Cadillac U.S. Sales Down 11.8 Percent To 12,580 Units In June 2017

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• Just like Buick, many of the decisions about models/positioning are dictated by China/SAIC. More cadillacs are sold there now than here and the momentum appears to be real/sustainable. GM/SAIC don't always predict things right though, the XTS was not expected to hang around for a re-fresh? Turns out the Chinese like it quite well! So it stays around a bit longer.

• Cadillac is going to have a tough few years until their entire portfolio is changed . You cannot expect the Escalade , CT6 and XT5 to boost overall sales for the division . Cadillac was slow at seeing where the market was headed and thus is paying the price for it now .
  Chinese sales are what is keeping Cadillac alive at the moment . Until Cadillac totally re-invents itself for the home market sales will continue to to fall off . We are just going to have to hope that what is in the pipeline is going to
  work . The A&S design is going to soften as the new face of Cadillac is designed into future product .
  If JDN's $12 Billion dollar overhaul fails Mary will kick him aside and look elsewhere for a designer to correct the ship . This is a long term reinvention of one of the oldest automakers in the world .

• maybe there should be raised Wagons instead of sedans.

  • That did not even work well for he Germans in this country. In Europe yes here no.

• Cadillac could make there car exterior designs less awkward and less bloated....they all look like boring pedisterein cars.

  • If you got joy wish they would make Cadillsc with Depends for seat fabric and with a wheel chair option.

    Styling is subjective and generally the present styling is not an isdue for most potential customers.

    The problem is the cheapness of parts used on the car on the interiors. The fact that they are paying top dollar for a car that has while a good engine the same engine found in a Camaro or Colorado.

    There is a lack of value here and lack of resale from the original price.

    While the low resale is a problem it has had a good side effect. I have seen even at work a growing number of younger buyers buying the used ATS models cheap and loving them. Most if not all would consider buying one new next time. Give them a higher grade and value model they would pony up more money for the car.

    Of all of them styling has not been any issue. Engine could be better and for sure trim in the inside or even things down yo door handles.

    • ^This! To me, this is the greatest of Cadillac's current problems! Luxury car manufacturers are tasked with the efforts of producing vehicles that deliver a higher experience than that of non-luxury cars! The most important thing that defines the luxury car experience includes qualitative, exclusive materials throughout the cabin, strong unique exterior design, and exclusive powertrains! Cadillac, as have the rest of the GM brands, has made significant improvements in this regard over the past few years! But if you could really pinpoint the biggest issue with Cadillac, I'd have to say it's refinement! Refinement in how the car drives (which many rightfully point out is too harsh for luxury car standards), how it delivers power, and how the cabin is designed and presented! I still get a sense of "too much corporate GM" when get inside a modern Cadillac! That has to change! I could care less about platforms, suspensions or drivetrains as long as they're engineered to reflect and deliver the luxury car value and experience! I'm willing to forgive a lot of Cadillac's mistakes if they can get these things right!

      • Yes, I think if there's something all commenters on these boards agree upon, it's that Cadillac should not be selling cheapened (or "decontented" as I often refer to them) cars and putting the Cadillac badge on them. Making sure that they are "refined" is a good way to put it. That is pretty much the definition of luxury, or it should be.

        Even when people buy a used Cadillac, I feel they should be getting a refined car that meets the standards to be a real Cadillac. I don't really care if the experience with the dealer is any better than dealing with a Chevy, but the car itself should be worthy of the name Cadillac. Several of the current Cadillac sedans come up short in many ways, especially the base models. The base ATS and CTS have vinyl seats and cheap old-style halogen headlamps! And as others have said, cheap plastic and fake wood here and there on many models. Almost all of these models have underpowered and unrefined sounding engines in the base models. That's just not Cadillac, and certainly not refined luxury. The gear shifting is not as smooth as it should be on many of these - what good is 8 or 9 gears if they don't shift as smoothly as the old 4 hydramatics? Oh well.

