Production of the Cadillac CTS, the brand’s venerable luxury sedan, has ended after 16 years. Cadillac spokesperson Tara Kuhnen confirmed the news with Cadillac Society. The Lansing Grand River factory where GM builds the sedan is retooled to soon begin production on the Cadillac CT5, the CTS’s indirect replacement.
Cadillac introduced the CTS in 2003, ushering in a new design language for the automaker. A year later, Cadillac introduced the first CTS-V that featured a 400-horsepower (298-kilowatt) 5.7-liter V8. However, it wasn’t until the CTS’s second generation when the sedan hit its stride. The design was sharper inside and out. The second-generation CTS also brought with it the second-gen CTS-V in three flavors – sedan, coupe, and wagon – with the now-iconic supercharged 6.2-liter V8. The third and final generation debuted in 2014 with a new design but came in one body style – a sedan.
The Future Of Cadillac Sedans:
Cadillac isn’t directly replacing the CTS. Instead, the smaller CT5 and larger CT6 will take its place. And Cadillac isn’t letting down performance enthusiasts either who long for the CTS-V. The company already offers the CT6-V with its 4.2-liter twin-turbo V8 called Blackwing making 550 horsepower (410 kilowatts). The American luxury brand is also readying two V-Series flavors of the CT5, the CT5-V and an even hotter version that’ll likely be called Blackwing as new rumors suggest.
It’s always sad when a model ends production. For more than a decade, the CTS has been a beacon for American luxury performance sedans, and one that often attempted to compete with the likes of its German competitors with middling results. But at least Cadillac still believes in the sedan market and is willing to put the money behind it for new performance models, too. The CTS may be gone, and its successors have big shoes to fill, but at least the sedan is still around.
Source: Cadillac Society
