Cadillac CT6: The Flagship Sedan With Blackwing and Hybrid Variants

The Cadillac CT6 was a full-size rear-wheel-drive luxury sedan built in two generations. It was the first rear-wheel-drive full-size Cadillac sedan since the Fleetwood ended in 1996, and it reached US showrooms in March 2016 with a range that later included a plug-in hybrid and the Blackwing V8.

Where did the CT6 come from?

The CT6 was first introduced at the 2015 New York International Auto Show and reached US showrooms in March 2016. It was the first Cadillac to use the brand's revised naming strategy, and it sat on a platform different from the smaller CTS.

A larger CT8 was expected above the CT6, but it never arrived. The CT6 therefore remained the brand's full-size sedan for the whole of its US run.

The first CT6 delivered on 11 March 2016 went to the winner of a 2015 auction. That car, a Platinum in Stellar Black Metallic, sold for $200,000.

US cars were built at GM's Detroit/Hamtramck plant. That plant was later retooled for electric vehicle production, an announcement made in November 2018.

The retooling plans were announced in November 2018, well before US production of the CT6 ended in February 2020. The model was discontinued because of poor sales and the Hamtramck retooling, which closed its home-market run.

The rear-wheel-drive flagship that carried a 550 hp Blackwing V8 and a plug-in hybrid option.

How did the CT6 differ from the CTS and XTS?

The CT6 was built on a different platform from the smaller CTS, and it was longer and wider than the XTS. Its mix of steel and aluminium made it lighter than rivals in its class.

The body was offered in a wide range of finishes. Nine exterior colours and nine interior packages were available in the first year, which gave buyers a broad set of choices from the start.

How did the CT6 fit into the Cadillac range?

The CT6 sat above the smaller CTS and was longer and wider than the XTS, which left it as the largest sedan in the US range during its run.

Cadillac had not sold a rear-wheel-drive full-size sedan since the Fleetwood ended in 1996, so the CT6 filled a gap that had been open for years. Its arrival gave the brand a rear-drive flagship again.

The second generation, by contrast, was sold only in China, which shows how far the range had shifted by 2023. For a model that had started as a US flagship, a single-country second generation was an unusual end to its story.

Which trims did the CT6 offer?

Four trim levels were offered at launch: standard, Luxury, Premium Luxury and Platinum. In 2019 the standard trim was renamed Luxury and Sport, and CT6-V trims were added to the range.

The CT6-V was formerly called the V-Sport and was revealed at the 2018 New York Auto Show. Its 550 hp Blackwing engine used a 10-speed automatic.

Platinum trunk badging read 4.2TT for 2019 and 800T for 2020 models.

What technology did the CT6 include?

The CT6 offered 14-way front seats, with a 16- or 20-way option that added heated and cooled massage seats. Rear 10-inch LCD screens rose from the back of the front seats, and the rear-view mirror camera display spanned the whole mirror.

Super Cruise arrived in 2017 as a US$5,000 option on the Premium Luxury trim. It required adaptive cruise control to be engaged first, and it was designed to operate in a geofenced area covering 260,000 km (160,000 mi) of mapped limited-access roads.

A geofenced system works only inside an area that has been mapped in advance, which limited where the feature could be used. The adaptive cruise control requirement was a safeguard built into the setup.

Enhanced Night Vision returned after being discontinued in 2004, and the Rear Camera Mirror was new with the CT6. The second generation added a 33-inch infotainment screen and a digital rear-view mirror.

What engines did the CT6 offer?

The first generation launched with a 2.0-litre turbo four, a 3.6-litre V6 and a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6. The 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 made 301 kW (404 hp; 410 PS) and 542 N m (400 lb ft) of torque.

Four-cylinder models were rear-wheel drive, while six- and eight-cylinder models were all-wheel drive. That split meant buyers were picking a drive layout as much as an engine.

A Voltec hybrid was added for 2017, with two electric motor-generators, but it was discontinued after 2018. The hybrid was a short-lived part of the range. Voltec systems use electric motor-generators to drive the car, and the CT6 hybrid used two of them.

How did the CT6-V Blackwing V8 perform?