        Now I would also include "refined ride" as a luxury car attribute; to my thinking it's not a luxury car unless it has a plush, smooth, refined ride. I don't understand how the Germans have managed to sell Americans on harsh "feel the road" vibrating steering wheels and bumpy suspensions, as some new take on "luxury". It may be "sport" but it's not "luxury", IMO. Think of riding on an airplane, I can't think of anyone who would prefer to feel the turbulence. And I also can't think of anyone who would view a roomy, comfortable, first-class seat as an unwanted "old man's ride". This idea that young people would only want cramped hard riding cars for all occasions, I don't get it. Cadillac though needs to sell people on what it means to have a 1st class ride though, instead of acting embarrassed about their own past, and wanting to pretend they are the German car brand of the USA. Just my take on "refinement", which I agree Cadillac should always be offering. Value refinement rather than cost-no-object (this is not Rolls Royce), but definitely Cadillac refinement.

        • "Value refinement rather than cost-no-object (this is not Rolls Royce), but definitely Cadillac refinement."

          This is exactly why you're out of step; armed with terrible impression of a value-leading Cadillac taking on the world instead of Cadillac being an out-and-out example of exceptionalism.

          If you continue to have an insular and sheltered idealized impression of reality as 'America vs. the World', then you'll only ever do yourself a disservice when even your own fellow Americans will want more of a luxury car than what you think Cadillac should ever provide them.

          I know you don't like the idea of status-seeking conspicuous luxury, but that is what the Germans, the Japanese, and now the Koreans are hawking and what every luxury consumer on Earth is buying. They aren't buying luxury cars for little trips down memory lane that they could only ever experience vicariously; Cadillac is not Morgan, Bristol, or Caterham.

          Luxury automakers are supposed to lead by being objects of status to covet and celebrate; to show what the cutting edge is. You don't do it by making the past more important than the future. Nobody works backwards to glorify their past by downplaying their future.

          And if you're still getting hung up on that nonsense about hard-riding German cars, why don't you make an appointment with your nearest Mercedes dealer to test-drive an E or S-class. When set on comfort, you won't think of hard-riding.

          Because you're right; nobody wants a hard-riding German car. Even Mercedes knows this, as they already offer soft-riding German cars that American luxury consumers have been buying in droves for decades now.

          If you could find a hard-riding German luxury car that WASN'T badged with M or AMG, you might have a case. Otherwise, I'm not buying your 'hard-riding' guff, and neither are hundreds of thousands of American luxury consumers.

          But if you're going to default to the old 'you're not American, you wouldn't understand', then I would go one step further and tell you that being or not being American has no bearing on how right or how wrong you may be.

          I don't think you're stupid. I really don't think you are an embodiment of the 'uneducated American' stereotype.

          I just think you're impressions of an 'US vs. the world' are horribly tainting your judgement, as it's something that your entire perception of luxury hangs upon. If it's not about America vs. Germany, could the current American luxury car market be described in some other way?

          I hope you do have some other way of describing the luxury car market, because the sales numbers say otherwise, and I don't think that many Americans are duped into buying German or Japanese without considering the ride quality, as the American population isn't convinced that American luxury automakers have an undisputed monopoly on soft-riding luxury cars.

        • Grawbuddy, thanks for completely misconstruing what I actually wrote, which seems to be your specialty. I guess you can't really make a coherent case against what I've written, so you put forth a caricature as being my view, in order to "defeat" it.

          You've latched onto one phrase were I said I don't think Cadillac should be making "cost no object" cars like Rolls Royce. I could have said Maybach, or Duesenberg. Please learn the difference between mass production cars and limited edition, hand-built ones. Cadillac has always been a mass production brand. I've long said that they should not be selling cheap decontented "base" versions under the Cadillac name, as they are doing right now. I'm all for the quality being as high as any other mass production car maker, such as MB. But realize that Cadillac/GM is in business to make money, not an artistic statement of virtual inattainability except by the 1% of the 1%. That's something you've clearly never understood, based on your prior postings.

