cadillac

Well known as an American big car for the rich, for Europeans it was difficult to understand that GM intended to make the Cadillac marque popular here among premium D-class car buyers with the arrival in 2006 of the BLS, a Swedish built reshaped 4 year old Saab 9-3 on the shorter Epsilon platform. The related Opel Vectra C sedan stood on the longer 270 cm wheelbase, as did the Chevrolet Malibu.

In 2007 a record 3,000 Cadillacs were sold in Europe (4,500 incl. Russia), of which the majority were American models (mainly SUVs), while over 7,000 were sold in China, then a market less than half as large as Europe, with the arrival of the impressive SLS (Seville Luxury Sedan), an (rwd) STS with extended rear compartment, of which 30,000 eventually would be made and sold, the latter half with a 4-cylinder 2-litre turbo engine. The SLS with Northstar V8 engine was limited for export to the Middle East by March 2008. The SLS introduced SGM’s OnStar in China late in 2009.

By 2017, GM would sell more Cadillacs in China than in the USA and Canada together, and nowadays more Cadillacs are sold in China, than in the rest of the world, but that is no exception. The Chinese car market surpassed that of the USA in crisis year 2009. From 2008 to 2010, the Chinese car market doubled. The Cadillac brand was introduced in China in 2004. In 2005, nearly 2,800 Cadillac CTS were assembled. Forty-five years earlier, assembling of Cadillacs had stopped in Europe, after these cars had grown too big. Cadillacs (and Buicks) were of course already sold in Taiwan in the 1990s, incl. the Opel-built Catera.

Cadillac XTS USA June 2012, China: April 2013

The name of this model preceded the time that ‘X’ would mean crossover. This front-wheel-drive car on the extended Epsilon II platform denied its all-wheel-drive option and air springs to China. US models without air suspension came only for the 2018 model year, after it was decided to continue the XTS with sales in China growing 25~50% in 2016 and 2017, exceeding US sales year by year. The 2-litre turbo engine in China delivered 45 hp less power, but 45 Nm more torque than the 3.6, abandoned here by 2015. With the production of the XTS ending in October 2019, some 18,000 were sold in North America in 2018, vs 65,000 in China.

platform:	ext. Epsilon II	XTS
rear suspension:		see below			GM	GM	GM
		wheelbase (cm):	283.7		L850	HF6	HF6
		length from (cm):	513.1		4 cyl.	V6	V6
		width (cm):	185.2		DOHC	DOHC	DOHC
				cc:	1998	3564	3564	cc
					dir. inj.	dir. inj.	dir. inj.
					turbo		twin turbo


market:
USA/CDN		curb weight from:	1877	kg		12-19	12-19
rear susp:	12-17	4-link independent, H-arm, air springs				fwd or awd	awd
	17-19	fwd: 4-link independent, H-arm, coil springs				6A	6A
	17-19	fwd opt., awd: 4-link indep., H-arm, air springs				227	306	kW
						305	410	hp
						355	500	Nm

China		4-link independent, H-arm, coil springs
					13-19	13-14
		curb weight from:	1840	kg	28T	36S
					fwd	fwd
					6A	6A
				kW	193	224
				hp	262	305
				13-18 Nm	400	360
				18-19 Nm	353

Cadillac ATS-L China: October 2014

The 8.5 cm longer Chinese ATS-L practically outsold the US ATS from the start. In the USA, the ATS had arrived in autumn 2012 and, after a year was imported to China until the ATS-L was produced there a year later. At that time, in America had arrived a 2-door coupe, which would outlive the sedan there from autumn 2018, while the manual transmission was deleted, which was never offered in China, nor was all-wheel-drive.

platform:

Alpha

ATS/ATS-L

rear suspension:

5-link independent, coil springs

L850

L880

HF6

HF6 II

HF6

4 cyl.

DOHC

cc:

1998

2457

3564

3649

3564

dir. inj.

turbo

twin turbo

market:

ATS-V

USA/CDN

ATS

sedan

coupe

sedan:

12-14

14-18

12-16

12-15

15-18

curb weight from:

1505

1547 kg

coupe:

14-19

14-15

15-19

wheelbase (cm):

277.5

rwd/awd

rwd

rwd/awd

rwd

length from (cm):

464.3

466.3

6M'/6A

6M'/6A8A

6A > 8A

6M'/8A

width (cm):

180.5

184.2

203

151

239

250

346

272

202

321

335

464

353

400

259

373

386

603

'rwd only

'rwd only, -18

'15: 8A

' 6M: -18

'15: 6A > 8A

China

import

ATS

sedan

13-14

28T

rwd

203

272

353

China

ATS-L

sedan

14-15

14-

curb weight from:

1600

25T

28T

wheelbase (cm):

286

rwd

length from (cm):

473

'15: 6A > 8A

width (cm):

182.4

164

200

223

272

353

400

Cadillac CT6 China: January 2016, USA: March 2016

The first vehicle on the light-weight Omega platform, with a weight from 1655 kg, the impressive CT6 sets new standards for an over 5-meter car with an over 3-meter wheelbase. This is just 55 kg over the much smaller ATS-L. Conceived as a rear-wheel-drive sports sedan (with available all-wheel-drive), there is no air springs option. Two months earlier on the market in China than in the USA, the Chinese CT6 outsold the American CT6 from 2017. The plug in model was the first Cadillac to be imported from China to North America, but this was not repeated for 2019. Production and sales of the CT6 in North America will probably not stop, in spite of an earlier announcement. By 2019 the new 2-litre turbo engine with active fuel management arrived, but was deleted the same spring in North America, meaning that all models there now feature four-wheel-drive. In China, in the first three quarters of 2019, only a quarter of a percent were four-wheel-drive models (68 units).

