KEY POINTS:
It would have been unthinkable a year ago, Cadillac planning a small sedan with a four-cylinder engine.
But that's what the luxury arm of General Motors is working on as it looks for more sales in the United States and abroad.
The rear-drive four-door will break cover in
2010 in the US as a 2011 model. Meantime, Cadillac executives are arguing over whether to offer a V6 option.
"There is a big debate as to whether it is four only. I think that is a bridge too far," said Cadillac general manager Jim Taylor.
"There is a piece of the team who is thinking, 'Well, with this whole fuel economy and gas thing, we ought to go all the way, say, to fours.' We are resisting that at this stage."
Also in the equation are new US fuel economy standards that begin to take effect in the 2011 model year.
Cadillac already has a small sedan but it's only available in Europe. It's a front-drive model called the BLS and based on the platform of the Saab 9-3. There is also a wagon. Both are powered by turbocharged four-cylinder petrol or diesel engines.
But BLS sales have been disappointing. Taylor said
the V6 debate centres on whether US buyers would accept only a four-cylinder engine, even if it gets a turbocharger like Saab's.
"I don't think Americans are going to become un-American that fast," said Taylor.
"They still want power. People do not want to stop enjoying driving."
Cadillac's small sedan will be positioned under the rear-drive, mid-sized CTS, which is expected to be launched in New Zealand later this year. It will be powered by a 3.6-litre V6 petrol unit.
The nameplate that offered the first mass-produced V8 engine is, like other carmakers, moving away from such units, although it will use a variation of the Chevrolet Corvette's 6.2-litre V8 in the next-generation Cadillac CTSv.
V8 engines will soon be pretty much limited to niche models only.
A study by PriceWaterhouse-Coopers expects V8 production in the US to plunge 45 per cent by the end of 2009.
New emissions and economy standards will eventually see them pretty much phased out in the US and replaced by V6 engines that offer similar power but better economy.
The worldwide shift towards smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles has reduced production of BMW's large-displacement V8, V10, and V12 engines to a trickle.
The timing so concerns the company it has launched a worldwide sales contest to motivate dealers for the launch of the new 7-Series flagship sedan, which will use the company's new twin-turbocharged V8.
The fifth-generation model will go on sale in Europe in November and next year in New Zealand.
Karsten Engel, BMW's manager for the development of sales channels, said the contest will help dealers and sales staff learn best practices from one another across the borders of their respective countries.
Based on the results of the competition, BMW wants to gain new insights into commonalities and differences in sales in various markets and cultures.
"An international exchange of best-practice examples, especially on the level of the sales organisation, is new for the auto industry," Engel said.
"In this way, we are expanding the strengths of our sales organisation."
BMW will put the best ideas into a dealer database. In November, dealers from around the world will go to Munich to see the 7-Series up close. The 15 most successful participants in the competition will be honored. The top five will get cash prizes.