Author Archives: Bruce Nunnally

Cadillac Feb 2010 Sales Up 31%; CTS Sales Stabilizing?

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Cadillac sales in February 2010 once again consist largely of good SRX sales, with little else going well.  CTS sales increased slightly from last month‘s total of 2,565 in the same number of selling days, but are still down year over year.

DTS sales have slumped to near disappearance relative to their classic position in terms of a percentage of Cadillac sales as a whole.  There was a time that DTS sales matched CTS sales.

Escalade sales are slightly up, look good statistically, but are basically flat.

Thank goodness Cadillac has the run-away successful SRX or things would look even more dire.




 February (Calendar Year-to-Date)
January – February

2010 2009 % Chg Volume %Chg per S/D 2010 2009 %Chg Volume
Selling Days (S/D) 24 24





CTS 2,690 3,259 -17.5 -17.5 5,255 6,677 -21.3
DTS 611 982 -37.8 -37.8 1,229 2,344 -47.6
Escalade 1,418 1,238 14.5 14.5 2,655 2,591 2.5
Escalade ESV 552 416 32.7 32.7 948 1,088 -12.9
Escalade EXT 102 166 -38.6 -38.6 223 501 -55.5
SRX 3,542 552 541.7 541.7 6,776 1,440 370.6
STS 332 357 -7.0 -7.0 565 770 -26.6
XLR 26 68 -61.8 -61.8 62 126 -50.8
Cadillac Total 9,273 7,038 31.8 31.8 17,713 15,537 14.0

Where should Cadillac be in terms of Sales?

  • CTS sales need to be back around 4,000 per month.
  • SRX sales need to average 4,000 per month.  Remember SRX sales were almost 5K in Dec 09, and now SRX has to ‘cover’ for the DTS fade and gap until the XTS arrives
  • DTS or Replacement sales are missing at 4,000 per month.
  • Escalade family sales at 2,500 per month sustained seems more than reasonable
  • Short-run models at 500 per month

So total Cadillac sales would then be around 15,000 per month, or 180K per year.

Add the ATS sales, which have to hit 50K-100K per year to be successful vs the BMW 3-Series, and you have a good year for Cadillac between 230K and 280K sales.

How can Cadillac move more Sedans?

It is possible to move a model ‘upmarket’ by adding valuable features that Customers are willing to pay more for.  Cadillac has steadily moved the CTS upmarket instead by raising the price of the vehicle without adding a great deal of value.

Make the 304hp 3.6L the base engine in the CTS, and put the sticker price back in the low US$30s. Make the LS3 engine or a Supercharged 3.6L with 425hp the Premium/Performance upline CTS and price it in the low US$40s.  Keep the CTS-V in the very low $60s with the Supercar brake, power, and suspension packages, or move it to US$55K and spark even MORE interest in this very desirable vehicle.

Yes, the ATS is coming and Cadillac needs the room.  But today we have the CTS and the fading DTS in showrooms.  Price the refresh on the CTS up later after the ATS arrives — if enough value is added to the CTS Refresh to justify a cost increase.  But get the CTS that is in Showrooms today priced the right way for its current content.

Yes, I appreciate the impact on resale value and current Customer satisfaction if you start pushing pricing around.  But moving cars helps pay for the changes and improvements we need in the model lines.  It is better to correct the pricing and get on with the business of selling cars than to live with the current sales figures.

Automobile history about Change

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Cadillac as a car company started from the ashes of a re-organization.  Henry Leland was actually brought in to value the remaining hard goods by a board of directors of a car company about to dissolve.  Leland had a reputation for precision machinery, and an interest in the new automobile market.  He also had an improved, high-efficiency automobile engine, and convinced the board of directors to try to make a go of marketing a new car using his engine instead of closing down the business.  The new company became Cadillac.

The history of the automobile industry in general is competition, competitive intelligence, surprising or reacting to the market.  Knowing what your current (and new) competitors are bringing to market, anticipating the whims of the buying public, and reacting to outside stimulus (oil embargo, financial crisis).  It takes some preparation to make a hundred thousand of something.  Design, work, customer clinics, testing, tooling, manufacturing planning, and finally factory warm-up, piloting, and initial production.  It is hard to “turn on a dime” when you need years of development to bring a product to market, but that is exactly what today’s automobile companies NEED to be able to do in order to react to market changes.

