Cadillac ATS Sales Drop To 7th Place Among Compact Luxury Contenders In November 2015
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Sales of the Cadillac ATS totaled 2,055 units in November 2015, a decrease of 10 percent compared to November 2014. The ATS sales results place it second-to-last in the sales volume race in the compact luxury vehicle segment behind BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Audi, and Infiniti, only coming in ahead of Volvo.
| Rank | Vehicle | Sales Volume |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BMW 3/4 Series | 11,857 |
| 2 | Mercedes-Benz C-Class | 7,239 |
| 3 | Lexus IS/RC | 4,345 |
| 4 | Audi A4/A5 | 3,996 |
| 5 | Infiniti Q50/Q60 | 3,988 |
| 6 | Cadillac ATS | 2,055 |
| 7 | Volvo S60 | 1,878 |
About The Figures
- All sales figures for U.S. market for November 2015
- BMW sales are comprised of:
- 3 Series, including 3 Series Sedan, 3 Series Sport Wagon and 3 Series Gran Turismo and M3
- 4 Series, including 4 Series Coupe, 4 Series Convertible, 4 Series Gran Coupe and M4
- Audi A4/A5 sales include A4 Sedan, S4 Sedan, A5 Coupe, S5 Coupe, A5 Cabriolet, S5 Cabriole5, RS5 Coupe, RS5 Cabriolet and A4 Allroad
- Cadillac ATS sales include ATS Sedan ATS Coupe, ATS-V Sedan, ATS-V Coupe
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class sales include C-Class Sedan and C-Class Coupe
- Volvo S60 sales include S60 Sedan, S60 Cross Country Sedan, V60 Wagon, V60 Cross Country Wagon
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Ironically, the ATS is often reviewed as driving better than the Q50, A4, C-class and even 3 series.
But nobody wants the ATS, because I think it cannot compete with these other cars with regard to rear legroom, trunk space and perceived quality. Something about the ATS’s design doesn’t shout luxury (Cadillac’s Art&Science should be buried). The C-class, A4, Q50 or 3 series all have a more luxurious appearance and are more functional for an average family (with more rear and trunk space).
However, Cadillac knows how to make a luxurious model – look at the CTS interior. I think GM execs simply are afraid the ATS will cannibalize CTS sales if the ATS is too nice. Not so at BMW, where the effort is spent on the volume car (the 3) rather than the bigger more supple models (ie. the 5). For example, in a BMW or Audi, there are many nice interior colours available at the same price point. In the ATS, the ugly black and grey are the same price, but a nice cream beige or the kalahari brown are only available in much higher models or only in the coupe. Where’s the value?
If Cadillac wants to sell a stripped-down car, they should at least go the jaguar route, selling a high performance model for cheap (ie. the upcoming XE with supercharged V6). If they want to charge more money with lower performance, than they should up the quality. For example, no ATS should be available with those old non-HID lights and LEDs. The cheapest Audi A4 has them.
I’m beating a dead horse, but Caddy just doesn’t get it. Nobody wants to pay $65k for an ATS and have it only available in black interior. Where’s the red leather? Where’s the cream? Where’s the brown? Fast and ugly doesnt sell cars.
Here’s my suggestion: don’t sell cadillacs for cheap – keep the prices high. Eliminate the low end 2.5L crappy ATS. Dump all the nicest features into the base 2.0T ATS. I have no problem dishing out $42k for a standard AWD 2.0T with standard leather, HIDs, remote start, cream interior, red exterior, adult-sized legroom, moonroof and wood trim. Why should I pay another few thousand to get the correct colour? There should be no production of subpar, unluxurious cadillacs. A $35 ATS should not offer fewer features than a $31k Honda Accord.
“There should be no production of subpar, unluxurious cadillacs”
There is a hierarchy. Whether or not that hierarchy is perceived as a “good value” by those shopping in this segment is a different story.
Ultimately, the reason behind the sales decline isn’t with the car, or with the trim levels (though the options can be improved). It’s with the marketing. How do people know about the car? Why should they buy it over the competition? The brand is not delivering this message, and the result is that Cadillac isn’t even part of the conversation when it comes to compact luxury vehicles.
PS: the majority of high-performance cars based on mainstream luxury cars are purchased with black interiors. In fact, nobody wants a performance luxury car with a tan interior.
PPS: what are you referring to when you state that you shouldn’t have to pay a “another few thousand” to get the correct color?
Great/good products will virtually sell themselves. All the marketing $ in the world are not going to dramatically change the ATS sales volumes. Why Cadillac is not part of the discussion is the reputation of the competition. Why should you leave a satisfactory product? Dumping loads of marketing money will not change one bit.
