British car site Autocar is reporting that Cadillac has set its sights on MINI with the Urban Luxury Concept recently debuted at the LA Auto Show. Talking with designer Niki Smart, the MINI appears to be an inspiration for the future car’s possible positioning.

“The time is ripe for Cadillac to make this car,” he said. “We need a bigger spread of models, particularly for Europe. The MINI’s success is proof of people’s open-mindedness.”

Smart went on to talk about small cars in particular as a new path for the marque.

“There is no iconic history of small cars at Cadillac, so I’m happy not to have had to return to a previous design,”

Personally, this concept was the one item from the LA Auto Show that really caught my attention. It’s undeniably Caddy, but more than that it looks like where a car of the future could finally meet the cars of the present. I love it, but that’s me. It’s obviously just a concept at this point. Whether or not it’s a real threat to MINI in Europe would depend on the final car. Sadly, I don’t think Cadillac’s got the stones, as they say ‘cross the pond, to actually take something this outlandish to market. Which is really too bad. The world needs more interesting cars. What do you think? Check out the full gallery over at Autocar and sound off in the comments.