Cadillac ATS To Drop Sedan, Go Coupe Only For 2019 Model Year?
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General Motors recently filed new documents with the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration that reveals some interesting information about Cadillac’s future product plans. Among the info are some potential changes coming to Cadillac’s lineup: the CT6 will drop its base 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, and the ATS range will drop the sedan body style, leaving the ATS coupe.
As reported by Cadillac Society, new VIN documents show the Cadillac ATS being available exclusively in coupe form, with the sedan not being mentioned whatsoever. Aside from the discontinuation of the ATS sedan, the document did not show any powertrain changes, meaning that the 2019 Cadillac ATS Coupe will continue being available with its three existing engines:
- 2.0L Turbo I4 LTG making 272 hp (203 kW) @ 5500 rpm and 295 lb-ft of torque (400 Nm) @ 3000 rpm
- 3.6L V6 LGX making 335 hp (250 kW) @ 6800 rpm and 285 lb-ft of torque (386 N-m) @ 5300 rpm
- 3.6L Twin-Turbo V6 LF4 making 464 hp (343.3 kW) @ 5850 rpm and 445 lb-ft of torque (603.3 N-m) @ 3500 rpm
2016 Cadillac ATS-V Coupe
We should note that automakers can submit changes to these documents until 60 days before beginning to produce the vehicles, so any of these details can still be changed. It does, however, provide us more insight into Cadillac’s future passenger car strategy.
Earlier this year, Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen stated that Cadillac will “rebalance its sedan portfolio” by replacing the ATS, CTS and XTS with two vehicles. The first of these will be the 2019 Cadillac CT5 sedan that will be targeted at buyers looking for vehicles “in the $35,000 to $45,000 range” while a second model will slot below it. We have since discovered that both vehicles will ride on GM’s Alpha II architecture that succeeds the commended first-generation Alpha platform, and both will be produced at the GM Lansing Grand River plant.
Keeping all that in mind, the discontinuation of the ATS sedan for the 2019 model year makes sense given that the CT5 will be priced in the same general price range. The 2018 ATS Sedan starts at $34,595. Meanwhile, a smaller sedan will arrive roughly a year later to slot under the CT5.
Future Cadillac Lineup
Based on what we know so far, Cadillac will introduce a refreshed CT6 as the 2019 Cadillac CT6 as well as the compact Cadillac XT4 crossover in calendar year 2018. The Cadillac CT5 and its smaller brother (its name has yet to be announced, but will likely be CT3 or CT4) – will arrive in the 2019-2020 time frame and complete Cadillac’s sedan offerings. A larger three-row crossover to slot above the midsize Cadillac XT5 is possible. The future Escalade will arrive with fresh duds sometime around 2020.
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IMO, this is what should have been done from the beginning, the rear seat of the ATS is next to useless.
ATS with a bigger back seat? They already make it, it’s called CTS…
Remember Lutz’s comments about clinicers?
“A classic case is the original two-seat Ford Thunderbird. Queried, the owners said, “I love it, but I wish it had a back seat.” Brilliant insight, and thus was born the four-passenger Thunderbird: nice, but large, heavy, and no longer nimble. As a midmarket specialty car, it did reasonably well, but it was no longer what it had been. More research revealed that it would be nice to have doors for the rear-seat passengers, a gem of market intelligence that for 1967 birthed the soon-to-be-forgotten four-door Thunderbird, the kosher pork chop of the automotive world. It was a tragic flop, discontinued after only two unsuccessful years on the market. One can imagine the confused protests of product planners: “But we gave them what they said they wanted!” Cadillac’s Seville STS of the early Nineties was a shocker: wide, low, powered by a dual-overhead cam Northstar V8. It had a broad stance, large C-pillars, and a sharply raked windshield. It had great “presence,” that indefinable quality that makes a car look good and desirable. It sold astonishingly well. But happy owners, when questioned, said that visibility could be better out of the windshield, sides, and back. Armed with this useful feedback, product planners guided designers into the 1998 Seville STS. More upright windshield. Less tumblehome. Wider roof. Thinner C-pillars. Cadillac had checked all the “dissatisfiers.” The car was mechanically better but got a disappointing reception. The reason: Customers just didn’t like the way it looked.“
Put a big back seat in an ATS and it will look like an Aztec…
Part of the problem with the fifth generation Seville was that GM shrunk the car with big hopes for selling it internationally. It was also engineered for both left-hand and right-hand drive. The shrunken car attempted to keep the fourth generation Seville’s design but with less length and width, design compromises were made resulting in a loss of elegance. Whereas the fourth generation model had excellent proportions because of its uncompromised size, its successor was designed to meet international five-metre goals which resulted in a somewhat less attractive design.
ATS has 33.5″ of backseat legroom. BMW F30 (3-series) has 35″. Same as the CTS incidentally, but with the outside dimensions of the ATS. I would have 2-3 ATS coupe/sedan/V-variant purchases under my belt by now (instead of a 228i and 320i) if Caddy didn’t spec the awkward backseat/bench rake angles that they do, offered the brilliant LGX V-6 with the manual like in the Camaro, and/or had updated the LF4 TT V-6 with the LGX’s better design/engineering.
