Do American Luxury Cars Have A Future?

[Palumboism]

Will the Cadillac, Lincoln, Chrysler, and Buick brands still exist ten years from now?

[Palumboism]

Where Will Cadillac Be A Decade From Now?
By Timothy Cain on April 6, 2017
Cadillac is in a curious state.

Cadillac is making headway in China, a market which accounted for slightly more than half of Cadillac’s global volume in the first-quarter of 2017. But sales in Cadillac’s home market continue to slide. U.S. volume has fallen by a fifth over the last decade and has decreased in two of the last three years, falling to a four-year low in 2016.

Long gone are the days when Cadillac could sell new vehicles in America at the same rate as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, or Lexus. Indeed, Cadillac is well back of Audi now, as well. To put an exclamation point on Cadillac’s difficulties, little ol’ Infiniti — also historically reliant on the U.S. market and rather weak globally — outsold Cadillac by a margin of more than 40 percent in March.

How will Cadillac fare in the U.S. market in 2027? Or even in 2021?

Infiniti isn’t the only premium brand attempting to take over territory in the United States while Cadillac struggles. Acura, with its own difficulties, isn’t far behind Cadillac. Lincoln is trending in the opposite direction, up 9 percent so far this year. Jaguar-Land Rover is up 21 percent in 2017 and is quickly catching up to Cadillac in total volume.

Today, Cadillac isn’t the top-selling luxury brand in America. It doesn’t rank second or third or fourth, either. Indeed, Cadillac isn’t even inside the top five now.

Where will Cadillac be a decade from now, or even five years from now? Behind Genesis, Maserati, and Alfa Romeo, too?

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2017/04/qotd-will-cadillac-decade-now/#more-1546241

[Dave D]

They'll still be here. I still see  geo metros and oldsmobiles on the road.


Why do you ask, are their numbers down, or just to expensive?

[The True Adonis]

Cars have been shit since the early 90s.  Pretty much all cars. 

[Skeletor]

Cadillac's V-series cars seem to offer great track performance and luxury but overall Cadillac's prices still seem relatively high if they want to compete with the big players in the segment.
Buick oddly enough is selling most of its cars in China: in 2015 80% of Buick's sales were in China and only 18% in the US.

[ilalin]

I like the good old Cadillac

[CalvinH]

Cars have been shit since the early 90s.  Pretty much all cars. 

I love my Jeep Wrangler

[Palumboism]

They'll still be here. I still see  geo metros and oldsmobiles on the road.


Why do you ask, are their numbers down, or just to expensive?

Yes, their numbers are down, but also I don't see these brands being relevant to anyone.

2016 Sales
Mercedes Benz   
374,541

Lexus           
331,228

BMW                   
313,174

Chrysler           
231,972

Buick                   
229,631

Audi                   
210,213

Cadillac           
170,006

Acura           
161,360

Infinite           
138,293

Lincoln           
111,724

[El Diablo Blanco]

American cars bother me.  They come out with sensational concept cars.  Super cool, then the actual production version is a complete 180 from it.  Not sure why they refuse to put out cars with nice lines.

I had a ford rental and the dash panel was not aligned with the door panel.  Shit like this bothers me about American cars.  Just laziness.

[10pints]

Cars have been shit since the early 90s.  Pretty much all cars. 

Simple explanation for that: earth went flat around that time.

[Dave D]

American cars bother me.  They come out with sensational concept cars.  Super cool, then the actual production version is a complete 180 from it.  Not sure why they refuse to put out cars with nice lines.

I had a ford rental and the dash panel was not aligned with the door panel.  Shit like this bothers me about American cars.  Just laziness.

X2.  We are destroying ourselves.

[Palumboism]

They'll still be here. I still see  geo metros and oldsmobiles on the road.


Why do you ask, are their numbers down, or just to expensive?

Mercury
1938-2011

Plymouth
1928-2001

Oldsmobile
1897-2004

Pontiac
1926-2010

Saturn
1985-2010

Hummer
1992-2010

[Zillotch]

Cars have been shit since the early 90s.  Pretty much all cars.  :-

garage doors, as well... interestingly enough.

[Dave D]

Yes, their numbers are down, but also I don't see these brands being relevant to anyone.

2016 Sales
Mercedes Benz   
374,541

Lexus           
331,228

BMW                   
313,174

Chrysler           
231,972

Buick                   
229,631

Audi                   
210,213

Cadillac           
170,006

Acura           
161,360

Infinite           
138,293

Lincoln           
111,724

Cadillac and Lincoln are divisions of GM and Ford, so they're doing okay as stand alone brands compared to all of Chrysler, BMW, Audi....


However as said American based car companies ate destroying their self from within. You can't charge luxury price for below average quality. Once a brand is damaged it takes a tremendous  amount of effort to turn it around, unfortunately I can't think of a company that has been able to successfully turn the ship around.


It will be interesting to see what the future holds.

[HTexan]

Of course they do. Lincolns are basically ford models with a few upgrades. Caddys are nice and have a loyal fan base.

[APE907]

Lincoln will never be more than tarted up Ford at this rate.

Cadillac mechanically has shown real promise....ctsv is world class.

