Earlier in October, the very last unit of the North America-bound Cadillac XTS rolled off the line at Cadillac’s Oshawa production facility in Ontario, seven years after the sedan was first introduced for the North American market. But while the XTS was recently discontinued for buyers in U.S., Mexico, and Canada, XTS production has yet to stop in China. Meanwhile, a similar situation has developed with the Cadillac ATS, which was discontinued in North America back in July, but continues production in China with the long-wheelbase variant known as the ATS-L.
Cadillac ATS-L, exclusive extended version for the Chinese market.
For now, the XTS continues production at the Jinqiao North plant, while the ATS-L is produced at the Jinqiao South plant. However, it’s looking as though that may not be the case for much longer, as explained by Cadillac China communications spokesperson David Ni.
“The production of the XTS and ATS-L will be switched to CT5 and CT4 according to their launch cadence in China,” Ni told Cadillac Society in a recent statement.
As we covered back in August, Caddy is gearing up to launch the CT5 in China for Q4 of 2019. Meanwhile, buyers here in the U.S will have a chance to place their orders in the fall. The Chinese launch of the CT4 will follow that of the CT5, at which time both the Cadillac XTS and ATS-L will officially kick the bucket.
Cadillac XTS
That said, individual examples of the Cadillac XTS and ATS will continue to be available on dealer lots, albeit in an increasingly limited fashion without replacements rolling off the production queue.
Additionally, units of the XTS and ATS are still available in the U.S. as of this writing, although inventory is diminishing without further models being produced.
We’ll be sure to cover the release of these new models when they finally touch down in the next few months. Until then, make sure to subscribe to Cadillac Society for more Cadillac ATS news, Cadillac XTS news, and around-the-clock Cadillac news coverage.
Barry
Wonder if they have as much trouble in China with the 8 speed automatics as in North America or are they built properly there?
Ricky
The issue with the 8 speed transmissions is not build quality but rather the actual design/engineering of the unit. Given that the engineering is identical jo matter the market, China has the same issues.
Joe B.
The XTS is a 6-speed.