Overview
Cadillac is late to the compact-luxury-crossover party, but the XT4 is prepped to make up for lost time. Its angled sheet metal is decidedly Cadillac; under the hood is a 237-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter with a nine-speed automatic and front-drive; all-wheel drive is optional. A Sport model offers an adaptive suspension. An 8.0-inch touchscreen with CUE infotainment is standard. Available safety tech includes blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. The XT4 goes on sale in fall 2018.
Cadillac established itself in the luxury-crossover game when it introduced the first-generation SRX as a 2004 model. Since then, however, it hasn’t made any major plays other than refashioning the SRX from an edgy, three-row, rear-drive-based vehicle into a benign, front-wheel-drive, two-row model for its 2010-model-year redesign (and then renaming it XT5 when it was revamped for 2017). Notably missing from the brand’s lineup is any three-row SUV that’s not as gigantic as the Escalade, as well as a more compact offering.
Consider the latter vacancy filled by the fetching 2019 Cadillac XT4, revealed during the run-up to the 2018 New York auto show. With a 109.4-inch wheelbase and an overall length stretching 181.1 inches, the XT4 straddles the compact and subcompact classes, being significantly larger than the BMW X1 but not quite as big as the X3. Its closest competitors, dimensionally, are the Audi Q5 and the Lexus NX. Compared with its XT5 sibling, the XT4 has a 3.1-inch-shorter wheelbase and is 8.4 inches shorter overall.
Borrowing many of its styling cues from the larger XT5, the XT4 conveys a bit more attitude with its vertical grille, rakish rear window, and taillamps that rise up the side of the C-pillar. Three trims of the XT4 will be available—Luxury, Premium Luxury, and Sport. The meanest-looking of the bunch is the Sport, with its black mesh grille, body-color door handles, and black window trim (other models wear more traditional shiny and satin chrome exterior accents). All XT4s ride on 18-inch wheels to start, while 20s are available on the Premium Luxury and Sport trims, each with their own design.
The XT4’s interior marks several advances. Cadillac’s CUE interface for its infotainment system adds a new dial-type controller for operations on its standard 8.0-inch touchscreen, as well as some good old-fashioned buttons. A near-field communication system is said to simplify the process of phone pairing, while wireless inductive charging pads boast faster charge times.
Seven interior “environments” are available. Luxury models come with light-gray and black leatherette seats with metallic trim, while Premium Luxury models feature all-black or two-tone leather seats in light gray or saddle brown, as well as genuine wood or aluminum accents and ambient lighting. Sport models have leatherette upholstery in three available colors with special accents, wood or carbon-fiber trim (the latter finished in red or black), ambient lighting, and a sport steering wheel and pedals. Blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and a power liftgate are standard on the two upper trim levels. A sunroof, navigation, a Bose audio system, and a cold-weather package are extra-cost items on all versions, while the Premium Luxury and Sport models can be had with additional packages full of more active-safety, convenience, and technology features.