          Cadillac has clearly abandoned it's prior values in pursuit of being a BMW imitator. If you can't understand that, you are not observant or you aren't familiar with Cadillac's prior values. My guess is that you've never ridden in what I would call a real Cadillac. And while I don't see things in terms of "US vs. the world" as you claim, it does clearly take an American to understand what Cadillac has meant to Americans. Now I might be able to create a product that Japanese would love and would buy, but I don't think I can claim to understand Japanese culture as well as someone who grew up in Japan. That's not xenophobic, it's just reality.

          I'm of German ancestry myself, but it's clear that there are cultural differences between American and German drivers (yes with exceptions, but I mean generally), as well as differences between German and American typical roads and trip length on those roads. Same for Japan, Korea, China, Sweden, UK, etc.

          Why do Volkswagens sell so poorly in the US vs. their sales in the rest of the world? It's not because they've been late to the US market, in fact VWs were probably the first serious postwar import brand to compete with the US "Big 3" (or "Big 4" if you count AMC), with their "bug" and "bus". The reason I think VW does not sell well in the US is that they don't adapt their cars to American tastes, for example many of their cars don't offer automatic headlights at all, while some offer them only on upper trim levels. German drivers - I'm told - like to be "busy" while driving, so they don't mind flipping switches and pushing buttons. American drivers expect certain things to be done automatically. VW tries to push their "made for Germany" or at least "not adapted for the US" cars in the US, and it doesn't work. Again that's not about xenophobia, it's about one market having significant differences from another. As observed by the salesmen of the "Music Man", ya gotta know the territory.

          I realize that you can't seem to accept it, but there is a difference between traditional German views on luxury autos and American views on the same. Google it if you haven't figured it out for yourself. And it makes sense that cars built for short trips on the Autobahn aren't going to be engineered and tuned the same as cars built for US highways and US commutes on local roads. It's further ABSURD that Cadillac would test any of its cars on the German Nurburgring track, and expect "good times" there to translate into strong US sales, which they haven't. I could see maybe Corvette, Camaro, Viper, Challenger, Mustang (even though they don't) testing there, or Ferrari, Porsche, Maserati - but not Cadillac or any other luxury brand. The fact that they do tune some of the Cadillacs for the Nurburgring makes them WORSE CARS in my opinion, because at those prices they are trading off ride quality for sport performance, something unacceptable in a true luxury car.

          BTW Grawdy, you've always got the right to not read my opinions here. You do not get to caricature what if written and then claim it's what I've actually said. And sorry but I'm not going to adapt my writing to a style that you'd prefer.

        • Drew,

          The apologists hang their hats on old man's ride as the only justification for the cars Cadillac is trying to sell today. The mantra that we are on death's door and no longer in the car market Is necessary to back up that theory.

          I can't speak for anyone but myself. I have quite a few more car purchases left. Don't know who will sell me those cars but I have a pretty good idea of who won't.

          The Cadillac I have now is a gussied up Cruze. One for the price of two. City commuter with too much cheap interior crap. No good in the highway traffic for lane change or passing situations.

          If a person has the time to avoid highway traffic or drive down the sidewalk to their destination they must be the old folks with nothing left to do but die.

          I'm busy. Don't want to avoid traffic or bottlenecks because of an underpowered overpriced car.

          This is my last Cadillac. Never thought that day would come but it's here.

          Thi poor excuse for a Cadillac is a 2016 CTS 2.0 AWD Luxury.

          The dealership experience should be improved. I can live without free WiFi and lattes. That's available at Starbucks for $10. Dealers refusing to deal with warranty issues with the excuse that they all do that if the problem.

          JDN could jack them up quick, fast and in a hurry if he wanted to. Project Pinnacle is just another way to extract more $$ from dealers. It will do nothing for customers.

          The division head is clearly fixated on the German machines. He disdains Cadillac buyers. He doesn't want the market Cadillac has and chases the market that will never spit on Cadillac.

          Not a recipe for success.

