The Cadillac only sold for more than 130,000

City Boundary

2024-05-24 07:47Posted on the official account of Shanxi City

Cadillac, which used to be the car of the President of the United States, is now active in American blockbusters, and in the domestic social scene, it also lives in various jokes related to "bathing". Although the ridicule of netizens has brought a certain amount of voice to Cadillac in the Chinese market, this century-old luxury brand has not been able to escape the cycle of "price for volume" after all.

01, Cadillac sale

"The Cadillac CT4 breaks down the bottom price, and the price of the naked car is only more than 130,000!" Recently, many Cadillac dealers have announced on social media that they are currently carrying out limited promotions, and the most affordable model in the brand's product line, the CT4, has a landing price of less than 160,000 yuan.

You must know that as an American-style sports sedan, the CT4 is currently priced at 219,700 ~ 259,700 yuan. Looking at it this way, it is equivalent to a drop of about 80,000 yuan.

Because the above news came from the official account of a 4S store, it instantly attracted the attention of many potential consumers, but on social media, netizens did not see too many car owners sharing relevant content, so they left messages in the comment area to verify the authenticity.

With questions, "City Boundary" recently visited a number of Cadillac 4S stores in Beijing, and sales Dong Lei said that although the actual transaction price is related to the dealers in different regions and different 4S stores, it is true that CT4 is now being promoted.

"CT4 is not selling well, the manufacturer is currently in a state of suspension of production and inventory clearance, and there is no definite news about whether it will continue to produce, so the discount is relatively large." According to Dong Lei's analysis, the price of a naked car of more than 130,000 yuan is likely to be purchased in the form of an installment loan, "If the landing price is more than 150,000 yuan, it is estimated that the interest is not included." ”

Dong Lei's 4S store no longer has a CT4 car, and the price concession has been tightened a bit.

"Our store has a 50% installment loan of the car price, and CT4 can currently give more than 60,000 yuan in cash discounts. In this way, the official guide price of 219,700 yuan for the 1.5T fashion version of the model, the naked car price is more than 150,000 yuan. If you add the purchase tax, insurance and one-year interest, the landing price is about more than 180,000. If you buy a car in full, it is estimated that the landing price will be thousands of yuan more expensive than the installment. Dong Lei said.

In another Cadillac 4S store, the discounts that Liu Qi can give to consumers are basically the same. However, since the store does not have any existing cars, it is up to the manager to decide how much cheaper it can be. "There will be a small number of vehicles arriving in stores, but the model version and color, and even the production date are uncertain at this time. There is still room for negotiation in price, and it is definitely no problem for the 1.5T model to drop to more than 150,000. ”

CT4 is a B-class sedan sports sedan owned by Cadillac, and the domestic version of the model produced by SAIC-GM was officially launched in April 2020, with prices of 239,700 yuan and 259,700 yuan respectively, both using a powertrain of 2.0T engine + 8AT gearbox. In November 2022, the CT4 was equipped with a 1.5-liter engine in an effort to lower the price and reduce fuel consumption.

Although positioned as a B-class sedan, the CT4's actual size is closer to that of an A+ class sedan like Volkswagen Sutar, and its direct competitors are also luxury brand A-class sedans such as Mercedes-Benz A-Class, Audi A3 and BMW 1 Series.

The task of shaking the B-class sedans of luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz C-Class, BMW 3 Series, and Audi A4 is undertaken by the Cadillac CT5, which is positioned higher.

In the face of fierce competition, the Cadillac CT4 used the move of "dimensionality reduction strike" from the beginning. The power output level of the 2.0T engine is not only far higher than the 1.3T engine of Mercedes-Benz A-class and the 1.4T engine of Audi A3, but also the same magic weapon of "longitudinal engine and rear-wheel drive" as that of the million-level luxury car.

This also made Cadillac dare to shout the slogan "no rear drive, no luxury" and "the first rear drive car in life".

In the automotive industry, "longitudinal engine" and "rear-wheel drive" are almost standard in high-end luxury cars. In addition to the fact that automobiles have been driven by the rear wheels since the beginning of their invention, such mechanical structures and drive forms also have advantages over "transverse engines and front-wheel drive" in terms of weight distribution, acceleration, handling, and comfort.

