Cadillac Developing Model to Slot Below CTS

One of the guaranteed (well, anything's possible but...) brands to remain regardless of what happens with GM would be Cadillac. GM's iconic brand is most definitely pivotal to the future of the company. With just 4 brands, there is the potential Cadillac could get the much-deserved investment that it needs to move forward.

Think about it, 8 brands? Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Hummer, Saab, Saturn. That's a lot of different product strategies and development dollars to spread around. With 4 brands and 3 really (GMC can do a lot of sharing with Chevrolet) with unique products, this could be a could time for Cadillac.

The CTS mid-size sedan has been successful but it's clear something needs to be done to expand the brand's model lineup and to develop a true volume standard bearer.

Simply put the lineup needs to be reformed. It's not that hard to figure out either. For the sedan lineup, there needs to be a BMW 3-Series competitor (BLS or similarly named) , a BMW 5-Series competitor (CTS) and a BMW 7-Series competitor (next-gen STS). That will provide a coherent strategy and base from which to build out variants based on the three main sedan product lines.

My main point has to do with positioning. The products themselves are amazing! The CTS is one of my favorite vehicles.

Steve Shannon spoke with website TheDetroitBureau about the future of Cadillac and a new small model. Cadillac has been making some smart steps lately by extending the success of the CTS with different variants like a wagon and coupe. That didn't happen with the car the last time around.

A new "sub-CTS" is on the way, he says that will be Cadillac's volume model. It could come as soon as "24 to 30 months". Expect the Converj concept's styling to be a harbinger of what's to come in this new vehicle.

It's high time that Cadillac realizes this is needed; the 3-Series is BMW's best-selling vehicle and Cadillac has nothing to compete with it. The CTS is similar in price, but in size it's in the BMW 5-Series league.  

Steve Shannon concedes the current STS wasn't well-distinguished enough from the CTS. He says a key component of the program is to increase differentiation between the two in content, price and interior space.

That's a huge concession! The current CTS is a much more impressive car than it's much more expensive STS. This program should fix that and hopefully get a coherent product strategy in place.

We have a 3-series priced CTS that's the size of a 5-series and an nearly 7-series priced STS that's a tad larger then a  5-series, with less technology then the 3-series priced CTS. Not good.

So in that light, this is very Good news to hear. Hopefully the management now "gets it" and Cadillac can truly become all that it has the potential to be.