2010 LA Design Challenge ends with a Tie: Cadillac and Smart Declared Winners

This year's Los Angeles Design Challenge ended with a tie, as judges, after much deliberation, declared two winners: the Cadillac Aera and smart 454 WWT. The challenge was to envision a four passenger car tipping the scales under 1,000 lbs (454 kg).

"Deciding this year's Design Challenge winner was a tremendously difficult decision as the quality of entries has increased throughout the years", agreed the Design Los Angeles judges. "This year's winners - the Cadillac Aera and the smart 454 WWT - offer two very different visions of the 1,000 lb. Car, yet are equally as amazing. They are both very expressive of their brand; GM is art and science and smart is playful and fun".

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LA Show 2010: Cadillac's Urban Luxury Concept is an Aston Martin Cygnet Killer

If you want more proof that Cadillac is once and for all abandoning its "bigger is better" mentality adapting to the times, here it is: the Urban Luxury Concept, a design study for a supermini-sized city car (think Aston Martin Cygnet) that will have its world premiere at the Los Angeles Auto Show tomorrow.

"While small in size, this concept is an exploration of what Cadillac could be in the future, as the brand continues to focus on redefining industry standards for advanced vehicle design and integrated technology," said Don Butler, vice president for Cadillac marketing.

Conceived and designed in the Los Angeles area, the car's styling is typical of Cadillac's current design language with plenty of hard edges and vertical head lamps and tail lamps. To make it look more conceptual, the designers threw in a pair of scissor-type doors that extend outward and rotate forward when opened.

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Cadillac to Show All-New Concept Model at LA Auto Show: What will it be?

We're still tuned into the SEMA Show, but the news from the fast approaching Los Angeles Auto Show keep dropping in. Now we've learned that General Motors will stage the global reveal of a never-seen-before Cadillac concept study. not surprisingly, details remain slim. It could be a concept for Cadillac's recently confirmed small sedan (often called ATS), which will go up against the BMW 3-Series and Audi A4, or something different altogether. We just don't know. But feel free to speculate in the comments section below.

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LA Auto Show Design Contest Part 1: Cadillac, Honda, Maybach and Mazda Concepts

For the past seven years, the most important automotive design studios in Southern California compete in a Design Challenge organized by the Los Angeles Auto Show. For this year's edition of the show, which runs November 19-29, the event planners decided to add an international flavor to the contest by inviting studios from Germany and Japan to join the competition for the very first time.

The theme for the 2010 Design Challenge is the creation of a super-efficient and lightweight four-passenger car: "The objective is to envision an efficient, light-weight, four passenger vehicle (not to exceed 1,000 lbs.), that is both comfortable and safe, while delivering satisfactory driving performance without sacrificing the styling consumers demand. "

Follow the break for the first group of concept models by Cadillac, Honda, Maybach and Mazda, and stay tuned for the second part.

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Cadillac CTS Coupe Loses its Top for SEMA Show

Drop Top Customs, the Florida-based company that brought us the Chevy Camaro and Dodge Challenger convertible models at last year's SEMA Show, is now getting ready to chop the roof off the freshly revealed Cadillac CTS Coupe. The soft top Caddy will be revealed in the flesh for the first time at this year's edition of the SEMA gathering, which runs from November 2 to 5 at the Las Vegas convention center.

For now, you'll have to make do with a set of renderings that you can check out along with some other drop top custom conversions from the tuning shop in the gallery after the jump.

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Cadillac Planning True Flagship Model And Entry-Level Player

America needs a true luxury car company and Cadillac is it. What about Lincoln, you ask? It seems like Ford's upscale brand is still trying to find its feet. To take full advantage of this, Cadillac intends to regain its position as a full-out luxury competitor over the next 5 years with a more traditional lineup, shooting volleys across the bows of more than just the 5-Series and E-Class.

That's right, we can expect entry-level, mid-size, and full-size luxury, along with one model that will still appeal to the "traditional" Cadillac buyers of the 90's (if they're still around).

