The passage of time is relentless, and car brands need to keep pace. That includes Cadillac, a brand that has traditionally been seen as geared towards older buyers, rather than younger buyers. That said, the average age of a new Cadillac buyer is in fact getting younger, per Cadillac chief John Roth.
In a recent interview with GM Authority Executive Editor Alex Luft at the 2023 North American International Auto Show, Roth revealed that the average age of Cadillac customers purchasing new vehicles currently stands at 54. Compared to nine years ago, when the average Cadillac customer was 59.5 years old, it certainly looks as though Cadillac is shifting to a slightly younger audience, albeit slowly.
Of course, a variety of factors play into account when it comes to average customer age. While brand perception is undoubtedly a factor, so is price. Given Cadillac’s position as a luxury brand, vehicle pricing is comparatively higher than that of the mainstream brands, and older buyers are usually going to be the customers with the funds available to buy the vehicles in the first place.
Another factor is brand loyalty. Older buyers may rely on nostalgia when it comes to choosing their car brand of choice, while younger buyers may be more open to a variety of different brands.
Either way, Cadillac buyers are indeed getting younger. Part of this shift may come down to the product lineup, with Caddy now offering high-performance models like the Cadillac Blackwing sedans and Cadillac Escalade-V. In fact, back in 2021, Cadillac Chief Engineering Tony Roma stated that the average Cadillac Blackwing customer is 10 year younger than non-Blackwing customers. Meanwhile, in a media briefing held earlier this year, Cadillac Vice President Rory Harvey revealed that the average purchase age for the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing was 54 years old, while the average purchase age for the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing was 56 years old.
The question now is this – how will Cadillac’s shift to electric vehicle affect its average customer age? We will certainly find out, so make sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more Cadillac news, GM business news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
Cadillac should be an inspirational brand to all age groups but it is more important to lure new buyers who never considered Cadillac before by offering best in class and compelling products which they are appearing to do now.
But but I thought Mary said younger drivers didn’t want sedans??
This is good news! They just need to continue the focus on providing world class quality attractive luxury vehicles along with high performance versions.
Want younger buyers than GM should have kept PONTIAC…..
Then again the young of today don’t understand muscle cars.
In the end Pontiac had a rebadged Cobalt Coupe (G5) rebadged Chevy Equinox (Torrent) a rebadged Toyota Matrix (Vibe), a rebadged Chevy Aveo (G3), a rebadged Chevy Malibu (G6), a rebadged Saturn Sky (Solstice) and a rebadged Holden Commodore (G8).
The G8 was the only performance oriented car and given the price…the owners likely skewed older than Pontiac’s other models. The G8 sold in small numbers. When Pontiac was canceled…Chevy got its own rebadged version of the Holden Commodore (called the SS) which also sold in tiny numbers.
So Pontiac in the end was not a performance decision nor was the brand differentiated from other GM Divisions in a way that would attract young customers.
So, basically like Buick is today. Nothing actually unique, and the most interesting bits are imported.
Maybe I should have said (Sporty Cars)
Pontiac made some cool cars in the day when you compare them to Ford….
The Firebird was a very sporty car. I had one. I also had a Mid 80s Grand Am fully loaded. Ford had nothing like these cars. Even my Tri coloured Grand Am had 3 tone paint and matching 3 tone cloth interior. Wide 60 series Eagle GTs on factory aluminum wheels. The GM 2.8 then the 3.1 V6 engines were nice sounding and were a great match to give that sporty feeling when bolted to a 5 speed manual. Ford offered the Tempo or Topaze POS not even in the same ballpark……
Pontiac customers were likely younger than Buick and Cadillac customers. I think the Saturn Sky was a re-badged Pontiac Solstice, not the other way around, as the Solstice prototype was revealed first, if I recall. Regardless, the Solstice GXP appealed to young buyers, had pretty decent performance (decent power and relatively light weight) and was affordable. GM virtually stopped promoting or advertising Pontiac, so it’s not surprising that sales were poor. Pontiac was certainly more of a performance division, at that time, than either Buick or Cadillac, as at that time, Cadillac had only the CTS-V to “compete” with the G8 but no sports car to compete with the Solstice. With its lack of advertising and the demise of the Trans Am, GM truly ran Pontiac into the ground.
Cadillac has forgotten their core buyer. So has Buick. Lexus and Toyota don’t mind.
Forgetting their core buyer (the few they have) is the entire point.
They need to attract a younger demographic, not retirees.
Maybe the Cadillac base of older people that still want a full size sedan went elsewhere.
GM always had a tier system in price points. In order, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac. Now it’s just four, GMC sits somewhere in the middle. All manufactures have the tier system but usually just two divisions. Honda/Acura, Toyota/Lexus.
Surprise no one has given Credit to Ms. Barra. I do!
“Either way, Cadillac buyers are indeed getting younger.”
If only! I used to be 39. Bought a Cadillac and next thing you know I’m 43. Bought a second Cadillac and now I’m about to turn 47.
I bought my first Cadillac, a brand-new 1980 Coupe DeVille, when I was 30 years old. Since then, I’ve bought or leased 18 additional new Cadillacs, including a 1988 Allante. All were great cars. I currently have a 2021 XT5 and a 2023 CT5.
As a younger buyer (48) of a CT4-V Blackwing I approve!
I’m 30. We love the look of the CT4, CT5, and the Lyriq. Classic but modern. Keep it up Cadillac, you’re on the right track.
I bought my first Cadillac at age 32 (CTS-V) and my second at age 36 (ATS-V). By far the best all-around vehicles I have owned.
Well, yeah… that will happen as Cadillac’s typical geriatric clientele finally kick that old nasty oxygen habit.
But five years younger over the course of a decade isn’t exactly anything noteworthy. Furthermore, I’d love to see the lineage of sales over that decade vs the average age. I’m willing to bet that there’s a direct correlation in fewer sales and a decreasing average age. (i.e. as the old farts that are/(“were”, RIP) buying Cadillacs die off, they aren’t being replaced by the same number of younger buyers).
And then let’s take this a step further: what’s the retention rate of younger buyers vs older buyers?
As someone who leased an ATS at 24 then bought an ATS Coupe at 27, I can tell you that I will not be considering Cadillac again any time in the near future. Why? Because my dealership seemed to go out of their way to make sure I knew that they didn’t value me as a customer because I had the nerve to call them out on trying to gouge me at any opportunity possible or ask them to explain why they thought they needed to do unnecessarily services rather than just handing over my hard-earned money like “most of their customers do without questioning or talking back to them”.
Yes, I bought my first Cadillac this past May at age 32. I bought just a regular 2023 Cadillac CT5. It’s my daily driver, and I love my car. It is priced competitively, and the driving and style won me over from the Genesis G70. I hope GM does not kill off this car, but I am not confident as the Camaro production will end in 2024; thus leaving the CT4/CT5 in the Grand River factory, and their pursuit for full electric vehicles.
Cadillac and Chevrolet are making a bid mistake by eliminating the CT4-V, CT-5 V, and the Camaro (same thing with Dodge’s elimination of their cash cows, the Charger and the Challenger). I really doubt that many buyers want electrified versions of those cars, but time will tell.