Last Cadillac XTS Rolls Off Assembly Line In Oshawa
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The last Cadillac XTS has rolled off the assembly line at General Motors‘ Oshawa Assembly plant in Ontario, with the vehicle assembly line at the plant set to close down at the end of the year.
GM’s plans to discontinue the XTS first came to light via a union bulletin posted in May, adding yet another nameplate to the list of cars it has killed off or made plans to terminate in the past year. The XTS was destined to be discontinued, though, with the automaker first planning to get rid of it back in 2017 before granting it a stay for the 2018 and 2019 model years. Surprisingly, GM applied an update to the full-size luxury sedan for 2018, giving it a slight cosmetic revision and reconfiguring the trim levels.
While the Cadillac XTS has been discontinued in North America, it remains in production in China for the time being, though its days are numbered in the Asian market as well. The XTS has experienced a good degree of sales success in China since it was first launched in the country back in 2013, but with the Cadillac CT6 now available there, it serves little purpose.
The XTS also launched in North America in 2013 as a replacement for the Cadillac STS and DTS. As our sister site Cadillac Society points out, the front-wheel-drive XTS was considered to be a sort of stop-gap product to hold over customers until the arrival of the rear-wheel-drive CT6. For this reason, it was priced similarly to the rear-wheel-drive Cadillac CTS, even though it slotted above the mid-size sedan in the automaker’s portfolio.
As an interesting aside, the Cadillac CT6 was originally to be called the Cadillac LTS, following the same naming convention standards as the XTS, ATS, and CTS, but Cadillac then implemented its CT# and XT# naming convention, so it ended up being called the CT6.
In North America, the XTS was offered with two engine options: the naturally aspirated 3.6-liter LFX V6 and the more powerful twin-turbocharged 3.6L LF3 V6, which was offered exclusively in the XTS V-Sport variant.
The Cadillac XTS was also offered as a fleet vehicle in five different variants, which were known as Cadillac XTS Professional Vehicles. These included a limousine, a stretch limousine, a hearse and even an armored vehicle.
For the time being, the Cadillac CT6 will serve as the sole full-size sedan in Cadillac’s lineup, though with a starting price that is roughly $10,000 higher, it may not attract the same type of buyer.
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Source: Cadillac Society
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Malaise era II here we come!
Interesting take since transverse FWD Cadillacs were a 100% creation of the “malaise” era(which is an awful term to begin with and really needs to be dropped)
Generally, the “Malaise Era” is considered to be associated with the presidency of Jimmy Carter which ran from 1977 to 1981. Carter delivered a speech in July of 1979 on the subject of energy where he encouraged Americans to conserve it. The speech was later dubbed “The Malaise Speech”. Subsequently, automotive writers latched on to the malaise term to describe the vehicles produced during the energy crisis era. In that context, the time period is expanded to the period of 1972 though 1983.
The transverse-engine FWD Cadillacs launched in 1985 and 1986 after the Carter years and the malaise era had ended. By the early to mid-1980s, the car business was somewhat returning to normal and performance was beginning to experience a rebirth. The irony of those disastrous FWD Cadillacs (especially the E/K bodies) is that they would have been spot-on products for 1981 but by the time they actually made it to market, the crisis had passed and Americans were back to buying larger, more powerful cars. Still, I think to call them a “creation of the malaise era” is essentially accurate. Development would’ve began during that malaise time frame.
The significance of the XTS’ production closeout is that it brings to a close that era of transverse-engine, FWD Cadillac sedans that technically began in 1981 with the Cimmaron but more significantly with the 1985 B-Body and 1986 E-K Body. In my opinion, the 35 years they stayed around was far too long.
What eventually became the 1985 FWD C-body cars was already in the advanced styling studio in 1978-1979 with the basic layout pretty much locked in by 1980 and early development mules running around in 1981. The original goal was to launch them as 1983 cars instead of 1985 cars but the delayed development of the 4 speed OD auto delayed them to around early 1984.
Though the E/K was a mess, the 1985 C-body Cadillacs were well received and outsold the prior years RWD DeVille and Fleetwood so it lured management into a false sense of security for the 1986 E/K cars but the downsized personal luxury cars flopped. They are lessons as to how the auto industry works and how far in advance car companies are planning and investing towards the future.
Predictions from the late 70’s were dire, gas shortages, $2-$3 a gallon gas, increasing CAFE to 30 or 35mpg, all these were real scenarios that GM was looking at when they planned these cars out.
MrR,
Interesting insights. It might also be added that the public response to GM’s initial downsizing (1977 B/C; 1978 A/A-Special; 1979 E; 1980 X and K) efforts was very favorable which, no doubt might’ve been seen as encouraging by GM management.
It’s a fascinating period of time to study and there hasn’t been a lot written on the subject but GM’s first round of downsizing was incredibly successful. Although there was some buyer resistance for the A-Special coupes at the outset, most of the products performed very well in the marketplace and have since proven to be very sound, well engineered cars. They were so successful in fact that GM nearly took over the US car market. By 1980, GM had 60 percent of the US car market, Chrysler was begging the government for loan guarantees and Ford was in nearly as dire a situation. GM had bet big on downsizing and it had paid off handsomely. Ford and Chrysler were literally left in the dust.
