Tariff-shy buyers took a big bite out of Cadillac new-vehicle inventory in March 2025, dropping the average dealership stock of the premium GM brand from a massive 106 days supply in February to just 86 days supply in March.
The nearly 19-percent drop in Cadillac days supply mirrored a 21-percent plunge in overall U.S. new car inventory from 89 days to 70 days, according to Cox Automotive research.
Cadillac’s inventory has been on something of a roller coaster over the past few months, registering at a 98 days supply in January 2025. Back in December 2024, when sales experienced a post-election boom and luxury vehicle purchases were even higher than usual for the holiday season, its inventory fell to a 77 days supply.
Inventory varied widely over the individual Cadillac models on sale during the month. The popular Cadillac Escalade luxury sport-utility saw very low days supply thanks to high sales, at least for its ICE variants. Meanwhile, the highest days supply were those of the Cadillac CT4 sedan and the battery electric Cadillac Escalade IQ SUV.
The looming impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imported vehicles and auto components fueled a high rate of purchases among American car buyers. The number of vehicles at dealerships plunged to 2.69 million units at the end of March versus 2.99 million units at the month’s beginning, a 10.2-percent drop.
The pattern shows a rational buyer response to likely incoming vehicle shortages and soaring prices, with Cox stating “the new retail sales pace increased almost every week in February and March, with a strong surge at month-end with the import tariff announcement creating urgency in the final five days of the month.”
The drop of a 30 days supply to a 54 days supply was registered by no less than 10 major automakers during the month as consumers look for deals while vehicles are still affordable. While prices inched up only 1.9 percent compared to last year, the “grace period” is unlikely to last much longer.
Cox predicts that “we can expect a decline in both production and sales, leading to increased prices for both new and used cars” and that some models may even be discontinued as unprofitable as a direct result of the tariffs.
Comment
At ‘87 years young now, I have seem the ins and outs of Cadillacs over the years.
My biggest disappointment has been the downsizing of all models, which literally killed
The momentum of the past 60 years.
I owned 6 Cadillacs until that downsizing. I can name 10 friends of my wife Madeline and me
Who simply walked away. I really hope for the resurrection of the Cadillac brand.