The

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

K platform (commonly called the K-body) was an

automobile platform A car platform is a shared set of common design, engineering, and production efforts, as well as major components, over a number of outwardly distinct models and even types of cars, often from different, but somewhat related, marques. It is pract ...

designation used for

front wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional lon ...

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

models beginning in 1980. It replaced the

rear wheel drive Rear-wheel drive (RWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the rear wheels only. Until the late 20th century, rear-wheel drive was the most common configuration for cars. Most rear-wheel ...

K platform. The K-body designation was used for sedans; similar

coupé A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...

models used the nearly identical

GM E platform The General Motors E platform or E-body was the automobile platform designation used for a number of personal luxury cars produced from 1963 to 2002. Notably, early E-bodies were produced in both front wheel drive and rear wheel drive configu ...

. The

GM G platform (FWD) The General Motors G platform (also called G-Body) automobile platform designation was used for front-wheel drive full-sized and luxury cars between 1995 and 2011. Previously, General Motors used the G-body designation for unrelated mid-sized ...

was also based on the K. Beginning in 1986 K- and E-bodies were produced at GM's high-tech

Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly, also called Factory Zero, is a General Motors automobile assembly plant straddling the border between Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan. It is located about three miles (five km) from GM's corporate headquarters. Wh ...

plant. Unlike the E-body, the K designation has been exclusive to Cadillac. The original FWD K-body

Cadillac Seville The Seville was manufactured by Cadillac from 1975 to 2004 as a smaller-sized, premium model. It was replaced by the STS in 2004. Origin of the name The name of "Cadillac's first small car" was selected over a revival of LaSalle or the GM des ...

was shared with the downsized E-body

Cadillac Eldorado The Cadillac Eldorado is a luxury car manufactured and marketed by Cadillac from 1952 until 2002 over twelve generations. The Eldorado was at or near the top of the Cadillac line. The original 1953 Eldorado convertible and the Eldorado Brougham ...

beginning in 1980. In 1986, the Seville was replaced with an even smaller front wheel drive model, also given the K designation. This new model featured a

transversely mounted engine A transverse engine is an engine mounted in a vehicle so that the engine's crankshaft axis is perpendicular to the direction of travel. Many modern front-wheel drive vehicles use this engine mounting configuration. Most rear-wheel drive vehicles ...

instead of a longitudinally mounted one like its predecessor. The Seville was lengthened in 1992, and the DeVille was moved from the

GM C platform The C Platform, or C-body, name has been used twice by General Motors for its full-size car platform. * 1925-1984 GM C platform (RWD) * 1985-1996 GM C platform (FWD) The C-body was used for the Pontiac Series 24/29 Torpedo, Oldsmobile 90, th ...

to the K platform in 1994. Starting with the 1998 Cadillac Seville, the K platform vehicles were moved to the G platform, however GM continued to call it the K platform.

Vehicles

* 1980–1997

* 1994–1999 Cadillac Sedan DeVille

References

List of GM VIN codes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gm K Platform (Fwd) K 2