CADILLAC IS SLIPPIN'

According to the industry examiners at CNW Research, Cadillac’s fortunes appear to be slipping away at the margins.

In the firm’s July installment of their Retail Automotive Summary, their Aspirational Index (which judges a brand’s attractiveness to consumers) reveals that Cadillac’s rising star is beginning to falter. In the mid-Nineties, the marque rated only a 4 on a 10 point scale. With the brand’s dramatic rebound beginning in 1999, its score climbed for five straight years, flattening out in 2005 and 2006. It has now slipped under 8.0, the brand’s lowest mark since 2003.

The ‘aspiration age’ for Cadillac buyers has also swelled from 30.3 just three years ago to 35.9. Interestingly, Cadillac trucks (read: the Escalade brand) went from 25.7 to 32.7—a 27 percent increase. This suggests that Cadillac’s appeal among buyers in that most coveted of demographics (18-35 years old) is slipping.