2017 Cadillac XT5 In The Hunt For SUV Of The Year
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As we round out the end of this year, it’s time to award accolades for numerous vehicles across many segments. One is Motor Trend‘s SUV of the Year, and the 2017 Cadillac XT5 is present and ready to win over the hearts and minds of judges.
However, it did little to win over neither the hearts or minds.
Starting with the powertrain, judges loathed it for being underwhelming with a “sleepy” set of gears. The powertrain was ultimately a letdown because the XT5 was lauded for sharp driving dynamics and great handling. The 2017 XT5 also passed the freeway test with flying colors, with judges stating the surface ripples utterly disappeared. Unfortunately, it doesn’t necessarily get better.
The XT5 Luxury trim was deemed “plasticky”, while the Platinum wore the true luxurious touches. Inconsistency was not appreciated. Furthermore, the new Electronic Precision Shift was called “finicky”, CUE was aggravating and the rearview camera mirror was stated as “mere gadgetry.”
It sounds like the XT5 hasn’t made many friends.
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Good effort by Cadillac that will be a sales and financial success in all the markets it is sold. It will appeal to the SRX (XT5) faithful but not quite ready for prime time.
There are to many execution issues to have it win or even be a finalist for SUV of the year.
Sigh….Always a reason(s) to bash the progress of Cadillac! Unfortunately, Cadillac has no one to blame but Cadillac! Just can’t iron out the details! Why are there still complaints about cheap interior materials?! I thought the XT5 was rated one of the best interiors by Ward’s Auto! Why are there complaints about the powertrain?! Wasn’t the new 3.6L NA V-6 introduced on a Cadillac first?! And weren’t they the ones to introduce the 8L45 8-speed?! These things should be refined and tailored for luxury application! Not as some pricey alternative to the run-of-the-mill products lining the rest of GM’s showrooms! Some may call it nit picky, but I say there’s NO EXCUSE for these things to be an issue in a Cadillac: the epitome of GM luxury, design, engineering and technology!
At least market reception of the XT5 is good; it’s to be expected in the red-hot CUV/SUV segment!
Agree … the ‘devil is in the details’.
JDN and his team is going to correct these problems, in these XT5 and CT6. This is what JDN has been talking about, on how these details are these most important thing went your in these luxury car segment.
I agree they will be corrected but time is ticking.
Each time Cadillac introduces a model with sub par anything that is a ding against them. This is true especially in North America where they are trying to rebuild brand image after years of neglect.
Yes gm has been knocked for thier use of cheap looking plastic interiors for years ,they just don’t get it . They use to have the best automatics in the world with the old slush boxthen to the turbo 400 but their latest efforts are creating nooo new or keeping old friends
GM created the modern era automatic transmissions but many of their recent efforts have glitches in shift quality, harshness and in particular at low speeds.
Is the XT5 perfect … no . But it is a big improvement from the SRX ( which I own and love ) your average consumer doesn’t read MT more likely Consumers Report or a magazine similar to that . There is a lot of information on the internet and You Tube . Most people will be drawn by how the vehicle looks , the MPG , cargo capacity and comfort on the road . And I would bet that most people aren’t really worried about whats under the hood , as long as their new vehicle gets them from point A to B and looks good doing so it will sell to that demographic .
This isn’t a sports SUV , thats something we are hoping is in the pipeline from Cadillac . Plus you can’t compare the entry level car against the Platinum , apples and oranges .
Sometimes I have seen the development of a new car that starts out loaded , or Platinum , then the bean counters get their little hands on it and that is how you end up with your entry level car .
Sales of the XT5 will continue to grow and be Cadillacs volumn leader .
You are 100% correct in all that you mentioned in your post.
I have said similar in the past which is why a FWD platform is not as important in the crossover space as it is for a sedan/coupe.
Do I hope that there is a V-Sport version of the XT5, Escalade and upcoming XT3? Yes, but that will not make a break the sales numbers or profit for these models.
An improvement over SRX yes! But still quite some ways to go to compete in the premium luxury market.
Rode in my friends new XT-5 last week. First impression – seemed pretty nice to me.
I like the exterior styling of the XT5 but have not warmed up to dash board and console styling still have not really determined what it has over SRX other than 8 speed auto and more rear seat leg room
At least I can look at the XT5 and refrain from puking up dinner as I do whenever I look at its Lexus competitor!
I totally agree the styling of the RX350 is nasty it must be drawn by Japanese cartoon artists