There may be less electricity in Cadillac’s future than originally expected.
The American luxury marque announced it is bringing back the discontinued gas-powered XT6. The moves offer yet more proof that the automaker won’t be going all electric anytime soon.
Earlier this decade, Cadillac, like so many of its legacy peers, announced plans to go all-electric by 2030. As part of this strategy, the 123-year-old brand began making space in its lineups for battery-electric vehicles by discontinuing ICE models, like the mid-size XT6, which stopped production in early 2025. But, by the middle of the decade, it became clear that the company was having second thoughts. In August of last year, the Detroit Free Press reported Cadillac had decided not to do away with the XT5 crossover and would instead release its next iteration in 2027—with a traditional combustion engine under the hood.
News of the XT6’s return from the dead comes from no less of a reliable source than the vice president of Cadillac Global, Kristian Aquilina. In a LinkedIn post from earlier this week, the executive wrote while the company’s EVs have been success, it felt that the best way to serve its customers going forward is to give them more powertrain options because “choice matters.”
“We’ll continue to invest in a robust EV portfolio across major luxury segments, even as we renew investment in internal combustion entries where demand remains strong, beginning with the next generation of XT5 next year,” the executive wrote.
One reason for the change of plans would appear to be sales—or a lack of them. In May, Cadillac celebrated the sale of its 100,000th EV. That is a milestone to be sure, but the company sold 20,000 examples of the XT6 in its final model year, according to Motor1.com, a number the EV replacing it, the Vistiq, is currently nowhere near matching.
As for when the will XT6 make its official return to the Cadillac lineup, that remains to be seen. Reports suggest it will likely follow the debut of the next-gen XT5. A new iteration of the beloved CT5 sports sedan, which will feature a naturally aspirated V-8 and manual transmission, is also said to be on the way.