Why not? Cadillac's breakout hit began life as a gussied-up Chevy Tahoe. How big a hit? Word is that Cadillac paid off tooling for the current Escalade just three months after it went on sale. And that's why the division can consider a new SUV -- okay, a crossover SUV -- just as it's putting the big DT7 DTS/STS sedan convergence on ice for a year.
The fact that the Lambda platform already is over-subscribed, with the Chevrolet Traverse, Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave is why a Cadillac version makes economic sense. And since GM had considered, but cancelled, a V-8-powered Enclave Super, we know a Lambda Escalade will easily package a V-8, in this case a small block, since the Northstar replacement that was supposed to power the Enclave Super also has been cancelled.
If the Lambda Escalade gets the green light, look for much different sheetmetal than any of the current models. It would have to be CTS-edgy, making the Cadillac as distinctive as the Lincoln MKT is from the Ford Flex. And with all this canceling going on, you'd think that the Escalade EXT would be doomed. You'd be wrong: GM also is rumored to be considering a unibody pickup as hinted by the GMC Denali XT concept, to replace the EXT and Chevy Avalanche.