de autos cars

For a country that invented the station wagon and pretty much couldn't live without it for 30 years after World War II, America has shunned the concept...while Europe has bought in big, producing some wonderfully useful, sporty wagons.

Now, Cadillac, never a station wagon builder in the glory days (unless you count ambulances and hearses),  has decided to get in the game by taking its most European vehicle, the CTS sedan, and making a wagon version.

Competition? BMW sells wagons in their 3 and 5 series in the U.S. and.....well, that's about it.

                         

There's no denying it's a slick looking piece. And it drives almost as well as the CTS sedan, with the usual 304 horsepower V6 mated to a six-speed automatic transmission.

                       

Prices start just south of $40,000, but the one I drove for a week was the "Premium Collection" model. It takes almost everything on the option list, converts it to standard and jacks the price of admission up to $51,720.

Even then, Cadillac found one way to add to the bottom line: The 19" Summer Tire Performance Package. You get 19 inch wheels instead of the standard 18s, summer-only tires instead of the all-season radials, a sport suspension system, steering wheel mounted shift controls, a performance cooling system and performance disc brakes. $2,000. Bringing the total, with destination charges, to $54,635.

You couldn't quite get to that price by loading a 3-series wagon with everything available, and 5-series wagons start at $55,950...so it's possible that Cadillac has found the sweet spot here...at least in the target market.

But just how big a market is that? Not very. To be a success, Cadillac will have to win converts...get people to step out of SUVs and crossovers into a smaller package...always a tough sell in America, even in tough times.  But grading purely on the product, Cadillac has scored yet again.