Problem lies in pricing structure.  GM prices ATS, CTS, CT6 at parity with BMW / Lexus / MB etc...

Additionally there are roughly 4x the number of Cadillac dealerships in the US compared to German & Japanese luxury storefronts.  This cheapens the brand and makes quality control nearly impossible for GM to oversee for premium dealership experience.....something they haven't historically done a good job at compared to their competition.

I am pulling for Cadillac, they have an uphill battle.

[HTexan]

Lincoln will never be more than tarted up Ford at this rate.

Cadillac mechanically has shown real promise....ctsv is world class.

Problem lies in pricing structure.  GM prices ATS, CTS, CT6 at parity with BMW / Lexus / MB etc...

Additionally there are roughly 4x the number of Cadillac dealerships in the US compared to German & Japanese luxury storefronts.  This cheapens the brand and makes quality control nearly impossible for GM to oversee for premium dealership experience.....something they haven't historically done a good job at compared to their competition.

I am pulling for Cadillac, they have an uphill battle.

Caddys usually are cheaper then Euro because their Dealerships are always having sales

[YngiweRhoads]

No cars have a future.

[Palumboism]

Lincoln will never be more than tarted up Ford at this rate.

Cadillac mechanically has shown real promise....ctsv is world class.

Problem lies in pricing structure.  GM prices ATS, CTS, CT6 at parity with BMW / Lexus / MB etc...

Additionally there are roughly 4x the number of Cadillac dealerships in the US compared to German & Japanese luxury storefronts.  This cheapens the brand and makes quality control nearly impossible for GM to oversee for premium dealership experience.....something they haven't historically done a good job at compared to their competition.

I am pulling for Cadillac, they have an uphill battle.

Of the four brands I think Cadillac's in the best shape and Chrysler's in the worst shape.  Chrysler only has two models the 300 and the Pacifica mini van.

As you said, a Lincoln is just a tarted up Ford, but the same can be said of Buick and Chrysler.  Buick's are just tarted up Chevrolet's and Chrysler's are just tarted up Dodges.  Buick's so delusional they believe Lexus is their direct competitor.  

My frustration is watching all these once great brands being driven into the ground.  Nobody aspires to own a Lincoln, Buick, or Chrysler.  At the same time, upstarts like Genesis are coming in and succeeding.  
Before GM pulled the plug on Oldsmobile Bob Lutz described it as a damaged brand.  All four of these brands are damaged and they've been trying to fix them for thirty years.  

 

[Palumboism]

Case in point, the Buick Encore.  This is the Cadillac Cimarron all over again.  Does anybody look at this and think it's a luxury car.  What it ends up doing is cheapening and damaging the brand.

[Parker]

Of the four brands I think Cadillac's in the best shape and Chrysler's in the worst shape.  Chrysler only has two models the 300 and the Pacifica mini van.

As you said, a Lincoln is just a tarted up Ford, but the same can be said of Buick and Chrysler.  Buick's are just tarted up Chevrolet's and Chrysler's are just tarted up Dodges.  Buick's so delusional they believe Lexus is their direct competitor.  

My frustration is watching all these once great brands being driven into the ground.  Nobody aspires to own a Lincoln, Buick, or Chrysler.  At the same time, upstarts like Genesis are coming in and succeeding.  
Before GM pulled the plug on Oldsmobile Bob Lutz described it as a damaged brand.  All four of these brands are damaged and they've been trying to fix them for thirty years.  

 

And who damaged the brands? Americans did, those 60-70ish.

[The True Adonis]

And who damaged the brands? Americans did, those 60-70ish.

Regulations did as well as a rising birth rate.  I would have been happy if all cars still looked like 59 Cadillacs.


We could have whatever we wanted if people did not procreate and ruin the standard of everything. 

[Palumboism]

And who damaged the brands? Americans did, those 60-70ish.

Are you calling Cadillac's, Buick's, Lincoln's, and Chrysler's old man cars.

Just because there are a few 80 year old's driving Cadillac's down in Florida does not make them old man cars. 



That's what I'm talking about, the management at these companies have had thirty years to shake to old man image.  They could have released cars that appeal to a younger demographic.  Instead they released the Fleetwood Brougham and Buick Roadmaster.

[The True Adonis]

Are you calling Cadillac's, Buick's, Lincoln's, and Chrysler's old man cars.

Just because there are a few 80 year old's driving Cadillac's down in Florida does not make them old man cars. 



That's what I'm talking about, the management at these companies have had thirty years to shake to old man image.  They could have released cars that appeal to a younger demographic.  Instead they released the Fleetwood Brougham and Buick Roadmaster.

THAT Cadillac is better than any current cars pretty much.

Sorry, the "new" styling of cars sucks.  With a few exceptions of course.

[Marty Champions]

Are you calling Cadillac's, Buick's, Lincoln's, and Chrysler's old man cars.

Just because there are a few 80 year old's driving Cadillac's down in Florida does not make them old man cars. 



That's what I'm talking about, the management at these companies have had thirty years to shake to old man image.  They could have released cars that appeal to a younger demographic.  Instead they released the Fleetwood Brougham and Buick Roadmaster.

blacks drive these and grandma