Cadillac recorded 38,455 new vehicle deliveries during the second quarter of 2024 in the U.S. The results are flat compared to those during the year-ago quarter, with the battery electric Lyriq stealing the show with a massive jump in sales to nearly 7,300 units. Taken at face value, the results are pretty good, especially for the Lyriq, but how do they compare to one of Cadillac’s primary rivals in the luxury space – BMW?
| Cadillac Model | Cadillac Sales | BMW Sales | BMW Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| CT4 | 1,768 | 2,898 | 2 Series |
| CT5 | 3,841 | 16,813 | 3/4 Series |
| XT4 | 5,154 | 6,503 | X1/X2 |
| XT5 | 5,890 | 20,401 | X3/X4 |
| XT6 | 4,439 | 20,876 | X5/X6 |
| Lyriq | 7,294 | 3,645 | iX |
| Escalade | 10,069 | 7,394 | X7 |
| Direct segments total1 | 38,455 | 78,530 | |
| All segments total2 | 38,455 | 91,238 |
- Total includes limited models where Cadillac and BMW compete directly.
- Total includes models offered by BMW with which Cadillac does not compete.
During the same quarter, the BMW brand recorded 91,237 new vehicle deliveries – outselling Cadillac more than twofold. Granted, Cadillac has a smaller vehicle portfolio than BMW, as the former has no rivals to the 5 Series, 7 Series, 8 Series, XM or the Z4 roadster. Regardless, limiting the comparison to segments where the two luxury marques compete directly nets the German brand 78,530 deliveries, nearly twice as much as Caddy. In other words, about two BMWs were sold for every one Cadillac during Q2 2024 in Cadillac’s home market.
This turn of events shows that Cadillac not only lacks a complete model lineup to go head-to-head with BMW, but that it’s also losing to the German brand in most segments where the two compete directly. In fact, BMW outsells Cadillac in all but two segments: full-size luxury SUVs (Escalade vs. X7) and D-segment electric SUVs (Lyriq vs. iX). As Cadillac Society reported earlier this year, the fact that a BMW model (X7) now makes up around 70 percent of Escalade sales might be worrisome for Cadillac, given the importance of the Escalade for its sales volume and financial health. Here’s to hoping that Caddy’s upcoming EV offensive turns this rather unfavorable position on its head.
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Reference Sales Data
Sales Results - Q2 2024 - USA - Cadillac
| MODEL | Q2 2024 / Q2 2023 | Q2 2024 | Q2 2023 | YTD 2024 / YTD 2023 | YTD 2024 | YTD 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CT4 | -35.10% | 1,768 | 2,724 | -35.58% | 3,502 | 5,436 |
| CT5 | -28.82% | 3,841 | 5,396 | -31.29% | 6,863 | 9,989 |
| ESCALADE | +38.60% | 10,069 | 7,265 | +50.17% | 19,204 | 12,788 |
| ESCALADE ESV | -100.00% | 0 | 4,290 | -100.00% | 0 | 7,995 |
| LYRIQ | +441.10% | 7,294 | 1,348 | +465.37% | 13,094 | 2,316 |
| XT4 | -10.11% | 5,154 | 5,734 | -19.78% | 10,033 | 12,507 |
| XT5 | -13.57% | 5,890 | 6,815 | -13.72% | 12,165 | 14,100 |
| XT6 | -16.32% | 4,439 | 5,305 | -10.15% | 9,045 | 10,067 |
| CADILLAC TOTAL | -1.09% | 38,455 | 38,877 | -1.72% | 73,906 | 75,198 |
Sales Results - Q2 2024 - USA - BMW Automobiles
| MODEL | Q2 2024 / Q2 2023 | Q2 2024 | Q2 2023 | YTD 2024 / YTD 2023 | YTD 2024 | YTD 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 SERIES | +3.32% | 2,898 | 2,805 | +53.68% | 6,436 | 4,188 |
| 3 SERIES | -25.31% | 5,725 | 7,665 | -1.94% | 14,137 | 14,416 |
| 4 SERIES | -19.45% | 11,088 | 13,765 | -22.62% | 19,935 | 25,762 |
| 5 SERIES | +6.64% | 7,788 | 7,303 | -1.21% | 14,660 | 14,839 |
| 7 SERIES | +10.17% | 2,546 | 2,311 | -1.12% | 5,138 | 5,196 |
| 8 SERIES | -4.15% | 1,411 | 1,472 | -5.55% | 2,875 | 3,044 |
| I3 | * | 0 | * | * | 1 | 0 |
| IX | -14.27% | 3,545 | 4,135 | +0.06% | 6,490 | 6,486 |
| X1 | +39.01% | 5,605 | 4,032 | +61.28% | 11,617 | 7,203 |
| X2 | +1,325.38% | 898 | 63 | +934.04% | 1,458 | 141 |
| X3 | +43.24% | 18,101 | 12,637 | +24.67% | 34,589 | 27,745 |
| X4 | +20.23% | 2,300 | 1,913 | +7.26% | 4,686 | 4,369 |
| X5 | +0.55% | 18,677 | 18,575 | -6.38% | 33,600 | 35,890 |
| X6 | -15.81% | 2,199 | 2,612 | -23.79% | 3,733 | 4,898 |
| X7 | +3.07% | 7,394 | 7,174 | +2.92% | 14,351 | 13,944 |
| XM | -29.53% | 537 | 762 | -7.94% | 1,078 | 1,171 |
| Z4 | -27.49% | 525 | 724 | -17.29% | 928 | 1,122 |
| BMW TOTAL | +3.74% | 91,237 | 87,948 | +3.11% | 175,712 | 170,414 |
Tom S.
