2013 Cadillac ATS 3.6 Premium Video Review (Driven)

[91fairladyZ]

2013 Cadillac ATS 3.6 Premium Video Review
Driven Car Reviews
December 2, 2012

The auto industry is littered with failed attempts to compete with The King. You probably wouldn’t be reading this if you weren’t curious how the newest salvo, the 2013 Cadillac ATS stacks up against you-know-who. No doubt, BMW’s 3 Series has earned its title over the years. It’s as if the BMW engineers made a deal with the devil back in 1975 for the secret of fun-to-drive. To be sure, Lucifer got the short end of that agreement.

The wreath and crest folks- who gave us the Cimarron and Catera mind you- believe ATS can take on 3 Series, C Class, A4, G37 and anyone else in the compact sport sedan segment. And it does. No qualifiers such as “for an American car” either. It’s ready to take on the world.

Make no mistake, ATS is a fiercely competitive compact sport sedan and well worth your test drive time. It has its work cut out for itself though. ATS doesn’t have the pedigree that time has bestowed on 3 Series and many will dismiss it simply because there’s no roundel badge. However, if Cadillac maintains this level of performance, handling, and design in the coming years, it should develop a pedigree of it’s own, and a really good rivalry with the Europeans.

Full article at link.

[jzchev28]

Indeed! Looks wise alone that 3 series they show looks as bland as a camry.

[LetsRace]

Nice review of the ATS.

[bballr4567]

Do people ever talk foundly about the BMW 2000?

[Pisswilly]

So,the ATS doesn't come with re-configureable gauge cluster like the XTS?

[patrickbec]

A little off topic, but its interesting to note below that approximately 50% of ATS trades are conquest sales, particularly BM and Merc. I think that is a brilliant number for GM, and gives the lie to those who say the ATS is an excellent car but won't sell because the buyers of German luxury cars will never consider an ATS due to the lack of brand heritage etc. So 1350 of the 2700 ATS November sales (I could be wrong about the number as I'm going from memory) are conquest, which would not have gone to GM if the ATS was not available (I doubt those people would get the CTS or XTS if ATS was not available).

Also interesting is that 20% of ATS sales are CTS trade-ins, so almost 600 of the 2700 ATS November sales are CTS owners who may have bought a new CTS instead of an ATS, so that could be counted as lost CTS sales (that is a bit of a logical reach, but you think a car owner would normally buy the same or a more expensive car from the same brand when he is ready to get a new car). On an ATP basis it seems ATS is equal or higher than CTS so I don't think its a revenue loss for GM.

GM Sales Teleconference:
Chase Hawkins - Vice President of Cadillac Sales and Service

Yes, this is Chase Hawkins again. So I think ATS, if we look at the data, we're seeing approximately 20% CTS trade right now on ATS. What's interesting for us though is that we're seeing about 50% conquest on the car, and it's primarily Mercedes and BMW. So outside of GM, the individual marks that we've targeted with ATS were hitting the spot.

[CaddyLac10]

A little off topic, but its interesting to note below that approximately 50% of ATS trades are conquest sales, particularly BM and Merc. I think that is a brilliant number for GM, and gives the lie to those who say the ATS is an excellent car but won't sell because the buyers of German luxury cars will never consider an ATS due to the lack of brand heritage etc. So 1350 of the 2700 ATS November sales (I could be wrong about the number as I'm going from memory) are conquest, which would not have gone to GM if the ATS was not available (I doubt those people would get the CTS or XTS if ATS was not available).

Also interesting is that 20% of ATS sales are CTS trade-ins, so almost 600 of the 2700 ATS November sales are CTS owners who may have bought a new CTS instead of an ATS, so that could be counted as lost CTS sales (that is a bit of a logical reach, but you think a car owner would normally buy the same or a more expensive car from the same brand when he is ready to get a new car). On an ATP basis it seems ATS is equal or higher than CTS so I don't think its a revenue loss for GM.

GM Sales Teleconference:
Chase Hawkins - Vice President of Cadillac Sales and Service

Yes, this is Chase Hawkins again. So I think ATS, if we look at the data, we're seeing approximately 20% CTS trade right now on ATS. What's interesting for us though is that we're seeing about 50% conquest on the car, and it's primarily Mercedes and BMW. So outside of GM, the individual marks that we've targeted with ATS were hitting the spot.

The current CTS is incorrectly positioned within Cadillac and the market in general. I think trying to draw conclusions about the ATS-CTS dynamic right now is difficult because the CTS isn't properly positioned.

The 3G CTS will iron things out, as it will be properly aligned with the market. Therefore, there won't be any conflicts within pricing or size. Only then will we truly be able to see the impact of proper compact and mid-sizer for the first time in Cadillac's history. Not to mention, the Omega flagship is only a couple years away as well, so Cadillac's entire sedan lineup will fall into place soon.

[Canuck]

Nice review. The closing comments by the reviewer are most important and patrickbec's post about conquest sales back up that buyers are not only considering the ATS, but they are buying the ATS.

Also the CTS sales taking a hit from the ATS make sense until the next CTS debuts. I'm getting tempted to look into replacing my CTS with the ATS despite the smaller size. I was disappointed to learn cooled seats aren't offered on the ATS.

[V8GMT360 Guy]

Nice review, but I'm seriously tired of the first thing people say being "Cimmaron and Catera" when talking about ATS.

[JuMPy]

closing remarks say it all

[Ed Arcuri]

"Compact" now means insufficient legroom in the back seat, apparently. "Mid-size" means just enough legroom in back for short drives, apparently. "Correctly positioned in the market" means whatever the Germans do. "Luxury" means skidpad performance not ride quality.
I think I'm catching on to the lexicon.
Ed

[91fairladyZ]

Luxury should mean the car or truck is good at everything.

[yamahr1]

Nice review.

[Lloyd-TX]

closing remarks say it all

Absolutely! Great review of a pretty darned good small sport sedan, IMO!

[b4z]

Wonder why the EPA hwy rating is not better? It's lighter than the cts and has a taller rear gear and only 1 mpg better.