The venerable Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV which are based on the Chevrolet Tahoe had been rumored for demise when GM revamps their truck line for the 2014 model year. With rising gas prices and shrinking sales it seemed inevitable. Today we hear that rumors of its death are themselves dead.

With the announcement that GM is investing $331 million dollars into the Arlington, TX plant where the GMT-900 truck based SUV’s are built, we hear that an all new Escalade based on the new tuck lines will debut as a 2014 model.

Already in seen doing hot weather testing around our home base here in Phoenix, the new truck line will be lighter and more efficient than ever before. Use of more expensive light weight materials and adding new technology it the company’s suite of small-block V8 engines, the new SUV’s and trucks are expected to get better gas mileage.

The Escalade has become a favorite for not only celebrities and those wanting a traditional V8 powered body on frame luxury vehicle, but for livery companies as well. Since the demise of the Lincoln Town Car, more often than not we are being picked up by Escalades at airports when we travel for business.

As Cadillac is also working on a new mid-size crossover based SUV to bridge the gap between the compact SRX model and the Escalade, we expect that Cadillac will take their top end SUV upmarket. In combination with more features and content, the addition of high efficiency technology is likely to push the price up further than its current $63,160 base MSRP.

A new engine of unspecified size is expected to eclipse the current 403 horsepower 6.2 liter V8 in both efficiency and horsepower. We expect the Escalade to get a fuel saving transmission that may even step up to 8-speeds. The Hybrid option is expected to continue being available if not standard equipment before the life cycle of the next Escalade is up.

Whether the Cadillac EXT pick-up of sorts that is shared with the Chevrolet Avalanche will continue or not is up for grabs.