General Motors developed the rear-wheel-drive Omega platform specifically for Cadillac and the brand immediately put it to good use with the impressive Cadillac CT6 sedan. Anyone familiar with GM knows the automaker typically uses a single platform for a number of different vehicles, but strangely, the CT6 is so far the only vehicle to use the Omega architecture.
It turns out that Cadillac had much bigger plans for the Omega platform before cost constraints forced the company to go in another direction. As first reported by GM Authority’s sister site, Cadillac Society, company management made a business case for the large rear-wheel-drive platform by planning to use it in three separate vehicles: the CT6, an unnamed “Lux 3” mid-size sedan and a “Lux 4” three-row crossover – the latter of which turned out to be the XT6.
2019 Cadillac CT6-V
Cadillac eventually abandoned its plans for both the “Lux 3” sedan and the Omega-based XT6, sticking the crossover on a much more affordable crossover platform, the C1, which is shared with seven other GM crossovers. While the XT6 is an acceptable entry into the premium/luxury crossover segment, there’s no denying it would have been a much more impressive product had it arrived on the Omega platform. The latter enables both RWD and RWD-based AWD, is extremely light and has 50:50 weight distribution. This would have made the XT6 a true rival to German offerings like the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz GLE, rather than a premium FWD-based offering like the current model, which compares better to vehicles like the Acura MDX.
That said, Cadillac seems to have moved on from the Omega platform, anyway. The CT6 is no longer in production in North America and Cadillac focused on its upcoming electric vehicles. In fact, electrification was a factor explaining why the Cadillac XT6 went to C1 in the first place, with GM pulling much of the brand’s resources forward and funneling them into its new EV projects.
In light of the Cadillac’s impending shift to EVs, Omega was deemed a dead end and was put to pasture in favor of more affordable platforms. According to Cadillac Society‘s sources, the BEV3 electric platform and new VSS-R rear-wheel drive platform will both implement lessons GM learned when developing Omega, so at least the effort wasn’t a total waste.
Cadillac EV concept
The first Cadillac EV will be a mid-size crossover, which the automaker released design renderings of in early 2019. The electric crossover is expected to go on sale in 2022, though we are expecting it to debut in April.
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This post was written in collaboration with our sister publication, Cadillac Society.
Comments
Major fail.
I was just in an XT6 and while nice it is nothing worth the extra money over a GMC Acadia Denali price.
To get the bigger price Cadillac needs to offer more for the money. The Omega could have gotten the higher price and recovered the added cost.
Another failure since JDN left.
JDN was 100% responsible for the XT6.
No he’s not.
In a head-to-head vs. the Lincoln Aviator on Motor, De Nysschen was one of the judges. He flat out said the XT6 should’ve been based on the Omega platform.
I believe Mary Barra and Mark Reuss shot him down.
Absolutely false. I was there. Reuss killed it to show JdN who was boss. Full stop.
I was at my local car show and people were all over the XT6 more than the Acadia. Its not the same vehicle. Its wider and much more refined. Its based off the Blazer version. Its a very nice vehicle and according to the sales of it GM made the right choice. They are also right most people have no idea if a car has V6 a 4 cyclinder turbo. They also could care less if its rearwheel drive AWD or front wheel drive AWD.
You are probably correct that most don’t know what engine or Drive system is in cars… but if they build a RWD/AWD with a v8 or TT6 – it would have drawn people to the brand that DO know.
Exactly! It’s true GM can sell Cadillacs to people who don’t know anything about engines or FWD vs. RWD but those are not really the affluent, savvy buyers Cadillac should be seeking. McDonalds sells lots of food too but not to affluent folks with a sophisticated palate.
There is an old saying that you can sell an old man a young mans car but you can’t sell a young man an old mans car.
I think you can kinda apply that to people who appreciate the finer point in cars and the ones who don’t care about the finer points in cars.
You can sell an person who don’t know much about cars a a car that a car guy can appreciate but you can’t sell a car guy a plain vanilla car.
That didn’t come out exactly the same but I think some of you understand what I am getting at.
Vcat,
You have that exactly right. It was Sermon “Bunkie” Knudsen, who was a GM Executive, who said that. His exact words reportedly were “You can sell a young man’s car to an old man, but you can’t sell an old man’s car to a young man.” This long-lived utterance related to his plans to totally revamp GM’s Pontiac division in the 1950s. The brand was known for appealing to older folks at the time and Bunkie gambled on the youth market but tempered that gamble with his famous statement. He believed Pontiac wouldn’t lose all of their older customers in pursuit of younger ones. His belief proved accurate as Pontiac later became the #3 US car brand behind only Chevrolet and Ford with a lineup of more distinct and exciting cars with obvious youth appeal.
