December 2014: General Motors Co.

[William Maley]

• Chevrolet up 20 percent
• Buick up 32 percent; GMC up 23 percent
• Cadillac, Trucks and SUVs Drive Record ATPs

DETROIT – General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) dealers in the United States delivered 274,483 vehicles last month for the company’s best December sales in seven years. Total sales were up 19 percent compared to a year ago. Retail sales were up 23 percent and fleet deliveries were up 6 percent.

 

“Chevrolet was strong in every segment of the market, from pickups and SUVs to cars and crossovers. Buick and GMC also had strong sales across the board, and our growth far outpaced the industry average,” said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of Sales Operations. “Everything you need to have a great month was in place: Consumers felt good about the direction of the economy, interest rates and fuel prices were low, and our dealers did a great job introducing customers to our incredible range of new and redesigned vehicles.”

 

GM’s unique three-pickup strategy – with new models spanning the light-duty, heavy-duty and mid-size segments – drove combined deliveries to almost 87,000 units in December, a 43-percent increase compared with a year ago.

 

Five GM vehicles – the Chevrolet Corvette and Spark, the Buick Enclave and Encore and the GMC Sierra – had their highest December sales ever.

 

Seven GM vehicles – the Chevrolet Cruze, Equinox, Sonic and Spark, the GMC Terrain, and the Buick Enclave and Encore – had their best-ever annual sales in 2014.

 

Sales to individual consumers drove GM’s results, and were the highest in 75 months. Chevrolet, Buick and GMC retail deliveries were up 25 percent, 28 percent and 29 percent, respectively, compared with a 10 percent increase for the industry as a whole. Chevrolet had its best December retail sales since 2005 and Buick and GMC had their best December retail sales since 2004.

 

GM commercial sales, which are about 24 percent of fleet sales, were also strong. Deliveries were up 38 percent compared with a year ago, driven by a 65 percent increase in pickup sales. December marked the company’s 14th consecutive month of higher year over year sales in the commercial segment.

 

Additional December Highlights (vs. 2013 except as noted)

 

Chevrolet:

• In the pickup market, dealers delivered nearly 58,000 Silverados, for the truck’s best December since 2005. In addition, the Colorado, which is Motor Trend’s 2015 Truck of the Year, saw sales of more than 4,000 units, as availability improved throughout the month.
• In the SUV market, all of Chevrolet’s redesigned SUVs posted double-digit gains, with Tahoe up 30 percent and Suburban up 16 percent.
• In the crossover market, the Traverse was up 11 percent and the Equinox was up 24 percent. In addition, dealers delivered 739 all-new Trax small crossovers, which started shipping during the month.
• In the passenger car market, Spark deliveries were up 76 percent, Sonic was up 23 percent, Malibu was up 9 percent and Impala was up 23 percent.
• In the sports car segment, Camaro was up 32 percent and Corvette was up 18 percent.

GMC:

• Sierra deliveries were up 31 percent to more than 23,000 units.
• Yukon deliveries were up 31 percent.
• The GMC Canyon, named Autoweek magazine’s “Best of the Best” Truck for 2015, had sales of more than 1,500 units.

Buick:

• Every Buick car and crossover posted a sales increase, with the largest gains posted by the Enclave, up 53 percent, for its best month ever, and the LaCrosse, up 61 percent.

Cadillac:

• Escalade deliveries increased 62 percent.
• Sales of the CTS sedan increased 4 percent in December.

Average Transaction Prices (ATPs):   

• GM has now posted 27 consecutive months of year-over-year average transaction price (ATP) increases.
• ATPs were a record $36,300, according to J.D. Power PIN estimates through December 21, up more than $1,000 per unit compared to November and up about $3,000 versus a year ago.

Incentives:

• Month over month, GM reduced incentive spending as a percentage of ATPs more than the industry average, according to PIN estimates, and the company has had the lowest incentives of all domestic automakers on an ATP basis in 10 of the last 12 months.
• Incentive spending as a percentage of ATPs was 10.4 percent in December, down 0.8 points month over month, while industry average spending was 9.8 percent of ATP, down 0.4 points.

Fleet and Commercial:

• Sales to government customers were up 11 percent and sales to rental customers were down 13 percent.
• On a volume and mix basis, GM had its most successful year in the fleet business since 2008, and was No. 1 in deliveries, surpassing Ford Motor Company.

Industry Sales:

• GM estimates that the seasonally adjusted annual selling rate (SAAR) for light vehicles in December was 16.9 million.
• Light vehicle sales for the year were an estimated 16.6 million, above the upper end of the 16.0 million – 16.5 million range the company forecasted at the beginning of the year.

