At the unveil of the CTS Coupe concept, GM’s design chief Ed Welburn said it was a car that was never supposed to happen. “But when we saw the initial sketches, it was so beautiful we knew we just had to build it,” he said.

So, Ed and his team aren’t going to win the “thinking outside the box” award at this year’s show, but they did succeed in making a unique-looking, if not beautiful two-door CTS. It’s a striking coupe in person, but there’s a little too much Mercedes C-Class coupe in it and not enough Audi S5 for our tastes. There’s something about the size of the rear quarter panel and the car’s almost hatchbacklike profile that just doesn’t work.

Neither Ed Welburn nor Jim Taylor, Cadillac’s general manager, mentioned a production date for the CTS concept, but figure sometime late next year. That should give Welburn and his team some time to tweak the rear end a little, not to mention figure out how to make a convertible out of it. -- Ed Hellwig, Lead Senior Editor, Inside Line

UPDATE: The original Cadillac press release called it the "CT Coupe" concept. It has since been revised to "CTS Coupe" concept.


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It seems Edmunds feels the same way some of us here do.


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Cadillac has confirmed the new CTS sedan will spawn several other body styles including a coupe and wagon-crossover, and now we have the first tangible evidence that GM’s product planners are working on at least one of these new variants. GM used this week’s Detroit Auto Show to roll out a concept version of a new CTS Coupe.

The concept’s front end is straight from the CTS sedan, while the rear follows the four-door’s styling but is steeped much more aggressively. The interior is also based on the production sedan, but features new materials, colors and finishes to give it a unique look and feel.

Speaking at the car’s unveiling, GM Vice President for Global Design Ed Welburn hinted that the concept offers the flexibility to accept a broad engine range of gasoline and diesel engines for international markets. Expect to see any future production version powered by the same V6 and V8 engines as the sedan and you can bet there will be a high-performance CTS-V Coupe as well.

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Looks like a little cut off towards the rear, but it's still an impressive design nonetheless. I like it - very much in fact.

I agree with you Bruce ...it almost looks more like a hatchback than coupé

Overall, I think Cadillac has established itself as a style leader of the moment .....but how long can this faceted look last? .....and then what?

It remains to be seen if Cadillac can evolve its "Art and Science" design language into something more than just a passing trend.

I love phat cars but that one is a little too phat and has a rear bigger then the one on the X6, making it look less like a traditional coupe.

Well said Rob, and I agree.

I do think Cadillac's current edgy-thematic style is fantastic, but
the question remains: how long can it last? They've been slowly
evolving this design over the last, what, decade now? Eventually, their edgy design will
come to an end and they'll have to look elsewhere for a style-theme.

In the mean time, I have to say that I am nearly blown away at some of Cadillac's recent
design work. From road cars to concepts there's a certain sparkle to them. In the past I
would have never ever looked twice at Cadillac - mainly because their products didn't appeal
to me - but wow, they are doing some fine work these days.

The CTS is a very handsome looking car and it seem like a bunch of auto execs in China have made note of that as well:

Wow, new definition of ugliness...