Refreshed Cadillac CT6 V-sport

[kevm14]

Oh thank god! I mean this isn't official but this is the best I could have hoped for.

Update: The Cadillac CT6 may not be dead after all. Or maybe it is. Automotive News reports that GM President Mark Reuss and Cadillac President Steve Carlisle said the automaker was looking into keeping the CT6 available in the U.S. after 2019, possibly by moving production to another plant or importing the car from China. We reached out to Cadillac for confirmation, but a representative told Motor1.com in an email that the company typically doesn't discuss product plans for the future. Furthermore, the representative confirmed the CT6 "goes out of production mid-2019 at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly, which produces vehicles for North America." 

It sounds like Cadillac might be interested in keeping the CT6 around for the U.S., but doesn't have a plan in place yet to make it happen. Whether that would revitalize the V model as well remains to be seen, and our questions on that were unanswered.

Ya think you should keep the flagship sedan around??? Importing from China feels a little dirty though...but GM already imports some models from there. But not a Cadillac flagship sedan...

[kevm14]

At the heart of the 2019 CT6-V is the all-new hand-built Blackwing™ V-8, which was announced in March 2018. The Cadillac exclusive 4.2 L twin-turbo V-8 elevates the CT6-V’s performance and delivers a Cadillac-estimated 550 horsepower (410 kW) and 627 lb-ft of torque (850 Nm)**.

This is classic GM but I'll bet lunch that the official SAE engine specs are higher than this.

[kevm14]

https://www.autonews.com/manufacturing/ ... nt-dead-us

This is fun and surprisingly dramatic to follow.

Editor's note: The CT6 is scheduled to end production on June 1 at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant. An earlier version of this story misstated when the plant would stop producing the sedan.

DETROIT -- General Motors plans to keep the CT6 sedan in Cadillac's U.S. lineup, despite the potential closure of the domestic plant that produces the sedan.

GM President Mark Reuss and Cadillac President Steve Carlisle on Monday said the company is evaluating options to keep the brand's flagship sedan for sale in the U.S. following its scheduled end of production on June 1 at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly.

Alternatives to production at the Michigan facility could include moving the vehicle to another plant or importing it from China, where it's also produced, though Carlisle said that "would be the least-preferred option."

"We're working hard to find other alternatives to that," he told Automotive News on Monday on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show. "We have some time."

Carlisle said production of the car will be part of the company's upcoming negotiations with the UAW, which has opposed the potential plant closures. The current four-year contract between the automaker and union ends in September.

The CT6 was included in a November announcement by GM that it plans to end production of six cars this year at North American plants, including Detroit-Hamtramck, Lordstown Assembly in Ohio and Oshawa Assembly in Ontario.

CEO Mary Barra, when announcing the restructuring, said affected models would be available through the model year and, "in some cases," even into 2020.

Carlisle and Reuss said the CT6 never was meant to be fully on the chopping block with the other sedans, but officials at the time did not communicate those plans.

Many analysts at the time questioned why the company would kill the CT6, which recently had been freshened and was a tech showcase for the brand, thanks to its Super Cruise driver-assist system.

"From the very beginning, we never said that CT6 was going away, because we're very keen on launching Blackwing and Super Cruise and all those sort of things," Carlisle said.

Blackwing is the name for Cadillac's new 550-hp V-8 in the CT6-V, which will scheduled to arrive in mid-2019 starting at $89,785, including delivery.

Reuss declined to comment on how many Blackwing models the brand expected to produce, but he said a refresh of the CT6 for the 2019 model year has exceeded the company's expectations.

U.S. sales of the CT6, which doesn't share its platform with any vehicle in GM's lineup, were down 8.3 percent last year to fewer than 10,000 vehicles.

Other GM vehicles that were scheduled to end production this year are the Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac XTS and Chevrolet Cruze, Impala and Volt. A GM spokesman confirmed those models will still be discontinued for the U.S.

So they either did a bad job with their initial messaging or they actually reversed course. I think it is the former. Regardless, this is great news, and finally something sensible.

Additional reasons not to cancel the CT6 include that it is their premier platform for SuperCruise which is an area that their investment will only go up. And the CT6-V is also the premier platform for the Blackwing V8, which may end up making an appearance in the C8 Corvette.

[kevm14]

https://www.motortrend.com/news/550-hp- ... -in-hours/

The direction this has gone has made me quite happy.

[kevm14]

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2019/ ... u-thought/
https://www.tflcar.com/2019/01/cadillac ... continues/
https://thenewswheel.com/cadillac-ct6-p ... in-the-us/
https://carbuzz.com/news/the-cadillac-c ... -after-all
https://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/201 ... eries.html

For 2019, Caddy fans in the U.S. will enjoy two versions of the CT6: the 500-horsepower Platinum trim, and the 550-horsepower CT6-V trim. Though the latter has already sold out (according to the OEM’s website), the former is still available

Ah I was wondering about that. Should be more of those but I need the V...