You may not like a tan interior in a performance luxury car, but I’m sure there are a number of people who do!
Great products do sell themselves. But only when people know about that great product.
The ATS is a good product from a brand that has traditionally not been on the minds of those who buy these kinds of products, hence why good marketing is a necessity. A lot of good marketing, in fact. The fact that the Cadillac name and brand continue to carry a stigma that’s not “cool”, “hip”, or even as “high tech” as BMW, Benz, or Audi all contribute to this good product not selling a the levels desired.
Cadillac is fighting to build not only its product portfolio, but also its image. And though class-leading product will speak for itself in helping change that image, it must be accompanied by a lot of good, effective marketing. That’s something that BMW does to this day, by the way.
Regarding interiors: I did not say that I don’t like tan interiors. What I did do was reference a well-known statistic — an objective measure that has nothing to do with me liking something, or not. So yes, there are a “number” of people who prefer tan interiors in compact and midsize performance luxury cars. Those people are an overwhelming minority and represent less than 5 percent of purchases in the category.
I will take issue the ATS is a good product.
In Consumer Reports 3 years running OWNERS have rated their vehicle unreliable–simply pathetic. Additionally the ATS is near the very bottom in the compact luxury class of owners in CR satisfaction index. Only 59% would buy it again. Good–I really doubt it. You can say all you want about CR, but I’m sure their circulation is probably higher than all auto enthusiast magazines combined and a very respected source for people looking for reliable products–a primary concern of all auto buyers.
I will give you my experience with my $55K 2014 ATS Premium–borderline JUNK! This is a car that has had 7+ safety recalls, DIC replaced, part of right mirror blind-side alert system replaced since the light in mirror wouldn’t shut off, even when the car was shut off. The steering knuckles were replaced. One of the key fobs replaced because it ceased to work. On top of it all, the windshield was replaced the 2nd week after the car was purchased since it was delivered with a delaminating windshield. Quality control is evidently non existent. The car has only 26K miles and has been given meticulous care and maintenance.
Sadly, all the marketing budget for GM will not change the situation. The ATS is not meeting the expectations of me or a great portion of the buyers. Word of mouth is 10X more effective than shiny pics and vids!
Didn’t think you meant than NOBODY wants a tan interior because I thought possibly I might be color-blind!
2014 Cadillac ATS has 4 recalls.
please state correct information.
Martin do you know what a recall is? if you have issue with the car that is one thing. But there is not 7 recalls for the 2014 ATS
Obviously this is s subject you know nothing about or can’t count! Sunroof panel switch–TWICE, recall 15299. Coil antenna module for rear defroster, recall 14176 improperly romped accelerator pedal terminals, recall 14179 transmission range selector cable, 9100752 front seat mounting hook welds, and last but not least reprogram SDM because if there is an accident some of post crash systems may not wor. Count them–seven! I owe you no apology but believe you me one for inferring I was not being truthful.
The new Jaguar XE is coming out soon. It already has a better reputation than the ATS and shouldn’t carry the stigma you mentioned.
Jaguar is aggressive. More powerful engines for lower prices with a 5 year standard warranty. THAT’S how to attract new customers. Infiniti comes with a standard 3.7 V6, which is amazing, at a lower price point than anyone else’s 2.0T (at least, for this year).
De Nysschen’s only approach is: keep the prices high, and people will eventually perceive it to be better than it is. The sales certainly do not reflect that.
Sidetone: Infiniti’s 3.7 V6 is being replaced for 2017 model year, in favor of… a 2.0T and a 3.0T.
As for Cadillac: sales will not reflect changes in perception until those changes (in perception) take place. It’s a typical chicken-or-the-egg scenario. But changing perceptions takes a long time. Alas, lowering prices to bargain-basement levels certainly does not that cause.
Couple of comments please?
Keep saying over and over part of Cadillac’s strategy is to become an enthusiast car and the portion of the auto market is so small, the only real way they will get the enthusiast are with conquest sales. The existing customer base is probably indifferent if the car handles extremely well.
Agreed rear leg room doesn’t exist in the ATS, I know I have a 2014 ATS Premium and I constantly apologize any time I need people to be squeezed into the back seat.
You are partially correct on interior color availability. With that being said, a fuller variety is available on the Performance and Premium models and Morello red is included. Additionally, it is impossible to spend $65K on an ATS (non V). You can load it up with ground effects package and all those other must not haves and you are probably in the $61K range. Would venture to say the number of even $61K models is extremely limited. In the Pgh area now the most expensive one to be found is $54K
Appearance is totally subjective, but personally I do like the Art & Science design, but will admit possibly it is time for a change.
