Chevrolet Blazer vs Cadillac XT6

The Chevrolet Blazer is one of the oldest SUV nameplates on the market, and while the current version might disappoint fans of the original, it’s very much on-trend with modern times.

Chevy launched the Blazer as truck-based off-roader, starting with the original K5 Blazer, and following that it up with a smaller S-10 Blazer based on its compact pickup truck. The Blazer was shelved in the early 2000s, then revived for the 2019 model year as a car-based crossover SUV, eschewing ruggedness for greater efficiency and on-road refinement in a shift that reflected the utility-vehicle market as a whole.

The General Motors decision not to go all-in on nostalgia with a new off-road Blazer might seem questionable in the wake of the revived Ford Bronco, but the market for two-row midsize crossovers like the modern Blazer is even stronger, and it's filled with rival offerings like the Ford Edge, Honda Passport, Hyundai Santa Fe, Nissan Murano, Toyota Venza, and Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport.

For 2023, notable changes include a new 10-inch touchscreen display and available wireless charging for all trim levels, some styling changes, and new wheel designs and colour options. In Canada, the lineup consists of LT, True North, Premier, and RS trim levels (we checked out a Blazer RS for this review). A Chevy Blazer EV is also on the way for the 2024 model year, but this will be a completely different vehicle based on GM’s Ultium EV component set.

Raise your hand if you remember the Cadillac Cimarron. A quick-and-dirty response to the surging popularity of small European luxury vehicles like the BMW 3 Series, the Cimarron was based on the Chevy Cavalier, a fact apparently lost on only the poor saps who bought one.

Forty years later, the model year 2022 Cadillac XT6 reminds us of that fiasco. A midsize, three-row crossover plugged into the gap between the smaller XT5 and the hulking Escalade, the XT6 is built in Spring Hill, Tennessee, where General Motors also churns out GMC Acadias. The differentiation and execution are much better this time around, but the XT6 still strikes us as a hasty rush job to capitalize on a popular segment.