Stung by criticism that Cadillac wasn’t offering the right luxury vehicles for shifting customer preferences in China and North America, GM has thrown much money at the division and infused it with fresh thinking. Suddenly, no-one can say there are too many big cars but too few SUVs. The CT4 and CT5 sedans will soon be rolling into showrooms, an elegant next generation Escalade is now just months away from being revealed, while the 2020s will bring an electric SUV and many other novelties.
Cars
New for North America’s 2020 model year, the CT4 is aimed at the Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class, BMW 1 Series Sedan, Audi A3 sedan and others in that size class. Unlike these cars, the Cadillac is rear-wheel drive.
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By GlobalDataEven though it is smaller than the discontinued ATS, the CT4 (along with the CT5) is the effective replacement. The car was announced to the media in May in V-Series form ahead of its US market arrival in early 2020. The turbocharged 2.7-litre four-cylinder engine has stated outputs of 239kW (320hp) and 369 pound-feet of torque. The sole transmission is a ten-speed automatic. Details of other CT4 variants have now also been announced and all details are in PLDB (see link at the end of this report). A facelift is expected for the 2024 model year and a successor in CY2026.
The CT5 (pictured) is another new model for the 2020 model year. Announced to the media in March, the public premiere took place during the following month at the New York auto show, while SAIC GM’s identical China-made CT5 debuted at the Chengdu show a few weeks ago. This 4,924mm long sedan replaces the CTS in both of Cadillac’s main markets as well as the PRC-only ATS-L.
The V-Series, which was revealed to the media in May, is powered by a 265kW (355 horsepower) biturbo 3.0-litre V6. A ten-speed automatic gearbox is standard, as is a limited-slip differential.
Renderings of what appeared to be a two-door Cadillac, designed in Melbourne by GM Holden, surfaced in July last year. Patent number D821,923 was applied for by a GM subsidiary on 14 February 2017 and granted on 3 July 2018. It should be noted that Cadillac was not mentioned in the application but the renderings have clear design cues of the brand. It may seem odd that General Motors would fund the development of any vehicle which would be launched into a shrinking segment. However, a potential CT5 Coupe would share the majority of its components with the sedan.
In the full-size class, Cadillac has the CT6. This was the first car for GM’s Omega architecture, entering production at Detroit Hamtramck in late 2015. It is also made in China by SAIC GM, with the Pudong plant the only one of the CT6 factories to be building the plug-in hybrid variant.
Prior to the 2019 model year, this big sedan was offered with three petrol engines, each turbocharged (2.0-litre, 3.0-litre and a biturbo 3.6-litre), plus the PHEV powertrain. The facelifted 2019 CT6 premiered at the New York auto show in March 2018. At the same event, Cadillac revealed the V-Sport, an additional all-wheel drive variant powered by GM’s LTA engine.
LTA, a 410kW (550hp) 4.2-litre biturbo V8 which is thus far exclusive to Cadillac, is linked to a ten-speed automatic gearbox, the code of which is 10L90. The new engine is marketed as the Blackwing. It is also available with an output of 500hp. Both are hand-built at the Corvette factory in Kentucky. The name comes from the original Cadillac emblem, which featured a black bird called the merlette. The Blackwing-powered CT6 V-Sport has since changed names, becoming the CT6-V for the 2020 model year.
GM China revealed the facelift for its locally built CT6 at the Guangzhou motor show in November 2018. In May came news that the 2020 model year line-up for North American markets sees the LSY 2.0-litre turbo dropped. That had been the sole rear-wheel drive version. As well as the PHEV, the remaining options are LGX (3.6-litre V6) and LGW (3.0-litre V6 turbo) plus LTA (Blackwing).
The fate of the CT6 remains unclear. GM will probably keep building it in China for some years yet, possibly even until 2023. US production at Hamtramck was due to cease during 2019: this was announced in November 2018. However, negotiations between General Motors and the UAW over a new multi-year contract – despite the union having commenced lightning industrial action which commenced at midnight on 15/16 September – may see the plant remaining open. At the moment it isn’t known what will eventuate.
