<em><strong>The facelifted Cadillac CTS has been <a href="http://www.motorionline.com/2016/05/11/cadillac-cts-foto-spia-del-facelift/?refresh_ce" target="_blank">spotted</a> roving around near GM's Milford Proving Grounds.*</strong></em>
It was believed the CTS would morph into the CT5 with this facelift, adopting Cadillac's new nomenclature--however it appears now that the CTS name will soldier on.
The most notable change comes to the front grill, where the CTS apes the new look found on the CT6 and XT5, while out back it gets a massaged bumper and new vertical exhaust exits.
It does feature a front facing camera, but it's unclear at this point if it will offer night vision like it's bigger brother.
Interior changes will include the the latest version of CUE and various upgrades in line with CT6 and XT5.
Powetrain changes are expected to be nonexistent besides the CTS-V adopting the new 10-speed transmission from the Camaro ZL1.
The CTS looks great, and GM should get much credit for a remarkable product...but I am afraid it will continue to be invisible in the CUV/SUV luxury marketplace. A shame.
Also shown I believe (top right), is the new MCE Pontiac Aztec.
Is this the first refresh wholly under de Nysschen's authority? XT5 and CT6 were way too far along for him to have much input, no? Or did he have a good say on the final results too?
I'm hoping for the same. The interior on the current one is okay, but the design needs to evolve toward what the new XT5/CT6 current have (much richer and more upscale, IMHO).
Is there something wrong with Cadillac's ability to produce their vehicles? Went to AutoTrader and looked up XT5, and there are only two in my area, and under "Any Distance" there were only 404 across the nation. How the hell can they have so little inventory? CT6 too. The car has been available for a little over 2 months, and across the entire nation only 370. They were selling SRX's at around 7,000 a month until recently. So they are missing out on the ability to sell their vehicles. In the meantime, AutoTrader has 1587 new Escalades available. Is this normal, even close to normal?
Auto Trader is not a good barometer for available new cars, especially luxury models. Remember, those ads are placed by the individual dealers themselves... Many of whom do not advertise "new" vehicles via Auto Trader or any site other than their own. I know for a fact that the two closest Cadillac dealers to me do not advertise their new models on Auto Trader, but do advertise their Certified Pre-Owned/used vehicles there...
That being said, both of those Cadillac stores just received their first CT6 models within the past week... Now both have exactly one in stock. Both have 4-5 XT5 models in stock, and I know one of those dealers has sold at least two XT5's so far (The General Manager of that store is my former boss, and we were talking about his store's XT5 sales about a week and a half ago)... Don't know about the other.
A little disappointing that this is all the refresh entails...But at the same time I have always been a huge fan of the CTS exterior design so I still think it looks great.
I will still contend that exterior design is not what is holding this car back...
Seems strange that GM would not use the MCE to update the name. It would make more sense to migrate to a new cohesive naming convention instead of haphazardly applying it. With the marketing buzz of the new CT6 and XT5 why not change the name now while the others are fresh in the public's mind?
It make perfect sense because CTS is a failure just like STS was, and you don't want to associate CT5 with a product that very well may not exist at the same price points or level of functionality.
It is garbage like that that convinces me that auto journalists have no long term ability to retain information. Who thought the CTS was going to be renamed before the next generation? I mean, who? You know how many times the auto press "CONFIRMED" that the CT6 would get a V-8? And when the test drives happened I actually read one critic sobbing over the fact that there was no information as to whther the CT6 would get a V-8. I have never seen a group of professionals who knew less about their industry than auto journalists.
Someone help me.....what exactly changed? This looks like the 2016 model except for the slightly changed exhaust cutouts in the bumper.
Hopefully they updated CUE to the system in the XT5 and CT6. I rented a CTS one and was mostly impressed except for the infotainment. That was the biggest shortcoming IMO.
The back still looks awkward to me. Otherwise nothing major but it was already pretty nice looking overall. I think the interior needs to be redone though.
For some reason I like the grille with more bars in it. But the thing I don't like is the way the headlights seem short and stubby beside the grille and above those chrome accents and lighting that runs up the outer edges in front. Makes the outer edges of the front look droopy to me. The rear is OK even if rather bland.
It's a bit of a stretch to call this an MCE and it's certainly not a facelift!
While this is mid-cycle, very little is enhanced, and unless you're a car-geek or Cadi-phile, you'd probably not notice.
Very inoffensive to me, with the exception of the dorky exhaust. Cadillac should leave the gimmicky exhaust to Lexus and just stick a couple of round pipes out the back. This has worked for decades, so why try to reinvent it?
Pricing is a huge problem with this car. I just looked at 2 brand spanking new 2017 Lincoln MKZ's with FWD and the 2.0T engine and the sticker price was $36,500. A new 2016 RWD CTS meanwhile starts at $46555 with the 2.0T and 8 speed automatic or over 10 grand more! Yes the MKZ is FWD based. Yes the Cadillac has an 8 speed transmission and RWD. But both cars are similar in size and have comparable interior space with the MKZ having a larger trunk at 15.4 cu.ft. and slightly more interior volume at 111.9 vs 110.7 for the CTS. Both cars have very comparable std levels of equipment. Move one step up to the Luxury RWD 2.0T in the CTS and the base price soars to 52280. Is the CTS a better car. Well it gets rave reviews for handling and the 2.0T makes a bit more power than the base MKZ engine but Lincoln replaces the old 3.7 with two 3.0TT variants with 350-400 HP and torque. You have to go up to a 61-70K CTV for the 3.6TT to out power that.
A $5,000 price cut and substitution of the 3.0TT for the 3.6 would have been a very smart move for the CTS for 2017.
The softer contours lend a more muscular romantic look that I feel Cadillac needs.
If they are going to be consistant with nomenclature it would be easy and clever to change the S to a 5 since the characters look so much alike. Cadillac still needs a name and not an old one either.
Looks like crap, they actually spent money on this?
I've said this before but they should just use the V Series design without the spoiler and hood vents. It would actually get NOTICED.
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