Microchip Shortage Persists, More Cadillac Features Constrained

The ongoing global microchip shortage continues to wreak havoc on new vehicle production in the automotive industry, forcing Cadillac to limit the availability of certain vehicle features. Cadillac Society has now learned that as of March 14^th production, even more features will be withheld from models in the luxury marque’s lineup.

Impacted Cadillac models include the CT4 and CT5 luxury sedans, along with the XT5 and XT6 luxury crossovers. The luxury marque has elected to eliminate heated and ventilated front seats from all of the aforementioned models, while XT5 and XT6 will no longer have heated outboard rear seats. At this time, it’s not clear if Cadillac will offer a credit toward the purchase of affected vehicles.

We’ve outlined the availability of heated and ventilated seats in the table below. 

1. Feature made unavailable as of January 24, 2022 production.
2. Feature made unavailable as of December 6, 2021 production.
3. Feature made unavailable as of March 14, 2022 production.
4. Feature made unavailable as of January 3, 2022 production.
5. Feature made unavailable as of November 15, 2021 production.
6. Feature made unavailable as of December 20, 2021 production.
7. Feature made unavailable as of February 14, 2022 production.
8. Feature made unavailable between November 15, 2021 and February 20, 2022 production.

This isn’t the first time Cadillac has chosen to restrict the availability of heated and ventilated seats in its vehicles. In November 2021, the luxury marque announced that it would withhold the features from the XT4, XT5 and XT6. Cadillac then announced that it expected to be able to retrofit heated and ventilated seats in vehicles that were produced without them as soon as the microchip shortage situation improved. At this time, however, it’s not clear if that is still a viable option. 

Industry analysts prognosticate that the microchip shortage could persist well into the 2022 calendar year. Electing to restrict the availability of certain features across its lineup allows Cadillac to allocate its limited microchip supply toward the continued production of vehicles, particularly the highly-profitable Escalade. 

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