Topic: Preview: 2013 Cadillac ATS

[dougjp]

Here is an interesting comparison of features between the BMW 328 and the ATS:

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/1201_cadillac_ats_vs_bmw_3_series/

It will be really interesting to get more details about both these cars - detailed pricing including options, road tests etc.

[aquadorhj]

Here is an interesting comparison of features between the BMW 328 and the ATS:

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/1201_cadillac_ats_vs_bmw_3_series/

It will be really interesting to get more details about both these cars - detailed pricing including options, road tests etc.

thanks for the link, doug.  it's remarkable how bmw's keep their front wheels so so close to the front end of their cars.  i love it abou them.

the ATS really really looks good.  i hope it does well and leads to an affordable m3 fighter/killer. 

[Fobroader]

If this ATS is much cheaper than the 3 or A4 equivalent they should sell lots. I know a lot of guys who are 30ish and would love to have a sedan with a manual transmission and rear wheel drive. Its a lot easier to sell a sedan to a wife than a coupe, and if caddy doesnt price itself out of the market, they should sell well. I for one would find it weird to walk into a Caddilac dealership, Im not on a respirator nor do I remember the papers advertising "V-Day, we won the war"!!!

[Ex-airbalancer]

...but if the ATS is better than the 3-series in key metrics, I'd have no problem buying one.

+1. Give me a hatch with the same monthly on a lease, and I will gladly give Caddy a second look and maybe even drive one.

Who offers a hatch in this class in NA

Like the previous poster said, BMW does. And if the ATS is the CTS "junior", it might as well be offered with a hatch just like its bigger brother.

oh yes the x6 is hatch, make and model number of any other hatches please

[sirAQUAMAN64]

...but if the ATS is better than the 3-series in key metrics, I'd have no problem buying one.

+1. Give me a hatch with the same monthly on a lease, and I will gladly give Caddy a second look and maybe even drive one.

Who offers a hatch in this class in NA

Like the previous poster said, BMW does. And if the ATS is the CTS "junior", it might as well be offered with a hatch just like its bigger brother.

oh yes the x6 is hatch, make and model number of any other hatches please

I was thinking the forthcoming 3 Series GT if we get it (think it would work better in North America than the 3 Touring or pricey and heavy 5 GT, and I'd sure as hell prefer it to the X1).

[lebowski]

Right now, Cadillac has one decent but dated product (CTS), one mediocre product (SRX) and three abysmal ones (DTS, STS and Escalade). More importantly, the majority of their products are so bad they can barely sell any of them outside of the US market. Even though Audi got killed in the US by the unintended acceleration hit job, they continued to do just fine in their core European markets. More importantly, they developed a proper product pipeline and gradually became competitive in every part of the luxury market. Cadillac spent far too long underinvesting in product and relying on seniors in Flordia and rental fleets to buy heavily discounted junk.

As someone else mentioned above, Cadillac will price the ATS at similar levels to the 3-series, C-class and A4. They'll then offer large incentives because they won't be able to sell them without heavy discounting. Finally they won't be able to offer competitive leasing, because the residuals will be so poor. I'm sure it will drive extremely well, but that really won't matter. BMWs don't sell because they drive extremely well; they sell because of the image associated with decades of producing cars that drive extremely well.

I really don't know how they get out of this spiral. It looked like they were going to pull it off when they first launched the revised CTS, but they seem to have lost all of the momentum since then.

Cadillac will succeed because GM won't let it fail. The General will continue to prop it up until it phases out the junk and has a competitive product line, from top to bottom. If GM can build competitive cars like the Cruze, Saturn Astra, and Buick Regal, they can build great Cadillacs again (as they have already with the CTS-V). They have too many resources not to do so. Dream Machines like the Ciel and reality-based ones like the XTS point to bright days ahead, IMHO.

And speaking of Buick, I have to say, it's reviews like this, by former Gumballer and notorious Euro car snob Alex Roy, which point to GM's ability to hit home runs, when it wants to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtqUMvsIuHk (starts at 9:28)

[Neromanceres]

The 2 litre in the ATS is not actualy the same engine as in the Regal GS.  Yes, they are both turbo 2 litre engines but they are not the same engine.

Not exactly the same but very similar. They are ~90% the same.  I think your confusing the 2L turbo (270hp) in the Regal GS with the 2L turbo (220hp)in the base turbo Regal.  Those are different engines.  But the GS engine and ATS engine are very close.

Also in the article it states (presumed) that because the Regal GS doesn't have an auto the ATS won't have an auto with the 2.0T. The Regal is FWD.  I'm guessing an auto will work in the ATS as the packaging and trasmission is different for RWD.

[sirAQUAMAN64]

The 2 litre in the ATS is not actualy the same engine as in the Regal GS.  Yes, they are both turbo 2 litre engines but they are not the same engine.

Not exactly the same but very similar. They are ~90% the same.  I think your confusing the 2L turbo (270hp) in the Regal GS with the 2L turbo (220hp)in the base turbo Regal.  Those are different engines.  But the GS engine and ATS engine are very close.

Also in the article it states (presumed) that because the Regal GS doesn't have an auto the ATS won't have an auto with the 2.0T. The Regal is FWD.  I'm guessing an auto will work in the ATS as the packaging and trasmission is different for RWD.

The Regal GS is now available with an automatic.