Cadillac has released its first official image of the upcoming ATS, a compact sports sedan that will be aimed directly at the BMW 3-series. We’ve caught the ATS wearing ample camouflage before, but this picture—especially after it’s been lightened—gives us a much clearer idea of what to expect from the finished product. General Motors officially calls it a “compact luxury sports sedan codenamed the ATS,” but our sources inside the company say the name is already a done deal.
As you can see, the ATS is styled using Cadillac’s latest version of its Art & Science design language, but there are hints that it will be somewhat less conservative than current Caddys. The headlights extend onto the top of the front fender, for example, and the long hood and front door combine with the short rear door and rear deck to give the ATS a more pronounced cab-rearward profile.
Before we continue, it’s worth addressing the future role for the CTS. When that car launched nearly a decade ago, Cadillac pitched it as a rival to the BMW 3-series and Audi A4. (For you history-passionate readers, you can see these three and more duke it out in a comparison test from 2002.) It was always big for that class, though, and the current generation is even larger. The third-gen CTS will again get bigger, and therefore be repositioned as a direct competitor to the BMW 5-series, Audi A6, and Mercedes-Benz E-class.
With that out of the way, we can get back to the ATS. Like its bigger brother, the ATS will ride on a new rear-wheel-drive platform dubbed Alpha. (The current CTS uses Sigma bones.) We expect that the ATS will offer a mix of four-cylinder and V-6 engines, some turbocharged, and manual transmissions should be available across the board. All-wheel drive will be on the order sheet, too. We’re most excited, naturally, for the ATS-V, which we’ve heard should pack a twin-turbocharged V-6 thumping out around 380 hp.
Some time after the ATS arrives, we expect Cadillac to introduce an ATS-based convertible with a cloth roof (rather than a folding hardtop), different styling, and a new name. It’s meant to fit between the ATS and the larger, more-expensive CTS, much in the way the Audi A5 cabrio slots between the A4 on which it’s based and the A6.
It’s possible that the Cadillac ATS will debut as early as this August at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance—a Detroit debut in January makes some sense, too—and General Motors says that the car will go on sale in the summer of 2012. Until then, figure on a steady trickle of images and information.
Thanks to: Car and Driver
