Though it was wearing black padding over the rear quarter panels, trunk, rear bumper and fascia, it was clearly a production version of the Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept premiered to rave reviews at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit earlier this year.

Visually, the production car carries over the center-mounted split rear exhaust from the concept car, as well as the skeg line along the lower part of the car, at the bottom of the doors and on the rocker panel area. The car also appears to wear rear parking sensors and have the same sharply slanted roofline of the concept car. So, at least from what can be seen, it appears that Cadillac is being true to the concept car in the production version.

General Motors hasn’t hinted at a production timetable. But, the original CTS sedan premiered as a concept car at the NAIAS the year prior to introduction of the production version. If Cadillac follows a similar timetable for the coupe, it will be a 2009 model.