No one can tell you the future because, if they could, why would they waste telling the future to you. Will the future be entirely made up of gas-powered sedans? Probably not. Will it be entirely electric crossovers? Also, probably not. The answer lies somewhere in between, which is why the update for the 2025 Cadillac CT5 is interesting to me. It is indicative of the era of cars we’re entering, which I call The Long Goodbye.
The Long Goodbye is the inevitable outcome of this transitional moment between a maybe EV future and a definitely gas present. I’m always tempted to call it a liminal space and yet, even that implies we’re at the line and not over it or behind it. If we’re in a liminal space, it’s a doorway as wide as the gap between the expectations Jets fans had for Aaron Rodgers this season and the reality of Aaron Rodgers this season.
What do you do if you’re an automaker? Start ejecting gas-powered vehicles out of your lineup as fast as possible, a la Volvo? Go long on hybrids, as Ford is doing? Whatever the strategy, a company with a gas-powered car that’s successful probably shouldn’t shut down the production lines just yet.
Thus the CT5. Sales, Cadillac will tell you, were up 70.6% in August. There are people who want the CT5. According to the brand, the average buyer age is in the lower 60s, compared to the mid 50s for Cadillac overall, so I’ll leave it to you to surmise who those people might be.
Is there upside in completely revamping, rebuilding, and reengineering the car? Again, I am no futurist (I’m my only critic), but my guess is the answer is “no” and that’s been indicated by what has changed, which isn’t much.
So what do we get with this new Cadillac CT5? A mild visual refresh that brings the car more inline with its EV brethren, but doesn’t offend. A 33-inch screen with 9K resolution that stretches across the dash. New standard safety equipment that includes Blind Zone Steering Assist, Intersection Automatic Emergency Braking, and available Traffic Sign Recognition and Intelligent Speed Assist, as well as available Super Cruiser ADAS. Plus, there are two new colors: Deep Space Metallic and Typhoon Metallic.
To be fair to General Motors, this car has only been around since 2019 and is thus do for a mid-cycle refresh. My guess is that we’ll keep seeing refreshes until it disappears completely. Like most gas-powered cars, the investment in making an entirely new platform (this rides on the second generation Alpha platform, the CTS it replaced also ran on the Alpha platform) would be misplaced given other priorities.
The longest of The Long Goodbye cars is probably the Dodge Charger, which has somehow continued to lumber on through refresh after refresh and, finally, so many Last Calls that I’m too inebriated to remember when production is actually supposed to end.
No word on future Blackwings or CT5-Vs, but this version will be available with either the 2.0-liter turbo, which is good for 237 horsepower, or the 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6, capable of squeezing out 335 horsepower and 405 lb-ft of torque on the good gas. Both engines are available as AWD or RWD.
Is The Long Goodbye a bad thing? Not really. A long goodbye is better than no goodbye. Think of all the cars we’ve lost that may never come back. The Challenger, as we know it, is going to eventually leave. The Camaro, too. The Fiesta is dead, along with every other thing that Ford calls a car and not a Mustang.
As the man said: “To say goodbye is to die a little.”
But it’s probably better to die a little than to die completely, though I can’t say for sure what happens after.
Can you do the same thing with the V6? Asking for a friend…
Fair enough. Still considering my options after selling my 2016 A8 2SS. I loved the car, except for that POS transmission.
Bye BMW wannabe. Cadillac hasn’t made Cadillacs since 1976. Now do me a favor and get off my lawn.
I was behind one of these cars the other day they are beautiful from the outside. Not a fan of that dash though. Hopefully next refresh they get something a little more traditional looking.
I just don’t see it, I don’t see the EV future. I’m sorry, I don’t.
Quick, someone talk me out of buying a red 2011 CTS-V coupe.
Oh you should do it
Do it.
Don’t do it. Buy the wagon instead!
Looks like a nice refresh. The previous one looked to Civic XXL to me but the front of this at least is more visually distinctive.
Dead cars are heavier than broken hearts. Apologies to R.Chandler, plus that’s from The Big Sleep, not The Long Goodbye.
I just want good cars to still exist. And I mean cars. 3 of my vehicles are still car form, not an SUV or truck. I don’t want a small SUV, I want a sedan or coupe and they are disappearing very quickly. Quick, name another US GM sedan outside Cadillac that is still for sale. (There’s only 1 left, it’s not one I want, and I’d be shocked if it gets another generation). Ford doesn’t have any left. Stellantis won’t have the Charger much longer.
I’m glad to see the CT5 get a good looking update. And it still has physical buttons as it should.
Almost everyone I know (outside The Business) still refers to this thing as the “CTS” and the faster versions as the “CTS-V.” Throwing away two decades of brand equity was a real mistake on Cadillac’s part, and it certainly didn’t help in a segment as troubled as the sedan one is.
As someone in The Business, can you explain why auto companies make that same mistake repeatedly?
Simple, they all keep hiring JDN.
He is a hell of a salesman but his only product is himself.
People really need to stop doing this!
I’ll admit it – for a decent while, I thought it still was the CTS, given how the 5 looked at a glance.
But no manual until you go CT5-V Blackwing
True, but that 10 speed is great in performance applications. It ain’t towing your own of course but it’s not like it’s an “it ruins the car” type of situation.
