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Cadillac's Manual Blackwings Prove Popular

Photo credit: DW Burnett
Photo credit: DW Burnett

The Cadillac CT4 and CT5-V Blackwing are the brand's last internal-combustion, high-performance sedans. Consequently, they're also the last manual-transmission cars the company will offer, and likely, two of the last manual sports sedans ever. Buyers seem to realize the window of opportunity is slamming shut. As such, the manual-transmission take rates are high for each model.

A Cadillac spokesperson told Road & Track that currently, the take rate for the manual on the CT4-V Blackwing is approximately 40 percent and it's around 50 percent for the CT5-V Blackwing. Those those levels are actually down from the first cars sold. "If you looked at those earlier adopters that were—I'm not saying that the people today aren't real enthusiasts—but those people that really wanted one of the last stick shift V-8 real-wheel drivers, for an example, we over-indexed on manual, and then it sort of smoothed out a bit," Cadillac VP Rory Harvey said.

Demand for the Blackwing siblings has remained strong. "It's been a real challenge, because we've had [Lansing Grand River assembly], where the Blackwings are built, down for a period of time due to semiconductors," Harvey says. "We tried to keep the Blackwings going as much as possible. So there were times where the entire plant was down, and we were only producing Blackwings."

Supply chain troubles still affect the Blackwings. Harvey says that if you want a car with either or both of two optional Carbon Fiber Packages—which you probably do—the wait time is six to nine months. Demand has exceeded expectations, and Harvey says it's outstripping supply. Encouragingly, Harvey did tell R&T that even as Cadillac replaces its lineup with electric cars, their gas-powered equivalents will remain in production for some time. That should mean the CT4 and CT5 will remain in production for at least a few more years.

Cadillac also intends to keep making performance cars in the EV era. Notably, the brand's new LMDh prototype race car previews design elements that will be seen on fast Cadillacs of the future. Harvey says that racing in LMDh gives Cadillac the necessary "credentials" to sell performance models like the Blackwings. So there's more to come.

Still, if you want a manual-transmission Cadillac sedan, you'll have to act sooner rather than later, and then you'll have to wait a while, too.

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