2012 Cadillac Escalade Premium Collection

Cadillac announces a revised Premium Collection for its Escalade series of luxury SUVs, featuring a more colorful exterior design treatment. The Premium Collection enters production later this fall and is positioned between the Luxury Collection and the Platinum Edition model, adding a new level of visual and feature content for Escalade.

The new-for-2012 Premium Collection provides a fresh alternative for Escalade buyers, replacing some of the vehicle’s bright work with body color elements.

“Escalade is iconic and always bold, but the Premium Collection offers a new interpretation of that statement,” said Don Butler, Cadillac vice president of marketing. “It offers a new choice for Escalade buyers to express their personalities.”

The new exterior design features include a restyled front fascia (upper and lower) that features body-color surround and horizontal elements, with strong vertical chrome bars. Additional styling updates include redesigned front fender vents, body-color side moldings and door handles.

The 2012 Premium collection also offers new 22” polished aluminum wheels and optional LED headlamps.

Rear design enhancements include a redesigned rear fascia with integrated dual rectangular exhaust tips, clear-tinted LED tail lamps and center high-mounted stop lamp, and a revised Cadillac emblem.

The Premium Collection will share interior updates and features with the Escalade family, which includes a new center console lid with functional tray, a new rear camera with parking assist guides, Point of Interest Navigation Franchise Search and advanced Sirius/XM Satellite Radio with weather and Tune Select.

The Escalade Premium Collection includes numerous luxury, performance and technology features inherent to the lineup, including: Magnetic Ride Control, power operated sunroof, Intellibeam headlamps, and Side Blind Zone Alert safety alert system, in addition to rear seat entertainment and power-assist steps that deploy automatically as the doors open and close.

Escalade leads the full-size luxury SUV category in image and sales, and more recently in advanced technology.

Escalade became the first vehicle in its class to offer fuel-saving hybrid technology with the Escalade Hybrid model. Using Two-Mode Hybrid technology, Escalade delivers up to a 50-percent fuel economy improvement in city driving. The system enables battery-powered driving up to a speed of approximately 30 mph, then can seamlessly blend gas engine and battery power in some driving situations, shifting to full engine power as the driving conditions require.

Escalade is the only luxury SUV offering Cadillac-pioneered Magnetic Ride Control – included in all Escalade models featuring new 22-in aluminum wheels. Magnetic Ride Control, an active suspension control system to improve ride performance, is featured in the brand’s acclaimed V-Series of high performance models.

Escalade is also the world’s only luxury SUV with optional full-feature Light Emitting Diode (LED) headlamp technology, optional on the Premium Edition. LED technology provides the most natural and crisp light in nighttime conditions, improving the driver’s forward vision. Escalade is among a small group of vehicles in the world that use LEDs for all forward lighting.

Escalade remains the top-selling full size luxury SUV in the United States and tops national consumer surveys for initial quality and customer satisfaction. It continues to offer the most complete model lineup in its segment, with three distinct body styles and four trim levels – base, Luxury Collection, the revamped Premium Collection and Platinum.

The standard Escalade is complemented by the extended length ESV model and the EXT model, which features a reconfigurable cargo bed with a segment-exclusive midgate, enabling the rear compartment to flex between passenger and cargo space.

Cadillac will kick-start Texas Truck Month with the launch of the 2012 Cadillac Escalade Premium Collection and a month-long charity event beginning today at the General Motors Arlington Assembly Plant. The event, Team Escalade Texas , feature participation by top Texas sports celebrities including former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Drew Pearson as team captain; and former Cowboys’ fullback Daryl Johnston; wide receiver Mike Renfro, Hall of Fame defensive tackle Randy White, former Houston Rockets forward and broadcaster Matt Bullard; gold medal-winning Olympic gymnast Carly Patterson; Olympic diver Laura Wilkinson, 21-year National Hockey League veteran Mike Modano, and NBA veterans Brian Cardinal and Derek Harper.

The charity events will benefit CureDuchenne, Taylor’s Gift, YMCA, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Special Olympics Texas and Love, Hope, Strength Foundation. A parade of Escalades will proceed from the Arlington Plant to the Texas State Fair in Dallas. Team Escalade Texas runs through October 30. In all, Six charities, 19 celebrities and four cities are coming together in one bold drive to change lives.

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