Cadillac's New XT6 3 Row Crossover To Debut At Detroit Auto Show

Caught some spyshots of this already.

The interior is an exact copy of the XT5.

What a lazy parts-bin cash-grab by GM, and typical of their thinking. Short cuts to short-term results, occasionally professing the need to focus on long-term goals, only to cut and run when they don't get (what else) short-term results from their investments.

To paraphrase another auto website, I get that going to New York, changing the branding message, and focusing on better standards of quality over volume and expediency, didn't get them the results they were looking for fast enough; but, it's still disconcerting to see Cadillac backslide in to "slightly nicer Chevrolet" territory.

What a disappointment, especially after all the lip service paid to "no more bad cars" "no more Cimmarron" "8 Billion over 10 years" "dedicated to global luxury standards" etc. etc.

I think this is going to fly off the shelves - the XT5 is too small and there are ton's of people who are on there 3rd or 4th Escalade who are tired of its size.

The XT5 is a fine SUV, for what it is (and a great deal once heavily discounted by the dealer) and the interior is great for the customer base (those who won't buy Euro) who will love it. It should have been on sale long ago.

You're right that people will snap this up, and maybe that's all that matters. If I were an accountant, I would certainly think so.

But a lot of what you said is also correct and at the same time disconcerting.

The XT5 is "fine" "for what it is" "once heavily discounted" and is great "for the customer base". Cadillac needs to be more than fine, and more than "discount luxury". And as far as the customer base; well, they're dying off or otherwise disappearing to more attractive and better quality brands, most of them European, with a few Asians here and there. If they want to stick with American, Lincoln (against all odds) has become an excellent alternative.

Cadillac can't be "good enough" for their "customer base" anymore, and still expect to expand their pool of buyers or command the fat profit margins of the competition.

Honestly, its a regional thing. Certain people will only buy American cars and certain people will only buy GM cars, and this XT6 will be the best non-truck SUV on offering. Maybe not in California or New York or Boston, but in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, non-south Florida - certaily Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Utah, Wisconsin etc etc etc if you want the best, non-truck SUV this is it.

If you are an X5 or GLS customer, you are not looking at Cadillac's.

This XT6 might double Cadillac's sales.

The Av

The Aviator will take more sales from the X5 and GLS and it will probably be priced higher too.

If the XT6 is priced right, it will decimate the domestic competition.

I doubt it’ll be priced right, they just seem unable to fully execute... the Aviator is going to blow this away. Oh and Cadillacs are rare sites in Atlanta. There are more Tesla’s in the money zones than Cadillacs. All Caddy dealers are in the burbs vs the moneied bling areas.

mre30, do you even live in Dallas, or Texas for that matter? I live in Dallas and people want trucks, if luxury CUV/SUV then MB/BMW/Lexus/Audi. American luxury is far a fewer.

mre30, do you even live in Dallas, or Texas for that matter? I live in Dallas and people want trucks, if luxury CUV/SUV then MB/BMW/Lexus/Audi. American luxury is far a fewer.

I've lived in Boston, Dallas, and Wisconsin.

I would say the ratio isn't all that different between them. I've seen quite a few Cadillacs in Boston, as there's still a large contingent of blue collar people around there.

Dallas is a big Cadillac market, but it overall is much more of a Lexus phenomenon when compared to the rest of the country.

So, it might be somewhat regional, but more of a blue-collar personal preference, in my experience.

Now, here's where things get dicey. Argue the sins and unjustice of this all you want, but if blue collar people are regularly buying your product without much trouble, two things are going to happen.

One, the fact that these people have become your customer base is automatically going to turn off wealthy people from your brand, in the big picture. And two, it shows that your brand has become too affordable and too mass market; the only people you have left who value your brand are those who don't know what real luxury is like and are fooled by Chevrolets with some extra leather.

I'm not making a value statement on the implications of classism involved here, I'm just pointing out how the luxury space works. Wealthy people who know what real luxury is because their lives are steeped in it, and are willing to pay for it, buy the Germans, Lexus, and the British. People who don't live those lives and don't know what a real luxury lifestyle looks like are fooled by Cadillacs like this.

Cadillac is starting (once again) to gravitate towards the latter because it's easier, it's cheaper, and it's too hard for them to sack up and compete against the real players in the market.

Yes, they will get some sales, I don't dispute that. But the sales garnered by that path will lack the fat profit margins of true luxury players, and that path will also ensure they never rise to that level of respect to earn those margins.

I've given Cadillac a lot of rope and a lot of years, trying to convince myself of the master plan they had from the introduction of the ATS, to the CTS, to the V-models, to Johann's hiring and extoling proudly standards of quality, only to see it all squandered in a return to business as usual.

I don't have any hope for Cadillac anymore. They've burned through my trust and goodwill by being mediocre and "budget luxury" for too long, all while proudly proclaiming they had changed. It was a lie, and I don't want to be fooled by them anymore. They'll never change.

Cadillac better get on its game with SUVs because the new Lincoln Aviator is going to be a huge hit.

One word best describes this XT6.. CHEAP!!

Use a Chevy fwd platform and bland XT5 interior with bland blackout front grill and it looks like a piss poor GM effort!!

On the other hand... The Lincoln Aviator looks beautiful with outstanding design in n out with premium matl... Plus 400 hp and torque... And a GT phev Version with 450 and 600... That's a premium 3row cuv that will compete with MB, BMW and Audi... Something Caddy can only dream about.

Bulls Eye

The XT6 feels as if it is as much of a stopgap as the Continental was for Lincoln. The gestation for the SuperFusion was fast and the Traverse in pearls must have been even faster. If they price it like the XT5 and take the XT5 and XT4 DOWN in price, they will have a winning formula for the short term.

But you know they won’t. I’ve been hoping for a genuine Cadillac revolution and resurrection but I’m done. Everything they do is barely enough and people spending their money are just not interested. I like these cars but the market is demanding more and GM won’t go there. You’re right it’s a pathetic attempt to fool folks w a Chevy in “faux” pearls.

But you know they won’t. I’ve been hoping for a genuine Cadillac revolution and resurrection but I’m done. Everything they do is barely enough and people spending their money are just not interested. I like these cars but the market is demanding more and GM won’t go there. You’re right it’s a pathetic attempt to fool folks w a Chevy in “faux” pearls.

They won't because they think Cadillac is equal to Mercedes.

By dropping down a price class for the size, buying customers, treating them incredibly well, WHILE they design the Mercedes-level products would be how to resurrect the brand.

I've said repeatedly that they need to go back to name--heritage names whenever possible--and stand out. CT/XT means NOTHING but Eldorado, Elmiraj, Seville, and Escala do.

It's also probably time to dump Buick in the USA and relegate it to China.

The execution feels wrong here. I fear it's going to be the poorly packaged RX-L 2.0. Basically, they'll take the XT5 and just add some wheelbase to add a third row. The XT5 is not really midsize. Interior dimensions are more closely aligned to the RDX/GLC/X3 class, not the MDX/GLE/X5. Looking at the photo it does not look substantially larger than the sedan in the rear despite being in the forefront of the photo.

The XT5 is huge inside - its actually a very well-packaged SUV. I drive an MB GLS and my dad drives an XT5 and the XT5 seems wider inside.

The XT5 is cramped and many potential customers walk because of that.

This needs a NAME like Cadillac Encima which would go well with the Escala theme.

Who cares?

If they are truly just copying the interior of the XT5 then it's a massive fail against the Aviator already. The Lincoln says "Big American Luxury" much more dramatically than the Cadillac, which really just says "dull".