Cadillac Introduces New Naming Convention With CT6 Name For Omega Flagship
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Earlier this year, GM confused us a little when it filed trademark applications for the Cadillac CT5 and Cadillac CT6 names. We originally thought these badges would be attached to future Cadillac crossovers, but the automaker has now come forward and revealed that CT6 will officially be the name for its highly-anticipated Omega-based full-size flagship sedan, previously known as the LTS.
The introduction of the CT6 will also usher in the brand’s new naming strategy, which will use the “CT” lettering for car models, with the trailing digit indicating where the model falls in Cadillac’s model hierarchy.
“As we expand the portfolio, we can assist consumers in placing the cars within a structure, as they compare cars both within our showroom and across the market generally,” said Cadillac chief marketing officer Uwe Ellinghaus. “However, this will be an evolutionary process – we will only change a product’s name when the product itself is redesigned or an all-new model is created, as in this instance.”
Set to launch in late 2015 and expand the range upwards rather than replacing an existing product, the full-size CT6 will take on the likes of the BMW 7 Series, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Audi A8, and Lexus LS. It will be based on Cadillac’s new Omega platform, which will likely also underpin another product in the General Motors range following the sedan’s debut next year. The rear-wheel drive S-Class fighter will use lightweight materials and new body construction techniques to reduce fuel consumption and enhance driving dynamics, making it “the lightest and most agile car in the class of top-level large luxury sedans,” Cadillac says.
“Using the lessons learned from our dynamic ATS and CTS product lines, we have developed an entirely new vehicle architecture for the CT6. It will employ a mixed material philosophy that combines the best and most efficient components optimized for each area of this new top-of-the-range car,” said executive chief engineer for the CT6 Travis Hester.
GM recently announced a $384 million investment in its Detroit-Hamtramck plant to accommodate production of the CT6. The car is expected to enter production at the facility in the fourth-quarter of next year following a debut earlier in the year, possibly at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August.
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A new, ordered hierarchy is born. The Fleetwood name was always unfit for a such a car, and would have no place in today’s Cadillac range. I’m actually damn glad this car wasn’t going to reheat a tired and stale nameplate that nobody under 50 remembers favourabily.
The number 6, thankfully, allows to expand the range to include cars greater than the CT6, such a proposed mid-engined sports car. On the other side of the 6 is possibility of cars smaller than the ATS; a market that is red-hot at the moment.
A new car, a new name, and a new nomenclature. We’re set. Cadillac, like any competent luxury automaker, is about the giving the consumer the privileged future, not about remembering a past of full of mistakes and inferior products.
Cadillac has been claiming that it has been in a renaissance for the past 12 years, the real renaissance has just now begun. de Nysschen has been there less than two months and look at all the activity and news at Cadillac. I can finally see Cadillac achieving its goals in the near future.
As for the new naming system, like the new Cadillac crest, it will take some time. I like the idea, but how will it translate to existing models? The CTS has built such a strong name and reputation in the last few years, I have one and love it. But it will have to change with the times. I read on another site that existing cars would not receive the new naming system until they go through a new generation, for the CTS thats about 4 years. Why wait? Roll it out across the line up. What will it be? CTS becomes CT5? ATS becomes CT4? For crossovers, I hope they get their own naming designation, I like SR-. We’ll have to wait and see.
But one vehicle I forbid from getting a new name is…. ESCALADE!!! Change whatever you want, just leave the precious Escalade alone.
I couldn’t agree with you more Grawdaddy. I’ve been reading comments on other sites that reported the CT6 name change and it has been universally negative… Ok, I get the notion that Eldorado and Fleetwood gives a sense of nostalgia of Cadillac’s glory years, but it also brings back memories of those inferior cars that they became at the end of their life cycle. I’m happy that Cadillac is reshuffling its naming scheme to CT. Honestly, it was all over the place with ATS, CTS, XTS, and LTS- if they would’ve called the flagship that. Now, it’s much simpler and easier to identify with than before. People will eventually catch on with the name change. Could you imagine if Cadillac were to release a CLA or an A3 competitor with the old naming scheme? It would’ve been chaotic…
This worked well for Pontiac (G3, G5, G6, G8).
The only problem is that Pontiac NEVER delivered. It never made the owner feel exceptional and important. There was never any cachet or clout with owning a Pontiac.
Outwardly, the only thing Pontiac said of it’s owner was “I’ve watched Smokey and Bandit more times than I remember”.
I have to disagree, I think that the G8 lived up to the hype. I own one still, and it’s been my most favorite car I have ever owned.
You can call it what ever you like Fleetwood or 328 and the name is not going to make or break the car. The key is to get the car right to be a segment leader.
“If it looks great you will see it”
“If it drives Great you will love it”
“If you market right you will sell it”
“But if you get it all right buyers will feel it inside no matter the name”
The best cars in the world have all sorts of crazy names and the name or number does not really do much to change how good or bad a car physically is.
The real key to the name game is pick a system and stick with it. The constant changes are just clouding the whole marketing plan.
