Washington - General Motors' Cadillac brand on Sunday introduced an all-new compact sedan it hopes will wrestle back a footing in a market dominated by German cars.

"Developed on an all-new, lightweight vehicle architecture, Cadillac's entry into the world's most significant luxury car segment goes on sale this summer," GM said in a statement on the 2013 ATS.

The new car will be rear-drive and benefit from the enhanced Cadillac CUE navigation system it said "merges intuitive design with industry-first controls and commands for information and media data."

"There's nothing like competing at the highest level to sharpen the best edge in people," said Dan Akerson, CEO of GM at press conference Sunday.