When Cadillac aired its 30-second “Go To Green Hell” Super Bowl ad for the upcoming ATS sedan during the last two-minutes of the game’s last quarter, a total of 111.3 million viewers tuned in, effectively making this ad the most watched television commercial in U.S. history. Could the marketing department at GM have somehow foreseen the future and realized the game of the year would come down to the wire?

GM global chief marketing officer Joel Ewanick said, “Cadillac is expanding with new models challenging the world’s best luxury cars. This stunning viewership data proves that Cadillac’s big message reached the largest audience… When it comes to Super Bowl ads, everyone has opinions on their favorite, But its a fact that this Cadillac spot had the biggest audience during the game.”

While Ewanick’s quote suggests that the reception for the advertisement reflects approval for the product, these statistics are more representative of the time it aired. If the same ad had aired at any time other than 9:39:37 PM, the title for “most watched ad” would have likely gone to a commercial with more supermodels, pyrotechnics, and special effects.

Watch the ad after the jump.

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A few days ago, Motor Trend reported that Cadillac was putting its ATS Coupe on the shelf for the time being, and that the convertible and wagon variants were going to be dropped completely.

But now it appears as though Cadillac may have a thing or two to say about its ATS plans – even as vague as they may be. David Caldwell, Cadillac spokesman, was recently quoted saying “There has been no recent radical shift in strategy,” in regards to the ATS. That either means the ATS Coupe hasn’t gotten anywhere on the table, or GM is still working hard at developing the variant. See what Caldwell did there?

As for those who have been reporting different variants on the ATS, including the convertible and wagon versions, Caldwell left the door open again saying “On either end of the spectrum the reporting is inaccurate.” But here’s the real statement that makes us believe that Cadillac hasn’t quite shelved the idea of ATS variants altogether: “We do plan to do variants,” Caldwell said. “We haven’t yet called our shot of how we’re going to execute that.”

What’s it all mean? To us it appears that Cadillac will play it safe by seeing how well received (or not) the ATS is in the marketplace before determining whether it’ll be ripping into variants of the model for public consumption.

[Source: Autoblog]

Putting profits ahead of product, General Motors has reportedly decided to shelve production plans for a coupe version of the recently introduced Cadillac ATS.

While not cancelled, the model has been delayed as part of a larger plan by GM to slow spending and increase profits, helping bolster its slumping share price.

The ATS was long rumored to also get convertible and wagon versions, but those models have reportedly been dropped completely. One of the few variations of Cadillac’s 3 Series rival that will head into production is one with a diesel powertrain, although no announcement has been made as to when that version will join the lineup.

[Source: WideOpenThrottle]

See AutoGuide’s First Look Video of the Cadillac ATS below:

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Cadillac has some big plans for its new 2013 XTS sedan that made its debut at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show. GM has announced that Cadillac will unveil the XTS W20 Livery Sedan Package at the upcoming 28th Annual International Limousine, Charter and Tour Show, but the big news is that Cadillac Master Coachbuilder (CMC) is working on an extended sedan and limousine variant of the new XTS.

The XTS W20 Livery Sedan Package is targeted towards professional use, and it appears that it’ll retain the regular XTS’s wheelbase length. The other two variants currently being worked on by CMC however, will be built for the chauffeured transportation market by the end of the year.

Limousine, Charter and Tour Magazine is reporting that CMC will be able to extend the XTS’s length by up to 70 inches for the “V4U” XTS Limousine, and up to 8 inches can be added to the wheelbase for the “W30″ XTS-L sedan for improved rear legroom. Neither of these variants will be on display at the upcoming Limousine, Charter and Tour Show however.

“This new vehicle will help dispel some of the myths out there about Cadillac,” said Ray Bush, Cadillac Professional Vehicles Program Manager. “The Cadillac of old was from the standpoint of large, floaty vehicles. Cadillac has moved away from that with its new products launched over the last 10 years. The XTS will further that with outstanding ride characteristics that compare favorably with Cadillac vehicles of the past.”

[Source: World Car Fans]

Car companies, much like any other, can go one of two routes when dreaming up a Superbowl commercial: funny or serious.

Cadillac chose the latter this year for their ATS commercial, but their ad didn’t do it for us. Throwing a deep commanding voice over an uninspiring electric guitar track and recycling what’s mostly old teaser footage of the ATS running around the Nurburgring race track was a let down. Most disappointing of all, the original teaser video was probably more exciting. The comparison they make between the BMW 3-Series and the ATS makes sense and so does hinting at testing in enemy territory, but it doesn’t impart the rah rah go USA spirit we would have expected.

The Superbowl represents grandeur, excess and most of all pride. One day out of the year a single stadium becomes football’s cathedral. In keeping with that theme, commercials have no choice but to make us double over in laughter or jump from our seats in excitement, or just crack a prideful smirk.

Chrysler pulled that off last year with their “imported from Detroit’ commercial, but telling people to “go to green hell” is just plain cheesy. Hopefully you disagree, watch the video below and decide for yourself.

GALLERY: 2013 Cadillac ATS

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Cadillac may be in the process of fitting its new ATS platform with a two door Roadster body that would take the four door sedan and make it a slick two seat sports car.

