Quote:Clark Berry gets more compliments on his Cadillac CTS coupe than he ever did during the 30 years he drove company cars for General Motors Co.

"I get a comment a week," said Berry, 72, of Haslett, who retired as a salaried GM worker. "At the golf club the other day, I had left the door open, a guy was looking inside my car. He said, 'That is one beautiful car.' "

That is what Cadillac was striving for when it launched the coupe last summer - and carbuyers have responded. A year into its run as a niche vehicle, the coupe is in demand. It accounted for nearly one-quarter of the Lansing-made CTS line's sales for the first nine months of this year.

"It's definitely a conquest vehicle ... it's drawing new people into Cadillac," said Steven Haener, Cadillac's national sales promotion manager.

Made in Lansing
The coupe's success bodes well for the 835 hourly employees who work on two shifts at GM's Lansing Grand River assembly plant.

The sporty two-door model, launched in July 2010, is built alongside the CTS sedan and wagon at the plant. All three vehicles come in high-performance "V" versions with 6.2-liter, 556-horsepower V-8 engines.

The V-series option has made it even more popular, said Mike Green, president of United Auto Workers Local 652, which represents workers at the plant.

"We're glad to have another choice of product here in Lansing," he said.

GM has sold 10,234 CTS coupes this year through September, accounting for 24.4 percent of total CTS sales. Cadillac reported 41,900 CTS sales through September, up nearly 29 percent from the same period last year. That included 30,049 sedans and 1,617 wagons.

The 2012 coupe's price starts at $38,715, while the CTS-V coupe starts at $63,215.

The CTS coupe's sales may be nearly one-third less than the mainline sedan but Cadillac sees the niche vehicle as a key part of a revitalized division that hopes to add more younger carbuyers to its traditional base of older customers. Cadillac also wants to compete with foreign rivals such as BMW and Mercedes...

"When you look at the performance trim or the body style offerings, I think they've largely helped to broaden some of the reach of the vehicle in the market," Wall said. "You start to pull from some of those competitive offerings."

For example, the Mercedes Benz E-Class sedan was still outpacing the CTS sedan, with the Mercedes recording 30,233 new vehicle registrations through August, compared to the CTS's 23,555, according to data from auto industry researcher R.L. Polk & Co.

Younger market
But there were 8,627 CTS coupes registered during that time, topping the E-Class coupe's 3,944, according to Polk.

McLovin;144819 Wrote:I drive through or near Warren Michigan everyday, which is GM town, and have YET to see one.

Why is that?

Oh I know, because they DON'T SELL!

Spin away, you angry, angry little man