Seems like just yesterday that General Motors was making much of Cadillac’s position at the tip of its electrification spear in North America. The aim was to wean the luxury brand completely off of internal combustion engines (ICEs) by the end of the decade.
Market headwinds and open governmental hostility to EVs have made GM revisit the matter. CEO Mary Barra and Cadillac executives have confirmed that a new generation of gas-powered vehicles will roll out starting in 2027. Front and centre among them will be a new, ICE-powered edition of the currently discontinued XT6 midsize SUV, as well as a next-gen CT5 sedan—will roll out starting in 2027.
Cadillac’s pivot comes during a challenging period for its electric portfolio. The brand originally phased out the three-row, gas-powered XT6 at the end of 2025, expecting the similarly sized all-electric Vistiq to take over. That it did, but the anemic sales numbers it did fell far short of hopes. Meanwhile, the new Lyriq did not dislodge the XT5 SUV, instead it remained in its shadow. The numbers tell the story:
• XT6 vs Vistiq: In its final full year on sale, the aging XT6 sold for some 20,000 units. By contrast, the all-electric Vistiq managed just 7,879 sales in 2025.
• XT5 vs Lyriq: In the first half of 2026, the older gas-powered XT5 logged 11,107 sales, comfortably outpacing the electric Lyriq's 7,578 units.
Regulatory shifts, most notably the Trump administration’s removal of federal EV tax credits and the loosening of federal emissions mandates, clearly had an effect on sales of the new Cadillac EVs. In response, GM has taken $10.9 billion USD in EV-related impairment charges since mid-2025 and shifted investments back into internal combustion.
Return of the XT6 and performance ICE
To realign with market demand, Global Cadillac VP Kristian Aquilina confirmed on LinkedIn that an all-new XT6 is officially on the way. Backed by a $150 million investment at the Spring Hill Assembly plant in Tennessee, the revived three-row SUV will follow the launch of a redesigned XT5 in 2027, with the XT6 likely arriving for the 2028 model-year.
Reports also indicate that the high-performance CT5-V Blackwing sports sedan will return for a second generation on an updated Alpha architecture shared with a future Chevrolet Camaro. Sources suggest the flagship sedan could swap its current supercharged engine for GM's upcoming family of small-block V8s while potentially retaining a traditional manual transmission.
