Listen Closely: Cadillac Reveals New 2020 CT5 Sedan

If you’ve been on the internet lately in any capacity whatsoever, you’ll recognize the term ASMR. Deployed in everything from driving videos to mildly NSFW speaking sessions, the use of autonomous sensory meridian response is designed to trigger a physical response in viewers via sound. Cadillac has chosen to bake this into its reveal of the new 2020 CT5 sedan.

We’ll leave judgement of that decision up to you. We’re here to talk about the car, a machine which – glory of glories – is not another crossover.

This CT5 hews to Cadillac’s new naming convention and is intended to replace both the ATS and CTS. Continuing the brand’s effort to haul drivers out of the likes of an A4 or 3 Series, the CT5 is constructed atop a version of the Alpha platform upon which the old CTS rested. That car turned its wheels in anger when asked, so we hope for the same from this new sedan.

Two engines will be on tap. A turbocharged 2.0-liter will be the standard mill, while a twin-turbo 3.0-liter is offered as an option. No power ratings were given, but these same gas burners make 237 and 404 horsepower, respectively, in the big-brother-with-a-murky-future CT6. Expect similar output in this new car. Both are paired with GM’s 10-speed automatic, and note the naturally aspirated V6 is AWOL.

Cadillac takes care to note the Alpha platform is a RWD/AWD architecture, so expect the CT5 to be a Caddy that zigs using all four of its wheels, at least as an option.

From a design perspective, the CT5 takes its direction from the Escalade show car, at least up front. It trades the running-mascara headlight treatment for a set of horizontal peepers similar to the ones found on the new XT6 crossover. Around the side, stylists have given a unique treatment to the C-pillar, one which is pronounced with chrome trim and muted when murdered out. Comparisons to the current Honda Accord are being bandied about by keyboard warriors, at least for this part of the car.

A pair of trims were shown in official photos, made up of Premium Luxury and Sport varieties. This falls lock-step with the rest of Cadillac’s lineup. No word on a hawt CT5-V model, or even a V-Series trim, but one is sure to appear once noise has died down for these initial trims.

The CT5 will be built at GM’s Lansing Grand River facility, which received an investment of over $200 million to build the next-generation Cadillac sedan. We will have boots on the ground when the CT5 makes its public debut next month at the New York International Auto Show. Those boots will be warned to watch out for suspiciously alluring ASMR sessions.

[Images: General Motors]