The 2026 model year will be the last for the Cadillac CT4 and CT5, including their high-performance Blackwing models. A replacement for the CT5, however, will arrive at some point in the future and be powered by an internal combustion engine.
The news comes from Cadillac V-Club, an enthusiast website that published a letter it claims came from the desk of John Roth, Vice President, Global Cadillac. Car and Driver then got Cadillac to verify the letter’s authenticity, which means the news it contains about the future of these cars is for real.
The letter indicates the CT4 will be produced at the automaker’s Lansing Grand River Assembly plant through June 2026, while the CT5 will continue production until the end of 2026. While it doesn’t say when the next-generation CT5 will come, it does confirm it will be built at the same plant using a next-generation internal combustion engine.
Why The CT4 And CT5 Are Leaving Us
This decision by Cadillac to trim its passenger car portfolio by two, thus leaving only the insanely expensive Celistiq electric vehicle as its only non-SUV, is not altogether surprising. The CT4 and CT5 are being pushed out because the North American market prefers SUVs. Plus, Cadillac is one of the few automakers that has achieved success selling electric vehicles. The business case for these gas-powered luxury sedans has been shrinking for years, even if their high-performance Blackwing models are considered two of the best sports sedans in the world.
To be fair, sales of the CT4 and CT5 aren’t terrible compared to the rest of Cadillac’s lineup of SUVs. The CT4 sold 1,422 units in Q3 2025 and the CT5 sold 4,000 units. While the CT4’s sales figure is the brand’s lowest, it’s not far behind the compact XT4 SUV, which sold 1,789 units in Q3. The CT5, meanwhile, outsold four of Cadillac’s eight SUVs. That said, it’s generally the case that SUVs make more money per sale than passenger cars.
It’s also the case that nearly half of Cadillac’s entire lineup today consists of pure electric vehicles. These include the Optiq, Lyriq, Vistiq, Escalade IQ, and the aforementioned Celestiq. What’s more, except for the Escalade IQ, Cadillac’s electric SUVs are each outselling their gas-powered counterparts (XT4, XT5, and XT6). It seems clear that Cadillac is moving to a majority-EV lineup, slowly but surely.
The good news is this letter’s confirmation that a CT5 successor will happen, and it will be gas-powered. This makes sense, as GM recently committed $1 billion to the development of its next-generation small-block V8 engine. That engine will likely find a home in the Corvette and a number of trucks and SUVs from Chevy and GMC, and there may be a place for it under the hood of the next CT5-V Blackwing.
TopSpeed’s Take
This is a smart move by Cadillac. The automaker sees sales of passenger cars dwindling and is committed to the advancement of electric vehicles, but it knows gas-fed powertrains aren’t going away and that it would be lambasted if it were seen championing their end. With this decision, it’s able to take a couple of years off from building the CT4 and CT5 while it readies a single model to replace them that it guarantees won’t be an EV.
These two cars are actually just the latest in a line of luxury sedans that have been discontinued. The Lexus LS400 is on its way out and the Acura TLX is already gone. Lincoln sells only SUVs after it canceled the Continental, and the same is true for Volvo. Luxury sedans are becoming an endangered species, and it’s a shame. Cadillac has been quite good at making them ever since it launched the CTS back in 2003. After three generations of that car and the excellent CT4 and CT5, we can hardly remember the days when Cadillac was selling us the Cimarron and Catera.
Source: Cadillac V-Club; Car and Driver
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