The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a recall of 12,662 MY2009 Cadillac CTS vehicles due to a software problem within the passenger-airbag sensing system. The electronic glitch may lead to the disablement of the front passenger air bag when it should be enabled or vice-versa. GM’s dealers will reprogram 2009 CTS’ passenger sensing system module free of charge with the recall expected to begin on or about November 18, 2008.

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Probably everything on this car except the fuel filler cap is custom or has been customized. A how-low-can-you-go custom-designed fiberglass body wraps itself around a 6.0-liter, 400 hp Cadillac engine. The engine cover runs from that hot-rod nose all the way to the bulkhead and then continues in one sweep to form the center console. The console works much like your phone, going dark when not in use and lighting up again when you touch it. And yes, that’s an iPhone slotted in there. And at the corners are 20-inchers up front and 22-inchers out back suspended by aircraft strut suspension arms and wearing six-pot calipers front and rear.

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The All new Cadillac CTS-V will be priced from $59,995 (€44,700 with the current exchange rates) in the US market seriously undercutting the less powerful though quite possibly a bit more rewarding from a driver’s point of view, 507HP BMW M5 which costs in the States $85,100 (€63,500). Aside from the 556HP supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine and the Magnetic Ride Control suspension, the CTS-V comes standard with plenty of features, including a hand-crafted cabin, a 6-speed manual transmission and a Bose surround sound system with a 40-gigabyte hard drive with a USB port. Continued

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If you haven’t heard much about the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V then you’d better pay attention! GM’s new performance sedan has a 6.2L supercharged V8 that pumps out 556-hp with a peak torque of 551 lb.ft. It has a 0-60 speed of 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 171 mph. If those numbers don’t impress you then maybe these next figures will. Performance tests done with the CTS-V and the BMW M5 and the E63 AMG came out in favor of the Caddy. The CTS-V ran the quarter-mile in 12.5 seconds at 115.3, numbers that were better than the M5 and the AMG that did it in 12.7 and 113 mph. The CTS-V even has better breaking distance than the other two models needing 109 feet to break from 60 to 0 and that beat the M5 and AMG by six feet. Oh yeah, and it looks nice too!

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After decades of decay, Cadillac began a transformation in the waning years of the last century that would allow the brand to compete against modern luxury brands. Decrepit beasts like the late Eldorado and Seville were euthanized and, while the decision to switch mostly to alpha-numeric naming was dubious, Cadillac finally started creating cars that could compete directly with the best from Europe and Japan, and the first generation CTS was one of them.

 In spite of this progress, the Germans still had something Cadillac lacked, namely AMG, M and RS models. So Cadillac devised the V-Series, the first of which was the 2004 CTS-V. Just as BMW does with the M3 and M5, Audi with the RS4 and RS6 and Mercedes with innumerable AMGs, the CTS-V had a bigger, more powerful engine; beefier brakes and tires; a suspension to match and an upgraded interior. This, however, is an arms race that has yet to subsie in spite of ever higher fuel prices. With BMW, Mercedes and Audi now offering even more powerful engines, Cadillac has stepped up to the plate with an all-new CTS-V and we had a chance to drive it at the even newer Monticello Motor Club in New York. With a new supercharged LSA engine closely related to the LS9 in the Corvette ZR1, the CTS-V makes some big promises. Read on after the jump to see if it delivers. Continued

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With enormous V8 land-yachts and even bigger Escalades rolling down America’s boulevards, Cadillac’s doesn’t have the most environmentally friendly of images. But that’s a perception that the premium GM division is working hard to combat. After unveiling the Escalade two-mode hybrid, reports have begun to surface that Cadillac is considering a four-cylinder model for the American market like the Saab-based BLS it offers in Europe.

New emerging reports now suggest that Cadillac might get its own version of the highly-anticipated Volt plug-in hybrid from its sister-company Chevrolet. No telling at this point if the Cadillac version would be based on the Volt, transplant the Volt’s powertrain into an existing Cadillac model, or breed an entirely new Caddy – or for that matter if there’s any substance to the rumors – but sources suggest a higher sticker price than the Volt’s anticipated $40k.

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The long-rumored smaller Cadillac now looks set to debut in 2010 and may be offered exclusively with four cylinder engines. The new sedan would be slotted under the existing CTS and be built on a new rear drive platform. The last time that Cadillac offered a four cylinder car in the U.S. market was in the early 1980s with the Cavalier based Cimarron. More recently, the Saab 9-3 based BLS has been on sale in Europe. Neither of those cars has been a commercial success, but neither was a particularly appealing car in its segment either.

The new car would be developed specifically as a premium Cadillac model. Nonetheless, Cadillac general manager Jim Taylor is concerned that American consumers might not yet be ready to accept a Cadillac without at least the option of a V6. The new model would likely use the 2.0L direct injected turbo as used in the Pontiac Solstice GXP. At this point it appears that Cadillac will likely offer the 6-cylinder option, although if gas prices resume their upward spiral that could well change. If a V6 is part of the plan, it will probably be a rumored smaller displacement 3.0L version of the 3.6L currently offered in the CTS.

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