The Cadillac electric quintet is complete. With the debut of its Vistiq battery-electric sport utility vehicle (SUV), Cadillac has revealed its complete plan for overhauling its current gasoline-powered SUV lineup for fresh electric vehicles (EVs).
The 2026 Cadillac Vistiq will slot between the Escalade IQ and the Lyriq, the automaker said in a press release. That size spot is currently occupied by the XT6.
The XT6 is expected to be replaced by the Vistiq like the XT5 by the Lyriq and XT4 by the Optiq. However, that transition might not be as cleanly delineated as previously expected. General Motors CEO Mary Bara has indicated that the company is adjusting its electric vehicle business plan to better meet market demands. This could indicate side-by-side model production for an unspecified length of time until the
Vistiq is expected to be the size of the current XT6 with three-rows and a squared-off body. Like the recently revealed Optiq SUV, Cadillac only confirmed the existence of the vehicle and that details, including available features and pricing, will be released next year.
"Vistiq adds another compelling EV to the Cadillac lineup, reinforcing our commitment to an electric future," said John Roth, vice president of Global Cadillac in a press release. "Our brand now has an EV entry in most luxury segments, offering customers a range of choices, and Cadillac EVs will cover most luxury SUV segments across critical global markets in the next two years."
Last month, Cadillac confirmed the 2025 Optiq SUV as the entry point for the brand's EV lineup in North America.
Last month Newsweek spoke with auto industry experts who explained that expanding offerings and price points is part of what is needed to grow sales of electric vehicles. Both the lower-priced Optiq and new Vistiq achieve that.
As predicted, after the gateway that is the Optiq, Cadillac introduced a three-row crossover type vehicle to fill out its lineup. A more affordable (than the Celestiq) sedan is also on its way, according to experts, aping its current combustion engine portfolio.
"The big challenge for Cadillac now as for the rest of GM is actually executing on the vision for EVs and getting customers to buy these vehicles. While GM has shown some intriguing designs, actually manufacturing and delivering on any of these new EVs has been very problematic so far and the engineering of its big trucks and SUVs has been questionable," Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst for transportation and mobility at Guidehouse Insights told Newsweek when the Optiq was revealed.
He also said that GM as a whole has its work cut out for it. All of the brands need to demonstrate that they can reliably build EVs in volume and engineer them to be fully competitive with other brands in the segment.
The three-row Cadillac Vistiq will compete with other three-row EVs like the Kia EV9, which starts at about $56,000. It's a little smaller than the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV, which is much more expensive at $104,000. The Rivian R1S SUV could also be cross-shopped at $78,000 as well as the Tesla Model X and forthcoming Volvo EX90.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jake Lingeman is the Managing Editor for the Autos team at Newsweek. He has previously worked for Autoweek, The Detroit ... Read more
