GM has announced this morning its plan to produce the Cadillac ATS at its Grand River Assembly Plant in Lansing, MI and a $190M investment to go along with it.
Good timing then that an early prototype of the Cadillac ATS was just spied. Using a Cadillac CTS body shell for disguise, this ATS rides on the smaller Alpha platform and as clearly seen, the front and rear axles have been moved towards the middle of the chassis on this mule. The fuel filler door has also been moved towards the center by several inches.
Where this car differs from the others already spied is the presence of dual exhaust tailpipes. Previously spotted mules have only had a single exhaust. The dual exhaust likely indicates a 6 cylinder engine under the hood.
Riding on GM's new Alpha chassis, the ATS has been described as a smaller CTS-like vehicle. GM intends it to be a true competitor to the BMW 3-series, Audi A4, and Mercedes Benz C-Class.
Powertrain-wise, the ATS is speculated to get GM's 2.0L turbo-charged 4-cylinder. The 3.0L V6 or the 3.6L V6 (or maybe both) should also find its way into the ATS.
It's also speculated that the Cadillac ATS sedan is slated to start in July of 2012, followed by the coupe in July of 2013. If we had to guess, we'd put the pricing in the high 20's to low-mid 30-thousand range.
Cadillac ATS (3-series, A4) fighter spied conducting testing
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GM ... keep cars like this coming out.