platform:	Omega	CT6
rear suspension:		5-link independent, coil springs			GM	GM	GM	GM	GM	GM
		curb weight from:	1655	kg	L850	L850	E-Tec	HF6	HF6 II	Blackwing
		wheelbase (cm):	310.9		4 cyl.	4 cyl.	4 cyl.	V6	V6	V8
		length from (cm):	517.9		DOHC	DOHC	DOHC	DOHC	DOHC	DOHC
		width (cm):	187.9	cc:	1998	1998	1998	2990	3649	4192	cc
					dir. inj.	dir. inj.	dir. inj.	dir. inj.	dir. inj.	dir. inj.
					turbo	turbo	turbo	twin turbo		twin turbo
						plug in

market:
USA/CDN					16-18	17-18	18-19	16-	16-	19-
					rwd	rwd	rwd	awd	awd	awd
					8A	EVT	10A	8A, 18 > 10A		10A
				kW	198	250	177	301	250	373-410	kW
				hp	265	335	237	404	335	500-550	hp
				Nm	400	586	350	542	385	750-850	Nm

China					16-18	16-	18-	16-
					28T	30E	28T	40T
					rwd	rwd	rwd	awd
					8A	EVT	10A	8A
				kW	198	250	172	296
				hp	269	340	234	402
				Nm	400	586	350	543

Cadillac XT5 China, USA: April 2016

In April 2016 the XT5 was introduced, in the USA with the new V6 3.6 engine, and in China with the 2-litre turbo engine, both markets with the choice of front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive. In 2017 China added a mild hybrid version (6.6 kW/49 Nm motor) with a nine-speed automatic gearbox, reducing the fuel consumption from 8.7 to 7.9 l/100 km. By 2018 Chinese sales exceeded those of North America, with one out of every eight a hybrid. In summer 2019, the only engine for China became the new 2-litre turbo with active fuel management, which engine was added to the line in the USA.

platform:	C1UL	XT5
rear suspension:		5-link independent, coil springs				GM	GM	GM	GM	GM
		curb weight from:	1795	kg		L850	L850	L850	E-Tec	HF6 II
		wheelbase (cm):	285.7			4 cyl.	4 cyl.	4 cyl.	4 cyl.	V6
		length from (cm):	481.2			DOHC	DOHC	DOHC	DOHC	DOHC
		width (cm):	190.3		cc:	1998	1998	1998	1998	3649
						dir. inj.	dir. inj.	dir. inj.	dir. inj.	dir. inj.
						turbo	turbo	turbo	turbo

market:
USA/CDN									19-	16-
									fwd/awd	fwd/awd
									9A	8A, 19 > 9A
									177	231	kW
									237	310	hp
									350	367	Nm
										fwd -19

China						16-19	16-19	17-19	19-
						25T	28T	28E	28T
						fwd	awd	awd	fwd/awd
						8A	8A	9A	9A
					kW	179	193	200	177
					hp	243	262	271	237
					Nm	400	400	400	350
							*mild hybrid*

Cadillac XT4 China, USA: September 2018

This light-weight crossover also was launched simultaneously in USA and China, both with the new 2-litre turbo engine with active fuel management, and front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive, with nearly double sales in China thus far.

platform:	E2UL	XT4
rear suspension:		5-link independent, coil springs			GM
		curb weight from:	1642	kg	E-Tec
		wheelbase (cm):	277.9		4 cyl.
		length from (cm):	460		DOHC
		width (cm):	188.1		1998	cc
					dir. inj.
					turbo

market:
USA/CDN					18-
					fwd/awd
					9A
					177	kW
					237	hp
					350	Nm

China					18-
					28T
					fwd/awd
					9A
				kW	172
				hp	234
				Nm	350

Cadillac XT6 USA: June 2019, China: August 2019

This is a 3-seat row model, featuring the same engine availability as the XT5, except that the 2-litre is denied to America. In America the standard seat layout is 2-3-2, and optional 2-2-2 with captain’s chairs in the middle. In China, this latter option is the standard layout, while a 7-seater is available free of charge, but only for the entry-level front-wheel-drive model. In China it is offered for about half of the price of other luxury SUVs sold in the form of imports.

platform:	C1TL	XT6
rear suspension:		5-link independent, coil springs				GM	GM
		curb weight from:	1980	kg		E-Tec	HF6 II
		wheelbase (cm):	286.3			4 cyl.	V6
		length from (cm):	505.6			DOHC	DOHC
		width (cm):	196.4		cc:	1998	3649
						dir. inj.	dir. inj.
						turbo

market:
USA/CDN							19-
							fwd/awd
							9A
							231	kW
							310	hp
							367	Nm

China						19-
						28T
						fwd/awd
						9A
					kW	177
					hp	237
					Nm	350

Output data are approximate.

The intrinsic value of the American horsepower is 1.4% higher than the metric horsepower used in China.

with thanks to carsalesbase.com pages

For recent specifications on Cadillac cars built in China, see:
On a Global Mission: The Automobiles of General Motors International

Far East Auto Literature

8 November, 2019