“The momentum the economy carried through 2014 accelerated in the fourth quarter,” said Mustafa Mohatarem, GM’s chief economist. “Car-buying fundamentals remain strong and we expect higher industry sales in 2015.”

 

GM will announce its full-year forecast during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

 

[G. David Felt]

Awesome, I am so happy with GM and their solid sales gains with big increase in ATP's.

[smk4565]

Another stellar month for the Cadillac sedans.

[Z-06]

Exclusivity not generic like a Chevroletdes Benz.

[Drew Dowdell]

Another stellar month for the Cadillac sedans.

 

CTS jumped $10k in MSRP and had only a 3.8% drop in sales volume... you're right, that is stellar.

[Cory Wolfe]

The difference between Cadillac and the rest of the luxury brands is pretty staggering. Cadillac has some of the best product, yet is the only mainstream luxury brand to post a sales decline. The SRX is understandable due to its age, but the ATS and CTS really should have a better showing regardless of price. 

 

Edited January 6, 2015 by blackviper8891

[Drew Dowdell]

The CTS also dropped 2/3rds of it's bodystyles. The wagon was never a big seller, but the coupe was 30% of sales.  So a $10k price increase, dropping a bodystyle with a 30% take rate, no V-series, and only a 3.8% drop in volume is actually really excellent for the CTS. 

 

Agreed on the ATS though.

[William Maley]

I think a lot of Cadillac's problems isn't the products, it's the image. A lot of buyers still think of Cadillac as old hat: the boring, boat of vehicle that their grandparents loved in the 70's to 90's. We know the products don't reflect this, but how do you change the perception?

Consider this quote from the Cadillac ATS and Perception Game editorial that I wrote almost three years ago (scary to think about). 

 

 

GM has been hard at work trying to change the perception and position Cadillac as a world beater since 2003, when the CTS, SRX, and XLR were introduced. Cadillac has gone more drastic with their designs, worked on improving the quality of their vehicles, tuned the driving dynamics, introduced a performance sub-brand, made the dealer experience better, and so on.

 

But GM has been at this for only a bit. The Germans have been working on this for a long time. Look at the history of the German luxury compact sedan class; the BMW 3-Series has 33 years, while the Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class both have 18 years. The ATS is coming right of the gate and its predecessor, the CTS stands at 9 years.

 

GM is on the right track with Cadillac of rebuilding and positioning, but now isn’t the time to start calling out your competitors in ads. The ATS might look good on paper and in the ads, but will it mean people will go out and try the Cadillac? Possibly, but only in a minuscule amount.

 

It takes a long time for the reputation to be built up once more. I think Cadillac needs to boast about their cars and explain why they are great. Also, maybe work on their dealers. The cars are there, but everything else is still waiting. 

[G. David Felt]

Working on Dealers is much needed, many have very old sales staff and the dealerships clearly look and show to be dated. GM needs to force the Cadillac dealerships to upgrade.

[ZL-1]

 

Another stellar month for the Cadillac sedans.

 

CTS jumped $10k in MSRP and had only a 3.8% drop in sales volume... you're right, that is stellar.

 

Agreed. Coupe was an unusually large % of previous generation CTS sales, so the sedan-only current generation seems to be holding on pretty well. It's tha ATS that is not doing so well...

[Cmicasa the Great]

The difference between Cadillac and the rest of the luxury brands is pretty staggering. Cadillac has some of the best product, yet is the only mainstream luxury brand to post a sales decline. The SRX is understandable due to its age, but the ATS and CTS really should have a better showing regardless of price. 

 

 

 

 

Just don't get people's way of thinking on this. The most logical reason for Cadillac's drop in sales is that it lacks the same product. I use Audi the most because it is essentially closest in sales and GOALS for the parent company:

 

A3     vs  ___

A4      vs  ATS

A5      vs ___

 

A6     vs  CTS

A7     vs  XTS

A8    vs    _____

allroad   vs _____

Q5   vs SRX

Q7    vs Escalade

Q3    vs ___

R8     vs   ELR (?)

TT    vs  _____

 

Those gaps equal lost sales. Simple as that. No other way around it. Audi beat Caddy 182K to 171K or, by about 11K sales, with 6 more products to sell. 

[Cmicasa the Great]

 

 

Another stellar month for the Cadillac sedans.

 

CTS jumped $10k in MSRP and had only a 3.8% drop in sales volume... you're right, that is stellar.

 

Agreed. Coupe was an unusually large % of previous generation CTS sales, so the sedan-only current generation seems to be holding on pretty well. It's tha ATS that is not doing so well...

