Cadillac CT6 Will NOT Be Dropped From U.S. Lineup, GM Execs Say

When General Motors announced last November that it would stop U.S. production of six passenger cars, one thing didn’t gel.

That was the Cadillac CT6 luxury sedan. Just why would GM drop a model it had spent a ton of money developing only three years after launch? Not to mention that Cadillac’s flagship has just been facelifted for the 2019 model year. Doesn’t make much sense, does it?

As it turns out, stopping CT6 production at the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly doesn’t mean that the model is being dropped from the brand’s U.S. lineup.

The General actually plans to keep the CT6 sedan on sale in the United States, despite the potential closure of the plant that makes it. GM President Mark Reuss and Cadillac President Steve Carlisle said the CT6 should not have been on the list of six passenger cars in the first place.

“From the very beginning, we never said that CT6 was going away because we’re very keen on launching Blackwing and Super Cruise and all those sorts of things,” Carlisle told Autonews at the first day of the Detroit Auto Show. However, company officials at the time did not communicate those plans.

According to the executives, the company is currently evaluating options to keep the luxury brand’s flagship sedan in the U.S. lineup following the end of its production on June 1 at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly. To do that, GM would have to either move CT6 production to another U.S. plant or import it from China.

“We’re working hard to find other alternatives to that. We have some time”, Carlisle said. Cadillac’s President added that importing the CT6 from China “would be the least-preferred option” – which is understandable due to the trade war between the two countries and the tariffs that have, or are threatened to be, imposed. The executive said CT6 production will be part of GM’s upcoming negotiations with the UAW, as the current four-year contract between the automaker and the workers’ union ends in September.