Jalopnik Snap Jugdement: Considering we'll be seeing two all-new dedicated hybrids from Toyota, the formal debut of the 2010 Honda hybrid, who knows what from Nissan, and with the first fully-formed Chevy Volt revealed just a couple months earlier, the 2009 Detroit Auto Show is setting up to be a serious, next-gen hybrid battle royal.

More interesting to us, contrary to reports of the declining influence of the Detroit Auto Show and the rise of the LA Auto Show, is a trend of increasingly prominent Detroit unveils. Detroit will be showing off hybrids and meat-and-potatoes products — both at the forefront of consumers minds. While the LA Auto Show continues to feature lifestyle products like the Lexus LF-A and the Cadillac CTS Coupe. True, the 2010 Ford Mustang is dropping its top in LA, but that's to be expected given it's a convertible. Ironic, isn't it, that a state so obsessive about portraying itself as green gets mostly vain, luxury and low-volume while a city held up as the symbol of everything backwards in the auto industry displays the future? We think so.

[via DetNews]

[Edmunds Inside Line]

CTS Coupe Spy Report

It took a long-range spotting scope to get it, but we just caught Cadillac's CTS coupe without its heavy camouflage covering. Now all that separates from the production styling of the CTS coupe is some checkerboard tape—and about a half-mile of distance between the camera and the prototype. The taped camouflage, long distance, and slightly foggy conditions all conspired to keep some of the CTS coupe's finer styling details obfuscated, but the overall design treatment is clearly revealed.

In its uncovered state, the production CTS coupe still remains faithful to the original concept, but some minor changes are visible on the prototype's rear-end. The mesh vents which flank the central exhaust on the concept have been replaced with slim red reflectors, in a nod to safety standards on the production model. Also, the concept's license plate housing has been reshaped (perhaps to accommodate both U.S. and international registration plates), while a larger chrome strip adorns the trunk lid. The overall shape to the prototype's rear bumper looks nearly identical to the concept, right down to the careful sculpting at the bottom corners which wrap around toward the central exhaust.

The side window lines look just about identical on both cars, while the truly B-pillar-free design on the concept is less exotic on the production car. Stylists appear to have done an admirable job keep a smooth glass-to-glass effect on the side windows, but a B-pillar is still in place. The front-end on this prototype looks to be straight off the CTS sedan, without the subtle body kit applied to the concept's front fascia.

With our appetite whetted upon seeing this unclad CTS coupe prototype, we're now eager to get a closer look at a similarly finished prototype running on public roads. As always, we'll keep our eyes open

Among the initiatives Wagoner announced today were:

-Truck capacity reduction by 300,000 units, including stamping and engines
-Cutting sales and marketing budgets, particularly in motorsports and promotions
-Holding engineering expenses steady
-Reduce salaried headcount
-Eliminate health care coverage at 65 for retirees, but increase pension payments
-No base compensation increases for salaried employees through 2009
-No cash bonuses for executives
-Delaying next gen full size pickups and SUVs
-Delay V8 engine design developments
-Alternative and small displacement engine design budget increases
-Suspension of dividend payments
-Defer health care spending payments
-Explore sale of assets: Hummer under review, remaining brands focused on profit improvements
-Additional borrowing against assets

Prior to the news conference, an anonymous GM executive familiar with the plan said, reportedly with a straight face, "It will be a clear message on the ways we will restore our health, our measures to realign capacity. It's tough medicine, but it's real." Unlike every wave of job cuts since 1973, this one is REAL. Well, that should do it then.

The CTS Coupe has dropped a little camouflage, exposing the prototype's B-pillar, and much of the C-pillar for the first time. We can now see Cadillac's extremely clean execution of the side glass, which gives the impression of a B-pillarless design. Prior prototypes had heavy tape and cladding just aft of the Coupe's door opening, which had given the false impression of a less graceful B-pillar design. While all indications are that the CTS Coupe will still have a conventional central side pillar, the clean look now visible on this prototype is pleasing to the eye.

We can also see most of the rear-side-window, and the angle of the C-pillar, which, not surprisingly, matches the design previewed on the CTS Coupe concept. As more camouflage falls away, we expect further confirmation of the Coupe's remarkably faithful transition from Show Car to showroom.