GM told the media at the Detroit auto show in January that the car would not be axed in North America. The company said it was trying to find a way to retain the CT6, either by importing it from China or shifting production from Michigan to another plant on the North American continent. The last statement from GM was in February when the company said it would keep making the CT6 as well as the Chevrolet Impala at Hamtramck until January (2020).
As for any replacement model, rumour says that Cadillac could be planning to add a CT7 to its range of cars. The Escala, a concept which was first displayed at the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, appeared to suggest that. The prototype was a 5,347mm long hatchback in the style of the Porsche Panamera Executive.
It may turn out that there will be a new CT6 with a CT7 supplementing it in the style of the Audis A6 and A7 Sportback. The architecture would be VSS-R, which replaces both Alpha and Omega. Sources claim the start of production will commence during the final quarter of 2021. The project code is 7ESL, which means 7 for VSS-R (the architecture), E for the size segment, S for sedan (or in this case, a fastback) and L for Cadillac.
SUVs
There might be an XT3 in the brand’s future. Such a vehicle would be aimed at the Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class, Volvo XC40 and others in that class. This crossover could be released in 2021 although US production may commence in late 2020. There should also be build in China via the SAIC-GM joint venture.
The current entry point to the Cadillac line-up of crossovers and SUVs is E2UL, the XT4. This is a 4,599mm long rival for the BMW X3, Volvo XC60, Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class, Lexus NX and Audi Q5. Debuting for North America’s 2019 model year, the XT4 is powered by LSY, a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine. This produces 237 horsepower (177kW) and 258 pound-feet of torque (350Nm). The sole transmission is GM’s own nine-speed Hydra-Matic 9T50 automatic.
Production at Fairfax Assembly in Kansas City commenced in September 2018. There is also production in China as part of the SAIC GM joint venture: build at Jinqiao started at the same time as it did in the US.
A four-cylinder diesel – a new engine in fact – is to be available in European countries. This had been stated well in advance by Felix Weller, the head of Cadillac’s operations in Europe, Russia and the Middle East in an October 2018 interview. This is an extraordinary thing for General Motors to have put money into, given that just 1,063 Cadillacs were sold in all of Europe during 2018. The compression-ignition engine, which was announced only days ago, produces 125kW (170Nm) and 380Nm (280 lb-ft). Both front- and all-wheel drive XT4 diesels will be available when the model becomes available in selected LHD European markets in 2020. The model itself should have a seven-year life cycle, which means a facelift in 2022.
The SRX used to be Cadillac’s entry in the segment of the US market dominated by the Lexus RX and Volvo XC60. Now, it’s the XT5. The ‘Crossover Touring 5’ is 4.8 metres long and had its world premiere at the Dubai motor show in November 2015, before being displayed in the US for the first time at the LA show later the same month. Production is at two plants: one in the US and the other in China. Depending on the market, both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive variants are available.
SAIC GM announced a facelifted model in June. As well as the styling adjustments, the LSY engine from the XT4 became available. This 2.0-litre turbo produces 237 horsepower (177kW) and 258 pound-feet of torque (350Nm) and is linked to GM’s own nine-speed Hydra-Matic 9T50 automatic. The 3.6-litre V6 is still available in North America. The new engine and facelift are the main news for the 2020 model year, which was announced for North American markets in July. The successor should arrive in the first half of 2023. For details of the XT5 mild hybrid, click on the link to PLDB at the end of this report.
The XT6, a three-row crossover, is available in six- and seven-seat forms. After making its world debut at the Detroit auto show in January, this 5,050mm long model arrived in US dealerships five months later, early for the 2020 model year. Basically, a longer XT5 albeit with unique styling, the XT6 is aimed at the Volvo XC90, Lincoln Aviator, Audi Q7 and others in the large crossover/SUV segment.
