2013 Cadillac ATS Sedan Teaser Photo Released

2013 Cadillac ATS Sedan Teaser Photo Released

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.