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Cadillac CT5 Features Umbrella Storage Compartments: Feature Spotlight

One particularly useful feature of the Cadillac CT5 sedan can be found in the front door pockets. These contain compartments specifically designed for the storage of umbrellas.

The utility of the compartments naturally varies according to the state in which the Cadillac CT5 spends most of its time. In California or Arizona, for example, they are generally of little more than academic interests. However, in states where the annual rainfall is higher, a part of the car dedicated specifically to the storage of umbrellas becomes a matter of great importance.

In vehicles which do not include this feature (which is most of them), anyone climbing aboard rapidly to avoid a rain shower is faced with several unwelcome choices. One could put the folded wet umbrella on the floor, assuming there are few enough passengers for this to be practical, or on an unoccupied seat, which will itself become wet and possibly dirty by this action.

One might also put the umbrella in the trunk, but this means spending more time outside the vehicle in the rain, dramatically reducing the benefit of using the umbrella in the first place.

Front-seat occupants of the Cadillac CT5 can circumvent all of the above by folding the umbrella immediately before entering the car, and then putting it in the stowage compartment. This could be problematic if there are three or more passengers, because the ones in the rear do not have this option, though it’s fine if there are only two.

In-car umbrella storage is a textbook example of the old saying that any fool can have a complicated idea, but it takes a genius to have a simple one. It is so straightforward that it seems obvious, yet it is still very rare in the auto industry long after it was first thought of. It would be reasonable to expect that every manufacturer offered it this far into the 21st century, but very few of them do.

Even Cadillac has offered umbrella storage only intermittently. It was available on the eighth-generation Cadillac DeVille, but not the more recent (though now discontinued) Cadillac ATS or Cadillac CTS luxury sedans, indirect predecessors of the Cadillac CT5.

2019 Cadillac CTS

The type of manufacturer does not appear to make any difference to the importance it attaches to providing a dedicated spot for umbrellas. U.K.’s ultra-luxury brand Rolls-Royce and the Volkswagen Group’s Czech Republic-based budget brand Skoda (two manufacturers rarely mentioned in the same sentence) both currently offer not only door-mounted umbrella storage compartments but also actual umbrellas to put in them, and have done so for several years.

The 2021 Cadillac CT5 is priced to start at $37,990, including $995 destination charge, for the Luxury trim with rear-wheel-drive – the base configuration. The range also includes the more sporty Cadillac CT5-V.

An upcoming highlight is the ultra-high-performance 2022 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, which is scheduled to go into production on July 5th, 2021. The range-topper will be fitted with GM’s supercharged 6.2L V8 LT4 engine rated at 668 horsepower and 659 pound-feet of torque, making it the most powerful vehicle Cadillac has ever offered to the public.

Be sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more Cadillac CT5 news, Cadillac news and simple but ingenious GM news coverage.

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David has been writing about motoring and motorsport since he was 13 and racing since he was 19. He is British, and therefore apologizes for taking up too much of your time.

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Comments

  1. The New Impala built from 2014-2020 had front door umbrella storage also !

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  2. The Ford Fusion from 2013 on have this. It isn’t a Cadillac idea at all.

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    1. As the article points out, the last Deville had this feature.

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  3. This is actually quite sad. All that I see is acres of cheap hard plastic on the lower trim panel. If Cadillac actually understood their role in the so-called luxury market, they would provide a quality umbrella, with the Cadillac script on it, with every new car purchase. They would then line the door pockets with felt like VW does, and finish the lower trim panels with either carpet or stitched vinyl. Why doesn’t Cadillac get this? That trim panel looks just like the one on my 2017 Regal. My first new car, a 1997 Grand Prix, had door panels that were soft-touch and padded from top to bottom. My Roadmaster wagon had carpet on the lower, and INSIDE the map pockets–it was far better quality then this garbage. Believe it or not, there were some things that gm did better in the past.

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    1. @eyexist:

      If you bother to look at the competition you’ll find the very same material in the very same place.

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      1. I knew someone would say that. And yes, I have looked at the competition. Did you bother to look at the new Corvette in this area? Why is the Corvette interior superior to any Cadillac. The point is that Cadillac should be the STANDARD. They shouldn’t say “well that’s what everybody else is doing.” That’s not how you lead. I suggest you “bother” to look at how much nicer GM door panels were up until about the mid 2000’s.

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    2. The interior and trunk of 40 year old Cadillacs were finished to a higher standard than today. Of course the tech and in-car infotainment systems are better today but otherwise, the old cars were superior in my opinion. A slot in an all-plastic door panel to hold an umbrella isn’t really the stuff of luxury cars. Rolls Royce’s approach is masterful and the epitome of luxury; this isn’t even worth talking about. It would be a nice touch on a Malibu but not for Cadillac.

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      1. I remember when a new Cadillac had plush trunk carpeting that matched the interior color. That was when Cadillac did Cadillac. Today there are so many excuses in a Cadillac interior, and we’re reading a lame article about how a map pocket can hold an umbrella.

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  4. Wow. An umbrella is now a luxury feature. What do you do with it when you get back in the car and it’s wet? I can’t take this world anymore. It’s amazing with all the tech on the inside, probably more tech than most of us need, we have to talk about an umbrella.
    When it rains it pours?

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  5. My 2017 Acadia has one in the same place.

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  6. Ditto for my wife’s Chevy Blazer. She finds the feature useful.

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  7. My 2017 and 2020 Cadillac CT6’s both have the area for an umbrella in the front door pockets. My dealer gave us 2 golf umbrellas and 2 collapsible umbrellas with the Cadillac script. All depends on if the dealer wants you to return to get other cars from them and a level of service that many don’t have any longer.

    Come to think of it my 2011 SRX and 2013 XTS also had the pockets for the umbrellas.

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  8. Our “other” car is a Chevy Equinox…and it has these newfangled deluxe umbrella slots, too.
    The fun part is that the umbrella does not stay in the slot and slides right out the first time you back up or decelerate at any decent speed. The observation of having some type fabric/carpet lining is spot on and would likely hold better. Even if they’d thrown in a rubber lining for some grip.

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  9. As I have said in the past , Glorified Chevy. Can you say Rolls Royce, real umbrella in real doors. GM had lost their way. Abd NO, I am not a GM hater, I have owned over 310 cars personally, I have sold cars, eaced cars and built cars. Unlike most people here that comment with no real background in autos, I am disappointed in GM not hating them. America is being passed by everybody because there is no more pride in workmanship. Mary Barra is NOT the person GM needs, the days of real GM visionaries are gone. I still own a new GM car and sadly a Hugh end Japanese car, guess which one is built better. Cadillac wi never again be “The Standard of the World” . Find an honest Cadillac dealer owner and ask them what is really going on with their franchise, you may be surprised. GM will kill the value of the dealership with their demands. You will most likely see less Caddy dealers. Sorry reality hurts.

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    1. Well said.

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  10. You see, Melania and I have Secret Service Agents who handle such mundane activities as umbrella holding and carrying. GM should provide Agents to every Cadillac owner. The “Beast” came with several Agents (and umbrellas – Melania hated getting her hair wet. And don’t get me started on what would happen to my hair ! ! )
    Mary Barra are you listening?🤦‍♀️

    Reply
  11. Meanwhile, there is no overhead center storage for a pair of sunglasses on either the CT4 or CT5.
    And, God forbid, no optional CD player.
    WTH?

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    1. Now that’s funny😂

      Reply
  12. How does it work? Usually, your umbrella is dripping wet.

    Reply

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