Cadillac reveal on social media for CT5 bucks the SUV trend BMW is weeding out its lineup to prepare for the electric future
Cadillac is committed to sedans despite the growing consumer preference for SUVs and pickups.
To prove it, the General Motors luxury brand is bringing two new sedans to market and revealing one, the CT5, through a social media campaign online Monday.
The other, a smaller sport sedan called the CT4, will be revealed later in the year and land in Cadillac showrooms in 2020.
“We’re committed to sedans. If you look at who buys a sedan today, they’re SUV and crossover rejecters,” Cadillac President Steve Carlisle said at a media lunch last week.
The demand for sedans is growing at “a considerable rate” among customers in China, which is the world’s largest market and a strong driver of Cadillac’s global sales, Carlisle said.
“So we have to look at that too,” he said. “We grew marketshare last year in four out of six sedan models,” he added.
Cadillac plans to launch a new vehicle every six months through 2021.
Driver’s dream
Cadillac will show the CT5 at the New York International Auto Show, which runs April 19-28. The CT5 in effect replaces the CTS sedan, which is reported to end production at Lansing Grand River Assembly in June. GM has invested $211 million at the Lansing plant to build the CT5 there.
A Cadillac top designer called the CT5 sedan “a car lover’s dream” with all-wheel drive, 10-speed automatic transmission and a standard 2.0-liter turbo-charged engine. It is also available in a 3.0-liter Twin-Turbo engine.
Cadillac is not yet releasing pricing or a date for when the car will go on sale. The 2019 CTS started at $46,995.
The exterior design of the CT5 is meant to be bold and dynamic with a wide, aggressive “stance” and big wheels. It uses LED lighting in the vertical headlamps for a dramatic and “signature” look, said Andrew Smith, Cadillac’s executive director of global design.
“The sedan becomes a driver’s car,” said Smith. “It’s got great proportions, it’s really, really wide. Like the XT6 (SUV) it has an aggressive front for the sport version” with all black instead of chrome accents.
The interior design will reflect “a passion for driving,” but be spacious for comfort too, Smith said.
The driver-centric cockpit offers high tech controls. Cadillac will offer the new sedan in luxury and sport models.
BMW will weed out its model lineup to reduce costs as the German luxury-car maker copes with a cooling global economy and persistent trade tensions that show little sign of resolution.
“The challenges facing the entire sector are unlikely to diminish in the coming months,” Chief Executive Officer Harald Krueger said last week in a statement presenting preliminary results. “Great efforts will therefore be needed across the entire group to help shape the sector’s transformation under such conditions.”
The company will also reorganize its management board, consolidating sales of BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce under a central position headed by Pieter Nota, who was responsible for BMW brand sales so far. Peter Schwarzenbauer, leading Rolls-Royce and Mini cars as well as digital businesses at the Munich-based carmaker, will leave the company at the end of October when he turns 60.
BMW earnings have been pressured by tariffs on vehicles made at its plant in Spartanburg, S.C., and sent to China, as well as price competition in Europe. Carmakers across the globe reduced targets last year after new emissions testing and concerns over Brexit added to the industry’s woes. BMW’s return on sales in the core automotive division dropped to 7.2 percent from 9.2 percent in 2017, below a historical 8 percent to 10 percent range.
BMW said it won’t make a successor to the 3-Series Gran Turismo, even though the current model is selling well. More derivative versions will also be eliminated. The carmaker said it will step up other measures to reduce complexity, without specifying them. BMW cut its proposed dividend by 50 cents to 3.50 euros per common share.
Carmakers aren’t “supermarkets, there is no good reason to sell everything,” said Juergen Pieper, an analyst at Bankhaus Metzler. Getting rid of the models was “the right way,” he said. “Nobody will miss them.”
The shares rose 0.8 percent to 74.36 euros at 2:14 p.m. in Frankfurt, trimming losses over the past year to 8.7 percent. BMW’s return on automaking beat the company’s goal of 7 percent.
Other carmakers are chiming in with cost cuts. Volkswagen brand Audi will present a new plan in May to reignite momentum, including scaling back management ranks for savings and faster decision-making. Mercedes Benz-parent Daimler AG vowed comprehensive cost-cutting measures last month when the company presented its full-year earnings.