XTS

Make
Cadillac
Segment
Sedan

It's been nearly two years since we learned the Cadillac XTS was living on borrowed time. GM's luxury division is currently rebalancing its entire lineup, and the XTS isn't the only casualty. The ATS sedan is already gone and its coupe counterpart isn't far behind. The CTS also doesn't have much time left. Fortunately, Cadillac isn't giving up on sedans entirely, proven by the all-new CT5 and upcoming CT4. The CT6 will stick around (for now).

As for the XTS, Automotive News Canada has come across a bulletin posted by Unifor Local 222, the union that represents GM workers at the soon to close Oshawa Assembly plant where the XTS is built. It says the production line will officially shut down this October.

Oshawa also produces the Chevrolet Impala, which will also soon meet its maker. However, the Impala will continue to be built alongside the CT6 at the Detroit-Hamtramck facility, which won't close its doors until January 2020. The full-size XTS first made its appearance in 2012 as a 2013 model, and shares a platform with the Impala. It was given a facelift for 2018 but by that time sales had tanked. It's not that the facelift came too little too late, but it did little to revive sales.

The XTS' best year was 2013 with 32,559 units sold. Last year, that figure dipped to 17,727 (though it was 8.9 percent higher than 2017). So far this year, sales have dropped nearly 24 percent compared to the same time in 2018.

Unlike the rest of Cadillac's sedans, the XTS was the only model built on a front-wheel-drive platform, though all-wheel-drive was optional. Nor did it offer V8 power. Competitors included the likes of the Toyota Avalon and Lincoln Continental. It's not that the Cadillac XTS is a bad car, it's just no longer suited for the times. Cadillac is determined to ditch its grandfather image once and for all and the XTS' main appeal is to traditional and older buyers.