Based on internal platform codes, sources are telling us Cadillac is working on a Delta-based Mercedes CLA rival.
General Motors has spent significant time and effort refining the Delta platform – as noted in our Cruze review, this platform is well worthy of premiums above the Cruze’s $17, 495 MSRP.
Based on what sources are sending our way, it looks like General Motors is planning exactly that, a premium vehicle based on the new D2XX platform.
The internal program code D2JL has shown up inside the Renaissance Center – “D” indicating Delta, “2” indicating evolution or generation number, “J” indicating hatch and “L” indicating Cadillac.
It’s unclear, however, if the hatch is planned with traditional hatchback proportions, or more of a liftback style, like the new Volt.
We were told GM believes they can get a $6,000-9,000 premium for the Cadillac versus the D2XX Cruze.
Another source tells us the cute Caddy is likely to show up with a turbocharged 1.5-liter as the volume engine, with the turbo 2.0-liter doing duty in the upper trims. Both motors are expected to make use of an 8-speed automatic, with a manual being unlikely.
No time frame was given, stay tuned…
This article was originally posted on GMInsideNews
The word *had* been that the sub-ATS Caddy would be RWD. I… don’t think Delta 2 works for that.
But can you imagine an Alpha-based, sub-ATS? The rear seat space in the ATS is already cramped. The only way GM can make a sub-ATS Alpha-based car happen is if it was a two seater … or it has some seriously compromised rear-seat proportions. And if you do make a two-seater, it would compete with the ATS Coupe, I’d imagine.
This makes a helluva lot more sense.
Agreed. The danger for Cadillac is to think that just because the Germans get away with FWD based small cars (CLA, X1, A3) they can too. But the Germans (two of them at least) have decades of brand equity from building RWD based sports sedans. They do not.
If Cadillac tries this, it will come off as well as the X-type Jaguar and the Acura ILX.
Depends on the execution, VoGo.
The X-type Jag sucked and the ILX is ugly and slow.
Yes, it depends on the execution. But MB got away with lousy execution on the CLA. Cadillac will not.
And remember, although the new Cruze is getting good reviews today, keep in mind that no one is claiming it’s better than the Civic. So who will spend their hard earned $35K on a Cadillac that is a gussied up version of a Chevrolet that’s inferior to a Civic? No one I know.
Well the Germans also benefit from their target audience for the fwd cars not knowing much about cars and many believing they are rwd anyway. I think enthusiasts need to remember that while these things are important to them, knowledgeable enthusiasts represent maybe 2% of the new car buying public. We are getting to the point where fwd cars can handle almost as well as rwd, and the difference is basically imperceptible to the general public. So long as Cadillac makes the sub-ats a quality vehicle and advertises it, people will buy it (provided people are still buying small cars at all).
Vogo, Cadillac like Lincoln and other Big Three brands also has decades of building RWD cars. It started to build FWD cars only in 80s. And where do you see Cadillac getting away with RWD cars (note cars)? So both your arguments are invalid.
Cadillac has had at least one FWD car in the lineup since 1966.
His statement was not about building FWD cars but about NOT BUILDING RWD cars. That’s all. There is not more traditional than American RWD.
Indeed, and my response was to your statement, which was “It started to build FWD cars only in 80s.”
Which is false.
Cadillac could make it L-O-N-G-E-R. Actually, I would welcome a ‘Baby Caddy’. This is not a new idea. Ever since the 60s a significantly smaller Cadillac has been suggested, only to fall on deaf ears. Of course we all know that it will fail because of GM’s inability to look past it’s own hood ornament and build a true high-quality small car without cheaping it out in some major way. Will it be just a blinged-up Chevy with a fantastically outrageous price ? Will it rust away ? Will it have the dreaded 5-3-1 cylinder engine ? Or some combination of no-worky gee-whiz technology and cheap-o interior ? Too bad, but that is GM’s philosophy.
Rebadging a Chevy Cruze as a Cadillac CTwhatever is the next logical step in Johan’s, Uwe’s & Melody’s 12 billion $ 2020 5 Year Grand Plan in terms of evolving the Cadillac Motor Coach Division SoHo, PLLC into a true fabricator of bespoke, authentic premium motor vehicles.
Can’t you feel the consistency in Johan’s logic?
