Remember the most recent spy photos of the Cadillac CT5 that we shared on Tuesday? Turns out that it’s not the CT5 at all, but is instead our first look at the upcoming sub-CT5 model, the Cadillac CT4.
The camouflage tape made the CT5 and CT4 prototypes look extremely similar, likely giving GM’s camo designers a good laugh before our colleagues at Cadillac Society figure out (via a painstaking pixel-by-pixel analysis running well into the wee hours of the night) that we are looking at two entirely different models.
A word about naming: we currently do not know whether the sub-CT5 Cadillac sedan will be called CT4 or CT3. For the sake of sanity, let’s refer to it as the CT4 for the time being.
Though the CT5 and CT4 prototypes have similar shapes made even more similar by the heavy camo, the door cut-lines and greenhouse lines of the CT4 are very different from those on the CT5. First, take a look at the rear door and the C-pillar treatment of the CT4 and then do the same for the CT5.
The smaller CT4 features a shorter rear door with no glass or door elements on the C-pillar, much like the current Cadillac ATS. The same is very much different on the CT5. Despite its heavily-camouflaged C-pillar, it’s rather obvious that the larger model will feature a vanity rear window on the C-pillar just behind the rear door, much like the Cadillac CT6.

We believe that the CT5 will feature a small vanity window after the rear door, much like the CT6. 2019 Cadillac CT6 V-Sport pictured.
The differences between the two prototypes don’t end there. Out back, the two models have different decklid treatments that lead to different locations for the license plate cutout, plus different treatments for the bumper cover and exhaust outlets.
The uninterrupted horizontal lights are still part of the camo package that make the car look like a Dodge Charger tester, giving those GM camo artists a reason to hi-five as they read this… camo tape in hand. But make not mistake about it: production models with ship with lights similar to those on the 2019 Cadillac CT6, itself inspired by the Escala concept.
The changes out front are not as noticeable as they are on the sides or the rear. But look closely, and you’ll see different hood lines, differently-sized mirrors, and slightly different stance and general front-end proportions. And while the different mirrors might be the result of market-specific regulation standards (the current CTS ships with one set of mirrors for the Americas and another for Europe), the variations in hood cutlines are undeniable.
The GM Authority Take
At the end of the day, we are looking at two different vehicles: one is the smaller CT4 and the other is the larger CT5. Both will be based on the second iteration of the highly-acclaimed GM Alpha platform known as Alpha 2. In first-generation guise, the architecture underpinned the ATS and CTS lines.
Both the CT4 and CT5 will be built at the GM Lansing Grand River plant in Michigan for American markets. The Jinqiao Cadillac plant in China will likely build both vehicles for the Chinese market. Other markets such as South Korea and the Middle East will receive shipments from these two plants.
Comments
Solid MS Paint skills on deck
It’s a dot-based outline in photoshop. I’d like to see someone do what is done above in Paint with the same level of precision.
Is that a challenge? I know Paint supports styluses.
haha i pictured someone sitting there two-handing the mouse for maximum precision.
Hahah! You’d need quite the steady hand for that… something I don’t have after pounding out a few thousands words a day on the keyboard 🙂
And now we know why Cadillac decided to kill off the ATS 4-door sedan because their new upcoming CT4 is essentially the ATS Sedan replacement and despite the camouflage, the new CT4 looks great; one can almost imagine it with a base LSY 2.0L DOHC-4v 4-cyl turbo (from the XT4) with an optional LFW 3.0L DOHC-4v V6 and the top engine being the LGW Twin Turbo 3.0L V6.
So it means that the CT4 will be a d class car and will go against the 3,a4,c-class?
What about the CT5? E-class?
Well hope both of them will get the V8 in V versions.
Well like I said in the other thread we need to let the camo come off on these cars. They have gotten good with it anymore and what we often interprete is not always what we get.
Even then unwrapped often it needs to be seen in person to get the full feel anymore. The details really do not stand out in photos.
It is interesting both are so far along that is good.
