Former General Motors vice president Bob Lutz once said something to the effect of “I’ve never seen so much money go into something that looked so cheap” when describing the first-generation Cadillac CTS that debuted in 2002. The following model, which went on sale in 2007 and is still on showroom floors new was a dramatically more upscale-looking product.
Now, General Motors says the 2014 car is going to be just as dramatic a departure as the 2007 version was from the first car. GM design chief Ed Welburn told Automotive News in a recent interview that the new Cadillac CTS will be “more sophisticated, more premium” when compared to the outgoing model. It will also have less chrome, according to Clay Dean, director of advanced design. That might ruffle the feathers of Cadillac diehards. But Cadillac diehards are also an aging group with less clout in the market than they once had.
In the next generation, the Cadillac CTS is set to grow, matching its midsize BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class competition size-for-size. But hopefully, like the Cadillac ATS that just went on sale, it won’t also be pound-for-pound. With the added steel canvas, GM’s engineers and designers will ditch using simply rulers and protractors. Rumor has it they’re planning on using compasses, too, for the next-gen car. They want to make the most of the car’s added size to give it a bolder, more elegant look.
Likely to debut early next year at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the 2014 Cadillac CTS is expected to be powered by Cadillac’s new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder as a base engine, a V-6 in the midlevel car, and, once again, a firebreathing Corvette-derived V-8 for the CTS-V.
Our sister publication Automobile Magazine has a full gallery of spy shots of the next car. We think it’s headed in the right direction. Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments section below.
Sources: Automotive News (Subscription required), Automobile
