Cadillac has had some serious winners for concept cars over the years. Although they're becoming less frequent in recent memory, they've been just as captivating if not quite as daring as the 1959 Cyclone concept that ranks as one of the greatest concepts of all time, in my books. The new design wave started with the Ciel Concept in 2011, which was then translated into coupe form in the shape of the Elmiraj, and it was glorious.

The latest concept from Cadillac's design team was the Escala, introduced at the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, taking the edgy, upright styling of the brand's breakthrough Art & Science theme and simplifying and smoothing it out into a grand sedan that would be at home at any valet station or country club. Well, Cadillac has apparently heard the rave reviews and listened. A company called AutoForecast Solutions (cited by Autoline Daily in a video, which we learned of by way of GM Authority) claims it can confirm that the Escala will enter production in 2021 at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant.

While AutoForecast Solutions is a business planning company and not your traditional automotive media, they could very well have excellent sources within the company, though I doubt GM will be happy they are springing leaks.

Nonetheless, for a flagship fastback sedan (or coupe as some have speculated), Detroit-Hamtramck is definitely the right venue for production, seeing as it already assembles the CT6, which debuted GM's new state-of the art aluminum and steel mixed-material manufacturing processes, which required an investment of over $300 million. While we love us a pretty concept, the business case must be razor thin, as the CT6 has sold just a handful more than 20,000 units in its first couple years on the market, so it could either fall flat on its face or inject enough interest as an attractive design to revive interest in the Cadillac brand at that price and market segment.

Still, it would be a good expansion of the Cadillac line after the expected XT6 midsize crossover in 2019, and a proper flagship for the brand on which it can introduce its best tech and boldest design, and perhaps even bring back traditional car names.