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2020 Cadillac CT4 First Drive | Small shoes to fill

Following an existential crisis of fits, starts, headquarters moves and executive shakeups, Cadillac has itself a new luxury sedan, the CT4. It’s a convincing driverÂ’s car, less convincing as a luxury car, and seems a long shot to lure BMW, Audi or Mercedes owners into the Cadillac fold. For all the changes at Cadillac, that sure sounds familiar. The 2020 Cadillac CT4 is a redesigned ATS by another, equally unmemorable name. That includes an updated rear-drive chassis with eager, enthusiast-friendly tuning and 50/50 weight distribution – always among the ATSÂ’ top selling points. Styling is another winner, with crisp sheetmetal and CadillacÂ’s distinctive lighting signatures helping to differentiate this Yank from the international crowd. Cadillac is stretching so hard to cherry-pick the CT4Â’s competitors, it's possible they might slip a disc. We all remember the ATS as an able, rear-driven rival to the compact BMW 3 Series, Mercedes C-Class et al. But to paint the CT4 in a more competitive light – even as this sedan grows nearly 5 inches in length versus the ATS – Cadillac suddenly claims that its entry-level model, regardless of what it's now called, competes against subcompact, front-drive-based models like the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe, Mercedes CLA-Class and Audi A3. Unfurling a tape measure reveals the truth: At a bit over 187 inches, the CT4 is actually longer than a 3 Series, C-Class, Audi A4 and every other major compact player. ItÂ’s a foot longer than an Audi A3. So, it's not a subcompact sedan, but there is one area where the CT4 does align with them – just not in a good way. The back seat is scrawny and hard-to-access, the result of its rear-wheel-drive platform and the sort of inefficient packaging that plagued the ATS. As such, it's better to think of the CT4, like the Genesis G70, as an affordable alternative to the roomier 3 Series, and other German compacts. And thereÂ’s nothing wrong with that. It starts at $33,990, undercutting the Germans by many thousands, and still boasts CadillacÂ’s greatest competitive strength: Smartly engineered ride-and-handling that matches up against the Euros with no excuses required. I drove the evident smart play in the CT4 lineup, the Premium Luxury 2.7 model, priced from $40,990, or $42,990 for the all-wheel-drive version I tested. (A Premium Luxury with the 237-horsepower 2.0T starts from $38,490, or $41,690 with AWD).

Cadillac Lyriq teased ahead of debut next week

The Cadillac Lyriq is just around the corner, set to be fully revealed on August 6. Cadillac just released a few teaser photos and videos as preparation for the big debut a week from today. It’s our best look at the production version of the car yet. Of course, you may remember photos of the EV concept released over a year ago, but the production crossover is shaping up to be a little different. This carÂ’s most intriguing element so far is the charge outlet panel integrated into the front fender. The large piece appears to lift up and slide out of the way when itÂ’s time to plug in. This reveals a decorative LED light strip that outlines the outlet, ultimately leading into the Cadillac logo above. Below the panel is a small, silver GM badge that if our guess is correct, says “Ultium” for the Ultium battery technology going into the Lyriq.  The wheels feature a unique silver and black two-tone design. Those black inserts are ridged, and the wheel is likely designed for better aero performance and increased range. ItÂ’s tough to say much about the design itself, but the silhouette is giving us crossover coupe vibes with its heavily raked rear window and sloping roofline. It appears to have a couple spoilers, one on the roof and then another as a ducktail below the rear window. CadillacÂ’s video teasers provide for the briefest of front end glimpses. Still, we can see the fancy lighting signature that Cadillac has created. ThereÂ’s both a light-up Cadillac badge and small LED lighting strips integrated throughout the grille. ItÂ’s concept car-like in appearance, so we do wonder whether this will find its way into a production Lyriq. The vertical DRL weÂ’re used to seeing on other Cadillacs has also made an appearance on the outer edges of the front bumper. ItÂ’s been previously stated that the Lyriq would enter production in 2022, so even when GM does reveal the electric Cadillac next week, itÂ’ll be a long while till we see the vehicle on the road. Related Video:

Cadillac plans to keep its Manhattan ZIP code, shunning Detroit

Johan de Nysschen is credited for separating Cadillac from the GM nest in Detroit, but despite his ouster earlier this year, the luxury division says it will remain headquartered in New York City's tony SoHo district. "It's 100 percent that we're staying here, that was never a question," Cadillac spokesman Andrew Lipman told the Detroit Free Press. Cadillac in April announced that it was replacing de Nysschen, after four years running the flagship brand. The new brand boss, Steve Carlisle, previously was president and managing director of GM Canada. De Nysschen led a big push to separate the luxury brand from its parent company as a separate business unit, announcing the move to New York in 2014 as a way to gain more autonomy and better tap into the global luxury zeitgeist. The move was controversial at the time in some quarters, though Lipman told the Freep that GM brass made the decision to relocate Cadillac to the Big Apple months before de Nysschen arrived at the company. Cadillac now occupies the 15th and 16th floors of a high-rise building on Hudson Street in SoHo, where it has between 140 and 150 employees. It also operates a ground-floor retail space called the Cadillac House where it displays cars, operates a coffee shop and stages events, including with fashion designers. Its vehicles are still designed and engineered back in the Detroit area, however. "The amount of time people spend at Cadillac House has been increasing, and it's become a destination," Lipman said. Cadillac used this year's New York Auto Show to reveal its new 2019 XT4 compact crossover, its second offering in the all-important luxury crossover segment after the XT5. It goes on sale this fall. Related Video: Image Credit: Cadillac Marketing/Advertising Cadillac GM Crossover Luxury cadillac xt4