General Motors trademarks the Cadillac LTS name - perhaps for a new RWD sedan

Car and Driver reported that General Motors has filed for a trademark for the name Cadillac LTS and while nothing is known about this possible future model – it could be the return of the premium flagship rear wheel drive luxury GM sedan.

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