Literally nothing is known about the Cadillac LTS but it could possibly be the newest take on the rear wheel drive, full sized luxury sedan. This vehicle likely wouldn’t be a whole lot bigger than the new Cadillac XTS but unlike the XTS that is offered only in front- and all-wheel drive, the LTS could answer the prayers for a flagship rear wheel drive super sedan. We would hope that as the range-topping sedan, the new Cadillac LTS would derive its motive power from a throaty American V8 but with the advancements in small engine technology – the future Cadillac flagship could use a smaller engine with forced induction.
The Cadillac brand has slowly making a transmission away from the front wheel drive models that gained gobs of popularity in the 1980s and 1990s with rear drive models like the top-selling CTS family and the upcoming ATS compact sport sedan. The current halo luxury sedan in the Cadillac lineup is the new XTS sedan which is only offered in front- and all-wheel drive and the last premium “bigger” luxury sedan to feature rear wheel drive was the now-discontinued STS and the last full size, rear wheel drive luxury sedan from Cadillac was the Sedan de Ville of the awesome 80s.
C&D explains that the next generation of the now-new Cadillac XTS is expected to feature rear wheel drive and range in size between the BMW 5-Series and 7-Series while a future full sized sedan would be a bit larger than the extended wheelbase BMW 7-Series. This larger vehicle could be the Cadillac LTS but rumors suggest that the new bigger high end Caddy could sport the XLS name. General Motors is not a company who often files for tons of trademarks for new model names so we should expect that over the next few years, there will spring up a new Cadillac LTS – although it could be either a production or concept vehicle. However, Car and Driver points out that very few Cadillac trademarks go unused altogether.
Should the Cadillac LTS prove to be a new full sizes luxury sedan (hopefully featuring a rear wheel drive and a V8), the future Cadillac car lineup would look something like the following list provided that the XTS remains on as a FWD large sedan:
Cadillac ELR – compact front drive coupe based on the architecture of the Chevrolet Volt (click here for more on the possible Voltec powered ELR)
Cadillac ATS – compact rear wheel drive sedan, 4-cylinder, turbocharged 4-cylinder, or 6-cylinder, manual or automatic transmission
Cadillac CTS – midsized sedan, wagon and coupe, rear wheel drive or all wheel drive, 6-cylinder or 8-cylinder, manual or automatic transmission
Cadillac XTS – full sized sedan, front or all wheel drive sedan, 6-cylinder engine, automatic transmission
Cadillac LTS – full sized sedan, rear wheel drive, 6-cylinder or 8-cylinder engine, automatic transmission
This lineup would allow Cadillac to go head to head with BMW as the ATS will take on the 3-Series, the CTS takes on the 5-Series (and the 6-Series coupes), the XTS stands on its own in the luxury segment with a more fuel efficient front wheel drive configuration and the LTS would go head to head with the BMW 7-Series.
Of course, this is all based on speculation and the Cadillac LTS name could end up being a variety of different vehicles but it looks as though General Motors is making a massive move to help the Cadillac brand compete with the best luxury automakers in the world with plenty of rear wheel drive models and a couple front wheel drive models.
Source: Car and Driver