Let's start with what we know. Earlier this month, CarBuzz discovered trademark applications Cadillac submitted to various agencies in the U.S. and Europe to reserve the names Vistiq, Lumistiq, and Escalade IQL. Now, before the month is out, CarBuzz has found another pair of trademark applications that Cadillac has submitted to gain exclusive rights to the names Ascendiq and Escalade IQ. Sticking with what we know, the suffix -iq, as in Lyriq and Celestiq (pronounced "ik," not "eek"), indicates Cadillac's coming lineup of battery-electric vehicles. That starts with the Lyriq crossover early next year, then the Celestiq flagship sedan in 2023 (pictured). The all-electric Escalade is due by 2025. We assume an Escalade IQ and a longer version called the Escalade IQL will be battery-electric twins for the current ICE-powered Escalade and Escalade ESV.
They are three of the six electrified vehicles we're expecting from Cadillac by the end of 2025. Moving on to what we suspect, two of the other three are crossovers, the last has only been referred to as a "low-roof" EV. In July 2020, GM applied to trademark the names Symboliq and Optiq. It had been thought that these would be the two coming crossovers, but a check with the United States Trademark and Patent Office showed both trademarks dead at the time of writing. GM does have an open brand mark application for "optiq," but it's not classified with motor vehicles, it's for a downloadable software application.
As we've written many times before, USPTO applications don't mean we'll ever see the name or product being applied for. With that out of the way, we do have three remaining mysterious Cadillac vehicles and three names: Vistiq, Lumistiq, and Ascendiq. We also have a question: Will this be too much iq? Many of us have applauded brands abandoning alphanumerics on their cars for proper names because it could finally mean clear distinctions between one vehicle and another. If all the names are going to pull from the same or similar phonemes, this could end up being like meeting five siblings named Barry, Mary, Terry, Larry, and Gary. And we know how jokey and cruel that can get. So stay tuned.