CADILLAC CHARGES LARGE PREMIUM FOR CTS SPORT WAGON

Over the next few days and weeks, Cadillac's CTS wagon will begin appearing at Canadian General Motors dealers with a sticker price of $44,325. All-wheel drive versions have a base MSRP of $46,950. Compare this with a CTS sedan's base price of $40,485 and you'll come up disappointed.

Like the CTS you know and admire (somewhat), the "Sport Wagon" is available with 270 or 304 horsepower. Some would argue that the wagon provides more stunning visuals - nobody can argue with stats that say the wagon is nearly twice as cargo-carrying capable. Without taking into account slight changes in standard equipment lists or the "dealer may sell for less" nature of the present economy, the CTS Sport Wagon's surcharge stands at $3,850; a sum not at all unlike that charged by a few competitors listed below.

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$4,400 - extra cost consumers pay for an Audi A4 Avant 2.0T Quattro over and above the $38,300 Audi charges for the A4 2.0T Quattro

$1,600 - extra cost consumers pay for a BMW 328i xDrive Touring over the MSRP of a $42,500 price of the BMW 328i xDrive sedan

$1,500 - extra cost Volvo buyers pay for a Volvo V50 2.4i beyond the $31,695 Volvo charges for the S40 2.4i

$1,500 - extra cost in the MSRP of a Volkswagen Passat TrendLine wagon over the that of the Passat Trendline sedan

-$850 - savings produced by the MSRP of the Hyundai Elantra Touring L under and beneath the $15,845 Hyundai charges for the Elantra L sedan

$500 - extra cost Mitsubishi charges for the extra capacity of the Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback GTS above the $22,998 MSRP of the Lancer GTS sedan