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Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept: Videos and Live Shots from Detroit Show

Making its world premiere at the Detroit motor show alongside the 556HP Cadillac CST-V Coupe, is the XTS Platinum Concept. GM calls it a concept model, but the 203.5 inches (5,170mm) long XTS is expected to heavily influence Cadillac's upcoming flagship sedan that will replace the DTS, and quite possibly, the STS also.

The full-size sedan, which most likely shares the vehicle platform with the 2010 Buick LaCrosse, keeps all the usual styling cues of modern Cadillacs such as the sharp creases and vertical lights.

The concept's interior blends leather, wood and other high quality materials with modern technology like the Organic Light-Emitting Diode (O-LED) displays that replace the traditional gauges and screens.

Under the Caddy's bonnet is GM's 3.6-liter V6 engine with direct-injection plus a plug-in hybrid system that deliver a combined output of 350HP and 295 lb-ft of torque.

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Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept Foretells DTS Replacement

Meet the Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept that made its world debut at the 2010 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Officially, the XTS is just a design study that showcases Cadillac's emerging top-of-the-line Platinum series of models, but unofficially, it previews the Detroit firm's DTS replacement in the full-size sedan segment that's pegged make its way onto the market by 2012.

General Motors did not say which platform the concept is based on, but judging from the XTS' wheelbase length of 111.7 inches or 2,837mm that is identical to the new Buick LaCrosse, we'd say that it rides on a modified version of the Epsilon II.

Even though it shares the same wheelbase with the LaCrosse, the XTS is 6.6 inches longer at 203.5 inches (5,170mm) and 1.7 inches wider at 74.8 inches (1,900mm).

You may have noticed that we haven't said anything about the XTS' exterior design. That's because we can't decide if we find it elegant or boring. We're probably leaning towards the second, but feel free to tell us what you think in the comment section below.

The concept's interior is a bit more intriguing style-wise, but nothing groundbreaking - or at least not for anyone under the age of 50...

Moving on the XTS Platinum concept's hardware, Cadillac fitted the full-size sedan with a plug-in hybrid electric propulsion system (PHEV). It combines a direct-injection V6 petrol engine and electric motors to drive all-four wheels. The system delivers an estimated output of 350 horsepower (260 kW) and 295 lb.-ft. of torque (400 Nm).

CADILLAC XTS PLATINUM CONCEPT SPECIFICATIONS

Vehicle type:	luxury sedan concept
Wheelbase (in / mm):	111.7 / 2837
Length (in / mm):	203.5 / 5170
Width (in / mm):	74.8 / 1900
Height (in / mm):	59.1 / 1500
Track (in / mm):	62.6 / 1589 (front); 62.8 / 1594 (rear)
Powertrain:	plug-in hybrid system with 3.6L Direct Injection gas engine (with variable valve timing); lithium ion battery
Suspension:	four-wheel independent with Magnetic Ride Control.
Brakes:	four-wheel disc with electric park brake system
Wheels:	20-in front / 20-in rear
Estimated power:	350 hp (260 kW) / 295 lb.-ft. (400 Nm)

Cadillac to Debut New Concept Model and 2011 CTS-V Coupe at Detroit Auto Show

A never-before seen concept model and the hottest version of the new CTS-Coupe will be Cadillac's stars at next month's Detroit Motor Show. GM's premium brand released a teaser photo of the new concept model but is keeping everything else, including the name, a secret.

There's not much we can tell from the picture other than that the concept appears to follow the brand's most recent design language but if we were to play the guessing game, our vote would go to either Cadillac's planned BMW 3-Series rival, the ATS sedan or a preview of the STS's successor.

The ATS, which was confirmed earlier this year, will be positioned under the CTS in Cadillac's range and be offered with rear-wheel drive and optional all-wheel drive. Given that the larger CTS starts from around $37,000 in the US, the new four-door sedan should have a base price closer to $30,000.

Also making its world premiere in Detroit is the new 2011 CTS-V Coupe. The most powerful version of the new CTS Coupe, which was revealed at the L.A. auto show in November, will get the same 556-horsepower 6.2-liter supercharged V8 coupled to a six-speed manual or automatic transmission found in the CTS-V Sedan.