Full disclosure, right up front: While I am in New York City for the auto show, neither myself or anyone from the TTAC team was invited to the XT4 unveiling the night before the show’s first media day.
I only mention this to point out that I can’t, as of this writing, judge the newest luxury compact crossover in the flesh, although I will likely see it 12 hours or so after I type this.
Hot takes aside, it’s common knowledge by now that crossovers are hot and just about every brand feels it needs to cover the subcompact, compact, and midsize classes. Cadillac has the midsize class covered with the XT5, so naturally, it’s time to go one smaller.
Like so many other cars and crossovers on the road, the XT4 is powered by a 2.0-liter turbo four. This one has two types of valve lift (high and low) and cylinder deactivation for extra fuel savings, and it pairs with a nine-speed automatic transmission. Cadillac has it slated to make 237 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque.
It will be available in three trims – base Luxury, Premium Luxury, and Sport – as part of Cadillac’s new “Y” trim strategy, which uses specific content and styling distinctions to make it easy for observers to tell the trims apart at a glance.
Pricing will start at $35,790 before fees, and the XT4 will be available with a twin-clutch all-wheel drive system, an available sport suspension with something dubbed “electro-hydraulic brake assist” (the system essentially replaces the more conventional vacuum assist to reduce weight) and a new rotary controller for the CUE infotainment system.
LED headlights and taillights will be standard, and key standard/available features include near-field communication, wireless charging, rearview-mirror camera, and 360-degree camera. A quick scan of the media materials also shows that the usual driver-assistance systems are available, along with a sunroof, navigation, premium audio, a cold-weather package, and 20-inch wheels.
Par for the course, of course, in the compact luxury crossover class. I can say without even seeing the thing that Cadillac probably has a hit on its hands, just by default, since crossovers are so hot. Yes, the XT4 could suck to drive – we won’t know about that for a while – but provided it’s even reasonably well built, Cadillac is gonna move a bunch.
[Images: Cadillac]
I have to admit……….it’s a beaut!!! i would drive this before any other ute. they have a hit……..not by default,but because it stands out!!!
I don’t know. Cadillac’s design language is truly beautiful on “cars” but doesn’t translate well to more upright designs like the Slade or XT5 in my opinion. In fact, I think the XT5 looks almost awkward in proportions. Sign me up for a CT6 though….beautiful!!
Cute, but $35k to start means $42k to get leather instead of pleather seats…seems like a lot of money.
Now, if the standard seats were CaddyTex, that would be another matter.
Pretty boring/bland looking to me, the rear end treatment such as the tail lights has Honda CR-V written all over it. And yet another 2.0 pot motor that isn’t putting out a whole lot of power compared to the competition. A Caddy that doesn’t even have 300 HP? I don’t care how small it is, 300 HP and 300 ftlbs-torque should be the standard in a lixury vehicle today.
The new Lincoln Aviator is going to smother this! The Aviator looks much better! It’s so sad because I love the old Caddy’s and Lincoln’s when they had boat loads of power and looked great doing it.
I’m sorry but nothing today will ever beat their 60’s classics as far as styling goes.
The Lincoln is definitely the lesser of two evils here.
The Aviator’s great looking, but it’s the size of a Highlander, so it’s not a competitor for this car. The competitive Lincoln would be the MKC, and if I had to buy one of these silly little crossovers – which, in my book of life priorities, is right up there with starting a pet rock collection – I’d take the Caddy, for sure.
Beat me to this little nugget of wisdom in the time it took me to sign in. The Aviator doesn’t have a Cadillac equivalent at this point, the XT5 is closest but its only 2 row. The ever rumored crossover to sit between the XT5 and Escalade would be the Aviator competitor. On a related note, does it even have a competitor that starts at 300hp? 300hp is not the norm for this segment.
Seems like their CUE system is still missing the volume and tuning knobs.
I think the volume knob is the small one “south” of the gear selector. Thank god the old CUE controls are gone!
The Cadillac and Aviator are not competing models. This vehicle will probably outsell the other Cadillac vehicles 2-1. As for the Aviator, it looks like a winner as well, but it is going up against the Audi Q5 and BMW X5. People will buy German in that segment. The Caddilac XT-4 is slightly more expensive than the loaded CR-V. People will move up for it.