Seems they changed their aspirations very quickly. Cancelled the CT8 last month so instead of going up market they are going to chase sales down market. Probably was the plan from the start. Keep the positivity going while they filled out the new line up and name changes. Then switch the new model from been the mythical flagship into the new entry level Cadillac. They would have taken flack for 2 years leading up if they came out promising a new entry level as the long term plan. Bait and switch… Some classic auto industry tactics in action
Buick apparently exists to sell production overflow vehicles from China and Korea in the US. And a Cruze – based Caddy? Gawd, no. The CLA, if used as a target, is utter crap, despite the sales numbers. Cheaper is not necessarily better…
What makes more sense is if this turns out to be a baby crossover rather than a sedan-like thing.
That too.
The new Cadillac CMR!*
*Cimarron Mediocrity, Revisited
*slow clap*
Where’s the obligatory Cimarron picture?
Rats you beat me to it. Lol
Cimarron 2.0. Now with more Cruze!
Cimarron 2.0: New GM, Old tricks.
Cimarron 2.0: Because we hate Cadillac
Cimarron 2.0: From the director of the ELR
Cimarron 2.0: For when the Malibu isn’t cramped or expensive enough
Boston is about 1,200 miles from DW, but I can feel his blood pressure rising from here.
Those who do not study History will be doomed to repeat it.
Just Say No Caddy, your making better cars than ever, stay to your plan do not give us another chevy knock off . Make a tiny cuv if you need units that badly or bring back the caddy pickup if you need units that badly but really just say no.
All of GMs platforms are now world class. No need to bring up the decades old J Cars.
DW has passed out when he recovers I am sure he will call Johnny and talk him out of this.
I’d go with Cimmaron for the name. I know the Cim didn’t have a great rep, but it’s time to rebuild that and correct a past wrong. And, since the Cruze is the direct descendent to the Cavalier, it makes sense here.
Caddy needs to start reaching into its past a little more. ATS, CTS, STS, BFF, or whatever alphabet soup they call their products have no soul, and make the cars feel like appliances.
You are on the right track suggesting BFF ! Or perhaps it should be LMAO …
Mercedes (on a global level) is a full-line car, truck, and bus manufacturer. Cadillac is supposed to be a builder of luxury cars. If GM wants to build a CLA rival, it should have a Buick badge on it.
I think GM forgot they still have Buick in their portfolio.
I know I did.
That’s because, it’s “Not your father’s Oldsmobile (Buick).”
Which actually sells better.
They already build it: it’s called the Buick Verano and the next generation Verano based on this new platform is on its way. Why we would need a Buick and a Cadillac version sitting in the same showroom, I don’t know.
Das GM!
How else will Cadillac get rid of all those gauge clusters from ’95 Roadmasters that it has sitting around?
Actually, the standard new Cruze gauge cluster is light years better than the base ATS, CTS and XT5 gauge clusters!
It keeps getting better (aka worse) for Johan:
Gauge cluster in base XT5 (SRX replacement):
http://www.xt5forum.com/forum/members/842-caddy-albums-cadillac-xt5-picture113-cadillac-xt5-gauge-cluster.jpg
Cadillac new motto:
“Because we’re run by morons dumber than dog $hit! That’s why”
So instead of continuing the strategy of building half-assed BMW circa 2005 copies, Cadillac is going for half-assed copies of an already half-assed Benz.
And why does Buick still exist in North America again? This is pretty much EXACTLY what the Tri-shield is around for. Where does this leave the Verano?
Plus, this is going to be a sedan or liftback? Way to read the market GM. If they are going to Cadillac-ize anything it should be a Lambda.
Cruze 2LT, $34,000
Verano CXL, $35,100
BTS 1.8, $36,222
See? Perfect sense.
Delta platform is a little too tight and upright. They should make an Epsilon based PHEV instead. Get some of that Tesla money.
A full EV would be more likely to get somenof that Tesla money.
I just test drove a 2016 Honda Civic limited. Turbocharged with a CVT and black leather seats. It was downright luxurious. After driving that thing, I can’t imagine why I’d pay extra for a Caddy or a BMW.
*Unless* the Cadillac is electric.
P.S. I am a Tesla Model 3 reservation holder.
This car will be the meg of the Cadillac lineup.
My name is Ron .(/meg)
Shut up Meg :)
It’s cliched to mention the cimarron but wow…
Of course this would be a much better car than the cimarron but Cadillac doesn’t have the brand equity to pull off a cla competitor just yet. They first have to pull off a Lexus and make cars that are clearly superior to the competition while priced lower and do that for 7-10 years.