Your other assertion is also spot on. There are consumers that lead and consumers that follow. A company like BMW has sold a ton of cars to “imitators” who seek to be like the car enthusiasts that originally embraced the brand and their “Ultimate Driving Machine” credo. Those leaders knew a BMW was the real deal, they were the savvy buyers who did their homework. Many others simply followed their lead. They may not know much about canyon carving or lap times at the Nürburgring but they trusted the judgement of those who did.
Cadillac’s problem is that they think they can do luxury on the cheap with rebadged FWD Chevys and no one will know the difference. While I’m sure they have some empirical data to support that, it is also true that the most sophisticated buyers know the difference which is why Cadillacs never find homes in what Johan de Nysschen called the ‘right garages’ and if they never do that, they will never be the object of choice for the followers either. Cadillac can never get back their “it brand” status because they’ve never really done a top-notch, nose-to-tail first class product that attracts the creme-de-la-creme of customers. Instead they do also-ran stuff that only appeals to the GM loyalists or the Tier 2 buyers.
XT6 was 7 out of 8 in terms of sales for 2019 in spite the fact that it went on sale in the Q2 vs Q3 for the Aviator with all its issues on launch. Lets be serious XT6 is no sales leader in its segment…..2020 will prove that even more. I would like to be wrong cause I like the look but that’s about it…
Joe you appear to be one of the fooled. The Blazer, XT6 and Acadia are all built on the same platform just the Blazer is the shorter one.
Most people know if they have a 4 or 6. They are not that stupid. Well most are not. Once you get to a higher price range people expect RWD based AWD systems as most others in class carry.
You may fool the lower price people but when people pay more most start paying attention to what they are getting.
“They are also right most people have no idea if a car has V6 a 4 cyclinder turbo. They also could care less if its rearwheel drive AWD or front wheel drive AWD.”
Well “they” have no business making decisions at any auto company.
After about $65k shoppers HAVE to know and care about these things. If someone is going to drop that amount of cash on a vehicle, it d@mn sure better be competitive and/or satisfying.
This is why you rarely see FWD/AWD vehicles priced higher than $70k ceiling, while RWD/AWD have no price ceiling.
It being pretty good isn’t an excuse for it not being great.
Good enough has been 98% of Cadillac for as long as I can remember. The current Cadillac is what Buick should be, Buick has become a joke.
Omega would have been a much better choice to go up against the X7 and GLS.
The new electric crossover had better be RWD
The XT6 is a fairly popular crossover already, but it’s basically just a 3 row XT5. They could charge so much more for a better chassis.
Don’t forget the new Genesis
91fairladyz
The Genesis brand has flopped everywhere outside South Korea. Originally 400 of Hyundai’s 950 dealerships said they were interested in selling Genesis. Today only 350 dealerships actually do sell Genesis, and only about a dozen have built independent Genesis stores.
1st Problem: South Korea is not a big market for luxury vehicles. When every South Korean interested in buying a Genesis already owns a Genesis sales will tank there too.
2nd Problem: In the U.S. most luxury vehicle buyers are not going to be buying a vehicle at a Hyundai store.
3rd Problem: at Hyundai/Kia, worldwide sales are down. Profits are down. Money is starting to get tight. The Genesis brand needs to start turning in big profits really soon to justify any further investment.
This was well known 5 years ago or whenever Omega was confirmed with production plans.
All Cadillac crossovers were supposed to be RWD based including when the 2nd gen FWD SRX became the XT5. First gen SRX was RWD.
GM said when the XT5 debited that most owners don’t know the difference. Just an excuse to further dilute Casillac.
The only thing that’s been consistent at Cadillac over the past 15 years is them claiming they are turning the brand around and taking the fight to the Germans. Then stuff like a raping proper platforms and engines happens.
Actually it was 2012 when it was said that Omega would unpin an XT6 and XT8. XT4 and XT5 were also supposed to be RWD based, Alpha platform?
I would assume an eventual XT7 would be Omega as well, only more of a fastback
Once again, does anyone know who Cadillac’s competition is???? I say Cadillac’s only competition as GM sees it is COSTS. GM is totally clueless, Foolish, and stupidly cheap.
