Cadillac had a larger number of customers consider one of their vehicles than rival luxury brand Lexus in the first quarter of 2022.
Kelley Blue Book and sister company Cox Automotive recently published the results of their Brand Watch Study – an annual survey that quizzes both mobile and desktop users on their perception of certain automotive brands and which makes and models they’ve seriously considered buying in recent months. Cadillac was ranked second among premium brands in the study, with 18 percent of luxury vehicle shoppers considering one of the American brand’s products, while Lexus was bumped to third at 17 percent. BMW was first overall at 21 percent.
Via Kelley Blue Book/Cox Automotive
KBB and Cox Automotive described Cadillac’s performance in this study as a “big surprise.” The luxury brand rose five percentage points from Q4 2021, making it the biggest mover in the first three months of the year. Rather predictably, this newfound demand was driven by the hugely popular Cadillac Escalade, which had a 171 percent rise in shopping in Q1 and was the most shopped-for luxury vehicle period. Cadillac also saw strong interest in the CT5 sedan and XT5 crossover during the last quarter and benefitted from a slight uptick in awareness with the debut of the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq.
Cadillac beat out other key rivals in this study, including Tesla, which fell three percentage points from Q4 to 15 percent. The GM-owned luxury brand will transition to a 100 percent battery-electric vehicle portfolio by 2030, with its first EV, the Lyriq, set to hit the market this year. Other rivals that lagged behind Cadillac include Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Acura and Alfa Romeo.
While Cadillac had strong consumer interest in Q1, its sales fell 24.3 percent year-over-year to 28,216 units. Total GM sales across all four of its brands also decreased, falling 20 percent to 512,846 units. This result is partially due to the semiconductor chip shortage, which has led to lower new vehicle inventory levels and sales figures, but higher average transaction prices.
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Comments
I just spent some time looking at Consumer Reports this morning and noticed, lexus does not hold the top quality positions it used too. The only reason to buy one in the past was due to their quality ranking, and now Cadillac, Chevrolet, and definitely Buick, outdo lexus in the crossover categories (most popular category for luxury vehicles). Multiple lexus products rated only average the past couple of years, while the top ranked suvs in reliability included the Cadillac SRX, Buick Envision and Encore GX as well as the Chevrolet Trailblazer (score of 100!).
Dsuupr: This doesn’t surprise me one bit. Anyone who has actually been in and around Toyota products (including Lexus) and who isn’t brainwashed about them can certainly see how sh**y most of their products are. Yes, the Lexus has a nicer interior and more features and is quieter than the Toyota’s, but you can still see and feel the cost cutting that they do. And Toyota is king at cost cutting and putting some of the cheapest materials humanly possible. Just today I was in a newer Corolla and was again amazed at how cheap and bland it is.
As for reliability, I’ve been saying this for years. Toyota (and Honda and their luxury counterparts) are no better than average at best. Personally, I think many people are starting to realize this, but the true sheep will still buy the Toyota products just because.
Reading this there are only a few ways to explain this comment.
1)You work for GM
2)GM paid Consumer reports to fudge the numbers
3)It is opposite day
Bottom line, GM and Lexus/Toyota shouldn’t even be in the same class. GM keeps promoting these articles about their vehicles – between 12 and 13 months old, in a certain town in Nebraska, on a certain day of the week, at a certain temperature, etc. etc. etc. Was more reliable than a Lexus that earlier that day hit a tree at 80 mph. It’s really quite humorous how hard they try to skew facts to promote their “reliability.”
C: Not sure which of us you are referring to, but I certainly don’t work for GM. Actually, I work at a Volvo and Mazda store in the fleet department. In the past, I worked for 12 years at a Buick, Cadillac, GMC and Honda store. In those 12 years, I learned a lot about the Japanese and the brands and how they operate. I also found through personal experience that Honda was absolutely no better than average and wasn’t as good as Buick. I have a buddy who has been with a Toyota store for over 30 years now and he has told me stories that give a true insight into Toyota and how they do business and the “reliability” of those cars. Lexus is nothing more than a tarted up Toyota.
I find it hilarious that people are now saying things like you did above now that Toyota is no longer the darling of CR. Did you ever come forward and accuse Toyota of paying CR when they were up there?
