Is Lincoln MKC cutting into Cadillac SRX sales?

Tue, 07 Oct 2014

The two big American luxury brands of Cadillac and Lincoln are on surprisingly similar paths at the moment with both divisions hoping to redefine themselves and grow popularity. They're still early in the process with no clear winner yet, but things might actually be looking up for Lincoln's latest model, according to a monthly sales analysis from The Motley Fool. It seems, at least early on, that the new MKC crossover might be taking a bite out of the Cadillac SRX's growth.

The MKC launched just a few months ago and has been getting a big marketing push from a series of oft-mocked ads starring the smooth-talking Matthew McConaughey. The luxury CUV has been the popular, new kid on the block with growing sales since its introduction. While smaller than the SRX, the Lincoln starts at a lower price and offers better fuel economy.

Through June, the SRX performed well with sales up over 20 percent on average through June, according to The Motley Fool. However, July and August saw things plummet with year-over-year drops of 7 percent and 37 percent, respectively. It still far outsold the MKC in terms of actual units in a given month, but the Caddy's continued growth has appeared to stagnate.

The results for the SRX have seemed to echo recent struggles for the whole brand. According to The Motley Fool, Caddy trounced Lincoln last year with sales up 22 percent to the Blue Oval's brand drop of 0.6 percent. However, that has reversed through August of this year with Lincoln up 13.4 percent, compared to a drop of 4.7 percent from Cadillac.

The popularity of small crossovers has been huge, as of late, and the MKC might have been at the right place at the right time. However, Cadillac has said it has more CUVs on the way. Only a few months of data might not be enough to tell the whole tale of the final winner, but it's an exciting battle to watch.

By Chris Bruce