Auto Trends: Cadillac XT5 (SRX)

You heard that Cadillac’s naming convention is set to change again, right? Well, it will and the first model to sport the new nomenclature will be the 2016 Cadillac CT6, a large ultra-luxury sedan due out in late 2015.

Cadillac’s naming convention will begin with a CT for cars and XT for crossovers followed by a single digit. Thus, the SRX will be renamed the XT5 when the next generation model goes on sale soon after the CT6 arrives.

2017 Cadillac XT5

The Cadillac XT5 has been spotted in the wild, wearing the typical camouflaging that covers much of the body, but does a good job of showing its form. You’ll have to head over to Carscoops to get a look at its profile picture as well as the other photos shared there.

The SRX replacement will be a clean sheet work, placed on a new platform that will underpin the Chevrolet Equinox, GMC’s Terrain and a new and currently unnamed Buick model. Regular and long-wheelbase versions of this standard front-wheel drive and available all-wheel drive platform will be sold.

Auto Trends believes that the Cadillac XT5 will be offered on the longer wheelbase and with all-wheel drive dominating the take rate. Likely, a pair of gasoline engines will be provided along with a turbo diesel in the mix, perhaps the same 2.8-liter diesel inline-four cylinder Duramax engine soon to power select Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickup trucks. GM is also hard at work building a nine-speed automatic transmission that should be ready in time for the XT5’s release.

Four Utility Vehicles

Expect that by the end of the decade Cadillac will sell four utility vehicles. Below the XT5 would be the XT3, making its debut in China in late 2017 before hitting the US market the following spring. This front-wheel-drive model will only be slightly larger than the current Buick Encore and may be powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine according to Automotive News.

Soon after the XT3’s arrival, the first large crossover utility vehicle for Cadillac will debut. That model will not be based on the same platform underpinning the Chevrolet Traverse, GMC’s Acadia and the Buick Enclave, but will offer dimensions similar to its GM rivals. GM could go with the Traverse/Acadia/Enclave platform for the Cadillac XT7, but that would run contrary to its new mission to offer further separation between its luxury marque and the other brands.

Escalade Lives On…Sort Of

It seems likely that Cadillac will maintain some sort of traditional sport utility vehicle along the lines of its current Escalade. The Escalade, like the GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban, are based on GM’s truck platform. The next generation of those trucks should arrive in 2019, with the utility vehicles following in 2020. Given the model’s rich name, eliminating it completely seems unlikely. However, by calling it the XT9 Escalade, Cadillac could keep its new naming convention in place while paying tribute to one of the brand’s best-known model names.

With four utility vehicles in the Cadillac line up, the brand will be better positioned to compete in a market where customer interest in utility vehicles continues to grow. Hugely popular as well as highly profitable, such vehicles are pushed by Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus with Acura, Lincoln, Infiniti, Volvo and others getting in the mix too.

As far as other models go, Cadillac will offer a convertible, one likely based on the ATS or possibly the CTS. That model should bow in the next 12 to 18 months. Some sort of sports car has been rumored too, but has not been confirmed. Most likely it won’t be an XLR-type variant of the Corvette Stingray and it may have to wait until the 2020s — or after Cadillac’s current new model rush has ended and its new nomenclature is well established.