Luxury auto boom leaves Cadillac behind (Boo hoo)

[mfcorey1]

Don't tell Cadillac dealers this is one of the best years ever for luxury auto sales.


Mercedes, BMW, Lexus and Audi are all outpacing the overall growth in auto sales, but Cadillac has the dubious distinction of being the only mass market luxury auto brand where sales are down in the first half of 2014.


"This is a tough time for Cadillac," said Dave Sullivan, an analyst with Auto Pacific. "They're not bad vehicles. In fact, Cadillac is doing the right things. Unfortunately, they are going after the same buyers as the Germans and right now the Germans are very strong."


In particular, Audi and Mercedes-Benz are thriving in the entry level luxury market where the Audi A3 and Mercedes CLA Class have done well in the first half of this year. By comparison, the Cadillac ATS, which has outsold the A3 and CLA individually this year, has seen sales slump 21.8 percent, according to the research firm Autodata.


So why have Cadillac sales slipped 1.2 percent this year?


General Motors (GM +1.04%) executives say nothing is wrong.


Cadillac still has an average transaction price of over $49,000 and the decision to cut fleet sales of Caddy's to rental car firms and corporations has weighed on overall sales.

That said, here are a few reasons why other luxury brands are driving past Cadillac when it comes to U.S. sales.

Mercedes, Audi winning entry-level battle

A year ago, the ATS was the engine driving Cadillac sales up 22 percent. It also had far less competition.

At the halfway mark of 2014, the Audi A3 and the Mercedes CLA Class have combined to outsell the ATS.


Some of that may be due to Cadillac CTS customers coming off of their leases and deciding they don't want to pay more to renew a CTS lease.

http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post--luxury-auto-boom-leaves-cadillac-behind

[Not Me]

1. I keep thinking back to that obnoxious Cadillac commercial that ran during the Winter Olympics

Serves them right.

[Coventina]

2. Yeah, if I had a Cadillac, I would have gotten rid of it over that ad.

But then, I have never, nor will I ever, own a Cadillac.

Even if I had the money, I think they are ugly cars.

[snooper2]

31. Not your grandpa's caddy anymore LOL

[Coventina]

32. Still ugly.

But then, I am not a potential customer.

Not only would I never buy a Caddy, I will never buy a new car.
I consider buying new financial idiocy, but that's just me and my extremely impoverished upbringing.

I'm *ahem* well into my forties and I've owned exactly three cars:

1) the Datsun 210 I bought at 19 was murdered by a red-light runner when I was almost 30.
2) the Suzuki Sidekick's engine blew up, even though I took really good care of her. Not sure what happened.
3) I'm still driving my 1999 Subaru Forester, and hope to for years to come...

[Not Me]

36. I am kind of with you on this...

I view a car as a means to get me from one place to another, as economically as possible.
I am not at all into cars as a statement or image enhancer. So I am definitely not Cadillac market material.

That said, the point I was trying to make is that even if I were, I found that obnoxious commercial may have lost them customers. And based on their situation 6 months hence, it may have contributed.

[Coventina]

38. ITA. That commercial never made any sense to me.

It seemed to want to celebrate everything wrong with American culture, rather than everything right.

[gvstn]

50. The commercial didn't seem to create ELR sales.

From the OP article:

ELR sales

When Cadillac rolled out the extended range electric ELR earlier this year, it was accompanied with an ad campaign featuring an upscale, ultra-confident middle age father who talked about "creating your own luck". The ad ends with him unplugging his ELR before driving off.


GM paid big bucks to run the ad on Super Bowl Sunday.


Did the investment pay off?


This year, Cadillac has sold just 390 ELR models, which start at $75,000.


"Is the ELR a total flop?" asks Sullivan. "Yes. The only people I see driving them are GM employees."


Caldwell downplays slow ELR sales by calling it a niche model.


"The ELR is a very new idea. We have a lot of work to do with it, but this is a car that says to the consumer, 'these guys are up to something'," he said.

