Sales of GM’s Cadillac brand decreased 8.6 percent in the United States and increased 10 percent in Canada in February 2017.
February 2017 Cadillac Sales – United States
In the United States, cumulative Cadillac sales decreased 8.6 percent to 10,823 units in February.
Retail sales decreased 9.8 percent or 1,043 units to 9,611 units, representing 88.8 percent of total Cadillac sales for the month. That compares to 10,654 retail sales in February 2016, which represented 90 percent of total Cadillac sales.
Fleet sales increased 2.2 percent or 26 units to 1,212 units, representing 11.2 percent of total Cadillac sales for the month. That compares to 1,186 fleet sales in February 2016, which represented 10 percent of total Cadillac sales.
Sales Summary - Cadillac - February 2017 - USA
| Sales | Sales Mix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 10,823 | 11,840 | -8.6% | -1,017 | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| Sale Type | February 2017 | February 2016 | February 2017 / February 2016 | February 2017 - February 2016 | February 2017 | February 2016 |
| Retail | 9,611 | 10,654 | -9.8% | -1,043 | 88.8% | 90.0% |
| Fleet | 1,212 | 1,186 | +2.2% | +26 | 11.2% | 10.0% |
Individual model sales performance was as follows:
- Cadillac ATS sales decreased 36.83 percent to 1,005 units
- Cadillac CT6 sales totaled 802 units
- Cadillac CTS sales decreased 37.51 percent to 913 units
- Cadillac ELR sales decreased 100 percent to 0 units
- Cadillac Escalade sales decreased 21.21 percent to 1,434 units
- Cadillac Escalade ESV sales decreased 3.34 percent to 1,012 units
- Cadillac SRX sales decreased 99.48 percent to 21 units; the crossover has been replaced by the XT5
- Cadillac XT5 sales totaled 4,291 units:
- Retail deliveries of the vehicle were 6 percent higher than the SRX that the XT5 replaces
- Average Transaction Prices were 8 percent higher than the SRX that the XT5 replaces
- Cadillac XTS sales decreased 25.81 percent to 1,345 units
In the first two months of 2017, U.S. Cadillac sales have decreased 6.46 percent to 21,121 units.
Sales Results - February 2017 - USA - Cadillac
| MODEL | FEB 2017 / FEB 2016 | FEBRUARY 2017 | FEBRUARY 2016 | YTD 2017 / YTD 2016 | YTD 2017 | YTD 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATS | -36.83% | 1,005 | 1,591 | -25.55% | 1,979 | 2,658 |
| CT6 | * | 802 | * | * | 1,436 | * |
| CTS | -37.51% | 913 | 1,461 | -35.17% | 1,604 | 2,474 |
| ELR | -100.00% | 0 | 91 | -98.10% | 3 | 158 |
| ESCALADE | -21.21% | 1,434 | 1,820 | -12.96% | 2,652 | 3,047 |
| ESCALADE ESV | -3.34% | 1,012 | 1,047 | +9.28% | 1,991 | 1,822 |
| SRX | -99.48% | 21 | 4,017 | -99.00% | 88 | 8,795 |
| XT5 | * | 4,291 | * | * | 8,174 | * |
| XTS | -25.81% | 1,345 | 1,813 | -11.91% | 3,194 | 3,626 |
| CADILLAC TOTAL | -8.59% | 10,823 | 11,840 | -6.46% | 21,121 | 22,580 |
February 2017 Cadillac Sales – Canada
In Canada, cumulative Cadillac sales increased 10 percent to 754 units. The results represent the brand’s best February sales performance since 1980.
In addition, the sales performance includes Cadillac’s best February retail sales ever.
Individual model sales performance was as follows:
- Cadillac ATS sales decreased 32.56 percent to 116 units
- Cadillac CT6 sales totaled 17 units
- Cadillac CTS sales decreased 45.45 percent to 30 units
- Cadillac Escalade sales decreased 48 percent to 65 units
- Cadillac Escalade ESV sales increased 52.17 percent to 70 units
- Cadillac SRX sales decreased 99.59 percent to 1 units
- Cadillac XT5 sales totaled 405 units
- Cadillac XTS sales increased 25 percent to 50 units
- Combined sales of Cadillac SUVs and crossovers increased 30 percent
In the first two months of 2017, Cadillac sales in Canada have decreased 5.68 percent to 1,411 units.