Funny. I have an ATS Sedan and have people riding in the back seat from time to time… so it’s far from useless.
By that line of thinking, the back seats of the Audi A3, Benz CLA-Class, Lexus IS, are also useless. And despite being slightly larger, so are the ones on the BMW 3 series, Benz C-Class and Audi A4, right? But not. The reality is that they are useful enough to be useful. Sure, neither one of these offers palatial rear seat room… and that’s not what any of these cars are about.
Besides, the rear seat space is so far down the list of consideration priorities in these segments that it matters very little. You can probably count on two hands how many people have decided against buying a compact sport-luxury car because of its rear seat capabilities. Just go to any dealership that offers these vehicles and observe the shopping process closely: no one even opens the rear door, let alone sits in the back seat during the shopping process.
But hey, something like 85% of ATS sales volume is the sedan… so I’m sure it would have been an excellent idea to drop the sedan and sell 100 units of the coupe “from the beginning” (/sarcasm).
I suspect the plan is to make a large production of coupes in early year, and then begin retooling the plant for another model. That way they can concentrate parts and not worry about breakdown in the ordering books.
This whole back seat thing needing to be bigger is a joke and it needs to stop. As long as the two front seats are comfortable that’s all that matters
It’s the perfect zip around car size . Just right for a single man and easy to park with great mpg on the highway . I like mine because of the heated seats and steering wheel !
Drop the Sedan…makes no sense whatsoever. They should add a station wagon to the ATS line, the only 4-dr I would ever buy.
Dropping the sedan practically ends the ATS as a Cadillac model
That’s because the CT5 will be taking the place of the ATS Sedan from a price standpoint, albeit being a size class larger. That’s what we mention in the article, anyway.
The coupe variant of the CT5 will not be available right away, so that’s the reason for keeping the ATS Coupe around.
So that is the actual reason for this product move. Then the ATS line is a dead model rolling.
Thanks! Alex
Too bad you’re wrong. It’ll be more expensive than the ATS sedan and a size class bigger while being cheaper and marginally smaller (but more spacious) than the CTS.
I might be wrong, but I suspect this is a matter of perspective.
I suspect that the CT5 will start around $40,000, which is slightly more expensive than the ATS Sedan but still in the realm of the C-segment… while being roughly a size class larger (marginally smaller than the current CTS, as you say).
So… wrong?
Just another example that Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen just doesn’t know what he’s doing and should be fired immediately.
So discontinuing an old product (ATS Sedan) to replace it with a new product (CT5 sedan) is representative of JDN not know what’s up?! interesting…
As long as the replacement models for the ATS/CTS/XTS are right around the corner, this ought to be of no concern for Cadillac enthusiasts. Can’t deny the fact that the ATS is a tough sell in this market; stellar car in terms of performance, but too late arriving to the party! Although I do find it somewhat strange the ATS Coupe will soldier on until at least the new model arrives, I suppose it makes sense seeing as to how there may not be a coupe replacement at all.
There will likely be a coupe variant of the CT5, but only later. Hence, keeping the ATS around makes sense. That’s my prognosis and reasoning, anyway.
And the ATS Coupe’s market share makes sense. Better to keep the sedan until the CT-5 line-up arrives.
The only people I see driving the coupe are women in the 70’s-80’s and women in their 20’s-30’s., though, there are quite a few coupes around here, SW Oregon.
My first car was a very low mileage 1948 Cadillac 62-series convertible, maroon with a tan top and a maroon leather interior, rolling on Kelsey -Hayes wires and Double Eagle tires. It would be nice if Cadillac offered a CT-5 Convertible coupe along side the coupe.
CT3 will be a coupe, CT4 will replace ATS (homogenized internationally as an ATS-L replacement), and CT5 will replace CTS. All will be cheaper than their replacements. CT5 will likely get a coupe AND convertible. CT4/CT5 will be somewhat like CLA/C.
Decision on a flagship will be made at some point over the next 6 months on whether it will be a large liftback or four-door convertible, because it’s one of the two.
“CT4/CT5 will be somewhat like CLA/C.”
Not sure what you mean by this?
1. Do you mean CT3/CT4?
2. The CLA is a subcompact “four door coupe” that is based on a front-drive architecture. It also has a shooting brake-style wagon in some international markets. Meanwhile, the C is a range of rear-drive-based compact cars, including sedan, coupe, convertible and wagon.
So how will the Cadillac offerings be anything like it?
I’ve never understood why GM didn’t offer, as an option, a newer and nicer gauge cluster…like CTS V? Such an easy optional addition. I’ve long liked this car otherwise!
Offering the Camaro SS tunes 6.2 V8 would be sweet too!
One has to remember is that while Cadillac may not sell very many ATS sedans in the United States, it is very popular especially the ATS-L sedan in China and canceling production of the sedan could drive potential Chinese buyers to consider another sedan instead of Cadillac.
And the ATS-L could have had market share, here.
