The 2021 Cadillac Escalade made its global debut during an event held in Beverly Hills earlier this month, but now the new luxury SUV has made its first public appearance at the 2021 Canadian International Auto Show in downtown Toronto.
As our sister site Cadillac Society reports, the Escalade‘s appearance at CIAS 2020 marks the first time the vehicle has been displayed at a public auto show. Somewhat strangely, the new Escalade was not in attendance at the 2021 Chicago Auto Show, which opened to the public on February 7th. We imagine this was due to the fact that the Escalade was only shown in Beverly Hills on February 4th, perhaps creating logistical issues for GM that prevented it from bringing the next-generation SUV to Chicago.
Toronto is still a major automotive market, though, and Cadillac has good dealer presence in the Greater Toronto Area, including the newly renovated Roy Foss Cadillac in nearby Woodbridge. Only one 2021 Cadillac Escalade is on display at the show and it is behind a partition, preventing attendees from being able to touch it or sit inside.
As we already know, the 2021 Cadillac Escalade has two available engines: a standard 6.2L L87 V8 and an optional turbo-diesel 3.0L LM2 I6 engine. Both engines are mated to a ten-speed automatic transmission. The SUV also rides on GM’s new T1 platform and features a new independent rear suspension setup and available Magnetic Ride Control and Air Ride Adaptive Suspension.
The interior is also a major step forward over the outgoing 2020 Cadillac Escalade, with an industry-first curved OLED display serving as both the driver’s display and the center infotainment screen. Cadillac has also done away with the old school column shifter in the old Escalade, switching to GM’s Electronic Precision Shift system.
The 2021 Cadillac Escalade will soon be joined by the 2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV extended-wheelbase model, which will debut at the 2021 New York International Auto Show in April.
CIAS 2020 is open from February 14th through to the 23rd and is held in the North and South Buildings of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
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This report was written in collaboration with our sister publication, Cadillac Society.
Comments
@Sam McEachern, do you know if the Escalade will be at the Cleveland Auto Show this coming week?
That’s the ESV.
No it is not the ESV. That won’t be revealed until April. The new base Escalade is longer than the current Escalade, so that might be a point of confusion.
If it’s not tell me why it’s a different length than the other Escalades shown?
Also, I know the new one is longer than the current generation.
The difference is easy, if you zoom in on the live picture you can see the rear doors have a angle cut in them to clear the wheel well, the ESV has perfect rectangle doors with no clearance needed.
Simply look at the c-pillar kink. It’s not an ESV. The ESV’s c-pillar kink is a different design.
I’ve been corrected. Thank you.
Looks like an ugly land yacht. GM has some of the worst designers in the field.
I like the looks except for the front end. Something about it is off a little. Very nice effort by GM overall. If I can risk attack I will say the body reminds me of the Navi a little. The interior is crazy good.
I know it’s a Chevy.
You know it’s a Chevy.
But can’t they do something to make it look less like a Chevy?
LOUIS is right about the front end: not right.
There were still more people at the Tim Horton’s down the street…