The first-ever Cadillac XT6 Premium Luxury model provides an elevated level of refinement.
GM
In the luxury segment of the automobile market, designing and manufacturing a vehicle that lives up to the standards of sophisticated, demanding customers is half the battle. The rest is persuading buyers that the premium price they’re paying commands prestige – i.e., respect and envy from the neighbors.
Cadillac, while filling out its product line with competitive models like its new 2020 XT6 large SUV, has yet to achieve the standing and reputation that put its models in an elite brand conversation. That takes time. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lexus and, to a lesser extent, Audi have accomplished both, which helps explain why they are ahead of Cadillac in sales in the U.S. and globally.
The Cadillac XT6 will offer one of the segment’s strongest rosters of standard features and safety technologies when it goes on sale this spring.
GM
But the elegant, feature-packed XT6 proves that Cadillac has plenty of game. The new model rounds out a lineup that begins with the smallest member, XT4, and progresses in size to the recently refreshed XT5. XT6, while built on the same architecture as the five-passenger XT5, has been stretched and adapted to feature three rows of seating. At the top of Cadillac’s SUV lineup is Escalade, a stylish and rugged warhorse built on General Motors Co.’s fullsize pickup truck chassis.
With XT6, Cadillac puts forth a credible contender to BMW’s X7, Audi Q7, Mercedes-Benz GLS, Lexus GX and Volvo XC90.
“Our goal is to anticipate our customer’s needs for a refined, engaging ride, matched with an interior experience that provides a place of rejuvenation, connectivity and adaptability in all three rows,” said John Plonka, XT6’s chief engineer.
The Cadillac XT6 Sport is defined by darker accents and more aggressive, performance-inspired details, including available 21-inch wheels.
GM
XT6 comes in what Cadillac calls a premium (starting at $52,695) and a sport version (starting at $57,095), the latter including steering, handling and suspension enhancements that facilitate slightly more spirited driving, cornering and stopping. The versions are quite similar, with identical engines 3.6-liter V6 engines generating 310 hp. and 272 lb-ft of torque, as well as cosmetic differences that aren’t too prominent.
Both versions offer an extensive number of optional features, as well as a higher platinum level of luxury materials and visual enhancements. A tester XT6 with all-wheel-drive at a base price of $57,095 rose to a total of $73,040 with the $3,700 platinum package with premium leather seating, $2,350 tech package including head-up display and rear passenger alert and many other add-ons such navigation, a $700 premium headlamp system and so forth.
Cadillac’s newest SUV will round out a luxury lineup that gives luxury SUV buyers quite a bit of variety in terms of features, colors, technical capabilities and, of course, price. The SUV category is what most buyers are selecting in the U.S. and in China, Cadillac’s other big market.
To keep up with the pack, Cadillac will have to draw on the best marketing and advertising ideas it can find, not stopping until it encounters genius. A credible and memorable advertising slogan like BMW’s “The Ultimate Driving Machine” or Mercedes-Benz’s “The Best or Nothing” or Lexus’s “The Passionate Pursuit of Perfection” would be a start.
