Toronto, Ontario — Collision repairers and rappers alike will be excited to hear that the 2021 Cadillac Escalade will be undergoing a body revamp to integrate higher strength material into the new model’s structure, General Motors announced in May.
GM lead upper structure engineer Jeff McCormick told the virtual 2021 Great Designs in Steel on May 19 that the OEM has been hard at work shedding the amount of mild steel on the Escalade down to 25 percent, while making use of higher-strength, thinner-gauge materials.
The Escalade’s roof and floor no longer make use of mild steel at all with GM deciding to limit the material to primarily the bodyside outer, the cowl and some inner panels, according to McCormick.
According to GM, the total percentage of high-strength steel used in the Escalade’s frame has risen from 33 to 39 percent with the 2021 model. Ultra-high-strength steel is also used to a higher degree on this model, with the material rising from 2 percent of the old body to 12 percent of the new one.
McCormick’s slideshow containing complete details on the body development of the 2021 Escalade can be found here.
