Cadillac’s eco-friendly CT6 plug-in hybrid will wear a ‘made in China’ label

By Ronan Glon January 18, 2016

2016 Cadillac CT6 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The 2016 Buick Envision that was introduced recently at the Detroit Auto Show will be the first Chinese-built General Motors product sold in the United States. Sister company Cadillac is wasting no time in following Buick’s footsteps, and the car maker has announced that the fuel-sipping plug-in hybrid version of the CT6 sedan will be manufactured on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Uwe Ellinghaus, Cadillac’s chief marketing officer, told Bloomberg the controversial decision was taken because China is expected to be the CT6 plug-in hybrid’s biggest market by a long shot. The executive stated that the Chinese government offers generous incentives to convince consumers to buy a plug-in hybrid car in a bid to curb the nation’s air pollution problem. In the United States, plug-in hybrid models haven’t been gaining much traction because gas prices are at their lowest point in years.

Shown last year at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the gasoline-electric CT6 will be powered by a plug-in hybrid drivetrain made up of two electric motors each rated at 100 horsepower and a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. The three power sources will deliver a total output of 335 horsepower and 432 pound-feet of torque, enough to send the CT6 from zero to 60 mph in approximately 5.3 seconds.

Cadillac estimates the CT6 will return 65 MPGe when it’s driven with a light right foot. Alternatively, the electric motors will be capable of powering the CT6 by themselves for about 30 miles, though it’s important to note that the sedan hasn’t been officially tested by the EPA yet.

Production of the regular Cadillac CT6 will kick off shortly in General Motors’ Detroit-Hamtramck factory. The plug-in hybrid model will be built on the outskirts of Shanghai, China, and it will go on sale later this year as a 2017 model.

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Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…

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