The ATS-L is pretty much the same exact size as the current-generation BMW 3 Series, MBZ C-Class and Audi A4. It’s the “right” size of the C segment.
So the obvious solution would have been to make the ATS replacement the same size as the ATS-L while making the CTS slightly bigger still (to be more in line size-wise with the current 5 series, E-Class, A6, etc.).
But apparently, that’s not what is happenning. They will try to compete with the Germans’ four-sedan lineup with three sedans. #Weak
I’ve owned 5 CTSs and 04, an 08, and 11, a 14 and currently have a 2017. To be honest I loved them all, but the 2014 and 2017 are the best. Cadillac finally got it right and now their changing it. It makes no sense to me, I agree with Omegatalon…JDN needs to before he run Cadillac into the ground.
Weren’t the 2014 and 2017 both Gen 3?
I owned and enjoyed a 2014 ATS with AWD. I found the fold down backseat to be very useful from time to time. I really like the styling of the coupe. Now that the ATS will be only a coupe I hope they also do a convertible version. It would seem that as the ATS is built on the same production line as the Camaro convertible that an ATS convertible could be a possibilty.
They sell more ATS Sedans than Coupes. Maybe there is a surplus of Coupe parts or they are thinking
some tribute/collector cars. The theory about building a bunch of Coupes early might be good.
Dealers can load up on 2018 ATS Sedans, if they think they can sell them during 2019.
Most likely they are freeing up space for converting the assembly line to building CT5’s and then building CT5
instead of ATS.
The price optioned up of 50k may have had something to do with weakening sales. I just got a 14 v6 premium with 30 thousand miles for 22k and the thing is a nice little rig.
Can’t wait to see Cadillac’s 2019 lineup; ATS Coupe, CT4, CTS, CT6, XT4, XTS, XT5, and Escalade. The “names” just keep getting more and more confusing.
Cars are CT except there is an AT that’s also a car and SUVs are XT unless its an XTS which is a sedan or an Escalade which is a non-XT SUV. The CT is followed by a number except for the CTS which uses a third letter instead of a number and then sometimes there’s a fourth letter, V, which means is goes faster.
Welcome to the brand mess that GM calls Cadillac.
Every generation they change everything. The models, the naming, the logos, management.
Instead of building a consistent brand, they keep on piling onto the mess.
BMW for example does it once, but right.
For decades people can buy a 3-series.
The logo hasn’t changed much either.
Thats how you build a brand and keep depreciation down.
Nobody wants to drive a model that doesn’t exist anymore.
I drive a model that doesn’t exist anymore!
BMW has also had the same tagline, The Ultimate Driving Machine, for 45 years. And, it isn’t just a slogan, it serves as a guiding principle that is enfused into everything they build. Cadillac changes direction every few years.
I am a real Cadillac fan — owner and driver. I was invited as a guest to participate in the Cadillac V Series Performance Lab at Circuit of the America’s. I think the Cadillac CTS and ATS are outstanding performance cars, particularly the V Series. My friends drive BMW, Mercedes, Audi, and Porsche. None of them understand or appreciate what Cadillac is today. They seem to equate Cadillacs with Sedan de Villes of the 90’s which they last may have driven as a rental car on a business trip. When I do discuss Cadillac with them they are confused by the model names, although they clearly understand what an Escalade is.
It frustrates me how slow Cadillac is to introduce their new models. In the years we’ve been hearing about the possibility of new CT whatevers and small crossovers and large crossovers, Mercedes seems to introduce all sorts of new product. What is Cadillac waiting on? Maybe to get the new product right the first time. Cadillac advertising seems strange. The last Cadillac commercials I saw were for tires and oil changes at Cadillac dealers.
Agreed! That about sums up much of my thoughts / complaints of Cadillac also.
Completely agree. An entire generation of MB A class and nearly an entire generation of A3 has come and been replaced well before a theoretical CT3 sees the light of day. Same with whole generations of SUV classes while we wait and wait for a three row crossover.
And the days when we wait years for V-series models after the mainstream model releases needs to end. This isn’t 1998. These days, AMG and M versions of nearly every BMW model are year 1 launches several months into each new generation. None of this 3-4 year waiting anymore. And V’s need to be offered in AWD now. I love my CTS-V wagon, but I just can’t do another RWD car in the northeast anymore…
People are dumb, but they’re not retarded. You’re exaggerating the issue.
As long as it’s a GM product and has .2 inches less than the competition someone is going to complain. That goes fo all comparable category’s whether it be gas mileage,turning circle, Quaker mile or whatever. If the GM product don’t win in every category it loses. The solution is to beat them in all of those category’s even if it only by less than.1.
Cadillac has some of the best looking cars out there BMW And Mercedes Benz overpriced cars That loses value After 6 or 7 years then it Cost a TON A money to fix them
Please make the upcoming CT5 just a little smaller then the current CTS.
All Cadillac had to do was offer the ATS L made for the China only market and it would be sell. The current iteration is too small compared to competitors on the market. The L version is still smaller than the CTS and therefore wouldn’t have interrupted it’s sales. Kudos GM for failing to do the obvious once again.