ATS coupe is on the way, Cadillac tells its dealers

DETROIT -- General Motors plans to introduce a coupe version of its Cadillac ATS compact next year, one in a spate of vehicle introductions for the luxury brand.

Several dealers told Automotive News they were shown an ATS coupe at a national dealer meeting in Las Vegas this month. Also unveiled to dealers was the 2015 Escalade, which is expected to go into production in January.

Several people who attended described the Escalade's exterior styling as evolutionary but said the interior was completely redone, including wood and aluminum accents and a electronically controlled fold-flat third row of seats.

Both models will be among 10 new or redesigned vehicles that Cadillac has said it will launch by mid-2015, starting with last summer's rollout of the XTS large sedan.

Four of those already have hit showrooms or been unveiled: the XTS, ATS sedan, ELR plug-in hybrid and the CTS sedan, unwrapped at the New York auto show last month.

A GM spokesman said that the redesigned Escalade will be unveiled this year, likely this fall, and that production would begin next year. He declined to comment on plans for an ATS coupe.

Dealers who attended the meeting said the coupe is expected to reach showrooms in spring of 2014. Cadillac executives hope the variant will help to expand the brand's sales to young buyers who are new to the luxury market, dealers said.

Executives have said that 70 percent of ATS buyers are new to Cadillac, and more than half are new to GM.

Powertrain details for the coupe weren't disclosed. The engine lineup is expected to match that of the sedan: a 2.5-liter, four-cylinder; a 2.0-liter turbo; and a 3.6-liter V-6.

Through March, GM sold 9,750 ATS sedans, second-most in Cadillac's lineup behind the SRX crossover. Overall, the brand sold 42,712 units, up 38 percent from a year earlier.