Cadillac Gives Us Another Reason to Not Buy a CTS

Mark Stevenson
by Mark Stevenson

Cadillac announced Monday that deliveries of its 2016 Cadillac Touring 6 sedan — or CT6 — will begin in March with a starting price of $54,490 when equipped with a 2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine.

The new top-of-the-range Cadillac sedan will also be available with a 3.6-liter V-6 paired with all-wheel drive and a $56,490 price tag or Cadillac’s new 3-liter twin-turbocharged V-6 sporting all-wheel drive and a $65,390 MSRP. A crème de la crème CT6 Platinum will sticker for $84,460.

All CT6s will send power to the wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission and all prices include a $995 destination fee because you’re definitely paying that.

But what of the CTS?

At the bottom end of the pricing ladder, the CTS and CT6 are split by nearly $8,000 — $54,490 vs. $46,555.

However, as soon as you upgrade from the 2-liter turbo to the 3.6-liter V-6 with all-wheel drive, the House of Cadillac gets mighty crowded. The CT6 will sticker for a whopping $210 more than the CTS when equipped with the same engine and driveline configuration. The 2016 CTS 3.6-liter V-6 AWD is on sale now for $56,280 including its $995 destination fee.

The pricing overlap might hurt sales of CTS models equipped with the mid-level engine offering, and that’s on top of its flagging sales position in a market where the majority of growth is in crossovers and SUVs.

Only 31,115 CTS sedans found homes last year in the United States, according to GoodCarBadCar, well off the model’s 2005 peak of 61,512 units sold. Sales of the CTS took a dive in 2013 when a much larger model debuted for the 2014 model year following the introduction of the smaller ATS in 2012.

Order books for the CT6 open today.

Mark Stevenson
Mark Stevenson

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  • Dwford Dwford on Nov 02, 2015

    I'm sorry, but Cadillac is continuing to price based on their delusion of parity with the German brands. Cadillac is the only one thinking that, the customers definitely are not. $84k for a loaded CT6?! For a car that comes pre-cancelled and is about to be trumped by a CT8? What's next, an $80k Lincoln Continental?

  • Nickoo Nickoo on Nov 02, 2015

    SPEAKING of Cadillac. I just saw the most head scratching Cadillac ad of all time involving some fem-boy Asian talking about his mother (obviously he didn't have a dad) letting him play with dolls and therefore he bought a Cadillac. I'm. Not. Making. This. Up. De Lorenzo is going to have weeks of writing material! What the hell is going on over there in New York?

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    • VenomV12 VenomV12 on Nov 03, 2015

      I know the ad, I guarantee that guy has never driven or owned a Cadillac or any car for that matter. He is actually a pretty big name clothing designer in NYC. It's just like the Wozniak Cadillac ad, he doesn't own a Cadillac either, he owns a Tesla, doesn't make any sense.

  • Alfaromeo Alfaromeo on Nov 04, 2015

    I am not surprise at all. Look at the price of CTS and XTS now, they are so close already. I think Cadi might want to market CTS as a more sporty vehicle while CT6 as a more premium vehicle to differentiate them. Good luck Cadi.

  • Xbaer Xbaer on May 15, 2016

    So lots of good comments on here. Let me guys ask you this. I have been switching cars the last few years regularly. audi s4, MB E550, BMW 550i, MB ML63 I want to get back into a sedan due to knee issues with high seating angle. 0-60 5seconds or under. I looked at the CTS vsport premium 3.6TT. Nice driving characteristics. Wife doesn't like the interior space limitations that much. 2014 models seems to be going for 45kish. I am tired of constant car repairs. All my vehicles have had their fair share of repairs. I do drive spirited at times as I am from Germany originally and we have a second baby on the way so some space in the back seat would be good although my wife has a Highlander to do the family hauling. Thoughts? CTS vsport, Audi A6 3.0T, chrysler 300s, gs f sport? As you can see I don't mind cross shopping

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