Cadillac’s hero car, the CTS, was designed from the beginning to bring Cadillac into the 21st century and show that they could compete with the likes of BMW and Mercedes. Introduced as a 2003 model, and redesigned for the 2008 model year, the CTS has indeed shown its competition that America can still build great cars, worthy of the world’s attention. In fact, the high performance edition of the CTS sedan, called the CTS-V, was pitted against the BMW M5, another purebred sports sedan, and beat it! This past year, Cadillac announced that they were coming out with a wagon based on the CTS, called the CTS Sport Wagon, which is on sale now. Today, they announced a new sibling to the CTS and CTS Sport Wagon, called the CTS Coupe.
The CTS Coupe will show up sometime next year as a 2011 model, and other than a few bits of the front end and dashboard, shares only its name and wheelbase with that of the CTS Sedan. The CTS Coupe fits nicely into the redesigned Cadillac, and given the relative sales success of the CTS, should be a popular car. With less weight and the same power, expect its driving dynamics to be close to the CTS Sedan. The CTS Coupe is aimed at fans of coupe styling, drivers who don’t necessarily need the 4 doors or extra room of a sedan. Cadillac also announced that a “V” edition CTS Coupe would show up in 2010 as well, giving CTS shoppers 5 derivatives to choose from. It also helps GM spread out research and development costs across the 5 cars, and if sales increase over what the sedan alone sold, then GM’s strategy will have worked.
In the current economy and the recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy that GM went through, some may wonder why GM is choosing to expand its lineup of CTS cars, but given its success so far, especially since the 2008 model went on sale, I think it’s a smart move. It shows GM’s dedication to Cadillac, and competetiveness in general, as well as a unified design theme for all CTS-branded cars. Anyone who looks at the CTS Sedan, Coupe and Sport Wagon should instantly recognize them all as Cadillacs, which is good for Cadillac, especially as more and more cars look alike. I expect the coupe to boost Cadillac’s sales, although by how much is still uncertain.
by John Suit
Source: Cadillac, Images (c) GM