Get In: Cadillac is Crushing Rivals, and Not Just on EVs

Matt Bubbers August 22, 2025

Cadillac is so back. The American luxury brand famous for the Escalade, tail fins, monster engines and 1960s Mad Men-style excess, is suddenly winning while it’s usually unflappable German rivals are, for the most part, falling flat.

We can hear the collective gasp, and yes, this a shocking turn of events. If we’re being totally honest, Cadillac was nowhere a decade ago, but now Caddy is shaking up the luxury car market in a way that has us (and plenty of other drivers) taking notice. For proof, all you have to do take a quick glance at the latest sales figures.

Cadillac is #1, With a Bullet

Cadillac just posted its best Canadian sales results ever for the first half of 2025. That’s quite a feat in a luxury car market that, as of late, has been softer than a marshmallow in the sun.

More impressive stats? Sure. Cadillac is the #1 selling brand of luxury EVs in both the U.S. and Canada right now.

“Five years ago, the EV market essentially had one player. Today, there are 30, and […] Cadillac became the #5 EV brand overall and the luxury EV leader,” General Motors chief executive Mary Barra wrote in a recent letter to shareholders. Steering a ship as gigantic as GM ain’t easy, but Barra’s vision is clearly paying off.

Most interesting of all the recent news, however, is the fact over 60 per cent of EV buyers in Canada are not just new to Cadillac, but new to any GM brand. In English please? Cadillac is stealing customers, winning them away from the big German luxury brands — some of whom are really floundering when it comes to EVs.

The Simple Explanation?

Cadillac is making excellent cars. It all comes down to that. Walk into a showroom and you’ll see a deeply impressive lineup of all-new machines, from the head-turning Escalade IQ, the Rolls-Royce baiting CELESTIQ sedan, the gorgeous LYRIQ, the affordable OPTIQ and VISTIQ SUVs, plus the high-performance LYRIQ-V and OPTIQ-V. Nearly all of them are brand new, hitting showrooms in the last year or so, and all of them have a mix of quality materials, driving range, and price to compete with any luxury rival.

(Okay, so you probably won’t actually see the new CELESTIQ in a showroom because it costs $495,000 in Canada, it’s totally handmade, and each car is made to order like a bespoke suit, but you can see what we’re getting at.)

Plus, Cadillac Makes Our Favourite Stick-Shift Sedan

It’s not just Cadillac’s EVs that have impressed us (and other luxury car shoppers) lately either.

Stepping out of the updated 2026 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing after driving it on racetrack recently we had to pick our jaws up off the floor. Its 6.2-litre supercharged V8 sounds like a thunderstorm; it growls and crackles and flings itself down the track as if launched from an aircraft carrier.

All 668 horsepower and 659 lb-ft of torque are mated to your choice of 10-speed automatic or six-speed manual gearbox. No, that’s not a typo, Cadillac is the lone purveyor of manual V8 performance sedans. The suspension hits a nice balance between commuting comfort and track-day composure. With spacious rear seats and a generous trunk, it’s perfect for families. BMW’s M Division and Mercedes-AMG have a real rival on their hands with the Blackwing.

And, on top of that, 2026 model has an upgraded interior with a new widescreen display, which makes this a no-excuses-needed performance champion. (To be honest though, Cadillac already had us sold at manual V8.)

Cadillac’s Transformation Has Been a Long Time Coming

There’s nothing simple about making great cars. Cadillac and its corporate overlords have put in the work, invested the money, and their grand plan is finally paying off. Cadillac has had to build not just products, but its brand too.

That explains why Cadillac is taking a gamble on Formula 1. It is the pinnacle of motorsport — now also a big time Hollywood blockbuster — and Cadillac is jumping in with its own team joining the grid in 2026. Spending untold millions to compete against Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes while the world watches is a high risk, high reward play. Not only that, but Cadillac has continued its assault on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the famous French endurance race.

Cadillac’s ambition apparently knows no limit. (See also: the CELESTIQ.) That ambition also extends to design.

When we spoke to Erin Crossley, Cadillac’s design director and the woman to thank for the brand’s unimpeachable avant-garde style, she said design is, “about paying attention to all the details. A vehicle like CELESTIQ is made possible because it’s got the passion of the entire company behind it. […] From a brand perspective, we have all the cutting-edge technology. We have an incredible artisan centre for the hand-craftsmanship, and it’s bringing all of those pieces together, and not rushing it.”

Speaking totally subjectively for a moment — unlike sales stats we’ve got no numbers to prove this — Cadillac’s design department is the best in the luxury car biz. Each of the brand’s new cars has a distinctive look, one that stands apart from its German rivals, but is instantly recognizable as a Cadillac. Even better, “distinctive” doesn’t mean ugly, as it does with some of those German rivals. Modern Cadillacs are distinctive, avant-garde, while still being handsome. The vertical light bars, the sharp creases, the old-school land-yacht proportions: we’re liking every new design we see from Cadillac right now.

In short, Cadillac is back. It has done the work, built the tech, invested in EVs, strengthened the brand, taken a giant leap in quality, solidified its design direction, and is once again making “the Cadillac of” luxury cars. We knew it, but now the sales stats prove it. Whatever Cadillac does next, you can bet we’ll be paying attention.