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Luxury car brands scrambling to avoid a blue Christmas

DETROIT — When financial markets surge to new records, sales of luxury cars usually rise, too. Instead, October U.S. auto sales reports on Wednesday showed that a collapse in sales of luxury sedans is accelerating. Consumers have gradually shifted over to luxury sport utility vehicles from sedans in the past decade, but the trend — which has occurred in both the non-luxury and luxury sedan segments of the auto market — was particularly pronounced in October. Sales of Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz S-Class, long a global benchmark for large, premium sedans, plunged 49 percent in October, and are down 24.8 percent for the year to date. General Motors' Cadillac brand said it sold just 779 of its CTS sedans in October. Demand for that car, designed to compete with German luxury sedans, is down nearly 33 percent for the year. "There's still a significant portion of the market that wants a car, but I'm sure there were people who preferred a horse to a car at one point." Cadillac's best-selling model this year is the XT5 compact SUV, which has more than doubled sales from a year ago. The shift within the luxury vehicle market away from sedans toward SUVs of all sizes is forcing some of the most prestigious brands to scramble to add SUV models to their lineups or boost SUV production to meet demand. "In the short term, there will be pressure to add (consumer) incentives, cut production or both," said Cox Automotive analyst Michelle Krebs. "And we just don't see an end in sight to this trend." The Dow Jones Industrial Average has been trading at all-time highs, usually a good sign for luxury sedans, but as major automakers reported new U.S. vehicle sales for October on Wednesday, sales for passenger cars continued their slide while luxury SUV and crossover sales rose again. According to Kelley Blue Book data, in 2007 luxury sedans made up 7.6 percent of U.S. new vehicle sales, while luxury SUVs made up 4.2 percent. Through September this year, luxury SUVs made up just over 7 percent of the market, compared with 4.9 percent for luxury sedans. In the short term, luxury brands could use holiday season sales promotions to clear slow-selling sedans off dealer lots, analysts said. Toyota's Lexus brand said on Wednesday it will launch its "December to Remember" year-end sales promotion for the 18th straight year.

GM to accelerate its EV strategy — Cadillac could be all-electric by 2025

General Motors will roll out details of an expanded and accelerated electric vehicle strategy on Thursday in an effort to convince investors it can be a serious competitor to Tesla, people familiar with the plans said. GM Chief Executive Mary Barra, who is scheduled to speak at a conference hosted by Barclays, is expected to say the automaker is ready to spend more on electric models by 2025 than the $20 billion previously outlined, the sources said. Supplier sources said previous plans to make the Cadillac brand all-electric by 2030 are being sped up, possibly to 2025, and other sources said that acceleration will be repeated in other brands and in segments such as commercial vans. Asked about the Thursday appearance, a GM spokeswoman called talk of increased spending speculative and declined to give details. The Detroit automaker is also expected to discuss a new timeline for many of the EVs to follow those already identified, such as the GMC Hummer EV pickup and Cadillac Lyriq crossover, people familiar with the plans said. Lyriq (shown above) is slated to go into production in late 2022, but GM officials have been stung by criticism the automaker was bringing the vehicle to market too late, one source said. "The pull-ahead in programs is real and the organization is really doubling down on speeding up product development," the source said. Barra and other GM executives have been signaling the automaker's EV acceleration plans. She said earlier this month GM would boost capital spending over the next three years to speed EV development and was talking with other automakers about partnerships to develop more vehicles using GM's battery technology. Last week, a GM executive said the company had pulled forward the rollout of two "major" EV programs, and GM officials have touted the faster 18-month development time for the Hummer truck. Tesla's soaring market capitalization, and growing pressure from regulators to phase out carbon-emitting engines, has put pressure on established automakers to respond to investors who view their internal combustion lineups as outmoded and doomed in the long run. A critical part of GM's pitch to investors has been its new Ultium batteries, which it estimates will offer an electric driving range of 400 miles or more on a single charge. It is building a battery plant with Korean battery maker LG Chem in northeast Ohio.

Cadillac prices new ATS-V from $61,460*

It's official, Art & Science students: Cadillac has opened the order books for the new ATS-V, and while it was at it, has told us how much we should expect to shell out for the privilege. Pricing starts at $61,460 for the 2016 Cadillac ATS-V sedan (*plus tax, title, license, dealer fees and any optional equipment). Go for the sleeker (but less practical) ATS-V coupe and you'll be looking at $63,660 (with the same conditions). For all that scratch, you'll be looking at a 3.6-liter twin-turbo V6 driving 455 horsepower and 445 pound-feet of torque through a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmission, for a 0-60 time of 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 189 miles per hour. The ATS-V also features Brembo brakes, magnetorheological dampers, launch control and rev-matching with no-lift shifting. Cadillac has still yet to tell us how much gas its new performance model will guzzle, but it's got time before production gears up in the spring and the online configuration tool launches in April. Cadillac Opens Ordering for 2016 ATS-V Dual-purpose performance luxury compact designed for the track, touring 2015-02-10 DETROIT – Cadillac dealers have begun accepting orders for the 2016 ATS-V – the brand's inaugural luxury compact performance car starting production this spring. Available in sedan and coupe forms, the twin-turbocharged ATS-V offers a dual-purpose luxury performance experience: a car with true track capability straight from the factory with sophisticated road manners. Powered by the segment's highest-output six-cylinder engine – the Cadillac Twin Turbo rated at 455 horsepower (339 kW) and 445 lb-ft of torque (603 Nm) – the ATS-V achieves 0-60 performance in 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 189 mph. The Cadillac Twin Turbo engine is backed by a six-speed manual – with Active Rev Match, no-lift shifting and launch control – or a paddle-shift eight-speed automatic transmission featuring launch control and Performance Algorithm Shift. "The V-Series is the ultimate expression of Cadillac's re-ignited product substance and the passion at the core of our brand," said Johan de Nysschen, Cadillac president. "The ATS-V expands the V-Series lineup, bringing a new kind of performance character to Cadillac. Lightweight, agile and potent, the ATS-V will make an ideal pairing with the larger and even more powerful all-new 2016 CTS-V midsize sedan, which arrives later this summer," he said.