As far as not selling cheap ATS may present a real big problem for Cadillac. The ATP for November for the ATS was only $36,945 which means a lot of the deluxe authentic leatherette models were sold. Sadly the days inventory stood at 107 days on Dec.1. A redesign or rethink of strategy for the ATS can’t come quickly enough.
I understand that additional money has been thrown at the ATS and CTS recently for employee pricing–an additional $1,000.
Problem for ATS & CTS both is that Cadillac is trying to peddle to enthusiast market, they are generally not interested because of the long-term reputations of the competitors and their customers general satisfaction with the product. The existing Cadillac customer base is saying they have an issue paying what is being asked. The results are sales go down instead of up.
Martin,
I think Megatron is referring to the ATS-V’s black-only interior in his comment. After all, it’s the closest to the $65,000 mark.
I also own an ATS, and rear seat legroom is fine. It can be better, but it is by no means atrocious. Let’s consider the fact that the last-gen 3 Series has less rear-seat legroom than the ATS does today, and it has not prevented it from being the best-selling car in the class. Furthermore, rear seat legroom was not even in the top 10 purchase considerations of Audi A4 buyers in 2014. This statistic applies across the segment in the industry.
Yes, appearance is subjective. I, personally, am a fan of the styling. I would bet that if you lined all the cars up in the class, took off the badges, and asked people which design they liked more, the ATS would always rank in the top 3, if not better. This has been my experience with my car from those who don’t have preconceived brand perceptions.
Ultimately, as you know, Cadillac is in the middle of a major rebuild right now. This applies to product, image, and the way the cars are sold, serviced, and resold. The “real” fruits of these labors won’t be seen until the 2020 time-frame, and until Alpha 2 products (second-gen ATS and fourth-gen CTS – or their CT# replacements) arrive.
Finally: the ATS was done during and right after bankruptcy with very little money. I am actually impressed that the final product is as good as it is. I look at the current product is a building block, a pretty good one at that, actually, and personally can’t wait to see the full results of JdN and his team.
I also own a 2014 ATS Performance AWD. I really enjoy driving it and tell anyone who asks how great this car is. Style is subjective, but I like the exterior and most of the interior (except the shiny piano black finish). I completely agree (with Martin) that the rear legroom is inadequate. That aside, the car is superior to others I have owned (Infiniti, BMW, Volvo, Saab). As an owner, I don’t want them to devalue the brand, but I don’t have a problem with them offering a base model that makes it more affordable for consumers who can’t afford a fully loaded model. Every car manufacturer offers stripped down models and allows customers to add amenities and accessories. One result of that is a base model without the exterior lighting package. I think the brand is moving towards offering more accessories that will allow higher earning consumers to customize their vehicles.
As much as I like my ATS, I agree that my peers (and consumers) don’t even consider it when they are replacing their vehicles. I’m sure the marketers at Cadillac are devoting resources to make their cars more relevant to consumers. Until then, I will continue to support the brand and wait until the 2017 ATS and CTS are available (as I plan to replace my 2014 ATS with a 2017 CTS).
In my opinion, while the ATS is attractive, its not as pretty as the new CTS, and the ATS is due for a significant MCE, which it needs if they aren’t going to fully replace it until 2020, that’s 7 years looking like it did when it came out in 2013, the grille and lower fascia shuffle wasn’t enough, it needs a significant front and rear restyle with a more CTS/CT6 like “prow” that leans forward like the CTS and CT6, and not leaning back like the dead or soon to be dead SRX and XTS.
A couple of other things I would add
Make the 2.0 litre turbo standard-Offer 2 different tunes if needed, a base 250-260hp and a 290-300 version.
Add a rear armrest on the coupe, seriously how hard is this? EVERYONE else has one.
New base gauges and an available reconfigurable cluster
Light pipes and fogs standard ALL MODELS-front and rear
A significant interior MCE would help too, scoop out some of the seatbacks for a little more room, some material improvements borrowed from the CTS.
LOOK AT HOW GOOD THAT ATS IN THE TOP PIC LOOKS?
Awesome right? With all the accessory lights and the HID, larger turbo wheels that are a pretty design?
They should all look like that.
Amen! You said it.
