Cadillac is looking to bolster its lineup by introducing a rear-wheel drive sports sedan that will be slotted just below the ATS. The disclosure was made to Road & Track by Cadillac executive chief engineer Dave Leone at the 2016 North American International Auto Show.
According to Leone, the model will be Cadillac’s entrant into a market that’s already teeming with competitors, most notably the Mercedes CLA-Class. But this new model - it doesn’t have a name yet - could end up holding a trump card if it does end up as a rear-wheel drive model, something neither the CLA-Class, nor other front-wheel drive models like the Audi S3 or the Acura ILX have. Having a rear-wheel drive setup could help the Caddy stand out.
Leone didn’t dive into the nitty-gritty of the new model, but there has been some whispers that the model would use a version of Cadillac’s Alpha platform, which is already being used by both the ATS and the CTS sedans. It makes sense from a financial standpoint because the company won’t have to build a dedicated platform just for this new model. But, there’s also a caveat, particularly how the company would navigate around a platform that’s engineered for big models. It could rework the architecture and shrink the platform itself, but doing so presents its own challenges, something Cadillac would have to address if it does green light the production of this sub-ATS sports sedan.
Hopefully, Cadillac takes its time to discuss this model and doesn’t rush anything for the sake of rushing. History already paints a pretty disturbing picture from the last time Caddy pushed a model to production in the face of rising competition from its European rivals. Yes, almost 28 years since it was mercifully killed off, the Cadillac Cimarron’s stink hasn’t dissipated yet.
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