It would have to be massively better than the sluggish-shifting, gear-hunting 8 speed for that to be at all true.
It is, I’ve driven it in a couple different cars.
Probably, but the problem with me is that I am not allowed to own an automatic. Not until my left leg is amputated, at least.
That’s good to hear. That thing had me missing ’80s 3-speeds.
Rumors of the death of the ICE car have been greatly exaggerated
Not to get all old mannish, but was this originally the “CTS”? At the rental car parking lot, the place where I see the most of this era of Cadillacs, the CT5 badge is nearly indistinguishable from CTS. What does the 5 stand for? There is no 5-cylinder option. Does it represent 5 out of 10, so “meh” in numerical terms?
If GM really wants to move these, then they need to call it the Seville, swap the t-4/6’s with a low stressed V8 and stop being a pretender to the BMW throne.
Yes it was originally the CTS. They changed the whole lineup to alpha numeric to differentiate sizes. CT4 was small, CT5 mid size, CT6 big
I’m not sure that very many of the people who think of the name Seville fondly are still alive. I’m fine with catering to old people–a Buick got me through college and I loved it and appreciate the brand. However, most people dislike the geriatric association. At some point I think domestic automakers will return to the “American luxury” style though and stop copying the Germans
I felt a similar pain when they rather abruptly cancelled the CT-6, a truly great car that too few customers availed themselves of. Shot the hell out of the resale market too.
https://youtu.be/LLji1buqZOk?si=v1jVkY3yzDyv5wgH
I hadn’t thought about this gem of a song in a few years, but it seems like an appropriate soundtrack for this article. I’ve always considered both the CT4 and CT5 to be attractive cars, and the Alpha platform needs no introduction. It’s a shame that in typical GM they finally got something very right just as the market for sports sedans started to die.
Can we maybe get an LT1 option in this or the CT4 as a last hurrah? I’d buy one in a nanosecond.
For those of us who live beyond the range of EV chargers and prefer performance cars to pickups and SUVs, it’s good to know the CT will be available through 2025 at least. I’ll put it on my too short shopping list…
I first saw this and thought that the “long goodbye” context was for the ‘car’ format, in general — you know, sedans/coupes, versus SUV/crossover/brotruck seating and associated ride heights. Kudos to Cadillac for still making actual cars.
Good Riddance!! Yeah, yeah, yeah the CT5 is amazing, but is it really a Cadillac? The Celestiq is what a Cadillac should be. Leave the high performance to Chevy, or in an alternate universe, Pontiac. Hell, Buick needs a lean, mean, driving machine.
Have you been living under a rock for the past 20 years?
Wow, hard disagree.
As a Dolphins fan, I just want to go on record as saying fuck the Jets and ha-ha!
Adrian having opinions on American football was not on my Autopian bingo card.
Seriously, I would think Grumpy Brit would disdain all such American frippery.
Or possibly a Raiders fan.
You must have missed the multiple times I’ve mentioned I’m a massive Amerophile.
I am glad that our provincial colonial ways have finally reached an appreciative audience.
We like to keep an eye on you, just in case we need to come and burn the White House down again.
The way we’re going we’ll probably do it ourselves.
My friend you have not been paying attention. I’ve seen them twice, once in London and last year at Hard Rock Stadium. And I’m not some parvenu either – I was around when Marino was still throwing bombs downfield.
Not the same division but conference, I wish the Chargers had a head coach like yours, coming from a fan already on the “Fire Staley” train!
Since 1776 it has become illegal for Britons to hold opinions about American sportsball.
When you stop making tea in the microwave, I’ll consider it.
Now that’s just because we don’t have 220v electric standard and our electric kettles take longer than the microwave
Over the Goodwood weekend Torch, Beau and myself had a detailed conversation about British electrical plugs and outlets. I kid you not.
That is an absolutely valid point.
Love the dark teal color
(Speaking of balls…) You know it’s a cool car when you have the balls in the top picture to have a dude in a suit smoking a splif involved.
That’s Elliott Gould photoshopped into the photo from the movie, The Long Goodbye.
It took me a minute as well.
Seriously, there’s nothing the addition of a chain smoking Elliott Gould doesn’t improve
The ending is haunting. One of my favorite neo-noirs.
Yup, it’s possibly my favourite Marlowe adaptation, along with Bogie in The Big Sleep.
I know, I was just having a funsies 🙂 The CT4/5 are my favorite cars, they just drive great. Some folks overlook them because they are Caddies, but that’s their loss. Can’t say I’m thrilled about still holding on to the 2.0 turbo, but I get why they did. I really hope (and they probably will) that they will make a V version and at least one more cycle of Blackhawks.
Great flick, if any folks haven’t seen it!
Finally, the vertical running lights are one continuous piece. The CT4 always looked better because the lights looked complete.
Crystal Ball Says: Five years from now, EVs will be 38% of new car sales. The rest will be various spiffed and spruced 10 year old zombie ICE cars and Borg-like hybrids.
Kudos for the word liminal.
I know Crystal Ball well. Is she still dancing at that club off the New Jersey Turnpike?
Still known as the Stripper Sage of Exit 9.
Quick! Who will be president?
Trump will be entering his third term as dictator for life.