It only took multiple decades, but Cadillac just might be back to setting the bar for others as sales skyrocket and enticing product hits showrooms.
In Seattle, Washington at the launch of the 2026 Lyriq-V Cadillac’s Global Marketing Director Brad Franz said the first half of the year has been the automaker’s best in nearly 20 years.
The numbers speak for themselves.
Retail sales are up 19% calendar year to date.
Sales of V-Series models are at a record high.
Retail sales are up in all 50 states year-over-year, and 26 states are up over 25%. Sales in California are up 16%.
Part of that is due to Cadillac’s EV push. Earlier in July Cadillac said it still sees EVs as critical despite the disappearing incentives. The automaker believes demand for its luxury EVs will weather the storm of uncertain markets. The data supports this with Franz reporting EV penetration of 23% so far in 2025.
Franz said the Lyriq and Optiq are now number one in their segment (though which competitors fall in those segments wasn’t discussed). But those sales are coming at the expense of the competition with Lyriq checking in with a conquest rate of 71% and Optiq at 71%. These models are bringing new customers to the Cadillac showroom.
To date, Franz said Cadillac’s sold over 60,000 Lyriqs in the last three years, though most of those deliveries took place in the last two years as production ramped up.
GM is quickly listening to consumer and online feedback and making immediate updates to its products including fixing the Lyriq’s undignified charge port door operation.
While EV sales are helping bring fresh blood to Cadillac showrooms, the automaker’s gas-powered lineup is having its own moment.
The V-Series has finally taken hold and buyers are trending younger than the average Cadillac buyer, according to Franz. The performance sub-brand is also bringing money into the showroom with V-Series owners trending more affluent, and more likely to be male.
Cadillac has abandoned its plan to have a fully electric lineup within five years, but new EVs are still launching on time as originally planned. The shift is not whether the automaker is moving away from its EV plans, rather it just won’t kill the gas-powered cars.
The 2026 Lyriq-V launches in the coming weeks and marks the first electric V-Series model. The three-row Vistiq is now in dealers alongside the smaller Optiq. And an Optiq-V is coming to further expand the electric V-Series lineup.
Cadillac’s been busy just building its brand cache. The automaker is back at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it’s entering Formula 1, and it now sells a hand-built $340,000 EV. The cache and EV play seem to be working out for Cadillac.
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As Director of Content and Product, Joel draws on over 15 years of newsroom experience and inability to actually stop working to help ensure The Drive shapes the future of automotive media.
