Cadillac stole the show in LA Tuesday night with its unveiling of the newest additions to the Cadillac V-series lineup, the ATS-V sedan and coupe. The dynamic duo’s unveiling was highly anticipated and marks Cadillac’s first real attempt at dethroning the king of high-performance compact luxury, the BMW M3.
It’s hard to not get excited when reviewing the specs of the 2015 ATS-V. Its 455 horsepower LF4 twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V6 will allow it to sprint from 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds and top out at 189 mph. It also has a six-speed manual transmission offering, a functional aerodynamics kit and selectable driving modes.
All that performance won’t come cheap. Cadillac boss Johan de Nysschen recently spoke with USA Today, where he revealed the ATS-V will start at around $63,000. By comparison, the BMW M4 starts at $64,200, with the four door M3 starting at $62,000. It’s probably no coincidence that the ATS-V lands directly in the middle of those two.
The price of the ATS-V is no bargain, but it’s not absurdly expensive, either. It’s right on par with the German competition, as is the rest of Cadillac’s portfolio pricewise. The price of an M3/4 can quickly crest the $85,000 mark if the customer opts for things like the $8,150 carbon ceramic brakes and $2,900 dual-clutch transmission. As a result, the cost of the ATS-V’s optional extras will decide which of these two is the more expensive buy.
de Nysschen says the ATS-V will go on sale in spring 2015 with cars arriving at dealerships shortly after.
Comments
Sounds reasonable to me. Anybody complaining about that starting price should not be shopping in this segment!
I think that is a bargain for it’s performance specs and in person the car looks way better! I can tell you that!
Is it worth 63000? Yes. But cadillac is just digging thier own grave with these drastic price changes that used to keep them above the competition. So sad.
“But cadillac is just digging thier own grave with these drastic price changes that used to keep them above the competition.”
That should be very, very telling; that Cadillac’s primary advantage in the marketplace used to be it’s low price.
Geez, if only they had technological advantage or product quality advantage. Who’d ever by a luxury car that had those kinds of advantages?
If you’re price conscious, get a Lincoln. Cadillac will filter out the posers from the genuine luxury consumers.
Called it, by the way. First 4 posts.
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2014/07/do-the-2014-bmw-m3s-surprising-dyno-figures-bode-ill-for-the-cadillac-ats-v/
I was off when I quoted $61,500 for the ATS-V, but I was in the right ball park.
I dont think so, people are willing to pay for quality. I personally cant afford the ATS-V, so I went with the ATS Coupe. Best car I have ever owned.
The price is good and about where it needs to be.
There is a lot of technology in this car and once it hits the track it will prove how complete of a package it is. A great car is the sum of all it’s parts working together and that is what you will find here.
The GM Engineering staff has been enable in the last few years to start doing what they feel is needed and are also being funded to the point they can afford to do it right.
If you want Cheaper Cadillacs they can take the new Malibu and rehash a Cadillac out of it like Lincoln does with their car out of Ford Products. Now if you pay a little more you get a hell of a lot more from Cadillac.
What you see here is akin to the Corvette and it is a lot of performance for what you are paying.
$40K does not buy much car anymore in fact it is just a little better than average.
The fact is Porsche and many other imported luxury models and sport models are priced as to no just anyone can own one. That is part of the image they have cultivated and try to protect.
I drove my uncles 911 up Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and you could see people looking to see if we were anyone important. If we were in a Grand Am no one would have looked {True Story} . Note when I was walking around I also was looking to see who was driving expensive cars there too. The image the car projects need protected and the higher price does this.
The bottom line is if you can’t afford it then you are no longer Cadillac material.
There was once a time in the 30’s not just anyone could buy a Cadillac and that is what they are trying to get back too.
Anyways we will see much more exciting things here. I have heard many good things [nothing specific] from GM engineers over the last couple years. When they are happy generally we will be happy with what they bring out.
The bottom line is if you want Cadillac to be the standard of the world image again you can not do it at WalMart prices.
The fact is not all of you and myself included are going to be Cadillac material.
$63,000 for this car is respectable considering how cool and tremendous amounts of bragging rights the V brand had accomplished since 2004.
The third generation V brand will be more advance and stellar from now and upcoming years which will make the bread-n-butter (lesser models to the V) models from Cadillac cool as well.
You people are all delusional. Caddy sales are down about 18% year over year for a reason all the while overall international luxury car sales are up several points over the same period. Pricing this “V” 20% below M3 and M4 is essential for GM to achieve any volume success in this market segment. Deep down they know it so watch for the rebates, the incentives etc.
GM never needed rebates to sell a V-series car before, and I doubt they will need them in the future. The V’s have had over ten years of proven performance, none of which were archived on the basis of volume sales.
Cars like the V’s, M’s, AMG’s, RS’s, and F’s sell themselves on their on the performance capabilities, and are NEVER sold on their imagined “value for money” metric.
It’s you who is delusional.
I think you really have no real understanding of what is taking place here as are making the mistake at looking at this short term and small picture. Even some of the fan boys do the same.
Cadillac is working to transform from a company that was nothing but low end luxury car that was the choice of the Mary Kay Rep and retired bingo player in Boca Vista to a top flight car that will change its demographic entirely.
This is not going to be a cheap or easy move but one it need to make for it to survive.
They are just now offering the product that can go head to head with the other makes in class. To do this they have to charge more as you get what you pay for in this segment. Sure they could just cheap out and revamp a Buick like they did with the XTS but that would get them no where.
If one would follow the history of BMW in this country prior to 1970 they really were nothing special here. They were the car that odd guy down the street bought that thinks he is a German. Same for Audi as how many years they were nothing but just a slight step up from VW before their car bodies rotted away 5 years after purchase.
