– While Cadillac has shifted most of its lineup to rear-wheel-drive, there’s one very good reason it decided to replace its DeVille sedan with another front-wheel-drive sedan called DTS for ’06. “Front-wheel-drive allows you to offer a front bench seat [there’s no drivetrain hump], and that’s what the older buyers of that car wanted,” says Jim Taylor, Cadillac general manager.
– Nissan, after reviving U.S. sales with large trucks and high-powered engines, will add more fuel-efficient cars next year and may follow with diesel-engine models, Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn says. Next summer, Nissan will introduce a car smaller than the Sentra for the U.S., along with a new Sentra, Ghosn says. That car will be called the Versa. A gasoline/electric version of the Altima sedan will come later in the year. The Sentra is produced in Mexico, and the new model also will be built in North America.
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Transportation in brief is compiled from the notebooks of Jim Mateja and Rick Popely, and from Tribune news services.
