Cadillac Still Has a Plan for Sedans, Even as It Plays Crossover Catch-up

Okay, who’s getting all excited about the upcoming refreshed XTS? Anybody? Hello?

While the prospect of a mildly revamped front-drive holdover might not set the enthusiast blogs on fire, the sedan’s recent salvation from the Island of Defunct Models is a prudent move for the troubled automaker.

It’s also the only “new” product you’ll see between now and the middle of next year.

Cadillac is paying the price for being late to the crossover and SUV game, but the automaker wants us to know that a full crop of profit-generating utility vehicles is on the way. The swift market shift away from traditional cars caught the sedan-heavy brand off guard, and playing catch-up means rushing those vehicles to production while squeezing all the sales it can out of its existing cars.

The automaker will release a new product every six months from mid-2018 until late 2020 or 2021, Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen told The Detroit News.

“The core part of our volume lineup is in the market that’s contracting while we are unable, as good as XT5 and Escalade are, we are unable to fully exploit the updraft that’s taking place in the other half of the market,” said de Nysschen.

Naturally, the first new utility model will be the XT3, a small crossover positioned below the strong-selling XT5. The existing midsize should see a design refresh in late 2018, after which Cadillac tentatively plans to release a larger crossover, filling the sizable gap between the XT5 and Escalade. A much smaller utility could appear after 2020.

But what about cars? Last year, Cadillac’s use of incentives on the slow-selling ATS and CTS diminished the models’ resale value. The models continue to languish, but the automaker is taking action on other fronts.

The XTS, originally slated for execution, was spared from the chopping block last year. A styling refresh will give the model’s buyers something slightly new to look at, while hopefully maintaining or increasing consumer interest. Despite its anachronistic layout, December was the model’s best sales month since the XTS bowed in mid 2012, and full-year tallies remain fairly strong. Cadillac would be a fool to kick 22,000 annual U.S. sales to the curb.

The larger and more technologically complex CT6 flagship, on the other hand, saw just one third of the XTS’ sales in January. While a plug-in hybrid variant will appear this spring, Cadillac isn’t done tricking out the lengthy rear-driver.

The automaker plans to find new CT6 buyers by “introducing higher positioned derivatives,” de Nysschen said. That could mean anything from new trim levels and powerplants to a long-wheelbase variant.

As for existing bread-and-butter models that no longer butter Cadillac’s bread, those will eventually be repositioned to increase buyer appeal, adding some space between, say, the ATS and CTS. Until Cadillac squeals, rumored models — such as a convertible — remain just that.

[Image: General Motors]