It’s not even clear that the CLA will end well for Mercedes (though it’s clearly making them buckets of money right now)
Cadillac doesn’t need (and shouldn’t want) a CLA competitor. GM should be plotting GM vs Daimler-Benz, not Cadillac vs Mercedes.
I’m not sure why people buy that thing. Looks alone, it’s pretty homely. It looks like someone crossed a fish with a harmonica. Fishmonica!
Cadillac is not ready for a sub ATS sedan. They do not have the brand equity.
There’s no point either. The Verano already exists and it will be a considerably better value than the BTS (or whatever).
+1. Mercedes can get away with it (for the time being) because of the brand equity they’ve built up over the years but Cadillac isn’t even close to being able to pull it off.
It’s gettin’ real at the Caddy Dealer parking lots
You know the deal, with those rebadged Chevy Cruze they host
Johan, you’re the most annoying dude I’ve ever SEEN brah
Could you PLEASE move? You’re RIGHT in front of the Quinoa.
My wife loves her Cruze. I suspect she’d love a Caddy Cruze even more.
Especially at the low transaction price after it’s been leased to someone else for a couple years.
Has she seen the Verano?
Edit function is hosed.
Lyrics:
It’s gettin’ real at the Caddy Dealer parking LOTS
You know the deal, with those rebadged Chevy Cruze they GOTS
Johan, you’re the most annoying dude I’ve ever SEEN BRAH
Could you PLEASE move? You’re RIGHT in front of the QUINOA.
Cadillac Boss de Nysschen Promises Sub-ATS RWD Sedan:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2015/01/cadillac-boss-de-nysschen-promises-a-rwd-sedan-slotted-below-ats-opinion-desk/
New Cadillac Chief Says No to Cutting Prices in Spite of Slow Sales:
http://www.motortrend.com/news/new-cadillac-chief-says-no-to-cutting-prices-in-spite-of-slow-sales/
Despite De Nysschen saying it won’t, Cadillac cuts prices
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/01/07/despite-de-nysschen-saying-it-won-t-cadillac-cuts-struggling-ct/
Run, Johan RUN!!!!
It takes mad talent to rhyme with quinoa.
I suspect most people would have tried Samoa.
Working title: CIMMARON RETURNS.
“Cimarron Life: 8-6-4, Catera, and Other Foibles”
The only reason I can think of buying a CLA is that it’s the cheapest MB you can get here. The lust for Cads is just not there.
The other reason is that it’s not a Camry/Accord/Fusion/Altima. That’s what 90% of sedan customers want, judging by sales numbers, but the other 10% want something else.
I wouldn’t get one because none of my friends and family fit in the back seat, but it is more appealing inside and out than the mainstream competition.
Yeah, because the Cimarron worked so well….and yes, GM had better be prepared for everyone to resurrect the legend of the Cimarron. It’s going to be a tough thing to overcome.
Someone will be here shortly to yell at you for saying this. They will say “The Cimarron was a long time ago, and nobody cares or gives a sh*t about it any more. Cadillac is very entitled to make this car and it will be fine, with no Cimarron baggage.”
They’ll be wrong, of course. But it will be said.
I’m going to rock the Cimarron-bashing by stating that Im not interested in Cadillac until they start competing with Tesla.
This is pointless. What they need to do is showcase technology and eco-friendliness, because that’s what luxury buyers want. Just look at Tesla.
I would suggest another Volt knock-off. But bigger, with 4 doors, and not being priced at $70K+. And they can’t call it an ELR. That name’s nearly as tarnished as Cimarron.
But WHY?
Why do the hard, involved, good for the long-term thing that builds brand equity when they can produce a front-wheel drive Cruzillac off the Chevy line with a rebadging and some extra lipstick, gingerbread & window dressing?
This is General Motors, bro.
ha! ‘Cruzillac’ is a fantastic moniker for this car. :-p
“I would suggest another Volt knock-off. But bigger, with 4 doors, and not being priced at $70K+”
Since it is the Caddy, they should also drop another hamster-wheel in the powertrain because fancy.
All I can say is, IF this is going to happen, they’d better make the sheetmetal completely different so Joann Average won’t make the Cruze connection.
Like how different a Terrain is to an Equinox.
Otherwise, fail.
