Ahead of its launch, General Motors’ Spring Hill, Tennessee plant rolled the first 2020 Cadillac XT6 off of the assembly line on Thursday.
Local ABC News affiliate WKRN reported GM CEO Mary Barra was also on hand at the plant to kick off production of the plant’s third crossover SUV. Spring Hill also handles production of the GMC Acadia and Cadillac XT5. Both share a platform with the new XT6, the C1 architecture. The plant also builds the Holden Acadia in right-hand drive for Australia and handles some powertrain production.
Spring Hill is GM’s largest facility in North America and spans 7.1 million square feet on 2,000 acres of land.
Barra said she felt obligated to visit the plant where the automaker she oversees has invested more than $2 billion in the past nine years. She said more investment is planned as well.
Spring Hill’s boom comes at the expense of other GM facilities across North America. GM will shutter the Oshawa assembly plant in Canada, and idle two production plants in the U.S.: Lordstown in Ohio and Detroit-Hamtramck in Michigan. It’s likely both of those will be closed this year after United Auto Worker union discussions over a new labor contract.
The 2020 Cadillac XT6 finally begins to fill out Cadillac’s crossover lineup, which has long been only the XT5 mid-size crossover and the full-size Escalade SUV. The XT4 arrived last year as the brand’s first entry into the compact-ish segment (the XT4 is a bit of an in-betweener size wise), and the XT6 represents a mid-size-plus offering to bridge the gap between the XT5 and Escalade.
We have reason to believe a true full-size crossover is still in the pipeline, however.
The 2020 XT6 will reach dealers later this year and orders will open this spring.
Comments
What a bland looking vehicle as it’s styling isn’t that of Cadillac’s XT4 and XT5; if sales is flat.. one has to think it’ll have an emergency nose job to look more like the XT4 and XT5 as it’s another reason to make the 550hp Blackwing V8 available as an option because folks may not buy the XT6 for how it looks.
Are you a moron? It’s on a front wheel drive platform. The V8 would add weight and get terrible gas mileage.
You’re 100% it sucks.
Styling it’s not cohesive too many different styles into one.
Engine it sucks! Power of the Europeans and Quality of the Japanese it lacks. And the aviator our classes it.
The cheap cheap cheap interior!
This seems like a rushed job like the 1st generation Escalade.
Someone mentioned the GLS which is to be we redesigned for 2020 or 2021 and in a different class.
This XT6 will be a class failure !
Q7, GLE, XC90, X5, Avaitior, QX60, XT6, RX-L, MDX
I’m a little underwhelmed… I want to like it… then I see that (Hondaesque) profile 🙁
I for one am glad to see the departure of ginormous ass grills, front end looks great, the rest not so much, interior eh. Aviator standard v6 twin turbo done properly with a handsome interior will eat it’s lunch.
Did anyone hear anything about Super Cruise being added to the XT6? Apparently the CEO’s visit made claim that the XT6 will launch with the tech after all, according to an article from the Detroit Free Press.
https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2019/01/24/gm-rolls-out-cadillac-xt-6-tennessee-plant-plans-cadillac-comeback/2538404002/
If this is true, then I suppose we can all assume there was either another case of miscommunication during the initial press release at NAIAS, or perhaps some internal arm twisting took place among the executives to get this SUV something to make it more competitive!
I’ve been waiting to decide between Denali, XT6, and Aviator. It will not be a tough decision. Look like I was waiting for a dress up Buick sad
I hope it does well… but would anyone lease this over a Q7 or X5? The Mercedes GLS is a bit dated and more expensive, but probably not cross shopped. Even Volvo XC90 shoppers are not going to consider this. Perhaps Acura MDX will loose sales to this. I only see this as moving sales from Escalade or Denali… not bringing new customers to GM.
It looks better than both of those and has a better interior than the X5.
But in reality they won’t because if you’re considering and X5 or a Q7 you probably don’t care about anything but the badge.
I assume super cruise is slated for a platinum model that wasn’t show ready just yet. That makes the most sense to me.
I’m also now wondering if why this seems so phoned in is because of the product life cycle of the other models on this platform. They are going to get total redesigns within the next 2-3 years after just getting their refreshes for 2020, so why go all out on something that going to have to be Completely changed to match the other life cycles in such a short lifespan. Just my thoughts 🙂
I am a very loyal GM Customer, having purchased 11 New GM vehicles over the past 30 years. I am left very disappointed by the design and powertrain of the new XT6. Indeed it is a lackluster vehicle where GM has obviously rushed it through design and production, failing to make it stand out from it’s Chevy, GMC and Buick relatives. Moreover, it truly is not much more than a re-badged XT4 or XT5, with the exception that the wheelbase is a few inches longer. I could probably make this vehicle work if they would have included a Turbo V6 or Small Block V8 as the base engines. The price that this vehicle will command is certainly worthy of a more powerful power plant and more deluxe interior detailing. GM continues to be criticized by countless reviews for failing to design greater definition between it’s brands. No matter if it’s a Pick-up, SUV or Car, GM only seems to have one common parts-bin to pick from. Only the badging truly separates one vehicle from the other. Speaking as a loyal GM customer for decades, when I compare the XT6 to it’s NOW rival the Lincoln Aviator, I would hope that GM will look closely from the lessons that Ford has learned from its past. Look now how Ford has chosen to undoubtedly separate its Standard-line of vehicles from its Luxury-line. For example, aside from the Chassis, the new Explorer shares no visible common parts with the Aviator; both the exterior and interior designs are also completely different. With personal opinions of the consumers aside, the future sales of GM versus Ford products will absolutely speak for itself. Unfortunately, I predict many more lessons are to be learned for GM. I hope they exceed that challenge!
As always the GM bashers are out in full force. I think it looks good. Front end is perfect and the side is classy. In the long term i think this is a better choice than the undoubtedly higher maintenance Aviator. 80% of the people that buy this wont care about engine size, turbos, or platform sharing among other GM suvs. I hope it sells well.
Cadillac Matt,
With all do respect, You must have missed my leading comment that I am indeed a very “loyal” GM customer and because I am disappointed by the final design and spec’s of the NEW XT6, does NOT make me any less of a GM customer, nor a “basher”. I question your fact that “80%” of potential XT6 buyers “will not care” about the standard (weak) power-plant and the lack-luster interior concept that hardly separates it from the XT4 or XT5 models, not to mention the similarity of parts (especially interior) shared in the Chevy, GMC and Buick lineup. Even my very own City’s GM Dealership-Sales manager has personal concerns with this ongoing issue with GM designs. With a price tag that will indeed be very comparable to the NEW Lincoln Aviator, it takes no fool to realize that you will get one hell of a “bigger bang for your buck” purchasing an Aviator (versus an XT6) which in the case of public opinion, has a much classier exterior and certainly a more luxurious interior- while NOT looking at all like its Ford sibling, the NEW Explorer. As I also suggested, When the sales figures of units “sold” start appearing, then we can all reflect on who had the most accurate prophecy. As much as I regret admitting it, I truly feel the Aviator will take the lead in sales. As you do, I wish the XT6 much success.