2025 Cadillac Escalade First Look: Updating Cadillac's Big One

This is Cadillac's big one

Transcript

00:00This is Cadillac's big one. This is the latest version of the Cadillac Escalade. This is

00:15a 2025 model year. It's still the fifth generation, but this is a major update with some cosmetic

00:22changes outside, some really big changes inside. So Cadillac wanted to make the look even bigger

00:29and bolder, if you can believe it, than the previous generation. What they did was we

00:34kept the nice upsized crest, but now it's illuminated and we have different fascias

00:40for most of the trims. Six trims still, that has not changed. This one is a Sport Platinum.

00:46It's one of the ones that Cadillac thinks they're going to sell a lot of. They've already

00:49decided they might have to boost production for this model year. One of the ways Cadillac

00:54was able to change the look of the front was because of new headlight technology. These

00:59are the same lights that you'll see in the Escalade IQ, which is the electric version

01:03of this full-size SUV, but it allowed them to pull everything up a little bit, create

01:10some more elements, and just basically make it look a little bit bolder, maybe a little

01:14more menacing. What is unchanged for the 2025 model year is the platform, and that includes

01:20the powertrains, so you still have a pair of V8s. You've got a 420 horsepower one in

01:26most of your trim levels, which will give you plenty of good grunt with that pushrod

01:31V8, but if you really want to up your game, come to the V. There you've got the supercharged

01:376.2-litre V8, and we're talking well over 600 horsepower here. What is gone is the turbo

01:45diesel, but it had a really, really low take rate. I'm not sure how much it's going to

01:49be missed. That is your power opening door, and if you have your key on you, when you

01:59walk up to the driver's side, the door will, in fact, automatically open for you. Now,

02:03the big thing when you get inside, yes, it's a new steering wheel, but the big news is

02:09this screen. This is 55 inches under a single piece of glass. It extends all the way from

02:16your driver display through your infotainment, and the passenger, for the first time, gets

02:21their own screen, and they can control it. In order to keep the look kind of sleek, it's

02:26only about five inches high here. They put a lot of the controls down here for your HVAC

02:32system, so you can still do your infotainment up here. You can swipe, or you can use the

02:37controller down here, and like I say, they wanted this nice, elegant look stretching

02:43across the whole thing. The outgoing one was only a 38-inch screen, which we thought

02:47was big, but 55, that takes the cake. The 2025 Cadillac Escalade will go into production

02:54later this year. We haven't got pricing yet, but really, we don't expect it to go up a

02:59huge amount. Once again, you still get all six trim levels, same powertrain, but I think

03:05a much nicer experience riding on the inside, and that's where we spend our time. For Motor

03:11Trend, I'm Alisa Priddle.