Cadillac Large RWD Sedan Could Sire Buick Flagship

The next Buick flagship model is likely to be built using the underlying architecture of GM’s soon-to-be-built large rear-wheel-drive Cadillac.

The Buick plan has not been publicly discussed by industry executives, but the existence of the Cadillac rear-wheel-drive project has been confirmed by GM to have been underway for the past two years..

Both Buick and Cadillac sales continue to climb in the U.S. and abroad, specifically China, so GM intends to capitalize with a Cadillac sedan designed to take on the marquee German sedans, the Mercedes-Benz S-class and the BMW 7-series.

In order to finance that ambitious project, GM is expected to recoup some of its investment in that luxury Cadillac model by building a top-of-the-line Buick using the same platform.

At this point no one knows whether the new Buick will have a familiar name such as Riviera or Roadmaster, or whether it will carry an entirely new moniker. But whatever it’s called, it’s going to be large.

The Cadillac platform it’s expected to be based upon will be even larger than Cadillac’s current biggest model, the XTS.

While the Buick is expected to share Cadillac’s rear-wheel-drive technology, the Cadillac model will also be available in an all-wheel-drive version. It remains to be seen if a similar all-wheel-drive Buick will also hit the market.

Both the Buick and the Cadillac projects are confirmation that there remains a steady market for large well-crafted American automobiles both here and abroad.