Rumors have been swirling for the last couple of years about what direction GM would take its premier luxury brand, Cadillac. Even though the CTS in sedan, coupe, and wagon versions was winning over consumers and critics alike, Cadillac lost its flagship sedan when it was announced that the STS and DTS would be going out of production, and the Corvette-based XLR has faded from view too. Yet two names kept popping up; XTS and ATS, and while GM would confirm nothing, there have been plenty of info leaks that have given us encouraging signs of what to expect.

Finally though, GM has released the first official image of the baby-Caddy, the ATS. It has also placed a date of when the ATS and its bigger cousin, the XTS, will hit showroom floors.

It should come as no surprise that the Cadillac XTS will be based on the XTS Platinum Concept that GM unveiled at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show. It is going to be a big luxury barge equipped with lots of high-tech features . Unfortunately, it will only be available in front-wheel or all-wheel drive, shooting down any hopes of high class hooning in this new big sedan.

But that’s what the ATS is for. Rumored to share platforms with the next-generation Camaro, the ATS will be the first preview at how the new Alpha platform handles. With rear-wheel drive and a shape reminiscent of its bigger brother, the CTS, the ATS looks to compete with the likes of the BMW 3-Series, Mercedes C-Class, and Audi A4. Rumor has it that a turbocharged four-cylinder and twin-turbo V6 are on tap under the hood, but we’ll have to wait until they debut in 2012 to find out for sure.