Cadillac will officially unveil the new 2013 XTS sedan at next week's L.A. Auto Show.
There are some basic rules on the Internet, like being careful before hitting “Reply All,” and for an automaker like Cadillac making sure you don’t publish a pic on your consumer website before you want the media to find it.
But that’s precisely what General Motors did when it put up a shot of the new Cadillac XTS, the big luxury sedan that will be making its debut at the L.A. Auto Show next week. Caught in the act, so to speak, the General Motors division decided to make it official confirming what everyone already knew.
The XTS is likely to be one of the most important products Cadillac has released in years. It replaces two slow-selling models: the rear-drive STS and front-drive DTS, and is aimed at providing a more upscale compliment to the brand’s current best-seller, the midsize CTS.
The XTS maintains Cadillac’s edgy Art & Science design language, though the shape here is smoother, more fluid and elegant – with a roofline that is subtly coupe-like, vaguely reminiscent of the popular and influential Mercedes-Benz CLS.
The new premium luxury sedan is a fair bit larger than the current STS, a smart move since the outgoing modelwas simply too close in size – and styling – to the CTS line. That, Caddy officials admit, made it difficult to justify the price premium for the STS.
It doesn’t take much effort to see the direct influence, meanwhile, of the earlier Cadillac Sixteen concept, though instead of a V16, the maker is expected to offer several V6 and V8 options.
Like other Cadillac models given the “Platinum” designation, a concept version of the XTS that was on the show circuit last year was loaded to the proverbial gills with high-line technology and hand-stitched leather. Many of those features will carry over to the upscale production version – which has to compete with some serious import competition from the likes of Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Lexus.
The new sedan will be the first Cadillac model to offer the new Cue infotainment system. It uses an iPad-like capacitive touch interface that even offers haptic feedback. Touch one of its virtual buttons and you’ll feel a slight kick. Cue also integrates a voice control system that claims to be able to understand regular speech, rather than requiring a user to learn precise commands.
(For a “test drive” of the Cue system, Click Here.)
It remains to be seen whether the production Cadillac XTS will also offer a hybrid option, as the Platinum concept did.
The new sedan will make it to market just after the next year and will be marketed as a 2013 model.