Even Benz in this country in the 50’s was not the juggernaut that they were in Europe. They were the ex Nazi car imported by Studebaker.
All these makes has to pay their dues in the United States and even Cadillac has to pay theirs to earn the trust of the public and to do that they need to continue to introduce new and better products with each and every new model. That is what the others did and that is what Cadillac will do. GM knows this is not a short term game and they are in it for the long run with commitment to proper funding to do it.
GM is early in this game and has shown of late they are willing to do what they need to succeed. Not many companies have the funding, engineering and ability to compete here but GM is one of those companies that can do it.
So while changing over from an aging low end luxury consumer to a higher end luxury consumer there will be some up and downs in the market. You have to earn your image and once you do then you can sell that image to the ego driven buyers of this segment. No one needs a $100,000 600 HP luxury sedan to get where they are going. But you do need one if you want to sell yourself as being successful and earn the respect in many business circles. It is like trying to make a big business deal with a large company in a cheap JC Penny suit vs. showing up as the part of power in a Armani suit.
This project will take 5-10 years to get where they need to be and another 5 years to really compete for the top crown. That is as long as nothing comes in to mess it up like a failed economy etc.
There are no delusions here with most of us. Some may think this is an easy 5 year deal with 3 cars but most know the gig here is long haul.
The fact is even in lower volumes the higher prices will make this division more profitable. As volumes grow so will profits as this segment is the most profitable in the industry outside trucks. This is why Lincoln has not gone away yet even though Ford has shown no commitment to free them of Ford and it will only hold them back.
GM has shown what they needed to do in the last 2 months and go all in on this as that is the only way it will ever work. As they add more of their own things like engines and technology they will grow and advance.
You have to look big picture here and not short term. This is where many pro and anti Cadillac people fall short in seeing how this really will work.
The quality of the dealers in general will prevent the brand from ever entering the top echelon of manufacturers. A revamp of the entire dealer network to bring it up to the level of at least Lexus is necessary and will never happen.
It’s just very ugly.
I said I thought it was worth 63000 first off. Second my meaning by saying the prices are digging thier grave was me referring to the dramatic sales drop since all the price changes. Strange coincidence. And all you aresspouting crap about cadillac material when the fact is there is nothing wrong with making a better product at a better price. I thought they weren’t trying to be soulless Germans? Looks like copycat rather than trailblazing to me. Changes need to be made for cadillac, but expecting them overnight is just sheer arrogance. Kia is a perfect example of success while moving upmarket.
“Second my meaning by saying the prices are digging thier grave was me referring to the dramatic sales drop since all the price changes. Strange coincidence.”
Moreover, Cadillac is weeding out the posers and value-conscious buyers who erroneously think luxury is a value proposition.
Kia, despite your pleading, isn’t moving upmarket as nobody will pay 60K for anything they build. I mean, just look at the failed Kia Amanti. It was the exact same approach as the K900; the “lots of luxury for a little money”. With that kind of business model, ANYONE can have the car. In doing so, it defeats the purpose of being a luxury product because it’s too accessible; there is no exclusivity or pride of ownership in the K900. Everyone know the owner dropped $40K and didn’t have the means to get into proper full-size luxury cars; it’s too rich for their blood. Subsequently, driving the K900 makes a negative public statement about the owner and their understanding of what a luxury good is; that the owner is cheapening out and cutting corners when it comes to getting an authentic and genuine luxury product.
Lets not forget that Kia is publicly viewed and known as offering down-market, poor residuals, cut-rate cars to people will poor credit. THAT is by far a harder negative public image to shake off than Cadillac’s image. At least Cadillac has well over 100 years of public recognition of being a luxury automaker, even if 50 of those years were spent targeting the second tier.
It’s all about that ATP. Having the general public known that the person behind the wheel of an ATS-V has $63K worth of disposable income says something much different than what a $40K K900 says. It’s the kind of personal judgement we all make when we look at someone. What they wear, what they eat, who they hang out with, what they do for a living, where they live, and in the case of proper luxury cars, what they drive.
You think differently of someone who steps out of an A8 versus someone who steps out of a K900, and it’s in that difference that mainstream luxury automakers thrive, and where Cadillac needs to be.
So, no, it’s not a strange coincidence. It’s not soullessness. It’s not a German thing. It’s not an American thing. It’s a luxury thing. It’s what people want their luxury car to say of them.
If you think Cadillac is worried about the lost volume now, you should be reminded that the ATP of their cars they do is sell is much, much higher than ANY Kia will ever garner.
It’s the different approach that Cadillac is taking that’s confusing you, reducing you to referring to it as “soullessness”. Call it soullessness all you like, but as example, you’ll be hard pressed to convince the people who habitually buy 3-series that their car is crap. To them, the 3 is cool, and that is all that matters to them. To them, no other car can impress others and open doors for them like the 3, no matter how many thousands of dollars a Kia can undercut them.
Haters will hate on anything, don’t they? LOL!!!!!!
Lincoln needs Ford Performance to modify an MKZ, put a Radical Sportscars-tuned 454-hp EcoBoost V6, and call it the Lincoln Performance MKZ and nickname it “The Concierge’s Devil.” They also need to add the optional Black Label package to make it a CTS-V rival with 645+ hp out of a modified Shelby GT350 V8 with a supercharger.
Just my opinion
It’s a little too high by like 3-5 grand especially with all the new high performance options out there. It should start under 60k. Even though its “luxury” I still most people think of this type of car as a performance car first with luxury as a added bonus. Who want’s to be the 60K + guinea pig on the resale value of something like this. I’ll just take any of the established Euro high performance options for this price. Or go for any one of the new performance offerings from Ford, Chevy, or Dodge for my performance fix and save a few grand ie GT350. This was supposed to be the have you cake and eat it to car. Oh well They will make great used cars with that 100k powertrain warranty.