Sales Results - February 2017 - Canada - Cadillac
| MODEL | FEB 2017 / FEB 2016 | FEBRUARY 2017 | FEBRUARY 2016 | YTD 2017 / YTD 2016 | YTD 2017 | YTD 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATS | -32.56% | 116 | 172 | -50.12% | 215 | 431 |
| CT6 | * | 17 | * | * | 38 | * |
| CTS | -45.45% | 30 | 55 | -54.14% | 61 | 133 |
| ESCALADE | -48.00% | 65 | 125 | -41.77% | 145 | 249 |
| ESCALADE ESV | +52.17% | 70 | 46 | +93.33% | 145 | 75 |
| SRX | -99.59% | 1 | 244 | -99.05% | 5 | 528 |
| XT5 | * | 405 | * | * | 721 | * |
| XTS | +25.00% | 50 | 40 | +6.58% | 81 | 76 |
| CADILLAC TOTAL | +10.07% | 754 | 685 | -5.68% | 1,411 | 1,496 |
About The Numbers
- In the U.S., there were 24 selling days in February 2017 and 24 selling days in February 2016
- In Canada, there were 24 selling days in February 2017 and 24 selling days in February 2016
Further Reading & Sales Reporting
- GM news
- Running GM sales results
- Running Chevrolet sales results
- Running Cadillac sales results
- Running Buick sales results
- Running GMC sales results
- February 2017 GM sales results
- U.S. GM February 2017 sales results
- February 2017 Chevrolet sales results
- February 2017 GMC sales results
- February 2017 Buick sales results
- GM China February 2017 sales results
- Global February 2017 Cadillac sales results
- U.S. GM February 2017 sales results
Comments
Once again I am going to state the obvious, the greatest number of sales came from the XTS, XT5, and Escalade…. surprise, surprise. The current leadership at Cadillac (JDN, Uwe, Melody) are trying to “remake” the brand into a German wannabe, we all know this….right. Well here’s the problem, if somebody wants a German car, they`re not even gonna think about buying a Cadillac, let alone go and look at one, they`re gonna go straight to the MB, BMW or Audi showroom. It is next to impossible for Cadillac to shed their “old person” image, because no matter what they do, Cadillac will always have a mainly older demographic buying their cars. Hell, I was in a Cadillac showroom in Atlantic city (which has a pretty wide age range), and the youngest people in there were the salesmen, the 6 other customers were married couples, retirees, and (possibly single) people in their mid 40s.
A lot of people are praising JDN, because he was able to “remake” Audi into a hot selling, popular brand….. well JDN, I’ve got some news for you, Cadillac is not Audi! Cadillac has got a lot of history behind it, and while Melody Lee may be “looking forward”, the loyal Cadillac customers are still proud of what the brand has accomplished in the past, i.e. transporting presidents, becoming known for the “Cadillac ride” and coming up with new innovations such as air conditioning. With history like that you can’t just abandon it in favor of concepts, coffee shops and cramped interiors, you must embrace it because that is what people will always see, no matter how much re-branding you do.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but stop and think about it for a minute, how many blue collar workers do you think drive a Cadillac vs white collar workers who drive one? The way I think of Cadillac is “the blue collar Benz”. Cadillac is (or trying to) creating cars that appeal to the young, hip millennial generation, in which most of them are either white collar workers living in NY city buying a $15 coffee every morning, or 7 years out of college, still living in their parents basement and too poor to buy a ford focus. Most of those young bankers making 6-figure salaries, are not going to buy a Cadillac, but I would bet anyone billions of dollars, that when a factory worker, or a teacher wants to buy a luxury car, the first place they will look is american. Cadillac has a leg up over Lincoln, because they have the XTS, which is the only AFFORDABLE luxury car (american or not) that is comfortable, open, and smooth riding, and since a blue collar worker actually works hard for their money, they don’t want to waste it repairing an over-engineered German car.
