With gallons of chrome decorating its large form, few cars or trucks carry the kind of presence that does a Cadillac Escalade. That audacious styling, however, could be about to change for better... or for worse, depending on who you ask. According to a new report coming from Autoblog stemming from a chat with GM North American President Mark Reuss, the upcoming fourth-generation Escalade will be "much less ostentatious" than previous models.

This could be seen as a gutsy move my GM simply because the Escalade has carved out a niche for itself due to its flashy styling which it wears as its badge of honor. The apparent reason for this design change stems from a "permanent mindset change about what luxury looks like." In other words, buyers are apparently more substance than style, "with a greater emphasis on efficiency." Reuss emphasized, however, that the next model will by no means appear overtly feminine and that it will still attract plenty of attention with with its trademark blinged-out grille.

Expect the interior to be upgraded as well, but the Escalade faithfull will be happy to know that the next big Caddy will remain a body-on-frame truck with a V8 engine, instead of going the crossover route with a smaller engine. Whatever form it takes, though, expect to see the fourth-gen Cadillac Escalade debut sometime in 2014 or 2015.