Rumors and corrections of rumors - ATS edition

Last week, MotorTrend.com ran a rumor that Cadillac had canceled the rumored coupe version of the, yet to go on-sale, ATS. How's that for putting some distance between what is on sale and what could be? This weekend, as reported by GMInsideNews.com, Cadillac PR publicly denied that the car has been canceled, despite the fact that they have never confirmed it was coming in the first place. If you follow corporate communications - this is an unprecedented move as it is a tacit admission that the coupe is in development. But, while hype is building for the car, they had no choice but to get ahead of any bad press that rumors of variant cancellations might bring. The ATS is viewed by many as key to Cadillac's ability to compete against BMW, Mercedes, and Audi. The small sedan segment is the most important for developing brand identity and owner loyalty as it introduces new buyers to the brand and is to be the most visible example of what the brand stands for (think what the 3-Series means to BMW's overall image). Any hiccup in the early days of the ATS hype machine could damage the brand's success for years to come. Now, if someone would just suggest that the convertible, the wagon, and/or the V-series variants are canceled, we could find out a lot more about what Cadillac has in store. :-) Source: GMInsideNews.com and MotorTrend.com