Cadillac Exec Mum on Raising High-Performance Stakes

ELKHART LAKE, WI – Is there more in store after the first-of-its-kind Cadillac ATS-V high-performance compact sedan comes out this summer followed by the third-generation CTS-V high-performance midsize sedan early this fall?

“We’ve talked about it, but (have) nothing to announce now. I wouldn’t rule anything out because if consumers show enough interest, we’d always be willing to consider it,” Tony Roma, chief engineer-Cadillac CTS and V-series cars, says at a Midwest Automotive Media Assn. event here.

Roma doesn’t say whether the automaker might go beyond the V-Series and challenge Mercedes’ AMG Black Series in the future.

Asked if a V-Series was a consideration for the new ’16 Cadillac CT6 flagship, he says only, “Whatever we do, it will have to be more than just stickers added to a car.”

Roma says the V-versions of ATS and CTS are meant to elevate the brand.

“ATS-V is aimed at younger buyers and is more for the track,” he says. “The CTS-V is aimed at older buyers, and while track-capable it is bigger and heavier and more for luxury buyers, which is why we won’t offer a manual transmission.”

Prices will range from $61,000 for an ATS-V sedan and $63,000 for an ATS-V coupe to $83,000 for a CTS-V sedan; price is another reason the CTS-V is aimed at older, more-affluent buyers.