We have seen it over and over and over: car companies get into serious trouble when cost cutters masquerading as leaders are promoted beyond their depth. Then comes the inevitable dismissal or resignation and after a time, a move to another OEM with the cycle starting anew. Not so at General Motors.
Mary Barra is a calm, steady force, devoid of the oversized ego once seen as an essential for heading up a major car maker. Shareholders and boards of certain rivals to GM would do well to observe her closely, especially now that the world’s number one and number two markets for vehicle sales are undergoing profound changes.
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Under Barra and those she has put in place to lead GM’s brands, the evolution of both Cadillac and Buick continues to be fascinating. This report examines some of the confirmed and likely next generation models being developed for the PRC and the USA.
Buick
Strong in China, Buick is a case study in how to move a brand not with, but ahead of where consumers are. The process is accelerating yet again, particularly in the PRC as the marque’s parent learns from mistakes. Now there is a mix of IC-only and electrified vehicles, the latter grouped under an Electra sub-brand umbrella.
The Electra L7 (pictured) is a 5,034 mm long fastback that’s soon to be in production at an SAIC GM plant in Wuhan. Unlike certain cars in the size class, this one will have a range extender to supplement the energy stored in a relatively small battery. Official data remain under wraps but it is believed that the engine’s capacity is 1.5 litres and that there will be two motors. Total power is said to be 374 kW (509 PS), while an EV should follow the launch of the EREV.
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By GlobalDataSAIC General Motors is wise enough to know that it must not mess too much with its best-selling Buick family of models, namely the GL8 minivan/MPV. And while there are PHEV derivatives, spending on EVs has been modest with the results plain to see: the brand’s number two and three most successful vehicles are also non-EVs. Chinese buyers also love their Buick sedans, as the success of the LaCrosse and Regal show, registrations being not too far behind those for the GL8 series.
“What would BYD or Geely do?”
While the Electra E5 does well, the Electra E4 seems to have missed the mark and it will be no surprise if SAIC GM kills it off soon-ish, just as the Chinese market’s number one (BYD, wholesales up by 20% YoY in June) and number three (Geely: +85%) brands tend to do with their non-performers.
If things seem good in China, there are alas major concerns about North America and the USA specifically. As questions about the very viability of GM Korea linger, this is making many analysts wonder what would happen to exports of the Encore GX and Envista. These two SUVs presently make up 50 per cent of Buick’s US market line-up.
What becomes of the imported-from-China Envision?
There is also a concern about the Envision, the third Buick of three models made outside North America, in this case China. As at the time of publication, the US division had yet to announce a 2026 model year Envision. Only the Enclave is manufactured in America, the big crossover having been new for 2025, meaning it won’t be due for a replacement until the early 2030s.
Despite all the angst over what could happen to the brand in GM’s home market, Buick’s second quarter US sales expanded by 19 per cent (YoY) to a healthy 54,233 vehicles. For the year to the end of June, registrations rose by 29 per cent to 116,055 (1 Jan-30 Jun 2024: 89,830). This is especially interesting as of GM’s four main brands, Buick alone still does not offer even one EV.
Cadillac
John Roth must be breathing some long sighs of relief lately, Cadillac’s CEO heading up a GM division which has all but one of its models for North America manufactured in the USA (the Optiq hails from Mexico). What’s more, the multiple additions to the line-up – and more are coming – keep bringing in not just new buyers but new generations of buyers.
There is, as we know, an ongoing expansion of the brand’s EVs but these are not yet the models which customers are flocking to. In China, the best seller remains the CT5, a sedan, followed by the XT5, XT4 and GT4 SUVs. After this group comes the Lyriq (electric-only), then the XT6 and CT6 with just 38 units of another EV, the Optiq, noted in wholesale data for June.
As the division is launched in new markets, or returns to others after a long absence, Cadillac isn’t forgetting North America; far from it. The brand has just enjoyed the best half of a calendar year in the USA from several decades (86,100 units), much of that inevitably thanks to the arrival of many new or updated SUVs. During the most recent quarter, EVs took more than 26 per cent of sales though the end of the Federal tax credit after September will be pulling forward many purchases.
Second generation Escalade EVs in 2032/33
Starting at the top of the tree, the Escalade IQ and IQL full-size electric SUVs were new for the 2025 model year and so are not due to be refreshed until calendar 2029. Replacements should debut in 2032 or 2033. By then, lighter solid state batteries should feature. As for where the second generation will be made, it is too early to say for sure but Factory Zero could again be a strong possibility.
The (non-electric) Escalade and Escalade ESV are different vehicles entirely and are also on separate life cycle timings. Which means that each is expected to have a successor as soon as 2027 (their mid-cycle facelifts happened in 2024). In a major change, they will no longer be manufactured at Arlington Assembly in Texas, the plant having been officially announced a few days ago: Orion Lake in Michigan. The platform is to be the same one as that of the next Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra.
Cadillac’s L.O.V.E. naming strategy for E-SUVs
Still with SUVs, the Optiq is Cadillac’s smallest such electric model and has been around since 2024. The world debut of this 4.8 m long vehicle took place at Auto Guangzhou in November 2023. A facelift is due in about 18 months’ time and a successor in 2030. Build of generation two would again be in both Wuhan and possibly Ramos Arizpe, though a US plant might take the place of the present Mexican one.
Rising in size above the Optiq are the Lyriq and Vistiq. The second of these, a three-row electric SUV, is new for the 2026 model year, production having only commenced in February. It is built in Tennessee, the Spring Hill factory being the same one which makes the smaller Lyriq. The life cycle should be six/seven years, while the Lyriq, which is also manufactured in Shanghai, should have a successor in 2029 or 2030.
Gasoline sedans doing well in China
There is still quite a bit of demand for ICE Cadillac models, the XT5 being a great example. New for China only in September 2024, it might also have been exported to North America but for tariffs. Part of the SAIC GM joint venture, this 4.9 m long SUV has a 169 kW 48V mild hybrid turbocharged 2.0-litre engine. It should be built in Shanghai for seven years with a facelift in 2027 or 2028. The replacement should be electric.
Another IC-powered SUV which does well in China (and in this case, the US too) is the XT6. It was facelifted in November 2024 and so should be phased out in late 2027. However, US production is due to end on 26 November (2025), the same day as that of the XT5. North America’s XT5 is not the same one which is made in China: it is an older generation.
Celestiq to remain the sole electric Caddy car?
There isn’t really much in the way of news for future Cadillac cars. The CT4, built in Shanghai and Michigan, dates to 2019 and has no scheduled replacement, while the CT5 has been around for the same length of time and was facelifted in 2023. It should be discontinued in both China and North America in 2027.
While there are rumours of BEV Prime platform electric sedans set to enter the size segments of today’s CT4 and CT5, the one-time provisional launch date of 2026 for both seems increasingly unlikely.
This was the second of two General Motors future models reports, the first one having been published on 10 July.