And then there’s this from our buddy Peter:
http://www.autoextremist.com/
In picking the Terrain and Equinox, you picked the two worst crossovers in the marketplace (outside of Mitsubishi). Was that on purpose?
I would think this thing if caddy made the mistake of building it would be less cimarron , a complete failure that really hurt Caddy but rather more like the Catera, not really terrible, few remember it but was a waste of money and time and resources when caddy had few of them to waste, but hey bring back the duck sure that will work.
No offense, but that Cruze review has a distinct whiff of GM-fanboyism. I’m not saying the Cruze isn’t a good car, but a review that consists of 100% praise isn’t all that credible.
As for Caddy, they don’t need a premium compact. They don’t need to compete in every segment, and they’re having enough trouble branding Cadillac as it is. Maybe a Buick, but they already have the Verano, so probably not. Speaking of the Verano, is it selling so well that Caddy thinks they need to get in on that action?
Is GM Inside News funded by GM? I would never read a “review” on a car at such a site, as when the brand name is in the site’s title you have little shot at objectivity.
You ever read a review on Allpar? They are so hilariously biased I don’t know why they even bother.
I have read their praises for the electronic carb provided in the M-Body!
AllPar hasn’t driven a Caliber based vehicle that it didn’t like.
Allpar exists solely to offer DIY fixes that Chrysler’s vaunted engineering prowess designs to be goof-proof, but in reality, once it is manufactured isn’t worth a hoot!
Good history reading, though…
I agree that their collection of historic documents and information is awesome.
Rest assured that the “premium compact fwd” Cruzillac will have precisely the same % of component content built under the GM “One Global” supplier demands (that the parts used to make it be as cheap or cheaper for GM to buy than the lowest-cost bidder in China – period) as its Chevrolet sibling.
Mercedes A-Class, Audi A1, and Lexus CT are all FWD as base. BMW 1-series will move to FWD in the next generation, so it makes perfect sense to have a FWD competitor from Cadillac.
The bigger question is: Does Cadillac need it, and can the brand value hold it?
The Chinese model will look odd with the 11″ wheel base stretch.
Well, despite the Cadillac hate on this site, I think it’s a hell of an idea. The question is whether it’ll be well executed or not.
But for $35,000, with a hot engine, AWD, slick styling and a premium interior, I think this will sell.
Your thinking there is alright – but a bit off on the pricing mark. You can price a Cruze up to $28k, and it’s FWD and has the smaller engine option (1.8?) than the Verano (2.4?) .
I bet an AWD BTS will be close to $37-40k.
*Edit: Especially since the Verano gets to $32k in top trim.
“Well, despite the Cadillac hate on this site…”
As opposed to the vehicle buying public’s warm, tight embrace of all things Cadillac.
Hey now dw
“The ats has a good chassis, good steering feel, and a better 2.0t mill.”
Deadweight chooses the ats.
Is that’s what is in your avatar (which is AWESOME, by the way)?
If so (or not), I did write that about the ATS as much as I loathe the ATS and believe it’s the antithesis of what any Cadillac (past, present or future) should be, and I did write and stand by the opinion that it’s a better vehicle than the Complete POS Mercedes Benz CLA250.
You’ve got a fan, or maybe a stalker; I’m not sure.
Yeah it is, when I saw this article it reminded me that i had actually taken an image off your post. Making it my avatar was someone else’s idea in that thread, but a good one. What the hell, why not? I actually belly laughed when I saw your post originally, I was just breezing through the comments I saw it almost completely out of context. If I actually knew you i’d be dropping off framed prints and hosting anniversaries of the moment.
You do have to admit, it was out of character to see you point out the strengths of a car you so clearly despise. You’ve been atomic clock reliable around here with the Cadillac hate.
“But for $35,000, with a hot engine, AWD, slick styling and a premium interior, I think this will sell.”
GM already has three cars set up to serve this segment though. The ATS-4 2.0T runs from $38k-$48K(LOL). The Regal AWD goes from $32k-$37k and the Verano-T starts at $30K. Why not work on one of those instead of introducing a whole new car?
Yes, there will be some differences among them, but the market of people wanting a smallish premium turbo sedan from GM is not large enough to support 4 offerings. And have mercy if they try to add a hotted-up Cruze or Malibu to that.
The best case scenario for the Cruzillac is that it cannilbalizes Buick and proves what an overpriced folly the ATS is.
Meanwhile, the brand only has one(!) CUV, ATS/CTS are down by double digit percentages, and the Continental is about to enviserate the old XTS.