These days, so many people have VERY little common sense, but its very clear that the people over at Cadillac have none whatsoever.
Awesome comment, dude. +1. I never considered your point about blue collar workers looking at American first when they want to make a big purchase, but I think you’re absolutely correct.
When Cadillac abandoned the white-collar market for the blue-collar, it was precisely the moment they lost all of their credibility.
It has nothing to do with JDN or Lee. It has nothing to with America vs. the world. It has nothing to do with Cadillac’s nomenclature or lack thereof.
When you lower the prices to become more affordable to everyone, you become common and you cease being exceptional. Cadillac blew away its exclusivity back in the 70’so by making their cars more affordable instead of spending more engineering resources to beat back the Germans.
Effectively, GM gave away Cadillac’s credibility.
Now, all we have left are aging boomers and gen X’ers who think Cadillac shouldn’t change and be a luxury automaker. Their reasoning is that it might make a product that either they can’t afford, or they won’t be able to associate with because it’s ‘too new’.
You remember that scene in Scarface where Tony tries to pass off an old Cadillac as something amazing only to get shot down by Elvira? That is what someone looks like when they suggests that Cadillac should ‘return’ to its past; a gaudy and embarrassing past that didn’t cut it in the 80’s, and sure as hell won’t cut it now. It’s a representation of a past image of Cadillac that was woefully out of fashion back then, and would never be associated with high society; the market Cadillac originally excelled it, not the middle class.
Cadillac has a lengthy and embarrassing past. It cannot be fixed or ignored. It must make the best cars today while rebuild itself into a luxury automaker, not a blue-collar retirement reward.
No amount of complaining about Gen Y’s and Z’s having higher standards than you will change the fact that Cadillac hasn’t been seen as a status symbol for decades. You might have lower standards for a luxury product, and may latch onto an old STS or DTS.
But the millennials already have less disposable income, and when they do spend the money on a luxury car, they are going to want the best of THEIR generation, not the best as understood by a 40 year old barge with bench seats and whitewall tires.
As I said, this was never about JDN, Lee, America vs. the world, or Cadillac’s nomenclature. It’s about social class; one that has lots of disposable income for a Cadillac, and another that aspires to own a Cadillac but doesn’t have the means. Get it the wrong way, and you’ll watch Cadillac bleed itself into insignificance.
Grawdad, how in the world can you say Cadillac has a lengthy and embarrassing past, and then use a 1963 Series 62 convertible as your “proof”? So maybe the girl in the Scarface movie didn’t like the custom zebra-skin interior, the yellow/gold paint job, or the fact this was a 20 year old car (at that time). Or maybe the early 1960’s Cadillac convertibles aren’t to your taste, but at the time they were very cool and edgy, and helped lead the brand to many decades of US luxury car dominance (until 1998, when Cadillac finally gave up that crown).
I recall reading a Cadillac review where the reviewer said he expected (and apparently wanted) “Texaguido styling” in the cars. Maybe that’s not your cup of tea either, but again it sold for decades, so how embarrassing could that have been? I’m not from Texas or a Guido, but I’ve generally liked the Cadillac styling, with the major exception of the “bustle back” (chopped and slanted rear) 2nd generation Seville (actually a polarizing design, some people apparently liked it). Or the exceptions of the Cimarron and the Catera, but I don’t consider those to be real Cadillacs.
I’ll agree with you on one thing, that Cadillacs should not be cheapened. Not to keep them out of the hands of blue-collar workers, but simply because there should be a minimum set of standards before any product bears the name Cadillac. For example, the base versions of the ATS and CTS have faux-leather (aka “leatherette”, aka vinyl) seating surfaces, no way should that be part of any Cadillac at any trim level. Furthermore you have to move up in trim levels to get the HID headlights in the ATS and CTS. And the base XTS and CT6, while they do have real leather seating in the base models, are often considered underpowered (at least on the XTS) in base form. You seem to deride the old DTS, but that car had minimum standards to the point where every trim level had a Northstar V8, real leather seating, and HID headlights.
