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Cadillac's ATS sedan is going away, and we'll miss it

The smallest Caddy was a blast on back roads, but all good things must come to an end.

Kyle Hyatt Former news and features editor
Kyle Hyatt (he/him/his) hails originally from the Pacific Northwest, but has long called Los Angeles home. He's had a lifelong obsession with cars and motorcycles (both old and new).
Kyle Hyatt
2 min read

The Cadillac ATS is a pretty decent car. In ATS-V trim, it's borderline amazing. Unfortunately, though, the ATS sedan is going the way of the buffalo, according to reports by The Truth About Cars and Autoblog, now confirmed by Cadillac.

The ATS launched in 2012 as the smaller, more fun and affordable alternative to the CTS. Considering Cadillac's previous small-car effort (hint: it zigged), producing a BMW 3 Series (video) competitor was a bold move, but one that was for the most part successful.

2017-cadillac-ats-1
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2017-cadillac-ats-1

Even if its infotainment system sucked, the ATS was a good car and a lot of fun to drive.

Roadshow

The ATS sedan was comfortable, well-appointed and handsome and had a solid selection of powertrain options. Over the years, it's only gotten better, but for some reason, people never fully embraced the pint-size Caddy like they did its bigger brother and that's kind of a shame.

"Production of the ATS Sedan is ending due to extensive plant upgrades, expansion and re-tooling to prepare for the next generation of Cadillac sedans ," said Donny Nordlicht, product & technology communications for Cadillac. "Cadillac's future sedan portfolio will consist of three sedans, positioned in different segments and clearly differentiated by size and price. The CT6 will continue as the brand's prestige sedan and will play also the lead role as a new technology platform for Cadillac, as evidenced by the debut of Super Cruise semi-autonomous technology in the 2018 CT6."

2016 Cadillac ATS-V
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2016 Cadillac ATS-V

The ATS-V might be our favorite sedan to wear a V badge: It was ludicrously quick and super competent on track.

Antuan Goodwin/CNET

Though it announced in July 2017 that it planned to pare down its sedan lineup, Cadillac has confirmed that it will make sure that the ATS sedan stays available until the end of the year so that anyone who wants one can get one, which if you've gotta have something reasonably sized, engaging to drive and American, you should.