Thats right its a CTS!! It's the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V and it can hit 60 m.p.h. in 4.5 seconds. "There are people who still like red meat," GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said.
General Motors Corp. rolled out vehicles at the green and mean ends of its potential car lineup Monday.
GM showed the silent Saturn Flextreme fuel-cell concept, a powerful 2009 Cadillac CTS-V and one of the few surprises of the Detroit auto show: a Cadillac CTS coupe concept.
With its introductions, said Bob Lutz, GM's vice chairman for global product development, the automaker has recommitted to legendary former Chairman Alfred Sloan's promise to build "a car for every purse and purpose."
The Flextreme is an electric vehicle that uses no gasoline, emits only water and is based on the E-flex architecture that GM is working to bring to market in the Chevrolet Volt by 2010.
On the other hand, the 2009 CTS-V sports sedan is a fuel-thirsty V8 that delivers 550 horsepower and goes from 0 to 60 in less than 4.5 seconds.
"At the height of the vegetarian craze, grocery stores were still featuring New York steaks," Lutz said. "Maybe they devoted less shelf space to them, but even with all the healthy eating there are people who still like red meat. And we're a full-service grocery chain."
The automaker used its car announcements -- made just a day after it won North American Car of the Year for the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu -- to hammer home the message that GM, known for building tough trucks, is also serious about building an array of stylish, high-quality cars that are as good as those by Toyota Motor Corp. and BMW.
Although the automaker hasn't committed to build either the Saturn Flextreme or the Cadillac CTS coupe, GM executives said the vehicles are strong hints of what customers should expect of GM's future car lineup.
And analysts say the track record the automaker has built over the past three years is beginning to pay off in increasing sales and better resale value, which GM must have to regain a leading position on the car-side of the market.
The Cadillac coupe concept, Lutz said, is certainly something the automaker is seriously considering.
"If we're going to compete with the BMW 3-series and the Mercedes C class, we obviously need more than one body style," Lutz told reporters following the reveal of the coupe. "Up until now, we've competed with one, and that just won't do it."
He wouldn't say when such a vehicle might make it into production, but said "if we do it, it will not be this year."
GM has acknowledged that future Saturns will take design cues from the Flextreme.
"It all comes down to offering consumers more choices and more viable solutions to meet their personal transportation needs than anyone else," GM North America President Troy Clarke said, "all the while continuing with our mission to deliver cool cars that our customers want to buy."
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