SCOOP: The Cadillac EXT Pickup Is Being Resurrected

Back in the early 2000s, a luxury pickup truck was launched by a brand you may have heard of. The truck was the EXT and the brand was Cadillac. That Cadillac pickup was based on the Chevrolet Silverado and, like the Lincoln Blackwood, quickly fell out of favor with the buying public. But these days, blue-collar heroes like the Silverado, Ford F-150, and Ram 1500 are all offered with exceptionally luxurious trim levels that border on high-end premium levels of quality. Many have recreated the Cadillac pickup with their own spin, so is the market now ready for the second coming of the Escalade EXT?

According to a new trademark application filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office that our CarBuzz sleuths have uncovered, Cadillac seems to think so.

The trademark filing simply aims to confirm that General Motors remains the owner of this name and does not specify what applications it would be used for. Two possible scenarios present themselves. Either Cadillac is indeed working on bringing a high-end luxury pickup back onto the market, possibly with the styling and features of the Escalade, or GM simply wants to ensure that the name is not scooped up by another manufacturer.

In these days of new EVs being revealed with every passing week, it’s not inconceivable that just about any automaker could use the EXT name to signify something like an Electric Xtreme Truck, or something along those lines.

Interestingly, Mercedes-Benz tried to sell an upmarket pickup in some markets from 2017-2020. This was called the X-Class and never received an AMG variant. That’s mostly because sales were dismal primarily because the X was based on a Nissan Navara (another pickup we don’t get) and only mildly dressed up. It didn’t even run on Mercedes power or come with much leather trimming, so people saw the elevated price and told Merc to shove it.

Would Cadillac fall prey to the same sort of skimpy badge engineering? Possibly, but we’d like to think the luxury marque would make a good go of it. Heck, for all we know, the EXT could indeed be a premium pickup but with all-new, electric underpinnings. We’ll have to wait and see.