The news coming from General Motors these past few weeks has been arriving at a staggering pace. Early in August 2008, the automaker rolled out the 2010 Chevy Camaro and promptly followed that announcement up with updated photographs showing its proposed plug-in hybrid, the Chevrolet Volt.
Over the coming weeks, GM announced important changes for Cadillac including the showcasing of its second generation SRX crossover and new models for the CTS line, a wagon and a coupe. After that, GM once again touted a new car for its Chevrolet line up, the Cruze, a compact car which will officially be introduced at September's Paris Auto Show.
Most recently, GM has been indicating that a compact Cadillac was in the works and, according to industry media leader AutoWeek, such a car will be in Cadillac showrooms in 2010. Yes, a four cylinder Cadillac apparently is on its way!
Shades of Cimarron.
The not yet officially announced (therefore, unnamed) vehicle might remind Cadillac faithful of the Cimarron, a four cylinder subcompact car that was on the market for a few years in the early 1980s. That car had the terrible distinction of sullying Cadillac's image for years as the Cimarron was part of GM's J-car family, cars which were sold across the automaker's product lines most notably included the Chevrolet Cavalier.
In the 1990s, GM rolled out the Catera, a compact Cadillac built in Germany by its Opel division. Though somewhat larger than the Cimarron it, too, failed as customers found the marketing campaign wanting and discovered that the Catera had numerous quality issues.
Three's A Charm?
Specifics about GM's third attempt at a small Cadillac are wanting, therefore we can only draw upon speculation for now. However, given that the Cruze was just announced, the platform for that vehicle could underpin the new Cadillac. In any case, the new Cadillac might be the second generation BLS, a car sold by Cadillac in Europe and elsewhere, but currently not available in the US and Canada. That would be the natural step to take, though the BLS nomenclature could be changed to something else to comply with current Cadillac naming convention (DTS, STS, CTS).
Let's just hope that whatever car GM builds for Cadillac doesn't remind us of a Chevrolet; consumers might be ready for a fuel efficient four cylinder model, but they'll stay away from a vehicle that fails to live up to their lofty expectations.
Copyright 2008-2012 -- Matthew C. Keegan is the owner of a successful writing and marketing business based in North Carolina, USA. He manages several websites and is a contributing writer for Andy's Auto Sport, a retailer of quality tail lights and headlights.
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