CTS, SRX continued to lead Cadillac Sales in July 2011

Cadillac Sales: 

A 25% bottom line sales decrease might suggest a disappointing July year over year for Cadillac, but continuing good sales for CTS and SRX are reassuring.   July 2010 was a ‘banner’ month with over 5.5K of each model sold, so while it would be great to repeat at those levels, this month’s sales of over 4K for each model are nothing to sneeze at.  It would be interesting to compare incentives in July 2010 vs July 2011 but those figures are not given here.

DTS continues to fade as the last models are sold.  Escalade sales continue to reflect higher fuel prices.


July
(Calendar Year-to-Date)

January – July

2011 2010 % Chg Volume %Chg per S/D
2011 2010 %Chg Volume
Selling Days (S/D) 26 27





CTS 4,449 5,516 -19.3 -16.2
31,454 24,601 27.9
DTS 715 1,207 -40.8 -38.5
9,453 10,221 -7.5
Escalade 914 1,252 -27.0 -24.2
7,859 8,766 -10.3
Escalade ESV 605 762 -20.6 -17.5
4,402 4,150 6.1
Escalade EXT 171 195 -12.3 -8.9
1,067 1,008 5.9
SRX 4,133 5,723 -27.8 -25.0
30,333 28,378 6.9
STS 132 259 -49.0 -47.1
2,661 2,404 10.7
XLR 0 5 ***.* ***.*
12 176 -93.2
Cadillac Total 11,119 14,919 -25.5 -22.6
87,241 79,704 9.5

Summary

XTS and ATS are missing from the equation here and can’t arrive soon enough.

Press Release Summary:

Cadillac: Cadillac reported total sales of 11,119 for July, a 26-percent decrease versus last July which included a significant reduction in sales to fleets. For the month, retail sales decreased 26 percent. For the year-to-date, Cadillac total sales are up 9 percent while retail sales have increased 17 percent.

Cadillac U.S. Retail Sales Rise 8 Percent in May 2011

  • 16th consecutive month of year-over-year retail sales gains
  • CTS continues strong year-to-year retail growth, up 28 percent
  • Escalade retail sales up 10 percent

DETROIT – Cadillac continued its 16-month run of year-to-year sales gains, reporting   U.S. retail sales increased 8 percent in May to 9,832, led by the CTS family of luxury cars and Escalade line of luxury SUVs.

Bruce Notes: CTS sales are rocking along, breaking 4K/mo again, and SRX sales were close behind.  Unsurprisingly DTS sales are fading as the model moves out of production ahead of the XTS arrival.  Gas Prices undoubtedly effecting Escalade sales somewhat.  Overall sales were up per sales day for a short May.

May
(Calendar Year-to-Date)


January – May

2011 2010 % Chg Volume %Chg per S/D
2011 2010 %Chg Volume
Selling Days (S/D) 24 26





CTS 4,288 3,489 22.9 33.1
22,807 14,892 53.1
DTS 1,496 2,263 -33.9 -28.4
7,859 7,423 5.9
Escalade 1,024 1,332 -23.1 -16.7
5,988 6,506 -8.0
Escalade ESV 612 565 8.3 17.3
3,220 2,781 15.8
Escalade EXT 150 136 10.3 19.5
754 666 13.2
SRX 3,910 4,081 -4.2 3.8
22,249 18,851 18.0
STS 142 441 -67.8 -65.1
2,382 1,736 37.2
XLR 1 21 -95.2 -94.8
3 142 -97.9
Cadillac Total 11,623 12,328 -5.7 2.1
65,262 52,997 23.1

“Cadillac remains a strong, successful brand that is approaching a year-and-a-half run of consecutive retail sales gains,” said Kurt McNeil, vice president of Cadillac Sales and Service. “It’s a testament to our solid product offerings among the CTS, SRX and Escalade brands and our attention to superior customer service.”

The CTS Sedan, Wagon and Coupe posted retail sales of 3,686 units in May for a 28 percent increase compared to the same month last year and year-to-date retail sales of the CTS family are up 75 percent. The CTS family includes the high-performance V-Series models, which this year is competing against top luxury sports cars in the SCCA World Challenge GT racing series.

SRX retail sales also remained strong in May at 3,617 units. SRX has a calendar year-to-date retail sales increase of 22 percent. Since being redesigned for the 2010 model year, the SRX has continued to gain market share and receive high marks from automotive journalists and industry analysts.

Retail sales of the Cadillac Escalade also grew in May to 1,706 units, a 10-percent gain over last year and a 10 percent calendar-year-to-date increase. Escalade remains the top selling luxury SUV brand in the United States.

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

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.