2005 Cadillac CTS Preview

Sport Sedan Debutante

Finally GM has come out with a Caddy that zigs.

The quest for an "entry-level" Cadillac has been bloody. Since the Cimarron of the early 1980s (and even before that), Cadillac has had one small-car flop after another.

Cadillac was always relying on a lesser General Motors division to do the basic car, and then tried to foist Cadillac values onto the platform. One need only look at sales floors strewn with the carcasses of Cimarrons and various iterations of Cateras for proof of the flaws in that strategy. Undaunted by these miscues, in fact emboldened by them, Cadillac is now set to offer yet another version of an entry-level Cadillac.

The 2003 CTS, which goes on sale early next year.

This time, rather than crib off the nerdy kid in class, Cadillac did their own homework. What they've come up with is the answer to the question many of us found ourselves asking whenever we drove particularly satisfying European sedans: Why can't American manufacturers build cars like this?

Well folks, they have -- one anyway.

And in the process, they are tackling the most hotly-contested segment of the automotive marketplace, the entry luxury-sport sedan segment.

So in order to make the $35,500 CTS sell, Cadillac is going to have to appeal to a whole new set of individuals who heretofore have equated the venerable marque with snowbirds, retirement homes and more than a touch of gray hair.

Which means the mere fact that the CTS may be able to match BMWs and Audis on performance will not be enough. Cadillac has to convince those American buyers of German and Japanese cars to buy a car made in North America. Can they do it? Is this car that good? Keep reading!