Cadillac dealers delivered 1,224 units of the CTS Sedan in November 2015, a decrease of 50 percent compared to November 2014.
The CTS sales results land the sedan right in the middle of the midsize luxury sedan segment, behind Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lexus and Audi, but ahead of Infiniti, Volvo, Jaguar, and Acura.
| Rank | Vehicle | Sales Volume |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercedes-Benz E-Class | 4,751 |
| 2 | BMW 5 Series | 4,646 |
| 3 | Lexus GS | 2,174 |
| 4 | Audi A6 | 1,582 |
| 5 | Cadillac CTS | 1,224 |
| 6 | Infiniti Q70 | 677 |
| 7 | Volvo S80 | 449 |
| 8 | Jaguar XF | 454 |
| 9 | Acura RL/RLX | 120 |
| 10 | Maserati Ghibli | Unreported |
Interestingly, the CTS finished behind the three well-established German brands as well as Lexus, making the CTS the slowest-selling vehicle among full-line prestige luxury brands but ahead of other luxury brands that are often not considered to be full-line, such as Volvo, Acura, and Infiniti; these are often considered to be “second tier” by industry analysts and automotive pundits.
About The Figures
- All sales figures provided by each respective manufacturer for U.S. market for November 2015
- Cadillac CTS figures include CTS “Standard”, CTS V-Sport and CTS-V
- Mercedes-Benz E-Class figures include Sedan, Wagon, Coupe… also includes Includes CY2014 CLK-Class sales
- Audi A6 includes A6 and S6
- Infiniti Q70 figures include Q70, Q70L, Q70 Hybrid
Comments
Soooo, what you’re saying is Cadillac should expand the CTS lineup to include a wagon and coupe variant? I’m game! Too bad such cars won’t be produced; at least for the American market……There’s still potential for the European market.
Seriously though, these numbers do put the CTS in proper perspective. Yes, it sells significantly lower than the previous generation CTS, but apples to apples the CTS is in league with the best! With the continual rising popularity of CUV’s and the ever-evolving competition (take a look at the upcoming E-Class, especially the interior!), the CTS is becoming a tough sell! Let’s see what the replacement model brings….
Well, that’s one way to think positively!
Another is that Cadillac only sells 1/4 as many mid-size sedans as it does it’s targeted main competitors of Benz and BMW, and 1/2 those of Lexus.
Regarding Volvo, Acura and Infiniti (and Lincoln for the foreseeable future), as you noted, those are definitely second-tier. I thought that was going to be the focus of Buick.
Regardless, Cadillac has a l-o-n-g way to go.
Yes Cadillac has a long way to go. I do not see much in the way of improvement for Gen3.
I am waiting to see if Cadillac will invest in a significant mid-cycle refresh or just let sales continue to erode until Gen4 rolls around.
@Rob Pollard: BMW and Mercedes-Benz have been following the honing in on the same successful formula for nearly 40 years. Cadillac been doing it for only ten. But in reality, Cadillac has only TRULY been playing in the midsize luxury sedan space starting in 2014 with the third gen CTS… so technically, it has only been doing it for two years. Having taken that into account, I would say that Cadillac is doing rather well here, especially in this segment — which is getting smaller and smaller and the cars are getting more and more expensive.
What’s sad to me is the fact that someone has allowed this once-great brand to be mismanaged through the 80s and 90s to the point that today it needs to play catch-up.
@jamdown What would help the CTS isn’t a colossal refresh. It’s still highly competitive (though with room for improvement). What would help it more than anything is a strong, serious, well-executed and highly-targeted marketing campaign.
I can’t disagree with your point about a well-executed and highly targeted marketing campaign as the ‘Dare Greatly’ tagline does not resonate with me.
As far as a refresh I do think it is warranted if for no reason than to inject a little more excitement and buzz to the model.
The size complaint for rear seat room or trunk space will have to wait until Gen4.
Let’s see–with November ATP this converts into sales of approximately $65million. Great competition for Hot Wheels? Little difficult to spend marketing $ for a vehicle that generates that small of a sales volume
They are still making money with this vehicle despite the lower than desired sales volume.
By your calculations averaged over 12 months multiplied by a 6 year product lifecycle the CTS would have made Cadillac approximately $4.7 billion in gross sales.
Not bad in any consideration.
Tell me that they are still not making a profit.
@Martin Smrek: the profitability on the ATS and CTS are incredible. I could (but can’t) cite figures… but let’s just say that the profits are very healthy even at the current “lower than ideal” volumes. The 3rd gen CTS is almost as profitable as the 2nd gen… and that’s saying a lot. This is going to be helped even more with the high-end and high-margin V variants of each.
Just imagine the increase n profitability for Cadillac and GM as a whole when volume starts to grow.
Alex,
What you and a lot of people on here lose site of is known as the GM stockholder. The $12Billion dollars is not a gift, if it is I as a GM stockholder would be royally hacked. (I currently am not, got burnt in bankruptcy). There is a basic business principal of return on investment and payback of that principal.
So, with that being said, there is snowballs chance in hell of this happening with piddly volumes that the current CTS is generating, an no it is not generating a 150% on sales!
Martin,
Fear not, I’m not losing sight of the investment. When you discuss ROI, you should take into account the time to return on said investment. It’s a long-term game that GM simply must win in…
The sales volume is demonstrating that Cadillac has not reached the perception of being equal to the German brands. So if you have healthy margins, they must be priced below your rivals until market share is achieved. That’s how the Japanese do it and it has worked very well for Lexus. A brand which is still synonymous with bankruptcy is not a symbol of success. That means everything in the luxury segment.
