Just weeks after GM Authority outlined everything we know and expect about the Cadillac sedan’s update so far, the first images of the refreshed Cadillac CT5 have just leaked in China.
SAIC-GM’s future product statement for the upcoming refreshed Cadillac CT5 has been partially leaked in Chinese media, which has published the first images and some technical data of the mid-cycle update for the luxury brand’s best-selling model in the Asian country. For some reason, the leaked statement of the refreshed CT5 did not include full photos of the vehicle but only some parts of the body and mainly the front fascia.
However, the first images of the refreshed Cadillac CT5 are enough to reveal the model’s most substantial design change, concentrated at the front with new headlights, a revised grille and new lower bumper finish that will vary depending on trim. Just as the spy photos anticipated, the updated CT5’s headlights have a larger format with a new lighting signature that extends both vertically and horizontally.
In particular, the refreshed Cadillac CT5 leak includes images of the Luxury and Sport trims that not only differ by grille mesh design and gloss or dark finishes, but also specific bumpers. The Luxury trim features trim with continuous, flowing lines, while the Sport trim features sharper, more interrupted shapes with the entire lower bumper lip in body color.
Refreshed Cadillac CT5 Luxury
Refreshed Cadillac CT5 Sport
Mechanically, the refreshed Cadillac CT5 will keep the same powertrain lineup of the current model in the Chinese market. It’s made up of a turbocharged 1.5L I4 engine that develops 155 kW or 208 horsepower as a base option, in addition to the well-known turbocharged 2.0L I4 LSY engine that develops 174 kW or 233 horsepower, coupled to the GM 10-speed automatic transmission.
The upcoming refreshed Cadillac CT5 is expected to make its global debut in the coming months and is confirmed for both China and North America. Exterior styling tweaks saw the sedan’s body grow slightly from the current 193.8 inches (4,923 mm) to 194.1 inches (4,930 mm) in length, while the cabin will adopt a redesigned dashboard with the brand’s new 33-inch 9K curved display module.
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Comments
lexus predator grill/front fascia vibes
China leaks everything, may cause a pandemonium with all these leaks
At least this leak is better than a lab leak…..
Cadillac > Lexus thooo 😉
How about the xt4 2024?
Cadillac will announce the electric version of this sedan soon.
No it won’t.
GM Owner: I hope you are correct. I understand that many hard-core car guys on here don’t want to hear it, but EV is the future and the way everything is going except for the trucks and some larger SUV’s. IMO, there will always be a future for the ICE in the trucks/SUV’s due to the type of use and such. But if Cadillac/GM want to stay relevant and competitive, they must go EV.
@
I agree with you. I understand that not everyone is happy about it but progress and disruption never stops.
I still think that Cadillac should have kept the CT4, CT5, C6T, XT4, XT5, and XT6 and model names and simply just add the IQ next to the name for the BEV versions just like they did for the Escalade and BMW does with the i and Mercedes with EQ.
Eventually the i and the EQ will be dropped per the automakers when they produce only BEV versions sometime in the future. This helps them keep the identity of the models which they have spent millions developing over the years.
The new Cadillac names are just awful.
Do like those updated Headlights on the CT5
I disagree. I think BEVs are not the future. I think plug in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell is the future. I think BEVs are just a temporary fad. BEVs are just not sustainable. Imagine if every human on earth drove a BEV, what are we going to do with all the dead batteries every 5-10 years? Also I think BEV makes more sense on trucks and large vehicles, simply because of heavy they are. Sport sedans and coupes don’t perform well when you have 5000lb curb weights. BEVs are like the new “muscle cars” extremely heavy, fast in a straight line, terrible handling.
The shelf life of this vehicle is like up to 2026? Unless GM extend the model a year or two after not as planned, there will not be a BEV version of the gas CT5 & CT4 due to its limitations of range of the batteries. There is a reason why Ultium exist. Take a look at the BMW i7 and see how little range it gets sharing the same platform with the ICE 7 series.
No matter how long the Alpha platform lives, it was never meant for any electrification. There might be an Ultium-based sedan on the drawing board somewhere, but it may not see production before Alpha relinquishes the production capacity it’s taking up now.
Put a battery in the trunk, you say? Umm, no…trunk space is already on the small side, and previous GM hybrid attempts with that approach were flops. No thanks!
The exterior redesign is…fine. No harm done. The redone interior may draw some new interest, though.
I think this vehicle and other Alpha platform vehicles like CT4 and Camaro might live on to 2035, which is when government is pushing for full electrification. And electrification does not necessarily mean BEVs. A hybrid is also electrification.
The Alpha platform is one of the best chassis of all time, people will not realize how good these cars are until you daily drive one. The handling on them is just out of this world good. It doesn’t make sense for GM to just end them that easily, it would be like flushing gold into the toilet.
No argument about the quality of the chassis – I drive one! 😉
With Camaro gone after 2024, that leaves only 2 models on Alpha, and not especially high-volume ones at that. GM will try to get its investment back after the pending MCE updates and drag out sales as long as possible, but beyond that I fear the CT4/5 will get no other significant changes for the balance of their runs.
