Cadillac XT4
Compact luxury SUV · 2019–2025. 22,405 units sold in the US in 2024
How it began
It was developed by Cadillac, General Motors' luxury brand, under Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen. Cadillac says the design was led by a team of young designers who matched the customer it was after. The documented names are Jim Fleming, Cadillac Exterior Design Director, who helped create the vehicle's architecture; Therese Pinazzo, exterior design manager; and Phillip Kucera, interior design manager.
For the U.S. it was built at GM's Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas, the only plant that built it for North America, alongside the Chevrolet Malibu. For China it is built by SAIC-GM at the Jinqiao plant in Shanghai, where it became Cadillac's fifth model in China.
Cadillac revealed it on March 27, 2018 at Cadillac House in Manhattan, during the New York Auto Show, priced from $35,790 including destination. It went on sale in China on August 29, 2018, and U.S. deliveries began in September 2018 as a 2019 model. Production for the U.S. ended in January 2025.
In 2014 Cadillac reorganized its names: sedans would be CT and SUVs and crossovers would be XT, each followed by a number that shows its size within the lineup. The scheme was created by then-marketing chief Uwe Ellinghaus. The 4 places it just below the XT5; only the Escalade kept its name.
Cadillac had nothing in the compact luxury SUV segment, the fastest-growing part of the luxury market, and watched that segment boom from the sidelines. De Nysschen explained that GM would not fund new Cadillacs without numbers to justify them, so he grew the China business first and used those profits to pay for the expansion. The XT4 was the first product of that push: a smaller, more affordable SUV than the XT5, aimed at the next generation of luxury buyers.
Generation by generation
- Gen. 12019–2023 · E2
Cadillac's first compact SUV
Photo: Elise240SX · CC BY-SA 4.0 What changed. It was an all-new model on an exclusive compact SUV architecture, with no predecessor at Cadillac. It debuted the brand's Y trim strategy: Luxury as the base, with Premium Luxury and Sport each getting their own look. It had one engine, a 2.0-liter turbo with 237 hp and 258 lb-ft, a nine-speed automatic, front- or all-wheel drive, and 39.5 inches of rear legroom.
The innovation. It was the first Cadillac with electro-hydraulic brake assist instead of a vacuum booster, which saves fuel and space under the hood. Its engine, the first built on a new GM architecture, debuted a three-mode system Cadillac called an industry first: high valve lift, low valve lift and cylinder deactivation.
If you buy one usedCheck selected XT4 campaigns by VIN: 20V668 accumulator bolts on 2019–2020; 22V868 rear-camera/VPM faults on 2019–2020 with Surround Vision; 21V649 rear belt-retractor fasteners on 2019–2021; 20V588 brake-boost module on 2020; 21V115 affected Continental tires on 2020; and 22V359 driver-seat frame welds on 2022. Inspection determines several hardware replacements; the camera program can require software or VPM replacement. Ask for each completed remedy. GM’s original LSY technical guidance specifies full synthetic dexos1 Gen 2 SAE 0W-20; follow the actual vehicle’s manual and approved current service specification. EPA lists the 2023 FWD configuration on premium gasoline; that classification alone does not establish a universal minimum-octane requirement. - Gen. 22024–2025 · E2
Refresh with the Lyriq's screen
Photo: Deathpallie325 · CC BY-SA 4.0 What changed. It is a mid-cycle refresh of the same generation, revealed on February 20, 2023. It changed the front and rear, with a new grille, lower LED headlamps and new 18- and 20-inch wheels, and completely redesigned the dashboard. The engine stayed the 2.0-liter turbo, now listed at 235 hp, with the nine-speed automatic. At launch it ran from $39,090 to $45,190 including destination, in front-wheel drive.
The innovation. A curved 33-inch LED display with 9K resolution, inspired by the one in the electric Lyriq, joining the gauge cluster and infotainment in one piece. It brings Google built-in, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a 5G Wi-Fi hotspot.
If you buy one usedCheck 24V575 on certain 2024 XT4s for the wrong glove-box owner manual, corrected with the proper manual, and 24V795 on certain 2025 vehicles for missing passenger-airbag deployment perforations, corrected by replacing the upper dash cover. Verify VIN eligibility and completed work. Confirm actual factory driver-assistance equipment; adaptive cruise control or the large display does not by itself establish hands-free Super Cruise. Cadillac’s U.S. page lists XT4 as discontinued in 2025 and retains 2025 inventory; later April 2025 reporting states production ended that January. This U.S. retirement does not describe Chinese-market production.
Cadillac Escalade1999–present
Cadillac Lyriq2023–present
Cadillac XT5 (SRX)2004–present
Cadillac CT5 (CTS)2002–present (CTS 2002–2019, CT5 2019–present)
Ford F-Series (F-150)1948–present
Toyota RAV41994–present (US from 1996)
Honda CR-V1995–present
Ram 15001981–present
Tesla Model Y2020–present
