Cadillac Debating a CLA-Class Rival

Cadillac Badge (Credit: © Cadillac)

Cadillac has been undergoing tons of changes as of late. First came the introduction of Johan de Nysschen as the company’s president; then came the announcement of the company’s separation from the GM business unit; and finally came the revealing of the name of its upcoming flagship sedan, the CT6. If you thought the changes were done there, then you’re sadly mistaken. According to The Detroit Bureau the aforementioned de Nysschen laid out some of Caddy’s future plans rather candidly.

According to this report, de Nysschen feels that Cadillac’s lineup is too small to really compete with the rest of the luxury car realm, and he plans to build upon this in the coming years. One of the “must have” models the new Cadillac head highlighted was a CLA-Class competitor. This four-door compact coupè took the American luxury market by storm, as it was not only a well-performing Mercedes, but it also cost less than $30k. Not even Mercedes anticipated its success, which led to huge shortages in the States and lost sales.

Judging by Cadillac’s current lineup, this CLA-Class competitor would likely sit under the current ATS and check in just south of $30k like its rival. Logic would say to expect to see a small, turbocharged four-cylinder engine under the hood of this model; possibly the 2.0-liter that GM uses in the Buick Verano, ATS and CTS. That would give the Cadillac four-door coupè a hefty horsepower advantage over the CLA, as the GM 2.0-liter produces upwards of 272 horsepower, while the CLA has 208 ponies. However, Cadillac would likely detune the engine slightly to help keep fuel economy high and to avoid it taking sales away from the ATS.

The Cadillac chief also went on to mention that the brand needs a crossover to span the gap between the SRX and Escalade, and that the it needs to venture into more coupes and convertibles. Likewise, de Nysschen said that Caddy needs to continue expanding its V-Series range.

All of these plans sound awesome, but let’s just hope for two things. No. 1, let’s hope that this expansion is a slow process to avoid saturating the market too quickly. No. 2, let’s hope de Nysschen can stay with the company long enough to see the project through; he essentially abandoned Infiniti midway through its transformation.