I am waiting to see how they cheap out on the EV’s and the cheap short sighted shortcuts they take. They cant help it its alll they know, The only way they understand how to do business.
Completely agree. Had GM gone with Omega for Cadillac it would have brought real transformation to the brand. There would have been clear separations from the other brands and the reviews would have been terrific. The platform is amazing and it would have truly established Cadillac AND GM as technology leaders. When given the choice of these clear market separators, GM chose costs. As GM is looking to be an EV leader (already waaayyy behind IMO, this platform has been seen as a stop gap) but what publicity and brand equity it could have delivered. AND GM would have been seen as aggressive regardless of the “costs”.
THIS is why GM is a failure and will continue to lose in the eyes of customers and the market…
That is just it they can’t afford to cheap out on the EV products.
They have a reset button with the EV products and they can change the whole image of the brand if they invest in them properly. They do not have to compete with Rolls or Bentley but they do need to compete with the mid range BMW, Audi, Benz and Tesla products. They all must clearly be better than the others offer.
At the rate they are going Lexus and Lincoln are a path to failure to compete against. This is not an expanding segment and really adds some low volume profits. The way to increase profits here is better vehicles that can command a higher price.
The loss of Johann was devastating.
I think Cadillac was wise to go with the VSS-R/EV plan rather than Omega. I’d say that because cars are becoming more electric anyways and it’s better to have a rwd platform to handle ICE and electric than adapt EV to an ICE luxury car (Omega) and be murdered by the press.
Many said the next XT6 will be rwd and the current sales outpace Lincoln’s “Caddy killing” Aviator. I do like it to come sooner than later.
We will hear all types of BOLD statements and grand direction of the shiny new way into the future the EV’s will be. They will plow billions into it!!!!! Discontinue all else that stands in there way. Then All will come clear, A mutteled, confused, half harted effort hampered by cost cutting and cheaping out will be the result. The money will be spent buffing a high shine on a typical mediocre result of competing compromises and general malaze of directionless indecision. Then the BOLD decision will be made to abandon the EV’s soon later and head off for a shiny new future…. TYPICAL GM… Nothing will change with the same place holders ruining the company!
Bravo!!
Exactly……it will be all show(exterior wise) until you open the door and then it will be WTF(interior) allover again.
You guys notice we were supposed be flooded with this EV garbage by now, but instead EVERY single EV will come out in 2021 now.
Do you think it’s coincidence that we have elections this year and ALL those wonderful EVs will come out next year?
ALL of them are praying President Trump loses elections. They can’t exist without Democrats in charge. Most of them will be gone by 2024.
#1 there will still be ICE Cadillac’s for a good while yet.
Because they will still be around they need to do better than just sell a higher priced Chevy or GMC.
Most people able to afford a luxury car are not idiots. Most are well educated and expect more for their money. Buying a Cadillac with a Traverse or Blazer platform is not really a way to see value in paying more money for the vehicle.
Platform sharing is a reality but GM needs to do a better job of it. We saw them pay the price in the 80’s -90’s with the badge engineered luxury cars from Buick, Olds and Cadillac.
Yet they learned nothing… Or the current brain trust ruining GM has no idea of the disaster of the 80;s and 90;s… Just like minded cost cutting buricrats doing all they now how to do……
While the XT6 does not yet represent Cadillac’s full return to lux segment superiority, calling it a rebadged Blazer or Acadia and recalling GM’s 1980’s badge reengineering isn’t accurate either. For GM, leveraging platforms that can support 300-400K annual volume is the only way a car company can succeed. That said, Cadillac will need to continue its quest to separate its products from not only other GM brands, but more important, its other lux competitors, with aggressive yet classic styling, superior materials, and absolutely cutting edge technologies. THAT will bring Cadillac back to being the “Standard of the World.”
As for needing the performance capability to go from 0-60 in under 3 seconds, or around the nurburgring (sp?) in under 12 minutes, or stop from 60-0 in less than 75ft, leave that up to Chevrolet with the Corvette and future Corvette derivitives. I think today’s V series product extensions crush the expectations of 99.9% of today’s lux prospects.
Just my opinion…
I get what you are saying but that the same thing GM does and says every time they defend there bad decisions and lack of vision. GM still has the sickness of Chevrolet Cavalier can be a Cadillac by just changing the name. Cadillac will NEVER be Iconic again, platform sharing with Chevy. never! Sadly the mass market mentality of GM doesn’t and never will get it.