The CT6-V used a 4.2-litre twin-turbo Blackwing V8 rated at 410 kW (550 hp; 558 PS), with 868 N m (640 lb ft) of torque. The Platinum Blackwing made 373 kW (500 hp).

Blackwing is the badge Cadillac used for its highest-performance engines, and the CT6-V carried it at the top of the range. Forged connecting rods are shaped from steel rather than cast, which suits an engine built to handle high boost.

The bore measured 86.0 mm, the stroke 90.2 mm and the compression ratio 9.8:1. The engine used cylinder deactivation on four cylinders, which shuts some cylinders off under light load to save fuel.

Blackwing intake cams park mid-travel when the engine is off, and the intercoolers sit just above each cylinder head. Torque figures of 868 N m (640 lb ft) and 778 N m (574 lb ft) were quoted across the two versions.

Engines were hand-assembled at Bowling Green, Kentucky, which is a notable detail for a production car. The CT6-V engines were built at the plant where Chevrolet Corvettes are assembled. Reports put the cost of each engine at about $20,000.

How did the CT6-V handle?

The CT6-V's torque split was 40:60 front to rear, and it moved to 10:90 for track use. That 10:90 setting sends almost all of the drive to the rear wheels. The car also had rear steering and a mechanical limited-slip differential.

Its all-wheel drive adjusted across three driving modes, so the driver could change how the system behaved on the road. A mechanical limited-slip differential helps send drive to the wheel with more grip when one wheel starts to spin, and rear steering turns the back wheels slightly to help the car change direction.

What was the CT6 plug-in hybrid?

The CT6 PHEV debuted at the 2015 Shanghai Auto Show and used a 2.0-litre turbo four rated at 198 kW (266 hp; 270 PS). Combined output reached 250 kW (335 hp; 340 PS), and peak torque was 586 N m (432 lb ft). The battery held 18.4 kWh.

A plug-in hybrid can run on its battery for short trips and switch to its petrol engine for longer ones, which is the main appeal of the layout.

Its battery cut trunk volume from 15.3 to 10.6 cu ft (430 to 300 L), a practical trade-off for a family-sized sedan. EPA ratings gave 62 MPGe combined on electric power and 25 MPG combined in hybrid mode.

Electric range was 50 km (31 miles) by EPA figures, and total range topped 710 km (440 miles). Charging took 4.5 hours at 240 VAC and 16 A, or 20 hours at 120 VAC and 8 A.

The PHEV used a Voltec powertrain variant derived from the Chevrolet Volt. It was the first Cadillac for the US market with final assembly in China, carried out at Jinqiao by SAIC-GM.

China launch pricing was 558,800 yuan (about US$80,408) in December 2016. The US base price was US$76,090, equivalent to $99,900 in 2025.

How was the CT6 received?

Car and Driver called the Bose Panaray system powerful but lacking in detail. The system had 34 speakers in 19 locations and four amplifiers with 570 watts, and the IEEE named the CT6 one of its Top 10 Tech Cars in 2018.

In-car audio is judged on detail as well as volume, which is why Car and Driver's comment on the Bose system mattered to buyers comparing the car with rivals.

Blackwing sales told a different story, and the figures below show how small those volumes were. CT6-V totals were 504 units in 2019 and 411 in 2020, while Platinum Blackwing totals were 168 in 2019 and 117 in 2020. Both Blackwing versions sold in small numbers in each year.

Second-generation photos leaked in November 2022, months before the car's official debut on 28 May 2023 and the China-only sales that followed.

What was the second-generation CT6?

The second-generation CT6 debuted on 28 May 2023 and went on sale at the end of Q2 2023, but it was sold only in China. It kept design cues from the first generation.

It came with Super Cruise and Magnetic Ride Control 4.0, the two headline features of that generation, and it carried over the gearbox and platform from the first generation. The first generation had been offered in Europe, South Korea, Japan and the Middle East, so its reach was wider than the US market alone.

What are the Cadillac CT6 specifications?

The CT6 came in two generations, with the Blackwing V8 at the top of the range and the plug-in hybrid as the other notable variant. Its core figures are set out in the table below.