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Community Question: How Much Will The 2016 Cadillac CTS-V Cost?

Cadillac dropped all the details on the 2016 CTS-V yesterday and needless to say, we’re impressed. The 640 horsepower supercharged LT4 V8, the eight-speed 8L90 automatic transmission, third-generation magnetic ride control and more, all in a stunning lightweight four-door sedan. But the one piece of information Caddy didn’t release was the price, which is arguably the most important of all.

It shouldn’t be long before Cadillac tells us how much it will charge for the 2016 CTS-V, but for now, we have to speculate. While some, like Motor Trend, estimate the car will start “in the $80,000 range,” we’d actually place it in the $85,000 to low $90,000 range, considering the BMW M5 and Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG both start at $93,000.

2016 CADILLAC CTS-V VS. BMW M5 VS. MERCEDES-BENZ E63 AMG PRICING
METRIC 2016 CADILLAC CTS-V 2015 BMW M5 2015 BMW M5 COMPETITION 2015 MERCEDES-BENZ E63 4MATIC 2015 MERCEDES-BENZ E63 S 4MATIC
STARTING PRICE (USD): TBD $93,600 $100,900 $93,600 $100,600

A starting price in the high $80,000 to low $90,000 range is more expensive than that of the outgoing CTS-V and is in line with the positioning of the athird-gen CTS — which now unequivocally competes in the midsize luxury vehicle class with the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class, as well as their high-performance derivatives, with the goal of the ATS being to take on the compact segment. In contrast, the first- and second-gen CTS and CTS-V were “tweener” cars straddling the compact and midsize sedan segments. And though current CTS-V owners may be discouraged to find that new CTS-V will be more expensive, they may find the $63,000 ATS-V to be more financially attractive.

Cadillac might spill the beans on the price of the 2016 CTS-V at the upcoming North American International Auto Show in Detroit. For the time being, feel free to speculate in the comments below.

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Sam loves to write and has a passion for auto racing, karting and performance driving of all types.

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Comments

  1. id guess around 85k?

    Reply
  2. $90,000 firm.

    The CTS-V was never a replacement for a G8 GT, so there’s no reason to price is otherwise. It’s America’s ONLY mid-size luxury performance sedan, so there is no need to spoil its presentation to the world with a low-ball price.

    Reply
    1. How about the Lincoln MKS EcoBoost? It’s also “performance” sedan according to Ford… sorry… Lincoln. Ahahahhaa! Sorry. Couldn’t resist.

      My bet is it will be $90k flat. No excuses on product or price. Anyone who says that it should undercut BMW and Benz is silly. Ever heard of those people who try to figure out which product is better by looking at which has the higher price? That happens more often than you would think in this category.

      Reply
      1. Actually, the MKS is a full-size car. The MKS EcoBoost is Ford’s response to the S63 4Matic AMG.

        Sorry, but for some reason, I couldn’t wipe the smirk off my face as I typed that. 😀

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        1. Actually the S 63 has 577 hp. The MKS EcoBoost only has 355, which is closer to the S550’s 449.

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        2. Er…not quite. The MKS is a full-sized *FWD-based* flagship luxury car, based on a plebeian platform (the D3/D4 platform). That puts it in a small and somewhat unpopular niche, which also holds the Cadillac XTS, Acura RLX, and to a lesser extent the Volvo S80. The MKS EcoBoost’s nearest competitor is probably the XTS V-Sport. But it is in no way a comparison or a response to anything S-Class, and I don’t think Ford has ever tried to market it as such. And many naturally-aspirated V6 engines are capable of over 350 horsepower, so the twin-turbo MKS EcoBoost’s 355 HP is a bit underwhelming.

          Reply
          1. You do realize the MKS vs. S-class bit was a joke, right? Those two cars are as close to each other as the Sun is to Pluto.

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    2. You know I’m also trying to spread rumors on Internet forums, such as YellowBullet.com, about a super-MKZ (with a capital “Z”) sedan with 645-715 hp, a 0-60 time of 2.5-3.5 seconds, and a top speed of 195-225 mph, right? That one will be a competitor for America’s “ONLY” midsize luxury performance sedan, as well as the M5 and E 63 (or E63).

      And hey Pontiac fanboys!!! Sorry but the G8 GT and GXP and the new Chevy SS are actually made in Australia. Not the United States.