[kevm14]

https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/her ... 4979898933

Eh, I mostly don't subscribe to this...especially since the car is not in fact canceled.

I DO think this engine may appear in the C8 Corvette...

General Motors has just made an announcement similar to the one Ford made earlier in 2018. GM isn't killing off all of its sedans like Ford is, but it is cutting a significant chunk out of its sedan portfolio, along with shutting down a bunch of American factories. As a result, every GM brand in the U.S., other than GMC, will have a few casualties. One such casualty is the Cadillac CT6 -- and along with it, the CT6-V. That's right -- that means the CT6-V, which is all-new for 2019, will be discontinued after its introduction and will only be around for one model year.

To recap, the CT6-V is a new sport sedan from Cadillac. It was called the CT6 V-Sport when it was first unveiled, but Cadillac has since changed its name and it has graduated to a real V car ahead of its release. The brand-new Blackwing 4.2-liter twin-turbo V8 engine was developed specifically for this car, which will only exist for one year. Presumably (and hopefully) Cadillac will find another use for this 550-horsepower beast of an engine, perhaps in a crossover.

Despite the 2019 Cadillac CT6-V not even being out yet, I'm confident that this car is a future classic. It will be remembered as that one time GM developed an all-new high-performance V8 engine specifically for Cadillac, put it in a big sedan for one year and then discontinued the car. This is not only a weird story, but the car itself is looking very promising. If Cadillac gets this right like it always has with its V models, then this big sport sedan will be a sought-after collectible for enthusiasts.

Normally Cadillac sedans depreciate like crazy after not all that much age, but I don't know if that will be the case with this one. It might be able to command high transaction prices on the used market for its unique engine and its availability is limited to just one model year, much like the Pontiac G8 and the Cadillac CTS-V Wagon.

Whenever Cadillac comes out with a really good performance car, it tends to grow a cult-like following and, for some reason, really hang on to their values. Either way, the CT6-V is certainly a car I'll have my eye on a few years from now when it does depreciate. I'm hoping it depreciates like the STS-V and not like the CTS-V Wagon, and I'm really hoping the word doesn't get out if and when you can get these cheap.

[kevm14]

http://www.thedrive.com/news/25969/cadi ... t6-v-sedan

Cadillac has announced that today customers can request to preorder the CT6-V, the range-topping trim for its outgoing large luxury sedan. Unfortunately, pre-orders will be capped at 275 unit—after that it's first-come-first-served. 
The CT6-V was initially called the CT6-V Sport before Cadillac decided the car was worthy of the "V" title. 
“The 2019 CT6-V marks the expansion of the V-Series sub-brand and is the proof point of Cadillac’s commitment to build high-performance vehicles as we continue our product offensive,” said Steve Carlisle, president of Cadillac. “Fans of Cadillac will see high-performance variants across our portfolio.”
The 2019 Cadillac CT6-V uses the all-new hand-built Blackwing V-8 which was announced last year. The engine, which is exclusive to Cadillac produces 550 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque according to Cadillac's estimates. For those wanting to get the most out of their CT6-V experience the purchase will include tuition and luxury accommodation at the two day Cadillac V-Performance Academy at Spring Mountain just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada.Late last year GM announced that the CT6 would be ending production at the end of 2019 as apart of its restructuring plans to cut costs and refocus the company. A Cadillac spokesperson told The Drive that the CT6 will "go out of production mid-2019 at the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant.
Unfortunately for the CT6 sedan sales have begun slowing down in favor of crossovers and SUV's. Earlier this week Cadillac announced its first three-row crossover the XT6, which shares a platform with the Chevrolet Traverse. The XT6 should generate more profit for Cadillac due to the shared platform and development costs compared to the ill-fated CT6 which was the only vehicle on its platform. 
Reports have also surfaced that Cadillac aims to take the fight to Tesla for luxury electric vehicle sales with a fresh lineup of electric vehicles in the coming years. Cadillac recently debuted an electric SUV concept that it plans to put on sale in 2022 based on GMs newest BEV3 electric vehicle platform. The new platform can be configured as front-wheel-, all-wheel- or rear-wheel-drive according to GM.

Two main points from here. One, I forgot the Blackwing V8 is hand-built. That makes it a special engine, up there with the LS7 and LS9. Two, the comment about the new EV platform being FWD, RWD or AWD is somewhat interesting.

Oh also they just announced the XT6 which is a fairly large crossover based on the Traverse platform. Boring, but they need some profits...

Side note, the new Traverse is huge. The wheelbase is 120.9"! That is 0.7" longer than the wheelbase of the Dodge Charger/300.

[kevm14]

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/cadi ... rep-order/

Look at that front end.

[bill25]

I have to say... The back is not good...

[kevm14]

Yeah I prefer the 16-18 rear before the update.

Here is the 19.

The straight on is the most awkward. It's like you don't know what you are supposed to look at. Like I often say though, doesn't put me off in the slightest.

16-18