Cadillac Reportedly Working on a New Convertible

2009 Cadillac XLR (Credit: © General Motors)

Cadillac hasn’t offered an open-top car since it discontinued the XLR in 2009, after only six model years. According to a report from Automotive News, it appears as if the American luxury car brand is set to offer a new drop-top.

According to the report, Cadillac had a dealers’ meeting in Las Vegas, and at this meeting it showed off sketches of the upcoming convertible rig. Automotive News approached an executive regarding these images, but he refused to confirm that these images were shown. All he said was that Caddy would “like to introduce an open car to the portfolio at some point.” He then followed that up with “it’s not likely to be one of the near-term portfolio additions.”

This isn’t the first time in recent years that Cadillac has tinkered with the idea of a new convertible. In fact, former GM president of North American, Mark Reuss, at one point said that the initial design steps of a drop-top version of the ATS was all but completed. However, the plans were put on hold before GM could finalize the model.

The most likely scenario will be an Alpha platform-based — the same platform that underpins the CTS and ATS — convertible, given the future GM lineup. Chevy will soon borrow the Alpha platform from Cadillac and use it under the 2016 Camaro, and the Camaro traditionally has a convertible version. This means that the basic engineering for an Alpha-based convertible will be completed with the new Camaro, and Cadillac would simply need to adapt it to work on the CTS or ATS.

Look for the convertible Camaro to come a year after the standard model arrives for the 2016 model year, at the latest. Then expect to see this technology adapted for the ATS or CTS a year, or so , after that.