      Reply
      1. It’s probably unwise to knowingly spread rumours that are unsubstantiated. As much as a “super MKZ” would be a game changing car, until Ford announces or shows anything, Lincoln is yet again going to sit out and miss taking part in perhaps the auto industry’s greatest show of firepower and engineering might.

        I’m hard enough on Lincoln as it is, but it’s hard not to be when everything they’ve been doing for the past 30 years has been wrong:

        1 ) They dragged on the personal luxury coupe nonsense on well past it’s sell-by date.

        2 ) They perpetuated the idea of full-size American luxury cars as being ponderous dumb brown coaches without any measure of build quality.

        3 ) The Panther bodies remained largely unchanged for 33 years (longer than the W-body) and never once set a standard for full-size cars or led a technological change that permeated throughout the industry.

        4 ) The Blackwood and MK LT were complete cluster-fuck fumbles that never had any chance after the EXT’s launched.

        5 ) The LS was their ONE car that could have kept the CTS from ever getting a foot hold, and Ford killed it by letting it languish.

        6 ) Ford spent too much money trying to keep PAG going in Europe, leaving Lincoln with the scrag-ends and products that were never offered overseas.

        7 ) FoMoCo still thinks that volume sales matter more than ATP.

        8 ) FoMoCo is too timid to even try to command a higher price. That $15K price difference between the MKZ and the CTS could make the MKZ 15 times better than what it currently is. At present, Ford is too worried about the “traditional buyer” to even think about raising prices to a level expected of genuine luxury cars.

        9 ) A brand new aluminium truck platform debuts as an F-150 and not as a Navigator; a boneheaded mistake if you’re trying to promote a luxury brand and distinct and quantifiably different than it’s down-market, mass-produced cousin.

        10 ) Arguably the biggest problem is the idea that Ford leads the company and Lincoln is to follow that lead; it needs to be the other way around. Lincoln leads, Ford Follows. Why should Lincoln continue to play second fiddle to Ford and eat Ford’s leftovers?

        11 ) A consumer base that has been conditioned for decades to expect comparable Lincoln offerings to come into a segment many, many, thousands of dollars less than its competitors AND have greater clout and image than its more expensive competitors.

        12 ) The one idiot who keeps bringing up the MKZ sales in comparison to the ATS and how they are “direct competitors”; eager to boast about how the mid-size MKZ outsells the compact ATS when Lincoln has no compact car offering.

        13 ) Lastly, tied and defeated Lincoln advertisers are trying their damnest to squeeze whatever mileage they can from the MKC/Matthew Mcconaughey meme. Lincoln hasn’t got that much attention since they first launched the original Navigator. Too bad the marketing gimmick won’t have enough to make it into 2015, and Lincoln may be forced into making an ad ABOUT the MKC and not about whatever Mcconaughey was paid to say about Lincoln.

        But anyway, until something truly impressive come from Lincoln, the MKZ (in any flavour) is simply a weak alternative to ANY mid-size luxury car; American, German, Japanese, or otherwise.

        Reply
        1. Well-said… well-said, indeed.

          PS: does the idiot you mention in #12 truly exist?

          Reply
          1. I can’t pin it down to any one poster. The idiot in #12 sticks in my mind from about 8 or 9 months ago. Some rabid Ford fan fluffer that was on either AB or Jalopnik, trumpeted the “fact” that the MKZ was a better car than the ATS because it unit sales each month were higher.

            It’s the crap you get into for reading too many user comments expecting some kind of structured dialogue.

            Reply
            1. Ridiculous. The ATS and MKZ are entry-level luxury, but that’s about all they have in common. The former is a compact, RWD luxury sedan; the latter is a mid-borderline-fullsized FWD luxury sedan. The MKZ’s closest competitors are the Lexus ES and Acura TLX, both of which feature much less-interesting designs, but have far better interior materials and fit-and-finish that you would expect from a luxury car, as opposed to the MKZ.

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              1. The new $36,415 Ford Fusion Titanium 2.0T is an IS / TLX rival. (NOTE: Titanium, not Lincoln, is what replaced the Mercury division of the Ford Motor Company.) Because Lincoln doesn’t have a compact sedan, the Titanium can rival both the Buick Regal *and* the Cadillac ATS.

