Cadillac Confirms ATS Sedan Will Exit Production This Year
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After a handful of hints and clues via General Motors documents, Cadillac has made it official. The Cadillac ATS sedan will exit production following the 2018 model year.
Meanwhile, the ATS coupe will live on through 2019, but ultimately, the compact luxury car will die off in favor of two new Cadillac sedans. The two new cars will replace the ATS, CTS and XTS models. The first will likely be called the Cadillac CT5.
“This year will bring forth significant changes to our product portfolio, most notably with the introduction of the all-new XT4 SUV as well as concluding the successful life cycle of the ATS sedan in North America,” Donny Nordlicht, Cadillac spokesperson, told The Detroit News. “Production of the ATS sedan is ending due to extensive plant upgrades, expansion and re-tooling to prepare for the next generation of Cadillac sedans.”
The ATS’ death is part of former Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen’s plans to reconfigure the luxury brand’s vehicle portfolio. The Cadillac CT6 will remain the largest of the sedans, while the CT5 will likely straddle the ATS and CTS’ footprint. A smaller sedan, called CT3 or CT4, will round things out.
Matt Russell, Cadillac’s marketing manager for the V-Series and racing, said, “The fact that the ATS sedan has reached end of life cycle does not mean we are getting out of the luxury compact car and luxury subcompact car business. It’s simply too soon to reveal our product plans for the future.”
The ATS’ future remains unclear for China, though. The compact sedan has sold well in the country where Cadillac has grown significantly in recent years.
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I think this explains why the ATS was a flop early on. JDN decided in the early days of the ATS that it was destined to be killed off. That’s why it never received a desperately-needed refresh to the front fascia, LED lights (and colors).
I think it’s a mistake to keep renaming vehicles with legacy. JDN destroyed the great brand built up by the G series (G35, G37) by replacing them with the obscure Q-series over at infiniti. The old Q45 was a REAL luxury car. The Q50 is a sport sedan. I think JDN just liked the high value scrabble letters. Infiniti gave up G’s and M’s for Q’s and QX’s. Over at Caddy he replaced ATS, CTS, DTS with XLR’s XT’s and CT’s. I bet he wanted to rename the Escalade too – the only remaining recognizable brand at Cadillac. I’m sure he had something like ZTQJ8 in store for it.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/infiniti-unexpectedly-changing-all-model-names-to-q-qx-for-2014-confirms-new-range-topping-sedan
Personally I’m not a fan of the alphanumeric names, and I believe that having a “real name” will boost a models sales. If Cadillac want to go all alphanumeric and throw away sales… fine; but the Escalade should ALWAYS have a real name. The amount of equity and image that it is is irreplaceable. I think the CT6 and XTS should also have “real names” because they are both in a segment that Cadillac was always most well known and well liked.
“and I believe that having a “real name” will boost a models sales.”
You think names are the problem? It’s not that coupe and sedan market are contracting and demand is practically null?
If only it were so easy to think that names mattered as much as the badge does.
A great sedan gone
Some of these “leaders” underestimate the value of a brand name. They spend years and millions to create and establish them, then throw them away. The XTS probably should have been the Deville since it caters to the same established customer base. The DTS sprung from the Deville Touring Sedan and the STS sprung from the Seville Touring Sedan–all very good brands. Then of course the opposite is true when they slap the good brand name Lemans on a crappy Korean car derived from an outdate Opel.
Hope they put the lessons they learned from the ATS, BLS & CTS into a good use to build a world class Luxury car that goes toe to toe with the segment leader & not another Good Enough GM product.
Grab your manual ATS-V sedans while you still can.
Don’t forget in China, it’s the ATS-L. The extra wheelbase adds rear space/legroom demanded by the Chinese market. I expect the next wave of Cadillac sedans will have a heavy influence from China/SAIC. The Chinese don’t always do exactly as expected though, the XTS was a primarily NA design that has done very well there, so well in fact it got a few more years and a re-fresh.
If they had made an ATS-L-V here, it would have had a much higher chance of being in my garage.
The ATS is a good looking car. Handles even better. Probably the most common Cadillac sedan on the road today. I think the issues it has are, no rear seat, and lower trim levels look cheap. Pros are nice car for a good price now.