Cadillac CTS Coupe! - A running prototype - Closely based on the concept, we caught what is obviously the Cadillac CTS Coupe - although sources speculate that name may actually be CTC when it reaches production in May of 2009. Codenamed GMX226, the stylish couple will be built along side the CTS sedan at the Lansing Grand River Plant.

The coupe will feature a backup camera which is not currently found on the sedan, and wont have tradition door handles, but touch pad setup instead. Styling wise, it obviously follows the concept VERY closely. Even the dual exhaust will make production. Only the concept front end may see a modest toning down to bring it inline with the CTS sedan.

We caught our first glimpse of the production Cadillac CTS Coupe through the trees of its secret holding pen. With these first-ever front-3/4 and profile shots of a real-world CTS coupe prototype, we can now assess the changes Cadillac designers have made to translate the striking Detroit concept into a production vehicle.

Thankfully, it appears that the majority of the CTS Coupe concept's
lines have been faithfully duplicated on this production model. Some
feared that the concept's radical fastback design might be watered
down, revealing the Coupe's sedan roots, but our profile view proves
these fears as unfounded. It appears that the production version may
have a slightly more pronounced rear deck, but if that's so, it's not
enough to significantly alter the concept's silhouette. The CTS coupe
prototype retains a remarkably flat backlight.

The CTS Coupe prototype further separates itself from its sedan donor
thanks to the elimination of a conventional door handle, adopting
instead the concept's Corvette-style design which hides the door
trigger behind the door's aft cut-line. The concept and production
similarities continue with the Coupe's revised lower side sill, and
the distinctively sculpted waistline, which begins at the A-pillar/
fender vent, and narrows as it stretches rearward. The camouflage
hides whether or not the line terminates into the concept's razor-
sharp point at the C-pillar, but it looks likely that that's another
design convergence between the show- and production cars. Earlier
photos also confirmed that the concept's bold central exhaust will
also reach showrooms.

There are some visible differences between the Detroit Show Standout
and the production model. Cost and feasibility studies have killed
the concept's glass-to-glass side windows, in favor of a visible B-
pillar on the production model. The rest of the changes are found in
front of the A-pillar. The concept coupe's large, CTS-V-style hood
bulge is gone on this prototype (although we'd love to see it return
on a future full-blow CTS-V coupe). And the show car's reshaped front
fenders—which sweep more voluptuously to a revised front bumper,
tweaked front ground-effects, and more dynamic headlight and fog-light
clusters—appear to have been replaced with stock items from the CTS
sedan. It looks to us like the CTS Coupe and sedan will share
identical front fenders and front fascia designs. From there, back,
however, the cars could scarcely be more different. The drama of the
CTS Coupe concept is alive and well, and on its way to Cadillac
showrooms.

Because although on-stage at the reveal Lutz was mum on production, we got the same wink and nod the boys at C&D got from our sources at the General, who told us it should hit the roads at the end of 2009 as a 2010 model. Actually, to be fair, we only got a wink. We're not entirely sure, but that nod may just have been a nervous tic of some sort, so we can't be entirely certain it meant anything. [via Car & Driver]

NEW PRODUCTION MODELS AND CONCEPTS HIGHLIGHT CADILLAC'S DESIGN AND INNOVATION AT THE NORTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW

DETROIT - Carrying the momentum of its ongoing product renaissance - exemplified in the new, award-winning CTS - Cadillac accelerates into 2008 with significant moves that advance the brand's dramatic design and innovative performance technology. These initiatives are on display at the North American Auto Show, in a pair of new production models and a pair of forward-looking concepts:

* 2009 CTS-V - the ultimate expression of Cadillac's performance, luxury and design
* 2009 Escalade Hybrid - the first hybrid propulsion system applied to a large luxury SUV, delivering more than 50-percent improved fuel mileage in city driving
* Myst Concept - a petroleum-free, hydrogen-powered vision of future luxury transportation
* CTS Coupe Concept - a celebration of Cadillac's design heritage in the form of a personal, expressive sports coupe

"Cadillac's portfolio of technical solutions for luxury consumers around the globe has never been more diverse," said Jim Taylor, Cadillac general manager. "Wrapping all these products together is the distinctive design that has powered Cadillac's resurgence."

The CTS-V, Myst Concept and CTS Coupe Concept make their world debuts at Detroit, representing different yet complementary aspects of Cadillac's advanced technical development and evolving design language. The Escalade Hybrid, beginning production in mid-2008, extends the desirability of the leading large luxury SUV.

# # #