Cadillac has pledged to go purely electric by 2030 but there’s still time for a few more vehicles equipped with combustion engines. The XT5 happens to be one of them, and later this year, it’ll transition to the second generation. Ahead of its official premiere, the luxury crossover has been outed in China by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as part of the homologation process.
Having been around since 2016, the outgoing XT5 is getting a bit long in the tooth. Thankfully, its successor is right around the corner with a somewhat fresh look. It’s obvious we’re dealing with evolutionary styling in keeping with Cadillac’s latest design language. It gets the familiar upper slim strip of horizontal lights along with a vertical bar extending downward to form an upside-down “L” at both ends of the vehicle.
General Motors’ luxury brand has opted for a slightly boxier look and plans to offer the XT5 is multiple flavors. Eagle-eyed readers will notice the images posted on the MIIT website show at least a couple of trim levels, each offered with several alloy wheel designs, one paired with red brake calipers. The interior has yet to be revealed, although we won’t be too surprised if it has the 33-inch screen setup seen in recent Cadillac models such as the CT5.
Accompanying these images are some initial technical specifications. We get to find out China’s 2025 XT5 is 192.4 inches (4888 millimeters) long, 77 in (1957 mm) wide, and 66.7 in (1694 mm) tall. That makes it slightly larger in all directions than its predecessor, along with a slightly longer wheelbase of 112.7 in (2863 mm).
The new XT5 for the world’s second-most populous country will be powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter gasoline engine making 227 hp. Front-wheel drive is going to be standard but Cadillac intends to sell more expensive variants in China with AWD.
The key question remains whether Cadillac intends to introduce the next-gen XT5 to the United States. During the GM Investor Day in 2022, GM President Mark Reuss stated that the new crossover would be exclusive to the Chinese market. However, a report from GM Authority in late 2023 suggested a potential change of plans, indicating that the revamped model might, in fact, make its way to North America after all.
