Cadillac sales in China surpass those in the U.S. for the first time

Just after this year's Spring Festival holiday, major automobile brands have released their January sales data.

Recently, Cadillac's official website announced its global sales in January, which increased by 44.2% to 29,800 vehicles. So far, Cadillac has achieved double-digit growth for eight consecutive months.

It is worth noting that in January, Cadillac's sales in China (retail sales) reached 18,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 116%, accounting for more than 60% of its global sales. During the same period, its sales in the United States were 10,300 units, a year-on-year decrease of 4.1%.

Although there are factors such as seasonality, the fact that Cadillac's sales in China have surpassed those in the US market for the first time in 10 years since entering the Chinese market is obviously of great significance to Cadillac.

The reporter learned that in addition to being favored by consumers in terms of brand and product strength, Cadillac's large terminal promotion and profit concessions have greatly contributed to the surge in sales.

Reason: The terminal promotion is strong to exchange price for volume

The reporter learned from relevant channels that in January, Cadillac's domestic wholesale sales were 16,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 110%. In terms of sales of various models, the first domestically produced SUV XT5 launched last year became the best-selling model, with sales of 5,479 units in the same period, a year-on-year increase of 100%; followed by ATS-L, with sales of 4,939 units, a year-on-year increase of 67.8%; in addition, XTS sales and CT6 sales reached 4,578 and 1,020 units respectively.

In fact, Cadillac's performance has attracted widespread attention since last year. In 2016, Cadillac achieved sales of 116,400 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 45.9%, and achieved the sales target of 100,000 vehicles in the Chinese market for the first time.

Although it was one year later than the first step of Cadillac's "Double Ten Strategy" (i.e. achieving sales of 100,000 vehicles in 2015), Cadillac still secured a favorable position in the second camp, nearly half a month ahead of Lexus in reaching the 100,000 vehicle target.

The reporter noticed that last year, the sales of the three domestically produced models, ATS-L, XT5 and XTS, all achieved a surge. The only thing that was not optimistic was the flagship model CT6, which was supposed to take on the task of promoting the Cadillac brand. According to the data from the China Passenger Car Association, the sales of CT6 last year were 5,830 units, which did not meet SAIC-GM's previous expectations.

Although the overall sales growth ranks among the top luxury brands, Cadillac's sales surge is closely related to its terminal profit-sharing promotion efforts.

The reporter learned that last year, the discounts on ATS-L and XTS were as high as nearly 90,000 yuan. Wilson's data showed that since the second half of last year, the terminal discounts on ATS-L have been rising, with an average discount of 70,000 to 80,000 yuan. After the terminal promotions, the price range of 200,000 to 300,000 yuan for these two models has entered the hinterland of joint venture brands. In addition, the terminal discounts on XT5 in some areas have also reached about 30,000 yuan.

"Such high growth will also bring hidden worries," said Luo Lei, deputy secretary general of the China Automobile Dealers Association. "Relatively speaking, Cadillac's brand power is not strong enough now. On the one hand, this will hurt the brand; on the other hand, too much concessions will reduce dealers' profits, and in serious cases, it may lead to intensified conflicts between manufacturers."

Trend: Competition among second-tier players is fierce and the situation is difficult to judge

Some analysts believe that, in fact, Cadillac’s approach of “trading price for volume” reflects not only its ambition, but also the current competitive situation of second-tier luxury brands.

Last year, Cadillac surpassed Lexus and Volvo with a high growth rate of 45.9%, ranking fifth in the luxury car market, and the gap with Jaguar Land Rover was only 2,642 units. In 2015, Cadillac ranked seventh in the luxury car market.

In January this year, Volvo sold 8,362 vehicles in China, a year-on-year increase of 15.7%. In addition, NBD Auto learned that Lexus sold 9,400 vehicles in January, a year-on-year increase of 7.2%, which is much lower than Cadillac and Volvo.

The reporter learned that, unlike the first-tier competition, which is mainly based on sedans, the competition among second-tier luxury brands focuses on SUVs. In January, Cadillac XT5's sales accounted for 34.2% of the entire brand; Volvo XC60 is also its best-selling model in China, accounting for 43% of sales last year; Jaguar Land Rover's Discovery Sport and F-PACE SUVs and Lexus' NX and RX have become the key forces for the two automakers to hit the 100,000-unit target.

At the same time, Lincoln is also enjoying the dividends brought by the SUV market. It is understood that the three SUV products currently account for about 60% of the total sales. Last year, Lincoln's sales reached 32,600 units, a year-on-year increase of 180%.

"The situation this year will be more severe than last year, which means that the qualifying competition among luxury brands will become more intense and the competitive landscape will be more difficult to judge." Luo Lei said, however, the SUV market will still maintain a good momentum.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.