[Fawke Em]

43. Better looking than those boxes and bubbles people drive now days.

[Coventina]

44. I find most current cars to be ugly and boring, actually.

The drive for efficiency has produced an overall sameness in design.
And, I have to give the nod to efficiency for the sake of the planet.
We have other ways to express our need for beauty.

[snooper2]

30. commericals always influence my thinking too, that is why I'm getting Fiat Abarth :)

Sexy People!

[kcr]

37. Yes. Those ads must be at least contributing to the problem

Few people actually want to identify as an asshole, and assholes are often not self aware so they won't receive the message either, so I don't get the strategy.

[DirkGently]

60. Vomitous smarm, wasn't it?

It was like the company / ad designers had such hatred for the idea of an eco-conscious vehicle, they had to leaven it with a cartoonish dollop of Rich Guy Smug.

"We don't take August off." Blerg.

Hideous.

[n2doc]

3. I'd rather see people buying American cars than German or Japanese

That said, the present generation of caddys are fugly. They look like they are trying to be batmobiles, but instead end up looking like something the Joker would make.

[liberal N proud]

4. They are ugly

[n2doc]

7. And lincolns are worse

They are starting to get a bit better, but when they went to that huge, garish grill it just ruined the cars. My vote for the ugliest mass manufactured car in the world, these last 10 years:

[betterdemsonly]

17. Are you sure Cadillac are made in America

Just because it is an American brand doesn't mean it is "made in America!" The Dodge Ram truck is made in Mexico.

Please read

http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?section=top&subject=ami&story=amMade0613&referer=advice

[n2doc]

29. That list doesn't appear to cover luxury cars

This says they are all made in America.
http://www.carsdirect.com/car-buying/where-are-cadillac-cars-built

It has been my understanding that Caddy are one of the last mostly US-built cars.

[DirkGently]

68. I just don't understand American car companies' approach to our market.

I am a compact car person. Medium-zippy four-banger hatchbacks, mostly. Economical to operate, fun; still carry the mulch back from the hardware store. And now I like diesels because of the great mileage and good useable performance.

We refuse to do any of that well. Ford, for example, for years made fleets of absolutely cool, powerful, Focuses (Focci?) for the European market, the last of which was an absolute stunner: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Focus_RS500

But not here. The new Focus, now the same everywhere, is nowhere near as cool. There's a high-power variant, but it's bigger, uglier, louder, and simply less refined. Four doors only. Outrageous color schemes. PlaySkool interior bits. They're making a diesel variant soon, which should get 20% better fuel economy, but have already announced they will never sell it here.

Why?

I get that the American demographic "demands" certain kinds of cars. But I know, for example, that the VW Sportwagen diesels are often the subject of long wait-lists in California. Here, diesels disappear quickly off the lots, account for most of those Sportwagen sales, and hold their value better than other cars.

It's almost like American manufacturers believe the American purchasing public is too crude or too stupid or too ignorant to appreciate small cars, hatchbacks, diesels, or anything else that's understated, smart, or practical for anything other than towing large boats or taking six kids to soccer practice.

Even when dragged into begrudgingly making a hybrid, the adverstising drips with contempt and self-loathing. The Volt -- which now has a large, rabidly enthusiastic following -- was advertised with lingo suggesting it was hard to believe it could be enjoyable, or even a real car. The Caddy ad with the actor playing a rich schmuck was apparently to show that hybrids might be okay if rich schmucks who laugh at Europeans with their "vacations" like them.

Stupid.

It seems like our own manufacturers think we are stupid. But then the import brands come along and stomp them in everything but big trucks and it's supposed to be a mystery?

We can do better.

[Coventina]

69. Should be an OP

Never understood why our car manufacturers save their best stuff for the foreign markets.

[Jenoch]

5. "Boo hoo"?

Does this mean you do not care about American jobs?

[betterdemsonly]

23. No, but American corporate brands are no friends of American jobs

or Unions.

[Atman]

6. I don't see anything positive in cheering the decline of American industry.

Boo hoo. Personally, I'd never drive a Cadillac. but I see no reason to cheer on their demise.

[mfcorey1]

11. Nope, just jealous because I do not own one. You are adding

More than is there.

