Report: Cadillac Will Not Be Developing New CT8 Flagship Sedan
Change has been in the air ever since Johan de Nysschen joined the Cadillac brand, but this time around, the news isn’t so positive.
When de Nysschen became Cadillac’s President back in 2014, he promised everyone a new large luxury sedan and crossover, which he delivered in the form of the CT6 and XT5, but even back then he stopped short of calling the new CT6 the brand’s flagship sedan. It had been speculated the reason for that was because an even larger CT8 sedan was in the works, which would have challenged the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class, but plans for that range-topping luxury sedan have reportedly been cancelled by Cadillac, according to a tweet from Autoline.
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This just in. Cadillac CT8 program cancelled. Was to be flagship sedan for the brand. No doubt market shift to CUVs & SUVs played a role.
— Autoline (@Autoline) April 5, 2016
If Cadillac is indeed converting its focus to SUVs and crossovers, it makes sense considering the outgoing SRX was its best-selling vehicle around the globe in 2015 with 99,397 units moved. The Cadillac Escalade also sold well in 2015 with sales exceeding 42,000, but the award-winning CTS mid-size sedan only managed to move approximately 23,000 units.
Without a CT8, that leaves the CT6 as Caddy’s most-venerable sedan. The new CT6 offers consumers the choice between a turbo-four, naturally-aspirated V6, and a 400 horsepower twin-turbo V6. In fact, when properly equipped, the CT6 carries a price tag of more than $80,000, and that’s before the plug-in hybrid version becomes available later in 2016.
Cadillac still has yet to officially confirm its reported move away from a possible CT8, but if Caddy is going to focus elsewhere, then it could be speculated the American luxury automaker might look to develop a crossover larger than the XT5, which could compete with the BMW X7.
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