Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

CTS sales nosediving thanks to new ATS, so GM will cut output

Cadillac designed the compact ATS to compete with the BMW 3 Series, but GM says the new Caddy is also cutting into CTS sales. Edmunds.com backs that up with data showing potential buyers are cross-shopping the ATS with the CTS as well as the BMW.

Automotive News spoke to the head of Cadillac sales, Chase Hawkins, who admits The General expected the ATS to cannibalize sales of the CTS. But Hawkins says a plan is in place to deal with the drop in CTS sales: make fewer of them.

"We've planned for ATS to take some CTS customers out of the market who we otherwise would have seen," Hawkins tells AN. "We definitely are going to be producing fewer CTSes next year to create some of that space for ATS."

The next-generation CTS is expected to be larger and costlier, which should better separate the two stablemates in the marketplace. As the two models find their own niches, AN speculates a few more import buyers to come back to the iconic American brand.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/11/25/c...ll-cut-output/

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

well der lol. It was to be expected. ATS is the new baby, CTS gets bigger end of story

Fizzboy7

These stories make me sick... sick that we are being lied to and insulted.
Cadillac is stuck thick in it's own mess it created. Back in the 90's and 2000's when every car maker was increasing the size of all their models, GM got greedy (surprise!) and went for the easy way out by over-increasing the size of the Catera/CTS. What did that cause? More legroom, but suddenly the car no longer fit in the catagory it started in. DANGEROUS MOVE. Thanks to this, they've had to create an entire new model (ATS), which is a costly marketing expense that didn't even need to happen. What they should have done was build a competitive and successful STS (fail x2) for the 5-series catagory and then the CTS never would have had to lose it's precious position.

So here we are today reading BS lines from the company and have models that overlap, canonbalize sales, and worse, must start all over again with yet another attempt at 3 and 5-series models. Too much time wasted, too many do-overs, too much money spent. This is the old GM way of thinking still rearing it's ugly head, but they are going to try to pull the rug over the public with more lies and stories. Pure crap in a bag.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Well they really had no choice but to add the ATS considering they let the CTS straddle two different classes and getting rid of the STS/DTS. From here on out they need to make do with what they have. Look at Lexus and what they did with the GS. Virtually the same size and weight but much more space because they utilized what they had better.

And just to be fair Caddy isn't the only offender, look at Audi. The A4 has gotten large enough to the point that they are about to offer an A3 sedan now

I8ABMR

This is no surprise. The CTS is getting a bit stale and the ATS is fresh and sporty.

spwolf

yeah, but we have to consider that A4 is considered a family car in Europe...

adamls2

The Cts always felt smaller than it's class size insisted for some reason. Maybe people just think its the new CTS Looking forward to a new CTS though

T0ked

iTrader: (2)

CTS was always planned to move up in size and price. ATS is doing well, that's good news. CTS was initially targeted as a betweener model below the 5 and above the 3 cause Caddy was in a bind and decided to introduce a car that would appeal to both 5 and 3 shoppers.

What they should do is hurry up with the new CTS. And then hurry up with their flagship, which is not the XTS, then their sedan lineup will be complete and competitive.

mmarshall

Some customers, though, might (?) go for the CTS simply because, unlike past Catera and CTS models, its reliability record, once-spotty, has improved to the point where Consumer Reports now considers it the top-ranked 2013 American-nameplate car for reliability. That crown was once held by the FWD (not AWD) Ford Fusion, but the Fusion is all-new this year, and the past may not apply. The ATS, of course, is also brand-new and untested.

Trexus

I definitely agree with you. When the CTS first came out it was a competitor to the IS and 3 Series. Then is got bigger and was more of a tweener between a 3 Series and 5 Series. Now it's a direct competitor to the 5 Series.

I do have to say Cadillac lacks consistency and structure. If you look at Cadillac's model lineup they're alpha designated with the exception of the Escalade. Cadillac stop living in the '90's! If Cadillac wants to compete with the best of them have a structured lineup similar to Lexus, BMW, Mercedes and Audi...

Cadillac's lineup:

Sedan's
ATS
CTS
XTS

SUV's
SRX
Escalade

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

What's the problem? They couldn't make it smaller, so they needed to fill the void which they did. As long as they keep them the same size wise now it should all be good. What they really need to do is scrap the XTS and make a proper full size RWD sedan

TangoRed

I honestly don't see a problem with this. When the new CTS bows and the S-class competitor comes out, they'll be perfectly aligned with Lexus, Benz, and the like. As far as the Escalade name goes, Caddy is doing the right thing. The Escalade name has too much equity for them to get rid of at this point.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Fixed for you

T0ked

iTrader: (2)

No, original comment was correct. The new CTS will compete with 5 and E and Caddy already stated they are working on a S/7/LS competitor. The XTS does not fit in this category. It is a compromise model released to keep the traditional DTS customers. A true, RWD, full sized luxury model is in the works which will be Caddy's flagship. I feel like its a broken record how many times this has to be explained on CL. Much like the ES is the compromise model in the IS/GS/LS lineup for Lexus.

caddyowner

No more Caddies for me due to bad quality experiences. I had lunch with two buddies over the weekend that had even worse experiences with the brand and will never go back.