Spied: 2020 Cadillac XT6 Prepares to Fill the Gap

Now that former brand president Johan de Nysschen has left the job of running Cadillac to a Canuck, it would be nice to see the brand take a page from Lincoln and revamp its naming strategy. What you see above is purported to be the upcoming Cadillac CT6 XT6, a full-size unibody crossover that’s on track to plug a major hole in the brand’s lineup.

Slotted above the popular XT5 midsize crossover and below the top-rung Escalade, the XT6 (as it’s tentatively named) promises three roomy rows of lux-mobile motoring. This vehicle, along with the compact XT4 launching later this year, was all part of de Nysschen plan to bring home the bacon in the domestic market.

The model pictured here becomes more Cadillac-esque as it turns its tail towards the camera. A long-wheelbase version of the GM C1 “Chi” platform sits underneath — an architecture it shares with the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave. The XT5, as well as the GMC Acadia, ride atop a regular-length version.

The camouflage is heavy with this one, so it’s hard to discern the model-specific styling underneath. We’ll likely see a strong resemblance to the smaller XT5, with diagonal slashes almost a certainty.

As both the Traverse and Enclave carry a nine-speed automatic and 3.6-liter V6, it would be expected to find this combo in the XT6. However, with prestige comes the desire for more power. Cadillac can’t field a large utility without offering buyers the chance to step up to a more prestigious powerplant … can it? A suitable option does not spring to mind.

Maybe Cadillac will massage the 3.6 to give it the slightest statistical edge over its GM stablemates. Then again, the XT4 makes do with a turbo 2.0-liter making 237 hp — less than that of the 2.0 found in the Traverse RS, and still less powerful than the uplevel Chevy Equinox.

It’s expected we’ll see the XT6 shed its protective coverings at this fall’s L.A. Auto Show, with an on-sale date sometime in the spring of 2019.

[Images: Brian Williams/Spiedbilde]