Bottom line? GM and most brands are certainly as good and in most cases better than T/L. You are a total sheep if you still believe what you actually wrote.
Did you even bother to look at CR’s ratings for cars? Lexus is #1, Toyota is #3. Chevrolet is 14th and Cadillac is 16th. Even Porsche is deemed more reliable than both of them! I’m all about supporting American products, but when more Asian vehicles are produced stateside than domestic what’s the point? They don’t support you and your family when they outsource everything and the product is SEVERELY inferior….time to wake up, demand better. Tell me, who is the sheep? Remember “it is better to be thought a fool than open your mouth and prove it to the world.”
C: I’ve never been a fan of CR. I’ve stated that on here many a time. I’m not putting CR on a pedestal now just because they are starting to rate American brands higher. Personally, I find CR to be good for wiping my arse is about it. I have always put more faith in JD Power only due to the way they attain the info published. Even today as CR is now starting to recommend more GM and give their “blessings” on more American products, I still take them with a grain of salt.
Your comment about the Japanese building many vehicles stateside just shows how far you have fallen. The Japanese don’t like us. They don’t like our ways. They like two things: Our money and power. Period. It convenient how people like you seem to forget about the billions of dollars the sheep in this country ship back to them. It’s embarrassing and sickening both at the same time. Shame on you and anyone else who knowingly does this. Keep telling yourself how good those products are. I know the truth and I will never stop sharing that truth with others. Remember “keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”
Who in their right mind gets their information from Consumer Reports? The same people who trust CNN and Twitter as sources of unbiased news and information? People who believe the Covid vaccines and Joe Biden are resounding successes?
CR has held a stiff anti-American bias since Jesus was a boy. Much to their chagrin – and not for a lack of trying to bury the American auto industry single-handedly – American car reliability is on par with and in many cases exceeds the foreign competition. This is not new. It isn’t 1985 anymore. If anyone’s being paid off, it’s your granola chomping friends at CR.
The longevity of typical American engine designs and their relative simplicity versus constant clean sheet and ever more unnecessarily complex short-lived designs by Asian and European automakers is in itself a study in time tested reliability versus planned obsolescence and ubiquity of affordable parts versus guaranteed scarcity of costlier parts.
Idiot Boy: Although you and I agree on about half the stuff, I will admit that your comments make me crack up.
Me? I don’t follow CR, but yes I feel the news from CNN is reliable. I hate and never use Twitter nor FB or tiktok. I believe in science and I’ve been fully vaccinated and very glad I am. Yes, I believe that President Biden took office in what may have been one of the worst times in modern history. He faced/faces challenges that I wouldn’t wish on anyone from any party. All thing considered, I feel he is doing quite well and was the correct person to deal with what the last thing left us.
I agree with your second paragraph totally.
Third paragraph? I was in agreement until you said the Japanese using the constant clean sheet designs. Heck, Toyota is still using outdated engines and such from the 80’s. It’s the only reason they rank as well as they do. When you use the same s**t for so many years, you better be good at it.
I like you, Dan. You’re a good guy and you stand by your convictions. It doesn’t really matter that we don’t agree on everything. That’s what makes life interesting.
You certainly have more in-depth experience with Japanese engine families, but there still seems to be way too much complexity for complexity’s sake coming out of Japan. As much as I loved my low mile secondhand Infiniti Q45 and its VH45DE V8, the car was a money pit and I was grateful to replace it with a new 2005 GTO that was stone simple by comparison, far better on gas and has been trouble free for 17 years – even sitting unused for long periods of time. Not so much as an oil drip. I could say the same about a very reliable Camry V6 I had, but then again it was no better than any of my GM cars and a few Fords albeit less robust.
As completely ridiculous as the tale of Cadillac’s effectively stillborn Blackwing V8 is, it isn’t shocking that gm scrapped this complex American recreation of a Teutonic wonder in favor of the evergreen, perhaps less elegant but just as effective small block. This undoubtedly factors heavily into why old Cadillac Vs hold way more residual value than comparable exotic German time bombs primed to empty secondhand buyer’s wallets at the drop of a hat.
Thanks. I admit that I enjoy a good back and forth on here. If the subject is on something that I actually know about, I will stand my ground till death. haha. But ask me about sports? Gambling? Camping? Hunting? I would gracefully bow out of any of those conversations just because I would offer nothing of value if anything at all. But cars? I’m good.
