Although luxury sedans are getting discontinued left and right (see Jaguar XF, Volvo S60, and Infiniti Q50), GM Authority has learned that the Cadillac CT5 won’t be, at least not yet. Luckily for luxury car shoppers who still prefer a sedan over a crossover or SUV, a 2026 Cadillac CT5 will be available.
Frankly, this news doesn’t surprise us much since the CT5 just got a pretty thorough mid-cycle refresh for the 2025 model year. Highlights of the facelift include an aesthetic refresh inside and out, a 33-inch display housing a digital gauge cluster and central infotainment screen, and extra standard features, including Super Cruise hands-free driving tech and an AKG premium audio system.
However, we still have to wonder how much life the Cadillac CT5 has left in it. Cadillac remains bullish on EVs, albeit less so than it was a couple of years ago. The plan is still to take the GM Lansing Grand River plant where the CT5 is built and turn it into an EV factory. Details are still light on exactly which EVs would be produced there should that plan come to fruition, but it very well could be an electric replacement for the CT5.
There’s also the CT5’s sales performance to consider. Even though it just got a refresh, and deliveries of the updated 2025 models began in June, CT5 sales are down quarterly (-6.35%) and YTD (-23.66%). Looking at Cadillac’s Q3 2024 sales numbers in the U.S., the CT5 was the brand’s second-slowest-selling model, only outperforming its little brother, the Cadillac CT4. So far, in 2024, the CT5 is being outsold by every crossover and SUV in the Cadillac lineup.
That said, the Cadillac CT5 is holding its own in the D-Segment luxury car space. It inched up to an eight percent market share last quarter, with its sales performance around the middle of its class. It’s way behind class leaders from BMW and Mercedes, but with 4,128 sales in Q3 2024, it was just barely behind the Lexus IS. That made it the second-best-seller in its class that’s not from a German brand, for what that’s worth.
When the 2026 Cadillac CT5 does arrive, we expect it to be largely unchanged from the refreshed 2025 model, save a few small changes to options like paint and wheels. Whatever the case, we’re just glad Cadillac sedans on the terrific GM Alpha 2 platform aren’t expiring quite yet.
Comments
The CT styling is totally lame.
PLEASE … DO SOMETHING !
YES!! The styling leaves much to be desired. Front end didn’t need a redo; it was everything aft of the B-Pillar. Save for the BlackWing iteration and its performance, the CT5 in the overall lacks luxury presence or cachet and its looks and styling reinforce the lack.
I’m glad to hear the CT5 will be available in 2026, but I wish Cadillac would also make the CT6 available in the US as well. Cadillac needs a big car. Apparently, Cadillac sedans aren’t selling as well as they would like, but I believe sales are a function of promotion. Cadillac doesn’t promote its sedans. BMW and Mercedes promote sedans. Interestingly BMW and Mercedes sell a variety of sedans large and small, electric and ICE. Cadillac only promotes electric SUVs. ADVERTISING WORKS!!! Cadillac needs to hire a VP of Marketing that understands marketing 101.
Actually I believe Cadillac understands ADVERTISING WORKS!!” and they (and the rest if GM) are pushing to recoup the estimated $27 billion they have put into EV’s to date. Serious tunnel vision and a very risky gamble and we’re all just wondering how this is going to play out. Not looking great right now but who knows…
I agree that the CT6 should come back to the US and made in the US with a V6 and a V-Series. We are on our 2nd CT6, a 2020 Premium Luxury, that we ordered and traded our 2017 CT6. I have had the pleasure (?) if you can call it that to have a CT5 and a CT4 as loaners when I took the CT6 in for service. These are not luxury cars as they won’t fit an adult in the back seat. Not everyone wants an SUV, an EV or a mall-crawler jacked up pickup.
Give the US a decent full-sized luxury sedan!
CT6 should be available in the US, but have it only be ordered and dealers don’t have any on dealer lots.
It sounds like a win win situation.
Not a bad idea. Make it available in at least 12 exterior colors. Dodge’s hugely successful Challenge was available in 14 colors. Also, it would need at least three different interior colors with only one of them being a neutral color. Let people give their car some style without having to spend 300K.
What happened to offering models in both coupe (sporty 2-door) and sedan (4-door) versions?? (Even the Chevy Impala was once sold that way, not to mention the Chevelle, Pontiac LeMans, Oldsmobile Cutlass.) A coupe version of the CT5 with an LS V8 and RWD?? I’d be interested!
Or even better (for those who cannot afford Cadillac), a Chevrolet “personal luxury coupe” like the Monte Carlo (both LS and SS versions!), on the same Alpha 2 platform to help justify keeping it rolling on the assembly lines (especially now that “EV mandates” may soon be falling by the wayside).
