With the departure of the Cadillac ATS, General Motors luxury brand no longer builds any two-door models. It doesn’t have any plans to do so in the near future, either, with the automaker shelving plans to build what was believed to be a CT5 coupe.
It’s a bit of a sad day when you can’t get a Cadillac with two doors. After all, this is the company that brought us cars like the Cadillac Coupe deVille and Eldorado. Even in recent history the brand has churned out some nice looking coupes. The ATS Coupe was easy on the eyes and the CTS Coupe was a striking design that looked almost identical to the concept version.
So why has Cadillac turned its back on the coupe? Sales of passenger vehicles may not be very strong at the moment, but virtually every one of Cadillac’s competitors offers multiple coupes. Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi all have multiple two-door vehicles in their lineups at the moment. Infiniti also has a sole coupe on offer and even Volvo has one if you count the Polestar 1.
Mercedes-Benz 2-doors:
- C-Class
- E-Class
- S-Class
- SLC-Class (SLK-Class)
- SL-Class
- AMG-GT
BMW 2-doors:
- 2 Series
- 4 Series
- 8 Series
- Z4
Audi 2-doors:
- A5 Family (A5, S5, RS5)
- TT
- R8
Infiniti 2-doors:
- Q60 Coupe
Cadillac recently had plans for a new coupe in the works, evidenced by a series of blueprints uncovered in 2018, but this project has been cancelled, our sister site Cadillac Society reported. GM’s new-found focus on electric and autonomous vehicles required major restructuring due to development costs and the small initial returns on such undertakings. This essentially spelled the end for slow-selling vehicles like coupes, with Cadillac focusing its energy on segments where the bulk of its sales come from.
It would be nice to see a new Cadillac two-door one day in the future, though. We could see the automaker making a style-forward electric coupe once it gets more crucial products like its electric crossover on the road. We think such a vehicle would be a great way to draw attention to the automaker’s other electric vehicles and could act as a halo product. A sports car based on the Corvette C8 platform may also be a good idea, though we imagine such a vehicle would cost quite a bit more than the $59k C8.
What do you think of the idea of a new Cadillac coupe? Let us know in the comments and be sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more Cadillac news, and 24/7 GM news coverage.
This report was written in collaboration with our sister publication, Cadillac Society.
Comments
If folks don’t buy Coupes, Cadillac won’t offer Coupes.
Seems like a pretty logical business move.
The days are gone where luxury car makers are not going to sell 150,000 units of a model per year like Lincoln did with the Town Car back in the day or Cadillac did with the DeVille/Fleetwood. Todays luxury marques need a portfolio of 10-12 vehicles with many not selling more than 5,000 a year.
If Cadillac truly wants to compete with Lexus, BMW, and Benz- and even Infiniti-, Coupes are mandatory.
Coupes like the BMW 2 series severs as a portal to the marque for single professionals who will more than likely trade that in on a BMW sedan or SUV. There are a lot of empty nesters that want to have a larger coupe like the 6 series.
GM would have been wise to have an entry-level coupe similar in size to the CT4, and a larger coupe similar in size to the CT6.
Of course Cadillac will have a coupe again. The big personal coupe will come back into vogue when the post-millennial is at income max about 30 years from now. It’ll last possibly a decade, and if Cadillac is anything like they are now, they will dive in to the fray around year 9, when every GM bean counter is assured it’s a safe bet!
With China as the #1 market, the near future of Cadillac badged vehicles is a few sedans, lots of CUV’s and the Escalade. In fact GM as a whole will soon have only the Corvette, a few sedans and lots of CUV’s and trucks. Camaro looks to be dead, again.
Mercedes, BMW and Audi have an audience for these vehicles in Europe, GM does not.
The sedan of today is the “coupe” of yesterday, CUVS and trucks drives the US makers profits in the US. I’m sure the Camaro will see a next gen due to the Mustang and Challenger getting redesigns thou a E/V option will be available.
