The Cadillac Converj is still just a concept. Even though I'm far from the only motor journalist to have gushed over the star of the North American International Auto Show, General Motors' brass hasn't given a production version the green light. To refresh your memory, the Converj is a sexy 2+2 coupe riding on a version of the Chevrolet Volt's Voltec platform, powered by a 16 kW set of lithium-ion batteries with a 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine for recharging purposes only. We'll have more details in an upcoming issue of Motor Trend magazine and of course here at MT.com.
One obvious issue regarding its green light: the Converj is a two-door coupe. My kind of car. And the kind of car designers love to draw.
Designers, working for GM as well as its competitors, haven't drawn many coupes in recent years because two-door models are tough to sell. Auto marketing executives consider them too "fashionable": they sell well in their first year of production, then drop off too quickly for the remaining three to five years of their lifecycle.
So GM management is considering a four-door version of the Converj concept for production, which wouldn't be earlier than about 2013, in order to make a more solid business case for the car. Vice chairman Bob Lutz says a production Converj would be as different from the concept model as the production Chevy Camaro is to its concept -- there aren't many differences.
The Converj sedan's rear doors would probably have hidden door handles, and the rakish roofline would remain intact, creating a "four-door coupe" like the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class, Audi A7 (Sportback concept) and others.
GM will show these options to clinics in order to help make a decision on the car. So, we thought, why not conduct a clinic of our own? Which do you prefer? Cadillac Converj two-door coupe, or four-door? More importantly, which one would you buy?