Never said the weren’t making money but in the grand GM scheme it is an ant! If they keep the current iteration for 6 years they will probably achieve negative sales!
With the exception of a minor midlife refresh the current iteration is here for another 6 years or so.
I do expect CTS sales to bottom out although I do not think the CT6 will help it’s prospects or rebounding.
What this tells me is that once again, not building a next generation CTS Coupe was a mistake. Even more so than the wagon. Cadillac wrongly assumed that CTS buyers would gravitate toward the ATS coupe, but that decision didn’t account for people who want a roomier luxury coupe. If Cadillac released a larger CTS coupe to compete with the E-Class Coupe/Cabrio and the 6-Series, they could make it more upscale and command a high ATP. Let’s not leave out the fact that a CTS-V Coupe based on the current generation would trounce the M6.
It still could happen, not sure if it will, but the CTS coupe wasn’t available until 3 years after the sedan came out, 2011 v 2008, so if we follow the same time line, maybe for 2017? Though they would have to show one sometime in 2016.
A larger than the ATS coupe is needed.
My concern about DeNysschen is that because of his background at Audi, he’s going to benchmark Audi’s product portfolio, when in fact, Mercedes is the brand Cadillac should be aimed at. If they target Audi, then the ATS coupe and an upcoming supercar is all Cadillac will be left with.
Then the all the CUVs have arrived, Cadillac should focus on adding body styles to all of their core sedan offerings.
That would be a very limited point of view for a professional executive, wouldn’t you say?
A larger than ATS coupe is needed, absolutely. I can not see them doing anything this generation though.
I think with crossovers/SUV’s of every variety doing well if there are dollars to spend before 2018 it would be on trucks which are hot right now.
Really amazing how some can take a 50% drop in sales and make it “just fine”, or “in line with what others in the segment are doing”. If you compare the units sold for Nov. 14 vs Nov. 15 for each, the facts are:
E-Class up 14 units
5 series up 1541
GS up 338
A6 down 479
Q70 up 118
S80 up 294
XF down 46
RLX down 105
While sales totals in the segment are in decline, others are not in sharp decline like the CTS.
Another one that tells the story, for 2012 CTS sales were 46,979. This year that number will be about 18,500, yet somehow, that’s OK, because the ATP is higher.
It’s a fine car, but the sales performance has been terrible.
LFX323HP- you are right that sales performance can not be ignored but there are some mitigating factors to the sales drop as well.
It is interesting that you cite 2012 as the last good year for CTS sales because in 2013 the ATS had its first full year of production and since then it has taken some of CTS’s potential clients.
Also if you combine ATS & CTS sales they were very similar to CTS sales pre-ATS but now they are averaging a higher price per unit.
Furthermore there is a general shift towards crossovers which is certainly not helping Cadillac sedans, the newest kids on the block.
The picture isn’t rosy and maybe I’m a glass is half full person when it comes to Cadillac but it could be worse.
I’m not at all surprised…The Current Advertising Campaign SUCKS !!!!! It doesn’t provide me with even one reason to buy a Cadillac. It doesn’t even give me a reason test drive a Cadillac or even to consider a Cadillac. NOT ONE !!!
Cadillac needs a new campaign and probably a new Ad Agency
The only ad campaign I’ve seen recently is a lease offer for the ATS and SRX . Plus the ineffectual commercial for the Escalade . Why would they waste advertising money on the SRX ? It’s a top seller for Cadillac and soon to be replaced . Sales of the ATS have fared well in that tough segment . The CTS is a fine automobile and it needs it’s own TV spot . The print ads have been for the V and V-Sport versions at ;east in auto magazines . But the majority of the buying public don’t subscribe to Car and Driver etc. . It just shows that Cadillac still has along way to go in getting all aspects of the selling of their premium cars . I hope they are not making a huge mistake by focusing so much on the SUV side of their business .
Why would they advertise SRX–to clear out or lower inventory prior to XT5.
I will once again state–great products will just about sell themselves–and I’m talking great products in the eyes of the typical consumer and not enthusiasts. Enthusiasts are in the small minority of the market.
Great products are easier to sell but they do not sell themselves especially if those great products are going up against other equally great products that have decades of entrenched recognition as a great product and a loyal customer base.
It will take likely decades for that new great product to find it’s footing and establish itself as equal or superior to products that came before it.
Cadillac still needs a well executed and directed marketing campaign (as Alex mentioned) to get its message out to the masses.
GM PDT
You have probably identified the principal problem with both the ATS and CTS. They are intended for enthusiasts and that is a limited market. Only folks who read enthusiast magazines will appreciate and the majority of those are long-term owners of the competition who are mostly satisfied with the products they are driving. Why should they change? Advertising and marketing won’t do it.
The real issue is the response of the non-enthusiast market. Existing Cadillac customers either do not like the direction of the vehicles or are unhappy with the pricing. Only one way for sales to go under the circumstances.
As an fyi, on Dec 1 there were 147 days worth of CTS in inventory and 107 of the ATS. This is with incentives and subsidized leases in effect for most of the new model year. I understand there was recently added an additional $1,000 cash on employee pricing for both vehicles.
You can stop beating the horse, it’s dead already.
I get it, CTS and ATS are not selling well and they are overpriced.
How would you fix the problem?
I don’t need to fix it, I’m retired and don’t get the big bucks–that is JDN’s and GM’s problem.
The bottom line is there will be many lean years with current product since the public is not willing to buy the current iterations in quantities at the current price point!
If you include worldwide sales of all luxury brands, the CTS is basically a rounding error.
Still a monumental task for Cadillac to climb out of the hole.