Cadillac’s Problem of the Cars It Can’t Sell
#181
Lexus Fanatic
There are a few clunkers running around (and some here who are not so well-heeled).....but my point it that the market for new and/or upscale vehicles is much more lucrative in this area than it is nationwide, because of the many well-paid Federal workers, those who are politically-employed, high-tech company employees, government contractors, and military people here with good job stability and high incomes/benefits. As an auto market, it is probably second only to Los Angeles, the center of the country's car culture. Virginia also has strict yearly inspection laws, which ground some of the worst clunkers. In Maryland, right across the river, inspection laws are much more lax......cars are legally inspected only when brand-new (a brand-new car is assumed to pass, of course), and when that vehicle is re-sold or traded.
#182
Lexus Fanatic
2. Cadillac is not doing this to benefit Cadillac. They get franchise fees from these dealers, and they DO sell cars however few. They are doing this for their franchisees so that they don't get stuck having to pay for the huge improvement package Cadillac is going to place on their franchise owners down the line.
Last edited by mmarshall; 09-26-16 at 06:52 AM.
#183
Lexus Fanatic
Hmmm. Every time I've been to Pohanka or Lindsay Lexus for any reason (and I was once also a customer at Pohanka with my IS), they have always had a flock of customers there. The service departments there are quite crowded, too. Both dealerships, IMO, are simply too small for the number of customers they serve.....and that gets back to what I said earlier about the large number of upscale-vehicle owners in this area. With Lexus of Rockville and/or Silver Spring, I can't say...I haven't been there as often, though I did do a few write-ups there.
It may seem to make sense to you just to open another dealership so the service area is "less crowded", but does it make sense to the owner of that franchise that is making a great profit? Probably not. Dealerships are hugely expensive to build and have incredible overhead, two dealers with moderate traffic are not as profitable as one dealer with significant traffic.
Lindsay Lexus has an incredible off site service centre, its not too small. The dealership is smaller because its in Alexandria and its an older dealer (one of the originals), but they no longer have service at that location its all sales. When I first did business there they had sales and service there on King St.
Pohanka is a huge dealership.
If they were all like Moore Cadillac, there would probably be no problem. That place is more impressive than many Lexus shops I've seen.
#184
Lexus Fanatic
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Oh, I agree it can be a different perspective when one is not paying the bills. Customers in this vehicle-class, though, can be rather picky.
IMO, if Caddy is going to lose some of their shops, it would make sense for those ex-Caddy shops to convert to Lincoln. You and I both seem to agree that the current Lincoln dealer network, shared with Ford, is a joke. Ted Britt Ford/Lincoln, at Chantilly, is one of the rare exceptions...it may be a super-nice Ford shop, but even that place is not Lincoln-exclusive.
I haven't seen the off-site service shop. The rest of the franchise, though, is small, right in the middle of a highly-congested area, and, IMO, unsuitable for a good test-drive, even up and down nearby 95 (which is usually also super-congested).
From what I've seen, not big enough for its customer level, though they did expand the service area into a new building some years ago.
At one time, Moore handled both Hummer and Cadillac...that may (?) explain some of those empty rooms. It's not their fault that GM planners decided to axe the Hummer division.
You're not looking at it from a business perspective. Crowded dealers are profitable dealers. Theres a reason why Lexus dealers are the most profitable per franchise in the country, because Lexus is very particular about who it grants franchise agreements to, locations, etc.
It may seem to make sense to you just to open another dealership so the service area is "less crowded", but does it make sense to the owner of that franchise that is making a great profit? Probably not. Dealerships are hugely expensive to build and have incredible overhead, two dealers with moderate traffic are not as profitable as one dealer with significant traffic.
It may seem to make sense to you just to open another dealership so the service area is "less crowded", but does it make sense to the owner of that franchise that is making a great profit? Probably not. Dealerships are hugely expensive to build and have incredible overhead, two dealers with moderate traffic are not as profitable as one dealer with significant traffic.
IMO, if Caddy is going to lose some of their shops, it would make sense for those ex-Caddy shops to convert to Lincoln. You and I both seem to agree that the current Lincoln dealer network, shared with Ford, is a joke. Ted Britt Ford/Lincoln, at Chantilly, is one of the rare exceptions...it may be a super-nice Ford shop, but even that place is not Lincoln-exclusive.
Lindsay Lexus has an incredible off site service centre, its not too small. The dealership is smaller because its in Alexandria and its an older dealer (one of the originals), but they no longer have service at that location its all sales. When I first did business there they had sales and service there on King St.
Pohanka is a huge dealership.
But you can't build Moore Cadillac in Fargo, ND. Thats the point. Moore Cadillac does enough business in that location to support that dealer, and even then have you ever looked at the upper level above the showroom floor? Empty offices. Its bigger than it needs to be...
#185
Lexus Fanatic
IMO, if Caddy is going to lose some of their shops, it would make sense for those ex-Caddy shops to convert to Lincoln. You and I both seem to agree that the current Lincoln dealer network, shared with Ford, is a joke. Ted Britt Ford/Lincoln, at Chantilly, is one of the rare exceptions...it may be a super-nice Ford shop, but even that place is not Lincoln-exclusive.
The rest of the franchise, though, is small, right in the middle of a highly-congested area, and, IMO, unsuitable for a good test-drive, even up and down nearby 95 (which is usually also super-congested).
If a bigger dealer experience is more important to you than convenience, then drive to one of the bigger dealers in the outskirt locations. Simple.
Personally, I go where the deal is...thats why I've bought cars from many of these dealers and shopped at them all.
I haven't seen the off-site service shop.
At one time, Moore handled both Hummer and Cadillac...that may (?) explain some of those empty rooms. It's not their fault that GM planners decided to axe the Hummer division.
