CarNerve

On Monday, Cadillac officially unveiled its new 2011 CTS Coupe. The car makes its in-person debut next week at the Los Angeles car show and you can be sure that enthusiasts will be crowding around to get a glimpse of this flashy new model.

The coupe is a two-door version of Cadillac’s popular CTS sedan. General Motors, which owns the Cadillac brand, was originally set to debut the CTS couple last year, but then got mired down as the company narrowly averted a financial crisis. The coupe was set to debut at last year’s Los Angeles show, then was pushed back to this January’s Detroit auto show before finally making its much anticipated appear at this year’s LA show.

Despite general shunning of large engined gas guzzlers, the concept version of the CTS Coupe garnered highly positive public reaction when it was first shown in 2008. Critics responded to the coupe’s aggressive, sharp lines.

Cadillac now promises that the CTS Coupe will arrive at dealerships next spring, but has not released a price tag yet. The base model will have a 3.6 liter V-6 engine that puts out 304 horsepower. The CTS Coupe will get 27 miles per gallon on the highway. There will also be a supercharged version of the coupe rated at 550-plus horses.

In addition to the two engines, the coupe will feature rear-wheel and all-wheel drive versions. A 6 speed manual transmission will be standard.

With the impending release of the CTS Coupe, it looks like Cadillac has a real head-turner on its hands that could attract more of the younger buyers that GM so desperately needs.

A few days ago the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released its annual list of the safest passenger vehicles. While most of the names on the list are not surprising, there was one car company conspicuously missing: Toyota.

Ford and its Volvo subsidiary topped the list with six vehicles rated as a “Top Safety Pick.” Subaru and Volkswagon each had five top picks while Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy with four safety picks.

On last year’s list, Toyota and its Lexus and Scion subsidiaries dominated. This year, however, the insurance institute included a test to measure a vehicle’s roof strength in the event of a rollover. This requirement not only bumped Toyota off the list, but also dropped the total number of Top Safety Picks from 94 in 2008 to 27 this tear.

The insurance institute conferred a Top Safety Pick award on those vehicles that scored a Good rating in tests of front, side, rear and rollover protection. The vehicle also must be equipped with electronic stability control.

Here is the full list of Top Safety Picks:

Large cars:
Buick LaCrosse
Ford Taurus
Lincoln MKS
Volvo S80

Midsize cars
Audi A3
Chevrolet Malibu (built after October 2009)
Chrysler Sebring 4-door with electronic stability control
Dodge Avenger with electronic stability control
Mercedes C class
Subaru Legacy
Subaru Outback
Volkswagen Jetta sedan
Volkswagen Passat sedan
Volvo C30

Small cars
Honda Civic four-door (except Si), with electronic stability control
Kia Soul
Nissan Cube
Subaru Impreza (except WRX)
Volkswagen Golf four-door

Midsize S.U.V.’s
Dodge Journey
Subaru Tribeca
Volvo XC60
Volvo XC90

Small S.U.V.’s
Honda Element
Jeep Patriot with side torso air bags
Subaru Forester
Volkswagen Tiguan

A huge amount of money is riding on which technology will power the car of the future. While the internal combustion engine, at least in its present form, is certainly on the way out, a range of technologies is vying to become the power source of choice for the next generation of automobiles. Electric plug-ins, hybrids, diesels, and even hydrogen all have promise, but all also have potentially large downfalls.

Diesel fuel seems to be making something of a come back in recent years. Diesel is more efficient than gas and new technology makes it much easier on the environment. Diesels hold 2.6% of the market share currently, and are expected to grow to 8.0%, according to auto analysists J.D. Powers and Associates. German carmakers in particular are pushing diesel as a green alternative.

Hybrids, which have gotten all the press lately, currently hold about the same market share as diesel fuel and are expected to grow to 8.7% by 2015. Hybrid technology is maturing and new generations of hybrids could get over 100 miles per gallon.

Plug-in electric cars are the latest rage, especially as embodied in Tesla’s Roadster and Chevrolet’s soon-to-be unveiled Volt. While electrics can potentially get great gas mileage, they are not expected to gain significant market share in the near term. One obstacle is that because the vehicles are plugged in to charge, the nation’s electricity grid has to be updated to accomodate this new demand.

Despite the promise of these green technologies, analysts expect the gasoline engine to remain dominant over the next decade. Fuel is still relatively cheap, the infrastructure already exists to support gas vehicles, and the alternatives are still too costly.