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Automotive News & Views Can GM make Cadillac the standard of the world Again?
6098 messages, Last post on Aug 14, 2009 at 4:43 PM
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Replying to: habitat1 (Jan 07, 2008 10:24 am)
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Replying to: louiswei (Jan 07, 2008 9:41 am) Very true but if we look at Mercedes their average age is 59, 6 years older than Cadillac (53). Heck Rolls is a dead old age of 63  . Lexus is just under Cadillac with 49. Even BMW with their very youthful/sporty/performance high volume 3 series has an average of 46. So it really looks like the major reason that Cadillac and others in the same $ ball park are buyers with an average of close to 50 is due to wealth, and most of the wealth in this country is held by older folks. And if you look at the younger average ages you see that they are all low priced marques. Who woulda thought!! But there is no doubt that if Cadillac wants to attract the same buyers as BMW they have their work cut out for them. CTS is just a start. When they drop the DTS next year most of those buyers will swap over to the STS but many will just keep their DTS untill they can no longer drive. In the short run dropping the DTS should drop Cadillacs average age but in the longer term they need to continue to go after the baby boomers with a different kind of product.
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The 2008 model year just started a few months back so I think we should see where the CTS stands after a full year. I would think it appeals to more younger people than before. One probable reason why CTS is selling to an older crowd relative to it's 2007 version is because the ATP is probably $5000 higher. The 2008 has more content and the ATP is always much higher for any new vehicle at it's new model intro. People pay closer to MSRP, buy more options and get the higher models. Couple years into it's life cycle it goes the other way. SOOO, again the wealthier buy in the first years and that means the older consumer is buying. |
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Jan 07, 2008 11:24 am) I'm actually surprised that the average age of a Rolls owner is only 63. About half of the ones I see are being driven by a chauffer and "Miss Daisy" looks to be in her 80's or 90's. Maybe it's the kids buying the car for mom and writing it off as a medical expense.
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Replying to: habitat1 (Jan 07, 2008 12:46 pm) Someone earlier on posted it.
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Replying to: lemko (Jan 07, 2008 6:14 am)  Lemko, have you checked the MKS, out pal ? Man that car is Sharp !!! -Rocky |
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Jan 07, 2008 1:26 pm) According to the article: the baby boomers, who will start hitting age 65 in 2011 ..... Eventually, 79 million baby boomers will hit 65. Cadillac has remade itself as a powerful, youthful brand, and its last old-fogy car — the DeVille — is in its final model year. General Motors, which owns Cadillac, dropped the Oldsmobile brand because of its older image and waning sales. GM's Buick, Olds and Cadillac divisions were catering to an older demographic when that segment wasn't very large and younger buyers flocked to other brands and makes. Now that the American popluation is about to enter the most significant "graying of America" period in it's history, Olds has been killed and Caddy is trying to be young and hip. Regardless of my personal preferences in cars, it appears that GM is perenially out of sync. They needed young and hip cars 20 years ago. Today they might actually want models that appeal to the older generation which will be increasing significantly over the next 20+ years. That doesn't mean "stodgy", as the article suggests. But it also doesn't mean ignoring the only demographic segment and loyal customer base that has kept the company out of bankruptcy. It's not the older buyers that are the "enemy" of GM. It was the incompetent employees in the design, engineering, marketing and manufacturing departments that couldn't put together decent cars to appeal to younger buyers in the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's. Now might be exactly the right time to embrace the older buyer.
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