If Cadillac wants to be successful, they need to get rid of at least one sedan and add at least two CUVs. Lincoln may not be doing everything right, but the MKC and MKX are the right products for the current market.
For $35-37K, you can go buy a Fusion Sport.
Or a Golf R.
Works for me. Golf R > Cruzillac
Unless gm decides to go there that is. They have the newest generation haldex in production, high output turbos and, certainly, the talent on board to mount a credible s3/cla amg competitor. They also have a european brand that could share the product. I’m not terribly optimistic they’ll go all the way, but they could.
Caddy can’t do a premium interior, and that’s one of its biggest problems. 1995 Roadmaster gauges, every touch point covered shiny, black, fingerprint magnet plastic, capacative-touch buttons that don’t work, vinyl seats, and CUE. Buick makes better interiors than Cadillac.
You leave the 95 Roadmaster alone! It had fine, simple gauges for old people.
Hey, I love the ’95 Roadmaster. I wish I had a different one for every day of the week, 5 of them wagons. But GM shouldn’t try to pass off the ’95 Roadmaster as a ’16 Cadillac.
Luxury brands shouldn’t be able to get away with offering poverty-grade trim levels. It tarnishes the brand, making people pay thousands more for equipment that should be standard (like the LCD gauges), just to avoid poverty-spec. Cadillac should, at least, lop off the lowest trim level of every one of its cars. They’re just embarrassing, fit only for Zipcar and rental duty.
Agreed.
Plus it goes like sh*t!
Maybe this thing is for China and not here. ( by here I mean USA)
Top click magnets for TTAC: Tesla and Cadillac
And Lincoln. We have strong feelngs about American luxury brands.
What does that mean for the Verano, though?
In all seriousness, unlike Mercedes-Benz with the CLA-Class, people aren’t so brand-hungry for the Cadillac badge that they’d need to buy a glorified Cruze, at least in sedan form.
It sounds like the XT5 is about to get a price-hike versus the SRX that it’s replacing. Cadillac would honestly do better to leverage this D2XX platform into a sub-XT5 crossover with palatable styling and good lease rates. That would sell.
I took a look at the SRX-2, or XT5, or Prednar 13, or whatever it was. Hyundai is closer for practical use for an actual vehicle for the school run than this thing, but with zero badge. We know Caddy can do better, but it looked like all the not cool kids got put on the truck project.
JdN: We will counter the mistakes of Mercedes and BMW with bigger and better mistakes of our own.
What’s the over/under on Cadillac be relegated to Pontiac status in the hierarchy?
Honestly, GM needs to kill Cadillac. Their market share isn’t large enough to support four brands of unique product and the attempts to turn this ship around are approaching Alfa levels of crazy. So much money spent on the Cadillac brand over the last 20 years and the biggest success over that period is a blinged-up Tahoe.
The Denali line has proven successful and Buick is about the only thing GM has with international appeal. They should be Chevy-GMC-Buick.
Close your eyes.
Imagine this:
The year is 2018 (early 2018).
A commercial comes on during late night TruTV.
Millennial Chick’s voice comes over the HDTV screen, as a slowing moving Cruzillac 1.8T is shown gently rolling over a SoHo cobblestone street, with neck-beard male hipsters and female millennials wearing scarves walking along the sidewalk:
“Enter the Arena, Dare Bravely; Well-Qiualified and Not So Well-Qualified GM Employees, GM Supplier Employees, Average People, Those Breathing & Credit Criminals Can Now Lease A Well-Equipped Cadillac CT2 for $0 Down and Just $199 Per Month for 24 Months.”
Melty Badge Cadillac Logo Appears on Screen Then Fades.
And end scene.
$199? I’ll go no higher than $99, I can get a much better Corolla for $199.
Cadillac Dealers will force Johan (if he’s still employed at Caddy in 2018) to implement an online “Well, how much will you be willing to pay, then?” make-us-an-offer Priceline style online offer app by 2018.
GM can use the chassis to make a boxy CUV… The Cimalade
“Ugh, my stomach hurts and I’m feeling nauseous.”
“Here, try some Cimalade. By Cadillac.”
I have news for GM: You already have a CLA/A3 competitor – it’s called the ATS. In terms of usable space the ATS is a near match for those competitors and so is the price. All it needs is a less crazy infotainment system, more sensible options packages and maybe some marketing.
