Cadillac has confirmed that the high-performance version of its Escalade will carry the V badge after a premature tweet on Thursday, January 20. The automaker posted a teaser video of the Escalade on social media platform Twitter with the caption "Power has a sound - and it's a roar. Volume up."
What caught the attention of many was the accompanying hashtag to that tweet with Cadillac posting #EscaladeV. Cadillac deleted that initial tweet and reposted it without that said hashtag. More official information regarding the Escalade will be announced today, January 21.
Cadillac's teaser video features the headlights of the CT4-V and CT5-V models alongside the new Escalade V. The roaring sound of the V8 engine serves as the background track for the short 12-second video.
The Escalade V will likely use the powerful 6.2-liter LT4 V-8 that is currently under the hood of the CT5-V Blackwing sedan and the C7 Corvette Z06. This supercharged engine produces 668 horsepower and 659 pound-feet of twist in the Blackwing.
The LT4 powertrain in that sedan is paired with a 10-speed auto or a six-speed manual. In the Escalade's case, a manual transmission is probably out of the question so a 10-speed automatic is the more likely option for the full-size luxury SUV. That being said, the new engine of the Escalade V will yield around 200 more horsepower than the 420-hp 6.2-liter V-8 that the current Escalade model possesses.
Cadillac revealed last year that the CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwings would be the automaker's last gasoline-powered cars. That statement remains true as the Escalade is technically an SUV. This will delight customers, who remain fans of vehicles with internal combustion engines.
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Cadillac hopes the Escalade V will further boost its profile in China. Cadillac bucked the trend in 2021 and delivered a strong sales performance in the Chinese market last year. The automaker set a new sales record, posting 233,117 Cadillac vehicle deliveries last year. That is a 1.4 percent increase compared to Cadillac's 2020 numbers.
This is the sixth consecutive year that Cadillac has posted a new annual sales record in China. Sustained growth for Cadillac in the world's biggest automotive market started in 2016 when the General Motors brand inaugurated the Cadillac Jinqiao plant. That was Cadillac's first dedicated factory outside North America, a facility that helped them to produce all of its models locally.
That made Cadillac competitive in the Chinese market as its cars finally became affordable to local buyers with hefty import tariffs now out of the equation. Cadillac offered three crossovers and three sedans in China in 2021, with the automaker selling the CT4/XT4, CT5/XT5 and CT6/XT6 ranges.
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