There have been some shakeups in recent weeks from our friends at Cadillac, from the discontinuation of the CTS, a move out of the New York Headquarters and murmurs about the brand eventually going all-electric in the not-too-distant future.
A new Senior VP has been put in place, and many models are all getting rebranded, reengineered or replaced entirely. When it comes to the CTS and ATS, the latter is especially true. The CTS, the long-running midsized sport sedan and a favorite among gearheads in V trim, has already been put to pasture.
With Cadillac’s new direction, new models and new branding will go into effect. General Motors has already announced that over 20 new all-electric models will go into place by 2023, some of them, Cadillacs. The goal for the [former] Wreath and Crest brand, is to put Cadillac at the forefront of the latest automotive technology, as it once was in its heyday.
Now that’s been said before, during the launch of the Art & Science styling campaign that spread across the brand, as well as the V (for Velocity) performance marque. Launched in 2002, first on the Escalade, then quickly followed by the 2003 CTS that replaced the awful Catera, Art & Science also gave us a fresh-looking STS, DTS, XTS crossover, and a two-seater convertible based on the C6 Corvette.
While these vehicles provided the Cadillac brand a shot of adrenaline it so desperately needed, and made them far more competitive with their German rivals, it still wasn’t enough. The cars still lacked behind in sales, as well as popularity by the masses. The age of the average buyer only dropped from 64, to 57. Cadillac still wasn’t reaching enough Gen-X and Millennial buyers.
Now with so much focus put on electric vehicles, Cadillac feels that it’s time to lead the way in the segment — hoping to beat out most of their rivals. As it stands now, the ATS and CTS will have direct replacements, in the CT4 and CT5, respectively, as well as V-series versions, but the details are yet to be announced. The unveiling of both vehicles is set for May 30th, 2019.
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of GMEFI Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the brand’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next modifications for his own cars.