However, "longitudinal engine, rear-wheel drive" will increase the cost and greatly affect the space in the car. As a result, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi's A-Class sedans and SUVs are currently in the form of "transverse engine, front-wheel drive".

In the entire Cadillac lineup, the CT4 is the closest luxury brand rear-wheel drive sedan to the average person. Therefore, when they heard the news that CT4 may be discontinued, many people in the industry expressed regret, but what surprised them more was the price.

It is reported that in order to complete the performance as soon as possible, the sales in some areas have given a discount of "90,000 yuan in cash for installment car purchases and more than 170,000 landing for 2.0T models" for high-intention customers.

02. If the space is too small, it is a hard injury

Although General Motors has not officially announced the discontinuation of the Cadillac CT4, in terms of sales, the price reduction of the CT4 is inevitable.

According to the data of the Yiche App, a total of 10,889 Cadillac CT4 units were sold in 2022, with an average monthly sales of about 907 units. In 2023, the CT4's total annual sales slipped to 7,358 units, with an average monthly sales of around 613 units. From January to April 2024, the cumulative sales of the CT4 are only 717 units, and the average monthly sales have plummeted to about 180 units.

In contrast, Mercedes-Benz A-Class and Audi A3 have average monthly sales of about 3,300 and 4,800 units respectively from January to April 2024. Even the BMW 1 Series, which has been marginalized for a long time and announced its discontinuation in July 2023, still has a monthly sales record of more than 1,000 units before it is discontinued.

In this way, the persistence of the Cadillac CT4 is not proportional to the results.

Despite its luxury brand, rear-wheel drive, and sporty aura at the same time, the reason for the CT4's failure is obvious – it has too little space in the rear. That is, the level of A0-class cars such as Volkswagen Polo is difficult to meet the general needs of Chinese consumers.

Although the "longitudinal engine, rear-wheel drive" adds a lot of points to the Cadillac in terms of performance, driving pleasure and differentiated style, the corresponding sacrifice of space and practicality makes it unable to compete with its competitors with an extended wheelbase.

"It is actually difficult to balance factors such as rear space and price on the basis of driving control for luxury brand A-class cars that take the sporty route and pursue a certain sales volume in the Chinese market. Even if the BMW 1 Series changed from rear-wheel drive to front-wheel drive, it did not overcome this problem, and the Cadillac CT4 was not unjustly lost. An industry insider told the "City Boundary".

▲ (Interior of the Cadillac entry luxury sedan CT4 in 2020)

In his opinion, Mercedes-Benz A-class and Audi A3 belong to the compromise to the market, first lengthen the wheelbase to do a good job of overall practicality, and then make their own style, and there is no obsession with driving control. "If the CT4 could also be lengthened, it would probably be a completely different result."

Among the nine models launched by Cadillac in the Chinese market, there are three fuel sedans (CT4, CT5, CT6), four fuel SUVs (XT4, XT5, XT6, GT4) and two pure electric SUVs (IQ Ruige and IQ Aoge), but the CT4 is not the only one disappointed.

In Cadillac's fuel vehicle matrix, the CT series represents a sedan, and the XT series represents an SUV. The GT series has just been released in 2023 and belongs to the more popular coupe SUV series at the moment.

According to the financial report, in 2021, Cadillac's cumulative annual sales exceeded 233,000 units, creating a new high in its sales in the Chinese market. In 2022, the brand's cumulative annual sales fell to 194,000 units, and in 2023, it fell slightly to 183,000 units.

Although there are not a few models on sale, I am afraid that the only model that can support Cadillac's sales now is the CT5. In 2023, a total of 84,456 units of the CT5 were sold, accounting for about 46% of sales, and it is also the only Cadillac model to achieve positive sales growth. In December 2023, the CT5 was recognized by the market for its mid-cycle facelift, which has increased its sales share to 54.3% from January to April 2024.

In contrast, the market performance of Cadillac's latest fuel model, GT4, can only be described as "bleak". Since its launch in May 2023, its average monthly sales have been around 659 units. From January to April 2024, the average monthly sales of the GT4 are only 481 units. In the eyes of some salespeople and industry insiders, if the CT4 is discontinued, it is likely to make way for the GT4.

