Cadillac Reveals First-Ever CT4-V and CT5-V
Driven by Cadillac’s latest turbocharging technology and building on more than 15 years of performance credentials, the first-ever 2020 CT4-V and CT5-V were unveiled today, expanding choices for the brand’s V-Series performance sub-brand.
Following the 2019 CT6-V, they grow the V-Series family with even more levels of performance, while preserving the lineage established by the original V-Series lineup introduced in 2004.
“The new V-Series sedan lineup defines modern sophistication by combining luxury appointments with thoughtful technology and athletic refinement for the discerning enthusiast,” said Brandon Vivian, Cadillac executive chief engineer. “We are inviting even more customers into the V-Series family by adding a new level of elevated performance between our Sport models and the ultimate, high-performance track capability that the V-Series has grown to represent.”
The first-ever CT4 and recently introduced CT5 represent Cadillac’s realigned sedan portfolio, characterized by new proportions, innovative technologies and more appearance and performance choices. Each is built on Cadillac’s award-winning rear-wheel-drive Alpha architecture, with the V-Series models developed to deliver the ultimate blend of performance, presence and road-going refinement.
Both share the latest standard V-Series performance technologies, including Magnetic Ride Control 4.0, which is tuned specifically for V models to enhance comfort without sacrificing performance-oriented responsiveness, and drive modes that include new V-Mode personalization. Each model is available in RWD or AWD and features a 10-speed automatic transmission, Brembo front brakes with eBoost electronic assist and a limited-slip rear differential on CT4-V and electronic limited-slip differential on CT5-V.
Cadillac’s exclusive Super Cruise1, the first true hands-free driver assistance feature for the freeway, is available on more than 130,000 miles of limited-access freeways in the U.S. and Canada. It will be available on both new V-Series models.
“The new lineup expands the V-Series ethos, drawing more customers into the Cadillac Performance family, and the newest Vs are focused on elevated athleticism and luxurious refinement for customers wanting a dynamic daily drive,” said Mark Reuss, GM president. “And this is only the beginning of the V family. Cadillac’s passion for performance shines on a racetrack. Stay tuned.”
2020 Cadillac XT6
Cadillac’s first-ever XT6 will offer one of the segment’s strongest rosters of standard features and safety and driver assistance technologies, with a starting price of $53,690 (including destination charge)1, for the Premium Luxury FWD model.
The lineup also includes the XT6 Sport, with standard Sport Control AWD, which starts at $58,090 (including destination charge).1″The XT6 is designed to make every seat the best seat in the house, with every inch carefully considered to offer refinement, comfort, connectivity and safety,” said Steve Carlisle, Cadillac president. “With its host of standard features and two expressions of the signature Cadillac experience, XT6 will offer customers a high level of content with choices for style and driving character.”
Bright Galvano exterior accents distinguish the Premium Luxury model, while the XT6 Sport is defined by gloss black accents and more aggressive, performance-inspired details. Both models feature advanced lighting technology, including vertically emphasized LED signatures.The XT6’s rewarding balance of responsiveness and driving refinement is uniquely reflected in each of the models. A greater emphasis on road isolation is placed on the Premium Luxury, while a greater feeling of agility is dialed into the Sport’s chassis tuning.
Introducing the Unrivaled 2020 Cadillac CT5
Stimulate your senses
Cadillac today revealed its first-ever CT5 sedan with a social media campaign designed to stimulate the senses using autonomous sensory meridian response, also known as ASMR.
The videos focus on distinct sounds designed to trigger a physical response,¬¬ often experienced as a spine-tingling sensation, such as the rev of the CT5’s available 3.0L Twin Turbo engine, audio from its Bose® Performance Series speakers and the whisper of its custom black-and-white camouflage wrap slowly being peeled away to reveal the new sedan’s exterior.
The CT5 “Sensory Symphony” series can be found on Cadillac’s YouTube page and social media channels.
“The Cadillac CT5 is meant to overwhelm all of the senses, and that’s why we’re using ASMR-style videos to showcase its features,” said Deborah Wahl, Cadillac chief marketing officer. “The ‘Sensory Symphony’ videos are designed to convey for viewers the same satisfying feeling that arises from driving this car.”
Cadillac collaborated with artist Darel Carey to create a one-of-a-kind camouflage wrap for the CT5. The black and white tape patterns reflect forms found in nature and distort the viewer’s perception of space, and the videos will leverage this effect to disguise the shape of the vehicle. In the videos the camouflage is slowly peeled back to trigger the ASMR sensation while revealing the first-ever CT5.