Doesn’t surprise me the direction CADILLAC is going right down the tubs. How can you compete to be the standard of the world when you don’t have the models to compete with other car companies Cadillac used to be a trendsetter now they’re just followers. If they can’t even get naming the car right XTSXT5CTSATS not making the V series in enough models they’re completely going downhill sad very sad
Look up the elmiraj concept car on Cadillacs website. That’s what they should make…
https://www.cadillac.com/future-concept-vehicles/escala
General Motors CEO Mary Barra reminds me of Adam Schiff as she tells so many lies that it’s difficult to remember that Barra is the CEO of General Motors and not the International Liar’s Club; when Cadillac begins building Eldorado EVs, we may see a new 2-door coupe or General Motors Board of Directors decide to simply fire Mary Barra in the next 12-18 months, we may see a Cadillac coupe as Cadillac still doesn’t have a halo car.
I really like my CTS-V coupe but would like to have something with some newer technology and like the horsepower bump of the 3rd gen. I won’t buy the sedan, the Corvette doesn’t have a back seat for my large dog and I already have a Camaro so I am not excited about anything coming in the near future.
Who wants a coupe? Just glue shut the two rear doors! 😉
Sad, but GM is known to kill models that have a loyal fan base. Hopefully they still keep sedans around, because outside China, GM crossovers have sloppy handling and feel way too cheap.
They go whichever way the wind blows. Right now, the American public is buying CUV’s SUV’s and Trucks, so that’s what all the GM divisions (and Ford too) are primarily building . When the market “wind” shifts again (or gas prices jump up long term) GM’s attention will shift to follow. I’m not too surprised coupes aren’t the focus these days, but I did kinda think during times like this, the AWD Wagon might be stronger. (Is the Buick Regal TourX selling very well?) But who really knows, when Cadillac built the CTS-V Wagon, hardly anybody wanted them, now many folks (including me) think the wagon was the best looking CTS…
I don’t think the list should lump 2 seaters and 4 seaters together…….
SL, SLK and AMG GT aren’t the same as an E class coupes.
That Cadillac coupe rendering was best exterior design GM has come up with in a generation, and they won’t build it. The 2016 (and 2019 refresh, especially) Camaro, the 2019 Silverado and the 2020 Corvette are, by some margin, the ugliest vehicles in their respective segments. It took many years of my loyalty being eroded by disappointments, including design, build quality and this year’s atrocious reliability rankings, but I’m well and truly done with GM. Be well GM Authority. You did better than anyone could have expected with the product you had to cover.
I for one, drive a 2019 ATS coupe’ and I am very disappointed, that Cadillac has dropped the design! I had several other Cadillac coupe’s as well… a 2015 ATS… an Eldorado… an Eldorado Biaritz… and a Coupe de’Ville. There were also, a couple of Corvettes over the years. I was hoping that there would be an updated… modern version of the Eldorado! I prefer, front engine sports cars vs mid-engine designs. The Eldorado was classic and with the competition, all building coupe’s, Cadillac is missing the boat! Seriously!
I miss the Eldorado too.
No coupe, no Cadillac for me.
I have a 2013 CTS Coupe with 22000 miles on it. It is so sharp looking. I also have a brand new escalade. I get so many looks and comments about the Coupe. Someone always asking to buy it.
Having owned two wonderful ATS coupes, I was crushed to see Cadillac kill this fun little performer. The ATS, in fact, was the last American luxury coupe. I will sadly have to consider German & Japanese options.
For those who don’t see the value in a Cadillac coupe, here it is: I built a business, I raised a family, I did the responsible adult stuff. Now I want a reward. I want a personal luxury car with an American badge. I want a fun and beautifully proportioned piece of Cadillac sculpture.
The way I see it now, Cadillac makes two vehicles. You can buy a sedan or an SUV; they come in small, medium, and large. Just like McDonald’s fries.
I’ll tell you what I think. After passing on the last model year 2024 Camaro I’m buying the last model year 2019 ATS Premium Luxury Coupe AWD 3.6-liter -8 spd auto. MSRP was $53k. It sells for under $30K currently. The best coupe on the market for the money. In 2019, $53k was too rich. But now $29,500 for this car (even five years old) is a bargain. Less than a new Chevy Malibu. It’s a no-brainer. I’ll never buy a foreign car, an SUV or an EV.
The 3.6 Liter DOHC 24-valve 335-hp V6 is being phased out in favor of the 4-cylinder turbo while GM goes hybrid then supposedly strictly EV. But I don’t believe they will. Things have changed since this article was written. GM will continue to offer the four-cylinder 2.7 turbo-4 engine in Silverados to Cadillacs and will produce four cylinder hybrids in addition to EVs, but that’s not good enough. This is the closest to a new car I will ever buy.