I’m willing to bet this ranking is driven by the Escalade, of course. Let’s see where Cadillac ranks in a couple of years as the Escalade ages and Lyric has been on the market for a full year. Hopefully Caddy can hold steady, if not climb higher.
Amazing concept.. build something people want to buy.
two SUVs pictured in this article, a Lexus and a Cadillac
Boy is the Lexus ugly, that might be the deciding factor
The Lexus has a Subaru looking body , extremely boxy and then that grill?????
It is easy to see why Cadillac is getting more consideration
people with eyes will appreciate the style of the Caddy
the Subarlexus is frickin ugly!!!
Lexus has kind of stuck to its gun on the big giant ugly grill idea and its starting to cost them customers. for awhile Lexus’ looked like like they had a flatscreenTV strapped on the front of them now, it is this giant monstrosity ??? Ugly!!!!
It is pretty sad when the styling of the grill on toyota is nicer than the premium lexus. That lexus grill is the stuff nightmares are made of.
I’m 27 and I’ve owned 5 Cadillacs, but people in my age group don’t tend to understand my love of them. I don’t know if I believe that metric, sure I see lots of Caddy SUV’s on the road but I see WAY more of the German rivals, like disproportionately more.
Yea because Cadillac sucks
I bet little Petie is an expert at sucking
Which models have you owned?
Me? I had an 86 fleetwood brougham, I miss that car to this day, 14 ATS, then a 14 CTS, traded for a brand new custom build CT5 and didn’t like it and have a 2017 CT6 now 😊
3.0 TT for your CT6? I’m in love with that right now, seriously considering it, been watching so many videos. How much did you spend on your CT6?
Yup! 3.0 with metallic steel paint. Great car and beautiful but the transmission is a bit unrefined. It had 58k kilometres on it when I bought for 34k Canadian with a 2 year warranty. I got an unbelievable deal on it, comps were selling for 10k more no idea why it was priced so cheap lol
Finally, KKB recognize Buick as a luxury brand while some publications don’t consider them as luxury like Car and Driver, Motor Trend and etc. I like to see Denali on the list also and they are considered premium luxury as well.
If only Cadillac built CARS that people actually wanted like the CT6 and the CTS !!!
What is the brand is last place? I’ve never seen that emblem before.
Polestar, Volvo’s electric division.
Thanks.
i am thinking the polestar is going to rise quickly. Saw one at the autoshow. Sharp. No idea on reliability or driving character, but it looks good and when ready to buy something would check them out.
…almost all thanks to the Escalade. With gas approaching $7.00 a gallon, isn’t that a measure for American stupidity.
Lincoln was selling every Mark V they built during the ’79 Gas Crunch. If I had the money I’d too look for a V Escalade (and drive an CT4 for everything else)…
Yeah, that’s why they downsized them for 1980 shaving 700 pounds – and they don’t exist in any form today. Lincoln failed to adapt. Same as Cadillac. And they’ve both struggled to catch up ever since.
Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it
Also 1980 was the last year of the Cadillac big block, the HT4100 disaster happened for “efficiency”. Lincoln temporarily recovered because of Cadillac’s mistakes, Benz kept making gas guzzlers in the ’80s and they on top today..
You cannot compare a W126 S-Class to anything Cadillac or Lincoln were producing in the 1980s in terms of quality, advancement or efficiency. The Benz blew them out of the water on all fronts albeit at a higher price and Cadillac and Lincoln never countered with a world-class effort (left it to Lexus) and that’s why things are the way they are today.
That doesn’t mean things cannot change. Ten years ago, there were solid rays of hope at GM as a talented design team crafted grand buzzworthy concepts like Elmiraj and Avenir that would’ve rearranged the industry pecking order had they been produced. GM had a real opportunity to put Cadillac back on the map but instead dumped billions that should’ve been earmarked for R&D and production of a true Standard of the World into the failed harebrained corporate relocation/”brand reimagining” and darkly comedic black hole known as Cadillac House.
Nevertheless, although Cadillac’s a victim of eternal gross mismanagement, there remains hope but SUVs alone aren’t going to return Cadillac to its former glory.