Cadillac has their CT 6, it’s labeled Celestiq. Like it or not that’s their flagship. The CT 6 customers need to look elsewhere. Cadillac marketing and senior mgt. Will keep offering the old body style that’s been refreshed for decades . Mary has said GM will be totally electric around 2035 . Time to look at their competition if a luxury sedan is what you want.
Offer the NA 6.2L V8 instead of the supercharged V6 on the CT5-V. Could attract previously uninterested buyers (like myself) with a strong and well-tested product with minimal tooling investment.
GM hamstrung the CT6 with a cheap interior and parts bin engines. Why they used the 2.0 L I-4 in the car is a mystery to me. CAFE requirements I suppose but it cheapened the image of the product. So they launched CT6 with these deficiencies and then, on top of them, kept the XTS in production creating an in-house competitor that was cheaper.
For those who knew, the CT6 was the real McCoy; an honest-to-god, actual purpose built Cadillac sedan with an exclusive featherweight platform and novel construction techniques. It was what Cadillac had needed for years. Unfortunately for those who didn’t know, the XTS parked next to it in the showroom looked similar and was cheaper. Although it was built from the bones of lower-priced cars and was FWD with awkward proportions, many buyers went with it to save some money which meant the CT6 lost sales.
I think the car would’ve been significantly more successful had the XTS been dropped and the Blackwing V8 been available at launch.
Cadillac’s must continue to make the CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwing beyond 2025. These cars are unique in America and showcase both GM’s brilliant engineering and America’s passion towards these vehicles. Everybody can see now – it is not news – that EVs will not rule over all of us. And anyone who knows today’s market has read the glowing reviews of these special cars. We can reasonably anticipate future demand for years. Please GM Leadership Team, don’t let this product line die.
Robert wrote: Everybody can see now – it is not news – that EVs will not rule over all of us.
Oh no? So long as Calif is able to dictate their own rules AND 17 OTHER STATES continue to adopt Calif’s rules, then yes, EVs WILL rule over all of us. In case you missed it, Calif is now working on crafting “EV-only Zones”, where you will be heavily fined if you enter with an ICE vehicle. So “we” won’t be able to drive in those areas. And as long as 17-18 states say that only zero emissions vehicles can be sold as of 2035, that will be all that nearly every automaker will build, since the market will be too small to justify development & production (of ICE vehicles) for only half the states.
Blackwing iterations alone do not make for a successful lineup. The Cadillac brand isn’t aspirational and lacks real luxury cachet so the CT5/4 in their basic forms are lame ducks. The Celestiq comes across as experimental and a one-off styling exercise.
I really wanted to consider a CT5 but could never get past that ugly “C” pillar treatment. It cheapened the look of the car and the CT4 has a much nicer “C” pillar treatment and side profile, however it’s just too small. I purchased an Audi A6 and now an Audi S7 which are both handsome performance luxury sedan’s that are not as much fun to drive as my old CTS V-sport was! Sadly Cadi missed the mark on both Car’s and should have developed a sedan in between the CT5 and CT6 to better complete with the Germans.
Yes, the c pillar is absolutely the Achilles heel of Cadillac sedans. The problem is the overly sharp junction between the horizontal and diagonal lines when they don’t have the weird flare like on the CT5. If I were designing it, I would shape it similar to the D pillar of the GMC Acadia. It’s beautiful and one of the biggest reasons I am choosing that crossover as my next car.
So you want a Hofmeister kink? I think a certain German automaker and their fans might notice.
It’s not a Hofmeister kink; it has one extra kink lol. It’s fascinating how almost no other C-pillars are appealing to me besides a softer kink type and the Audi C-pillar (I still prefer the BMW C-pillars of old, newer ones not so much).
What is the purpose of Cadillac Racing Team, if not to promote this segment of vehicles? What a waste of money on their part if they don’t continue with their ICE performance line. Unfortunately, the new generation of drivers are skewing the analytics and the company will veer towards pleasing everyone and end up satisfying no one with products that can be gotten cheaper and better from competitors.
I am a new Cadillac fan…just bought a 24 Blackwing and love it! I go to cars and coffee events and people flock to the car and praise it left and right. I am usually the only Blackwing and occasionally there are previous generation V cars there amid the numerous BMWs and now dime a dozen Corvettes. I understand that GM needs to turn a profit, but take a look at another manufacturers like BMW or other GM divisions playbooks and provide some variation in appearance and luxury that Cadillac WAS famous for.
I will continue to buy Blackwings in the future if available. If not, I will migrate to another manufacturer that can duplicate the sound, performance, and joy of driving…if there are any left.
Keep the CT4 CT5 till the boomers are gone. That’s the strategy.
Maybe they can bring back a volume control knob for the manual cars!