A Front-Wheel Drive Cadillac ATS Almost Happened

The 2013 Cadillac ATS has turned heads in the premium market, with the entry-level luxury sedan confronting the iconic BMW 3 Series head-on when it comes to price, performance, and style. According to a recent article by the Automotive News, however, General Motors was this close to walking away from the sum of money needed to invest in an all-new platform for the sedan. Instead, Cadillac's compact marvel almost became yet another victim of badge-engineered cost-cutting.

The details? The current Cadillac ATS sits on the rear-wheel drive Alpha platform, which was developed specifically to blaze a new path for the luxury automaker in the small sedan segment as well as provide the future underpinnings for the Camaro as well as the next-generation Cadillac CTS. In the dark days of 2007, however, GM product planners argued back and forth about the merits of investing millions of dollars in a fresh platform when the existing Delta platform - used for front-wheel drive compacts like the Buick Verano and assorted Chevrolets - was just sitting there waiting to be plundered.

As good as the Verano is, a front-wheel drive ATS would not have been in any real sense a competitor to BMW, nor to many of the other European luxury contenders. Although GM went so far as to test out various iterations of a front-wheel drive ATS prior to committing to the Alpha platform, a long-range approach (one that potentially heralds a new day for the automotive giant) won the day, giving us the well-balanced, fun-to-drive Cadillac ATS that we have now.