DETROIT: As it strives to energize its Cadillac brand that once led the US luxury auto market, General Motors Co. said it will begin production of a new “top-end, high-technology car” by the end of 2015.

The as-yet unnamed flagship sedan will be positioned “above today’s CTS and XTS product lines,” and “will add to rather than replace any model in the portfolio,” GM said in a statement.

First sales in the US are likely by the end of 2015, and sales in China about the same time, said Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell. If there is a lag between introduction in the US and China, it will be a short one, he said.

The new model will be in “the elite class of top-level luxury cars,” said Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen in the statement.

He said that the car, which is in development, will be rear wheel drive-oriented, using “completely new, custom-designed materials on a unique vehicle architecture.”

De Nysschen came to GM this year and is charged with repositioning the 112-year-old Cadillac brand to truly compete with luxury leaders BMW and Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz.

The sedan’s public debut will be in the first half of 2015. It will be built at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant, where the plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt, Opel Ampera and the Cadillac ELR are made, as well as the Chevy Malibu and Impala. GM did not say whether it would add to the plant’s 1,600 workers to make the new Cadillac.