in reality, due to hit market in 2012 as the replacement for both the old STS and DTS models that had served as Cadillac’s biggest and most expensive sedans.
The XTS continues the division’s edgy Art & Science design language, though the shape here is smoother, more fluid and elegant. It doesn’t take much effort to see the strong influence, meanwhile, of the popular Cadillac Sixteen concept, though instead of a V16, the maker will likely offer several V6 and V8 options. Expect the new sedan to measure slightly larger than the current STS.
Like other Cadillac models given the “Platinum†designation, this version of the XTS is loaded to the proverbial gills with high-line technology and hand-stitched leather.
But the show scheduled to debut in Beijing also takes a different approach to propulsion, using a next-generation version of Cadillac’s two-mode hybrid powertrain. There’s no official word on whether the two-mode system will actually be offered in the production STS, but considering the increasing interest in battery power among other luxury brands, like BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus, it seems a strong likelihood that Caddy’s next flagship sedan will provide such an offering at some point during its lifecycle.