First Look: 2020 Cadillac CT4 and CT5

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MONTREAL, Quebec — If you’re an automaker intent on selling a type of vehicle that’s been falling out of favour among buyers over the past decade – the sedan – you’ve got to sweeten the deal for potential customers. This is good news if you’re still a sedan aficionado, because the new Cadillac CT4 and CT5 sedans, shown in Montreal ahead of the Montreal Auto Show January 17 to 26, are filled to the brim with new technology, even though they’re also becoming considerably more affordable.

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Both cars come in at below $40k, the CT4 starting at $35,798; and the CT5 at $39,798. That’s $2,050 and $5,900 less than the ATS and CTS models they replace, respectively. The four available trims include Luxury, Premium Luxury, Sport and the high-performance V.

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A 237-horsepower 2.0-litre turbocharged four is the base engine in both cars, mated to an eight-speed automatic in the CT4; and a 10-speed in the CT5. Optional engines include a more powerful 2.7-litre turbo four in the CT4 (310 hp), and a 335-hp turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 in the CT5.

We’ve already covered the details of the CT4-V and CT5-V, but of note is that both of these Cadillac Vs will make considerably less power than their predecessors, now claiming 320 and 355 horsepower, as opposed to 464 hp for the ATS-V and a whopping 640 hp for the CTS-V. Cadillac reportedly did this because some drivers were intimidated by the high-horsepower V cars , raising the question: what’s happening to the genuine car enthusiast?

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Available across the models is Cadillac’s Super Cruise, a technology that trickled down from the CT6. Super Cruise is an autonomous driver aid that works in conjunction with LiDAR map data, GPS, cameras and sensors, and will allow hands-free driving along more than 320,000 km of North American highways. Also included will be a comprehensive suite of other driver aids, most of them available from the Premium Luxury trim upwards, hence justifying the low entry prices of both models.

Cadillac has also greatly enhanced the online shopping experience with a service it calls Cadillac Live . This online shopping tool is an interactive media that connects you with what the company calls “sales personnel agents.” These agents are specially trained in the product, but they are not there to sell you a Cadillac. They are there to answer questions and give you a live tour of the vehicle in which you’re interested. They are in a 10,000 square-foot studio located somewhere in the greater Toronto area (the precise location is kept secret) that houses at least one variation of each Cadillac model.

If you’re timid about being broadcast to a stranger fret not; the agents use an iPhone X to broadcast both images and live speech, but do not receive an image from you. They’ll walk around the car, open doors, hood, glove box or anything you’d like to look at, and are well versed in the specs of each vehicle to answer questions. Connecting is a breeze, at live.cadillaccanada.ca, where the wait time to speak to someone is broadcast if you’re not immediately answered, or they’ll call you back if you wish.

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Cadillac Live is available throughout the week and weekend, though hours vary. This service is free, and you are under no obligation to make a purchase or visit a dealer, though if you are interested, the agent can set up a meeting. The service is available in English and French.

Cadillac is making a push to not only make its luxury vehicles more accessible, but also more relevant in the future. Cadillac Canada managing director Shane Peever reaffirmed what Cadillac President Steve Carlisle announced last December, that the American carmaker will be moving from internal combustion to electric propulsion by 2030.

“We’re starting the decade with a completely internal-combustion engine strategy,” he said, “and as we leave the decade, we will likely be all electric.” And he confirmed that “all-electric” means “battery electric,” and not some other form of electrification. So if you’re old-school, you still have a few more years to buy a Cadillac with pistons.

The CT5 is in dealers now, and the CT4 will be arriving in the spring.