True. I wish people would see it this way. The naming scheme is not going to contribute much to success of the brand. It’s the quality of the product that will. If this car was called Fleetwood or Deville it’d be just as successful. Even though I prefer classic names, and I find this new nomenclature to be just as soulless and incomprehensible as the rest of the mainstream luxury brands, I respect Cadillac’s decision to at least make this new “mechanized” nomenclature a bit more logical.
Come on cadillac enough with laters give us some cool names . I don’t say i have a cts-v coupe cuz of the laters i only say i have a V series cadillac
This whole alpha numeric naming system shows a lack of imagination. But if they really want to go for it they should change the name of Cadillac. It should be called GM – 1902
Well, the guy comes from Audi-land, so CT6 is equivalent to Audi’s naming scheme, no? I would’ve thought CT8, with CT6 for their current CTS, and CT4 for the ATS, tho.
Some Forget that one of the greatest automakers in the world offered their cars with the Name Model A and later J and SJ models. That automaker was Duesenberg. I just spent the weekend at a show with a handful of their models.
I think that many forget that even with this great cars J and SJ models you just got a chassis driveline and grill. There was no body or name attached at the factory. The cars were bodied by many different coach builders and they normally were named only by their body style or in some cases their famous owners like Gable or Cooper. One was called the 20 grand just for the price it cost.
Today these are considered works of art ad cars that were some of Americas truly best cars ever made. Did the name add or change these cars …..No. The cars were made up of their content and styling and they evoked their own names based on what they represented and each nearly all had their own name.
So while we can argue names or numbers lets not take our focus off what really matters.
What is done now is done and lets all just focus now on what really matters the actual car and what it is and does.
Lets face it even someone names Elon can be successful.
Before I share my opinion, I’d like to say I’m not asking for the return of some old names like fleetwood or el dorado, now with that being said, I’m not a fan of this new ct# nomenclature. I would have preferred something based off of series 60.
I agree with the many others who said that this car will be judged by how the car itself turns out, sure CT6 may sound new and different now but we all will get used to it,
? I have no intel, just an educated guess
CT1 going to be the sub ATS sedan,
CT2 the coupe and convertable of that car, or entry level sports roadster that’s rumoured
CT3 -ATS
CT4- ATS coupe/convertable
CT5- CTS
I like this better than the current scene. I’m guessing CT stands for Cadillac Touring, not City Touring? It has to stand for something yet a Cadillac Cadillac Touring 6 is redundant.
A global brand should use Latin a the brand already doors with platforms.
Roman gods might do well for a naming scheme.
A Cadillac Saturn or a Cadillac Mercury.
This may be the worse possible decision cadillac could ever make for itself right now…..not only will you be throwing years away of name equity with the CTS/CTS-V the very car that launched cadillac back into the business, but make yet another major change with the business !!! Luxury is about history and prestige a name the CTS finally done and can stand toe to toe with the german brands (do you think mercedes would be think about ditching the S-class name?!? No, they would work around…or bmw with the 3-series ?!?)…..just give the flagship the elmiraj name…..it has meaning and ties into cadillac’s French history and thats with out disrupting the entire brand and destroying reputable history……. and Mary Barra shouldn’t let such poor judgement happen at cadillac…..i as a die hard cadillac fan as some may know me to be slowly losing faith in cadillac…
Slowly lose faith in Cadillac if you want, there will be plenty of people coming back and first time customers coming to Cadillac. Cadillac is here to make money for itself and GM and it is about business.
Mercedes Benz is going thru the same thing with mostly crossover SUVs which will be called GL with the first two letters. For example, the former CL class is now the S class coupe. Do you think those customers are losing sleep and all of a sudden decide to turn against Mercedes because its reorganization of its alphanumeric naming? Their naming organization is a mess just like Cadillac’s also. So they are doing something about it now by reorganizing the naming based on size and price tag.
There used to be a time when Benz and BMW designations stood for the body type and engine size but that is no longer. So everyone played copycat with the alphanumeric names, on the assumption you would forget the model but remember the overall brand name. I get that to a point, but now the it lacks focus and meaning.
Tell me why Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Maserati, Bugatti, Lamborghini and others still use real names. Also while everyone is following Mercedes-Benz, it had so little confidence in its branding that it revived the Maybach name for its uber model. That flopped so now they are talking about adding the Maybach name INSTEAD of letters and numbers to the top MB model. Is it not time to question if the herd know what direction they are travelling along?
Don’t waste your breath Louis, I’ve been saying this for years. It’s not about the name, it’s about the product. When the car is awesome the name is awesome PERIOD. But then again, most on here have very short memories. That’s why they harp and complain about names like Fleetwood being old fashioned or having baggage (which it never did) while singing the praises of foreign makes that made just as many lemons, and notoriously bad cars. Many of which soldiered on till they regained their reputation (anyone remember how crappy late 90s Benz’s were? How about how Audi’s are still one of the lowest rated cars in reliability and always have been, yet they keep getting better).
Even one of the most revered names in the industry “Mustang” went through a nearly 20 year period where it was a caricature of itself.
