Cadillac will revise its largest offering for 2025, giving the Escalade some modest exterior tweaks and a huge infusion of new technology. The full-size luxury SUV will again be offered in the standard version and extended-length ESV, as well as the hot-and-heavy Escalade-V, but no matter what, every variant gets a massive new dashboard display, standard Super Cruise hands-free driver assistance, and a tweaked front end inspired by the electric Escalade IQ.
First, the bad news: The 2025 Escalade, which will enter production in late 2024, will abandon its torquey and efficient 3.0-liter turbodiesel inline-six engine due to a lack of demand. Although I’ll miss the idea of a 28-mile-per-gallon Escalade with an oil burner under the hood, the 2025 model will still retain its mellifluous, 420-horsepower, 6.2-liter V8 under the hood – boosting to 682 supercharged horses when ordering the high-performance Escalade-V.
Complementing those excellent V8 engine options, the 2025 Escalade looks far more elegant and cleaner than its immediate predecessor, whose high, narrow headlights that gave it the visage of either a ruthless killbot or a smug Spongebob Squarepants. Instead, the new Escalade features a front end that borrows more than a little from its EV sibling, with a vertical light array on the bumper corners and intricately detailed parking lights living near the hoodline. This low-light appearance is becoming quite common on modern cars, but the Escalade carries it off with more sophistication than some.
Exterior changes are otherwise rather minimal. The cargo area hatch and rear bumper have been massaged slightly, and the vertical taillights have lost their red bezels for a more seamless appearance. Finally, the 2025 Escalade will offer 24-inch wheels from the factory for the first time – optional on the regular SUV but standard on the high-performance V model.
Inside, however, there are a host of alterations to the new luxury SUV. Cadillac was the first automaker to offer a curved OLED display, in the 2021 Escalade, and it’s enhancing that unique positioning by giving the 2025 model a standard pillar-to-pillar dashboard display with 55 total diagonal inches of pixelated real estate. The driver faces a 35-inch pane of glass covering the digital instrument cluster and a central touchscreen, while the front passenger gets their own 20-inch touch panel.
Also standard on every 2025 Escalade is the impressive Super Cruise hands-free driver assistance suite. The 2024 model doesn’t even offer Super Cruise on the base Escalade Luxury trim, so making it standard will be an attractive proposition for shoppers. Currently, Super Cruise offers hands-free, eyes-forward driving on more than 189 million limited-access highways and freeways in the United States, and the Escalade’s software allows it to work even with a trailer in tow – its primary competitor, the Lincoln Navigator, can’t make the same claim of its hands-free ActiveGlide assistance tech.
The new Escalade will offer an executive rear seating package for the first time, replacing the standard second row with a pair of heated, ventilated, and massaging chairs. The center console will also extend into the rear, incorporating individual tray tables and wireless charging pads. Furthermore, both executive occupants get their own 12.6-inch entertainment display and headrest speakers, improving the audiovisual experience for the sybarites riding in the back.
Other less significant tweaks include new knurled design for the infotainment system’s redundant control knob that’s more attractive than the outgoing Escalade’s plasticky “piano black” unit. The Escalade will also offer two new interior colorways: Renaissance Red will feature extensive leather upholstery and open-pore wood trim with contrasting pore fillers, while Sheer Gray combines leather with heathered gray fabric and high-gloss wood in a layered marquetry pattern.
Built at the General Motors Arlington Assembly Plant near Dallas, Texas, the 2025 Escalade will enter production in late 2024 and hit dealers before the end of the year. Pricing has yet to be announced, but the current ‘Slade starts at $83,490 in short-wheelbase, two-wheel-drive form, ballooning to $157,290 for an Escalade-V ESV. I doubt the 2025 model’s added technology will encourage any price cuts on GM’s part, so plan on spending at least six figures for a nicely equipped Caddy SUV.