GM and Cadillac plan to announce another major re-organization today.  I like the fact that Management is impatient with progress.  I think as a company you have to put your best team on the field, but if that line-up does not produce results then you change the line-up until you find one that does.  I know that this means more ‘churn’ and stress for the Employees at the company, but if the last few years have shown nothing else I think it HAS shown that they are both flexible and resilient.  The main reason that someone would still be working at General Motors today is likely that they want to see GM rise from the ashes of bankruptcy and become again the great automobile company that they can be.

Expect more.

Waystones:

  • Real car guys know how to sell cars
  • Collaborate with the Dealers; treat them as a partner and give them more voice at the table
  • Make  the Voice of the Customer resound in the Board Room, in the Design Studios, and on the Factory Floor
  • Fix reliability issues, keep fixing them and keep them fixed
  • Reward those who are taking Risks, even if they are not successful.  Reward innovation.

Aftermarket Cadillac Modifications: Power

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Once you purchase a pre-packaged sport tuned V-Series Cadillac, has the Factory pushed the vehicle as far as it can go, or is there some left on the table?  Is there anything else that could be done to these V-Series Cadillacs that would make them faster?

In a word, YES.  Like most tuning however, it is very good to start with a goal usage and power level in mind, and tune to those goals.  A classic hot-rodding question is: How much money do you have, and how fast do you want to go?

First of all, it depends on which V-Series Cadillac you focus on.  The STS-V and XLR-V have more in common with each other than the 2004-2007 CTS-V or the 2009+ CTS-V.

The STS-V and XLR-V are powered by the LC3 Supercharged 4.4L Northstar and make 440-469 hp stock depending on the model.

The 2004-2005 CTS-V was powered by the 5.7L V8 LS6 engine making 400 hp.

The 2006-2007 CTS-V was powered by the 6.0L V8 LS2 engine making 400 hp.

The newest V, the 2009+ CTS-V is powered by the Supercharged and Intercooled 6.2L V8 LSA engine making 556 hp.

LC3 4.4L Supercharged Northstar Tuning

For the STS-V and XLR-V the aftermarket offers re-tuning / re-calibration of the computer, cold air intakes, and performance exhausts.  Together these can net around 40 RWHP, or rear wheel horsepower.

LS6 or LS2 V8 Tuning (~400hp stock)

There is a rich suite of tuning options available for the LS6 or LS2, because they share a great deal of aftermarket development with ongoing LSx performance engine development.

Best bang for the buck items include:

  • Cam shaft — best done along with ported heads.  Cam/heads can add as much as 90 hp at the crankshaft for $2500 plus installation
  • Headers — long tube headers will cost around $1600 and add 20-30 RWHP
  • Supercharger — around 140 RWHP for US$6-7K
  • Dyno Tuning — results vary based on the other modifications on the vehicle, but give the best opportunity for gains from modifications.  Some level of custom tuning will be required with most changes.
  • LS7 Conversion — replace the LS2 or LS6 with a 505hp LS7
  • L92 heads / L76 Intake — To make the LS3 engine GM added the L92 heads to the LS2, so this is a known power combo. The 4.00-inch bore of the LS2 enables it to use LS1/LS6 heads, as well as L92-style heads (including LS3, LS9 and LSA engines).  The L76 intake allows the combo to fit under the hood.  For confusion, the L94 Engine in the current Escalade is an updated variant of the L92.

As an aside, not all adders are additive.  So while you might see 25 hp from adder A and 20 hp from Adder B on a stock setup, you might only reach +30hp from both together.

Second, to some extent a Supercharger works by “forcing” better breathing.  So if you plan to get a Supercharger, I would start with that.  If you want to stay all-motor, go with cam and heads and headers which all act to free up the engine’s breathing.

LSA Supercharged V8 Tuning (556 hp stock)

The LSA engine can be considered a Supercharged LS3 engine, with a steel crankshaft.  The LSA has rectangular port heads like the LS9 or L92 (Escalade engine) instead of Cathedral port heads like the LS2.  The rectangular port heads in the LSA flow a bit better than the cathedral port heads in the LS2.

Although the Supercharged LSA V8 is relatively new, the aftermarket offers include:

  • New supercharger snout to raise boost: with tuning around +74 hp for $2,500.
  • Dyno Tuning
  • Upgrade to the LS9’s Supercharger – Complete packages that include tuning, exhaust quote up to 700 hp, so +150 hp.
  • Upgrade the engine to the LS9:  The LS9 engine makes 638 hp stock.  LS9 Engine around $22K, so pricey
  • Headers with Tuning can produce around 50 RWHP for $2K
  • L92 Heads and Cam package – around 70 RWHP for $2,500 plus installation
  • Cold Air Induction kit

Cadillac Tuner pages: