Cadillac March 2013 Sales up 49% Driving Q1 Up 38%

Overall a good month for Cadillac to cap a good first quarter in what promises to be a strong year.  Cadillac has been targeting BMW, so let’s consider model by model:

  • Cadillac ATS sales continued to ramp up, at 3,587 in March after a 3,382 Feb.  Sales target for the ATS is 5K / month — 7K / month to match the 3-Series sales in Feb 2013, so lots of room for improvement.  The ATS also needs to cover the 1-Series turf, so 400 more or 7,500 / month really.  The story here is the ATS is doing okay, but needs to do x2+ the current sales to meet the vision for ATS.
  • CTS sales sagged, but sold 2,791 cars.  Sales target for the CTS is the 5-Series, so 4K to match the 5-Series Feb 2013 sales.  The new 2014 CTS is on the way, lighter, more powerful, more features.
  • XTS sales exceeded CTS at 3,061.  Batting clean-up, even though the models vary, the XTS needs to exceed BMW 6-Series, 7-Series, and X1 sales, or around 2,900 units, which it did.
  • SRX sales at 4,368 continue to please, up from last year and up from Feb’s 4,108.  SRX 4,368 plus Escalade 1,944 total 6,312 Cadillac Trucks have to cover all the BMW trucks, or 6,580 units in Feb 13 — close there.

 

  March (Calendar Year-to-Date)
January – March
  2013 2012 %Change Volume   2013 2012 %Change Volume
ATS 3,587 0 ***.*   9,750 0 ***.*
CTS 2,791 4,485 -37.8   7,862 12,074 -34.9
DTS 0 79 ***.*   3 236 -98.7
Escalade 987 1,010 -2.3   2,690 3,006 -10.5
Escalade ESV 746 656 13.7   1,846 1,877 -1.7
Escalade EXT 211 136 55.1   574 394 45.7
SRX 4,368 4,143 5.4   12,856 13,292 -3.3
STS 0 28 ***.*   1 87 -98.9
XTS 3,061 0 ***.*   7,130 0 ***.*
Cadillac Total 15,751 10,537 49.5   42,712 30,966 37.9

Summary from the Press Release:

  • Cadillac was up almost 50 percent; Buick was up 37 percent; GMC was up 12 percent; and Chevrolet sales were essentially equal to a year ago.
  • The all-new Cadillac ATS had its best sales month yet with deliveries of 3,587 units.

Cadillac with Air — Black and Decker Air Station #motorama

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Pre-roadtrip air pressure check and correction is important for fuel economy, safety, and higher speeds. My weapon of choice is the Black & Decker Air Station.

The Air Station has two features I especially like:

  1. dual power — runs off car accessory plug or a/c outlet
  2. air pressure stop / limit auto-switch

The dial on the air pressure gauge allows one to select max desired pressure. Then the pump will continue until max pressure is reached, and shut off. For cars, this makes setting all 4 tires to the same pressure, or both tires on one end to same pressure, simple.

The unit is light, but has a good capacity and works fast enough. I keep it in the spare tire compartment under the trunk, since the STS-V doesn’t use a spare.

The unit has an air pressure gauge but I use a hand gauge to check. It has met my needs and I recommend it to others.

Model I have is the ASI300: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-ASI300-Station-Inflator/dp/B000IE0YIQ

Cadillac Premium w/o Ethanol #motorama

Most gas these days has 10% ethanol included. The ethanol mix works fine in modern cars, and that is 10% less gas to source.

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But will I instantly pull over in my Cadillac if a shop advertises ‘straight’, pure gas?

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Why yes, yes I will.

This station also charged a premium for the ethanol-free juice, but I considered it a pay to play treat.

Due to the high traffic and stops on our tour today no mpg comparison to report, but I like getting the pure stuff for a change –then back to the E10 the rest of the trip.

Would you pay extra for straight gas with no ethanol added if it were available locally?