The editors of Motor Trend have tallied up the votes and crowned the Cadillac CTS their 2008 Car of the Year, GM's first since the Corvette won a full decade ago. The CTS beat an 18-car field including the Honda Accord, Audi TT, Subaru WRX, Chevrolet Malibu, Mitsubishi Lancer, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and others. MT was smitten with the Caddy's balanced handling, smooth-revving V6, exterior and interior design, and attention to detail. Our man Damon would certainly agree, who gave the CTS a thumbs up after piloting it around the Milford Proving Grounds. You can read Motor Trend's thoughts on the CTS here, or read their full evaluation of all the cars here.
Photo Copyright ©2007 Alex Núñez / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Motor Trend]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Bryan @ Nov 19th 2007 9:24PM
This sucks for the Honda Accord. Kept hearing rumors the accord was going get this. Great news for Caddillac and GM though.
geo.stewart @ Nov 19th 2007 10:24PM
i agree it sucks to be the Accord, but that is due to Honda's design by committee rather than the editors at Motor Trend.
I still think the Malibu will have more of an impact in its market and is a greater stride than the previous generation but I think the CTS is an outstanding choice ntl.
Dustin @ Nov 20th 2007 1:49AM
Congrats to Cadillac, but it was a political choice, naturally. They couldn't pick the Honda Accord for 2008 because the Toyota Camry was chosen for 2007. MT's afraid to alienate their readers or be considered "anti-American," which is inevitably what would happen. All the awards are like this, a back-and-forth between foreign and domestic. It's a business decision, not a car-based decision.
Whitie @ Nov 20th 2007 6:28AM
Don't agree. I think the new CTS won on the merits. Personally, I would have chosen the Malibu for this award because of the positive impact it will have on future generations of "affordable" GM sedans.
Scott @ Nov 20th 2007 9:52AM
They couldn't pick the Honda Accord for 2008 because it is a failure of a product. We have a 2006 Accord and nothing about the 2008 would make me want that car over our current one, which is exactly why it doesn't deserve car of the year. I've never liked any Camrys, but the current model is leaps and bounds better than the last generation. Same with this CTS.
Dave @ Nov 22nd 2007 10:10AM
I really like the car as well. I am glad they didn't go with their alternate design that I saw picture of a-year-ago because that one went to far away from there new razor look design. The Malibu probably should have won but it is great that American cars have very good offerings to win back customers.
Hamud @ Nov 19th 2007 9:25PM
Well deserved IMHO.
Tool @ Nov 19th 2007 10:29PM
I agree.
If you are talking about a breakthrough vehicle, the 2008 Cadillac CTS is definitely worthy of COTY.
Congrats GM. Keep up the great work.
Rob @ Nov 19th 2007 9:26PM
Don't usually put that much stock into the Motor Trend car of the year awards but I think this one is very much deserved. GM did a really awesome job with this car, inside and out.
TEM @ Nov 20th 2007 1:04AM
Yeah, I have stopped paying attention to the COTY crap too, esp. since the C6\Z06 did not get picked a couple years back.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Nov 20th 2007 2:48AM
I dunno. The Z06's biggest competition is the regular C6, and comparatively, it just isn't all that.
You get a bit more speed that most people won't use anyway, for almost $20K more.
It's a great car, but it'd be tough to crown it COTY IMHO.
Engarde68 @ Nov 21st 2007 9:14AM
Don't you think the Cadillac borrowed heavily from Chrysler's 300? I think Lutz is running out of ideas.
Sam @ Nov 19th 2007 9:26PM
This selection of the Cadillac makes sense (but Motor Trend charges alot of dollars too)
srivendel @ Nov 19th 2007 9:29PM
Again with the spoilers. Why do you guys insist on disrespecting your audience?
Please stop it.
Tool @ Nov 19th 2007 10:31PM
It was already announced on the Motor Trend website.
However, it is true that the winner was leaked at another website earlier today.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Nov 19th 2007 9:31PM
Yet it couldn't even beat the Infinity G35 Sport in a head to head last month.
http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=31&article_id=6147
I'm pro-Cadillac and pro-CTS, but what gives?
Except for the Bluetooth, this car is aces, why can't it beat a G35?
davido @ Nov 19th 2007 10:06PM
This was R&T's opinion not Motor Trend's. So why is this even a question?
John R @ Nov 20th 2007 9:12AM
Believe it or not the Skyline sedan is a more rewarding drive. R/T said it was a better car around corners. It was faster in acceleration, slalom, skidpad, and demonstrated better milage.
To top it off, the G35 sport was $6820 cheaper.
Ligor @ Nov 20th 2007 10:52AM
It's not about wining a head on comparison.
it's also about how much impact the vehicle will bring with it, and how much it has improved from the previous version.
The G35 is great (i have one and would buy one over the CTS), but the G35 will not inspire the market as much as the CTS and hasn't improved as much as the CTS.
I think this was deserving of the CTS for sure, and this coming from a G35 owner and fan,
Also, GM is now pitting the CTS against the 5-series, E-class since it is just slightly larger than those cars in size, which i think will only become evident on the next itteration and once the smaller Caddy comes out for sale.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Nov 20th 2007 11:47AM
John R:
We call it the G35 here. No need to be elitist.