Above: 2010 Cadillac SLS

While China enjoys a refreshed SLS sedan, the American STS is ending production at the end of 2011. Chinese media are inaccurately reporting the SLS (a long-wheelbase Chinese-only version of the Sigma-based STS) as the world’s first turbo four-cylinder Cadillac.

Fast Tube by Casper

Did you notice the T-series badge at the end of the ad?

The first four-cylinder turbo Cadillac was actually the BLS, a Saab-based front wheel drive compact car built in Sweden for the European market. Even the switchgear came from Saab, while the 2.0L turbo Ecotec is a GM staple, available in everything from the Cobalt to the 9-3 Aero. The Ecotec even powers the Ariel Atom. The BLS is front wheel drive while the bigger STS and SLS are rear and all-wheel drive.

Below: Cadillac BLS

The small BLS was supposed to help the brand expand into Europe, but only a few thousand of them sold.

Europeans typically think of Cadillacs as tail-finned post-war dream cruisers or drug dealer Escalades with nothing in between. The BLS hardly fit into the brand’s image and with its small dealer network, it had little reason to exist. Of the three million cars sold in Germany each year, just under 300 were Cadillac BLSes. There was nothing particularly bad about the car, but it was rather pointless in such a crowded and competitive market with so many well-established brands with better cars.

But I digress…

China’s SLS is a different car entirely, aimed squarely at the Chinese luxury market where the wealthy pay someone else to do the driving. In America, a car is an extension of your personality and an expression of what you’ve achieved, and being seen in the driver’s seat as the captain of your ship is a favorable thing. For the Chinese, with brutal traffic jams that sometimes last days, luxury cars are intended for rear passengers. The SLS takes the Sigma-based STS’s wheelbase and adds a few inches to improve rear passenger comfort, and the interior receives additional wood trim, a revised center stack, and a rear center console with audio and climate controls.

Below is the interior of the Chinese SLS:

Notice the beautifully trimmed rear center console with climate and audio controls. The American STS didn’t receive the updated front center console and center stack until 2008; the Chinese SLS got it in 2007. At one point, there was a glimmer of hope that China’s SLS would be produced and sold here, but the American STS carries on through 2011 without rear controls or additional leg room. With its extended wheelbase and longer roofline, China’s SLS looks long and sharp — a proper successor to the Cadillac Seville.

As for the new engine...

This is the same “LNF” 2.0L direct-injected turbo found in the 2007 Pontiac Solstice GXP, 2007 Saturn Sky Redline, and Chevy Cobalt SS producing 260hp and 265lb-ft of torque, impressive numbers for a small engine. The Chinese SLS still has the option of 3.0L (272hp) or 3.6L (310hp) direct-injected V6 engines. The 320hp Northstar V8 is gone.

America is unlikely to see this engine in a large or midsize Cadillac sedan, but rumors are swirling that the upcoming compact Cadillac ATS could receive the option of a turbo-4, a direct-injected 3.6 V6, or a small-block V8 for the ATS-V. With the STS disappearing this year, and the DTS pushed on through 2012, we Americans will not see anything new from Cadillac until the 2013 XTS arrives in late 2012.

With Cadillac drifting aimlessly in the wind, “Break Through” seems like a distant memory.