Cadillac XT5 Is Now Available With Monochromatic Badges
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The 2021 Cadillac XT5 can now be ordered with monochromatic badges, GM Authority has learned. The badges are offered as an LPO-level item for grille and liftgate, which means that they are installed by the dealer rather than at the factory. They can also be purchased as an official Cadillac accessory.
2020 Cadillac XT5 Sport with standard badge on front grille
The badges are priced at $175 and have the RPO code SFZ. They are available for all models in the Cadillac XT5 range, regardless of trim level.
Monochromatic badges are not new in the Cadillac line-up. They have been an option for the 2021 Cadillac XT4 for several months, and are also available for the 2021 Cadillac Escalade either as a $295 stand-alone accessory or as part of the $2,295 Onyx Package. The package also includes 22-inch 12-spoke Gloss Black finish alloy wheels, a Gloss Black Cadillac nameplate and a puddle lamp with the Cadillac crest, and is an option only in the Sport trim level.
These new monochromatic badges for the XT5 join similar badges found on the front fenders of current Cadillac vehicles. Additionally, the upcoming Cadillac Lyriq electric crossover, due to go on sale in the first quarter of 2022, will feature a simple black and white light-up crest.
Some may regret this gradual trend away from the traditional Cadillac logo, which features red, blue and yellow elements – mostly rectangular for luxury models but slanted in the case of the more sporty V-Series vehicles, including the upcoming ultra-high-performance Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing.
However, this is part of an industry-wide trend that’s particular popular among younger buyers, who prefer monochromatic elements over those with bright multi-color elements.
Be sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more Cadillac XT5 news, Cadillac news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
This post was created in collaboration with our sister publication, Cadillac Society.
At least fill the holes with patterns, iridescent colors or a light show if you don’t want to use traditional colors. Or use black and orange inserts. But blank makes the lines look pointless.
As is it now, the monochromatic look would be better as the entire Escalade grille, not an ornament.
Why did Buick get color if mono is so trendy?
China
Buick removed the colors from the tri-shield back in the late 90’s or early 2000’s. It didn’t go well and buyers didn’t like the plain-jane look. Eventually, they made the right decision and went back to the colors. I don’t recall the exact year/s that they went back, but it was a smart move. I don’t think (could be wrong) that it had anything to do with China.
Every update to the badge looks more chintzy.
Blah. It’s stuff like this that just gets me as it starts with this and ends up with other stupid moves to continually keep trying to appeal to people Cadillac will probably never get. Like chasing the German brands and leaving the loyal Cadillac owners/buyers over the years. It’s stuff like this that got us stupid stuff like CT4 and CT5 instead of decent names. And I’ll bet you that the people making these decisions have zero clue of any history of this brand. Let’s just hope they leave this as an option instead of making this the next “new” thing.
I won’t go into more of it for the sake of keeping this shorter, but here is just a tiny bit of history about the fantastic Cadillac wreath and crest emblem. Enjoy.
“The original Cadillac crest
The first automotive Cadillac emblem featured the following design elements:
The Couronne (Crown): The six ancient counts of France, with the pearls being descendancy from the royal counts of Tolouse.
The Merlettes: Commonly known as “the ducks,” these birds appear in trios to symbolize the Holy Trinity, with three on one side representing the nobility of the mother’s lineage and the others representing the father’s noble lineage. The use of the birds comes from the time of the Crusades.
Color Stripes: Black (superiority), gold (riches), red (boldness), silver (virtue), and blue (valor). The black stripe itself is indicative of an award for Crusader service.
The Laurel Wreath: A symbol of aristocracy and victory.
Cadillac logo old design
The most popular design during the 20th century.”
News Sources: GM Heritage Center, Motor Authority
Black equals superiority, crusades, oh this is getting WAY to racial! LOL Better sanitize it!
Good history, thanks for sharing. Throwing boomers under the bus doesn’t have to be done for the sake of appealing to modern millennials who like living in barren white boxes of minimalism and coldness.
A good designer knows how to appeal to both.
Etsy is all about preserving historical art. If Cadillac hadn’t thrown quality luxury under the bus and replaced it with cheap junk masquerading as luxury, there would be no Lexus or Mercedes at the top of the pile to define what luxury is.
