Cadillac Introduces CT5-V – Will Buyers Care?
[March 2, 2020]
Full disclosure: General Motors did not fly me out, wine and dine me, or otherwise persuade me to write nice things about its new Cadillac CT5-V sport sedan. But it did invite a bunch of other auto scribes out to Palm Springs, Calif., to sample its newest sport sedan. A lot of them had nice things to say about it. But I’m going to give it to you straight.
I’m not going to disparage the car, especially since I haven’t driven it. I’m sure it’s perfectly nice, objectively competent, and in typical GM fashion, “ticks the boxes” compared to competitive benchmarks. But none of that matters if nobody is interested in buying it.
To be clear, I’m not specifically picking on GM or Cadillac on this front. I could ask the same question about the Audi A4, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, and even the heretofore sacrosanct BMW 3 Series. But let’s take a look at the current sales landscape in the C/D-class sport sedan segment. Tesla sold a total of 158,925 Model 3s for calendar year 2019. BMW sold 66,448 3 and 4 Series, Mercedes-Benz sold 49,151 C-Classes, Audi sold 26,435 A4 and S4 models, and Lexus sold 14,920 IS and 51,336 ES models. Cadillac, in comparison, sold only 1,134 ATS models, 43 of the CT5 (non-V), and the CTS moved 6,965 units.
Let’s be clear, the sport sedan segment is a shrinking one. Everyone has gone crossover-crazy. Even Tesla’s Elon Musk says he expects the upcoming Model Y crossover will likely cannibalize sales of the Model 3. But even if the Model Y takes 60% of Model 3 sales, assuming the same number of sales, the Model 3 would still rival that of the 3 and 4 Series BMW. Five years ago, the established luxury brands dismissed Tesla as a niche novelty, not an existential threat to their existence. In the words of Nigel Farage to the European Parliament in 2016, “Well, you’re not laughing now, are you?”
I could do an entire other post about how Cadillac got to where it is today from its vaunted position in the 1950s and ’60s, but I won’t waste your time. Arguably, the last decade was wasted trying to chase BMW and Mercedes-AMG developing high-horse track monsters, all the while, “boring” luxury brands like Lexus kept racking up sales selling essentially glorified Camrys, Avalons, and Highlanders.
Going back to early 2019, GM president Mark Reuss said Cadillac would lead the company’s electrification efforts. He even made so bold a proclamation that the brand’s lineup would be “mostly” electric vehicles by 2030.
Cadillac is certainly hip to the the need for electrification, even saying its future lies in that direction. The company has also unveiled its Cadillac EV crossover concept.
I would venture to say that Tesla started to be taken seriously by other premium brands around 2015. Looking at the typical four to five year development cycle on a new model, if Cadillac were truly serious about an electric vehicle at that time, it should be coming to market about now. Meanwhile, Cadillac promises to show a production version of its promised EV premium crossover in 2021, presumably as a 2022 model.
It may sound like I’m kicking Cadillac while they’re down. That is certainly not my intent. I’m simply pointing out the facts. And the fact of the matter is Cadillac is no longer top-of-mind when it comes to premium brands. For that matter, neither is BMW, Mercedes-Benz, or Lexus. Going by numbers alone, Tesla is the brand to beat. So congratulations to Cadillac for the CT5-V. But buyers are probably more eager for its promised future EV offerings.
(Images courtesy Cadillac)
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