The all-new 2016 Cadillac XT5 has been unveiled, with the covers coming off in Dubai overnight ahead of an official premiere at the 2016 LA auto show later this month.
Replacing the six year-old SRX, the XT5 joins the large CT6 sedan in Cadillac’s new ‘T-number’ naming strategy.
Far more important than the badge on its rump, however, is the XT5’s role in the new-generation Cadillac line-up: tackling the likes of BMW’s popular X3, the all-new Mercedes-Benz GLC and the Audi Q5, and the Chinese market will be its main battleground.
Riding on an all-new platform rich with high-strength steels and lightweight components, the XT5 is around 130kg lighter than equivalent SRX models, and just under 50kg lighter than the Audi Q5 (although a new Q5 isn’t far away).
Power is provided by GM’s new-generation 3.6-litre V6 petrol engine, producing 231kW and 365Nm, and matched to an eight-speed automatic. In China, there’s also a 2.0-litre turbo four.
Front-wheel drive is standard, with all-wheel-drive available as an option.
As with all Cadillac models, the XT5 will be off-limits to Australian buyers. But, as the brand’s global marketing chief Jim Vurpillat revealed to CarAdvice in April, a local launch could occur later this decade.
“It’s really in the end of 2020, that we feel we will have a broad enough portfolio and diversity of powertrain choices to be able to go into right hand drive markets, Australia being one and obviously UK,” Vurpillat said.
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