                The MKZ 2.0T is a Buick LaCrosse / Lexus ES rival. The MKZ 3.7L, though, is closer to the Cadillac CTS, GS, and the Acura RLX.

                Reply
        2. Good points.

          Lincoln is more Mercury than a serious Luxury segment player. It’s not even a consideration for anybody who actually knows anything about cars.

          Reply
        3. Actually only the *base* MKZ 2.0T and 3.7L are competition for the ATS, IS / ES, TLX, etc. The *Black Label* MKZ is competition for the CTS, GS, and RLX. Competition is usually based on price.

          The RLX is not really competition for the big XTS and MKS, nor is the S80.

          Reply
  3. Around 87K with some options

    Fully loaded 110.000 USD

    Regards from Spain

    Reply
  4. I don’t think I will be anywhere close to 100k, the only big price option it looks like there will be is the carbon fibre package and that will probably be a 3-4,000$ upgrade. My guess would be 80,000 starting with every option running it near 90

    Reply
  5. I believe $85K minimum to $90K maximum. If Cadillac decides to price it at $92K-$95K, it should be worth every penny. If they price it under $85K, it is under-price, IMO.

    Reply
  6. I’d say about $78,000. The new Z06 Coupe powered by the same engine costs $78,995.

    Reply
    1. They should not price the car the same because it is shared with the Z06. You need to consider this is a luxury brand, a souped-up version, with 220 hp over the V-Sport. The V-Sport Premium optioned out can get up to $75,000. $78K is a steal and under-pricing the competition, so the car needs to be at $90K-$95K the most.

      Reply
      1. But, for example, the BMW M5 costs $93,600. And the M6 costs $111,900. And the Corvette-rivaling i8 costs $135,700. Don’t you want the sedan’s price to be a little lower?

        Reply
        1. No, because then the CTS-V would run the risk of deliberately kicking itself out of the mid-size segment by price. It’s the same mistake that the “tweener” first gen CTS-V made; a not quite M5 car for a not quite M3 money.

          Image in this segment matters, and people who buy these $90,000 cars want others to know that they own a $90,000 car. Cadillac needs to show that the can cultivate and promote such an image, and to not cut corners and offer a lowball price in a market that demands only the best.

          Reply
  7. I’d guess about $85-90K to start, with a potential $100k top-end price. Since the core of the tech is directly from the new $78-100K Z06, I wouldn’t expect anything less……

    Reply
  8. Why is Lincoln even in this discussion? I know there is a faction inside Ford that wants to fix them but as of yet Lincoln has a lot of work to do and is about 10 years behind even where Cadillac is today.

    As for the CTS V price we will see $89K starting and about $97K fully loaded. I do not expect many options but things like the track aero package will not be cheap.

    As for those upset because it is expensive. Well this is how you protect your image or build one. You first build a quality car and second you make sure only people of the real means buy them. No posers here.

    It comes down to if the average Joe has it then where it the special image to come from?

    How special would Ferrari be if we all had one?

    Reply
    1. Who cares. Lincoln isn’t Buick’s rival. Ford’s Titanium sub-brand, which replaced Mercury, is.

      Reply
  9. Caddy’s goal is to raise the brand image of cadillac. That means they have to price at or above the german counterparts. $93,600+.

    And for that price its overpriced, but if they don’t charge that much for it, they are telling the world they aren’t as good as the Germans, which they have made very clear they won’t do. They are trying to look as good as the germans.

    If cadillac was smarter, they’d of made the CTS-V a hair better, and charged 96k.

    The problem with the $93.6k price, is its not good enough for the lack of brand value compared to the competition.
    The problem with a sub 93.6k price, is they won’t be able to add brand value.
    The problem with an above 93.6k price is the car just isn’t worth it. AWESOME car, but is it preferrable to an M5?

    I don’t think caddy has figured out how to win. You can’t match your competition and win, you have to beat your competition. As much as I love the CTS-V, and as much as it outperforms the germans on the track, when it comes to the whole package, it just doesn’t beat the competition value proposition.

    There’s one other piece of this puzzle.. the ATS-V. The ATS-V is $1000 more than the M3. This is the pricing strategy I anticipate they’ll take, so I’d pinpoint the CTS-V price at between $93,600 and $95,200. With that, they will sell very very few, but may find a way to incentivize to get some out on the market. I think that means I’m calling higher than most others…

    Reply

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