Caddy to Drop the ATS’ 2.5-liter Engine and Add Value for 2017

2016 Cadillac ATS w/ Black Chrome Package (Credit: © Cadillac)

The Cadillac ATS was supposed to be a boost for Cadillac, but it has instead been a thorn as inventory piles up on dealer lots due to lack of demand. Caddy has seen enough and it’s finally doing something—other than fire-sale discounting—to help boost ATS sales.

According to an interview with Automotive News, Cadillac will take dramatic measures in the 2017 model year, cutting the base 2.5-liter engine and making the 2.0-liter turbocharged plant the base engine. In addition to that, GM’s premium brand will also add some extra standard goodies while cutting prices between $650 and $1,100, depending on the trim level, adding thousands of dollars of value to each trim.

The downside is that while Cadillac will drop trim level pricing a bit, the move to make the 2017 ATS’ standard engine the turbo-four will increase its base price to $35,590. That’ll actually put the base ATS’ price above the $33,150 base price of the BMW 320i. With that said, the base ATS will now have a 272-horsepower four-pot, which will easily trump the 180-horsepower and 240-horsepower mills in the base 320i and 328i, respectively.

Cadilac also hopes that the simplification of the ATS’ lineup—dropping it from 16 variants to just seven—will help prevent paralysis by analysis for buyers.

There is no mention of when the 2017 ATS will hit showrooms, but it should arrive soon given all other manufacturers are rolling them out. Stay tuned for updates