This past Saturday in Monterey, Cadillac invited a select group of journalists to see the production version of the CTS coupe. Naturally, cameras weren't allowed inside the Caddy tent to keep images leaking out ahead of the coupe's official unveiling this November at the Los Angeles Auto Show. However, a lack of pictures hasn't stopped InsideLine from going into detail about what the CTS coupe will look like when it rolls onto the stand in LA. According to the report, the coupe is virtually unchanged from its conceptual predecessor, with everything ahead of the A-pillars pulled directly from its sedan counterpart. The massive C-pillars have remained, along with the vertical taillights and steeply raked rear window. Thankfully, Cadillac saw fit to include a back-up camera to make up for the lack of rearward visibility. Production will begin next summer at GM's Lansing Grand River plant, and while GM execs remain mum on engine choices, expect the same duo of V6s available on the sedan and sport wagon to carry over to the coupe, along with the CTS-V's 550 hp, supercharged 6.2-liter V8 later down the line.
Past spy shots of the upcoming Cadillac CTS Coupe have shown the prototype wearing baggy pants on its butt that obscured exactly how much of the CTS Coupe Concept's rotund rear end would make it to production. These new shots from KGP Photography, however, show a prototype that's wearing only a form fitting body suit of checkered tape. They reveal that the overall shape of the CTS Coupe's hindquarters will neatly mimic the concept car, though small details have been changed for production purposes. The mesh vents that flanked the center exhaust tips on the concept have been replaced with red reflectors, for instance, and the license plate housing has been reshaped to accept plates from the U.S. or Europe and is now topped by a bigger strip of chrome. Another notable difference is the addition of a true B-pillar where the concept had nothing but glass. Still, the car is largely the same as the one we saw rotating on a stand in Detroit last January and will serve to fill out the CTS lineup along with a sport wagon that should be arriving shortly.
News of facility closings and truck and SUV production cuts have been very sobering to GM's plant towns and the union workforce. While GM's live press conference was bad news for many, the General's Lansing Grand River plant had plenty of reason to smile. The facility received word that the CTS Coupe and Sport Wagon were green-lighted for production, giving the plant more variations of the strong-selling CTS. The two-door CTS should provide Cadillac a shot in the arm here in the States, but the Sport Wagon could be a wild card. The sporty family hauler will likely sell well in the wagon-loving Euro market, while also giving US buyers a fashionable alternative to the SUV. The CTS will supposedly receive a 2.9L turbo-diesel powerplant, which will give Cadillac a stronger presence overseas, while giving shoppers States an oil-burning alternative.
One potential downer for the plant is that the SRX will be moving to a front drive platform, meaning that production could potentially move to another plant. The SRX never sold in high volumes and it didn't have a market overseas. The CTS Sport Wagon will arrive in the spring, with the CTS Coupe following during the summer.
We're all fidgety waiting for the arrival of the Cadillac CTS coupe, but GM has already axed a potentially popular variant of the two door entry-Caddy. Despite indications that GM's turnaround plan is making headway, resources still need to be allocated carefully, so we're guessing that an alfresco CTS Coupe didn't make a good enough business case to justify the cost to bring it to market. While it certainly cost GM money to make the CTS a two-door, significant investment would have been necessary to engineer and fine-tune the reported retractable hardtop the convertible would have gotten. Convertible buyers are often a little different than hardcore coupe purchasers, opening up another sales niche. GM also misses out on another challenge to BMW, which offers a Skyliner-ized 3-series. If there's enough clamor for a convertible CTS Coupe, GM may eventually commit to it as Cadillac takes aim at BMW with it's awesomeized CTS.
Not long after Car and Driver snagged the first shots of the production Cadillac CTS Coupe, we now have new spy shots showing the coupe's profile and front end, and a few surprises were awaiting us at these angles. For one, this preproduction prototype has no door handles, instead incorporating the same door-opening mechanism used on the Corvette in which the recess for the door latch comes after the door and is completely flush. The Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept also featured this type of door handle, though we honestly didn't expect it to see it on the production version. Also of note that wasn't totally obvious in the C&D images is that the CTS Coupe Concept's fastback profile will make it to production intact. Some, including us, were worried that Old GM could resurface and cost cut the production CTS Coupe to the point that it became the sedan with a longer pair of doors. This doesn't seem to be the case, as the production CTS Coupe appears to feature completely different sheetmetal than the sedan from the A-pillar back. While the front end and front fenders don't exhibit quite the level of flare seen on the concept, the production car will retain a center exhaust, sporty side sills and new wheels.
