Cadillac’s 2020 “V” Offering Likely Isn’t What You’re Hoping For

Making cars is about making money. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how exciting something might be. If it isn’t profitable enough for an automaker, they’re going to shut it down or water it down. As enthusiasts, this might be pretty irritating. However, it’s understandable that these automakers need to meet their bottom line.

Sometimes, this might mean abusing a nameplate a little bit. In the past, we have seen many failed reboots of iconic cars. Think back to the latest Dodge Dart, for example, that was met with widespread criticism before being shut down entirely. It seems as if Dodge anticipated the Dart to have some sort of name recognition and draw in some nostalgia. Long story short, though, the car would end up being a pretty big flop and ending production before most people even noticed it.

With that, Cadillac’s V series comes to the table.

Back in the day, the V badge was first fixed to the Cadillac CTS-V. The idea was to take the CTS luxury sedan and make a hybrid between a luxury vehicle and a Corvette essentially. That might be a little bit of a crude description but the general concept was shoving architecture found in the Z06 Corvette into a Cadillac.

As we stand in 2020, the CTS-V has run its course after several generations and major strides forward. Cadillac doesn’t seem to have any interest in running that model again. However, they have decided to keep the “V” designation around. It might not be exactly what you’re thinking, though.

Instead, we find what would probably be considered a watered-down version of the CTS-V. With the Cadillac CT5-V, we find a turbocharged a V6 making 300 less horsepower than the supercharged V8 found in the most recent CTS-V.

Don’t worry, though. If you’re still in love with the CTS-V, you can win one. Check it out here!

At the end of the day, it’s hard to tell if something like the CT5-V will ever really be a success or not. We’re sure that Cadillac has a lot more insight into decisions like this than we do. However, it’s kind of a little bit depressing to see the CTS-V gone in favor of something that seems to have lost most of the soul of a V.