[mfcorey1]

14. I see no cheering.

[Populist_Prole]

58. I agree

I thought that ad was obnoxious as well, but it's still a good car, if out of my price range. Besides, plenty of sneering yuppie douchbags drive Mercendes Benz, Audi, and Lexus cars as well.

[Romulox]

8. People who drive luxury cars sneer at American workers. That's why. nt

[ProfessorGAC]

10. My Dad Drove Caddies and Buicks

He was a union truck driver. Your position doesn't seem to leave much room for exception.

[Romulox]

13. The average BMW/Mercedes driver wouldn't drive a Buick to save his life. It's an image thing. nt

[Atman]

18. Buick actually has some nice cars now.

But I would still never, ever drive a Buick. It's the name as much as anything else. Buick = Your Grandparents.

[Romulox]

20. I didn't say Buicks were bad. Just that the average BMW/Mercedes owner isn't cross-shopping them.

Interestingly enough, during GM's forced bankruptcy, the Buick name was purposely kept over the more youth oriented Pontiac mark. The reason? Apparently Buick has some cachet in China stemming from their popularity with Party apparatchiks going back to the '50s...

Strange world.

[ProfessorGAC]

21. That Makes Room For Exceptions?

Your brush is so broad that includes a union truck driver who liked driving the most plush vehicle he could afford.

He never looked down his nose on anyone.

[sweetapogee]

59. Did you make this information

up?

I have a Mercedes Benz and we also have a Buick. I drive both cars.

[Brother Buzz]

9. Perhaps auto dealers should slap Deadhead stickers on to bolster sales

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018636847

[Throd]

12. Are you still so mad about a television commercial that you cheer against union jobs?

[mfcorey1]

15. Who is cheering?

[Romulox]

16. Way to walk it back!

[mfcorey1]

45. No walk back. I said what I meant. Your interpretation is wrong. Peace.

[Throd]

19. "Boo hoo" usually denotes satisfaction from someone's misfortune.

[mfcorey1]

47. Not in this case.

[Dreamer Tatum]

42. You are. nt

[mfcorey1]

46. The content of the article is more important than what I feel. That's why I posted it. Focus on

Last edited Wed Jul 9, 2014, 01:57 PM - Edit history (1)

that and not me.

[Dreamer Tatum]

48. Sorry, but when you add editorial comment to the article in your subject line

You're going to get editorial comment right back.

That's how this works, you see.

[mfcorey1]

51. WHATEVER. Have it your way. I am moving on to the next post. Ridiculous

discussion on the merits of boo hoo. LOL

[Dreamer Tatum]

52. Oh, boo hoo.

[HughBeaumont]

22. Could it be the rampant corporate ageism responsible for eradicating their buying demographic?

COULDN'T be . . . .

[CanSocDem]

24. I'm not surprised.

Reading in John DeLoreans book, On A Clear Day You Can See General Motors that the production costs for a Cadillac were roughly the same as those of a top of the line Chevrolet I learned that GM couldn't be trusted as an industry. Unsafe At Any Speed was already a bestseller and imported cars were cheaper and more fuel efficient. GM took years to pass on fuel efficiency to its' customers and then it was with crap like the Vega....

The Japanese and European car makers actually looked for what car owners wanted instead of marketing the nonsense that "Buying American..." was more important than 'buying quality'.

"The Chickens are coming home to roost."


.

[snooper2]

25. Mercedes LOL, want to see what a $1000 dollar shock looks like?

TIME FOR THE SCOTTY KILMER CHANNEL!

[Atman]

28. I used to own a BMW...same thing.

If I needed a windshield wiper or a headlamp, it was always $400 to start. The car was fun to drive, but a nightmare to own.

[PasadenaTrudy]

41. I had a little BMW

in the late '70s. A '73 2002. Man, that thing was fun to drive! But, way too $$$ to maintain.

[bluedigger]

26. Product cycle.

Last year Cadillac had the car to buy. Now Audi and Mercedes do. Next year, maybe BMW and Jaguar. And then back to Cadillac. No big deal.