The brand will feature a new video each week leading up to the New York Auto Show, where the CT5 will make its public debut, culminating in a “Sensory Symphony” video of vehicle sounds on April 16.”Sound leaves a lasting impression, and that’s why it is such a focus for this vehicle,” said Brandon Vivian, Cadillac executive chief engineer. “With standard sound optimization and active noise cancellation, our goal is to deliver a world-class cabin experience with a Cadillac-exclusive curated sound library.”
CT5 showcases Cadillac’s unique expertise in crafting American performance sedans, with details designed to elevate every drive. Built on an evolution of Cadillac’s award-wining RWD/AWD Alpha architecture, the CT5 features a standard 2.0L Turbo and available 3.0L Twin-Turbo engine with unique sound calibrations, each paired to a standard 10-speed automatic transmission offering nearly imperceptible shifts.
The driver-centric cockpit inside the CT5 blends high tech and high touch for an exceptional blend of control tactility. The new sedan will be offered in Luxury and Sport models, giving customers more choices in appearance and ride character.
The CT5 will be built at GM’s Lansing Grand River facility, which received an investment of $211 million to build the next-generation Cadillac sedan, and will make its public debut in April at the New York International Auto Show.
2019 CT6 V-sport
Introducing the first-ever CT6 V-sport
Cadillac introduced the 2019 CT6 V-sport to the world this morning. At first glance, it’s obvious that Cadillac’s engineers have taken more than a few design elements from the exceptionally well received Escala concept vehicle. And as a result, the vehicle is physically stunning.
But that’s not even the best part, the real game changer is what will reside under the hood. For this model exclusively Cadillac will be hand assembling a brand new 4.2L V8 twin turbo engine that touts 500hp and 627 ft lbs or torque. It’s an AWD daily driver that would feel equally at home on the track.
Next Generation Cadillac User Experience
The new Cadillac User Experience (CUE) offers a more personalized and intuitive experience and is equipped with the fastest processor of any vehicle currently on the market. It’s a dynamic platform that leverages the cloud to constantly adjust and evolve to changing connectivity needs.
Personalized User Profiles
Driver preferences are cloud-based and allow users to customize their experience. Things such as radio presets, navigation destinations and favorites, door lock and remote settings and light delay settings to name a few. These are stored on the cloud and the user can take these with them when they use another Cadillac with the next generation CUE by simply logging in to their profile. An example of how this could be beneficial is to think of it in the context of a service visit. When you bring your new 2018 XTS in for service they’ll give you a loaner vehicle to use while they work, and when you hop into the loaner vehicle that’s equipped with the next generation CUE you simply login to your profile and it instantly feels and is set up like your current vehicle. Radio station favorites and all! This could be applied if you rent a new Cadillac on a vacation as well. It should also be noted that multiple profiles can be set up per vehicle, so your loved ones can also create a personalized profile to use for when they’re driving the vehicle (if you ever let them).
Integrated Smartphone-like Navigation
The available all new navigation app features an intuitive interface that has access to the cloud for destination information. This means that your destination and routing information will always be up-to-date. Gone are the days of paying for a navigation upgrade to stay current! This includes things such as:
Point of interests (POIs)Traffic informationWeather informationSpeed limitsConstruction areasFuel pricesParking information
Further, the all new natural voice recognition software (think Siri or Alexa) makes searching and initiating a route a breeze while you’re driving. It truly is hands-free! It also has the ability to learn the users routing and destination preferences meaning the predictive suggestions for routes, destinations and traffic are as relevant as possible.
Active Connection
Built-in 4G LTE enables active connection, keeping everything up-to-date. It also facilitates the available lightning fast Wi-fi hotspot in your vehicle that allows you to connect up to seven mobile devices, tables or smartphones at once. Road trip Netflix anyone?! And yes, all four children can watch a different show if they must. The system also allows for two smartphones to be connected concurrently to hands-free calling via Bluetooth.Users are also able to connect compatible phones to Apple CarPlay or Android Auto through the home screen.
How to correctly interpret advertised lease payments
Have you ever experience the frustration of researching a vehicle, seeing a lease payment quoted on it, and then being quoted a much different and larger payment in person than you expected? You’re not alone! It’s complicated, but have no fear! Below we describe a few tricks that can help you interpret what is being shown, which will allow you to accurately determine the lease payment and eliminate the frustration of being surprised by an unaffordable payment when you call or show up to a dealer.
