Cadillac Revamps Badge

General Motors Co.'s Cadillac brand is working on a major redesign of its emblem, according to Automotive News.

Unidentified sources tell the newspaper that the updated badge is likely to appear on a concept vehicle that will debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance next month in California. They say the new logo won't appear on a production model until at least the 2015 model year.

The brand is likely to axe the emblem's traditional laurel wreaths. AN quotes a Cadillac insider who says that in testing, potential customers called the wreath "outdated and obsolete" precisely the image the marque is trying to shed.

Cadillac has redesigned its badge nearly 40 times, the newspaper notes. The central element remains the family crest of namesake and Detroit founder Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. Even without the laurels, the look is much more cluttered than the abstract chrome that adorns the grilles of such rivals as Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus.