Autoblog

click above to view more high-res live shots of the Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept

One bit of news we passed over on the way out the door of COBO Hall on Tuesday was the winners of this year's EyesOn Design Awards at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. There are four awards given away each year, including Best Concept and Production Car and Best Concept and Production Truck. Cadillac sweeped the car side of things with the CTS-V being honored as Best Production Car and the CTS Coupe Concept named as the Best Concept Car. The BMW X6, meanwhile, was named Best Production Truck and the Chrysler ecoVoyager Concept nabbed the Best Concept Truck award.

The EyesOn Design awards are sponsored by the Detroit Institute of Opthamology and judged by a panel of automotive designers including ex-VP of Design for GM Wayne Cherry, Chrysler's Senior VP of Design Trevor Creed, the renowned Henrik Fisker, GM's VP of Global Design Ed Welburn and Mazda's Franz von Holzhausen.

More after the jump.

[Source: The Detroit Free Press]

UPDATE: Click here to watch video of live reveal!

click above for more high-res live shots of the Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept

The grand finale of GM's Cadillac press conference was the moment everyone had been waiting for. After a brief introduction from Bob Lutz, who ziplined in from his secret lair in the RenCen, the hotly anticipated Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept rolled onstage, with design head Ed Welburn riding 'gun. The Coupe blends the CTS sedan's face with a new, wedge-shaped 2-door body that finishes off with what Ed described as a "hint of Cadillac fin" in the arrangement of the taillamps. The concept's rear had a single central exhaust outlet whose shape is a nod to the chevrons used to dress up the current CTS interior. Speaking of the interior, the CTS was dressed in black with maize-colored sueded accents and contrast stitching. In another departure from the sedan, the 2-door CTS has sportier, deeper seats. Welburn was intentionally vague abour powertrains, saying it could be powered by a number of existing ones (i.e. the ones in the CTS sedan) as well as a diesel. The car, according to him, was born out of the extra efforts of his design team, who penned the Coupe for fun after the sedan was finished and never stopped refining it. It got to a point where the a concept was approved, and though no mention of a production version was made, this looks like a sure thing in our opinion. Video of the live reveal is available after the jump, as well as Cadillac's official press release.

Hot off the wire is GM's surprise announcement that Cadillac will unveil a CTS Coupe Concept at its press conference later this morning. We've been expecting a CTS Coupe as part of the diversification of that model's offerings, and this concept should give us a great idea of what the probable production car will look like. Photos won't be released until closer to showtime, and we'll get them up as soon as they're released. Joining the CTS Coupe will be the Cadillac Provoq hydrogen concept, the CTS-V and Escalade Hybrid, which round out the Caddy contingent. Stay tuned for more.

UPDATE: The CTS Coupe Concept has been revealed!

[Source: GM]