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Cadillac ATS sedan is in its last year

Cadillac has just confirmed that the ATS Sedan dies at the end of the 2018 model year. In an e-mail to CarBuzz, spokesman Donny Nordlicht wrote, "Production of the ATS Sedan is ending due to extensive plant upgrades, expansion and re-tooling to prepare for the next generation of Cadillac sedans." The admission confirms several months of deduction based on a document trail put together by The Truth About Cars. Last December, TTAC reported that General Motors didn't list a 2019 Cadillac ATS sedan on VIN documents submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Only the coupe remained, the presumption being that 2018 would be the last year for the sedan. That presumption was bolstered by industry sleuth Bozi Tatarevic's discovery this week that GM hasn't included the ATS sedan in the carmaker's fleet order guide. The death of the four-door ATS won't surprise anyone paying attention to statements from Cadillac or ATS sales figures. Brand then-president Johan de Nysschen strongly hinted last summer that three sedans would bite the dust come 2019, and one would be refreshed. We've seen the gussied-up CT6, so that put the XTS, CTS, and ATS in the funeral home. The XTS would die an unavenged death, while the CTS downsized into the properly midsized CT5 and targeted buyers in the $35,000 to $45,000 range, overlapping with $34,595 ATS sedan pricing by doing so. The ATS would go on hiatus, eventually resurrected as a compact luxury offering possibly called CT3 in coupe form and CT4 as a sedan sometime around 2020. As for the market situation, ATS sales are up 7.3 percent in the U.S. through the end of April this year compared to 2017. However, the ATS sold only 13,100 units in the U.S. in 2017, compared to 21,505 units in 2016 and a high of 38,319 in 2013, its first full year on sale. Assuming new Cadillac president Steve Carlisle stays the predicted course, GM might keep the ATS Coupe as a lure to sporty buyers in the segment until a possible CT5 coupe arrives. Otherwise, Nordlicht's e-mail said "Cadillac's future sedan portfolio will consist of three sedans, positioned in different segments and clearly differentiated by size and price." The 2019 ATS Coupe will stick with its three current engines, the 2.0-liter turbo with 272 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, the 3.6-liter V6 with 335 hp and 285 lb-ft, and the 3.6-liter twin-turbo V6 in the ATS-V with 464 hp and 445 lb-ft of torque.

2022 Cadillac CT5 Review | An athlete in a fine suit

The Cadillac CT5‘s mission is to compete on equal footing with the sport sedans built by the German trio of Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz along with Japanese brands Acura, Infiniti and Lexus. But the times, they are a-changing. The sedan no longer represents the pinnacle of automotive luxury and internal-combustion powertrains are nearing their sunset. The 2022 Cadillac CT5 (along with its smaller sibling, the CT4) represents the end of the line for CadillacÂ’s gas-burning four-doors. Fortunately, itÂ’s a compelling ambassador for the segment (especially when at its most invigorating: the 2022 CT5-V Blackwing). The CT5 is larger than its price point suggests. For the money, youÂ’d be looking at a BMW 3 Series or Mercedes-Benz C-Class, but itÂ’s closer in size to the 5 Series and E-Class , albeit with less interior room (especially for cargo). The CT5 drives quite well and is stylish and well equipped. Its price-to-size ratio also gives it a unique proposition to attract buyers away from the Europeans – not to mention the availability of an all-American, supercharged V8. Interior & Technology   |   Passenger & Cargo Space   |   Performance & Fuel Economy What it's like to drive   |   Pricing & Features   |   Crash Ratings & Safety Features What's new for 2022? The big news for 2022 is the introduction of the CT5-V Blackwing, CadillacÂ’s new replacement for its former top dog, the CTS-V. With 668 horsepower and an available manual transmission, the Blackwing is pretty much the final word in American internal-combustion sport sedans. Finding one will be difficult, however, as they are virtually unavailable for test drives and some reports indicate that all of CadillacÂ’s 2022 model year allocations may already be spoken for. Elsewhere, Cadillac made some adjustments to the CT5Â’s color palette (sorry, green fans, you missed your chance, but orange is now an option) and available equipment, largely to compensate for supply shortages on the manufacturing side. Super Cruise packages will be available later in the model year. What are the CT5's interior and technology like? The Cadillac CT5 interior can best be described as “nice enough.” Unfortunately, "nice enough" isnÂ’t quite good enough to compare favorably with Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz or Volvo. We'd say it's not good enough to compare with cross-town rival Lincoln, either, but they don't sell sedans any more.

Frustrated GM investors ask what more Mary Barra can do

DETROIT — General Motors Co Chief Executive Mary Barra has transformed the No. 1 U.S. automaker in her almost five years in charge, but that is still not enough to satisfy investors. Ahead of third-quarter results due on Oct. 31, GM shares are trading about 6 percent below the $33 per share price at which they launched in 2010 in a post-bankruptcy initial public offering. The Detroit carmaker's stock is down 22 percent since Barra took over in January 2014. After hitting an all-time high of $46.48 on Oct. 24, 2017, the shares have declined 33 percent. In the same period, the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed 7.8 percent. Several shareholders contacted by Reuters said GM could face a third major action by activist shareholders in less than four years if the share price does not improve. "I've been expecting it," said John Levin, chairman of Levin Capital Strategies. "It just seems a tempting morsel to somebody." Levin's firm owns more than seven million GM shares. Barra has guided the company through the settlement of a federal criminal probe of a mishandled safety recall, sold off money-losing European operations, and returned $25 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks from 2012 through 2017. GM declined to comment for this story, but the company's executives privately express frustration with the market's reluctance to see it as anything more than a manufacturer tied mainly to auto market sales cycles. GM's profitable North American truck and SUV business and its money-making China operations are valued at just $14 billion, excluding the value of GM's stake in its $14.6 billion Cruise automated vehicle business and its cash reserves from its $44 billion market capitalization. The recent slump in the Chinese market, GM's largest, and plateauing U.S. demand are ratcheting up the pressure. GM is one of the few global automakers without a founding family or a government to serve as a bulwark against corporate raiders. In 2015, a group led by investor Harry Wilson pressed GM to launch a $5 billion share buyback, and commit to what is now an $18 billion ceiling on the level of cash the company would hold. In 2017, GM fended off a call by hedge fund manager David Einhorn to split its common stock shares into two classes. Einhorn, whose firm still owned more than 21 million shares at the end of June, declined to comment about GM's stock price. Other investors said there were no clear alternatives to Barra's approach.