Sometimes it has nothing to do with the product at all, but the social aura that surround the car, like the Trans Ams of the late 70s.
I hope Cadillac does well with this new scheme. But I’m not so sure that ‘Me too’ Euro copies are what the public at large expect from Cadillac; or that they even consider those real Cadillacs. Especially when one considers that the most dependable selling vehicle Cadillac makes is a 6000+lbs, V8 powered, monstrous chrome laden Truck which compares favorably in every way with the old “Fleetwood” land-barges of old. And is the car which attracts Cadillac’s youngest, most educated, buyers according to an article on this very web site…hmmm.
Interesting how the Escalade wont be falling under the new naming convention isn’t it.
Mary Em-BARRA-ssment.
I had held out hope that they would actually come to their senses and give the flagship a proper name. Now this crap? Really?Let’s flush what makes Cadillac completely down the toilet–along with their owners–to copy someone else’s playbook, okay? How sad.
When will Cadillac learn that you can’t lead by following?
CT6 with All-Wheel Drive Will be called CT64 ? ha ha ha Shit
I really don’t know why people on here are upset about the new naming reorganization. It was reported several months ago and now it is here starting with the Omega CT6. I welcome the change of the reorganization and I truly do believe that it will make sense in several years.
And I do believe, IMO, that there will be something higher than the CT6 as a halo product for what it is I don’t know. We just have to wait and see.
And for someone who posted that Cadillac threw away equity in the CTS and other names or what you may feel, you need to be glad that Cadillac kept the CT name which showed homage to the award winning CTS. Cadillac could have called it something totally different and most people would have a fit.
It is nothing new. Mercedes just like Cadillac been reorganizing names like for example E class formerly known as 300E, 400E, & 500E, S class formerly known as 300SE, 420SE and etc in the mid 90s. Now they are doing the same thing like Cadillac with their crossover vehicles.
Automakers particularly luxury automakers been tooling around with naming for years. They are not going to lose business unless you are this close-minded and simply living in the past. Get over it, what is happening today and the future is all it matters. Just wait, if the current Cadillacs are excellent today, I could not imagine what will be in store for Cadillac tomorrow which I am anxiously waiting. And I always get excited in new Cadillac news especially on the CT6 Omega.
Four questions: What does CT mean? Catera Touring? Cimarron Touring? Or Cadillac Touring like Stephen Marcus said?
Oh, and the ELR? Will it be called CTE?
I liked it anyway. It’s a lot better than ATS and XTS.
De Nysschen changed all the names at Infinity and then left. And now, nobody including myself can match a car with the name. It’s just massive confusion. Hopefully, this will be better handled and we won’t see another change in 2 years…
As a Caddy loyalist, I’m maybe a little disappointed, but no love lost. However, let’s explore where they are going with this, which in the end, could be a great thing for Cadillac since the CTS is one the MOST recognize Cadillac nameplates of modern times:
CT1 – New entry car below the ATS [Competition: BMW 1&2 Series, Benz CLA, Audi A3)
CT2 – Current ATS [Competition: BMW 3 Series, Benz C-Class, Audi A4)
CT3 – ATS Coupe [Competition: BMW 4 Series, Benz C-Class Coupe, Audi A5]
CT4 – Current CTS [Competition: BMW 5 Series, Benz E-Class, Audi A6, Lexus GS]
CT5 – New 4-door coupe above the CTS [Competition: BMW 6 Series, Benz CLS, Audi A7, Porsche Panamera]
CT6 – New flagship sedan [Competition: BMW 7 Series, Benz S-Class, Audi A8, Maserati Quattroporte]
CT7 – New flagship luxury coupe [Competition: Benz S-Class Coupe, Bentley Continental]
CT8 – New sports car/coupe (XLR replacement – HALO) – [Competition: Audi R8, Jaguar F-Type, Maserati Grand Tourismo, Porsche 911)
CT9 – Exotic sports car (Remember the Cien? – HALO) – [Competition: Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley, Porsche, etc.)
CT10 – New ultra lux, range-topping Rolls competitor (HALO) – [Competition: Rolls Royce Ghost/Phantom, Benz S-Class Pullman, Bentley Flying Spur/Mulsanne)
Where is XTS ??? I guess CT5 will be XTS
XTS is a stop-gap:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2011/09/opinion-desk-cadillac-xts-is-a-stop-gap-vehicle-for-dts-buyers-true-caddy-flagship/
I think CT6 is an absurd name for a “flagship” sedan that could top $100K with “all the boxes checked”? Others list possible future CT7’s and CT9’s? How do you fund the development of those models? Don’t you have to show some level of sales performance to obtain more investment in the brand? We all expect the gains in China, but what about here?
All that being said, I now for the first time understand why GM execs including, de Nysschen continue to say “…it’s going to take years and years” to develop the brand? I finally agree and understand, it is going to take many, many years for this complete overhaul of the Cadillac brand? Personally, I think it’s doomed for failure, but maybe check back in 10 years?