In unveiling the car at the edge of the 18th green at the famous Pebble Beach Golf Club, O'Malley said, "As we expand Cadillac's global portfolio, this expressive roadster will be developed to attract customers in all important luxury markets including North America, Europe, Japan and the Middle East."
According to Dave Hill, "The new luxury roadster will be a Cadillac through and through, blending the very best elements of dynamic styling, advanced technology and robust performance via the Northstar System."
Even though the XLR and the next Vette will share the same architecture, Hill promises the two vehicles will not be alike in any signficant way except for the fact that they'll each have two seats and use composite bodies.
Using a composite body on the XLR has been a source of considerable agitation inside GM and is perhaps the greatest obstacle still to be overcome. There are three separate issues to be overcome-getting the hard look demanded by Cadillac's new styling rules, finding a compound that doesn't expand and contract and will therefore allow tight joints, and convincing the well-to-do Boomers who will be the primary buyers of the XLR that a car that expensive should be made out of plastic.
The original engineering report called for a mixture of materials with the best one (steel, composite, aluminum, etc) used for the specific function. But that idea was overruled by the North American Strategy Board on the advice of manufacturing boss Don Hackworth.