#186
Lexus Test Driver
The bottom line for Caddillac is their products are still inferior to MB and BMW and even Lexus.
The styling language on their new cars no longer stands out as it once did and their interior design and CUE are lacking. Add to that lack of Brand cache and optimistic pricing and you have poor sales.
Also alll the new model name changes didnt help - ATS, XTS, CT6, XT5????? Just pick something and stay with that pattern.
They need to put the V8 engine from Camaro SS into the ATS V, not the crappy TT V6.
Nobody who is considering M3 will buy a Caddy TT V6, now if it had a sweet sounding V8.....
The styling language on their new cars no longer stands out as it once did and their interior design and CUE are lacking. Add to that lack of Brand cache and optimistic pricing and you have poor sales.
Also alll the new model name changes didnt help - ATS, XTS, CT6, XT5????? Just pick something and stay with that pattern.
They need to put the V8 engine from Camaro SS into the ATS V, not the crappy TT V6.
Nobody who is considering M3 will buy a Caddy TT V6, now if it had a sweet sounding V8.....
#187
Lead Lap
There are a few clunkers running around (and some here who are not so well-heeled).....but my point it that the market for new and/or upscale vehicles is much more lucrative in this area than it is nationwide, because of the many well-paid Federal workers, those who are politically-employed, high-tech company employees, government contractors, and military people here with good job stability and high incomes/benefits. As an auto market, it is probably second only to Los Angeles, the center of the country's car culture.
#188
Lexus Fanatic
And the bottom line is you see that, there are 7 Lexus dealers within a 45 minute drive of DC. Alexandria, Chantilly, Rockville, Silver Spring, Annapolis, Owings Mills and Towson. How many more do we need?
We have a fair amount of Cadillac dealers too, theres Jim Coleman in Bethesda, Moore in Chantilly, Lindsay in Alexandria (right across the street from Lexus of Alexandria's service department), Capitol Cadillac in Greenbelt. Fitzgerald Cadillac in Frederick, Fitzgerald Cadillac in Annapolis. Theres a Cadillac dealer in Waldorf. Thats 7 within an hours drive of the city.
We have a fair amount of Cadillac dealers too, theres Jim Coleman in Bethesda, Moore in Chantilly, Lindsay in Alexandria (right across the street from Lexus of Alexandria's service department), Capitol Cadillac in Greenbelt. Fitzgerald Cadillac in Frederick, Fitzgerald Cadillac in Annapolis. Theres a Cadillac dealer in Waldorf. Thats 7 within an hours drive of the city.
Last edited by SW17LS; 09-26-16 at 12:47 PM.
#189
Lexus Champion
In terms of luxury cars registrations, Miami, NYC, and San Francisco-Bay Area have been right up there with the DC/MD/VA metro area in addition to LA. Automakers typically focus on FL (actually outnumbers NY and Texas in registrations), New York, and California for luxury/exotic auto-related events for that reason.
#190
Lexus Fanatic
Also all the new model name changes didnt help - ATS, XTS, CT6, XT5????? Just pick something and stay with that pattern.
They need to put the V8 engine from Camaro SS into the ATS V, not the crappy TT V6.
Nobody who is considering M3 will buy a Caddy TT V6, now if it had a sweet sounding V8.....
Nobody who is considering M3 will buy a Caddy TT V6, now if it had a sweet sounding V8.....
(And, more often than not, the TT V6s produce more power then N/A V8s, though not necessarily more power then supercharged V8s). The V6's, though, sometimes lack the V8 refinement.
Last edited by mmarshall; 09-26-16 at 01:15 PM.
#191
Lexus Fanatic
Good points. Next to LA, Miami is now a hot bed for the car culture. Add in some other metro areas with large populations like Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta, Philly etc. and there are a lot areas in the U.S. with a high number of motor vehicle registrations, including the luxury brands.
#192
Lexus Fanatic
I would have to see some stats to believe that. I would venture to say that a lot of FL areas, TX...can easily equal the amount of new luxury cars sold. Think about the huge high end dealers they're able to have in FL, and places like Dallas.
#193
Lexus Fanatic
(That's also what makes me glad I'm retired and not out in the daily grind every day)
#194
Lexus Champion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...tistical_Areas
#195
Lexus Champion
Limiting the number of luxury brand dealerships also helps with the image that the brand wants to project. Luxury brands are supposed to be aspirational vehicles -- they are supposed to be goals that you strive for and work hard for. Lexus would not seem to be a very aspirational brand if every Lexus dealership shared its showroom with Toyota. A Lexus LS or LC would not seem as special if it shared showroom space with a Yaris.
My old Toyota dealer wanted to open a separate Lexus dealership, with new showroom, but was waiting for approval from Lexus Canada. He had the land and money ready, and told me that he believed that the area he would service had the population density and other luxury brands nearby (MB and BMW), both of which Lexus Canada looks at.
Looking a few years forward, this could be Hyundai's problem if its luxury Genesis brand continues to share space with Hyundais. This may very well be a problem for Lincoln. Why look at a Lincoln MKZ if an almost-as-nice Ford Fusion is on the same lot, at $10,000+ less?
My old Toyota dealer wanted to open a separate Lexus dealership, with new showroom, but was waiting for approval from Lexus Canada. He had the land and money ready, and told me that he believed that the area he would service had the population density and other luxury brands nearby (MB and BMW), both of which Lexus Canada looks at.
Looking a few years forward, this could be Hyundai's problem if its luxury Genesis brand continues to share space with Hyundais. This may very well be a problem for Lincoln. Why look at a Lincoln MKZ if an almost-as-nice Ford Fusion is on the same lot, at $10,000+ less?