Photo: Cadillac
We're certain every Cadillac ATS owner is enjoying his compact executive four-door sedan. And they rightfully should, because the Michigan-built vehicle is highly acclaimed nowadays. However, we bet they didn't know the rear-wheel drive ATS almost didn't happen!
Yes, folks, GM's vice president of global product programs, Doug Parks, told Automotive News that the compact sedan, which is now called Cadillac ATS, was initially developed with front-wheel drive on the Delta platform that underpinned the Chevrolet Cruze and Buick Verano.
"We were going to do a front-wheel-drive Cadillac compact off of Delta because it was going to be less expensive," Doug Parks, GM's vice president of global product programs, told me at the Detroit auto show in January. "There were people in the organization saying, 'It'll be OK. We can dial it in."
Tested in Spain, the front-wheel drive Cadillac proved to be "pretty darn good", but General Motors decided to drop the project fearing it wouldn't be able to compete with BMW and Mercedes-Benz. "[…] in reality, you can't go beat BMW or Mercedes when you don't have the right weight balance and everything else. We finally just said 'That ain't good enough. We've got to do a very light, properly designed, rear-wheel-drive architecture,'" Parks added.
The company eventually went on to design the new built-from-scratch Alpha platform with its rear-wheel drive architecture that now underpins the Cadillac ATS.
Story via Automotive News
"We were going to do a front-wheel-drive Cadillac compact off of Delta because it was going to be less expensive," Doug Parks, GM's vice president of global product programs, told me at the Detroit auto show in January. "There were people in the organization saying, 'It'll be OK. We can dial it in."
Tested in Spain, the front-wheel drive Cadillac proved to be "pretty darn good", but General Motors decided to drop the project fearing it wouldn't be able to compete with BMW and Mercedes-Benz. "[…] in reality, you can't go beat BMW or Mercedes when you don't have the right weight balance and everything else. We finally just said 'That ain't good enough. We've got to do a very light, properly designed, rear-wheel-drive architecture,'" Parks added.
The company eventually went on to design the new built-from-scratch Alpha platform with its rear-wheel drive architecture that now underpins the Cadillac ATS.
Story via Automotive News
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