In March 2018 Cadillac rolled out the first-ever XT4 at Cadillac House in NYC to a crowd of auto and lifestyle media and to a few notable folks in the fashion world. This all-new compact SUV is designed for ‘that’ new Cadillac customer as well as the owners who are looking to add updated freshness to their garage. Some of the old school auto media questioned if the new XT4 is too late an addition to this compact SUV segment filled with Lexus, Audi, Volvo and now Jaguar with the E-Pace. The truth is it takes time to make the most stylish and technologically advanced SUV. Give the design team orders for perfection, rather than deadlines, and they will produce a ride that has expressive design, confident performance, spacious accommodations, and new technologies.  The contemporary and sculpted lines draw your eyes to its design but it is the XT4’s proportions and aggressive presence that is a design stand out. “The new Cadillac XT4 brings a new vitality to Cadillac, in one of the industry’s fastest-growing segments,” said Steve Carlisle, Cadillac president. “It pairs the agility of our award-winning sports sedans with a youthful SUV character.” On a recent trip to the US city of Seattle, we put the turbocharged XT4 to the test, on every highway to every curvy road we could find. Our car, fitted with the available Active Sport Suspension, had us forgetting we were in a compact SUV. With the addition of the electronically calibrated steering, with the available twin-clutch AWD system we did not want to stop at the red lights. “The propulsion elements, chassis system and extensive tuning work in harmony to make the XT4 a joy to drive,” said Todd Pawlik, chief engineer. “It offers all the versatility you want in an SUV while answering the driver’s inputs with both immediacy and comfort.”

“The XT4 has a great presence that is confident and poised,” said Therese Pinazzo, exterior design manager. “It exudes Cadillac’s DNA, but with a new boldness that speaks to the youthfulness of its team and its customers.” With the XT4 Cadillac is showing off its new global “Y” trim strategy. The Luxury, Premium Luxury, and Sport models offer distinctive styling cues and trim finishes to create unique personas and greater choice for customers. XT4 Sport models feature a gloss black mesh grille inspired by Cadillac’s high-performance V-Series models, gloss black window moldings and specific Sport alloy wheel choices. Luxury and Premium Luxury models feature grilles with bright metallic accents, satin aluminum window moldings and satin chrome-accented door handles. “With the XT4’s interior, we distilled Cadillac to its essence,” said Phillip Kucera, Interior Design manager. “We’ve been able to be simpler and bolder than we have ever been before, giving the SUV attitude and a sporty connotation.” The all-new XT4 will surprise you with the amount of space for a compact luxury SUV, particularly for rear-seat passengers. “The XT4 was envisioned holistically to deliver a dynamic sporty exterior without compromising comfort and functionality for passengers,” said Cadillac Exterior Design Director Jim Fleming, who helped create the vehicle’s architecture. Cadillac designers and engineers really devoted their lives to this project and the resulting XT4 is the best marriage of style and substance.  Cadillac XT4