Photo: Cadillac
Cadillac wrapped up 2019 with a 2.2 percent decrease in sales for the year’s final quarter.
The General Motors luxury brand sold 40,551 vehicles in the fourth quarter, down slightly from the 41,462 it sold during the same period in 2018.
GM’s 40-day work stoppage in September and October may have kept Cadillac from achieving a better quarterly result. Thanks to a production-halting strike, dealerships across the country ended up running short on popular models for a while.
As has been the trend in recent years, Cadillac drew an outsize proportion of sales from its expanding lineup of SUVs and crossovers. Overall, the brand sold 36,121 of those larger vehicles — a lopsided 89 percent of total units sold.
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Photo: Cadillac
Cadillac’s bestselling vehicle for the fourth quarter was the midsize XT5 crossover, which moved 11,168 units. That was a 17.8 decline compared to the same period last year.
Next was the XT4 compact crossover, which sold 8,895 units for the quarter. Unlike the XT5, the XT4 enjoyed significant sales growth of 17.5 percent.
Right behind the XT4 was the Escalade with 8,889 units sold. Although the Escalade was down 7.1 percent for the quarter, it could be in line for a big leap in 2020 when the long-awaited next-gen version goes on sale.
The new three-row XT6 crossover posted strong numbers for the quarter with 7,169 sold. It wasn’t on sale during the fourth quarter of 2018, so no year-over-year comparison is available.
Cadillac’s top-selling sedan for the quarter was the CT6, which moved 2,276 units (a 5.1 percent decrease) in its final full quarter of production.
The first of two new Cadillac sedans, the CT5, hit dealerships just before the end of the quarter. Availability was severely limited though, so we’ll have to wait until the end of 2020’s first quarter for significant sales numbers.
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A longtime editor/writer and recently transplanted Hoosier, Caleb Cook lives in Xenia, Ohio. His favorite activities are reading and listening to music, although he occasionally emerges from the heap of books and vinyl records in his basement to stand blinking in the sunlight. Once fully acclimated to the outside world again, he can be observed hanging out with his wife, attempting a new recipe in the kitchen, attending movies, walking the dog, or wandering into a local brewery to inquire about what’s on tap. See more articles by Caleb.