If Cadillac Keeps Growing Like This, It'll Be America's Bestselling Luxury Car

Mr. Nice

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Bloomberg Businessweek

If Cadillac Keeps Growing Like This, It'll Be America's Bestselling Luxury Car


This has been a pretty good year to sell luxury cars in North America. An improving economy and cheap financing lured trade-up buyers and convinced affluent drivers to freshen their fleets. And while Daimler?s (DAI:GR) Mercedes is in position to finish the year as the bestselling high-end brand, it?s not hard to argue that Cadillac (GM) had the better year.

If we look at total vehicles sold in North America in 2013 by month, Cadillac is a fairly distant fourth place, behind Toyota?s (TM) Lexus brand:

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And while Daimler?s (DAI:GR) Mercedes is in position to finish the year as the bestselling high-end brand, it?s not hard to argue that Cadillac (GM) had the better year.

Actually, they had to try pretty hard to argue just that. All three (Merc, BMW, Lexus) sold more cars each than Caddy. All three added between 25k and 35k to their sales this year, so did Caddy. The only metric where Caddy wins is percentage growth... which says more about their crappy past than about the future.
 
had a rental ATS, very solid car which is very competitive at its price to quality
 
This is like saying, "Wow! I fathered a giant! My baby has doubled in size in a year. If it keeps up this rate, it will be larger than the entire earth in just a few years!
 
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Yeah, someone's never heard of the law of diminishing returns.
 
saw a new RHD CTS in Camberwell this morning, I suspect with Holden going we might see them locally
 
Given that the current crop of Cadilacs are testing better than the Japanese luxury cars and almost as well as the Germans, the growth in sales doesn't surprise me. As more people find out that the wallowy barges of the 80s, 90s and 2000s have been replaced by genuine driver-oriented luxury cars, I expect the numbers to improve even further.
 
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As Anti-GM as I am, I must say that caddy is impressing me. I think I remember hearing a long time ago how they we trying to dump off the "retired peoples car" rep and appeal to a younger "yuppie" crowd. It seems to be working. With that said, I think Buick was trying to do the same thing but I just don't see that it's working. Either way, good for Caddy. Still wouldn't own one though.
 
Buick only exists because it is a big seller in China. I don't think GM is as concerned about them as they are with Cadillac here.
 
In the past the problem for USA manufactured 'luxury' cars has always been the interiors have not been up to snuff, so I presume that they have cracked that problem?
 

That's just ugly, but, I guess I'm just not into the new cars this year; I think that one of my fav brands and more particularly one of my fav cars, the E Klass, is just downright Fugly this year. I hate that! Either way, this one is ugly and if I weren't on my phone typing this I would explain why that a different ugly that the Merc ugly.
 
I wonder where Audi and Jaguar fit in there.

Jaguar's sales are basically too small to make it on that graphic. In 2012 they sold 12,011 cars for the entire year in the US. 2013? 16,952, full year.

To put that in perspective, Audi sold 158,061 cars in 2013.

Also, apparently just about nobody wants the F-Type. US sales numbers since it went on sale in May:

May 159
June 417
July 341
August 401
September 172
October 353
November 222
December 185

The Boxster outsold it every single month (usually by a significant margin) but August and October.
 
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:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Thanks. I haven't laughed that hard in ages.

I'm sure Daimler and BMW are shaking in their boots.
I was actually serious. The reviews of the ATS and CTS that I've seen tend to place them pretty close to their German competion and even ahead of the base-model FWD Audis (though the AWD-equipped models pull ahead). Why is it that people refuse to believe that America is (finally) able to make non-crappy cars again?
 
In the past the problem for USA manufactured 'luxury' cars has always been the interiors have not been up to snuff, so I presume that they have cracked that problem?

I think so. The new CTS seems to be on par with the Germans when it comes to the interior. The ATS is said to not be far off. The SRX also is a very nice place to be.

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Thanks. I haven't laughed that hard in ages.

I'm sure Daimler and BMW are shaking in their boots.

They should be. The ATS and CTS have been getting very good reviews, sometimes coming ahead of the Germans in comparison tests and even when coming 2nd, being called the better car to drive.

I was actually serious. The reviews of the ATS and CTS that I've seen tend to place them pretty close to their German competion and even ahead of the base-model FWD Audis (though the AWD-equipped models pull ahead). Why is it that people refuse to believe that America is (finally) able to make non-crappy cars again?

Because stereotypes and IMO played out tropes die hard. Even though US carmakers are building great stuff for the most part these days it'll likely take another 5 to 10 years before it reaches mainstream consciousness ...even longer for buyers outside of the US.
 
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