While Chevrolet and Ford battle it out in the mainstream space, Cadillac and Lincoln continue their ongoing rivalry in the luxury vehicle market. During the first quarter of 2023, General Motors’ luxury marque has again outsold its crosstown rival, primarily thanks to stronger sales across the board and partly due to Cadillac offering sedans, which Lincoln does not offer.
Cadillac sold 36,321 units to the Lincoln’s 18,934 during Q1 2023, posting nearly twice as many deliveries.
The Cadillac XT5 was the best-selling model for GM’s luxury brand, netting 7,285 deliveries. Comparatively, the most popular Lincoln model for the Ford Motor Company was the XT5’s direct rival – the Nautilus – with 5,505 units.
Sales Results - Q1 2023 - USA - Cadillac
| MODEL | Q1 2023 / Q1 2022 | Q1 2023 | Q1 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CT4 | +43.26% | 2,712 | 1,893 |
| CT5 | +37.39% | 4,593 | 3,343 |
| ESCALADE | -14.03% | 5,523 | 6,424 |
| ESCALADE ESV | -9.21% | 3,705 | 4,081 |
| LYRIQ | * | 968 | * |
| XT4 | +83.00% | 6,773 | 3,701 |
| XT5 | +45.90% | 7,285 | 4,993 |
| XT6 | +25.98% | 4,762 | 3,780 |
| CADILLAC TOTAL | +28.72% | 36,321 | 28,216 |
Meanwhile, the Cadillac model to experience the highest growth rate was the XT4 at 83 percent to 6,773 units, placing second behind the XT5 in cumulative volume. For Lincoln, the Navigator experienced the largest gain, growing nearly 94 percent to 4,170 units.
Sales Results - Q1 2023 - USA - Lincoln
| MODEL | Q1 2023 / Q1 2022 | Q1 2023 | Q1 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| AVIATOR | +5.42% | 5,236 | 4,967 |
| CORSAIR | -42.07% | 4,023 | 6,944 |
| NAUTILUS | +8.17% | 5,505 | 5,089 |
| NAVIGATOR | +94.13% | 4,170 | 2,148 |
| LINCOLN TOTAL | -1.12% | 18,934 | 19,148 |
Overall winner: Cadillac
Car Sales
Since Lincoln no longer sells any cars, Cadillac led in this space during Q1 2023, though it is now limited to just two models, the CT4 and CT5, which both offer high performance variants as V-Series and range-topping Blackwing models.
Sales Numbers - Cadillac Cars - Q1 2023 - USA
| MODEL | Q1 23 / Q1 22 | Q1 23 | Q1 22 | Q1 23 SHARE | Q1 22 SHARE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CADILLAC CT4 | +43.26% | 2,712 | 1,893 | 37% | 36% |
| CADILLAC CT5 | +37.39% | 4,593 | 3,343 | 63% | 64% |
| TOTAL | +39.52% | 7,305 | 5,236 |
Car winner: Cadillac
Utility Sales
Cadillac outperformed Lincoln when it comes to sales of utilities (crossovers and SUVs), with sales up six percent to 24,343 units compared to a one percent slip to 18,934 units for its crosstown rival.
Sales Numbers - Cadillac Utilities - Q1 2023 - United States
| MODEL | Q1 23 / Q1 22 | Q1 23 | Q1 22 | Q1 23 SHARE | Q1 22 SHARE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CADILLAC XT4 | +83.00% | 6,773 | 3,701 | 27% | 20% |
| CADILLAC XT5 | +45.90% | 7,285 | 4,993 | 29% | 26% |
| CADILLAC XT6 | +25.98% | 4,762 | 3,780 | 19% | 20% |
| CADILLAC ESCALADE | -14.03% | 5,523 | 6,424 | 22% | 34% |
| CADILLAC LYRIQ | * | 968 | * | 4% | 0% |
| TOTAL | +33.93% | 25,311 | 18,898 |
Heres, most models for both marques are unibody crossovers. The only truck-based, body-on-frame SUVs listed are the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator, respectively. Like the CT4 and CT5 sedans, the Escalade also offers a high performance V-Series variant, namely the supercharged Escalade-V. Lincoln has no answer for that, and has no plans to offer one.
Combined, sales of the regular-length Escalade and extended-length Escalade combined totaled 9,228 units to the 4,170 combined units for both the Navigator and extended-length Navigator L.
When comparing Cadillac and Lincoln crossovers, the XT4 moved 6,773 units to the Corsair’s 4,023, the XT5 moved 7,285 units to the Nautilus’ 5,505, and the XT6 moved 4,762 units to the Aviator’s 5,236.