I am not in favor of making Cadillac quite as exclusive as you apparently are, but Cadillac absolutely needs minimum standards, and needs to get rid of these de-contented trim levels. They hurt the brand, for sure. All for the sake of allowing someone to get into a sub-minimal “Cadillac”, which even as you say, is not in keeping with the brand being “exclusive” or a “status symbol’.
Henry — you are making some immensely major socio-economic assumptions and conclusions based on man-says statistics. In other words, your argument is based on no actual statistics or numbers or facts… just examples of he-said-she-said and you-see-you-think elements. Start making your decisions based on that and you’ll end up like Lincoln.
Here are some actual, useful statistics
1. The segment in which the XTS competes also includes the Lincoln Continental… and that segment is not growing — not in the U.S. and not anywhere else in the world. It’s a segment with little to no opportunity outside of the sales volume and associated profits already in place today. The segment is “tapped out”, as those “blue collar” workers you refer to would put it.
2. The segments that are showing growth globally and in the U.S. are sedans and crossovers in the subcompact, compact and midsize spaces. These have a real future, as sales volume in these segments has been growing steadily, and is not about to let up any time soon (crossover shift aside). And the cars that sell the most in these categories are overwhelmingly German.
Ultimately, there are some who are scared by Cadillac’s current direction of besting the German brands at the game they established. Instead, some believe Cadillac should be doing something different. Unfortunately, there is no alternative. Well, there is… and it’s called Buick.
A perfect example to look at is the smartphone space. When the original iPhone came out, it revolutionized the smartphone space. Shortly after, it accounted for the overwhelming majority of sales and profits. Fast forward ten years, and many have entered the “modern” smartphone arena established by the iPhone, including Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Huaiwei, Google, LG, and many others. The late entrants have been and are competing head-on with the iPhone by attempting to best its feature set and functionality. They’re not giving up and going home, or “trying something different”.
Hopefully, you can see that in that example, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are the iPhone… while Cadillac represents the late-comers to the space.
Alex, the XTS/Continental segment is not growing (much) in the USA, it does seem to be growing in China. And the likely reason that the segment isn’t doing better in the USA is that professional auto writers hate it, and GM won’t advertise in favor of it. Imagine if Cadillac actually sold the “Cadillac Ride” as a positive, instead of running away from it in order to embrace German sport dynamics (aka harsh ride). German ride dynamics are a fad IMO, pushed forward by advertising. GM could push another way if they wanted to, but that would take leadership rather than following.
It’s odd when the platform argument is lumped together with the ride vs. sportiness argument. Taken together at face value, you’d think DeNysschen performed a miracle getting Audi’s with the engine in front of the front axle line to be regarded on par with BMW’s with better weight distribution and mass centralization.
Do the rear drive Cadillac’s really ride poorly? Or are returning buyers upset that they’d have to pay more to get the size car or features wanted? Either way, suspensions can be re-tuned and better value can be offered. It might not cause poor auto journalist reviews. Notice when a car like the Miata has body roll, they still love it.
Matt, a RWD car can be made with a hard or supple suspension, same as a FWD car. Currently the Chrysler 300 is an example of a RWD car with a reasonably soft suspension, and the Lincoln Town Car (discontinued after 2011) was also RWD and supple suspension. Today the XTS and Continental are both softer riding FWD cars, but the choice of drive does not affect the suspension. It does affect the legroom (FWD has more), but that’s a different issue.
Germans and professional auto writers tend to favor both RWD and “sport” (hard) suspensions, so Cadillac has decided to go in that direction with many of its cars. While that might make sense for short trips on the Autobahn, it does not necessarily make sense for American commuters and long-distance highway cruisers.