Well, we know that the CT5 is a D-class car(BMW 3’s rival etc)
If this one is another model then its a car that belongs to the C-segment… There was a legit info that Caddy would get a model in this segment.
And here it is. JDN did lie that a C-class model will be RWD. AND THIS IS AWESOME. WHile the germans have fwd based cars like the fugly CLA, we will have a well proportioned RWD model to fight the CLA and the rest models in this segment.
Nice move. LONG LIVE RWD. CADILLAC IS COMING BACK.
The CT4 looks like the first gen Cruze from the side profile. I hope Cadillac has what it takes in the pipeline to get people to notice them again. And what is up with the new Cadillac VP? Has the media heard a peep from him? He seems a polar opposite of JDN in terms of keeping people up to date on Cadillac
Oh c’mon.
Can you honestly tell that this heavily-camo’ed tester that’s not even wearing production lighting elements “looks like the first-gen Cruze”?
It doesn’t even begin to look like the Cruze from any angle, especially from the side profile – first and foremost thanks to the significantly longer dash to axle ratio afforded by a rear-drive-based model. If anything, the CT4 you see here resembles the ATS – which is an excellent-looking vehicle, especially from the side (the fascias have aged okay, not too great and not too bad).
Outside of that, the first-gen Cruze was the best-looking car in its class by a long shot (perhaps the only one that could compete with it design-wise was the Hyundai Elantra and maybe Kia Forte)… so even if the CT4 did look like the first-gen Cruze (which it doesn’t), it would not necessarily be a bad thing.
No, not a peep from the Steve Carlisle (the new President). Here’s to hoping he’s settling in and working, rather than talking to the media about how he is going to work 😉
Alex.. I helped my mom pick out and recomended her to buy a then brand new 13 Cruze which she did. I also think it was a great looking car and much better looking then the current model they make now.
As far as this CT4 in camo, I very much aware that the car will look nothing like a older Cruze once all the camo comes off. But the basic roofline and rear pillers do have a small resemblance to it with the camo on IMO
That’s cool. I loved my first-gen Cruze… it had some much more character and style than the current model, which removed nearly everything that made the Cruze unique.
I see what you mean about the roofline. It does resemble it a bit… but I guess so does my ATS Sedan… which this kinda-sorta replaces.
How can you hate what you can not see?
Like I said give it some time and at least have an acurate informed opinion once you really see these in person.
Camo is making a lot of people regret their comments.
Just look at the crow the camo Blazer haters ate.
I don’t recall saying i hate anything. I just said it sorta looked like a Cruze which I do think was a decent looking car.
Not exactly a compliment.
This is a C-segment guys. While the CT5 will be a D segment car.
And as JDN promised it has an RWD platform. God bless JDN, and RWD.
How big is this relative to the ATS? It’s difficult trying to grasp its size with not much to scale.
I think it’s roughly the same size as the ATS Sedan (regular ATS Sedan, not the ATS-L).
Someone needs to measure the top edge of the rear side window. It looks somewhere between the two ATS’s to my eyeballs, with the rest of the greenhouse the same. Or we can wait several months.
It could certainly use the legroom, but 3.3 inches will push it very close to the CT5.
Awesome. Thanks Alex.
I might be looking at my next car here.
When I first saw these new spy photos, I immediately thought that it was a different car than previously spied due to the exact reasons mentioned, especially the side quarter windows or lack-thereof. But after looking deeper, I think these new spy photos are of the same model car as the earlier ones (what most people are assuming is the CTS replacement, assuming it is called the CT5). Looking at the picture of the guy opening the trunk, you can see that what looks like a 6-window greenhouse (like the CT6) appears to be very well executed camo. If you look closely, you can see a triangular black section above the actual window line seen in the other photos, and that there is a fake window line above it. Further, if you look at the rear windscreen, the windshield, and basic proportions, it looks like the same model, just with some minor details that are probably closer to production than the previous car that was spied. For example, the side mirrors on the older spy shots seem to be the same as the current CTS. I think if this were the ATS replacement (which is supposedly more of an A3/CLA/2-Series competitor), it would noticeably be smaller, especially in hood length. Clearly, the camo is doing it’s job, so I’m not 100% sure, but I think there is more evidence that it’s another CTS replacement mule rather than the ATS replacement.
