WHOLE LOTTA LOVE; Cadillac Rocks Our World with STS-V.(News)(Product/Service Evaluation)

Byline: BOB GRITZINGER

For those who may have sneered at Cadillac's efforts to join the elite luxury-performance ranks with its CTS V-Series sedan, consider these numbers for the next V car, the STS:

* 0 to 60 mph in under 5.0 seconds.

* 160-plus-mph top speed.

* World-class track times at Germany's famed Nurburgring.

"This signals our intent to move up into the high end of the luxury-performance segment,'' says Jim Taylor, the effervescent general manager of General Motors' Cadillac brand, who more often than not these days can be seen sporting a cat-who-swallowed-the-canary grin.

It's with good reason Taylor is smiling, given that Cadillac is jumping up the sales charts driven primarily by new product, rather than by the ubiquitous incentives. Cadillac's lineup now includes the strong-selling CTS sedan and Escalade trucks, and newcomers like the SRX sportwagon, XLR sports car, and the all-new STS that just arrived in showrooms. Even the soon-to-be refreshed DeVille, the division's last front-driver now that STS has undergone its own CTS-like transformation to rear drive, continues to lead the large luxury market segment despite a sales decline.