Then came round two and GM was equally aggressive with their plans. For 1985, they converted their full size, body-on-frame luxury sedans to unitized bodies and FWD with transverse-mounted engines. The C-bodies sold relatively well but especially the Cadillacs were judged too small and are considered now to be the beginning point of GM’s downfall. The E/K-bodies that followed in 1986 were a unmitigated disaster with sales falling 60 percent on what were GM’s most prestigious models and the company’s cash cow products. The company wisely pulled back on their plans with the N-Body by launching it in 1985 as a supplemental product rather than direct replacements for the popular A-Special coupes. GM also prudently kept many of their older B-Body products in production to mitigate the damage. GM eventually launched the FWD W-Body in 1988 to replace the ’78 era mid-size RWD models that had soldiered. The W’s were only modestly downsized but they too received a lukewarm reception.
Whereas in 1980, GM had clearly delineated products in each size class, by the middle of the decade, it was a mess. The “mid-sized” Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme was actually bigger than Oldsmobile’s premium coupe, the Toronado. The Chevy Caprice was larger than the “full-size” Electra from the more upscale Buick brand. Pontiac’s full-size car was what used to be their mid-sized car. The order in their lineup had been disrupted.
GM never really recovered from the calamity that was round two of the great downsizing. Part of the blame I think goes to Irv Rybicki who’d been in charge of the design of these products and they just didn’t have the cache’ of the cars from Bill Mitchell’s era. Also, GM was poorly run in this era by Roger B. Smith but perhaps most importantly was that GM planned for a dire situation that simply never happened. By the time the second-round cars launched, the crisis was over and the rush to smaller cars had been abated. Whereas they’d delivered exactly what the market wanted right on time with round one, the second time, they were trying to force buyers into smaller cars they didn’t want or like.
Those were interesting times. GM was on such a high and then got too aggressive and lost it all. They’ve never gotten back the utter dominance that they had when the 1980’s began.
As I said earlier, in a sense the FWD XTS sedan brings all of that to a close. There is now, for the first time in 35 years, no FWD Cadillac sedan in production.
Malaise era II is not singly referencing the FWD XTS but everything that is coming down the pike-
1) No sedans from Ford or GM and great uncertainty from FCA
2) A Camaro with no future leaving GM’s only car the expensive 2 seater Vette that is drawing much controversy
3) Dwindling availability of stick shift transmissions
4) Overabundance of trucks, SUV’s and CUV’s
5) Prices quickly escalating out of the average consumer’s range
6) Insane amount of driver aides and complication that frustrate consumers
7) Tiny turbo engines that won’t last anywhere near as long as NA engine
8) Transmissions with too many gears and shifting issues that consumers do not like
9) Replacing the normal shift lever with all manors of frustrating replacements
10) All this talk of self driving and electric only cars for Mary’s fantasyland triple zero future at the expense of everything current.
I’m not even going in to the gradual shift to foreign cars from many consumers, extreme lack of exterior colors and interior colors, terrible rear visibility and increasingly added complexity and added costs of today’s vehicles. The first malaise era will seem like a walk in the park compared for what these manufacturers and the government will have in store for us the next 10 years!
How did they build the last one if the plant isn’t running?
ATTENTION EDITORS: Ask GM to put that Caddy version of the twin turbo 3.6 liter LF3 V6 into an limited edition SS version of the Chev Colorado. I remember the Silverado SS pickups of 2003, which were available in just 3 different colours, all had lowered suspension, a 400 HP 6 liter and AWD. Of course it must have either AWD or 4 wheel drive to be able to handle all the power properly and avoid burning the tires up with it’s 400 pounds feet of torque. And since i’m on the subject, how about a baby Caddy super luxury version of the Colorado with all the toys and the same twin turbo 400 plus HP 3.6 liter V6 engine. Remember that any vehicle made in the U.S. of less than 10,000 per year, DOES NOT have to meet normal emissions requirements. Perfect for this limited edition vehicle.
“And since i’m on the subject, how about a baby Caddy super luxury version of the Colorado”
Good riddance!!!… They was a time a fwd Cadillac car was still competitive but it’s time to move on.
Must be a good reason that 3.6 TT never saw duty in anything else…
I would have loved to have seen it used in an Impala SS or a LaCrosse GS of some sort, even if it was slightly de-tuned from the XTS 410hp to 375 in the Impala, which is a nice number since it matches the old 375hp 396 SS and say 400 in the Buick.
I think GM should really keep the CT6 around now that the XTS is gone. It seems crazy to me to have built two large luxury Cadillacs and then to discontinue both at the same time due to unsatisfactory sales. They were literally competing against each other and splitting the sales volume. Without the cheaper XTS sitting on lots next to CT6, I would imagine that would be a boost for sales of the RWD car. The departure of XTS is either going to benefit the CT6 or if GM drops it too, the benefit goes to the Lincoln Continental.
CT6 isn’t going anywhere, but to a different plant to get produced. It’s not discontinued FFS.
I hope you are right but GM has so far been unwilling to be as emphatic as you and instead publicly stated the car was going away and later reiterated that position. Months later they said they weren’t sure and lately will only say it depends on contract negotiations with the UAW. The most recent thing I’ve heard on the contract negotiations with the UAW is that GM’s current offer, issued Monday, does not include keeping Hamtramck or Lordstown open.
The XTS was underappreciated. My 2016 was the most trouble free car I’ve owned. As a touring car, FWD was an asset, as I had no intention of playing on the Dragon with it. I would have absolutely replaced it with another one if I was looking to buy an orphan model – which I wasn’t. It was my last Caddy. I’m almost certain of that. Nothing Caddy has done lately looks irresistable.