Category Archives: Monthly Sales Reports

BMW Feb 2010 US Sales up 16%; Market comparison to Cadillac

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BMW US Sales in Feb 2010

3-Series — 6.3% growth is good in today’s market.  I would certainly be happy if CTS had growth in sales year / year.  The upcoming Cadillac ATS will have to be in this range of sales / month if it is to compete with the 3-Series.

Also note that 3-Series sales are up strongly from January 2010.  As we move further into the corporate bonus and pay raise season do BMW sales show an uptick?

5-Series — down 28.9% is worrisome.  Cadillac CTS again outsold BMW 5-Series.  A new 5-series is on the way, which may be muting sales?  Sales of the 5er are down from Jan 2010 as well.

SUV — Cadillac SRX sales in Feb of 3,465 were just below BMW SUV sales of 3,804.  More room for growth of SRX sales there.  Total Cadillac SUV sales, including Escalade, exceeded total BMW SUV sales.

Joke of the day: What does Cadillac have to do to match BMW SUV sales?  Cut Production.

Total US sales for BMW for Feb 15,100 versus Cadillac sales of 9,273 units highlights the additional runway Cadillac has for vehicle sales.  Cadillac is bringing the ATS to compete directly with the 3-Series, but it can’t get here soon enough for Sales.

Obviously the XTS to replace the fast-fading DTS would also help a great deal.

Here was the similar sheet from Jan 2010:

And here was our Feb 2010 Cadillac chart for comparison:

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

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.