Dead: Cadillac CT4, CT5
Cadillac and General Motors have confirmed the Cadillac CT4 and CT5 sedans will go to car heaven/the junkyard in the sky after the 2026 model year.
What, you ask, clutching tightly to whatever buff book you have on hand, will happen to the Blackwing? Oh god, no, the manuals! Save the manuals!
Well, as NFL quarterback and psychedelic substance enthusiast Aaron Rodgers once said, relax.
According to our friends in Ann Arbor over at Car and Driver, the CT5 will return soon. Or, at least, as Cadillac brass put it in a letter to a CT fan Web site: "the legacy of the CT5 will continue with a next-generation ICE vehicle."
That, to me, suggests a sedan or something like it, though the nomenclature could change. Those among you who resist electrification will note the magic acronym, one that in this context means "internal combustion engine" and not "controversial law enforcement agency tear-gassing cities for no reason."
So yeah, whatever replaces the CT5 will have a gas engine. Displacement, cylinder count, and use of forced induction are not known, but C/D notes that GM announced the development of a new V8, slated for the Tonawanda plant, back in May.
That engine is supposedly meant for jumbo luxo-barge SUVs, but it likely would be easy to tweak to fit into a future CT5 Blackwing. We wouldn't rule out six-cylinder power, either, especially with forced induction, but we're just speculating wildly now. Figure a four-banger and/or a V6 for non-performance models. Maybe with forced air, maybe not.
The bad news is that there's no news on a manual -- would Cadillac use a six-speed unit in these automatic-heavy times? After all, the Corvette no longer offers three pedals and the Camaro is pining for the fjords. Is Cadillac, the brand associated with bloated luxury cruisers that are bedecked with chrome, the "save the manuals" standard-bearer for the General? At least for now?
We won't know for a while.
The CT5 replacement will be built at the same Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant in Michigan as the outgoing models. Speaking of which, if you want a CT4, production is slated to end in June 2026, while the CT5 will be built until "late" 2026.
[Images: Cadillac]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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'Well, as NFL quarterback and psychedelic substance enthusiast Aaron Rodgers once said, relax.'
'psychedelic substance enthusiast' sounds civilized compared to 'psychedelic substance abuser'. Well said.
The phrase "for no reason" does not mean what you think it means.
You can stop with the hysterics and contrived panic. Most Americans 'came from' a Maternity or Obstetrics unit of a hospital. Which means that were ICE try to deport them back to where they came from, those hospitals would suddenly have several thousands of former newborns crowding the waiting rooms and into the parking lots.