Cadillac announced Friday their plans to reveal its ATS luxury sedan at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit on Jan. 8 -- the night before the North American International Auto Show opens for the media.

The ATS, which is set to be available for sale by late summer, is a compact luxury sedan that is a crucial addition to Cadillac's product expansion plans for 2012. This vehicle thrusts Cadillac into the most significant segment in the luxury car market, which includes such competing cars as the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Audi 4 and Lexus ES350.

The vehicle will be porduced at GM's Lansing Grand River assembly plant. GM is hiring about 600 new workers for the ATS,, which is great news for Michigan. 

Cadillac picked the College for Creative Studies as the venue because GM donated to the school's $145-million renovation in 2009, and because the company likes to occasionally reveal its new cars in unique locations, said Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell.

"Sometimes it can be a little bit refreshing to step outside of the box," Caldwell said. "We can also do a few things there that we can't do as part of a traditional exhibit."

The ATS is one of five production or concept vehicles that GM plans to introduce as part of the 2012 North American International Auto Show.

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