2010 LA Design Challenge ends with a Tie: Cadillac and Smart Declared Winners

This year's Los Angeles Design Challenge ended with a tie, as judges, after much deliberation, declared two winners: the Cadillac Aera and smart 454 WWT. The challenge was to envision a four passenger car tipping the scales under 1,000 lbs (454 kg).

"Deciding this year's Design Challenge winner was a tremendously difficult decision as the quality of entries has increased throughout the years", agreed the Design Los Angeles judges. "This year's winners - the Cadillac Aera and the smart 454 WWT - offer two very different visions of the 1,000 lb. Car, yet are equally as amazing. They are both very expressive of their brand; GM is art and science and smart is playful and fun".

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LA Show 2010: Cadillac's Urban Luxury Concept is an Aston Martin Cygnet Killer

If you want more proof that Cadillac is once and for all abandoning its "bigger is better" mentality adapting to the times, here it is: the Urban Luxury Concept, a design study for a supermini-sized city car (think Aston Martin Cygnet) that will have its world premiere at the Los Angeles Auto Show tomorrow.

"While small in size, this concept is an exploration of what Cadillac could be in the future, as the brand continues to focus on redefining industry standards for advanced vehicle design and integrated technology," said Don Butler, vice president for Cadillac marketing.

Conceived and designed in the Los Angeles area, the car's styling is typical of Cadillac's current design language with plenty of hard edges and vertical head lamps and tail lamps. To make it look more conceptual, the designers threw in a pair of scissor-type doors that extend outward and rotate forward when opened.

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Cadillac to Show All-New Concept Model at LA Auto Show: What will it be?

We're still tuned into the SEMA Show, but the news from the fast approaching Los Angeles Auto Show keep dropping in. Now we've learned that General Motors will stage the global reveal of a never-seen-before Cadillac concept study. not surprisingly, details remain slim. It could be a concept for Cadillac's recently confirmed small sedan (often called ATS), which will go up against the BMW 3-Series and Audi A4, or something different altogether. We just don't know. But feel free to speculate in the comments section below.

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LA Auto Show Design Contest Part 1: Cadillac, Honda, Maybach and Mazda Concepts

For the past seven years, the most important automotive design studios in Southern California compete in a Design Challenge organized by the Los Angeles Auto Show. For this year's edition of the show, which runs November 19-29, the event planners decided to add an international flavor to the contest by inviting studios from Germany and Japan to join the competition for the very first time.

The theme for the 2010 Design Challenge is the creation of a super-efficient and lightweight four-passenger car: "The objective is to envision an efficient, light-weight, four passenger vehicle (not to exceed 1,000 lbs.), that is both comfortable and safe, while delivering satisfactory driving performance without sacrificing the styling consumers demand. "

Follow the break for the first group of concept models by Cadillac, Honda, Maybach and Mazda, and stay tuned for the second part.

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Cadillac to Debut New Concept Model and 2011 CTS-V Coupe at Detroit Auto Show

A never-before seen concept model and the hottest version of the new CTS-Coupe will be Cadillac's stars at next month's Detroit Motor Show. GM's premium brand released a teaser photo of the new concept model but is keeping everything else, including the name, a secret.

There's not much we can tell from the picture other than that the concept appears to follow the brand's most recent design language but if we were to play the guessing game, our vote would go to either Cadillac's planned BMW 3-Series rival, the ATS sedan or a preview of the STS's successor.

The ATS, which was confirmed earlier this year, will be positioned under the CTS in Cadillac's range and be offered with rear-wheel drive and optional all-wheel drive. Given that the larger CTS starts from around $37,000 in the US, the new four-door sedan should have a base price closer to $30,000.

Also making its world premiere in Detroit is the new 2011 CTS-V Coupe. The most powerful version of the new CTS Coupe, which was revealed at the L.A. auto show in November, will get the same 556-horsepower 6.2-liter supercharged V8 coupled to a six-speed manual or automatic transmission found in the CTS-V Sedan.

Cadillac Converj Concept: Electric-Hybrid Coupe Breaks Cover at Detroit Show

Combining a sexy fastback-coupe design with GM's Voltec electric propulsion system that is similar to the one found in the Chevy Volt, the Cadillac Converj concept made its debut today in Detroit. The four-passenger Converj concept is equipped with 16-kWh, T-shaped battery pack with more than 220 lithium-ion cells, an electric drive unit, and a four-cylinder engine-generator, using electricity as its primary power source. Cadillac supports that the Converj can be driven electrically up to 40 miles without using fuel or producing tailpipe emissions.

It takes less than three hours to recharge the 2+2 coupe's battery at 240V, or about eight hours from a 120V outlet. Just like the Volt, when the battery's energy is low, electricity needed to power the vehicle is created on-board by a flex-fuel-powered engine that operates much like a home generator to create electricity.

The electric engine powers the front-wheels delivering 273 lb.-ft. (370 Nm) of instant torque, for a quick launch, and 120 kW of power. The Converj's top speed is 100 mph.

Bob Lutz, GM's vice chairman of Global Product Development, said the Converj concept has production substance. "It's a logical extension of our plan to reinvent the automobile," he said. "It clearly shows what a Cadillac electric vehicle could look like, and clearly indicates that global luxury customers can have a car that has both strong design and electric propulsion with a total range of hundreds of anxiety-free miles."