Cadillac sets sights on No. 1

Don Butler, Cadillac's vice president of marketing, says Cadillac will to return as the No. 1 luxury brand in the United States, some day.

"It's my goal that we're the No. 1 luxury brand in the U.S.," Butler said. "I'm not going to say when we hope to achieve that, yet, but there's no reason to aim for anything less."

Cadillac certainly has reason to think it's moving up. The all-new 2013 ATS arrives next month to directly compete with the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C300. The larger Cadillac XTS launched last month, and next year, the third generation CTS arrives and new Escalade will also roll into dealerships.

"We've gone nearly three years without new product," Butler said. "Now we're bringing in some great vehicles."

Currently, Cadillac would need to add more than 100,000 units to take the top spot from Mercedes-Benz, which sold 261,573 units in 2011. Cadillac sold 152,389 vehicles in 2011. And that's just to top Mercedes. Lexus, which lost its top spot last year, has vowed to recapture it and Audi recently said it plans on becoming the No. 1 luxury brand in the world.

Cadillac sales are currently down 18.6 percent for the year, according to Autodata Corp. though that number will likely change dramatically when the ATS hits showrooms. Luxury vehicle sales are up 12.8 percent and luxury car sales are up 16.8 percent.

Butler readily admits that Cadillac has a lot of work to do to get back on top. The brand's name used to be synonymous with luxury; it was the Cadillac of luxury brands. But it hasn't been that for decades.

"We used to be up on a pedestal," he said. "Now, we're not."

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/07/21/c...ights-on-no-1/

 

Sounds like a tall order. I'm glad Caddy is doing better, and the ATS is exciting, but I don't think they're there yet

 

i think they can do it, in the u.s. at least. and their new models seem very promising. i really like the xts as shown in ads (haven't looked at one yet though), and the ats looks like a winner. the cts is already a winner, so a new one could be even more exciting. the cts-coupe looks awesome.

 

nice, up and coming, but #1? not in our lifetime.

 

Won't happen.

Less talk more action. We see where that led Acura lol

 

I dont buy it either. Its like the class clown saying that he is going to med school. Not impossible. Just unlikely

 

I believe they can improve their sales numbers in the U.S., but I don't think that they will be able to take the #1 spot. I just don't see them causing that much of a shift in the market.

 

Yeah, wishful thinking but not going to happen for a long long time. The new ATS looks good on paper, but I don't think it will take 3 series's spot. The XTS is a big improvement, but with FWD( awd optiinal) and only available old 3.6 liter pruducing 306hp, I doube it can compete with E/5/A6. But I have to admit that the interior of XTS is the best from Cadi and it's on par with the big 4 now.

 

Hey Cadillac, you should have released the Sixteen! Anyways all the best to them. I just do not see this happening.

 

Always good to hear a company saying they want to earn, its consumers money! Where some just feel they should inherit your money. Make a car that is better than its competitors and you will have earned my hard earned money.

 

I know they plan on the ATS being a hit, but Cadillac has a pretty strong track record of producing the worst small "luxury" cars in the world. It's like they just wait a few years each time and hope that people forget about the last horrid failure. I'm very hesitant to believe that a BMW, Mercedes, Audi, or Lexus buyer will be willing to buy Cadillac's most recent attempt at a small car. To me, the ATS seems more likely to cannibalize sales from the CTS and other GM product lines.

 

learn from Hyundai and Kia this time on how to make your customers drool over the product offering.

 

You bring up a good point. Even if the ATS is a winner, changing people's perception won't happen overnight. Caddy will have to keep it up and continue to improve the brand.

 

When was the last time we had faith in what a GM exec said.

I was walking around downtown Chicago yesterday and only saw 1 XTS rolling around(3 Gallardos in the same time frame.

I do expect the ATS to be a hit. The car has plenty of new tech luxury. Points to GM for saying shove it to I Drive. The 3.6 AWD should do well in winter climate regions. And on the design front, they finally removed the crappy fake vents from the front fenders (extra points for that one).

I would love to see them build the Ciel, the 4 door vert as a real statement car. The Caddy Volt (Converj) project looks like a dog though.

 

As long as Kia and Hyundai can do it, I have faith that Caddillac will be given the benefit of the doubt as long as the price isn't crazy.