Nunya Business
50 years ago Japan & Germany were low wage countries. To survive GM & Ford had to reduce the cost of their vehicles, and load them up with not ready for prime time features.
Cadillac & Lincoln downfall probably started when they started putting Air Conditioning in their vehicles. Before A/C they were among the fastest large sedans on the road. Afterwards the mussel car era was born.
Maybe, I know the first AC units were a mess, but they did sell cars and led to mass adoption.
Some blame emission laws, safety laws, fuel economy laws.
I blame short term economics and a culture of quarterly results.
Japan and Germany were making good cars in the 70s when we were making junk.
It’s not the union’s fault, the components were designed to be cheap by engineers told to make them cheap and not spend too much time making them better. They were told this by executive management, not rogue plant managers.
We take our cues from Wall Street now, not customers.
Dude, if the European luxury brands were reliable, the Japanese luxury brands wouldn’t exist.
If all Japanese vehicles were reliable Daihatsu, Isuzu, Suzuki & Mitsubishi would still sell vehicles in the U.S. and Nissan would still be called Datsun
Peter G: Thank you! Well said. Funny thing is that my first car (hand-me-down) was a 1979 Toyota Corolla. Great little car, but it has ZERO options. AM/FM radio with one speaker. Hard vinyl seats and the doors were literally hard metal with a thinly padded vinyl piece covering it. It did have A/C, the AM/FM and an automatic, but that was it. Now compare that to the fully loaded 1975 Cadillac DeVille my parents also had with every option known to the car industry at that time. So just by the laws of nature, the Cadillac would have so much more to go wrong with it, but it didn’t. Both were great cars. But the thing that I recall most of all about the Japanese brands is how they literally rotted out within the first two years where we lived. Yes, the American brands also would rust out, but it would take 7+ years for them to get where the Japanese brands would be in 2 years. And yes, the older Japanese brands did have issues as well.
Also agree today’s alphanumerical are really dumb. They don’t have to hang on to the past, the can retire old names, create new ones. As long as they don’t sound like drugs or strippers, new names are better than Xt6Rv.
Oldsmobile Cialis
Cadillac Viagra
Buick Levitra
Pontiac Prezista
Too generic. I liked the Merlettes better.
@paul
If you think the Cadillac crest is “generic”, you do not know the meaning of the word.
I agree. I haven’t bought a Cadillac yet, but hope to have a full emblem when I do, and not a worn out one!
Kryst!
You guys are so predictable.
IT’S JUST A D**N EMBLEM AND AN OPTIONAL ONE AT THAT!
Back in “the good old days” (1950s) Cadillac revised the Crest every year. Often 2 or more different versions would be used on different parts of the car. The exterior crests on all Cadillacs was completely colorless for 1959 through 1962. Inside it might be fully colored. NO ONE COMPLAINED.
That was then. This is now.
People are mad because GM spends so much time on logos and branding but the quality of the cars is still a joke.
No it’s not.
And if the competiton did this and Cadillac didn’t you’d be just as troll-y about it.
Some logos DO need to change. As long as the products are worth buying, unlike most Cadillacs, nobody cares.
Young buyers don’t think Cadillac’s bloated prices will get them the certainty of an import or Tesla.
GM isn’t going to cut prices to flood the market like Lexus did, GM is going to send Cadillac to it’s grave with a high sticker price and deny any wrongdoing.
Numya Bidniz: I can’t agree that Cadillac’s are junk or not worth buying. There are things that I would love to see changed, but overall I firmly believe that Cadillac is an outstanding product and getting better. I own a 2020 CT4 that so far is a fantastic vehicle and will stand toe to toe with anything from anywhere.
Megeebee: I won’t apologize for (1st) being passionate about Cadillac and (2nd) pointing out just how stupid decisions like this are. As I clearly pointed out in my post above, yes this is an option and we both know that if the take rate on this is high that the morons will make it the “new” emblem shortly after. They just keep watering down the brand because they don’t know the history and don’t care. What they do care about is how they can be the American BMW while living in their bland “modern” houses. I could go on, but you have your opinion and I have mine. Let’s leave it at that.
Sorry, I throw the word junk around a lot, but no, I don’t think Cadillacs are junk anymore. I think they are seriously overpriced considering the low sales volume and cancelled models over and over again while imports don’t need to cancel.