There was nothing wrong with the platform, it’s the execution. No thigh extenders on the front seats when they offer them on other Cadillacs, not offering the 3.0TT for those wanting more power, only avg material quality, etc. For the price they are asking, it’s missing stuff their competitors have.
Once again, where is Cadillac doing business? China and NA. Neither market “demands” these vehicles to be great or even above average, so they are not. The other thing is……if there were an Omega based RWD/AWD 3 row CUV with a TTV6 or even Blackwing V8, how much would GM charge? $80K? Most everyone would go with the Escalade anyway.
Building the XT6 on FWD/AWD chassis was a great idea. It provides distinction from the Escalade. In reality, one is catered more toward women while the other is geared more toward men. The Aviator/Navigator don’t have such distinction.
The XT6 will outsell the Aviator and will be so much more profitable for Cadillac.
Triple zero yo! Just as the crooked media keeps blaming everything on Climate Change we can blame all of GM’s cost cutting and screw ups on Barra’s triple zero fantasy.
The best car Cadillac built was the CT-6 so of course they stop building it and put its advanced albeit expensive platform out to pasture. We now have the XT-5 and the XT-6, they are nice and I will rent them but not spend my money to buy one. Give me a Aviator or Q-7. Look at those cars interiors and chassis.
Shame on you Cadillac.
I can only imagine the price of this vehicle if they had gone with omega platform, as the platform they did use hits over $70 grand for a loaded unit.
Because GM thinks they can get it…. whereas if they’d have created a product folks are lining up to buy (Hyundai Palisade/Kia Telluride – since release they’ve raised the price 2X) they could sell at sticker or….? But this is GM so they market an ehhh vehicle, over price it then incentivize it to move it.. and if it doesn’t sell they say folks don’t want this type of vehicle then exit the segment and or market….
While I am not a fan of their current crop of Tweener Vehicles and FWD CUV’s, I will give them a Pass going forward if and only if they’re upcoming EV’s are World Class. Meaning Tesla level EV Tech and Software. That will show me that they at least took all the Savings from their current cost cutting measures but actually put them to good use.
There thinking will be cut every corner possible on the EV;s, then add the savings to all the cost cutting corners and cancellations we have already done. Then GM leaders will praise themselves for there bold action!!!!!
Omega XT8 (Escalade sport), Blackwing V8, RWD, AWD, 2021 Escalade interior, 6passenger, super cruise, etc. I’m all in!
you have to much forward thinking, creativity and vision. You will never make it at GM. Now if you said build it on a pick up platform use the most cost effective stock engine and find 20 percent more savings and build it in china, then you would be qualified to make future product decisions.
A lot of great comments here regarding the direction of Cadillac. Unfortunately, it seems like today’s Cadillac is closer to the Roger Smith era “Minilacs” of the mid to late 1980s compared to the “Art and Science” movement that started with Cadillac’s dedicated Sigma platform.
If you are trying to elevate yourself to the level of BMW and Benz, you do not do so with Chevy platforms. If you are going to charge BMW/Benz money, your product must be just as good if not better than a BMW or Benz. This includes EVERYTHING from chassis to powertrain to interior quality. With the new Aviator, Lincoln seems to be getting it.
Think of all the money wasted on the development of a new platform that was used on one vehicle that could have been used on their new EV portfolio . I believe the CT6 will still live on , but in China .
GM needs to realize that the secret is out and has been for years that the old way of badge engineering is alive and in force . That’s why they are not the top car maker anymore but 3rd behind Toyota And VW .
I rented a XT6 a week ago , it’s nice but it’s like something is missing inside as far as something special . It’s alot like the XT5 in the design which now looks old compared to the XT4,s interior .
So a new platform , new engine and both are tossed aside ….. Thanks Johan DM .
As usual a new direction is taken. Cadillac was to be world class with the platforms and engines and technology to stand among the best.
Then as things are getting going and billions spent, GM being GM, said NO ! Too expensive!!!!!!! Lets throw that all away and cheap out using Chevrolet platforms.
Who is to say GM wont get half way with the EV;s, then panic and cancel them half way through. Its the GM way! Always has been, always will be!
Problem is JDN had vision of where Cadillac needed to be, sadly the clueless bureaucrats that run GM have no vision other than cost cuts dancing in there heads as they strangle starve and dismember what at one time was a great company.
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