Cadillac can be a global player
Forget the Fleetwood Brougham and the Eldorado, new Cadillac models are to be taken seriouslyCOMMENT
It has taken 113 years, but old-man Cadillac has chosen to be the newest luxury brand on the planet. Better late than never, Cadillac is seriously contemplating right-hand drive production for Australia and the UK. And to hammer the message home that its time on the world's stage has finally arrived, Cadillac will introduce a range of smooth-running potent diesel engines before the end of this decade.
The clock is ticking. If Cadillac is serious, it will need a brilliant rear-drive competitor to the Lexus IS, BMW 3 Series, Benz C-Class and the Audi A4/5. Enter the Cadillac ATS and a family of variants including a two-door and the twin-turbocharged 3.6-litre V6 ATS-V pushing serious engine output of 346kW (SAE) and 603Nm.
This is the car to transform Cadillac's image in parts of the world where they either drive on the left or don't speak English. If the larger CTS – a car marginally smaller than the current Holden Commodore – was a foretaste of what was to follow, the ATS is the main course. But since the debut of the first-generation CTS back in 2004, Cadillac's new-found enthusiasm for driveability, sophisticated specification and its quirky 'Art & Science' design have been an apparently well-kept secret – bound chiefly by the borders of the USA and Canada.
Word is beginning to get out however; Cadillac is gunning for prestige brands from Germany, just as Jaguar, Lexus and Volvo are doing. And why shouldn't America's oldest luxury brand be taken seriously in other parts of the world? It has heritage on its side, for a start. Cadillac was building beautiful, quality cars for the cognoscenti when BMW was building the Austin 7 under licence, and Jaguar was better known as 'Swallow Sidecars'. Another 60 years would pass before Lexus arrived on the scene, and its parent company was making weaving looms back in the 1930s, not motor cars.
If GM's premier brand has finally come to acknowledge that there is a market for its products in the world beyond the Americas, that's more competition to keep the Germans honest.
And dare we hold out hope Cadillac might even make it to Australia one day?
For the present the ATS remains left-hand drive and petrol only, but it seems entirely likely that Cadillac will introduce a new platform prior to decade's end, and that may spawn right-hand-drive ATS variants.
It will be worth the five-year wait because even in its present form, the ATS is a serious contender within a very competitive segment.
It delivers good power and throttle response everywhere between idle up to redline. But before it endears you with its strength, it distracts you with a coarse idle quality.
The ATS is one of those cars that your eye seems to find easily in traffic. There are so many angles and tangents; the ATS is like a geometry quiz. Soft-brushed aluminium surrounds an oversized grille that dominates the front styling. It is an effective statement of the brand considering that nowhere, except on the boot lid, does the ATS wear the word 'Cadillac'.
You either like the exterior design or don't. Yea or nay. After a week on the road, I grew to like it and it didn't take much persuasion. The straight line geometry hides an impressive amount of design detail. There's deep subtlety in the body lines that overall create an aggressive stance and solid presence for the small ATS.
Colours and materials inside are top peg, and Cadillac's interior designers have played with visual textures to distinguish touch points and highlights. You feel measured and tailored in the ATS. It is a unique interior atmosphere that is unmistakably not English, German or Japanese. It is distinctly American with suede leathers and earth tones contrasted by bright aluminium finishes.
The ATS 'Alpha' rear-drive platform gives the same tailored feel. This is a Cadillac that likes to be driven, and it tailors itself to the road with GM's magnetic ride control and big four-piston Brembo brakes. Steering feel is excellent.
It brings to mind European driveability, but with an overlay of American luxury trappings. That's gotta be unique in the global prestige market.
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