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Once the king of sedans, Cadillac is a bit late to the party in launching a second crossover to complement the XT5, its best-selling product in the U.S. and worldwide last year. Enter the XT4, which fills the gap and has something else Cadillac can use—a touch of youth.

Brand reps boast that a team of young designers created this compact crossover, which looks conventional from the side but stands out at other angles with its sharply vertical headlights and taillights. It eschews Cadillac’s usual thick, shiny grille for a tidier front face. Its short overhangs give it an upright appearance. In some ways, the youthful look fits a bimodal customer base: Cadillac is targeting both first-time premium buyers with prices as low as $35,790 and “downsizers” who want