If at first glance this edgy looking Caddy looks somewhat familiar, that's because you've probably seen it being blown across the movie screen in the last instalment of the Matrix trilogy, Matrix Reloaded. While the numerous bullets and explosions weren't exactly a reliable test of its build quality, we can however comment that the big American auto's handling looked promising as we watched Trinity weave it around traffic with quick flicks on a mock highway.

If you're wondering why you haven't read or heard about Cadillac's return to the local market, that's because it isn't official. Well, not yet anyway. The local importer, Alpine Group, brought in just two examples to gauge the local market's interest levels. These are actually the second-generation models as opposed to the older ones featured in the movie.

Exterior

The edgy, sharp angular lines might not appeal to an audience immediately but the radical design does grow on you quickly enough. Its styling is also unique enough to get you noticed in the parking lot or on the streets.

The CTS takes after the company's uber expensive and uber powerful (at 1000bhp) concept, the Cadillac Sixteen and shares a number of styling cues with the much larger 13.6-litre automobile.

Like the Sixteen, the CTS has an enlarged and oversized grille where the less than subtle Caddy badge takes pride of place. On either side, this wide slab-like grille is flanked by large light clusters that resemble a pair of crystal jewel boxes. These give the Caddy a very sharp and immediately recognisable presence on the road.

Add to that, the straight lines running along its sides makes its bulk much larger and more defined than say a 5-series despite sharing similar proportions. Around the exterior, the car is dotted with subtle chrome bits that add to the classic elegance of the car without it looking tacky.

While the Caddy carries off the straight angular lines convincingly in the front, the rear is a little less graceful. The boot area comes off a little awkward especially where the C-pillars meet the boot lid. The abrupt convergence of lines here just doesn't play off well with the rest of the car. But there is a clever bit of design here too as the third brake light doubles as a boot lid spoiler as well. Like the front, the rear taillights look like crystal jewel boxes.

The design might be different to what we're used to, but the car does look strikingly handsome with a high-tech edge to it.

Interior

In the front, the Caddy gets a pair of semi sports seats with flared bolsters to hold you better in place. While the seats themselves are not short on comfort, getting the perfect driving position proves somewhat of a challenge. Due to the elegantly flared centre console, it does cause you to lose some knee room. Beyond that, I felt that despite the steering being rake and reach adjustable, I still felt further from the wheel than I preferred.

Behind the grippy steering wheel is where the rather well defined instrument cluster resides. Here, the markings on the dials are all brightly lit in white and highly visible in day or night conditions. On the right, the water temperature, oil pressure and fuel gauge or arranged in a novel triangular pattern. Incorporated into the speedometer is a LCD screen that displays a digital compass. Scroll through the pages with the buttons on the left of the dashboard to display other information like trip distance and tyre pressure.

While the centre console might take up some needed knee room, the console does form a rather attractive centre piece to the Caddy's interior. At the top of the console sits the rather comprehensive entertainment system. It comes with a TV tuner, an internal 40GB HDD for storing MP3s, satellite navigation, AUX-in and iPod connectivity. To top it all off, the system runs its wires through a high performance Bose system.

Below the system's LCD screen, an elegant looking analog clock takes pride of place between the audio control knobs. Lower down, the cluster expands to include more buttons for the entertainment system. Here, the buttons look at odds with the rest of the quality exuding centre console. The gear knob also looks a little plain when compared with the rest of the interior.

Though reports from the States claim that the rear might be a little cramped, it is perfectly fine for Asian dimensions. Legroom is plentiful and seating three adults abreast shouldn't pose any sort of challenge. The boot is also decently sized at 385-litres and can be further supplemented with folding the rear seats.

On a whole, the interior is a vast improvement over most American automobiles though the quality on the dashboard fluctuates. The build quality of the dashboard and console are faultless though the buttons could've been given a higher quality look and feel.

The Drive

The American is powered by a robust 3.6-litre V6 bulk that churns out 309bhp and 370Nm of torque. Though the numbers are high, the CTS is still rather bulky at 1.8 tons. Nevertheless it accomplishes the century sprint in a touch over six seconds.

The engine requires a heavy foot to garner any response as it feels rather lethargic at lower revs. In the higher revs, the exhaust note kicks it up a notch and the sombre sedan suddenly takes forth with gusto.

In cruise mode, the CTS managed to keep the interior serene with only some tyre noise penetrating through. The transmission shifts smoothly through its 6-speed box without notice while the ride remains pliant. This however doesn't affect the Caddy's cornering ability as it remains composed through the twisty bits.

Conclusion

The Cadillac CTS is one of the best examples of an American automobile we've seen lately. But it will take more than just sharp looks, decent handling and movie star status to tease the locals away from the German autos.

In order to stand a chance with the local crowd, the CTS will have to be priced a lot more attractively than the competition.

What do you think? Jot down your opinions at the comment box below.