5 of 12

2013 Cadillac ATS

The Urban Concept Cadillac shown at last year's L.A. Auto Show was a head fake. Yes, maybe at some point Cadillac will do a small people-mover, but Caddy won't do a small-volume niche vehicle before it builds a genuine rival to the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series and C-Class Mercedes-Benz (the Cadillac CTS is a bigger and heavier car than those Germans). The forthcoming ATS would rival the A4 and its ilk in size, but we have questions about how well it could compete. For cost reasons, the ATS's Alpha platform has to serve for both this smaller sedan, the next-gen CTS and the Chevy Camaro. That's not likely to lead to a great deal of success, as the goal with the ATS was to stick with a light chassis and smaller, high-boost motors. Whether that plan is still feasible is a good question, and the answer could decide the success or failure of the small Cadillac. And it's not just a question of performance; even luxury carmakers are scraping hard to find better fuel economy. With BMW ditching in-line-six engines for turbo fours, you can bet Cadillac has to find a way to dance to a similar tune.