2019 Cadillac Sales Comparison: U.S. vs. China

[jdemerson]

ADDED 10.02.19   THIRD QUARTER Cadillac sales increased 7.2 percent to 39,961 units -- JOHN EMERSON

Read more: http://gmauthority.com/blog/2019/10/gm-third-quarter-2019-sales-figures-numbers-results-united-states-q3/#ixzz61DXyFaQ4GM Authority has released sales figures for Cadillac in first six months of 2019. Here are some comparisons between U.S. and China for 2019 and 2018:

Year, Jan through June                       2019                 2018

United States Cadillac Totals            75,734                75,949    down 0.3%
China  Cadillac Totals                     111,207       103,791        up 7%

Seems rather interesting in the context of the trade wars of 2019. All other GM brands in China were down for the first six months of 2019.
It will be interesting to see how things unfold as the new CT5 and XT6 get established in both markets. In any event, it's clear why there's so much attention paid to the Chinese market for luxury cars.

John Emerson
1952 Cadillac Sedan 6219X

[Big Apple Caddy]

China is the #1 automobile market in the world but has seen sales slide over the past year or so.  Cadillac has been doing fairly well there but nothing like GM's Buick brand.  If not for its fast-growing popularity in China, Buick probably would've been axed ten years ago during the GM bankruptcy/restructuring.  Thanks mostly to China, Buick enjoyed record breaking sales in recent years.  Since 2015, Buick has sold more vehicles each year in China than its best years EVER (mid-80s) in the U.S.

[Caddyholic]

But they are mostly Chinese Buick’s aren’t they?

[hornetball]

But they are mostly Chinese Buick’s aren’t they?

Yes, Made in China.  Even a lot of the Buicks sold here are Made in China.  The Chinese are smart enough to insist upon Chinese manufacturing and Chinese jobs if a company wants access to the Chinese market.  High time that we wised up ourselves.

[Big Fins]

Are they CKD (Completely Knocked Down) cars or are they manufactured from a ship full of parts that need to be put together like a puzzle? CKD is the way to go when exporting. Labor used at the receiving end to assemble them.

[Big Apple Caddy]

But they are mostly Chinese Buick’s aren’t they?

Most of the China market Buicks are made in China.

[Big Apple Caddy]

Even a lot of the Buicks sold here are Made in China.

Not really.  The only Chinese built Buick currently sold here is the Envision.  The rest are made in the U.S., Germany, Poland, or South Korea.

[hornetball]

The only Chinese built Buick currently sold here is the Envision.

And, therefore, a lot of Buicks sold in the USA are Made in China, right?

[Big Apple Caddy]

And, therefore, a lot of Buicks sold in the USA are Made in China, right?

Envision is one of six Buick models in the U.S. for 2019 and represents about 16% of the brand's total sales here so far this year.

Given the U.S.-China trade war situation, the Envision's future here is up in the air.

[hornetball]

For those that are curious, look at the VIN.  First letter of "L" means Made in China.

[fishnjim]

Shanghai Buick preceded the other brands and established a market for luxury US sedans there.   So some brand loyalty.  The typical Chinese(C) vehicles were small and utilitarian.  Cadillac was late to the game.   C invested in a lot of hwys/roads, that quickly filled up as auto sales expanded.  I recall being driven on a new highway north of Beijing with almost no traffic and on the next trip it was grid locked bumper to bumper, as was the usual on the main drag before then.  Then they rationalized Beijing and built the ring road.   Interesting place.   eg:they built a ~30 mile new hwy from Shanghai airport to town for the olympics that was bordered by flowered berms the length, so arrivers would not see the local squalor.   The people living on the other side of the berm were enlisted to tend the flowers.   How would that work in US with its govt?   We'd still be arguing the environmental and flower impact and paying huge cost overruns.
Their income has steadily risen past 30+ years compared to US turning flat or negative.  News says printing billionaires faster than anywhere.   Things change quickly there and the recent mandate to have electrics made there to sell there has thrown a wrench in the market.   GM gave Cadillac the charge for that, didn't say how the other brands will be handled, establish platform and branch, individual models, or exit.   Too political on all sides right now, so how can they get it right?   
(most cars are exported whole/ready to sell.   Just visit the import car lots in the major ports like Baltimore, LA, etc.   A lot of import parts are for the after market.   Mexico was supplying the US factories after NAFTA exodus but a bunch of parts factories sprung up on the I-75 corridor and foreign makers moved in to manufacture.)

[hornetball]

the recent mandate to have electrics made there to sell there

The crux of the issue.  It is not an open market.  Trading with China is not free.  I don't blame Chinese leaders for prioritizing their development, but also realize that corporations that live and die by quarterly earnings are powerless to resist.  Leveling the trading field has to be done by government policy I'm afraid.

I can still remember all the middle-class jobs and neighborhoods that the industrialized midwest had pre-80s.  I escaped NE Ohio in 1981 for the Navy, but the horrible regional depression underway at that time (the area has never recovered) is still fresh.  Every time I install an NOS part on the Eldo that says "Made in USA," it brings both a smile and small tear.

I know we shouldn't talk politics, but this is one part of Trump's agenda that I support to my core.