My point is that Cadillac/GM has been treating the traditionally plush and roomy “Cadillac ride” as if all potential buyers in this segment will die off soon, rather than trying to sell the merits of a nice ride to the public at large. Most Americans under 45 probably have never been in a nice-riding car, thus they have no idea what they are missing out on when they put up with a harsh “sport ride”. The professional auto writers will never embrace a nice ride, but there’s no reason Cadillac couldn’t embrace it and successfully sell it as a feature, as it has done in the past. Or it can continue to copy German driving dynamics, yet still lack the German badge that self-identified “enthusiasts” want – and continue to see declining sales.
To digress from the brand strategy criticism and for anyone frustrated with the hard riding trend, I have a fall-back suggestion.
I hope you picked a car with a smaller brake option. Change the wheels and tires. Go with the smallest diameter and narrowest wheel that fits. Pick the widest tires that fit. It’ll definitely soften the ride at the expense of sportiness.
I jumped off the larger wheel trend early (actually mostly for mpg and looks). Companies seem to spec higher pressures now too. Try lower pressures too. But more sidewall bulge can make a shorter wheelbase car feel less stable at highway speed. Tire wear will also factor in to pressure setting.
Matt, very few people are going to buy an expensive car on faith that they can change the driving dynamics with customization. Much more likely is that they test drive it, find it to be too harsh, and try something else. Or they live with the “sport ride”, not realizing they could have had a better car for their needs.
Also as you point out, if you are going to change wheels, the brakes on performance wheels may be too big to go to smaller rims/higher profile (more comfortable riding) tires. So the average customer is not checking out brake size to see if that’s possible. And if they are into a total custom job of changing wheels, tires, and brakes, then why bother with the expense and trouble? On top of that, how are they going to re-sell the car, when there’s no established market for a sporty car that’s been customized to ride softer? There’s enough of a problem of poor resale value, but your suggestion is going to lose even more money for the customer on the resale market, no matter the actual advantages of the change.
The “larger wheel trend” as you call it, is definitely a fad, someone decided that low-profile tires “look cool”, and for the 10% of people that drive like maniacs, they actually perform better – but at the expense of a harsher ride and higher maintenance bills, as low profile tires are not only jarring to the person, but wear out tires and suspensions much faster than high profile tires. There’s a good online article titled “Are low profile tires ruining your ride”, if anyone wants to look. The low profile trend will eventually end, just like the whitewall tire trend, but it’s here for now, unless someone like Cadillac actually “dares greatly” instead of actually making it just a slogan.
Furthermore, a nice ride is accomplished by more than changing wheels and lowering tire pressure. The suspension makes a difference as well, and forget about changing that. You are not wrong to suggest that changing wheels will improve the ride quality, but 99% of the potential customers are not going to consider doing that. Plus Cadillac could be actually SELLING a nice ride to the customers, instead of pushing the German one that they either don’t like or go to actual German cars to get. Most customers under 45 don’t even know that a nice ride is possible. Cadillac was once so strongly a leader in this area, it was a presumption of the brand – if you buy a Cadillac, you’ll get a nice smooth comfortable ride (aka “the Cadillac ride”).
I had assumed this is what Alex Luft was talking about in his point 1, when he talked about the XTS and Continental market. The nice traditional Cadillac ride, not FWD per se as you first assumed. FWD is another issue, I do favor it, the car writers favor RWD. I like the extra legroom and the snow driving capability of FWD. Again people will suggest that the solution is changing to snow tires every winter. No thanks and again most of the public won’t bother, they’ll just buy someone else’s FWD vehicle, if traction in slippery conditions matters to them. But if Cadillac insists on being RWD, at least they could offer a decent ride. The sport ride and low profile fads won’t last forever. Cadillac should position itself for the future, not the past.
I don’t claim it’s an ideal answer for you, Drew. Tires wear out and that and wheels are a common change people make. Keep the original wheels and tires for resale. And they’ll be in nice shape with no curb rash, salt corrosion, or marks from old weights.