Cadillac insiders at the 2012 North American International Auto Show told reporters from Inside Line that a roadster is being considered for the ATS platform. The roadster would directly compete with the Mercedes-Benz SLK and the BMW Z4, a market which Cadillac currently has no offering. The closest Caddy comes to these two German designed performance cars is its CTS coupe, which has some sports car influence, but is definitely not a direct competitior to either of these well tuned racers.

The roadster will no doubt share the same rear wheel drive system as the ATS, and hopefully come with all three ATS engine options, a 200-hp 2.5-liter 4-cylinder, a 270-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder and a 318-hp 3.6-liter V6, but may opt for only the larger motors. We will have to wait and see.

Watch AutoGuide’s ATS reveal video here.

[Source: Inside Line]

Cadillac‘s latest in-vehicle connectivity and control module, called CUE, has been given a big boost by receiving the Top Gadgets of 2012: Editor’s Choice Award by Popular Mechanics magazine.

The award was presented to Cadillac at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NV. Cadillac was the only auto manufacturer to walk away with an award from Popular Mechanics.

The CUE was picked because of its innovative technology and potential impact on the industry.

Andrew Del-Colle, assistant editor of Popular Mechanics magazine said; “After seeing an earlier demonstration of the system at the Los Angeles Auto Show, I knew it would be a strong candidate for an award at CES. The show offered a great opportunity to compare the CUE with many other OEM and aftermarket systems, and it stood out to us for its innovative use of new standards such as HTML 5, as well as for its intuitive user interface.”

CUE brings the first application of capacitive touch in an automobile. It uses electrodes to sense conductive properties of objects such as fingers. This system is similar to the touch and interaction one gets from gadgets like the iPad.

Other key aspects of CUE are natural speech recognition, Bluetooth connectivity for up to 10 devices and a motorized concealed storage compartment. The system runs on an ARM 11 3-core processor on a Linux open-source HTML5-based software platform.

The CUE system will debut in the Cadillac XTS and the ATS, and will be thus available to consumers from this summer.

One of the stand-out cars at this year’s North American International Auto Show, the Cadillac ATS looks extremely promising. In the 4th installment of Cadillac’s “The Journey” series, we witness GM’s commitment behind this product, from conception, to development, to its debut at the Detroit Auto Show.

Tuned during Nurburgring shakedown testing, the ATS aims to take on the best of what Germany has to offer– the luxury compact sedan segment. Weighing less than 3,400 lbs, the ATS is expected to carry 100 lbs less than either an Audi A4 or Mercedes-Benz C-Class. What’s more, the ATS will also possess an all-original chassis attaining 50/50 weight distribution, must like the segment leading BMW 3-series. But most of all, the party piece of the ATS’ handling dynamics will be its magnetic ride shocks– a first in this segment.

The Cadillac will come with as many engine trim options as its German rivals, offering a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder base power plant producing 200-hp, a 270-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder and a 318-hp 3.6-liter V6. Expect a diesel engine offering later in the ATS lifecycle as well.

A lot rests upon the ATS as its success will draw implications to Cadillac’s future in the global market. GM North America President Mark Reuss is confident, boldly introducing the ATS at the Detroit Auto Show as, “this is the car to finally challenge the German cars at their own game and win.”

GALLERY: 2013 Cadillac ATS

Watch the 4th video of “The Journey” series below and look out for an appearance by AutoGuide’s very own Editor-in-Chief Colum Wood!

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10. Chevy Tru 140S Concept

For some of the more minor auto shows, a Top 10 list of the most important cars often covers most of the new debuts, but not so at the North American International Auto Show. Held each January in Detroit it’s the obvious launch site for major products by the Big Three domestic automakers and over the years has also become the venue for important new models by the rest of the auto industry.

Domestics made their mark at this year’s Detroit show, starting with one very different concept car revealed by Chevrolet. Called the Tru 140S it may look like some outrageously fast and expensive exotic machine, but it’s neither. Based on the same front-drive platform as the Chevy Cruze, it is powered by the same 1.4-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder, which makes just 138 hp in that car. Designed, along with the Code 130R concept, as part of an initiative to attract youth buyers back to the brand, Chevy seems serious about the concept, even announcing that if it made production, the target price would be around the $20,000 mark.

With the 3 Series now directly in its sites with the ATS compact luxury sports sedan, Cadillac is looking to take on the BMW X3 as well.

While the GM luxury brand does already offer the SRX (above), Caddy VP of sales Kurt McNeil has admitted that a new, smaller crossover is under consideration. It would be one that, “would go a little bit more head-to-head with the X3.” McNeil stopped short of confirming the car, saying that no final decision has been made on the product, however, he did drop one important remark that can be seen as a clear sign that baby SRX is on its way.

“The fact that Cadillac is becoming more of a global brand will certainly play a role in that decision,” he said. Small luxury crossovers are one of the fastest growing segments in the auto industry, particularly in emerging markets, and Cadillac isn’t likely to miss out on the surge – especially not when they have an all-new platform in the ATS that can be adapted for just such a purpose.

[Source: AutoNews]