It’s not the correct path, because that path ends is highly limited from a sales standpoint and the market for these vehicles is slowly disappearing. What gen Y or Millenial desires to buy or will buy a Lincoln or a Cadillac XTS? The answer is either none, or relatively few — much fewer than those yearning to buy a sport-luxury vehicle from the likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Infiniti, Jaguar and the new Cadillac.
As for the XTS outselling the ATS and CTS — the reasoning is quite clear:
1. The XTS is the only remaining Cadillac that continues to be attractive to the audience the brand has built up over the last 30 years. In that regard, it’s a smart move . But make no mistake: the audience that finds the XTS attractive is slowly going away. It’s the equivalent of selling horse carriages while the rest of the market moves towards motorized automobiles. Sure, the carriage company will sell its product during the transitionary period, but its market will disappear sooner or later, by which time it will be out of business.
2. The XTS is also the best car in its class (Acura RLX and Lincoln MKS) and presents the most value for the money. By contrast, the ATS, CTS, and CT6 are very good cars and even lead their classes in such metrics as driving dynamics, technology, and sometimes safety,, but they are on an up-hill battle against some very well-established (if not dominant) players. That’s not the case for the XTS, which defines the segment, and which can pull from Cadillac’s established customer base for sales, rather than be tasked with conquesting customers from The Germans.
All in all, I personally find the attitude that “Cadillac would be better off pursuing the same market set as Lincoln” very defeatist and lacking in character, vision, and business prowess. The fact is that Cadillac is on the right path and is doing the right things; it’s changing its target market from having no potential, shrinking and dying off to one that is growing and one that will grow well into the future. This is the case for the ATS, CTS, and CT6. This course change should have been done decades ago, but wasn’t due to a lack of focus, lack of understanding of the luxury market, and a lack of bravery on the part of GM leadership.
So, let’s realize that changing demographic and core customer set the way Cadillac is doing now takes time and is very difficult. To accomplish its goal, the brand must effectively attract customers from rivals. That is why today, we see “okay” sales performance from Cadillac models that are better than “okay”. But a focus on excellence in every element of operations while staying the course and being patient over time is the formula for success. That’s why I, personally, have full faith in Cadillac’s current strategy and leadership. In the meantime, rest assured that every Cadillac sold today brings in a healthy profit, which enables aggressive development in future models, platforms, technologies, etc.
