Cadillac CTS

The Cadillac CTS is a luxury car, manufactured and marketed by General Motors from 2003 until 2019 across three generations.

Initially available as a 4-door sedan using the GM Sigma platform, GM offered the second generation CTS in 4-door sedan, 2-door coupe, and 5-door sport wagon, and the third generation as a sedan, using a stretched version of the GM Alpha platform. High performance sedan variants were offered for each generation, as the CTS-V—with wagon and coupe variants offered for the second generation.

In a 2003 report titled The 90 days that shaped Cadillac, Automotive News noted that the first generation CTS marked a $4B investment by General Motors to set a new course for Cadillac styling, introduce a new rear-drive platform, and importantly, re-establish the brand's relevancy.

Wayne Cherry and Kip Wasenko designed the exterior of the first generation CTS, marking the production debut of a design language marketed as "Art and Science," first used on the Evoq concept car. John Manoogian II directed the second generation CTS design, as initially conceived by Robert Munson. Bob Boniface and Robin Krieg designed the exterior of the third generation CTS.

The CTS ended production in 2019 and was replaced by the CT5, which shared its platform with the third and final generation of the CTS in addition to the smaller CT4.

Introduced in January 2002 as a 2003 model, the CTS sedan used GM's new rear-wheel drive Sigma platform and a fully independent suspension. It was the first Cadillac offered with a manual transmission since the 1988 Cimarron. All models were manufactured at GM's Lansing Grand River Assembly in Lansing, Michigan.

The CTS replaced the Opel-based Catera, the acronym "CTS" standing for Catera Touring Sedan. Wayne Cherry and Kip Wasenko designed the exterior of the first generation CTS, from a sketch drawn by Robert Munson, selected by Michael Simcoe and developed into a model by Paul Sciluna.

The coupe marked the production debut of Cadillac's design language, marketed as "Art and Science," first seen on the Evoq concept—what noted automotive journalist Dan Neil described as a "fractal geometric style." Neil described the CTS, saying "the design is confident, distinctive and pure." Writing in the New York Times, Neil noted "this is a serious automobile, a car of consequence. In its 100th year and at the 11th hour, Cadillac made a brave investment in the supremacy of design, in the idea that cleverness should be cloaked in beauty."