Wow. Didn’t realize Cadillac was so far behind BMW in the sales race. Time to step it up and invest into the lineup. Good analysis Alex.
Fernando
Is anyone truly surprised I’m a cadillac loyal but cadi sont have the tech to compete except the electric which most people are started to reject with their depreciation cadi doesn’t fully invest in the lineup why do they sell the ct6 in China and not the us show your focus on the use all the models look so similar worse than mercedes take the badge off I can’t tell which it a ct5 and ct4 have you tried to buy one recently if the sales don’t try to force you into the lyrics you can barely get theses guys to work with you cadillac does not have the prestige it once did and the dealers don’t to anything to help it by nit working with customers plus general motors need to take the horse blinders off and slow on the electric like everyone else has invest in hybrid to people won’t have that much anxiety about driving their cars and work on some quality control they need a new ceo with their eye open not with the blinders on like mary Bara
Frank+Ricciardi
This doesn’t Suprise me at all. Cadillac doesn’t offer a complete line. Rather than investing or should I say, burning money on the Celestiq, Cadillac should be investing in sedans like the CTS. It should also bring the next gen CT6 to the US. Beyond that Cadillac should develop a revised Seville, an ultra-luxurious medium size sedan possibly based on the CTS. In terms of powertrains, Cadilac should be developing Hybrids to bridge the gap between ICE powered cars and EVs. The hybrids should offer better performance and gas mileage than traditional 4- or 6-cylinder cars. And finally, Cadillac needs to refocus on the US Market before they lose it completely.
W.S.
In NA, but does BMW outsell Cadillac in China? GM is investing significant resources to develop and expand their share in that market. ROI for shareholders is the primary indicator of success.
W.S.
https://www-cnbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2024/05/09/gm-can-regain-market-share-in-china-after-20-year-low-exec-says.html?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17202739441071&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2024%2F05%2F09%2Fgm-can-regain-market-share-in-china-after-20-year-low-exec-says.html
Follow up; according to the article thr share in China for GM’s is about 9%. Another ranking showed BMW’s share is pushing 30%.
Alex Luft
Cadillac sales increased considerably in China over the past decade, after they started building cars locally, which in turn enabled them to price the vehicles more favorably by avoiding the import tax on autos. However, Cadillac is still behind BMW in terms of sales volume. Even worse, any financial benefit in China is divided in half with GM’s local joint venture partner, SAIC… so even then it’s not making much.
Adding insult to injury is that Chinese customers aren’t all that interested in Cadillac’s best-selling and most lucrative product there.
Steve V
Step 1. Stop making customers beta testers. Fully test vehicles before release
Step 2. Improve quality of assembly.
Step 3. Totally rewrite the MyCadillac app and improve the backend infrastructure so it functions at least as well as BMW’s.
Step 4. Understand that BMW targets a different demographic. If Cadillac wants to truly compete head-to-head they need to offer and advertise a sports sedan and/or a real sports car.
Alex Luft
Re item 4: the demographics are not all that different between BMW and Cadillac, and neither are the type of product the customers are looking for.
Both Cadillac and BMW sedans are all “sport luxury sedans” or could be had in a trim (V-Series for Caddy, M for BMW) that would allow them to be described as such. In fact, both Cadillac and BMW offer two tiers of performance – a light (V-Series and M###) and a more hardcore (V-Series Blackiwng and M#).
Finally, BMW doesn’t really have a “real sports car” any more, unless you count the Z4 roadster, which isn’t available in a fully-fledged M trim.
Cadillac’s biggest issue is not competing favorably in its current segments and not offering a full line of vehicles. Instead, Cadillac is cherrypicking segments while losing on product in the segments it does compete in (the entire XT portfolio is an example).