Back in 2012, Cadillac revealed its first-ever ATS luxury sports sedan (the coupe launched for 2015). Without question it was the brand's best-ever effort to unseat the segment's benchmark, the BMW 3 Series. Thanks to optional features such as Magnetic Ride Control, many even concluded the ATS handled better than the 3 Series. Memories of the old Cadillac Catera could officially be plunged. Unfortunately, the ATS sedan and coupe, as well as the high-performance ATS-V were too little too late. Sales never really took off as planned and the sedan segment as a whole continues to take a hit from crossover popularity.

We've known for a while the ATS lineup is gone, replaced by the CT4. We'll reserve judgment on the latter until we get behind the wheel, but today Cadillac Society has confirmed the final ATS coupe has rolled off the production line at the Lansing Grand River production facility in Michigan.

The sedan was dropped over a year ago, but the coupe remained on sale and in production for what was nothing more than borrowed time. The final ATS coupe is a 2019 model year vehicle and is finished in Silver Ice Metallic. Built on GM's well-regarded Alpha platform, the ATS was sold with both rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive configurations as well as a range of engines. The coupe's base engine was a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four with 272 hp, while a naturally aspirated 3.6-liter V6 with 321 hp was optional. But it was the range-topping twin-turbo 3.6-liter V6 desired most, thanks to its 464 hp and 445 lb-ft of torque.

The ATS-V coupe was impressive through and through; it was simply the wrong car for the times. Its CT4 successor, however, is a sedan-only. The Lansing Grand River plant is currently being retooled for CT4 production. Will the Cadillac ATS lineup go down in the brand's history as one of its best performance models? The ATS-V coupe and sedan most likely will. It's sad neither received the sales numbers that reflected their performance capabilities.