2011 Cadillac Cts Coupe Prem on 2040-cars

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Cadillac ATS was almost front-wheel drive

"We were going to do a front-wheel drive Cadillac compact off of Delta because it was going to be less expensive," Doug Parks, General Motors' vice president of global product programs, told the Automotive News during the Detroit Auto Show in January of this year. That sentence, referring to early ATS discussions more than five years ago - a period when the automaker, and the industry, was struggling - reveals that Cadillac's highly acclaimed rear-wheel drive compact sedan almost never happened.
Parks revealed that that automaker actually built a 2.0-liter test mule, on GM's Delta platform (shared with the Chevrolet Cruze and Buick Verano) and tested it in Europe. While the prototype was "pretty darn good," according to Parks, the team realized that in order to compete against Mercedes-Benz and BMW it would have to invest in a new rear-wheel drive platform.
The resulting all-new Alpha platform would eventually underpin the Cadillac ATS, and many would argue that its balanced rear-wheel drive chassis is its single most important attribute. Thankfully, the Alpha's goodness won't stop with the ATS. The upcoming 2014 Cadillac CTS and the future Camaro will also share its architecture, meaning the Cimarron will remain a distant memory.

GM recalls 2014 Cadillac CTS recall

No, that headline isn't a typo - General Motors has reportedly issued a recall for one of its own recalls. The recall of a recall affects the recall of the 2014 Cadillac CTS, which wasn't supposed to be recalled. Except that the 2014 CTS was supposed to be recalled. Oh no, now we've gone cross-eyed.
Allow us to explain. The redesigned, third-generation CTS Sedan does not feature a faulty ignition switch, while the 2014 CTS Coupe and Wagon, which are based on the second-gen car, do. And as it turns out, there are only 264 of those vehicles included in last week's 8.2-million-unit, ignition-switch recall. Model year 2003 to 2013 CTS Sedans, Coupes and Wagons are still covered.
It's not entirely clear how this, frankly, colossal mistake was made, although we're betting GM is rapidly trying to get to the bottom of this embarrassing issue. Regardless, let's just take what solace we can in there being one less vehicle that GM has recalled this year.

Watch the 2014 Cadillac CTS live-stream reveal

Despite many an image leaking onto the Internet over the weekend, today is the official day for the debut of the all-new 2014 Cadillac CTS. You want the nitty-gritty details of Cadillac's new sedan? Click here.
If you want to watch the 2014 CTS makes its live debut in front of a throng of auto journalists, then just watch below, as Cadillac is live-streaming the event at 7:15 PM EST. That's only a few minutes from now, so click here to start watching, and stay tuned for our first live images of the CTS from the New York Auto Show.