The 2016 Cadillac CT6 is already a bit of an odd duck. Bigger than a BMW 5 Series, smaller than a Mercedes S-Class, we were sort of waiting on the pricing to see where it fit. But with trim levels ranging from $53,495 all the way up to $83,465, we’re still not any closer to the answer—and that’s just the way Cadillac might like it.
Those prices include everything from the base model, with the 2.0-liter turbo engine, up to the range-topping twin-turbo 3.0-liter all-wheel-drive V6 “Platinum” trim. Oddly enough, that doesn’t include the planned plug-in hybrid model.
But to put that sort of price in context, Cadillac’s own CTS starts at around $45,000, and goes up to a little over $75,000 in V-Sport Premium guise, so there’s plenty of overlap. Just as well, the aforementioned BMW starts at $50,200, and a fully-loaded BMW 550i xDrive can water your eyes at nearly $100,000.
So you’d think it’d be a BMW fighter, but not entirely. It’s got reclining seats out back, and it’s long-and-low profile would lend itself towards a more boulevard-cruising lifestyle, whatever that actually is, as I don’t associate with people who refer to just driving in traffic as a “lifestyle.”
What gives, then?
Well, for one, the Cadillac is actually some 200 pounds lighter than a comparably equipped 5 Series. And back in March, Cadillac told Automotive News that they didn’t really care for the existing segments:
“We spend our whole life chasing others in this market,” says Will Churchill, dealer principal at Frank Kent Cadillac in Fort Worth, Texas. “For once, we’ll be the ones planting a stake in the ground and sort of creating a new niche.”
And why should they care? Who says that for every Audi A8 there must be another car exactly like it, just with different badges and a different country of origin? Who says that we must live our lives defined by the boundaries set upon us, as the market moves like one horrific monolith? Who says we must not give up our luxury, but we must give up our FREEDOM?????
Cadillac doesn’t say those things, I think.
Anyway, gets delivered to dealers in March.
Photo credit: Cadillac
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