I’ll give Caddy one thing: Their vehicles are distinctive for their lighting. But while their lighting suggests the old Cadillac, their models don’t; they’re anything BUT Cadillacs and that’s why the brand is hurting.
Looks like a badge-swapped Equinox that borrowed taillights from Volvo, and that interior is dull at best. I’d say more but I’ve already forgotten what it looks like from scrolling down here.
What can one say aside from, “it’ll sell”?
But it appears from this and the upcoming CT6 twin turbo that CUE is finally getting an upgrade, and that can’t happen too soon.
@ FreedMike Have you actually spent any significant amount of time using CUE? IMO the CUE comment is such a load at this point. I did not experience the earliest versions of CUE but the newer 2017 system in my car works fine. No lagging or blackouts. The system in my wives car is fine also.
As far as menu settings and menu arrangements, I guess I’m just a genius (doubtful) but it doesn’t seem any more complicated to use than the average smartphone. I get that an old fogey may have trouble with it but that is going to be true of almost anything “tech-y” these days.
All CUE really is, is a skin on top of the EXACT SAME system put in every other GM vehicle (minus knobs) that gets praised. The critisisms are truly a function of the “echo chamber” where people mindlessly repeat talking points. I can only assume the journalists doing reviews expect there to be zero learning curve. I’ve driven a recent BMW X5 and was lost, it was way more confusing to operate all of the functions.
“the EXACT SAME system put in every other GM vehicle (minus knobs) that gets praised. ”
Then maybe they shouldn’t have “minused” the knobs.
Right. It’s basically the same system in my ’16 Cruze Premier. Aside from the Bluetooth audio cutting out for a single second every few days, I haven’t had any issues.
@ttiguy:
Yes, I have spent some time with the old CUE systems, and frankly, they sucked. The newer editions are apparently much improved. But even with the improvements, there are far better systems out there, such as Audi’s, and they have some kind of console mounted control. I think GM’s mistake with CUE was twofold: a) no tactile interface aside from the touchscreen and the “haptic” buttons, and b) all the lag issues.
I think this well sell pretty well. It looks good, seems to be lacking that horrid piano black plastic in the interior, and the segment is huge right now. It is competing with the BMW X1, Lincoln MKC, Audi Q3, Mercedes GLC, and Lexus NX, which will be a stiff market but very interesting to see how it plays out.
what platform is this based on? It’s not the same as a Buick Encore, is it? Please dear god no
finally someone at cadillac got around to reading internet comments about the embarrassing ATS-base XT5 instrument cluster.
now if they only fix the tacky mascara daylight running lights. and get rid of the excessive glossy piano black interior trim.
your tastes will vary.
Hey, that glossy piano black plastic trim really classes up my first-generation Mazda3. People get in that car and think it’s a Cadillac!
I can’t help but notice that the grille is the same shape of the Cadillac logo in that picture. How about just replacing the entire grille with the logo? It could stretch from fender to fender. Get ahead of Mercedes, for once!
Wow, an infotainment knob. How 21st century of them! They certainly held out long enough. Cadillac has finally caught up to… Mazda.
What’s the relationship of this vehicle to the Trax/Encore?
Funny you ask..this has ZERO relation to the Trax/Encore and also no relation to the Equinox/Terrain (outside of the fact they are all products of the same company) as I’m sure all will ignorantly assume. This is the ONLY Epsilon based CUV from the General. In reality though, all of the C1XX’s are a heavy revision of the Epsilon to start with.
So by any measure this thing qualifies as a “unique” product from the “platform” perspective
It looks okay. It has a 4 cylinder turbo motor. It has an interior with seats. It has a screen. I’m sure it has a panorama roof.
It costs in the 40’s.
It’s a CUV.
Why won’t GM let Cadillac be Cadillac?
This thing should have been crazy good looking, bold with a blown 6 for a standard engine. Or why not a really fast performance hybrid. Something that the brand could point to as the technology/power leader.
GM needs someone with brass balls to start making decisions.
Cadillacs have never spoke to me, and after the old GM was replaced by the “New GM”, well they still seem like a so-so vehicle that GM expects everyone to regard as a prestige brand. Sorry , I’m not biting.
Cadillac lost its prestige back in the ’90s.
And by ’90s you mean ’70s, right?
The big early ’90s DeVille was still ok. But after that….