Only the Aviator outsold a Cadillac utility among all models competing here, but by less than 500 deliveries. Ironically, many were of the opinion that the Lincoln Aviator would obliterate Cadillac XT6, but the two remain evenly matched, trading sales positions nearly every other quarter.
Included here is the only EV model available between the two luxury marques, the Cadillac Lyriq, which moved 968 units. Lincoln had no all-electric offering during the quarter.
Sales Numbers - Lincoln Utilities Sales - Q1 2023 - United States
| MODEL | Q1 23 / Q1 22 | Q1 23 | Q1 22 | Q1 23 SHARE | Q1 22 SHARE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LINCOLN CORSAIR | -42.07% | 4,023 | 6,944 | 21% | 36% |
| LINCOLN AVIATOR | +5.42% | 5,236 | 4,967 | 28% | 26% |
| LINCOLN NAUTILUS | +8.17% | 5,505 | 5,089 | 29% | 27% |
| LINCOLN NAVIGATOR | +94.13% | 4,170 | 2,148 | 22% | 11% |
| TOTAL | -1.12% | 18,934 | 19,148 |
It’s worth mentioning that GM has another premium brand, Buick. Like Lincoln, Buick only offers utility vehicles, but they are priced lower than Lincoln rivals, and therefore sell in higher volumes.
Utilities winner: Cadillac
Overall, Cadillac sold 17,387 more units than Lincoln during the first quarter of 2023. It’s also worth noting that GM (Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC) sold more vehicles altogether than the FoMoCo (the Ford brand plus Lincoln) during the same timeframe. Specifically, GM posted 603,208 deliveries to FoMoCo’s 475,906 units.
The GM Authority Take
As noted above, Cadillac outselling Lincoln nearly two-to-one during Q1 2023 is partially assisted by GM’s luxury marque’s decision to offer cars, something Lincoln no longer does in the U.S.. However, Cadillac also won out thanks to stronger sales volumes for most of its nameplates. In fact, only one Lincoln model outsold its Cadillac counterpart.
Overall, The General sells more models and moves more units than crosstown rival FoMoCo.
Though both Cadillac and Lincoln have been hard at work updating and overhauling their model portfolios, the automotive landscape will drastically change in the near future. This, in turn, will likely result in an accompanying change in the sales picture, as both marques eventually transition to an all-EV portfolio.
In fact, Cadillac has already fired the opening salvo with its all-electric Lyriq and Celestiq, the latter being a hand-built, customizable ultra luxury sedan. Furthermore, Cadillac is preparing and testing other EV models, including a model set above the Lyriq and the recently-teased 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ all-electric full-size SUV, which will debut in August.
- Recommended: here’s what we know about the Escalade IQ
For its part, Lincoln has backed off its original EV release schedule since revealing the Lincoln Star Concept EV over a year ago. The luxury marque recently announced the all-new 2024 Lincoln Nautilus, which sports a huge, coast-to-coast screen and offers a hybrid model. Conversely, Cadillac will discontinue its direct Nautilus rival, the XT5, and it’s also strictly focused on EVs as opposed to hybrid vehicles.
About The Numbers
- All percent change figures compared to GM sales for Q1 2022 and FoMoCo sales for Q1 2022, unless noted otherwise
- In the United States, there were 75 selling days for Q1 2023 and 75 selling days for Q1 2022
- GM Q1 2023 sales U.S.A.
- Chevrolet sales Q1 2023 U.S.A.
- Cadillac sales Q1 2023 U.S.A.
- Buick sales Q1 2023 U.S.A.
- GMC sales Q1 2023 U.S.A.
- GM Canada sales Q1 2023
- GM Mexico sales Q1 2023
- GM China sales Q1 2023
- GM Brazil sales Q1 2023
- GM Argentina sales Q1 2023
- GM Chile sales Q1 2023
- GM Colombia sales Q1 2023
- Chevrolet Colombia January 2023 sales
- Chevrolet Colombia February 2023 sales
- Chevrolet Colombia March 2023 sales
- GM South Korea sales Q1 2023
- GM South Korea January 2023 sales
- Chevrolet South Korea January 2023 sales
- Cadillac South Korea January 2023 sales
- GM South Korea February 2023 sales
- Chevrolet South Korea February 2023 sales
- GMC South Korea February 2023 sales
- Cadillac South Korea February 2023 sales
- GM South Korea March 2023 sales
- Chevrolet South Korea March 2023 sales
- Cadillac South Korea March 2023 sales
- GM South Korea January 2023 sales
Placing third in the segment, but far from Toyota and Honda. With reservations exceeding the automaker’s forecasts. Sales News
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