Cadillac needs to humble itself and drop the prices and flood the market and THEN everybody will see the value and how good they are. As sales go up, they can increase the price back to import levels.
To young buyers, Cadillac who?
Nunya: Got it.
“The exterior crests on all Cadillacs was completely colorless for 1959 through 1962. Inside it might be fully colored. NO ONE COMPLAINED.”
No internet in 1959 through 1962. So you really have no idea if “NO ONE COMPLAINED”. Right?
At the end of the day no sales will be lost to an optional emblem.
Look there are much more serious things that Cadillac needs to and is addressing. The first is the fact they are selling operate vehicles with better interiors. When I bought out GMC SUV I looked at the Cadillac and to be honest it was nice but $10K more nicer. Same engine and suspension just better seats and nicer dash.
If they want my money they need to bring a better package and give me more for my money than just a styling exercise.
Cadillac can no longer just sell on image anymore as they have lost their name equity. They need to bring back that equity with better products. I feel that the EV models may do this as they do look very interesting and they are not what I can get at any other GM division. The key will be to keep this difference and improve on it.
As for emblems it really matters little if it is not on a quality product with an earned higher image.
People that argue emblems and names puzzle me. That is like arguing about the candles on a birthday cake and the cake is so stale you can’t eat it anyways.
Same for reaching to the past. Old names and big fins will never fix the issues they face.
C8.R: I can see your point and agree with some of them, but aren’t the little details what makes or breaks anything in sales? Let’s take the example of a house for sale. Many times people will focus (wrongly, but they do) on the little things like carpet, flooring, paint, etc. In most but not all housing markets, that can kill a sale fast or it will at minimum drive the price down. It’s the same with auto sales. Those little details will certainly make the difference. The one thing that really stands out to me in your comment is “Cadillac can no longer just sell on image anymore as they have lost their name equity”. I assume your point was different, yet your comment really makes the case for why branding/names/emblems, etc are so important. Yes, Cadillac has lost it’s way and no matter how you feel about them, it’s both because of questionable products for year and the loss of it’s true brand. After all, you can buy a Timex or a Rolex and they both tell you the time. Why would anyone buy the Rolex then? Same reason why people buy luxury car brands. They want a story. They want exclusivity. They want history.
Cadillac really needs to get back to the place where the world compares the best of the best as the “Cadillac of……” To do this, they need great product and to build a story that makes people want to buy them. Monotone emblems and names like CT4/XT6 just don’t do that.
The only “cadillac” in the last 30 years that lives up to it’s name is the ELR. The interior and exterior design details, materials, etc. are above anything sold by “cadillac” today.
i prefer the luxury crest emblem on my srx but the biggest problem i have with a new caddy is the outdated dash in the xt5 i am now considering a lincolin .have you seen there new dashes!
we have 2018 and 2020 xt5s Outstanding vehicle , even the dash , neat clean and functional , still prefer Cadillac crest and colored emblem , monochromatic looks cheap
well the xt5 is still on top of my list just like more wow factor
XT5 has bigger concerns than the emblem.
My wife has an xt5, it’s been flawless in 2 years of ownership. We bought it because she liked it, I on the other hand wanted an Escalade but she thought it was too big. I hate the infotainment system, the start stop and the v-6 engine that makes a cheap buzzing sound when you start it. But she likes it and that’s what matters. I liked the Acadia Denali better at the time for 10 k less. Xt5 was hot at the time (2018) and the dealers weren’t discounting much.
As colorless as the brand itself.
Right on point.
Agreed. It looks like the original CTS grille which WAS beautiful and better than current Cadillac grilles.
But we know what happened – it was “too traditional” according to surveys so GM “modernized” it.
“we need younger buyers” so let’s make each iteration look like we’re not sure of our look, throw spaghetti on the wall until it sticks.
And cancel cars again and again so we don’t have to lower the price LOL
How about bringing back a more luxurious interior the xt5 is very cheaply made beautiful car but the inside looks cheap. My old xls 2010 would outshine the xt5 any day. Sorry I traded.
Haven’t you heard? Modern millennials WANT cheap plastic that’s cold and techy. Reminds em of their electronic devices, not mom n dad’s comfy house 🙂
Meanwhile Benz is laughing at Cadillac.
awesome car but yes interiors are not up to Cadillac standards ,my 1978 cutlass brougham had better material door panels .