I don’t totally disagree with your FWD sentiment since my daily driver is one (but with snow tires right now, and studs). It may turn out that range extended electrics favor that layout. RWD platforms can recover that legroom with a shorter front overhang and longer wheelbase. It will still lose room from the transmission and driveshaft. It just wouldn’t surprise me if the rear drive Cadillacs were softened up and they still handled great. And why not have AWD in the majority of them? Buick too. It’s a big factor in the rise of Audi and Subaru.
Good comments Matt. And yes, AWD can be an option to deal with snow/slippery conditions, but I’m rarely in favor of it. It adds more weight, often requiring a larger engine for similar acceleration, it still takes away legroom, it costs more, gets worse gas milage. AWD can also be more costly to maintain, especially in terms of tire replacement. And most of the AWD versions of cars/SUVs seems to have somewhat harder rides than their single axle counterparts. I remember a salesman from one brand (not Cadillac) saying he thought Subaru sedans rode like trucks. Maybe he put that thought in my mind, but I did feel the smaller Subaru sedan (Impreza) had a harsh ride for its class.
As far as studded snow tires, those are not legal where I live (Illinois) and they haven’t been legal here since maybe the 1970’s. They work great, but the belief is that they cause too much wear and tear on the roads (and the state is already in bad financial shape, so it’s not as if they want another reason to spend money). On top of that, a lot of people who live in apartments are not going to want to store alternate tires during the year, or bother to change them – simply for the alleged thrill of RWD during nice weather.
To me RWD is one of those things that auto writers insist on, but the public is generally ambivalent about. I think more average/daily drivers notice the downside of RWD (trouble on slippery roads) than the upside (“fun” on dry pavement). But for now, the opinion of professional auto writers holds sway over this segment.
Thanks Drew. It was nice going back and forth.
Yeah, I like studs. They’re noisy, but my rational is they will lose less ice traction when worn down. It’s great on Pennsylvania’s hilly roads. I agree Subarus get away with a lot. It’s because they’ve built up a rugged image. I’ve seen their customers in the hot rod crowd wear out the insides of the front tires on cars modified to remove softness.
Goodguy Drew with the best viewpoints on this forum, always. I often look forward to your comments, sir.
As part of the team who supports the classic DTS/XTS Cadillac feel, I agree. Also, I think we’re the underrated cool opinion team. ^5
Thank you for the positive comments Yoshiaki. It is especially good to see that you, as a self-identified younger driver (under 35 I believe) enjoy the classic Cadillac ride and roominess of the DTS and XTS. Hopefully there are many more like you, willing to give classic Cadillac values a fair chance and an open mind. Current Cadillac management seems to have this crazy idea that no one under 55 appreciates the classic Cadillac experience, and furthermore that when the current group of over-55’s dies off, there will be no one who would appreciate the traditional Cadillac ride.
I’m recently 58, and quite active, not exactly the “old” crowd that supposedly are the only ones who like the classic Cadillac experience (and I don’t mean they want old cars, just the classic Cadillac values in modern form). I first rode in a Cadillac when I was a teenager, and I thought it was amazing – I had been in other cars, but they had always seemed cramped and bouncy. I literally did not think cars as roomy and smooth as a Cadillac were possible, until I was in one. Many years later I got to drive one, and again it was an amazing experience compared with a typical car (or a “sporty” car).
I don’t like it that the professional auto writers have grabbed the words “enthusiast” and “drivers car” for themselves, to mean only the “sporty” cars that can take tight turns at high speed. Personally I get a lot more enthusiastic about a nice smooth ride than about a harsh one, and I’m more enthusiastic about having interior room than being cramped. I also know which type of car I prefer as a driver, or as a rider, and it’s not the one the professional auto writers call the “driver’s car”.
Cadillac established themselves as the pinnacle of the smooth riding, roomy, nicely styled, well-powered, high tech American luxury car market. Or perhaps the pinnacle of the “mass market” luxury car, as it has never tried to be Rolls Royce (nor should it be, RR has probably never been hugely profitable, it also went bankrupt at one point, and was sold to the Germans at another). Yet it has changed and rejected that image for many of its products. When I first saw the 2nd generation SRX, I thought “what a great design for an SUV”. But I was disappointed that it didn’t have the strong, smooth engine power of a traditional Cadillac, the roominess or the comfortable ride. Actually the SRX suspension was “ok” riding for an SUV, but the seats were surprisingly thin/cheap, leading to a harder ride than I would expect from Cadillac, even in an SUV. But apparently Cadillac no longer values “the Cadillac ride” in all models, despite having established that for 100 years or so.
