The great sedan purge of our time continues, and the latest casualty in the war on four-door three-boxes is the Cadillac XTS, as revealed in a union bulletin posted in May. We already knew that the XTS, now Cadillac’s oldest product, was not long for this world, but we now know exactly when it will be no more – and that’s by October of 2019.
That’s when Cadillac XTS production will come to an end at the Oshawa, Ontario assembly plant in Canada, which means the large sedan will be put to rest for good in North America. Production at the Jinqiao North plant in China is also expected to end around the same timeframe. The Cadillac XTS has been knocking on death’s door for some time now, but it soldiered on all the way through to a surprise facelift for the 2018 model year.
The Cadillac XTS was first introduced in 2013 as a replacement for the Cadillac STS and DTS. The “XTS” nomenclature stands for X-Series Touring Sedan. Known for delivering a quiet, serene driving and riding experience, the Cadillac XTS rides on a the Epsilon II platform.
XTS engine options include the naturally aspirated 3.6L LFX V6, the twin-turbocharged 3.6L LF3 V6 for the XTS V-Sport, and the turbo-charged 2.0 LTG I4 in China. The LFX and LTG are available either in front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive configurations, while the LF3 in the V-Sport was available exclusive with AWD. All engine choices were mated to a six-speed automatic transmission.
| 3.6L V6 LFX | 3.6L V6 LF3 | 2.0L I4 LTG | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aspiration | Atmospheric | Twin-Turbo | Turbo |
| Power (hp @ rpm) | 304 @ 6800 | 410 @ 6000 | 272 @ 5500 |
| Torque (lb-ft @ rpm) | 264 @ 5300 | 369 @ 1900 | 260 @ 1700 |
| Transmission | 6-speed automatic | 6-speed automatic | 6-speed automatic |
Besides its standard sedan configuration, the XTS has also served as Cadillac’s livery vehicle – offering a livery-specific variant of the sedan, along with a limousine, hearse, and bullet-proof armored vehicle. Moving forward, we believe that the CT6 sedan and XT5 crossover will take over as Cadillac’s next livery vehicles.
Cadillac XTS sales totaled 32,559 units in the U.S. and 14,683 units in China during its first full year on the market in 2013 . However, by 2019, Cadillac only managed to move 3,734 examples through the first three months of the year. We attribute this decline in sales volume to the ongoing crossover and SUV craze, but also to the internal cannibalization by the CT6. And though in late 2018, Cadillac announced plans to discontinue the CT6 by mid-2019, it then back-tracked on the announcement, saying that the CT6 was not going anywhere. We don’t expect the XTS to have the same luck.
| Calendar Year | U.S. Sales | Chinese Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 15,049 | Unknown |
| 2013 | 32,559 | 14,683 |
| 2014 | 24,335 | Unknown |
| 2015 | 23,112 | 22,285 |
| 2016 | 22,171 | 28,335 |
| 2017 | 16,275 | 41,646 |
| 2018 | 17,727 | Unknown |
We should note that the Oshawa plant that currently produces the Cadillac XTS for North American markets will be reconfigured into an aftermarket parts center and autonomous vehicle test site. The Jinqiao North plant that produces the XTS for China will continue making other vehicles for Cadillac parent company, General Motors.
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