Cadillac shrugged off General Motor's current woes with the launch of the CTS Coupé at the LA Auto Show. Closely based on the CTS saloon - and of course on the Coupé Concept seen two years ago at the Detroit show - the sleek two-door looks the business and will come to UK showrooms in 2011.

Head of Cadillac's exterior design John Manoogian told us that the CTS Coupé was so well received as a concept that he and his team didn't want to meddle with the looks. Crisp, sharp edges mark out the CTS Coupé, while its clean flanks look spot on under the spotlights of the LA Convention Center.

Although based on the CTS saloon's platform, the Coupé is 75mm shorter overall, 25mm wider and comes with a unique front end design thanks to aerodynamic splitters that jut forward from either side of the bumper, bigger brake cooling ducts and smaller fog lights. The production-ready Coupé does without the concept's large alloy wheels, but Y-spoke alloys still fill the arches nicely, thank you.

For US buyers, the CTS Coupé will be offered with 18-inch 'Performance' alloy wheels with all-year tyres, while a set of 19-inch alloys come with the Summer Tyre Performance Pack that also includes grippier rubber. Cadillac says UK buyers are likely to get the 19-inch wheels as standard.

New doors with pillar-less windows add to the CTS Coupé's good looks, while the steeply sloping roofline aft of the front seats finishes in a spoiler grafted into the bodywork that also houses the third brake light. At the bottom of the re-shaped rear bumper are twin exhaust pipes moulded into the panel, while even the rear lights are changed from the saloon's. This means the rear seats are strictly +2 chairs, but the front seats are said to be as accommodating as the saloon's and come with 14-way electric adjustment.

For the doors, Cadillac has retained the electric button releases of the show car, hidden in slats just behind the doors to keep the uncluttered lines of the concept. Only the front wings, headlights and grille are shared with the CTS saloon.

Power for the CTS Coupé comes from the same 3.6-litre V6 that powers the saloon. With 304bhp on tap and 273lb.ft of torque, it takes the Coupé from 0-62mph in 6.2 seconds when coupled to a six-speed automatic gearbox. A six-speed manual will also be an option. Rear- and four-wheel drive set-ups will be available in the US, while European buyers are set to receive the rear-drive model only. Cadillac's Stabilitrack ESP will be included with all models.

Cadillac confirmed at the LA show that a CTS-V Coupé will be made later in 2010. It will use the 556bhp supercharged V8 engine of the CTS-V saloon and may also borrow that car's magnetically controlled suspension.

There's no word yet on UK pricing for the Cadillac CTS Coupé but £30,000 has been mentioned as a starting point.

Alisdair Suttie - 2 Dec 2009