Although some of the younger crowd seem to think that Cadillac has no particular meaning, or that it has a negative history, that flies in the face of several things. One is that for many decades until 1998, Cadillac was the top selling luxury brand in the USA. The second is that numerous songs reference Cadillac, far more than any other brand. A third is that Cadillac has become a term to describe “the best”, as in “the Cadillac of refrigerators”. Even today, as the US debates healthcare law, there’s discussion of a “Cadillac tax” meaning taxing healthcare policies that go well above the normal ones. Yet some people think the brand name is a failure, should be rejected in favor of “rebranding”? Incredible.
I hope that Cadillac will always offer some modern cars with “ttaditional” Cadillac values – i.e. roomy, very smooth riding, well-powered, no corners cut on any level (such as fake leather seats) etc. To my thinking, copying the Germans is not working, will not work, and is not smart business. Cadillac can own the segment where they have “the Cadillac ride” or they can be an also-ran in the German-like “sporty” segment.
Cadillac has a Jekyll and Hyde situation as Cadillac’s President Johan de Nysschen wants to grow the brand by making Cadillac as exclusive as possible while Melody Lee wants to grow the brand and sell as many cars as Chevrolet.
Where on this beautiful earth did you hear that JdN “wants to grow the brand by making Cadillac as exclusive as possible”?
Ultimately, JdN has sales and profit targets, responding to Ammann and Barra. What are we talking about here, anyway?
Meanwhile, Uwe is quieter than Sect’y of State Rex Tillerson.
So Cadillac should back to heavy ass rolling land yachts so people in these us will buy them more? Right!!!!!. Sale these cars in high volume like Chevrolet, right!!, no these not. Cadillac doesn’t even have a new full line of crossovers/Suvs, sedans yet. XT5, CT6( new) XT3/XT7/XT2 crossovers (2018-2020) coming up, New 2019 Cadillac escalade SUV (IRS/Air shocks, T1xx chassis etc), coming up, new flagship base off escala (CT9), not that far behind. And much more to come. JDN/melody lee know what there doing.
” Cadillac has a lengthy and embarrassing past ” , really !?! Cadillac used to be the
” Standard of the World ” , it wasn’t until the oil crisis in the late 1970’s that Cadillac really lost their way and have been on a decades old trial of trying to re-invent themselves .
When the German automakers started to expand their portfolios into smaller less expensive luxury cars and the influx of the Japanese vehicles it caught up to GM in a bad way . They had to many divisions and Cadillac didn’t get the money they needed to reverse the tide .
And that takes us to the present , after the Great Recession and the bankruptcy again GM didn’t have the money that Cadillac needed and we are seeing the results of that right now . JDN was hired to prop up the division and re-make Cadillac for the new century and was given a 12 billion dollar check to make it happen .
The fact is his influence hasn’t even appeared yet , sure he had a hand in tweaking their current models but consumer tastes have changed to wanting products that Cadillac doesn’t have ready .
People can argue that older generations do not like the ride quality of Cadillacs and want a smoother less German like experience . That shows in the suprising decision to keep the XTS because it has a softer suspension versus the new CT6 . The new generations that have a decent job and the money want a status symbol , they aren’t going to wait until they retire to buy a car they have always wanted like their parents may have done .
To say that Cadillac is for the white collar workforce only isn’t true , whether white or blue if a Cadillac is something that makes you happy and you can afford one they will buy it .
I am a blue collar worker and have had 5 Caddy’s and 2 of them were ” Slades ” . So what ever collar you wear at work is not a determination of what you park in your garage at night .
XTS,ATS,CTS, etc will all be replace and remove from Cadillac line-up as time goes on.