A 3.6-litre V6 is standard, linked to a nine-speed automatic transmission, while a plug-in hybrid powertrain may be added during 2020. The locally produced XT6 was presented to the media at a special event in Shanghai just after its debut in Detroit. Production in China commenced during July, which was just two months after US build got underway. Details of the plants can be found in PLDB: see the link at the end of this feature.
There have been rumours about an XT7, which would be similar in size to the BMW X7 and Mercedes GLS. That seems unlikely, given that Cadillac already has two SUVs which exceed five metres in length. However, the XT7 shouldn’t be entirely ruled out as it could be marketed as a crossover rather than an SUV, plus its construction would be unibody, further differentiating it from Cadillac’s next generation of ladder-chassis giants.
Due to the strength of the Escalade and long-wheelbase Escalade ESV model names, these will be retained when the big SUVs are replaced next year: Cadillac executives see that switching them to XT and a number would be a mistake. The world premieres should take place during the first quarter but production won’t begin until the second half of the year.
These big ladder frame RWD/4WD vehicles will be more expensive and far closer to being genuine rivals for the current and next generations of the Range Rover and Range Rover, Cadillac insiders claim. Suppliers back that up, noting that while the current Escalade and ESV have a solid axle with five-link location and coil springs, the successors will have independent rear suspension. Engine choice for these VSS-T architecture models should consist of the L87 6.2-litre and LTA (Blackwing) biturbo 4.2-litre V8s, each driving through a ten-speed automatic gearbox. Electrification is certain to become available in the early 2020s. This might not just be via a PHEV powertrain either, with EV power possible by mid-decade should market demand head in that direction.
Electric
The then Cadillac president Johan De Nysschen told an interviewer at the Paris motor show five years ago that a rival for long-wheelbase versions of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7 Series had been signed off for development. It would appear at the end of the decade and be called CT8 or CT9, he added.
It is said that this project has evolved into a large electric sedan. GM is working on a dedicated platform for BEVs and might be planning to target the segment just above where today’s Tesla Model S has carved out a niche. Daimler is going after the same pool of potential customers with its Mercedes-Benz EQS as is JLR with the next Jaguar XJ. GM could probably have the big Cadillac EV ready for the 2023 model year.
The big four-door EV might not (yet) be inked in to Cadillac’s product plans but an electric SUV is. Due for release in 2021, this model will be a competitor for the Jaguar I-Pace, Audi e-tron, Mercedes-Benz EQC, BMW iX3 and higher end versions of the Tesla Model Y. Production will likely be in both China and the US.
There is also a chance that GM might instead decide to make this model larger than the German and English e-SUVs, positioning it in the same size category as the Tesla Model X. Whatever the case, this vehicle will be the first one for General Motors’ BEV3 architecture. The EV1 was the sole model for General Motors’ first generation EV architecture, with the second generation platform having been developed for the Chevrolet Bolt. BEV3, which can be front-, rear- or all-wheel drive, will become a mainstream architecture with multiple vehicles for several GM brands to be based upon it.
Asked about the possibility in an interview at this year’s Detroit auto show, Cadillac president Steve Carlisle said he was “very open” to reviving dormant model names. There is therefore a chance that badges such as Eldorado, Fleetwood and others could return. One speculative suggestion, ‘Electorado’, could perhaps work well as a new twist on a high-priced Cadillac badge from the past.
Reports for many other manufacturers’ future models are grouped in the OEM product strategy summaries section of just-auto.com.
Future product program intelligence
More detail on past, current and forthcoming models can be found in PLDB, the future vehicles database which is part of QUBE. Details of Cadillac models not listed in this report, including the ATS-L, CT6 PHEV and XTS, can be found there.
This was the seventh feature in a series which examines future models for the passenger vehicle divisions of General Motors. The first one looked at Baojun and the second one had Wuling as its focus, both brands which are co-owned by General Motors, SAIC and Liuzhou Wuling Motors. These were followed by Chevrolet cars, then Chevrolet SUVs and pick-ups, GMC, and Buick. The final one will examine Holden.