    • "Lack of Value" That phrase succinctly describes what I find wrong with current Cadillac offerings. I just spent one week in a new XTS rental in Chicago and found it competent if uninspiring. I counted 7 or 8 different types of plastic/vinyl on the dashboard alone. The shiny fake wood was only out cheapened (?) by the shiny black plastic center stack. There could have been real leather on the seating surfaces, but it didn't look or feel (or smell) the part. Cadillac is not even in the same league as Lexus, Infinity, or even the new luxury offerings from Hyundai.

    • " If you got joy wish they would make Cadillsc with Depends for seat fabric and with a wheel chair option."

      Comments like this are troubling. There are many people with disabilities that use the products you mock. I trust it is not your intent to offend people with challenges.

      This is not the only post with this type of language. I am not signing Scott out. Please understand that many people use mobility devices.

      The young wise men on this site would be well advised to learn a way to express themselves without disparaging others.

      Thanks much

    • " If you got joy wish they would make Cadillsc with Depends for seat fabric and with a wheel chair option."

      Comments like this are troubling. There are many people with disabilities that use the products you mock. I trust it is not your intent to offend people with challenges.

      This is not the only post with this type of language. I am not singling Scott out. Please understand that many people use mobility devices.

      The young wise men on this site would be well advised to learn a way to express themselves without disparaging others.

      Thanks much

• Slipping sales on quality products? Where is the marketing? Management could increase sales if it was their priority but seem to be content with higher profit, lower volume. This is a huge departure for a mass market automaker. Profits must be acceptable for Mary and gang.

• Cadillac will never be the luxury leader in the U.S again . Instead of building what the public wants they are building what they " think " will sell to a new generation of buyers . There is plenty of evidence out there showing that the trend is starting to shift to what Cadillac use to be known for .
  While they continue to chase the German automakers as wanna-be's , Ford has joined the fight with the Continental which is getting rave reviews for resurrecting the nameplate and giving the consumer the ride quality that even the Millenials are looking for . The public knows what it means to be a Lincoln Continental , being isolated from the road , quality fit and finish , and not over doing the materials in a car , which Cadillac seems to be doing the opposite with 3 to 4 different colors and surfaces that are a bit overwhelming .
  Not only is Cadillac chasing others and trying to please both the Chinese and the US ( notice I say the Chinese first)
  with the same products there is another manufacturer that is looking to fill the void Cadillac has abanded and that is Genesis . They are on track to deliver 5 to 7 new vehicles , bothe cars and SUV's by 2020 . The same timetable Cadillac is aiming for .
  I am a GM owner and have never bought anything else in my life , but I had an oppratunity to drive a new G90 a few days ago and I was shocked . The car is what Cadillac should be building . It makes the CT6's interior look just plain / boring . Even something as small as a timepiece in the dash from Elgin adds just that little bit of class that Cadillac over looks . As soon as people get over the fact that Hyundai is the mother to Genesis and they get the reliabilty down , Cadillac should be worried . Cadillac has done the same by moving to N.Y to become more independant from it's mother GM , but at least you don't hear of a Genesis coffee shop in SoHo or air travel to the Hamptons courtesy of Cadillac .
  I hope the best for Cadillac but an getting increasingly worried that JDN isn't going to re-invent Cadillac as the Board of Directors have hoped .

  • Zach, great post and great point about the new Genesis G90. I've heard good things about the G90 elsewhere. Regardless of how the G90 actually measures up, it's sad that Cadillac has nothing to truly compete with it, or with the Mercedes S-Class or Audi A8. That's a category practically pioneered and certainly dominated by Cadillac, on a mass-production basis (i.e. other than Rolls-Royce or Duesenberg limited production hand-built cars). How does Genesis offer a V8 and Cadillac does not? That said, the G90 looks pretty generic, so at least Cadillac has it beat on styling. Styling seems to be one of the last virtues Cadillac has maintained.

    Incredible though that Cadillac now only has a 5th place, 8.2% share of the US luxury market. And with Genesis coming in, and Cadillac still chasing BMW rather than blazing its own trail and adhering to its own values, that market share is likely to shrink.

