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04-03-2013, 02:55 PM
Filed under: Cadillac (http://www.autoblog.com/category/cadillac/), GM (http://www.autoblog.com/category/gm/)
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2013/02/mch0971converted-opta.jpg (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2013-cadillac-ats-2-0t-6mt/)
"We were going to do a front-wheel drive Cadillac (http://www.autoblog.com/cadillac/) compact off of Delta (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/delta+platform/) because it was going to be less expensive," Doug Parks, General Motors' vice president of global product programs, told the Automotive News during the Detroit Auto Show (http://www.autoblog.com/detroit-auto-show/) in January of this year. That sentence, referring to early ATS (http://www.autoblog.com/cadillac/ats/) discussions more than five years ago - a period when the automaker, and the industry, was struggling - reveals that Cadillac's highly acclaimed rear-wheel drive compact sedan almost never happened.
Parks revealed that that automaker actually built a 2.0-liter test mule, on GM's Delta platform (shared with the Chevrolet Cruze (http://www.autoblog.com/chevrolet/cruze/) and Buick Verano (http://www.autoblog.com/buick/verano/)) and tested it in Europe. While the prototype was "pretty darn good," according to Parks, the team realized that in order to compete against Mercedes-Benz (http://www.autoblog.com/mercedes-benz/) and BMW (http://www.autoblog.com/bmw/) it would have to invest in a new rear-wheel drive platform.
The resulting all-new Alpha platform would eventually underpin the Cadillac ATS, and many would argue that its balanced rear-wheel drive chassis is its single most important attribute. Thankfully, the Alpha's goodness won't stop with the ATS. The upcoming 2014 Cadillac CTS (http://www.autoblog.com/cadillac/cts/) and the future Camaro (http://www.autoblog.com/chevrolet/camaro/) will also share its architecture, meaning the Cimarron (http://www.autoblog.com/2007/01/30/future-classic-cadillac-cimarron/) will remain a distant memory.Cadillac ATS was almost front-wheel drive (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/04/03/cadillac-ats-was-almost-front-wheel-drive/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Permalink (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/04/03/cadillac-ats-was-almost-front-wheel-drive/) | Email this (http://www.autoblog.com/forward/20528599/) | Comments (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/04/03/cadillac-ats-was-almost-front-wheel-drive/#comments)
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http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2013/02/mch0971converted-opta.jpg (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2013-cadillac-ats-2-0t-6mt/)
"We were going to do a front-wheel drive Cadillac (http://www.autoblog.com/cadillac/) compact off of Delta (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/delta+platform/) because it was going to be less expensive," Doug Parks, General Motors' vice president of global product programs, told the Automotive News during the Detroit Auto Show (http://www.autoblog.com/detroit-auto-show/) in January of this year. That sentence, referring to early ATS (http://www.autoblog.com/cadillac/ats/) discussions more than five years ago - a period when the automaker, and the industry, was struggling - reveals that Cadillac's highly acclaimed rear-wheel drive compact sedan almost never happened.
Parks revealed that that automaker actually built a 2.0-liter test mule, on GM's Delta platform (shared with the Chevrolet Cruze (http://www.autoblog.com/chevrolet/cruze/) and Buick Verano (http://www.autoblog.com/buick/verano/)) and tested it in Europe. While the prototype was "pretty darn good," according to Parks, the team realized that in order to compete against Mercedes-Benz (http://www.autoblog.com/mercedes-benz/) and BMW (http://www.autoblog.com/bmw/) it would have to invest in a new rear-wheel drive platform.
The resulting all-new Alpha platform would eventually underpin the Cadillac ATS, and many would argue that its balanced rear-wheel drive chassis is its single most important attribute. Thankfully, the Alpha's goodness won't stop with the ATS. The upcoming 2014 Cadillac CTS (http://www.autoblog.com/cadillac/cts/) and the future Camaro (http://www.autoblog.com/chevrolet/camaro/) will also share its architecture, meaning the Cimarron (http://www.autoblog.com/2007/01/30/future-classic-cadillac-cimarron/) will remain a distant memory.Cadillac ATS was almost front-wheel drive (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/04/03/cadillac-ats-was-almost-front-wheel-drive/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Permalink (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/04/03/cadillac-ats-was-almost-front-wheel-drive/) | Email this (http://www.autoblog.com/forward/20528599/) | Comments (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/04/03/cadillac-ats-was-almost-front-wheel-drive/#comments)
More... (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/04/03/cadillac-ats-was-almost-front-wheel-drive/)