2012 Cadillac BTS Review and Prices

Cadillac will bring a redesigned version of its European-market BLS sedan, shown here, to the U.S. as the 2012 Cadillac BTS.General Motors has a rough road ahead, but it still wants a new Cadillac priced below the CTS. The timing is right, but will the “Good GM” be able to do it?

What We Know About the 2012 Cadillac BTS

A new “junior Cadillac” sedan has been rumored for quite a while. Now Motor Trend reports that a redesigned version of the Europe-only Cadillac BLS is planned for U.S. sale as a lower-priced companion to the premium-midsize CTS. The magazine expects the new sedan to arrive in calendar 2011 as a 2012 model. That assumes, of course, that the government succeeds in salvaging a viable, debt-free “Good GM” from the rubble of what used to be the world’s largest automaker.

The BLS is built on GM’s global Epsilon platform as basically a restyled Saab 9-3; this pair is the smallest of several related midsize cars that include the latest Chevrolet Malibu. MT says the 2012 Cadillac BTS--our name, not theirs, and maybe not GM’s either--will use the Epsilon 2 architecture that premieres with the redesigned 2010 Buick LaCrosse. Front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive will be available.

According to MT, the 2012 Cadillac BTS is being developed as project GM 166, which lends credence to the reporting. It’s an apparent substitution for a compact Cadillac sedan on GM’s rear-drive Alpha platform. That program came to light two years ago, but sources say it’s now likely been shelved as too expensive, given the automaker’s dire financial straits. Another Cadillac casualty of GM’s many current woes is the so-called “DT7” large sedan that was intended to replace the current STS and DTS models.

Motor Trend believes the 2012 Cadillac BTS, if it materializes, will be larger than the 2010 Buick LaCrosse. That means it will also be larger than the current CTS despite the lower targeted price point. MT forecasts a larger, redesigned 2013 CTS to correct this apparent anomaly, again assuming all goes well. By that point, if not before, the CTS will be Cadillac’s flagship passenger car in size as well as price.

We’ve used 2010 LaCrosse dimensions to guesstimate 2012 Cadillac BTS measurements. Because Epsilon 2 is a modern “scalable” architecture that can be varied for length and width, we imagine the Caddy will best the Buick by about 2 inches in wheelbase and overall length and by a bit more than 1 inch in overall width. Styling should mark the next step for Cadillac’s now-familiar edgy-wedgy look. We hope it’s something with the elegant dynamism of the recent Converj Concept coupe, a visual knockout in our opinion. Interestingly, Motor Trend quotes GM insiders as saying early BTS design proposals are “spectacular,” but we’ll have to wait and see if the finished product lives up to that billing.