2010 Cadillac CTS

The 2012 Cadillac ATS premium compact car will slot in below the company's CTS premium midsize sedan. The 2010 Cadillac CTS is shown here. See more pictures of the 2010 Cadillac CTS.

Consumer Guide's Impressions of the 2012 Cadillac ATS

After more plot twists than a soap opera, the new General Motors has finally confirmed a "baby Cadillac." Sized and priced below the premium midsize CTS, the ATS could be an equally impressive domestic entry in the premium-compact-car class.

What We Know About the 2012 Cadillac ATS

We've been waiting for the formal birth announcement of a new "baby Cadillac" since fall 2007, when word got out that General Motors was planning such a car to take on the BMW 3-Series and other premium import-brand compacts. Of course, that was before the economy tanked and GM's losses accelerated, forcing the automaker to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and rethink most new-product plans. Now, after just 40 days in court, GM has emerged as a smaller but financially healthier "private" enterprise--albeit 60-percent owned by the U.S. government via $50 billion in taxpayer loans. And because it's trying to win consumer trust after its historic bankruptcy, "The General" (now more a Lieutenant Colonel in terms of market share) has decided this is a good time to tell us about the new products we will all be paying for.

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Hence the press conference and consumer clinic staged in mid-August 2009, where the post-Chapter-11 General Motors Company revealed the broad outlines of what will likely reach showrooms as the 2012 Cadillac ATS. It's one of five new models promised from GM's flagship brand through the next two years. The others are the 2010 CTS Sport Wagon and second-generation SRX crossover, the 2011 CTS Coupe (old news now), and the 2013 XTS, the replacement for Cadillac's DTS and STS sedans and based on a stretched version of the "Epsilon 2" architecture that's used for the redesigned 2010 Buick LaCrosse.

Here's where things get sticky. At the preview, GM said the 2012 Cadillac ATS will offer "high-tech engines, rear-wheel drive, and optional all-wheel drive...to take on the best in the segment"--meaning the benchmark 3-Series. It also showed a concept coupe that's supposed to be very close to the finished article, and said an ATS sedan will be offered too. However, the company has not yet confirmed the ATS name, nor has it disclosed technical details. Though the Alpha premium-compact-car program announced in '07 was widely assumed to be a victim of GM's recent reversals, some sources say it's still alive and will, in fact, be the foundation for the ATS. Others say the new junior Caddy will use a cut-down version of the Sigma platform that hosts the CTS.

Who's right? It almost doesn't matter. The key point is that the 2012 Cadillac ATS shapes up as a more-direct rival than CTS to the 3-Series, Audi A4, Infiniti G, Lexus IS, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The CTS is priced to compete with those cars but is dimensionally closer to the premium-midsize BMW 5-Series, Audi A6, Infiniti M, Lexus GS, and Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

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