General Motors plans three new versions of gasoline powered vehicles starting in early 2027, including a vehicle thought to be gone for good.
The Cadillac XT6 ― which GM said would be eclipsed by production of the electric Cadillac Vistiq ― will in fact be returning to showrooms in 2028.
In an exclusive interview with the Detroit Free Press, Kristian Aquilina, vice president of global Cadillac, explains why these models are coming back and what customers can expect from the next generation.
“We have identified those as key segments in which we want to continue to play with gas-powered versions of our crossovers and sedans,” Aquilina said. “They’re key segments in luxury and have the best opportunity of delivering to the greater number of customers
as well as giving our dealers the opportunity to benefit most.”
The XT6, introduced in 2020, is a three-row SUV with target demographics similar to the Escalade, meaning an annual household income of at least $200,000.
As the Detroit Free Press reported last April, production of the five-seat Cadillac XT5 SUV, initially slated to end in August 2025, would “continue into 2026” without confirming a timeline. GM provided that clarity in August when it confirmed GM’s Spring Hill Manufacturing plant in Tennessee would begin manufacturing new XT5s there in 2027.
Where GM builds these Cadillacs
Several new Cadillacs, electric and gas-powered, are constructed at Spring Hill Manufacturing. Touted by GM leaders as one of the company’s most flexible plants, it maintains production of multiple powertrains at scale, which Aquilina described as an asset to GM and Cadillac in particular.
“The world has changed a lot in the last few years, and it’s probably going to change a lot in future years,” he said. “We need to invest in flexibility, to make sure we can be more responsive than we’ve ever been before to customer choice.”
Currently, Spring Hill makes the Cadillac XT5, Lyriq and Vistiq vehicles.
Incoming vehicles include the gasoline-powered Chevrolet Blazer, which moves up from Mexico next year, and the all-new XT5 and XT6.
The Cadillac CT5 is built in Michigan at the Lansing Grand River Assembly.
What customers can expect
At their peak sales years, Cadillac sold about 68,000 XT5s, about 23,000 XT6s, and 20,000 CT5 vehicles.
While Aquilina would not disclose exactly what upgrades consumers can expect with the next generation of Cadillac’s gas-powered lineup, the company has made significant leaps across a variety of its technological offerings customers can look to in the company’s EV lineup.
“These are new generation vehicles in every case ― they will benefit from the latest technology and approach to our product definition at Cadillac that we’ve taken. It’s been very successful for us across our new lineup of EVs,” he said. “They’ll be fantastic products competitive in those segments, whether they’re competing against established players or ones we anticipate coming in that time frame.”
While Cadillac customers will have to stay tuned for more details on what’s going to change exactly from the current generation of the XT5 and CT5 to the next, and what features an all-new XT6 will boast, Aquilina said from the customer point of view, these vehicles will be “absolutely all-new.”
“They will live up to the standards that we set with our EVs,” he said. “In terms of the experience, premium materials and ownership experience, it will be indistinguishable from our EVs. The Cadillac standards we want to make will be propulsion agnostic.”
What’s happening with Cadillac’s EVs?
The premium brand is still sorting through the ramifications from losing the $7,500 federal tax credit last September alongside other disruptive historically higher gas prices from the war with Iran, Aquilina said, as the brand works to assess natural consumer adoption of electric vehicles. Yet EV sales, and interest from customers, remain positive.
Sales of Cadillac’s electric lineup rose 10% in the first half of the year, with huge gains in Vistiq and Optiq sales offsetting double-digit declines in Lyriq and Escalade IQ EVs.
In total, Cadillac sold 21,767 electric vehicles in the first half of 2026 compared with 19,768 EVs in the first half of 2025.
“I personally don’t think you can be a credible player in the luxury segment without a strong EV proposition for our customer base,” he said. “Adoption is a lot slower than what we originally planned for and expected. That does prompt us to look at the opportunity going forward ― Where can we find other opportunities to compete?”
Premium sales slip over affordability
Differentiation can make all the difference in the premium market among new-vehicle buyers. A recent J.D. Power survey noted that premium vehicles sales in the first half of the year slid to 13.3%, down slightly from 13.8% a year ago to the lowest level since 2020.
Srini Rajagoplan, vice president customer data and analytics at J.D. Power, noted car buyers in households with yearly incomes exceeding $500,000 are never really “in the market” so much as drawn to it when the right vehicle presents itself.
“You just need to have the product that makes them believe they are getting everything they deserve for the price they’re paying,” Rajagoplan said. “Those at the lower end, the entry-level premium, you have to make sure there's enough value to keep them there.”
The entire ownership experience ― from researching and purchasing the vehicle at a dealership across servicing it and trading it in ― needs to justify the additional price jump. On average, J.D. Power said, a premium vehicle is priced about $20,000 higher than a mainstream one.
It's obviously through tech, product capability, and the purchase experience. Partially, it could be getting a longer term warranty, but still making sure they're aware they're getting more for what they're paying when they get to that premium brand.
““Everyone needs to elevate their game,” he said. For the customer, “what do people want to be seen in, what they want to be sitting in ... there needs to be comfort, convenience, the bells and whistles to stand out from everything else they could get.”
Jackie Charniga covers General Motors for the Free Press. Reach her at jcharniga@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: When Cadillac is bringing new gas-powered vehicles to showrooms