Everything looks better with proper lighting. The 2008 Chevy Cobalt SS just stepped into the studio for its glamour shots and they didn't come out half bad. Though the Cobalt itself is somewhat ancient compared to other small cars that have been significantly redesigned in the past few years, it still sells well and the Cobalt SS will likely be the cheapest cost of entry into the wonderful world of direct injection technology when it goes on sale. Its motor is the same one used in the Pontiac Solstice GXP, Saturn Sky Red Line and Chevy HHR SS. The turbocharged, direct-inject 2.0L four cylinder produces 260 horsepower and 260 pound feet of torque, though is tasked with towing around a lighter weight package than other inexpensive pocket rockets like the Dodge Caliber SRT-4 and Mazdaspeed3. Torque steer, of course, is always an issue, but the FE5 sport suspension package was tuned on the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany and GM promises a ride you can live with on a daily basis. As for the design, it's 95% Cobalt and 5% go-fast tomfoolery. That combination makes for a great sleeper car, as the Cobalt SS does not announce itself on arrival. The 10-split-spoke wheels, subtle (and still useless on a FWD car) rear spoiler, new fog lamps and side sills are extremely tasteful. No scoops and fender vents here, thank you very much.
When the Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept was revealed at the Detroit Auto Show in January, no overt mention was made that the car would go into production. But c'mon, it's a no brainer if Caddy wants to compete with its German rivals on every level. Though we still have no official word on the CTS Coupe's production plans, Car and Driver actually spotted two prototypes in the desert undergoing testing. How's that for production confirmed?
Though the rear end of the coupe is covered, engineers were forced to keep exposed those sweet center-mounted dual exhaust tips that carry over from the concept. As for the rest of the car, it doesn't take much brain power to imagine a CTS with two doors instead of four. The CTS Concept itself is a veiled production car, so we don't expect much to change at all on its journey to the dealer lot.
Now, let's hope C&D keeps its cameras focused on the horizon for any sight of a pre-production Cadillac CTS-V Coupe.
Cadillac has a winner on its hands with the new CTS. We've driven it, we like it and offering a coupe version for people that don't need to lug an extra couple of passengers around is a no-brainer. GM is hoping that the new CTS will bring sales of the sedan back to the levels set in 2005 and adding another model into the CTS fold will help seal the deal.
Dealers were shown the CTS coupe concept during the NADA conference and, according to reports from Automotive News, they were foaming at the mouth to get some of that two-door hotness into showrooms. Although there was no confirmation that it would be built, judging by the reception it's gotten from both dealers, the press and consumers alike, we know it's just a matter of time.
If you liked the Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept and feel that your garage is incomplete without one in it, well, you're gonna be able to scratch that itch next year. Inside Line reports that the concept will go into production in mid-2009 as a 2010 model. Expect the same general shape as the show car, albeit with some detail tweaks to make it production-friendly. The most obvious ones will be the addition of an integrated rear spoiler with a CHMSL and the conversion from the stylized center-outlet exhaust to something more traditional, like the CTS sedan's dual tips. We're betting it'll be deja vu all over again next January in Cobo as the usual suspects reconvene to drive the production CTS coupe (CTC, maybe?) onto the very same stage that welcomed the concept. And General, don't forget to drop in the LSA and do a 2-door V-Series while you're at it.
Here's a way to create content long after an auto show has ended, dream up a list of editorial favorite picks. Well, what the hell, we might as well be meta and report on the anti-news. Here we go blithely. AutoWeek handed out its Editors' Choice awards for the North American International Auto Show at its Design Forum on Wednesday. We can debate the relevance, but we'd rather just talk about the cars. The four vehicles that AutoWeek thought were the bee's knees are as follows:
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