"The starting price of GT4 and CT4 is 219,700 yuan, and now the discount is more than 150,000 yuan. The GT4 is a front-wheel drive model with a lot more space than the CT4, which is theoretically more attractive to family users. Although it is called a coupe SUV, it is actually more like a hatchback with a high chassis, which also distinguishes it from the positioning and price of the XT4. ”

In the automobile market, 150,000 yuan can be described as a dividing line. In the era of fuel vehicles, 150,000 yuan is the price boundary between "high-configuration A-class cars" and "low-configuration B-class cars".

Three years ago, when the era of smart electric vehicles was just starting the war, He Xiaopeng, CEO of Xpeng Motors, once said that 150,000 yuan was "the basic watershed of smart cars". Now, 150,000 yuan seems to have become the bottom line of the price of luxury brands, and there is a trend of gradual reduction.

03. New energy transformation "get up early in the morning and catch up in the evening"

Now, not only CT4, but also CT5, XT5, XT6 and other models also have different degrees of discounts. In front of Cadillac, it is not only the strange circle of "price for volume" of fuel vehicles, but also the pain of new energy transition.

As early as 2019, Cadillac announced that it would be fully electrified in 2030, and in 2021 the company said that it planned to gradually stop producing gasoline models in 2025~2026. A series of actions to transform new energy is relatively early in the luxury brand camp.

Unlike some brands that build new energy vehicles through the method of "oil to electricity", Cadillac has established the method of using intelligent pure electric platforms to create new models from the beginning, completing the first step of transformation, which can be regarded as satisfying everyone's appetite.

In June 2022, the first model born from the third-generation GM pure electric platform "Ultium", the Cadillac IQ Ruige, was officially launched in the Chinese market. This is also Cadillac's first pure electric model, positioned as a medium and large SUV, with the price range of the three models being 439,700~479,700 yuan.

Since then, Cadillac has made great efforts to market around the IQ Ruige model and the Autonen pure electric platform, but it has never achieved the expected results.

On the one hand, due to the "high" price of IQ Ruige, on the other hand, the owners of Dading have complained that the front and rear lights, wheels and other publicity are inconsistent with the reality, which has had a great impact on word of mouth.

In July 2023, Cadillac announced an official price cut of 60,000 yuan for the IQ Ruige, with an adjusted starting price of 379,700 yuan. In November 2023, the two new entry-level models further lowered the price threshold to 297,700 yuan, but these actions did not continue to translate into sales.

From January to April 2024, the monthly sales of IQ Ruige were only 185, 60, 87 and 91 respectively, showing a significant decline year-on-year and month-on-month.

In the fierce market environment, Cadillac officially released the second pure electric model "IQ Aoge" at the Beijing Auto Show in April 2024, positioning it as a mid-size SUV, with the two models priced at 239,700 yuan and 269,700 yuan respectively.

IQ looks similar to the smaller IQ Ruige, and it has shown sincerity in terms of products and prices. It's just that it's somewhat unrealistic to expect the new model to become a lifesaver for Cadillac.

Now, in the face of the development of China's new energy vehicle market in full swing, considering the severe and uncertain situation of the global electric vehicle market, Cadillac has also suddenly "changed its tune" and said that it will continue to sell fuel vehicles after 2030.

John Roth, Cadillac's global vice president, said in an interview with foreign media that electric vehicles and fuel vehicles "will coexist for a long time", but did not provide a clear timetable.

The official spokesman then said that the transition to electrification will not be smooth sailing, and Cadillac will adjust according to the market environment and user needs, and may still achieve full electrification of new models in 2030, while also continuing to sell fuel vehicles. "60% of luxury car owners will consider buying an electric vehicle in their next car purchase, and we will adjust the relevant electric vehicle plans based on user feedback."

In fact, many people in the industry have given Cadillac IQ Ruige a high evaluation, feeling that it is unique at the product level. But for luxury brands, the product isn't everything. Cadillac also needs to think hard about its pricing strategy and how to tell a good new story in the Chinese market.

Author | Huang Shuo

Edit | Tian Yanlin

Operations | Liu Shan

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