Cadillac CT6 is Not Dead, Sedans and V Series Also Sticking Around

Rumors of the Cadillac CT6’s demise were premature, says Cadillac president Steve Carlisle. Calling the CT6’s status “complicated” is fair, he says, but it’s not dead.

“The first thing to kinda disambiguate is the announcement around unallocating [Detroit-Hamtramck] was not a decision to discontinue the CT6,” Carlisle told us at the Detroit Auto Show. “So we’re in the midsts of evaluating other options to continue CT6 and really there are two things in there that are in there that are really compelling us.”

The first is the Blackwing V8 and the second is SuperCruise, both of which will be moving into more and more products in the near future. In fact, Carlisle revealed that Cadillac opened pre-orders on the CT6-V on Monday and it had sold out by 2:30 pm.

ALSO SEE: Expect Cadillac EV to Come in 3 Years with a 350+ Mile Range

He went on to say that the CT6 won’t be the only car to get the Blackwing.

“Within our launch cadence, not per se, but we have two sedans coming which will have these. Yeah. [The Blackwing] is just too good.”

Carlisle also took the opportunity to reiterate his and his company’s dedication to sedans.

“There’s talk about the growth of crossovers and SUVs—which is also true, I’m a big fan of those as well—the sedans are still a very large segment and a passionate group of consumers to the point where some sedan buyers are crossover rejectors,” said Carlisle. “Meaning that if you stop providing sedans, the buyer wouldn’t buy one of your crossovers necessarily. They would go to the competition.”

Not to mention the fact that Cadillac has spent years insinuating itself into the powerful sedan market with its V cars.

“Performance needs to be a part of the brand,” Carlisle told us before explaining that crossovers may not wear the V brand.

Cadillac’s SUVs will have higher-performance variants, he said but expressed uncertainty at the branding.

“The conversation is ‘what is a V?’, really,” asked Carlisle. “We’ve set a standard for V in cars and we have to be—they have to be able to run with the best of the best within their category. How that’s defined with crossovers, that’s a bit different.”

So the CT series, the V series, and Blackwing are all sticking around.