2023/24 Cadillac CT6: new spy shots…
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Big changes are coming very soon to the Cadillac CT6 sedan. Changes we won’t be seeing here in the US…
While the large Cadillac sedan left North America almost 3 years ago, it has been on sale in China. I guess it’s popular enough to warrant a pretty extensive mid-cycle refresh. As you can see, it includes a new front-end design and a new interior. But also a heavily modified profile seen in previous spy shots.
The interior resembles what’s in store here for the 2024 XT4 early next year. And probably the XT6 soon after. A super wider curved screen similar to the one in the Lyriq EV.
I test-drove the CT6 twice and really loved it. I understand the big sedan market isn’t a thing anymore. But, once used car prices calm down, a used CT6 would really be a wonderful choice as an affordable luxury sedan.
my general feeling about the loss of sedans is that manufacturers made bad compromises, in the face of the SUV craze. Either, they made them lower and more sloped to “differentiate” them or to gain aero efficiency for higher mpg’s – but really just made them tighter and harder to get into. So, who wouldn’t pick an SUV over that. Or on the fuel effiency side, they didn’t really update them, cheaped them out, and made them feel like economy penalty boxes that no one really wants to drive. Great hybrid systems, maintaining a higher roofline and feeling of spaciousness, while making them the tech driven models would have given people better feeling about sedans. Yes, soccer moms still want what the Joneses have – a big suv. But if I could get a midsize AWD hybrid sedan that wasn’t a boat, but was reasonably easy to get in/out of… I’d be on that. The Civics and Accords (and most sedans) have become cars you have to fall into and climb out of. And thats been the mistake in my opinion. And before others sound off…. For what its worth – that idiot wagon Toyota Crown wasn’t a good execution in any way, shape or form, in the direction I mentioned. Its how you take a reasonable idea and fail at it.
I have never had trouble getting in and out of any of the current sedans I’ve been driving. The current Accord is just half an inch lower than the previous generation. Which couldn’t make such a difference. The current crops of mid-sized sedans are also roomier than ever.
Yet the Accord lowered the hip point by 1 inch from the prior model to the gen currently on-sale. While I’m not old, I do value that slightly (1-2 inches higher) seat point, without having to get a wagon on stilts (SUVs). If I want sporty, I have a real Integra. There are also real compromises in all the reviews on front seat and rear seat headroom. While the total interior volume may have gone up, those dimensions came from making them lower, wider, longer.. so now they are boats. Look at the length of this Accord (2.7 inches longer) but what they’ve done is made the hoods longer. Yes, some of their cars benefitted in the rear seat legroom, but that ended with the last gen Accord. Ditto the TLX. As much as I like Honda, I think this was a point too far in the wrong direction. And they’re not the only maker. Just my opinion.
I own a 2020 Volvo S90 T6 AWD R Design. Amazing car! I still think the car companies made big mistakes putting sedans out to pasture.
I’ve been thinking about a CT6 to replace my Platinum DTS, but the 2019-20 front end makes the older ones look dated and frumpy, and the newer ones haven’t come down enough in price. Plus, I don’t want an interior dominated by black, so I’d have to find another Platinum.
If GM hadn’t decided to go electric, I wonder if they would have made a non-turbo version of the 4.2 Blackwing V8 (what a waste of resources!) to replace the 3.6 V6 in Cadillacs. They really need something to set them apart from the rest of GM, and they’ve had V8s since 1915.