Diesel350

mmarshall

Not surprising. The idea of a smaller, compact Cadillac sedan has a lot of merit to it, but, like the Cimarron and Catera before it, the ATS, IMO, was simply not executed properly. It had too high a base price, placed far too much emphasis on handling, suffered significantly from a lack of ride comfort, and the interior trim wasn't really up to the standards of a Cadillac. It DID have a responsive chassis (arguably the best one in its class, even more so than the BMW 3-series), but that chassis was actually better-suited to the Camaro SS, which platform it also shared.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

RIP ATS-V.

But this says sedan. So maybe the coupe will soldier on??

EZZ

The 3 series is near the mid/bottom in terms of handling now sadly. The ATS, IS350, Giulia, and Jag has been lauded as having better handling and steering.

Johnhav430

Again, the steering on a 2017 Malibu has more feel than a 2018 3 series. I can only surmise that GM had EPS far earlier and it's more refined. I kind of doubt that BMW is unable to make a steering like the Malibu, I think their buyers are not the same as they once were. They likely are people today who are not necessarily well to do, rather, they want the roundel. Hence, a 320, 328, 335 (I know this has changed 320/330/340 or maybe it's 326/331/342 who knows). There are also FWD based cars.

imho Buick and Caddy will always be fighting to lower the avg. buyer's age, and it will never be easy. The Caddy events are tame and not organized well, and I have been to a Buick event back in 2013--the avg.. age was clearly over 70. It's all about perception. As the world standardizes on 4 cyl. motors again, maybe the age will come down for Caddy.

p.s. BMW went to stamped steel control arms around 2012 on the 3's. That would have never happened prior.

mmarshall

ATS-V buyers would (probably) be more interested in the coupe anyway.

tex2670

The only part of this story that is news was the announcement of when the end was happening. Caddy made clear before the intro of the CT6 that one-by-one, it was phasing out existing models for its new naming convention.

tex2670

Why? People can't want an amazingly fast car and a back seat? This is just old-school thinking.

mmarshall

I'm generally with you...whether it is two or four doors makes little difference to me (I'd be just as happy with a two-door Lacrosse as with a four-door) . But sportiness, in general, has traditionally been associated with two doors, and either a trunk or a hatchback. How many four-door Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers, or Mazda Miatas, for example, have you seen? I'd wager not many.

pman6

that was quick

1 season and done.

I hope GM keeps the rwd platform, and doesn't go cheap with ugly looking FWDs

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

I see 4-door Challengers all the time.. they're called Chargers

All those pony cars and roadsters started as coupes btw. The ATS began as a sedan and spawned a coupe, which is typically the case.

mmarshall

That's pushing it, but, OK, maybe so.

It spawned a coupe because Cadillac was trying to market to younger buyers than they thought would be the case with the sedan.

chromedome

So Cadillac is the American Lexus, or Lexus the Japanese Cadillac, with both having older buyers as their main customers.

But why bother with an ATS when a Buick Regal is more than good enough? Most low-end 3 series buyers don't know and don't care about RWD architecture, they just want a luxurious small car with a fancy badge.

Fizzboy7

Another insult to the American people. The real press release should read,"due to a failed product and poor sales, we have to cancel making one of our cars, and switch over to something else." We've read the same press words five years ago, ten years ago, fifteen years ago, and twenty years ago. Do we all have selective memory? It's the same failed outcome over and over, but no one talks about it.

Second, they should have dumped the slower-selling coupe, not the sedan. I haven't looked at the numbers, but the sedan probably sells much better than the coupe. Yet, they get rid of the one that sells the better. On-going poor executive decisions by what was once the standard of the world. Sad we keep getting fed lies and crap by those who build cars in the country we live in. Story repeats every two to three years, if we are honest about things.

oldcajun

For me, the major failing of the ATS as a sports sedan was that it was mostly sports and useless as a sedan. I had one for a week as a rental and was amazed at how small the back seat and trunk were. My wife's Accord coupe has a more useable back seat and about the same trunk space. I will admit, however, that it was a ball to drive. The ride was very stiff, to the point that it would be uncomfortable as a daily driver. This chassis, to me, makes a great Camaro and the ATS coupe would be OK as a mid-luxe coupe except for the high price and cheap interior. I feel this is another example of GM engineers delivering what they were told to build, but a failure of management to market it. It was lighter than the 3 Series and handled better as ordered. Unfortunately, the ride/handling compromise the BMW excelled at for years was missing. The turbo 4 base engine was nice and comparable to the 328, but the step-up 3.6 V-6 was a dog compared to the 340.

I believe that GM engineering has created in the CT6 a world class chassis. It is lighter and stiffer than anything its size. Now with the new TT V-8 engine, it will have an engine to match. The engineers have done their job, now get an interior that is as good and a price that is realistic! I'm coming up on my last new car ever, and plan on a G90, but if Caddy can get the CT6 right, I might go there.