The Cadillac ATS was *almost* a Cruze-based FWD compact

[Jesda]

GM's Alpha plan to beat the alpha dogs of luxury
Automotive News
April 1, 2013
by Mike Colias

The accolades heaped on Cadillac's ATS compact sedan owe much to the built-from-scratch rear-wheel-drive architecture on which it rides.

It's code-named Alpha, and it's the same platform that underpins the next-generation 2014 Cadillac CTS that was unwrapped last week on the eve of the auto show here. The lean architecture helped Cadillac boast lightest-in-segment claims for both cars.

But Alpha almost never came to be.

In 2007 a debate raged within GM -- which was bleeding cash at the time -- over how to get Cadillac into the compact segment, the largest-volume slice of the luxury market.

One option: Build it on GM's Delta platform, the front-wheel-drive compact architecture on which the Chevy Cruze and Volt and the Buick Verano ride.

"We were going to do a front-wheel-drive Cadillac compact off of Delta because it was going to be less expensive," Doug Parks, GM's vice president of global product programs, told me at the Detroit auto show in January. "There were people in the organization saying, 'It'll be OK. We can dial it in.'"

So serious were the plans that Parks, who was based in Europe at the time, found himself driving 150 mph on a test track in Spain in a 2.0-liter turbo test mule built on the Delta platform.

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a ... z2PMW0DKq4


Scary stuff. Even the deservingly maligned Catera was still a rear-drive sport sedan with excellent handling. A front-drive ATS would have been the return of Cimarron.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Terrifying. But the ATS stands as a brilliant example of the power of not cutting corners. A FWD impostor would have been far worse than a failure, it would have been a missed opportunity. GM found some brains somewhere, and the payoff for the added investment is undeniable.

I've said it before. I'll say it again: Just Build Good Cars. Period. The secret to success is making good cars. Not sales volume or marketing. Good cars. Marketing can't sell s*** cars. But a good car sells itself.

[Jesda]

What's frightening is that GM only decided against building a Delta-based ATS after building a mule and getting all the way to the test stage. Only then did they realize that they needed a balanced RWD platform built from scratch to match the competition. They had to spend time and money to to go that far to satisfy the cheapskate bean counters.

I worry that not enough of old GM was flushed out after the bankruptcy.

[Jesda]

Not sales volume or marketing. Good cars. Marketing can't sell s*** cars. But a good car sells itself.

Indeed. Despite a lackluster marketing campaign, 70% of ATS buyers have never owned a Cadillac. The brand itself is up 50% over last year. A resounding success made possible only by building a good car that's received stellar reviews.

[dre1507]

I worry that not enough of old GM was flushed out after the bankruptcy.

So you're saying that Nissan might need a bankruptcy and a proper flush?