Technology Of The Year - Telematics: Cadillac CUE

At first sitting, the Cadillac CUE system was shocking in the XTS. After all, this car replaced the DTS and STS sedans, whose average age buyer was north of 60 years old.

With hardly any traditional buttons, the system takes design inspiration from smartphones like the iPhone, tablets like the iPad and Internet browsers. While we were shocked initially at the contrast with Cadillac's previous vehicles and systems, we quickly warmed to it after we synched our phones to CUE, which incidentally stands for Cadillac-User-Experience.

CUE uses an 8-inch fully capacitive touch screen with an optical lens that provides what is known as "haptic" feedback. That means you feel a pulse when a specific command is selected just as if you had clicked a button or switch.

The screen is mounted on a motorized frame, allowing the faceplate to move up and reveal a handy 1.8 liter-sized storage area for a phone, wallet, or whatever. There is also a USB dock in the cubby.

As fingers approach the screen, the touchscreen senses that the driver is about to engage and the appropriate icons appear. The driver can program favorites to appear below the stereo screen, such as a command to navigate home from wherever he or she happens to be; a shortcut to the Pandora music app, etc. Up to 60 "favorites" can be stored within CUE.

The driver can control the screen like on an iPad, swiping, flicking, etc. No surprise then that Caddy gives every buyer an iPad. Nice touch.

CUE is upgradable over the life of the car, which is the way of the world now. Thank goodness. We also found the natural-language speech recognition worked very well. That's not always the case with these systems. We called out a dozen different songs on our phone and it worked 100% of the time. We synchronized phone contacts, and the hands-free dialing worked perfectly.

We believe the following: When a prospective Cadillac buyer sits down and starts going through the system, they will have to be ready to spend some time parked in their driveway learning to get used to it. That's okay. Hey, you just spent $40K plus for this car, or in the mid-$30ks if you just bought the ATS with CUE. Spend some time getting to know it stationary, rather than going 80 mph. In a few weeks, you will feel comfortable and find that you are as at one with your CUE as you are with your smartphone of choice. At least we think so.

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Cadillac ATS Wins Urban Car of the Year Award

DETROIT –The all-new Cadillac ATS today was named 2013 Urban Car of the Year by Decisive magazine. This award is part of the Urban Wheel Awards held annually each January at the North American International Auto Show.

The ATS was chosen in part for its performance when tested in urban environments for comfort, ease of maneuvering and technical sophistication. The Urban Wheel Awards judging panel spent several months determining the most stylish, practical and attainable new vehicles for 2013 before settling on winners for car, truck, and green vehicle of the year.

"The ATS is the latest and most significant step in Cadillac's long-term mission to return to being the standard of the world,” said Don Butler, vice president of Cadillac Marketing. “That makes it especially rewarding to have ATS recognized by experts on the leading edge of cars and culture."

Each of the Decisive magazine Urban Vehicles of The Year will be featured in the winter issue of the magazine, which will also be online at www.decisivemagazine.com.

"The renaissance at Cadillac shows no signs of abating,” said Randi Payton, founder of the Urban Wheel Awards, now in its 17^th year. “With the good-looking and fun-to-drive ATS, Cadillac is wading into one of the most competitive automotive segments in the market with a very strong contender."

A compact sport sedan, smaller than Cadillac’s centerpiece CTS product line, the new ATS is the lightest car in its class with a unique architecture designed for nimble driving performance. The new ATS is offered in rear- and all-wheel drive versions, with a choice of powerful and efficient four and six-cylinder engines.

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Cadillac ATS is Motor Press Guild Vehicle of the Year

LOS ANGELES –The all-new Cadillac ATS has been named the 2013 Car of the Year by the Motor Press Guild, the largest automotive media association in North America. The ATS was chosen from a field of six finalists in part for its safety, quality, performance and technology.

“In many ways, the ATS is a breakthrough vehicle for Cadillac,” said Laura Burstein, president of the Los Angeles-based Motor Press Guild. “Our members remarked that the ATS is capable on both the street and the track, offers a well-made and attractive interior, is replete with the latest technology, and – perhaps most importantly -- is fun to drive.”

“The ATS is the result of an extensive, all new, ground-up mission to deliver a segment-winning vehicle,” says Don Butler, vice president of Cadillac Marketing. “It is especially rewarding when our efforts are recognized and awarded by a large and influential panel of automotive experts.”

A press conference to present the award will be held on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012 during the Los Angeles Auto Show press days.

To be eligible for the Motor Press Guild Vehicle of the Year award, models must be all-new or substantially changed from the previous year and available at dealerships on or before Jan. 1, 2013.

A compact sport sedan, the new ATS is the lightest car in its class with a unique architecture designed for nimble driving performance. In October, its first full month on the market, ATS started on its mission of expanding Cadillac’s brand to new customers. Of buyers who traded in another vehicle for an ATS, 70 percent were new to Cadillac.

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