While it might be physically possible, turning either into a hybrid would require R&D money that GM doesn’t want to spend, and the resulting product would be saddled with compromises that would yield neither significant performance or efficiency improvements…certainly not compelling changes.
Nonetheless, the Alpha platform will be referenced by critics and enthusiasts alike for years to come, as an example of GM getting something very, very right.
Yes. Greatest chassis in human history. You can put a hamster wheel to power that chassis and it will still be spectacular. Whoever that designed the Alpha platform deserves a Nobel Award.
Throttle House on YouTube tested the 6th gen Camaro SS 1LE and the 6th gen Mustang GT500 on their race track. The Camaro with 450hp had a faster lap time than the 760hp Mustang. That is proof how amazing this chassis is.
Fear not, 7th gen Camaro has been confirmed.
This is a nice visual update.
I may be biased but the current MY front looks better and more aggressive as I got a 2023. The leak front looks works better with the refreshed XT4, maybe because it is a taller vehicle. GM should make the refresh CT5 like the refreshed CT6 that’s sold in China. Really digging that front end of the refreshed CT6!
We’ll have to agree to disagree, as the new CT6 looks downright pedestrian to me…no thanks.
I’ll have to wait and see the full CT5 front fascia in context with better photos, but I like what I see – regardless, the interior upgrade is the real jewel with this mid-cycle refresh, and the area that needed the most work.
Still ugly. Still not a vehicle made by GM I would buy at present. Build me a “retro-barge” based on the 60s-70s Deville and I’d be in. Till then, Mercedes will continue to have my business.
Mercedes makes “retro barges”?
GM should just move its Corp Hq to China.
Perhaps Cadillac should actually study American Luxury Automobiles and what American buyers actually want instead of force feeding us their reinterpreted BMW-esk designs. The CT5 is watered down version of what we really want. The list of options are minimal at best, while MB, BMW and Audi offer Coupes, Sedans, Cabriolets, SAV/SUV and more, AND THEY SELL OUT! Take note Cadillac!!
Wow imagine being able to do all that market research as just a one man show! Amazing! Or wait, maybe that’s just what YOU want and you think you’re everyone. Either way, you’re wrong.
Truth is Cadillac knows what they’re doing and they’ve done their (official) market research. The Germans are getting rid of their coupes and cabriolets as quickly as they can. They definitely do not sell out. Neither do their sedans. That’s just facts.
Mercedes Benz Annual Research and Development spending is approximately $10 Billion.
To cut manufacturing costs they consolidated the C Class and E Class Coupe and Cabriolet lineage.
They realized buyers still want Coupes and Cabriolets, so M-B designed and developed the new CLE.
So instead of dropping the C & E Coupes and Cabriolets completely, M-B planned manufacturing to build
so many cars per model class, unlike General Motors which drops manufacturing all together on certain models. The truth is Mercedes Benz is consolidating and expanding their Class models, they’re not getting rid of their Coupes and Cabriolets! Same holds true for BMW & Audi…
“Truth is Cadillac knows what they’re doing and they’ve done their (official) market research-”
-thats why everything they sell except for the Escalade is 5th, 6th or 11th in it segment right?
Because they know what they are doing.
Any good Statistician (who wants a paycheck) influenced by a CEO, will enable him/her any information that benefits the stock holders. I was a Cadillac buyer, but Cadillac needs to diversify their model line-up. Just elevating the MSRP doesn’t make a Luxury Automobile, Lineage does. HUD buttons from a Chevy Volt doesn’t spell Luxury.
I wish they’d get rid of that Cruise C pillar. Though we don’t get it, the CT6 redux looks a lot better in the same area.
Looks much better now
Man. That looks really, really bad. Hope that isn’t US spec
Just beautifully designed, just like the 2024 CT6, 2024 Lacrosse and The 2024 Regal. GM designers have really worked on some great designs here. I know a few people dislike the Regal grille, but that is Buicks signature now, gone is the old all bars running down semi circle design, GM has to keep up with the competition like Toyota. Just thinking, WHERE is the 2025 CT4 refresh photos ???????
I, too, am curious about the CT4 refresh.
They screwed up the best part of the car but are leaving that ridiculous C-pillar. Seems completely backwards to me.
I’m of similar sentiment and thought – the fugly C-Pillar remains. Ugh!!!
They go and tweak the aspect (front end) of the car that was fine without addressing what really needed a redo – everything aft of the B-Pillar.
Yes agreed, they screw the best part of the car. Not sure why GM is going with the current CT4 look and the pre refreshed CT6. Should have followed that front end of the refreshed CT6 or the Lyric.
The car looks like its wearing KISS makeup…..
“Exterior styling tweaks saw the sedan’s body grow slightly…………….”
I like that they made it bigger!
“…..from the current 193.8 inches (4,923 mm) to 194.1 inches (4,930 mm) in length”
Oh, 7 mm never mind.