Monday, December 16, 2013, 4:00 AM When you lead, your competitors come for you. Case in point: BMW’s ubiquitous 5-Series sedan – which for decades successfully fended off rivals from Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Lexus and Infiniti – has come to be seen as the industry’s definitive mid-sized luxury sedan. Then there’s Cadillac, which, long ago, claimed to be the “standard of the world” back in its heyday. But Cadillac had fallen (on its own merits) into mediocrity in the eyes of much of the automotive aristocracy. Now, Cadillac is on a tear, trying to reclaim its former glory as the brand sets its sights squarely on the sportier, sexier end of the segment.

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Yep, prime BMW territory. It’s game on! Styling While the 5-Series boasts strong sales and a great reputation, it enters this fight at a slight disadvantage. Compared to the Caddy, it’s an old car.

The current 5-Series was introduced as a 2011 model, and is the largest, heaviest, and most conservatively styled 5-Series in its four-decade history. For 2014, changes are limited mainly to slightly modified fasciae, snazzier head and tail-lamp innards, and subtle interior updates. The 2014 Cadillac CTS is all-new from the ground up. (General Motors) The 2014 Cadillac CTS is all-new from the ground up.

Five inches longer, with a longer wheelbase yet considerably less weight than its predecessor, the CTS is now sized and packaged as a proper mid-size luxury sedan. Since it was smaller—and cheaper—in its last iteration, some people may have a hard time seeing the CTS on par with the 5-Series, but trust us, now it is. With its long, creased nose, bold grille, dramatic vertical LED lights and crisp, tailored body contours, the CTS is dressy and provocative, projecting exactly the sort of edginess that makes sport sedan customers notice. If there is a way to measure sedan “swagger,” the Caddy wins, hands down. The BMW 5-Series has its supreme reputation to fall back upon.