General Motors Co. has priced the all-new, rear-wheel-drive Cadillac ATS compact luxury sport sedan will be priced starting at $33,990, including destination charges.  The new small Caddy is expected to post fuel economy figures of well over 30 mpg.
 “The ATS enters a vehicle segment this year that’s one of the most competitive in the market, from both a price and performance standpoint,” said Don Butler, vice president of Cadillac Marketing. “ATS will bring a distinctive presence and compelling value while offering quick, nimble, fun-to-drive dynamics that will appeal to the lifestyles of modern luxury buyers and challenge the segment’s status quo.”
A mid-level model with a lightweight and powerful 2-liter turbocharged engine costs $35,795 including destination and will offer automatic and manual transmissions, and rear- or all-wheel drive.
Topping the engine range is a 3.6L V-6 with a preliminary rating of 320 horsepower, costing $42,090 including destination with an automatic transmission and standard content that includes CUE, leather 8-way power seats with memory, remote start and more. All-wheel drive will be available.
The ATS is schedule to go on sale this summer, but already the new sport sedan is positively impacting Lansing, Mich., where more than 410 new employees have been hired at Cadillac’s Lansing Grand River plant where the ATS will be assembled.
GM said a dedicated engineering team has traveled the globe refining and advancing the ATS to meet customer demands. The addition of advanced materials has reduced curb weight to less than 3,400 pounds, more than 100 pounds less than an Audi A4 or Mercedes-Benz C250.
Cadillac’s new CUE user interface, standard on most ATS models, offers the first automotive use of capacitive touch to create an intuitive, modern way for drivers to interact with the car. This technology, used for most smartphones and tablet computers, uses electrodes to sense the conductive properties of objects, such as a finger. By Joseph Szczesny