 

 

 

Exactly. ATS needs a product marketing blitz.. and a convertible along with the Vseries to push the product to people.  Also I think the XTS has dropped in sales more to do with the CTS. Both are literally priced exactly like the other. They are essentially the same segment, EXACT same price. I'd go so far as to say the XTS is a "FWD based CTS-L." Doesn't compete well? What's its competition??? The MKS? The A6??? I'd take the XTS over either. 

Edited January 7, 2015 by Cmicasa the Great

[Drew Dowdell]

XTS v CTS isn't "which car is better".  They are both great cars, the question is "which car does each customer prefer?"

 

I prefer the XTS but I wouldn't turn down a CTS at the right price.  Given the same price for each, I would just choose the XTS is all. 

[smk4565]

Given Cadillac's lack of overall product, I don't think they need 2 sedans that cost the same.  The CT6 will give them the higher priced sedan, but rather than design an XTS replacement, how about making a CTS coupe and another crossover.  Expanding the body styles of ATS and CTS helps, more crossover or sports car offerings will help.

[Drew Dowdell]

Given Cadillac's lack of overall product, I don't think they need 2 sedans that cost the same.  The CT6 will give them the higher priced sedan, but rather than design an XTS replacement, how about making a CTS coupe and another crossover.  Expanding the body styles of ATS and CTS helps, more crossover or sports car offerings will help.

 

 

I'm not arguing that Cadillac should continue the XTS, if they do, it should be their livery model.  I'm just saying that I prefer the current XTS V-Sport to the CTS (the regular V6 XTS is a bit weak on torque), and that for the same money, I'd pick the XTS for myself.

 

I absolutely understand that the business case for the XTS is evaporating... and I'm okay with that.

[ehaase]

I saw an ATS on the street yesterday.  It is a very attractive car, if I could afford a $40,000 car and wanted only a 10 cubic foot trunk.

[Cory Wolfe]

 

The difference between Cadillac and the rest of the luxury brands is pretty staggering. Cadillac has some of the best product, yet is the only mainstream luxury brand to post a sales decline. The SRX is understandable due to its age, but the ATS and CTS really should have a better showing regardless of price. 

 

 

 

 

Just don't get people's way of thinking on this. The most logical reason for Cadillac's drop in sales is that it lacks the same product. I use Audi the most because it is essentially closest in sales and GOALS for the parent company:

 

Those gaps equal lost sales. Simple as that. No other way around it. Audi beat Caddy 182K to 171K or, by about 11K sales, with 6 more products to sell. 

 

 

You've piqued my interest. Let's have a look... 

 

 

So, before I go into details, let me clear up some questions you're probably brewing... I paired up the XTS to each brand's largest sedan. Yes, I know they don't really compete but it's the closest segment to pair up with. Regardless, it actually works in Cadillac's favor. Also, I left out with ELR for 2 reasons. First, those 1000 sales hardly make a difference. And secondly, it's a niche that only BMW really has a match for (i8). Finally, I left out Lincoln due to the fact that it's vehicles match up the least of all brands. With that out of the way, let's dissect. 

 

• Model to model, Cadillac still has the largest sales decline. Audi's sales increase is erased and are flat. Mercedes sales increase is also erased and results in a modest decrease. Lexus actually sees a bigger sales increase without each of its models factored in.
• The ATS is outsold by every direct competitor in its segment. That remains true even without the competitors coupe/conv. models factored in, though they are combined above (Cadillac, MB, and BMW aren't disclosed). The 3/4 Series is by far the best seller, outselling the ATS by nearly 5 to 1.
• The CTS is only outsold by the E-Class and 5-Series, but by a large margin. The E-Class includes coupe and convertible sales. Many of you are forgetting that the CTS coupe was still sold for the 2014 model year, though I'm sure its a very small percentage.
• The XTS, being at the same price point as the CTS, is likely stealing some sales from it's sibling. You could almost combine the sales rather than try to find direct competitors for the XTS (the closest is probably the RLX). 
• The SRX, despite its age fairs incredibly well against its competition. It is only outsold by the Lexus RX, which likely won't give up its sales crown anytime soon. 
• The Escalade, like the XTS, doesn't really have any direct competitors besides the Lincoln Navigator. It's a niche that does extremely well for Cadillac, selling at a higher price point than most of those I've paired it up with. 
• Ranking each brand's sales, without the extra models, Cadillac jumps a single place from 5th to 4th. BMW, MB, and Lexus maintain 1st, 2nd, and 3rd positions. Audi falls from 4th to 6th while Acura jumps from 6th to 5th. Infiniti is 7th any way you arrange it. 

