Yahoo Autos 2025 Cadillac XT4 Review: The inbetweener of luxury compact SUVs
Pros: Good infotainment and safety tech; nice in-between size; roomy second row
Cons: Ho-hum interior design; lack of configuration variety; small cargo area
The 2025 Cadillac XT4 is a handsome small luxury crossover that lands somewhere between the subcompact and compact segments, providing ample passenger room while still offering good maneuverability and parking for tighter city settings. It mostly carries over from last year, which saw updated exterior looks and a new 33-inch curved LED screen inside. Overall, it’s a right-sized SUV for some, with handsome exterior looks, good rear legroom, quality tech and a fairly affordable price for the luxury segment.
That said, the interior is a bit uninspiring; despite that new screen and some interesting touches, it feels more like a Chevy inside than the more high-quality and detailed interiors of recent Cadillacs. That’s not surprising considering the XT4 is far along in its lifecycle, but it’s true nevertheless. Also, there are no engine options other than the 2.0-liter turbo-four, even if that engine is plenty potent for this small crossover.
While there is no longer the base Luxury trim for 2025, what’s left is probably where you’d want to start with a luxury vehicle. Even so, many features we’d consider essential to luxury — heated seats and steering wheel, wireless charger, premium audio, etc. — are still part of options packages in the upper trims. That gives you a little more freedom to pick and choose what you want to pay for, but much of that seems like it ought to be standard in a Cadillac.
Interior & Technology | Passenger & Cargo Space | Performance & Fuel Economy
What it's like to drive | Pricing & Trim Levels | Crash Ratings & Safety Features
What's new for 2025?
Cadillac has eliminated the base Luxury trim, making the Premium Luxury the entry-level XT4. The Active Safety Package is now standard on the remaining trims.
What are the XT4 interior and in-car technology like?
The XT4’s interior improved with a bit of a refresh for the 2024 model year, when it gained a curved 33-inch screen (like the one in the Cadillac Lyriq) across the top of the dash serving as infotainment screen on the right and a digital instrument panel in front of the driver. It runs the Lyriq's same interface with a configurable gauge cluster and Google Built-In services. We also like the physical toggles below a corresponding digital display strip for the HVAC controls lower on the center stack. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, and buyers can upgrade with a 14-speaker AKG Studio sound system.
Other than that, the interior isn’t exactly impressive, and perhaps a bit forgettable. There are the occasional design touches, like the patch of interesting stitching design on the dash, but there’s a lot of grainy plastic surface area throughout the cabin without much else to liven things up. At least the XT4 uses soft-touch materials in most of the places it’ll likely come into contact with your skin.
How big is the XT4?
The XT4 is an in-betweener kind of vehicle. It's about 6 inches longer and a few hundred pounds heavier than the smallest luxury crossovers, which include the Volvo XC40 and BMW X1. But it's a bit smaller than "compact" SUVs like the Audi Q5, Mercedes GLC and Acura RDX. The Lexus NX is probably the XT4's closest rival in terms of the exterior dimensions.
The interior is a different story, though, as the XT4's lengthy wheelbase helps grant it rear legroom that actually exceeds many of those SUVs that are larger on the outside. Now, differences in the way interior measurements are done by manufacturers can make such claims tenuous – the XT4 is no limo – but rear occupants should have more space than you'd expect. Unfortunately, the rear seatback is awfully upright and doesn't recline, so overall comfort could still be better.
Despite passenger space being indicative of the segment above, the XT4's cargo capacity is closer to the segment below. That's still OK, as its 22.5 cubic feet of space allowed us to stuff five suitcases into the cargo area. Its maximum cargo capacity of 48.9 cubic feet is very underwhelming, but is likely the result of a rather low roof and not having much "air space" in the cargo area above the back seat line. It's therefore not a great choice for carrying bulky items.
