The Cadillac Escalade is a full-size luxury SUV manufactured by General Motors and marketed by Cadillac as its first major entry into the SUV market. The Escalade was introduced for the 1999 model year in response to an influx of new luxury SUVs during the late 1990s, including the Mercedes-Benz M-Class, Range Rover, Lexus LX, and Lincoln Navigator. The Escalade project went into production only ten months after it was approved. The Escalade is built at Arlington Assembly in Arlington, Texas. Unlike its Chevrolet and GMC siblings, which launched for the 2000 model year, Cadillac delayed the Escalade's switch to the GMT820 chassis until February 2001 as a 2002 model, the last of the three General Motors full-size truck and SUV brands to switch to the new chassis. Cadillac unveiled the 2002 model year Escalade in August 2000 at Pebble Beach, while continuing to sell the 2000 models. Rear-wheel drive was standard, as was a 5.3L V8. All-wheel drive was standard on the ESV (until 2008 for the third generation) and EXT, and was optional on the short-wheelbase Escalade. The special high-output Vortec 6.0L V8 engine was the sole engine choice on all-wheel-drive models, and from mid-year 2005, all Escalades came with the high-output 6.0L Vortec V8. All models (except for the EXT) offered seating for up to eight passengers. #cadillac #escalade #fatjoe #tuning #caraudio #performance #carmagazine #fyp #viral