The dreadful sales of the ATS is more than just bad marketing. The truth is, the car is not a good enough all round product to compete in this segment. The engineers spend so many nights worrying about the 3 series, they produce a wonderful chassis, but everything else about the car is below par vs the competition. Their first mistake was to benchmark the E46 3 series. Yes, the E46 was widely hailed as the best handling 3 series, but (1) it is small by todays standards, and back seat space in the E46 is abysmal. (2) The majority of buyers in this segment are more concerned with soft ride, space, high quality interior and easy to use entertainment system, and less about sports car handling. The ATS weak sauce engine lineup (the 2.0T the exception) is also uncompetitive. The ATS is by no means a bad product, but, other than price, there really is no reason to buy one over the 3 series or the C Class, and that is the sad part.
Is the ATS the perfect car? No! But is it a damn good competitive car in the segment? Yes!
We have to keep in mind here we are only part way to the promise land here. GM just finally got the guys in charge that will take this to the next level. They have been given the money and autonomous control to take them where they need to be.
Right now they have taken a break from what they have as the product we have now is not what the present management put out there. They like the basics here but they are the first to admit it needs to be better. So right now they are doing just that and making even better product that will take a little time but get them to the next step.
If you look at these numbers out side of Benz and BMW the difference is so very little here. As for the Germans they generally get a free pass as they have earned their image over decades since the 70’s not just a couple years like Cadillac.
To be honest the image Cadillac has today is a marked difference from even 10 years ago and a huge difference from say like 1986.
We will see marketing start to improve even on this older product. Next we will see some small changes to the present product and then we will see in 2020 the full on product of the new administration.
The key to this segment is not volume so you need to stop right now measuring this by volume. The key here for Cadillac at least is profits per car. The volume from there will grow and in the end they will make a ton of money on these cars.
You have to keep in mind that it cost not all that much different to design and build a Luxury car over a value car. The contents are the biggest money difference. In the end with the development and MFG cost being not all that different the profits from the one that makes a couple hundred per car is huge to the thousands of dollars the luxury car makes.
We are at the low spot now and we will remain there for at least 1-2 years and then we should see steady growth and improvement of sales and quality of the product. Yes marketing should see similar growth.
The kinds of changes they are going through are not the kind you get in a year or two. Even then you have to get people to change their thinking and that can take time too. BMW did not just become the Ultimate driving machine overnight. It took about ten years of growth to reach the status they hold now. 76-86 is how long it took for them to go from being that odd non Benz car from Germany to the darling of the yuppies.
As for Benz they are the ones I feel who got the free pass for too long and really need a tough challenge.
Even Infinity and Lexus have been around how many years yet they are only how many cars ahead of Cadillac? Not many. They lack the icon status that Cadillac once held and hope to recapture. That should never be underestimated.
One should also note more volume will come with more models. Management is not going to commit to more model until they get their own models out.
Benz totally gets the free pass….and their designs barely evolve.
Cadillac is making a huge mistake and losing sales by the day by not offer in a V Sport model for the ATS.
All other relevant competitors have this near high performance variant ie. M Sport, AMG Sport, F Sport, R Sport, Red Sport, etc. It has taken to long for Cadillac to get with it.
They dropped the ball by not making it immediately available after announcing the CTS V Sport. Now instead of taking a leading position they now look like they are following the pack.
And do you understand those in charge now did not make this plan? Do you even know what their plans are that they are now just installing.
The V sport would have been nice but it would have not changed much here other than make extra money on a few cars sold.
Let them finish what they just started and the changes will come soon.
Totally agree. Need to solve issues with moving 4 dr sedan and coupe before spending loads of money to add a couple of sales with a V sport
To be more accurate, an ATS V-Sport will not require “loads” of money. And its development (engineering) can take place while the sales and marketing teams work to improve sales of the current product. It not like the engineers need to decide whether they will spend their time improving sales performance or developing a new car, or a variant of a new car like a V-Sport.
Now, one could argue that engineering resources would be better spent developing vehicles that Cadillac needs more (read: crossovers) than an ATS V-Sport… but that’s a different topic altogether.
I do understand that the majority of the management team currently in place was not there was the ATS plans were consummated however in the intervening years since it has been in the market they could have added a V Sport model.
I do not ‘know what their plans are’, I am going by the fact that the model is not on the market and I believe that Cadillac is losing sales each month that the model is not available.
‘The V Sport would have been nice but it would have not changed much here other than make extra money on a few cars sold.’
Yes it would have resulted in a making extra money on a few more cars sold and that is kind of the point for being in the car business (or any business).
Engineering the ATS V Sport would have been an incremental cost increase since some of the engineering would have been done for the V model. Dial that back a level or two and viola, you have the V Sport model.