New Cadillac ATS to take on BMW 3 Series (+video)

Cadillac ATS - sorted at the Nurburgring

GM has revealed that their new compact Cadillac ATS will debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January and go on sale in late 2012 as a 2013 model.

The idea, just a few short years ago, that Cadillac could build a car that was capable of making the Germans look over their shoulder would have been laughable. But the new Cadillac ATS – debuting at Detroit in January – could do just that.

Cadillac has already proved they can build a car that can take the fight to the Germans with the CTS-V, a ridiculously quick 5-series sized car that blitzes the Germans in a straight line and comes very close to keeping with them round the twisty bits.

And we’re expecting the ATS to offer the potential of an ATS-V version to give the M3 something to think about, but even in regular form it looks promising, with a choice of two engines – a turbo four pot and a 3.6 litre V6.

The 3.6 litre V6 is expected to deliver around 325bhp and the 2.0 litre turbo 270bhp. They are decent figures, and combined with a new rear-wheel drive platform that, Cadillac says, offers ‘…agile, quick and fun driving dynamics‘, you’d think the Cadillac ATS was a no-brainer for the UK. But it would seem not.

Cadillac say they currently have no plans for a RHD version of the ATS or any sale in the UK. Which seems a real shame. But then, with no real dealer network in the UK any more (it’s just Bauer Millett in Manchester) perhaps it’s because there’s no infrastructure in place for sales or service?

But surely, if the ATS – and any future Cadillac ATS-V – is a smaller version of the CTS, it will offer real competition in Europe. Drop a decent turbo diesel in to the ATS and strap on forced induction to the 3.6 V6 to create a C63/M3 basher, and car buyers in Europe who don’t want to follow the herd could make the ATS a big success.

By Cars UK