Currently reading: Cadillac unveils new XT6 large SUV in Detroit
New US-market SUV is latest addition to firm's expanded SUV line-up - and will be a key model for parent firm GM

Cadillac has launched the new XT6, a large SUV that could prove a key model for troubled parent company GM, at the Detroit motor show.

The new eight-seater sits below the Escalade in the GM brand’s expanded SUV line-up, and takes styling cues from the recently launched XT4 small SUV – a machine that Cadillac does have plans to offer in the European market in the future.

Detroit motor show 2019 - all the news and updates

With the continued rise in popularity of large SUVs in America the XT6, which will be made in Tennessee and go on sale in the Spring, will be of huge importance to Cadillac. The firm's boss, Steve Carlisle, claimed that it will “accelerate the brand’s global growth.”

Parent company GM is undergoing a major restructure, which is set to include the closure of a number of plants with significant job losses. As with Ford, a key part of GM’s strategy is to focus its output for the US market on pick-up trucks (through its Chevrolet brand) and SUVs.

GM also offers Cadillac models in China, and the three-row XT6 would also fit well with the demand for larger SUV models in that country.

The new XT6 is powered by a 3.6-litre 310bhp V6 engine, with a nine-speed automatic gearbox. Standard models will be front-wheel-drive, with AWD available as an option. Sport models will gain an active twin-clutch AWD powertrain, along with an active Continuous Damping Control system.

The interior features an eight-inch infotainment touchscreen, which can be operated with a new-look rotary controller featuring a joystick-style jog function.

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James Attwood

James Attwood, digital editor
Title: Acting magazine editor

James is Autocar's acting magazine editor. Having served in that role since June 2023, he is in charge of the day-to-day running of the world's oldest car magazine, and regularly interviews some of the biggest names in the industry to secure news and features, such as his world exclusive look into production of Volkswagen currywurst. Really.

Before first joining Autocar in 2017, James spent more than a decade in motorsport journalist, working on Autosport, autosport.com, F1 Racing and Motorsport News, covering everything from club rallying to top-level international events. He also spent 18 months running Move Electric, Haymarket's e-mobility title, where he developed knowledge of the e-bike and e-scooter markets. 

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abkq 14 January 2019

The front is a very clean

The front is a very clean design with slim headlights and a simple lower air vent arrangement that does not rely on multiple atriculating lines to disguise the bonnet height. Well done indeed. The car's profile is unremarkable.  

FM8 14 January 2019

Wow. What an unremarkable

Wow. What an unremarkable piece of car design. Could have been around for 5 years and no one would've noticed it, looks like a Rexton. You have to wonder if these big, traditional brands such as GM and Ford have become so insular and stuck in their own way of doing business that you question whether they should disappear.
Antony Riley 14 January 2019

Cadillac

Sort of agree front is quite clean but a bit anonymous side is a Mercedes look alike ,hopefully its interior befits Cadillac supposed luxury image.  As has also been said American car desighn is really not up there anymore dont their designers  ever look at the oppostion ?

aatbloke 14 January 2019

Er, no ...

FM8 wrote:

Wow. What an unremarkable piece of car design. Could have been around for 5 years and no one would've noticed it, looks like a Rexton. You have to wonder if these big, traditional brands such as GM and Ford have become so insular and stuck in their own way of doing business that you question whether they should disappear.

GMs SUV line-up is enormously successful, as already proven by sales of the Traverse, Enclave, Acadia and XT5 which already use variations of this same platform. There's no reason this won't follow suit.