Cadillac hopes to compete with family-hauling SUVs like the Acura MDX and Infiniti QX60 with the 2020 XT6, a six- or seven-seater that fills the yawning gap between Cadillac’s midsize XT5 five seat SUV and the bigger, truck-based — and undoubtedly more expensive — Escalade.
The XT6 isn’t likely to revolutionize the popular segment, but it belatedly makes Cadillac a player in a popular and profitable part of the luxury market.
Cadillac will announce prices and fuel economy ratings closer to when the XT6 goes on sale this spring.
The SUV debuts an evolution of Cadillac’s styling theme, with slightly more rounded sides and some horizontal lights in addition to the brand’s signature vertical light blades.
Built in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and 198.8 inches long, the XT6 shares its architecture with the XT5 and GMC Acadia, but is longer, wider and roomier than either.
The XT’s body and track — the distance from the center line a right wheel to center of the left — are bigger than XT5 and Acadia to provide more passenger space. GM made the production XT6 taller than the original designs just to increase third-row headroom.
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Headroom and overall comfort in the third row of seats was a top goal during development, as was a quiet interior to enable conversation between rows. Each row of seats will have two USB ports.
The controls include a large touch screen, voice recognition, dials and buttons for climate and audio, and a rotary controller that supplements the touch screen. The rotary is similar to the easy-to-use system in the smaller XT4 SUV, but adds “jog functionality,” which allows the driver to skip from one feature to another without using the dial to go step by step.
The rear and mid-row seats can be folded flat for large loads, and have an optional power-folding feature. The tailgate features a bumper-mounted kick-sensor for hands-free opening. A proximity light senses the key fob’s approach and flashes a Cadillac badge on the pavement, also indicating where the driver kicks to activate the tailgate.
The XT6’s features list reads like Cadillac's greatest hits, except for the disappointing omission of the Super Cruise hands-free driving assistant.
Power comes from a 310-hp 3.6L V6 linked to a nine-speed automatic transmission. Either front- or all-wheel drive will be available. To save fuel, the engine operates as a V4 when it doesn’t need full power.