A roster of top General Motors executives, including CEO Dan Akerson, North America head Mark Reuss, global design chief Ed Welburn and Cadillac marketing VP Dan Butler last night (Sunday, 8 January) launched the Cadillac brand’s most serious attempt yet to challenge the BMW 3-series, Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-class: the new-from-the-ground-up ATS sedan/saloon.
Cadillac has, of course, been here before with the Europe-only BLS sedan and wagon, essentially a rebodied and re-interiored Saab 9-3, it still owned the Swedish automaker when the small Caddy launched in 2006. But it was a half-hearted effort, the 9-3 platform was already old Opel technology and the not unattractive car, styling and cabin-wise, was criticised for poor ride quality, mismatched engine/automatic gearbox combinations and materials/build quality that fell short of the Germans’.
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Lessons, it appears, were learned. In the media scrum that formed immediately around him after the ATS was launched at Detroit’s Center for Creative Studies, in a building once home to a GM studio run by the legendary designer Harley Earl, the automaker’s first design VP, his successor Welburn said the BLS experience had shown clearly that a true challenger could only be designed from the ground up.
Hence the new platform, new 270hp four cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, choice of six-speed manual or automatic gearboxes, class-standard exterior panel fit and paint and, inside, top quality materials and finish (an insider said this is the first Caddy with real carbon-fibre dash and door inserts on sporty versions; others have faux wood trim) and the new CUE user interface system. All-wheel-drive will also be optional, as is the case with most of the German models.
Weight has been pared and the car is claimed to be about 100kg lighter than its German rivals thanks to weight-saving engine design features (such as a plastic intake manifold), magnesium and aluminium in the suspension and an aluminium bonnet (hood).
And the handling and ride were fettled on Germany’s famed Nurburgring race circuit, where the local rivals also go to play when under development or on magazine road test.
Welburn said the premium compact sector in the US alone is good for 360,000-380,000 sales a year and sees the car appealing to two buyer groups within the segment: the ‘move-ups’ aged in their mid-30s to mid-40s coming up from mainstream brands as income rises and those who value their cars’ dynamics; older buyers in their 40s and 50s who could afford a BMW 5-series or Mercedes E-class but want a smaller, more nimble but no less luxurious car that is really enjoyable to drive fast.
The remaining US market engine choice is a standard 2.5-litre petrol I4 plus a 3.6-litre V6 already widely offered across GM lines in America and Australia.
As to predicted segment penetration, all Welburn would say was “more than our fair share”.
The right hand drive and diesel options essential to fully cover the European market were engineered during development but there are no specific launch dates yet.
“Right hand drive is in the product plan, if we want to be a global player we have to play on all stages,” Welburn added. He said RHD and diesel would become available during the model’s life cycle, expected to be 4-6 years, though the engineering is not yet done on manual transmission, auto being the priority for the domestic NAFTA market.
“A top luxury brand inspires innovation throughout the company,” Akerson said in his opening address. “There’s nothing like competition at the highest level to sharpen the competitive edge of people.”
Quite.
Key ATS features include:
- Nearly 50/50 weight balance
- Cadillac’s first five-link independent rear suspension using lightweight, high-strength steel and efficient straight link designs
- A multi-link double-pivot MacPherson-strut front suspension with direct-acting stabiliser bar
- Driver-adjustable FE3 sport suspension with magnetic ride control real-time damping
- Underbody aerodynamic shields
- Premium (belt driven) ZF electric variable-effort steering gear
- Four-channel ABS with optional Brembo performance brakes
- Optional all-wheel drive
