Cadillac CT6 isn't dead for U.S.

Editor's note: The CT6 is scheduled to end production on June 1 at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant. An earlier version of this story misstated when the plant would stop producing the sedan. 

DETROIT -- General Motors plans to keep the CT6 sedan in Cadillac's U.S. lineup, despite the potential closure of the domestic plant that produces the sedan.

GM President Mark Reuss and Cadillac President Steve Carlisle on Monday said the company is evaluating options to keep the brand's flagship sedan for sale in the U.S. following its scheduled end of production on June 1 at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly.

Alternatives to production at the Michigan facility could include moving the vehicle to another plant or importing it from China, where it's also produced, though Carlisle said that "would be the least-preferred option."

"We're working hard to find other alternatives to that," he told Automotive News on Monday on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show. "We have some time."

Carlisle said production of the car will be part of the company's upcoming negotiations with the UAW, which has opposed the potential plant closures. The current four-year contract between the automaker and union ends in September.

The CT6 was included in a November announcement by GM that it plans to end production of six cars this year at North American plants, including Detroit-Hamtramck, Lordstown Assembly in Ohio and Oshawa Assembly in Ontario.

CEO Mary Barra, when announcing the restructuring, said affected models would be available through the model year and, "in some cases," even into 2020.

Carlisle and Reuss said the CT6 never was meant to be fully on the chopping block with the other sedans, but officials at the time did not communicate those plans.

Many analysts at the time questioned why the company would kill the CT6, which recently had been freshened and was a tech showcase for the brand, thanks to its Super Cruise driver-assist system.

"From the very beginning, we never said that CT6 was going away, because we're very keen on launching Blackwing and Super Cruise and all those sort of things," Carlisle said.

Blackwing is the name for Cadillac's new 550-hp V-8 in the CT6-V, which will scheduled to arrive in mid-2019 starting at $89,785, including delivery.

Reuss declined to comment on how many Blackwing models the brand expected to produce, but he said a refresh of the CT6 for the 2019 model year has exceeded the company's expectations.

U.S. sales of the CT6, which doesn't share its platform with any vehicle in GM's lineup, were down 8.3 percent last year to fewer than 10,000 vehicles.

Other GM vehicles that were scheduled to end production this year are the Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac XTS and Chevrolet Cruze, Impala and Volt. A GM spokesman confirmed those models will still be discontinued for the U.S.