So there you have it. Breaking it down definitely brings everything closer, but it still doesn't help Cadillac. Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus' core models still outsell Cadillac's by a large enough margin that its niche sales can't make up the difference. Audi is hurt the most as compared to Cadillac's line-up with only the A4/5 outselling the ATS. It's not that surprising given how close their sales were and the number of Audi's niche models. Mercedes definitely sees the biggest drop in pure sales number with it having the largest line-up filled with various niche models. Even with that drop, it doesn't hurt them with its core models selling so well. 

 

With that said, I actually agree on many points. The ATS is just a few tweaks and an advertising campaign away from no longer being dead last in sales. The CTS is, in my opinion, the best car in its class and it doesn't do that bad for itself. I'm still surprised it posted a sales drop, which, I agree probably has to do with sticker shock. I'd say Cadillac acknowledges such with the news that they've dropped the price $3k. As well, I'd agree with the notion that the XTS is a FWD CTS. They really do occupy the same spot in Cadillac's line-up.  

 

Still, I'd say my line of thinking is justified.

[G. David Felt]

 

 

The difference between Cadillac and the rest of the luxury brands is pretty staggering. Cadillac has some of the best product, yet is the only mainstream luxury brand to post a sales decline. The SRX is understandable due to its age, but the ATS and CTS really should have a better showing regardless of price. 

 

 

 

 

Just don't get people's way of thinking on this. The most logical reason for Cadillac's drop in sales is that it lacks the same product. I use Audi the most because it is essentially closest in sales and GOALS for the parent company:

 

Those gaps equal lost sales. Simple as that. No other way around it. Audi beat Caddy 182K to 171K or, by about 11K sales, with 6 more products to sell. 

 

 

You've piqued my interest. Let's have a look... 

 

 

So, before I go into details, let me clear up some questions you're probably brewing... I paired up the XTS to each brand's largest sedan. Yes, I know they don't really compete but it's the closest segment to pair up with. Regardless, it actually works in Cadillac's favor. Also, I left out with ELR for 2 reasons. First, those 1000 sales hardly make a difference. And secondly, it's a niche that only BMW really has a match for (i8). Finally, I left out Lincoln due to the fact that it's vehicles match up the least of all brands. With that out of the way, let's dissect. 

 

• Model to model, Cadillac still has the largest sales decline. Audi's sales increase is erased and are flat. Mercedes sales increase is also erased and results in a modest decrease. Lexus actually sees a bigger sales increase without each of its models factored in.
• The ATS is outsold by every direct competitor in its segment. That remains true even without the competitors coupe/conv. models factored in, though they are combined above (Cadillac, MB, and BMW aren't disclosed). The 3/4 Series is by far the best seller, outselling the ATS by nearly 5 to 1.
• The CTS is only outsold by the E-Class and 5-Series, but by a large margin. The E-Class includes coupe and convertible sales. Many of you are forgetting that the CTS coupe was still sold for the 2014 model year, though I'm sure its a very small percentage.
• The XTS, being at the same price point as the CTS, is likely stealing some sales from it's sibling. You could almost combine the sales rather than try to find direct competitors for the XTS (the closest is probably the RLX). 
• The SRX, despite its age fairs incredibly well against its competition. It is only outsold by the Lexus RX, which likely won't give up its sales crown anytime soon. 
• The Escalade, like the XTS, doesn't really have any direct competitors besides the Lincoln Navigator. It's a niche that does extremely well for Cadillac, selling at a higher price point than most of those I've paired it up with. 
• Ranking each brand's sales, without the extra models, Cadillac jumps a single place from 5th to 4th. BMW, MB, and Lexus maintain 1st, 2nd, and 3rd positions. Audi falls from 4th to 6th while Acura jumps from 6th to 5th. Infiniti is 7th any way you arrange it. 

So there you have it. Breaking it down definitely brings everything closer, but it still doesn't help Cadillac. Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus' core models still outsell Cadillac's by a large enough margin that its niche sales can't make up the difference. Audi is hurt the most as compared to Cadillac's line-up with only the A4/5 outselling the ATS. It's not that surprising given how close their sales were and the number of Audi's niche models. Mercedes definitely sees the biggest drop in pure sales number with it having the largest line-up filled with various niche models. Even with that drop, it doesn't hurt them with its core models selling so well. 

 

With that said, I actually agree on many points. The ATS is just a few tweaks and an advertising campaign away from no longer being dead last in sales. The CTS is, in my opinion, the best car in its class and it doesn't do that bad for itself. I'm still surprised it posted a sales drop, which, I agree probably has to do with sticker shock. I'd say Cadillac acknowledges such with the news that they've dropped the price $3k. As well, I'd agree with the notion that the XTS is a FWD CTS. They really do occupy the same spot in Cadillac's line-up.  