    It should be interesting to see what Genesis does with a full line-up. They've got Albert Biermann running the brand, a long-time BMW veteran engineer. As such I would expect to see Genesis with a line of cars that attempt to be less-costly versions of BMW's. If that's the case, then Cadillac absolutely needs to stop trying to be a budget version of BMW itself, because it will be further squeezed from both sides now. Perhaps Genesis will be the push that Cadillac needs to go back to being Cadillac, going its own way rather than being a BMW imitator (albeit with Cadillac styling).

    • in terms of Cadillac flagship...you ether can get a LOW RENT XTS or you can get a LARGER CTS as the CT6...Cadillacs flagship cars are vary tarnished and it's sad to see Cadillac this way....Cadillac needs to do better than the CT6 for a flagship.

      • Cadillac has become the "Walmart of Luxury Vehicles". GM, after bankruptcy, 30 plus years of declining market share, and closing of brands, still builds the cars a few incompetent executives want to build-Not cars that customers want. Today's luxury consumer is educated, informed, and sophisticated. They are not easily fooled by cheap parts and materials sourced from the cheapest suppliers carelessly assembled into mediocre designs. If you disagree with of this, just do one thing. Compare the way the glove box door of any new Cadillac opens with the same function of any new Lexus. Could that be a reason Lexus sells 10,000 more cars per month? Get back to me on that.

      • Cadillac has become the "Walmart of Luxury Vehicles". GM, after bankruptcy, 30 plus years of declining market share, and closing of brands, still builds the cars a few incompetent executives want to build-Not cars that customers want. Today's luxury consumer is educated, informed, and sophisticated. They are not easily fooled by cheap parts and materials sourced from the cheapest suppliers carelessly assembled into mediocre designs. If you disagree with any of this, just do one thing. Compare the way the glove box door of any new Cadillac opens with the same function of any new Lexus. Could that be a reason Lexus sells 10,000 more cars per month?

      • Rye, the front clip on the CT6 looks ok in my rear view mirror. When I wait for the car to drive by and see 2.0 on the back It's not a flagship. Just another underpowered poor excuse for a Cadillac.

        • Cadillac needs a $100.000 dollar TRUE S-Class fighter that looks like the Elmeraj...not an overgrown CTS....other wise there is nothing new and interesting on the table as it is now.

• I'd buy a Lincoln over a Cadillac any day....it makes me rad hot angry that every luxury brand is going to sport performance with high prices.

• I'm curious. Of all the posters on this thread how many of us actually own a late model Cadillac? Are you currently suffering a Johan doNothng-mobile or do you opine from a car that can be relied upon for simple things like lane change, merge in highway traffic?

  Please hold your fire on the defense of poor old JdN. He has been there long enough for the current cars to be drivable. The GM home brew transmission that is in my car was not ready for market. 2016 was the first year for the home brew trans in Cadillac. There is no excuse to foul hook buyers into a car that is only good in the 35 mph zone.

  Cheating today's customers is not the way to build market. It's a great way to get rid current Cadillac buyers and generate negative word of mouth. People I know drop their jaws when I say this is my last Cadillac.

  I'm a second generation lifetime Cadillac buyer. I am not talking about a car from 200 years ago as many want to infer.

  Cadillac is the company that innovated the electric starter. Now they can't put a decent transmission in a car. Read the CT6 forum on the Cadillac owners forum. Lots of trans issues there. Climate control issues. These are not new systems. Cadillac has done them well since Christ was in kindergarten. What's the problem now?

  My husband is an import person. There have been several fine imports in this house over the years. I always loved and bought Cadillac. My husband's friends teased him because I drove Cadillacs. He would smile and say she knows were the dealers are. She buys what she wants.

  I smile when I read posts that Cadillac could compete with Rolls-Royce. That will never happen. And yes, my name is on the title of a Roller. I have no direct experience with Bentley so I cannot comment on that.

  So, please fess up. Are you stuck with one of these buggys or are you driving a real car while praising current Cadillac brass.?

  Thanks!