I personally think CTS's COTY designation is well deserved. I saw a CTS the other day when I was walking out of work, and it looked simply gorgeous. I haven't personally seen the interior, but from ALL the reviews I've read, the interior is as nice, if not nicer than its german and japanese counterparts (3 series, g35, etc). The only thing that suprised me about the car was how small the car's wheelbase looked in person.
As far as the new accord, no one, and I mean NO ONE can sit here and say that when they see an 08 accord drive in front of them, they stop and say "woa, what car is that, and how much is it????" But when the CTS drives by, you stop and turn. The new accord is nice, but it's certainly not revolutionary in terms of style and technology, it's not years ahead of the competition, and it's certainly not a head turner. It is cosmetically polarizing and owners of the 7th gen, and editors who get paid to drive and write about cars for the most part agree, that the 8th gen falls short of their expectations. The only people who talk about the 8th gen as if it's the best thing since the combustion engine was invented are the owners of the 8th gen. All I know is that Honda needs to come out with some fresh ideas and designs to stay ahead of the competition, because the 8th gen isn't offering me anything other than a bigger displacement engine, and a bigger interior volume. The bigger engine doesn't even result in better performance, unless you buy the 6 speed.
And for those of you who complain about cadillac's overall reliability need to put down the kool aid and check out recent reliability statistics, Cadillac's reliability isn't that much lower than the japanese car makers. I drive a 2006accord 6sp sedan, and if Honda and Acura (for that matter) doesn't implement edgier, fresher ideas into their cars, they'll lose young buyers like me to Cadillac and Infiniti.
