(autoinsidenews) - General Motors today unveiled its highly anticipated 2008 Cadillac CTS at the North American International Auto Show. The world premiere of Cadillac's entry-level sedan (for the U.S.) has been one of the most anticipated reveals of this year's auto show season. Cadillac has spent many hours to ensure that the second-generation CTS is a world-class competitor. And from what we see, it looks like the CTS will not disappoint.
On the exterior, the CTS features a wider and stronger stance, with a rear backlight that has a more coupe-like profile. A grille inspired by Cadillac's Sixteen concept car, features large horizontal bars with a mesh pattern behind. The grille is bracketed by vertically stacked headlamps with bright bezels stacked in a staircase-like array. The side air extractors on the front fenders pay homage to Cadillac's heritage, reports Trend.
The new hand-crafted interior features plenty of leather, chrome, and wood, and is much higher quality than the outgoing model's overly plastic interior. The new cabin utilizes Cadillac's cut-and-sew interior process that combines advanced technology with the hand-rendered precision, which nearly eliminates gaps and seams. Coverings for the instrument panel, center console and door trim are cut, sewn and wrapped by hand. This cut-and-sew technique is also used on limited-production STS-V and XLR-V models, and the revised 2007 SRX.
The new center stack features large vertical air vents. The new heated and ventilated seats incorporate new thin-seat technology, which enhances rear-seat leg, knee and foot room. LED backlighting is positioned in the door pulls, foot wells and recessed between the upper and lower instrument panels for an effect similar to recessed lighting.
The 2008 CTS will be available with two versions of the popular 3.6L V6. The base version produces 258-hp and 270 lb.-ft. of torque, and is available with either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic. The new engine is a high-output, direct injected version of the 3.6L V6, delivering 300-hp. The high-output V6 can also be paired with either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic, and is also available for the first time with all-wheel drive.
Cadillac will also offer a high-performacnce V-series CTS at a later date.