 

Still, I'd say my line of thinking is justified.

 

So would you really compare the Escalade to the GL or should it be matched against the G wagon? They seem to both occupy the same price area.

[Cmicasa the Great]

 

 

The difference between Cadillac and the rest of the luxury brands is pretty staggering. Cadillac has some of the best product, yet is the only mainstream luxury brand to post a sales decline. The SRX is understandable due to its age, but the ATS and CTS really should have a better showing regardless of price. 

 

 

 

 

Just don't get people's way of thinking on this. The most logical reason for Cadillac's drop in sales is that it lacks the same product. I use Audi the most because it is essentially closest in sales and GOALS for the parent company:

 

Those gaps equal lost sales. Simple as that. No other way around it. Audi beat Caddy 182K to 171K or, by about 11K sales, with 6 more products to sell. 

 

 

You've piqued my interest. Let's have a look... 

 

 

So, before I go into details, let me clear up some questions you're probably brewing... I paired up the XTS to each brand's largest sedan. Yes, I know they don't really compete but it's the closest segment to pair up with. Regardless, it actually works in Cadillac's favor. Also, I left out with ELR for 2 reasons. First, those 1000 sales hardly make a difference. And secondly, it's a niche that only BMW really has a match for (i8). Finally, I left out Lincoln due to the fact that it's vehicles match up the least of all brands. With that out of the way, let's dissect. 

 

• Model to model, Cadillac still has the largest sales decline. Audi's sales increase is erased and are flat. Mercedes sales increase is also erased and results in a modest decrease. Lexus actually sees a bigger sales increase without each of its models factored in.
• The ATS is outsold by every direct competitor in its segment. That remains true even without the competitors coupe/conv. models factored in, though they are combined above (Cadillac, MB, and BMW aren't disclosed). The 3/4 Series is by far the best seller, outselling the ATS by nearly 5 to 1.
• The CTS is only outsold by the E-Class and 5-Series, but by a large margin. The E-Class includes coupe and convertible sales. Many of you are forgetting that the CTS coupe was still sold for the 2014 model year, though I'm sure its a very small percentage.
• The XTS, being at the same price point as the CTS, is likely stealing some sales from it's sibling. You could almost combine the sales rather than try to find direct competitors for the XTS (the closest is probably the RLX). 
• The SRX, despite its age fairs incredibly well against its competition. It is only outsold by the Lexus RX, which likely won't give up its sales crown anytime soon. 
• The Escalade, like the XTS, doesn't really have any direct competitors besides the Lincoln Navigator. It's a niche that does extremely well for Cadillac, selling at a higher price point than most of those I've paired it up with. 
• Ranking each brand's sales, without the extra models, Cadillac jumps a single place from 5th to 4th. BMW, MB, and Lexus maintain 1st, 2nd, and 3rd positions. Audi falls from 4th to 6th while Acura jumps from 6th to 5th. Infiniti is 7th any way you arrange it. 

So there you have it. Breaking it down definitely brings everything closer, but it still doesn't help Cadillac. Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus' core models still outsell Cadillac's by a large enough margin that its niche sales can't make up the difference. Audi is hurt the most as compared to Cadillac's line-up with only the A4/5 outselling the ATS. It's not that surprising given how close their sales were and the number of Audi's niche models. Mercedes definitely sees the biggest drop in pure sales number with it having the largest line-up filled with various niche models. Even with that drop, it doesn't hurt them with its core models selling so well. 

 

With that said, I actually agree on many points. The ATS is just a few tweaks and an advertising campaign away from no longer being dead last in sales. The CTS is, in my opinion, the best car in its class and it doesn't do that bad for itself. I'm still surprised it posted a sales drop, which, I agree probably has to do with sticker shock. I'd say Cadillac acknowledges such with the news that they've dropped the price $3k. As well, I'd agree with the notion that the XTS is a FWD CTS. They really do occupy the same spot in Cadillac's line-up.  

 

Still, I'd say my line of thinking is justified.

 

 

 

 

Damn!!! U put some work into it!!! LOL. Thanks

[smk4565]

The model by model sales chart is awesome, that must have taken some time and research to put together.  I love that level of analysis.

 

The Escalade and the GL are competitors, similar size and price, both 3 rows, most GLs are V8s, etc.   The G-wagen is a rather unique vehicle, even more so when you look at an AMG version or the 6x6. 

[balthazar]

G-wagon is unique; I don't think any other OEM is still making something designed in the 1960s.

[G. David Felt]

G-wagon is unique; I don't think any other OEM is still making something designed in the 1960s.

An auto that needs to die.