Will it zig?
You can’t blame Cadillac for wanting easy sales like the CLA. The difference is that with the CLA MB sells you a three-pointed star and throws in a car for free. The Cadillac will not sell on its badge alone.
That’s probably why they changed the badge last year. Hasn’t helped, but it shows how clueless they are.
After driving a Caddy for 15k miles, my feeling is that, like the Corvette, it is supposed to be “The Best that GM Can Do”. I recognize this is a separate topic entirely.
You can’t escape some of the playskool aspects, but unlike the lesser brands, you see plenty of soundproofing, and designers allowed to use materials of quality-not design to a low price.
A FWD car would not necessarily be DOA. Normals don’t care which end drives the car and never see more than .4G anyway ever so they won’t notice how the car breaks away. If it does they just hope ABS will save it…
If the car showed a level of opulence beyond the competition, and turned a 6.5 sec 0-60 they’d be fine. Free advice…put $1,000 in the interior and you’ll not need to put cash on the hood.
DO NOT name it Cimmarron.
This is so stupid. Audi can get away with putting a four door body on the Golf because: 1. Nobody is bothered by a FWD/AWD Audi. 2. People actually LIKE Audi’s MMI system, and it’s BETTER than what you can get in the Golf, not WORSE. VW’s gauges are actually quite nice aside from ye olde driver info display in the standard issue Golf 1.8T, but again, Audi’s are better still, and when it comes time for us to get the A3 refresh, it will offer the same virtual cockpit option as the Audi’s much higher up the line.
The Golf’s interior is best in class, but the A3 is enough of a bump over that for people to buy it, even if in my personal opinion it’s not nearly enough of a bump to justify the price gap between a loaded GTI and a loaded A3 Prestige.
GM: You already have two cars at around the price points of the A3, CLA, and BMW 2 series. They are called the Verano and the Regal, and they are both very very due for a serious overhaul. Why couldn’t you do the 2016 Astra and the 2016 Verano at the same time? Tweak the styling a bit, add the Tri-shield to the front and some extra sound deadening. Job done. Why is it taking another year to change a car so little?
WTF is the point of the Regal if not to offer more space and more features than the A3 and CLA for the same or less money? You’re really going to make TWO FWD/AWD turbo four cars with the same price tag? With the Buick having nicer gauges, functioning hard buttons, and electronics that work properly, and the Cadillac being yet another Art&Snooze blocky bore-fest? It would be hard to make a more cynical, cheaper feeling interior than what the CLA has, but I’m sure you’ll pull it off, you always do.
Have an acquaintance with a just-about cherry UPP ’68 El Dorado; shiny lizard-green with white vinyl-leather-something interior and loud with glasspacks. Only thing amiss is one of the headlamps does not fully articulate at times, leading to a ‘winking’ expression from the car – and even that is cool. Every time one steps on the gas, a polar bear cub dies somewhere and an Exxon exec gets his wings. One could throw Benz CLA in El Dorado’s trunk, as kind of an escape pod or fancy spare tire; its engineered crumple-zone is the Prius destiny will someday put in El Dorado’s path. It apologizes for absolutely nothing.
It is fun daydream to think about what modern rendition of that awesome monster would be if Cadillac still made actual Cadillacs.
That would probably a Hellcat with a nicer interior.
“It is fun daydream to think about what modern rendition of that awesome monster would be if Cadillac still made actual Cadillacs.”
“That would probably a Hellcat with a nicer interior.”
Boom!
(Drops mic. Exits stage quickly as work is done)
I worship the sound of the secondaries opening, filling a 500 + CI engine with the bountiful sweet light crude of vassal nations.
The ribbon of black highway stretches to the horizon, only to intersect an impossibly tall mountain range.
bWAAAAAAAAAAAAA
If VW has to sell Bentley, maybe GM should pick it up. A Bentley badged Cruze would sell much better than a Cadillac. Give it a nice illuminated Bentley hood ornament.
What customer wanted a Cadillac, but decided the ATS was too big?
Cadillac also painted themselves into a corner in terms of luxury car model designation. The model letter/number should tell everyone else where you stand in the price and status hierarchy. S > E > C in Mercedes, for example. Since earlier in the alphabet and smaller number indicates lower price and status, how do you add a letter lower than “A”?
The backseat in this ATS is too spacious, I desire a smaller model!
“Coming without length”
Phrasing!
Brilliant synopsis!
