General Motors dealers in Canada delivered a combined 13,806 new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac vehicles in February 2015, an increase of 6 percent compared to February 2014.
As in January 2015, GM now offers customers 4G LTE technology on more than 30 Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac vehicles, the largest deployment in the automotive industry. 4G offers mobile data speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G, allowing GM vehicles to act as Wi-Fi hot spots, allowing customers to connect up to 7 different devices.
February sales highlights (vs. February 2014, except as noted):
Chevrolet total sales increased by 3 percent to 7,800 units. driven by sales of the Silverado, Colorado, Tahoe and Suburban
Cadillac total sales dropped 18 percent to 474 units
Buick total sales dropped 38.76 percent to 719 units, ranking second among all brands in JD Power’s 2015 Vehicle Dependability Study
GMC total sales increased 31 percent to 4,813 units, its 8th consecutive month of sales increases
“GM Canada’s momentum is driven by strong customer demand for our Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles,” says John Roth, vice president, sales, service and marketing. “Chevrolet and GMC pickup trucks led the charge in February with an increase of more than 44 per cent for the month, including strong sales of the Chevrolet Silverado and Colorado, and GMC Sierra and Canyon. In particular, the Colorado and Canyon in the midsize segment are attracting new customers to the Chevrolet and GMC showrooms with up to 40 percent of new vehicle purchasers being new to the brands.”
Sales Results - February 2015 - Canada - Chevrolet
I love the positive spin…. Sales are up, but only for pickups, and big trucks pretty much. Disappointed with Caddy sales especially. They still have a long way to go here to get folks into them over BMW,MERC, AUDI Lexus etc.
I cannot understand why Cadillac sales are slow the CTS is a fantastic car tight powerful and able to get repairs [if needed] at nearly any GM dealer .I owned a 2010 CTS Sport Wagon my first CTS,and I currently own a 2012 CTS V Sportwagon blows the doors of any euro-trash except Audi A8 V10 coupe and I can carry all kinds of stuff in the car and as I say unlike the Euro-Trash I can get it serviced at any GM dealer and did not have to rob a bank to buy it fantastic value….
The CTS sales numbers are low because for the first time in Cadillac’s history, they’ve finally made a competent midsize car. Reviews show for this and quality of it’s materials can be felt and seen. The price, however, is where Cadillac’s historic buying base is having trouble reaching and coming to terms with.
For many many decades, Cadillac’s were sold with the public impression that they could be had for thousands of dollars less than German and Japanese luxury cars. Subsequently, the public is now unfortunately conditioned to expect Cadillacs the be priced less even if the product that Cadillac makes (the present CTS) is stellar and competent.
This is a problem for Cadillac and for GM. Having a beautiful product priced to move like a common good destroys the products residual value and the company public image. If Cadillac is supposed to be a luxury automaker, why would their products be priced so low that anyone could have one? Making something freely available on masse is the exact opposite of what a luxury is.
Luxuries, by definition, are supposed to be limited in supply or difficult to obtain. It’s in this rarity, scarcity, or barriers to access that allow luxury products to be developed into presenting themselves as exceptional and quantifiably better than more common goods.
This exceptionalism of a luxury product is achieved by the quality of the products engineering, the quality of the materials used, the processes used to create the product, limiting the production cycle to cap total units, restricting the distribution channels, the strength and originality of the products design, the marketing efforts that target specific people and demographics, or a combination of all of the above.
Consider a 2010 CTS and a 2010 E-class. Whereas Mercedes has no problem making and selling a then $52K E-class, GM decided it would be easier on their part to make the CTS undercut the E-class by starting at $40K. That’s may not be a problem for GM back then, as there were 45,656 units sold that year…but Mercedes sold 60,924 E-class in North American alone that year.
The real question is who made more money from midsize luxury cars in 2010? Cadillac or Mercedes? If you know the answer for that, you’ll know why products that are presented as a luxury sell without any difficulties.
The “fantastic value” claim you made isn’t persuasive enough to the people who want what they see as the best they can get. To those E-class buyers in 2010, paying $10K+ over a CTS to get into an E-class is nothing if they are getting what they want.
Right now, Cadillac needs to convince not just ordinary people, but luxury consumers, that their CTS is exceptional; that the $45K barrier to the CTS is nothing if the CTS is the best car money can buy…and then continue to convince luxury buyers that all their future products are exceptional because Cadillac will be expected to make exceptional cars.
