Cadillac XT6 vs Chevrolet Traverse

Redesigned in 2024, the 2025 Traverse gets a few additional changes. The formerly optional Trailering Package is now standard equipment — so it’s easier to take advantage of the Traverse’s 2,268-kilogram (5,000-pound) towing capacity — and a new Sun and Wheel Package is available. Those updates broaden this Chevy’s appeal but do not address perceived quality issues related to the powertrain and interior materials.

Verdict: Chevy gets a lot of things right with the 2025 Traverse. However, there are head-scratchers related to quality and usability. From the unpleasant engine note and cheap interior plastics to the fussy wiper controls and aggravating third row folding process, the Traverse regularly draws unfavourable attention to itself.

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.