Chevy based, rebadged Cadillac Sonic, to be dubbed Catonic (CT1), on deck!
Don’t get Johan and Melody any ideas. They’ll have it roll down the catwalk at New York fashion week and have 12 emaciated models get out if it clown car style.
Feast your eyes:
http://www.cadillac.com/concept-cars/urban.html
“Engineers have developed a concept hybrid propulsion system for the Urban Luxury Concept that includes a turbocharged 1.0L 3-cylinder engine employing electric assist technology, engine start-stop function, brake energy regeneration and a dry dual-clutch transmission”
THIS is tomorrow’s Cadillac.
Proof of Cadillac’s resistance to even Boolean logic is the trio of concepts listed: Elmiraj, Ciel, and…a preview of the 2019 Kia Rio.
One of these does not belong.
That thing (Urban Luxo-hooptie) should be called the “Cadillac Deathbed”…
Elmiraj looks like a sure winner…a re-badged Camaro !
And the Ciel- a badge-‘engineered’ Camaro ragtop !
Cadillac is the Standard-issue of the World.
There you are Bball. If you have some time to kill, behold my favorite and perhaps the finest B-movie of the past thirty years:
youtube.com/watch?v=tw9_QtlmiFs&spfreload=1
Do rear brakes come standard, or are they an option limited to the upper trims?
Cadillac has yet to establish itself in the upmarket class, with cash on the hoods of almost everything they sell; and they’re already aiming downmarket? Execution notwithstanding, the timing feels off.
Sad part is the cruise delta platform can probably be a better cadillac base than the ats alpha platform.
Although they really should just kill buick at this point…
Meh – my Chevy Volt has the “Cadillac” paint and some of the nicest leather seats I’ve ever sat in. Add in the technology underneath and it’s more of a small 4 door caddy than Cadillac will probably ever build.
Being optimistic in the extreme and ignoring the 90’s and 00’s gm products I can see how this would work.
On the styling front art and science bears no resemblance to the cruze and verano, if they budget for a comprehensive re-paneling I could see that working.
On the interior side the cruze is already a quiet starting point, and if they debut new interior technology like all digital displays, gesture control, etc there could be acceptance. A new dash design is doubtful but would be very helpful.
Performance? Well I think they should not offer a sub 2 liter motor here. Save that for buick and chevy, make sure every car has at least 200hp and a torque converter auto. That could easily be the performance value proposition, not offering the equivalent of the a3’s 1.8t but keeping cost parity. Use the money not spent on a dct to pay for this.
The GM-Ford 6 speed FWD transmission is dim-witted enough to be elected President. Hopefully, they would have its successor out by then for the rebirth of the Cimarron.
Here is what I have learned: nearly every semi-premium, premium, and luxury manufacturer in the past twenty five years has been focused on delivering you transportation with an additional feature or gimmick with overall reliability/value per dollar being a secondary concern for the most part. Mainline mfgs seem to have gone in the opposite direction in the same time period.
Yes. Now, if we could just avoid trickle-down gimmicks, like capacitive-touch audio controls in mainstream cars (looking at you, Accord).
This makes no sense. Aside from never heeding the lessons of the past (Cimmaron), why cannibalize sales in both directions? The ATS is already this idea, right? Then people leave the dealership in a CTS, which is larger and often highly incentivized.
The Caddy dealers need something that can go out the door on a $189 a month lease deal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_BLS
I’m evolving on this just reading my email feed of the comments. I actually think it’s a good thing gm is doing this. This new super hot c transverse segment is finally being accepted in the us market. Ford and vw look like they’ll be selling their entries at premium price points plus dealer markup for the foreseeable future. Audi and Mercedes seem to be doing well with theirs, even the not hot versions. If gm doesn’t enter the fray quickly they’ll be forever playing catch up, just like merc is right now with the cla in terms of packaging and refinement.
This is also a product for at least three, potentially 4 brands. The cruze should start thinking about a r/rs competitor. The next verano would use a version for its top trim level, opel’s need demands no explanation and Cadillac could both a3 and s3 equivalents.
Isn’t it a good thing that gm is jumping on a new segment? I might not want one as much as a next generation ats, but it’s not wrong headed.
I smell Cimmaron!
This is the only site, I’ve seen, that hasn’t updated the story stating Cadillacs complete denial of this car in development.
Now why is the automatic assumption that a car will be on this platform and not a compact SUV.