Spied: 2020 Cadillac XT6 Prepares to Fill the Gap

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Now that former brand president Johan de Nysschen has left the job of running Cadillac to a Canuck, it would be nice to see the brand take a page from Lincoln and revamp its naming strategy. What you see above is purported to be the upcoming Cadillac CT6 XT6, a full-size unibody crossover that’s on track to plug a major hole in the brand’s lineup.

Slotted above the popular XT5 midsize crossover and below the top-rung Escalade, the XT6 (as it’s tentatively named) promises three roomy rows of lux-mobile motoring. This vehicle, along with the compact XT4 launching later this year, was all part of de Nysschen plan to bring home the bacon in the domestic market.

The model pictured here becomes more Cadillac-esque as it turns its tail towards the camera. A long-wheelbase version of the GM C1 “Chi” platform sits underneath — an architecture it shares with the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave. The XT5, as well as the GMC Acadia, ride atop a regular-length version.

The camouflage is heavy with this one, so it’s hard to discern the model-specific styling underneath. We’ll likely see a strong resemblance to the smaller XT5, with diagonal slashes almost a certainty.

As both the Traverse and Enclave carry a nine-speed automatic and 3.6-liter V6, it would be expected to find this combo in the XT6. However, with prestige comes the desire for more power. Cadillac can’t field a large utility without offering buyers the chance to step up to a more prestigious powerplant … can it? A suitable option does not spring to mind.

Maybe Cadillac will massage the 3.6 to give it the slightest statistical edge over its GM stablemates. Then again, the XT4 makes do with a turbo 2.0-liter making 237 hp — less than that of the 2.0 found in the Traverse RS, and still less powerful than the uplevel Chevy Equinox.

It’s expected we’ll see the XT6 shed its protective coverings at this fall’s L.A. Auto Show, with an on-sale date sometime in the spring of 2019.

[Images: Brian Williams/Spiedbilde]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Pb35 Pb35 on Apr 26, 2018

    Cadillac Aztek!

  • JEFFSHADOW JEFFSHADOW on Apr 27, 2018

    All you really need to do is get a great big map of the wonderful countries of Spain and France and find some good names for the next few Cadillacs. Let's see. . . Seville, deVille..etc...you get the idea. Anything but alpha-numerics. Lincoln is going to leave Cadillac behind when they have all real names on their refreshed product line. I can walk out my back door and see names like: Riviera, Eldorado, Toronado and LeSabre. GM, get back in the game!

  • TheEndlessEnigma These cars were bought and hooned. This is a bomb waiting to go off in an owner's driveway.
  • Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Thankfully I don't have to deal with GDI issues in my Frontier. These cleaners should do well for me if I win.
  • Theflyersfan Serious answer time...Honda used to stand for excellence in auto engineering. Their first main claim to fame was the CVCC (we don't need a catalytic converter!) engine and it sent from there. Their suspensions, their VTEC engines, slick manual transmissions, even a stowing minivan seat, all theirs. But I think they've been coasting a bit lately. Yes, the Civic Type-R has a powerful small engine, but the Honda of old would have found a way to get more revs out of it and make it feel like an i-VTEC engine of old instead of any old turbo engine that can be found in a multitude of performance small cars. Their 1.5L turbo-4...well...have they ever figured out the oil dilution problems? Very un-Honda-like. Paint issues that still linger. Cheaper feeling interior trim. All things that fly in the face of what Honda once was. The only thing that they seem to have kept have been the sales staff that treat you with utter contempt for daring to walk into their inner sanctum and wanting a deal on something that isn't a bare-bones CR-V. So Honda, beat the rest of your Japanese and Korean rivals, and plug-in hybridize everything. If you want a relatively (in an engineering way) easy way to get ahead of the curve, raise the CAFE score, and have a major point to advertise, and be able to sell to those who can't plug in easily, sell them on something that will get, for example, 35% better mileage, plug in when you get a chance, and drives like a Honda. Bring back some of the engineering skills that Honda once stood for. And then start introducing a portfolio of EVs once people are more comfortable with the idea of plugging in. People seeing that they can easily use an EV for their daily errands with the gas engine never starting will eventually sell them on a future EV because that range anxiety will be lessened. The all EV leap is still a bridge too far, especially as recent sales numbers have shown. Baby steps. That's how you win people over.
  • Theflyersfan If this saves (or delays) an expensive carbon brushing off of the valves down the road, I'll take a case. I understand that can be a very expensive bit of scheduled maintenance.
  • Zipper69 A Mini should have 2 doors and 4 cylinders and tires the size of dinner plates.All else is puffery.
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