[Silent3]

27. Except for Tesla, is there much of anything in the "luxury" category that's energy efficient?

I realize that most luxury car buyers don't give a damn about that, so it's not going to figure into why Cadillac sales are down, but it's why I personally don't have much interest in luxury cars, even though I can afford one.

I just bought a Ford Fusion Energi, a plug-in hybrid. It's my first new car in about nine years, and it's more than luxurious enough. The bells and whistles that are now standard would have been luxuries a decade or two ago, if even possible with older tech, and I went for a few options beyond that. The plug-in hybrid option pushes the price tag into the same range as entry-level luxury cars, but I'd rather pay extra for energy efficiency than pointless extra horsepower and race car handling that I don't need. (I'll be getting a $3700 federal tax credit too, to offset some of that cost.)

In two months I've only filled up once, and I only stopped for gas that one time because I wanted a car wash - I still had more than half a tank. By the end of this week, I'll probably need a real fill-up for the first time, with over 2000 miles on the car. That's my kind of luxury.

While I'd like to see an American manufacture succeed over imports, my generally negative view of most luxury cars as environmentally unfriendly conspicuous consumption makes it hard for me to sympathize with Cadillac's troubles.

[Bluenorthwest]

35. Lincoln makes hybrids that sell for the same price as the standard engine model

This much I know.

[IronLionZion]

55. There are tons of hybrids

Lexus has a whole bunch. The other carmakers have a few as well, and some diesels.

Wealthy liberals exist

http://www.forbes.com/sites/hannahelliott/2014/03/11/the-luxury-cars-with-the-best-gas-mileage/

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2013/04/top-10-most-fuel-efficient-luxury-cars.html

[Silent3]

62. I probably should have googled "luxury hybrids"...

...before just running with the question that popped into my mind.

Many of those aren't too impressive when compared to, say, a Prius. Then again a few are better than I'd imagined, and they're all a whole lot better than that atrocious Audi R8 mentioned at the beginning of the Forbes article.

I see that Cadillac has a plug-in hybrid too, which is essentially a Chevy Volt underneath, but with luxury touches and a huge boost in price.

I'd considered a Volt, and would have liked its greater electric-only range, but I didn't like the styling, I felt the car's body obstructed my visibility of the surrounding environment too much, and it was missing some features I wanted.

Having a short commute, the Fusion Energi's 20-something range has proven sufficient that I rarely need to use gas anyway, especially since I finally sprung for a 240-volt charger which can, even in a short half-hour charging session between getting home from work and going out somewhere, squeeze in the extra few miles of electric range above what the 120-volt charger can do that makes the difference between making it all the way back home again before the gas engine kicks in.

[Historic NY]

33. Fleet sales & leases....

government renews every three years.

the base price for an Esclade is 79k....

[taught_me_patience]

34. The main reason is that they are too expensive

The ATS is priced right in line with a 3-series. Sorry... Caddy is not in the realm of the cache of the 3-series. Thank GM for 30 years of cost cutting and badge slapping in the 70's, 80's, and 90's for that. The second issue is that they are ugly. They need to get rid of the large vertical taillight and move onto something new. My wife, who would be in the market for an ATS hates it and has already ruled Cadillac out just because of that.

[Dreamer Tatum]

39. Ah, the usual tail-chasing.

Support American workers. Support American unions. Oh, look, our cultural betters are more successful! Fuck American workers.
Except, of course, support American workers. Oh, look, something European! FUCK American workers. Except, support American workers.

[PasadenaTrudy]

40. Caddies are still ugly

I love that Lexus coupe...can't think of the name of it. Audi would be fun too. I love cars, always have, always will. Mazda driver now, that's my budget, lol

[Tarheel_Dem]

49. Reading some of the responses brings to mind the old saying "do as I say, not as I do".

If the president had left GM to die, this whole board would have erupted in poutrage. People are certainly free to spend their hard earned dollars on whatever import luxury car they can afford, but don't get all huffy about "Dems abandoning unions", if you're (in essence) doing the same thing.