Look at the rest of the side windows, specifically the top edges. They’re subtly different.
I think the CT5 front door window is taller. It almost looks like the glass is frameless!
Nearly every sedan has essentially the same roofline these days, and I’m tired of it. Looks like more designers would take the small mpg hit in order to be distinctive.
The thing that’s Important to me about these pictures is that both of these cars have rear-wheel drive proportions! Thank you Cadillac for staying rear-wheel drive!!!!
Current 2011DHS owner, last year of a sort of real Cadillac. Not buying any of these new Chevys with Cadillac emblems on them. We’re the baby boomers, we want our boats back with big leather seats
Oh the sarcasm! At least I hope it’s sarcasm. If not…
1. Question: how is this at all similar to a Chevy?!
Answer: it is not.
2. “We’re the baby boomers, we want our boats back with big leather seats”
Said all of the nine people who bought either the XTS or the Lincoln Continental last month… neither of which are “boats” by the typical definition.
“Said all of the nine people who bought either the XTS or the Lincoln Continental last month… neither of which are “boats” by the typical definition.”
You’ve stated the problem well. We’ve moved into giant SUVs.
Seriously, I’m still thin, and I find “small” RWD cars and bolstered seats uncomfortably narrow (partly it’s what you’re used to). Lord knows how women and chunky people (who have taken over most of the US) can stand them.
Please point me to the rwd small/midsize Chevy sedan in dealers today please.
It’s a good idea, though. If Chevy made an AWD Camaro and fixed the styling, I’d buy one for sure. Put four doors on it and a LOT of guys with new families would trade in their Camaro coupes for AWD Camaro sedans instead of dumping their muscle car for a Honda/Toyota family car.
Nice catch.
I sincerely hope Cadillac knocks it out of the park with the CTs & kept em out of GM’s beancounter hands.
The differences between both cars are also very obvious in the pictures taken from the tail, especially where the rocker panels are (under the doors): the CT5 sweeps up much more as compared to the CT4.
Interestingly, it seems that the tires on both cars carry the same dimensions.
I’m much more in favor of the CT4 exhaust pipes… they give it a sporty look.
“Both the CT4 and CT5 will be built at the GM Lansing Grand River plant in Michigan for American markets. The Jinqiao Cadillac plant in China will likely build both vehicles for the Chinese market.”
I hope this changes. The trade imbalance between China and the United States could be improved by sending some Cadillacs from Lansing to China. Further, I would think an actual American-made Cadillac would have some appeal to Chinese consumers in much the same way that an actual German-made Mercedes has a bit more allure to many Americans than one that hails from Alabama. Obviously our government needs to work with Chinese officials to extract concessions to make that feasible though.
Is the C Class made in Alabama which itself shares the same design of the S Class inside and out which is built in Germany?
The answer is yes. Not sure where you are going w/ design allure appealing to this and that but universal made vehicles are take it or leave it as to each his or her own taste. The last comment of the final paragraph have no merit.
That’s not happening now that we’re in a tit for tat tariff escalation with China. GM will have to build in China to sell in China.
It’s also now easier for GM to move oversea profits back into the US, because taxes on those profits were lowered dramatically in that great big tax cut bill from last year. Before, if a company made profits in a foreign country, they paid that country’s corporate tax and when they repatriated the profits, they had to pay any difference between the US corporate tax and the foreign nation’s corporate tax.
New Cads are way over priced for a chevy with emblem. Like driving a crappy douche Cruze rental car. How’s that for sarcasm libtard.
At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone here is now dumber for having read it.
You might want to check the accuracy of “Chevy with emblem” by understanding what platforms Cadillacs ride on.
I hope they’re not cutting the sedan segment pie too thin.