So, the real reason why CTS sales are low is because Cadillac historic buyers are having difficulty coming to grips with what it means to actually own a luxury product. Some people are buying the new CTS because they see it as better than other luxury cars, but the “traditional Cadillac buyer” is going to have to go because they can’t reconcile the idea of a Cadillac MSRP being more in-line with what a midsize luxury car sells for. Their expectations are too low of Cadillac, and Cadilac’s future ambitions moving upwards.
TL;DR: Luxury cars are expensive because they are better than ordinary cars. If they aren’t expensive, then it’s not a luxury to own one, and therefore it isn’t a luxury product.
Comments
The other day in Canada: “You bought a new car. That’s not a Buick.” “You are correct. That’s not a Buick.”
I love the positive spin…. Sales are up, but only for pickups, and big trucks pretty much. Disappointed with Caddy sales especially. They still have a long way to go here to get folks into them over BMW,MERC, AUDI Lexus etc.
Total sales are up. No spin. Just facts.
It is clear that large trucks and SUVs are reaping huge sales due to the low price of fuel rnow
I cannot understand why Cadillac sales are slow the CTS is a fantastic car tight powerful and able to get repairs [if needed] at nearly any GM dealer .I owned a 2010 CTS Sport Wagon my first CTS,and I currently own a 2012 CTS V Sportwagon blows the doors of any euro-trash except Audi A8 V10 coupe and I can carry all kinds of stuff in the car and as I say unlike the Euro-Trash I can get it serviced at any GM dealer and did not have to rob a bank to buy it fantastic value….
The CTS sales numbers are low because for the first time in Cadillac’s history, they’ve finally made a competent midsize car. Reviews show for this and quality of it’s materials can be felt and seen. The price, however, is where Cadillac’s historic buying base is having trouble reaching and coming to terms with.
For many many decades, Cadillac’s were sold with the public impression that they could be had for thousands of dollars less than German and Japanese luxury cars. Subsequently, the public is now unfortunately conditioned to expect Cadillacs the be priced less even if the product that Cadillac makes (the present CTS) is stellar and competent.
This is a problem for Cadillac and for GM. Having a beautiful product priced to move like a common good destroys the products residual value and the company public image. If Cadillac is supposed to be a luxury automaker, why would their products be priced so low that anyone could have one? Making something freely available on masse is the exact opposite of what a luxury is.
Luxuries, by definition, are supposed to be limited in supply or difficult to obtain. It’s in this rarity, scarcity, or barriers to access that allow luxury products to be developed into presenting themselves as exceptional and quantifiably better than more common goods.
This exceptionalism of a luxury product is achieved by the quality of the products engineering, the quality of the materials used, the processes used to create the product, limiting the production cycle to cap total units, restricting the distribution channels, the strength and originality of the products design, the marketing efforts that target specific people and demographics, or a combination of all of the above.
Consider a 2010 CTS and a 2010 E-class. Whereas Mercedes has no problem making and selling a then $52K E-class, GM decided it would be easier on their part to make the CTS undercut the E-class by starting at $40K. That’s may not be a problem for GM back then, as there were 45,656 units sold that year…but Mercedes sold 60,924 E-class in North American alone that year.
The real question is who made more money from midsize luxury cars in 2010? Cadillac or Mercedes? If you know the answer for that, you’ll know why products that are presented as a luxury sell without any difficulties.
The “fantastic value” claim you made isn’t persuasive enough to the people who want what they see as the best they can get. To those E-class buyers in 2010, paying $10K+ over a CTS to get into an E-class is nothing if they are getting what they want.
Right now, Cadillac needs to convince not just ordinary people, but luxury consumers, that their CTS is exceptional; that the $45K barrier to the CTS is nothing if the CTS is the best car money can buy…and then continue to convince luxury buyers that all their future products are exceptional because Cadillac will be expected to make exceptional cars.
So, the real reason why CTS sales are low is because Cadillac historic buyers are having difficulty coming to grips with what it means to actually own a luxury product. Some people are buying the new CTS because they see it as better than other luxury cars, but the “traditional Cadillac buyer” is going to have to go because they can’t reconcile the idea of a Cadillac MSRP being more in-line with what a midsize luxury car sells for. Their expectations are too low of Cadillac, and Cadilac’s future ambitions moving upwards.
TL;DR: Luxury cars are expensive because they are better than ordinary cars. If they aren’t expensive, then it’s not a luxury to own one, and therefore it isn’t a luxury product.