Cadillac Needs a MINI Rival Says Designer of Urban Luxury Concept

Colum Wood
by Colum Wood

Unveiled recently at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Cadillac‘s Urban Luxury Concept (ULC) may lead to a production model in the future. At least that’s the will of Niki Smart, one of the car’s creators from GM’s Advanced Studio design center in LA.

“The time is ripe for Cadillac to make this car,” he said in an interview with AutoCar. “We need a bigger spread of models, particularly for Europe. The Mini’s success is proof of people’s open-mindedness.”

Smart, best known for creating the Ariel Atom, now works for GM in LA and admits that while many of the components of the car could be brought to production, a sub-compact model is a stretch for the brand.

Bringing the ULC to market would help Cadillac in Europe and recent rumors have suggest Buick might even get a MINI-rival, with GM’s European currently working on a new subcompact model, code named Junior, for the Opel and Vauxhall brands that will launch in 2013.

GALLERY: Cadillac Urban Luxury Concept Debut in LA

GALLERY: Cadillac ULC

[Source: AutoCar]

See video of the car from its official unveiling after the jump:

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Colum Wood
Colum Wood

With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. He has won numerous automotive journalism awards including the Best Video Journalism Award in 2014 and 2015 from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Colum founded Geared Content Studios, VerticalScope's in-house branded content division and works to find ways to integrate brands organically into content.

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