First off, I should also mention that the sales people hate them even more than you do. They dread the day someone walks in and asks to see the car that corresponds to the lease payment they saw on TV or the OEMs website because it’s always horrifically and unrealistically low. Thus, the response is usually something along the lines of, “we don’t stock that car” or “I do have that vehicle but the money down is double what you thought”.
Our goal with this post is offer some insight into why brands choose to advertise payments this way, along with how you can break them down yourself so you can see what is actually being advertised and hopefully save yourself the headache of driving to the dealer just to find out that the payment is significantly larger than you were initially expecting or were prepared to handle.
Manufacturers love these because it’s their chance to convince those that previously thought their product was out of reach that it isn’t. The goal is to advertise a payment that isn’t outrageous to the common man. This gets more people in the door and the rational is that once someone has the chance to drive said vehicle, they’ll fall in love and be willing to pay much more for it than they initially anticipated because they now see the value. The manufacturers never intend to sell vehicles for the price advertised and in many cases dealers don’t even have a vehicle on their lot that would facilitate such a payment. But it gets people interested and in the door, at which point the sales people can do what they do best — up sell!
So how does one see through this smokescreen? Lets take a trip to a manufacturer’s (OEM) website, on the first page look for a “current offers/promotions” tab, select it, find the vehicle that interests you and then select “lease offers”. You can also look on a local dealer’s website for the same options, they’ll normally have a section similar and will post payments for vehicles that are actually in their inventory. Once you’ve found the car and the advertised lease click the “details” link. It’s here you’ll find all the relevant information that allows you to break the lease down.
2017 Cadillac CT6
To the left is an example disclaimer for an ultra low mileage, 39mon lease advertisement on a 2017 Cadillac CT6 where the payment is $639/mon with $4,729 due at signing.
Ultra Low-Mileage Lease for Qualified Lessees $639/month for 39 months.
$4,729 due at signing (after all offers).
Tax, title, license, and dealer fees extra. $0 security deposit.
Sounds cheap right? (A 72mon loan at 4.5% would be $938/mon with the same money down on this vehicle)
Not quite, the payment is real but the amount due at signing for this particular situation is significantly higher at $7,619.75. Here’s how it breaks down.
The disclaimer says “tax, title, license and dealer fees extra”, meaning they are NOT included in the $4,279 due, they are “in addition to”. For all leases you’re charged a use tax which is in lieu of sales tax and for Minnesota (varies by state) it’s 7.275% of the portion of the vehicle you use over the term of the lease. Or the other side of the residual equation.
Here’s an example:
MSRP $41,565
Residual value 58% (portion of the vehicle you’re not paying for) $24,107.70
Portion you pay for, 42% of MSRP or $41,565-$24,107.70 = $17,457.30 Use tax $1,270.01 (7.275% x $17,457.30)
For our CT6 we don’t know the residual because it changes month by month so the best ballpark to use as a substitute is to multiply the use tax by the total of all the payments, i.e. $639 x 39 = 24,921 x 7.275% = $1,813. *note, this isn’t exact but it will get you very close.
Next is your title transfer fee, which again varies by state, but in MN it’s an aggregate of several fees such as bridge tax and title transfer, and it’s about $150
Your license fees are your “tabs” and in MN it’s about 1.2% of the base value of the vehicle, so for our example it would be about $610. Dealer fees are the acquisition fee and $595 is pretty standard for that. It does vary by brand but assume between $500 and $1000.
*note, in many cases you won’t be charged this until lease turn in because they’ll wave it if you buy or lease another vehicle from them. For this reason I won’t include it in the “true total due”. Unless the disclaimer specifically mentions it’s not included, which it does in the second example, hence the addition of it to the total.
Adding it all up:
Due at signing $4,279
Tax $1,813License $744Title $144.75First payment $639
True Total Due $7,619.75
That’s our number from above and again, hardly insignificant. What if you wanted to keep the due at delivery at $4,279 and roll the rest into the payment? Your payment would go up about $105 to $744, yikes! This is a very common request, and many will also notice that you can pretty much make a lease payment whatever you want by simply manipulating money down vs what is rolled into the payment. And as a general rule, for every $1000 you roll, your lease payment increases by about $30/mon.
