GM developing new petrol-powered RWD passenger cars – report

Cadillac is working on a new petrol-powered CT5 sedan, and this could open the door for a revival of the Chevrolet Camaro.

As part of GM’s grand EV plans, Cadillac was set to become an all-electric brand in the US, except for the Escalade, its volume-selling large SUV.

But with EV adoption not meeting expectations, Cadillac is making some changes. In October, Cadillac confirmed it would develop a new generation of the CT5 sedan, although it seems as though the smaller CT4 is still scheduled to go out of production in the middle of 2026 and won’t be replaced.

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According to GM Authority, the new CT5 will ride on a platform dubbed Alpha 2-2, an update of the rear-wheel drive Alpha 2 architecture that underpins the CT4 and CT5 sedans, as well as the Chevrolet Camaro, which ended production in 2023.

We don’t know when the new CT5 will debut, but the current model is scheduled to cease production in 2026. It’s available with a choice of four-, six- and eight-cylinder engines, topping out with the CT5-V Blackwing and its 498kW supercharged 6.2-litre V8.

Sources have also told GM Authority the company is working on a second vehicle based on the Alpha 2-2 architecture. Unfortunately the website’s informants didn’t say what this car will be, but there are a few obvious candidates.

The easiest one to envisage is a seventh-generation Chevrolet Camaro. Ever since it became clear the sixth-generation two-door muscle car wasn’t going to get an immediate successor, there have been rumours of an electric Camaro or an electric SUV wearing the Camaro name.

While those models may still happen, the electric Dodge Charger sedan and coupe hasn’t excited fans nor troubled the scorers, showing to all and sundry the US isn’t ready for an electric pony car. It will be interesting to see if the upcoming twin-turbo straight-six Charger variants perform better on the sales charts.

The sixth-generation Camaro was officially sold in Australia, but because it had to be locally remanufactured in right-hand drive, it was priced well beyond the Ford Mustang and sold in small numbers.

An easier option, but likely one that would yield fewer sales, would be a CT5 coupe. Cadillac hasn’t offered a two-door model since the ATS coupe went out of production in 2019, but this market segment still continues to shrink both in terms of competitors and sales volume.

A more out-there possibility is a new rear/all-wheel drive Cadillac SUV, which would be a spiritual successor to the first-generation SRX.

Given the various iterations of the Alpha platform have only been used for sedans and coupes, this would likely require a fair bit more investment. If GM is interested in developing new petrol-powered SUVs for Cadillac, it will likely use one of its front- and all-wheel drive platform, such as the VSS-S architecture that underpins the two-row Chevrolet Equinox and the three-row Chevrolet Traverse.

An SUV on the rear-wheel drive Omega platform underpinning the large CT6 sedan had been expected close to a decade ago, but never eventuated, with Cadillac instead sticking with front-wheel drive platforms for its combustion-powered crossover SUVs.

Cadillac re-entered the Australian market this year with the electric Lyriq SUV, and is planning to add the smaller Optiq and larger Vistiq electric SUVs next year.

Thanks to Cadillac Australia’s EV-only game plan, GM is importing the GMC Yukon Denali as its three-row V8 large SUV offering instead of the closely related Cadillac Escalade.

MORE: Explore the Cadillac showroom | Chevrolet Camaro showroom