Cadillac Finds Its ‘World Car’ in the CTS

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The luxury sports sedan segment was always supposed to be the exclusive arena of the Europeans. But when competition developed on a world scale, it came from the Japanese in the 1980s with the market entrée of high-end brands such as Lexus and Infiniti.

For decades, American automakers accepted the idea that certain segments of the market were simply unattainable. And this sentiment went both ways: Could you imagine BMW going neck and neck with Chevy and Ford with its own half-ton pickup truck?

The Americans were so accustomed to building land yachts — those comfy body-on-frame luxury saloons, complete with bordello-style seats — that the nimble sports sedan seemed the most unreachable and unlikely segment in the car world to conquer.

Granted, it’s taken years (and a graveyard of nameplates including, ahem, the Cimarron) but Cadillac has done what most domestic marques have failed to do: Create a luxurious four-door sedan that can run with the best the Germans have to offer.

In doing so, Cadillac has created a “world car”; a model that it can market and sell anywhere on the globe. The CTS’s larger, more expensive sisters, the STS and DTS sedans, were supposed to claim this title. But the CTS, this little rocket ship of a car, is on its way to becoming the model that anyone, anywhere would want in his garage.

Cadillac has taken its angular styling to new heights with the 2008 CTS. The first part of winning any road war with BMWs and Audis is to show up to the race looking lean and mean. There is no sedan on the road today that looks more aggressive than the newly deigned CTS, right down to those kickin’ 18-inch, polished alloy wheels.

Bragging rights really count when you peek under the hood. The CTS’s 3.6-liter, V-6 power plant boasts 304 horsepower. Granted, the larger Caddies pack more punch with their V-8s, but size is relative, and the CTS’s engine is ideal.

Getting to the heart of the CTS success story is its suspension. Cadillac fine-tuned the 2008 model on some of the world’s most challenging tracks, including Germany’s Nürburgring. But its taut handling doesn’t mean a choppy ride: This is a Cadillac, after all. The fit and finish of its cabin is sleek and modern, right down to the futuristic pop-up command center.

Sounds like a world car to me.


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