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2015 Cadillac ATS-V gunning for the BMW M3

Spy photographers have spotted something interesting. Cadillac engineers have taken to public streets with the upcoming ATS-V and a playmate: the current BMW M3 Sedan. The prototype seen here wears a more aggressive front fascia, flared fenders and beefy brakes. Quad exhaust tips and what looks to be a small lip spoiler on the trunk deck sum up the most obvious visual changes over the standard ATS outside. Word has it the ATS-V will bow with the same twin-turbo 3.6-liter V6 available in the nose of the XTS. In that application, the engine is good for a stout 410 horsepower, which should be more than enough to hustle the sedan around a track.
Other details are still murky, however. First and foremost: will GM offer the ATS-V with an honest manual transmission, like it does with its big brother, the CTS-V? Something tells us we won't have long to wait to find out - the machine will likely bow next year as a 2015 model. Until then, dig in on our newest bevy of spy photos.

Cadillac ATS failing to command BMW 3 Series-like pricing as hoped

The BMW 3 Series has long been the benchmark for small and sporty luxury vehicles, but the Cadillac ATS has come on strong in its short time on the market as a true rival in this segment. As impressive as Cadillac's new compact sedan is, however, Automotive News is reporting that the car is still lagging behind the 3 Series when it comes to actual transaction pricing.
According to the article, the average transaction price for the ATS is $39,459 while the 3 Series is at a much larger $44,764, but, just as importantly, Cadillac has about $500 more in incentives on the ATS compared to BMW. Transaction prices are much closer to cars like the Mercedes C-Class and Audi A4. Of course, this is all with the ATS trying to take on its small,sport sedan rivals with a single bodystyle and limited powertrain options compared to the numerous options available from the German automakers in this class.
This uneven battle won't last long, though, as recent spy shots have revealed that Cadillac is hard at work on a high-performance ATS-V and an ATS Coupe. No official word as to when either of these models will be unveiled, but with auto show season set to kick off, we're expecting sooner rather than later. The best news for the ATS is that the Automotive News says sales of the ATS are on target and that 74 percent of ATS buyers are new to Cadillac - two important factors for the brand as it tries to break into this tough segment.

Junkyard Gem: 1997 Cadillac Catera

GM's Cadillac Division was having a tough time in the early 1990s, with an onslaught of Lexuses and Infinitis pouring across the Pacific to steal their younger customers while high-end German manufacturers picked off their older customers. Flying an S-Class-priced model between assembly lines in Turin and Hamtramck hadn't worked out, so why not look to the European outposts of the far-flung GM Empire for the next Cadillac? That's how the Catera was born, and I have found a rare first-year example in a North Carolina car graveyard. Across the Atlantic, GM's Opel and Vauxhall were doing good business with prosperous European car buyers by selling them the sleek rear-wheel-drive Omega B (whose platform also lived beneath the Holden VT Commodore in Australia). Here was a genuine German design that competed with success against BMW and Audi on their home turf! So, the Omega B was Americanized and renamed the Catera. Opel wasn't a completely unknown brand to Americans at the time, since its cars were sold here with their own badging through Buick dealerships from the middle 1950s through the late 1970s (for a much shorter period, American Pontiac dealers attempted to sell Vauxhalls). Even after that, plenty of Opel DNA showed up in the products of U.S.-market GM divisions. The Catera was by far the most affordable Cadillac for 1997, with an MSRP starting at $29,995 (about $59,113 in 2024 dollars). Being a genuine German car, it looked much more convincingly European than the DeVille ($36,995), Eldorado ($37,995) and Seville ($39,995). Inspired by the ducks on the Cadillac emblem (they were really supposed to be martlets, mythical birds with no feet and occasionally lacking beaks), Cadillac's marketers went after youthful car shoppers with a whimsical animated duck named Ziggy. For the 21st century, the birds were removed from the Cadillac emblem in order to attract California buyers under 45 years of age. As we all know, the Catera flopped hard in the marketplace. What sold well in Europe turned out not to translate so well in in North America, especially when bearing the badges of such a historically prestigious brand. The Catera's engine was a 54-degree 3.0-liter V6 rated at 200 horsepower and 192 pound-feet. Just as had been the case with its predecessor, the Allante, no manual transmission was available.