by Cadillac returns gasoline XT6 after electric car failure
Cadillac’s vice president confirmed plans to create a new XT6. The model will likely be produced in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and will arrive in a few years. The first generation of the three-row crossover was discontinued in 2025.
Not long ago, Cadillac proclaimed a fully electric future. As a result, the company largely abandoned its gasoline lineup, focusing on launching a series of new electric vehicles.
Unfortunately for them, reality revealed that most people are not ready to switch to electricity. A look at the sales chart tells the story: the outdated XT5 found 11,107 buyers in the first half of the year. It was expected to be replaced by the Lyriq, but that model found only 7,578 buyers.
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Even more telling is the situation with the discontinued XT6. In the first half of 2025, Cadillac sold 9,637 units. In the first six months of 2026, the Vistiq found only 3,903 buyers. This means the luxury electric vehicle’s annual sales will likely be significantly lower than what the XT6 did in just six months.
These are not very good news, so it is no surprise that Cadillac’s global vice president, Christian Aquilina, announced plans for a new XT6. In a LinkedIn post spotted by Car & Driver, he noted that Cadillac is a leader in electrification, but the market has changed.
As part of adaptation efforts, Aquilina said Cadillac is “aligning our product portfolio with real customer adoption in the luxury automotive market. A key part of this is the return of an all-new XT6… alongside the next-generation XT5 and CT5.”
The vice president also noted that they will continue to invest in electric vehicles, but are betting on “models with internal combustion engines, where demand remains high.” In fact, they acknowledge they were too ambitious about electric cars and are trying to limit the damage from putting all their eggs in one basket.
Aquilina did not go into details, but there is no doubt that the XT6 is the same “future Cadillac product with an internal combustion engine” announced in June. At that time, the automaker stated it would invest $150 million in the Spring Hill assembly plant to produce this model.
The new XT5 and XT6 will likely share a lot in common, and it is natural to assume they will follow in the footsteps of the Chinese five-seat model introduced in 2024. Since the XT5 will arrive next year, expect the XT6 to launch in 2028 or 2029.
Chinese XT5
This news demonstrates how even large automakers are forced to adjust their strategies under pressure from the real market. Cadillac, which previously actively promoted the idea of full electrification, now acknowledges that demand for electric vehicles in the luxury SUV segment has not yet met expectations. The return of the gasoline XT6 is not just the release of another model but a signal that the company is ready to flexibly respond to customer preferences, even if it contradicts previous loud statements. The $150 million investment in production indicates the seriousness of the intentions, but only time will tell whether the new XT6 can match the success of its predecessor, especially given that the market continues to change.
