Don't Expect New Cadillac Models Anytime Soon

There’s a product drought coming to Cadillac dealers, and the earth will stay scorched a good two years.

After the recent introduction of the XT5 crossover and CT6 sedan, buyers will have to wait until mid-2018 before the next new model arrives, according to a product update published in Automotive News. Dealers can use the time to learn Cadillac’s new model name strategy, which stays stubbornly alphanumeric.

The first new model to trundle along is the XTC XT3 compact crossover, which sounds like a club drug or rocket-powered space plane. That crossover, built in Kansas City, bows as a 2019 model and fills an important product gap in Cadillac’s lineup.

Also in 2018, expect new names to find their way onto older models. The ATS magically transforms into the CT4 after the sedan receives a redesign later that year. (A refreshed coupe will follow later.) The CTS gets its own redesign and renaming (CT5) in early 2019, with a coupe version on the way for 2020.

The CT6 gains a plug-in hybrid version next year and should see a design refresh in 2019. The brand’s previous flagship sedan, the front-wheel-drive XTS, won’t live to see the end of the decade, but should stick around until 2019.

Changes to the Escalade are few. A 10-speed automatic transmission should arrive next year, with a design refresh the year after. Expect the XT5 to get a facelift by 2018, and a new turbo 2.0-liter base engine.

The next new product after the XT3 is the XT7, a larger crossover built on a stretched XT5 that arrives in late 2019. A XT2 subcompact crossover should see the light of day in 2020. A rumored mid-engine sports car based on the rumored mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette remains, well, just that.

If you’re seeing a trend with these new models, it isn’t your imagination. Crossovers and SUVs sell, and Cadillac isn’t exactly overwhelmed with demand for its sedan-heavy lineup. So, utility is the name of the game. That means once-anticipated products like the CT8 flagship sedan and CT3 entry-level sedan will collect cobwebs until buyers’ attitudes change.

[Image: General Motors]