This is not unique to Cadillac, below is a second example where I used a lease listed on a local BMW dealer’s website. In our experience BMW is notorious for advertising low payments with massive due at deliveries. As you’ll see, the ad is says $3500 but the true total is $7,923.63, it’s actually more than double!
2017 BMW X5
“see picture on left”
Advertised due at signing $3,500
Tax $1,853.88 ($25,483 x 7.275%) License $792Title $144.75First payment $708Acquisition $925
True Total Due $7,923.63
It gets worse, this includes the $5000 incentive they have advertised as well, if not, you’d be on the hook for $12,923.63 due at signing. So regardless of how you look at it, the amount due is significantly more than advertised, almost 4x the advertised amount down.
Having the ability to read between the lines of an advertised lease payment and see through the smoke screen can save one valuable time and potentially eliminate a little unneeded stress. Hopefully this post has offered some insight into how lease payments are really calculated and empowered you to become a much savvier vehicle purchaser. After all, understanding the structure of your purchase can help you feel at ease about whether you got a good deal or not. Happy searching!
Weight your options
“Don’t know if you should lease of buy? Weigh your options and decide if buying or leasing works best for you.”
Lease
Leasing offers affordable payments with shorter termsWhich allows you to…• Consider vehicles that have more options• Get closer to your desired trade cycle• Have peace of mind since your Cadillac will be under warranty the entire periodLeasing offers options at the end of your leaseIf the vehicle is worth more than the residual…• Exercise purchase option and keep it• Exercise purchase option and sell it• Apply equity to the next vehicleIf the vehicle is worth less than the residual…• Drop off the keys and walk away (and then pat yourself of the back, you just drove a vehicle for 2 or 3 years for a fraction of the actual cost!)
Buy
Conventional loans typically require longer terms to reach affordable paymentsThis could…• Limit your ability to trade into a newer vehicle when you want to• Impact the amount of time it takes to reach an equity positionConventional loans offer obligations when you trade• Assume all of the risks for unexpected depreciation• Unknown mileage expenses• Must pay the total cost of using the vehicle regardless of value (being “underwater” or “upside down”)
With all this in mind, one must now ask themselves, is leasing right for me?
More and more people are discovering the advantages of leasing. Whether it is the appeal of lower monthly payments or the opportunity to drive a new vehicle every few years – many drivers are exploring the possibility of leasing their next Cadillac.
What is leasing?
Leasing is a financing option that allows the customer to only pay for what they actually use. The payment is based on the estimated depreciation and a cost of borrowing.
Benefits of leasing
Less money up front – A lease typically requires less money up front than a tradition auto loan would.
Protection from potential negative equity – Avoid the risk that your vehicle’s value have declined beyond its projected residual value.
Virtually worry-free driving experience – Most lease terms are within the factory warranty period helping you avoid costly repair bills, your Cadillac will also be within its premium care maintenance, which means routine service is free as well!
Affordable payments with shorter terms – More bang for your buck. Consider newer models with more options!
Protection from unexpected depreciation:• Newer technology• Fuel prices• Supply and demand• Model changes
Bottom LineLease – only pay for the portion that you use.Buy – pay for the whole car.
Introducing Cadillac Super Cruise
Experience the World’s first true hands-free driving system for the freeway. You’re guaranteed to gain a new appreciation and confidence in Cadillac and the innovative technology they have to offer.
Join the movement and set yourself apart by being at the pinnacle of what the automotive industry has to offer.
“Our philosophy behind Super Cruise is to elevate driving, safely and simply.” — Johan De Nysschen, President of Cadillac
But don’t take our word for it, see what the experts have to say!
“We’ve tried Tesla Autopilot, Cadillac Super Cruise, and Mercedes Drive Pilot. Each has its own pros and cons. Super Cruise, in our view, worth the extra cost!” — Matthew DeBord, Business Insider
“The future of motoring is here.” — Jim Gorzelany, Forbes
“The way that Cadillac has implemented Super Cruise is the best example we’ve seen so far of a semi-autonomous feature that offers convenience without trading off on safety.” — Jake Fisher, director of auto testing at Consumer Reports
Clearly Cadillac is on to something, and their flawless execution of the best hands-free driving system the automotive industry has to offer shows they’re commitment to continuing to move and drive the world forward. The future favors the bold.
Learn more:
Connect with us
Archives
Categories