[Dreamer Tatum]

53. But I don't like that COMMERCIAL! nt

[Tarheel_Dem]

54. Question? Is that commercial still in rotation? Anywhere?

[Dreamer Tatum]

56. I wish it was. I love it. It's on YouTube though. nt

[Tarheel_Dem]

57. I wasn't crazy about that commercial either, but I'm an adult. I won't "cut off my nose to spite...

my face". When I can buy American, I always will, and it will most certainly be GM.

[DirkGently]

63. Not spite avoiding a dangerously defective car though, eh?

GM is under intense scrutiny from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over its recall process and decision-making, and meets monthly with the safety agency. That's part of the fallout from GM's delayed worldwide recall in February and March of 2.6 million 2003-2011 small cars for defective ignition switches that can disable airbags. GM links the faulty switches to 12 deaths in the U.S. and one in Canada.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/07/04/gm-big-recalls-end/12151987/

Including ALL the new-gen Camaros.

I want to believe in American car manufacturing too, and GM looked to be leading the way.

But this is still how they do business. Executive heads firmly in sand. Beancounters in charge of safety decisions.

[Tarheel_Dem]

64. And sales remained steady. Imagine that. I'm not for tearing down US manufacturers, so you should

probably move along.

“So far these recalls haven’t impacted current sales and have had minimal impact on consumer perception...."

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2014/07/gm-recalls-outnumber-six-years-of-sales/


GM Sales Up Despite Recalling Nearly 29 Million Cars This Year
Posted: 07/01/2014 9:53 am EDT Updated: 07/01/2014 11:59 am EDT

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors says its U.S. sales rose 1 percent in June despite a record-setting string of safety recalls.

Sales were led by the Buick Encore small SUV, up 82 percent. The redesigned Chevrolet Tahoe big SUV also had a strong month with sales almost doubling.

GM sold more than 267,000 vehicles for the month.

GM has recalled nearly 29 million vehicles this year as it reviews years of safety problems. The string began in February with the recall of 2.6 million small cars with faulty ignition switches. GM admitted knowing about the problem for 10 years but it failed to recall the cars until this year.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/01/gm-sales-recall-1-percent_n_5547460.html

[DirkGently]

65. Wait. "Sales are good?" How does that bear on bad cars / bad management?

That's a bit of an odd response. GM made millions of cars with a potentially lethal safety defect it could have cured for a few pennies per vehicle, and handled it by ignoring the problem until enough people died that it could not.

Therefore, people not buying their vehicles are arguably not doing so out of "spite," as you suggested, is all.

Not sure what you mean by declaring you're not for "tearing down U.S. manufacturers." As I said, I'd like for American car manufacturers to do well too, but GM is modeling the precise kind of behavior that has brought down car builders here before: bad quality and bureaucratic incompetence.

It's not a matter of cheering or waving our arms

If we want a stronger auto industry in America, we need American car companies to do things better.

If we can't build cars that don't kill people because a $1 ignition switch would've affected profits and management doesn't talk to engineering, it's simply not going to work.

And the only way to fix that is by first acknowledging it.

[Tarheel_Dem]

66. Not my job. I don't have to acknowledge shit on a random internet chatboard. Later.

[DirkGently]

67. I imagine GM management said something similar

... while people died needlessly in their defective vehicles.

Sorry an attempt to make a sincere, basic factual point so upset you that you had to leave?

(Not sure what "smiley" goes with that, but please enjoy the day.)

[DirkGently]

61. Doesn't help Caddies are still so UGLY.

By repute, Cadillacs are much more up to the standards of the Beemers and Mercedes they want to compete with now. Tighter, faster; more responsive.

But for some reason they just can't dump the vestiges of that New Edge crap they picked up in the 90s or whenever.

They all look like balloons in the process of swallowing three bricks. Swoop, swoop CREASE! Swoop, CREASE!

It's like they exist for people who would like a nice import sedan / coupe / SUV, but are offended at any hint of aesthetic taste or design intelligence.

[DJ13]

70. Cadillac still has an average transaction price of over $49,000

I think I found the problem.