General Motors Corp. is counting on the 2010 Cadillac SRX crossover vehicle to lure luxury car buyers with new design and performance features.The redesigned vehicle was unveiled Sunday and is set to go on display at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit later this month. It replaces the SRX model first launched in 2004.

To help compete with better-selling rivals like the Lexus RX, Acura MDX, and the BMW X3 and X5, the SRX’s designers took elements from other Cadillac models and melded them into this one. The new SRX looks faster than its boxy predecessor, with a curving roofline and a more rounded nose that still retains an aggressive look. “For GM, it’s our most aggressive brand,” said Clay Dean, GM’s global director for Cadillac design. “We want to appeal to people that set the trends.”

Cadillac put more energy into improving the interior quality and exterior design of the car, Dean said. A 3-liter direct-injection V-6 engine comes standard, with the option for a 2.8-liter turbocharged V-6. Although fuel economy testing wasn’t complete, GM estimates highway miles per gallon will fall in the mid-20s. Cadillac has a strong following among luxury car buyers, and the brand remains an important one for GM.

Cadillac sales fell 24 percent in the first 11 months of 2008, about on par with U.S. light truck and SUV sales overall. The automaker sold nearly 148,000 Cadillacs in January through November, including about 14,800 SRXs. But Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus division sold five times as many RXs. The 2010 SRX is expected to be in showrooms in mid-2009. Pricing hasn’t been announced. The public got its first peek of the SRX at a California auto charity event in August. The model is one of three launches GM has planned for the Detroit show that starts next week. There’s a new Chevrolet Equinox crossover that the automaker unveiled in December, and a redesigned 2010 Buick LaCrosse sedan will make its debut.

Well, you can’t accuse Shelby SuperCars of setting its sights too low. Having secured the title of World’s Fastest Production Car with the 255mph Ultimate Aero last summer – and announcing a 270mph version will arrive this year – the American manufacturer is now promising to build the world’s quickest electric car.It’ll be called the Ultimate Aero EV (for Electric Vehicle), and in every way it sounds a bit too good to be true.

SSC says it has developed its own scalable electric powertrain that will produce power outputs ranging from 200bhp to – ready for this? – 1200bhp. Bear in mind that the just-announced Tesla Roadster Sport develops 288bhp. While the 1000bhp-plus powertrains will be reserved for commercial and military vehicles (SSC plans to sell the technology to other vehicle manufacturers), the Aero EV will have to do with 500bhp and 821lb ft of torque of lovely electric power, courtesy of twin three-phase AC motors.

The powertrain will weigh in at just 90kg and, says SSC, recharge in just 10 minutes on a standard 110 volt power outlet. That charge will be good for a 200 mile range. Too good to be true.SSC says that the Aero EV will begin testing next month, and should be unveiled in production form by the summer – just in time for a shot at the World’s Fastest Electric Car crown. We’d be skeptical, but SSC has proven already that when it sets out to achieve something ridiculous, it might well succeed.

Well, you can’t accuse Shelby SuperCars of setting its sights too low. Having secured the title of World’s Fastest Production Car with the 255mph Ultimate Aero last summer – and announcing a 270mph version will arrive this year – the American manufacturer is now promising to build the world’s quickest electric car.