General Motors’ big debut at the 2019 North American International Auto Show in Detroit was the new 2020 Cadillac XT6 – the first mid-size, three-row crossover to be sold under its luxury brand. With crossover and SUV sales exploding and Cadillac’s future uncertain, GM will be leaning on the XT6 quite heavily to help boost Cadillac sales in coming years.
“The first-ever Cadillac XT6 delivers a compelling blend of spaciousness, safety and convenience features for customers who thrive on doing it all,” Cadillac president Stve Carlisle said following the crossover’s debut last month. “It joins the all-new XT4, which has soared to the top spot in its segment, our global best-selling XT5 and the iconic Escalade to accelerate the brand’s global growth, with a spirit that is uniquely Cadillac.”
Chief engineer for the XT6, John Plonka, recently sat down with Autoline After Hours to discuss the development process for the XT6 and GM’s vision for the crossover. Plonka addresses some interesting topics with regard to the XT6, including what he believes sets the XT6 apart from something like the GMC Acadia Denali, why Super Cruise was not offered on the SUV from launch and the stiff new competition from Ford’s Lincoln luxury brand.
Plonka also talks about Cadillac in China, where Plonka spent three years working for GM. China is Cadillac’s biggest market and presents a strong opportunity for GM to attract new buyers to the brand – especially with crossovers like the XT4, XT5 and XT6. For this reason, the market is beginning to have a bigger and bigger influence on Cadillac’s vehicles and what it sells.
Plonka talks to Autoline for about 30 minutes about the Cadillac XT6 and the luxury brand, so be sure to check out the interview embedded above. You won’t want to miss it if you’ve been curious about Cadillac’s mindset in these past six months or so.
(source: Autoline on YouTube)
Comments
Nothing special here and to much black plastic. Does not even look like a Cadillac.
well when its competition is the extra plasticky Tacky looking Audi, I dont think that this will be a problem at all
It’ll sell but he was tap dancing around a lot of tough questions.
Completely agree, he shone on Dancing with the Stars… he calls the buyer of this segment a “no compromise” buyer… the interior is clearly a big compromise as is the exterior styling. What GM just Doesn’t get is we want the Escala which was no compromise not Escala similar influences in the front end. This is a front wheel drive vehicle and with all the weight over the front wheels it’s never going to handle as well as a rear wheel drive vehicle. It sounds like they’re not employing Cadillacs Magnetic Ride Control but something similar to it, I wonder if they’re charging extra for that or if it’s standard and if it’s as good as MRC.
He also said the driver systems were made standard on this vehicle which if true is terrific added value so bravo Cadillac.
That said this could be a Chevy or Buick, it’s just not special and I’ll be watching the “conquest” data, I doubt they draw from MB, BMW or Audi. He said they benchmarked the Q7 but possibly for fwd driving dynamics not interior quality.
I think this is going to do great in the marketplace.
I fully understand why De Nysschen quit.
he was fired, forced out, asked to leave and if he didn’t they would publicly fire thus humiliate him. De Nysschen was all about PR and not fixing product. Gm forced him out because after 4 years he had failed to produce any product. The XT6 should have been here 3 years ago, but is now just hitting the market because of the idiot Nysschen