Destined for the European market primarily
As part of their ambitions to compete with European automakers on their home soil, Cadillac was working on a range of four- and six-cylinder diesel engines. According to Automotive News, the upcoming XT4 was expected to have a diesel engine by 2020 and other models would follow. There was also plans about selling diesels for Cadillacs in the U.S. But Cadillac President Steve Carlisle said development has been put on hold.
"We have been working on diesel, but the markets may be changing more quickly than we anticipated," he said to AN.
"Going forward, we will focus on electrification."
The diesel program at Cadillac got hit with a double whammy over the past few years. First was the Volkswagen diesel emission crisis that broke in September 2015. There was talk about killing the project, but "executives felt it had progressed too far to kill". Then last year, General Motors sold Opel to PSA Group. The German division was working with Cadillac with development. Still, the brand continued with progress.
It is unclear as to why Cadillac has put the program on hold now, but we're guessing the combination of stricter regulations coming into Europe and more competitors deciding to go all-in electrification are the main reasons.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)
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