#ProductPlanning

Cadillac debuts its electric Lyriq crossover on August 6th, just a few short… well, at least a year or more before it goes into production as either a 2022 or 2023 model.

Hoping to generate Bronco-worthy levels of buzz that won’t materialize, the automaker released a couple of teasers of the upcoming vehicle, revealing a feature that causes this Canadian to tug his collar in an aggressive manner.

Look up the Jeep Cherokee on the brand’s consumer website and you’ll see a lot of trims, but there’s also one you won’t see: Overland. Topping the Cherokee trim ladder, Overland is a well-appointed but under-advertised ride, meaning it’s one you don’t see much of plying local streets or sitting patiently outside the grocery store.

And for 2021, you won’t see it at all.

Lincoln’s compact MKC transformed into the Lincoln Corsair for 2020, bringing style borrowed from its big brother Aviator to buyers of lesser means… or wants.

Tagging along a year late, a plug-in hybrid variant will join the Corsair trim ladder for 2021, but a new report suggests it won’t be in plentiful supply.

It’s true that the once-hot minivan segment was shrinking rapidly even before the pandemic hit. Since then, things have only gotten worse for a vehicle type once seen as the go-to conveyance for growing families.

How bad is it? Our own Tim Cain recently traded in his Honda Odyssey for a shiny new Ridgeline pickup. We were aghast.

Well, this turn of events hasn’t stopped Honda from putting what it feels is its best minivan forward. For 2021, the Odyssey returns with a fresh(ened) face and new content. But can it budge the sales needle when it goes on sale next month?

A vehicle guaranteed to cause the least possible amount of harm to the planet and its finite resources, hands down, offered up something of a sneak peak on Wednesday.

Make that “vehicles,” plural. The GMC Hummer EV, a beast of an electric pickup due to roll out of General Motors’ repurposed Detroit-Hamtramck plant late next year, will have a sibling: An SUV, as it’s a body style worthy of the reborn Hummer name’s heritage and also the thing Americans WANT.

And check out that spa-sized frunk.

Living in Europe and eager for the next generation of Mitsubishi products? You might end up waiting forever.

As part of a crash cost-cutting exercise designed to stabilize the storm-rocked company, the Japanese automaker has decided to reduce investment in under-performing markets while chopping fixed costs by one-fifth over the next two years.

In Europe, the brand could soon become a ghost. Mitsubishi has hit the stop button on any new product headed in that direction.

GMC’s an interesting brand. Free of cars from the outset (Sprint/Cabalero notwithstanding), General Motors’ truck brand seems well positioned to turn America’s unquenchable thirst for trucks and utility vehicles into big, big bucks.

For the most part, it has, yet glaring shafts of white space remain in the brand’s lineup. Time for a little rearranging?

Here at TTAC World Headquarters, we’re all in lockstep agreement that Cadillac’s electric vehicle naming strategy is both awesome and timeless. Names like Lyriq and Celestiq defy any and all attempts at derision and joke-making.

With that lie out of the way, let’s move on to the next addition to the brand’s EV stable: Symboliq.

There’s a plan afoot to more carefully align Mercedes-Benz’s U.S. product offerings with consumer demand, all the while saving the automaker money. The result, Automotive News reports, will be a lineup lacking the flair and whimsy the brand once enjoyed.

Fans of two-door variants, especially, stand to lose out under this new strategy.

On Friday, electric vehicle startup Rivian said it expects to commence deliveries of its all-electric pickup and crossovers next summer — placing the company roughly 6 months behind schedule.

However, before we crap on the company for being another novice EV company that can’t hack it, it should be said that product delays are quickly becoming the norm within the industry. This postponement may be indicative of nothing more than Rivian confronting the same hardships experienced by practically every other automaker in operation — though cash should not be among them.

The company said in April to expect adjustments to its delivery timeline as it tackled issues stemming from the pandemic while prepping the former Diamond-Star Motors/Mitsubishi plant in Normal, IL.

No, General Motors hasn’t tapped an army of virus-resistant robot workers from Boston Dynamics to build its bread-and-butter models; rather, the pickups themselves will undergo changes to boost appeal amid potent competition from Detroit rivals.

Sometime next year, The General’s full-sizers will reportedly correct a mistake that held the duo back upon their debut.

Ram bucked the trend of offering a short-term extension of a previous-generation product, keeping its older-model 1500 pickup in production for longer than the typical year, let’s say.

Having the old model stick around after the new-for-2019 1500’s appearance paid dividends, with Ram muscling past Chevrolet’s Silverado in sales last year. Without a midsize pickup with which to tempt lower-priced buyers, the brand felt that an aging full-sizer with a pared-down price tag was the next best thing for boosted volume.

For 2021, that recipe hasn’t changed.

Korea’s answer to the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class earned accolades upon its launch, with some kudos reserved for the availability of a six-speed manual transmission paired with the base 2.0-liter turbo four.

You know what’s coming next. Due for a refresh for the 2022 model year, the G70 is in line for an automatic-only future.

Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler reported its second-quarter earnings Thursday, revealing a net loss of nearly 2 billion euros and a revenue drop of more than 12 billion euros. Thanks, coronavirus.

While the red ink spilling from Daimler’s balance sheet is cause for concern, the automaker put on a happy face, regarding this year’s financial blows as mere setbacks. The company expects pre-tax earnings to return to the positive side of the scale by the end of the year. To help grow future profits, the Mercedes-Benz brand plans to turn its focus to the toniest of products.

No, there’s no new Mitsubishi model on the way — just “richer” versions of what we already have. That’s a term the automaker applied to the refreshed 2021 Mirage, by the way.

In announcing across-the-board changes to its North American lineup Wednesday, Mitsubishi seemed to suggest that a brand pull-out in this region won’t occur overnight, if ever. Or maybe this is just the brand’s last consumer salvo.