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  • G. David Felt
    G. David Felt

    Will Competition Destroy Tesla?

      It is hard to judge a company by one month of auto sales let alone two months, but when you have 3 months or more in a market that had no competition and now does, dropping near the bottom in sales should make any CEO question what needs to be done to improve sales. Norway with 60.4% of new auto sales being EV is becoming a struggle for Tesla and Ford is the latest to show them up!

    Norway has been in the news lately and not just a little but across a wide range of news organizations. Norway has been very embracing of the move to EVs supporting just about every version that has come out from small EVs that would remind one of a Golf cart and illegal on the roads in the US to the luxury level of Tesla with the X and S auto's.

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    Norway has even been leading the world in the change over of their countries taxi fleet to EVs. One benefit to the taxi owner is the ability to write off half of the auto cost in the first year and the rest in the second year as long as the taxi travels over 100,000 kilometers per year. This allows private taxi drivers to purchase their own luxury ride to use as their work tool every day.

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    Tesla was the first to build out a very extensive network of charging infrastructure to support their auto's allowing owners to drive their EVs in any type of weather even very cold snowy winter.

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    As anyone in sales would know and to help everyone else understand, single month sales, and quarterly sales sales cannot always clearly show a trend about the success of a company. Even bi-yearly sales numbers while getting close to be considered a trend by some is not enough to state that a company has been a long term success.

    Tesla ever since they started to sell auto's in Norway back in 2009 with just 13 sold has pretty much had a captured market to themselves especially since Norway has been trying various ways to push a clean green agenda going back into the 1990's. Tesla sales spiked in 2019 at 18,798 EVs sold before plummeting as VW introduced the much more affordable ID.4 and other luxury makers such as Audi with their e-tron came on the market in 2020.

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    As per the jalopnik story, Tesla did not sell many auto's in association with other auto choices till recently making the sample size very small in auto markets around the world. Norway then becomes an even more important picture on EV sales as a country that was in many ways the first to embrace EVs, will be the first to phase out all new ICE auto sales starting January 1st 2025. Currently contrast Diesel auto's that sold in 2011 with a 75.7% market share to only 8.6% market share in 2020.  A market where there are more EV options at various price points than any other market has transformed their auto market.

    Lately, Tesla sales have not been that great and Ford Motor Company is off to a hot start with their Mustang Mach-e. Yes one can contribute this to the Ford EV being a new model but keep in mind that a year ago new auto sales had BEVs make up 43.1% of sales, this year, BEVs are averaging 60.4% of new auto sales with Ford having sold 1,384 Mach-e in May for a 10% share of Norways auto market. Toyota RAV4 hybrid is in second place and Skoda's electric Enyaq is in third. Currently in the top ten EVs sold in Norway, Tesla is coming in at 6th place.

    Let's let the monthly numbers speak for what is being sold in Norway:

    May 2021 top 10 best-selling auto's in Norway.

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    April 2021 top 10 best-selling auto's in Norway.

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    March 2021 top 10 best-selling auto's in Norway.

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    We then have no numbers, but a list was produced of the top 10 auto sales and unlike March, Tesla was in 8th place for auto sales in February:

    image.png

    The clear observation is that Tesla is NOT the dominant auto company in Norway and a concern for the CEO and company one would think. Clearly now that real competition is showing up, Tesla is going to have to address concerns about fit n finish, service, warranty issues, etc.

    In 2019 Tesla dominated the market for BEVs:

    image.png

    Per Norways largest news covering the auto industry, December pretty much saved the year, but even then shows some very interesting changes from 2019.

    image.png

    This on top of the full 2020 year showing that Tesla is only #6 in auto sales in Norway.

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    At this point, Tesla needs to deliver on a low end solution of BEVs for Norway and the world if they are to remain competitive and survive it would seem. This would be the time for a Model 2 and even maybe 1 to come out of Tesla giving low end solutions for auto buyers that currently cannot afford higher priced auto's.

    Ford Is Beating Tesla In One Of The Most EV-Saturated Markets In The World (jalopnik.com)

    • Norway: Tesla car sales 2009-2020 | Statista

    Ford's electric Mustang tops Norway car sales in May | Reuters

    Ford's electric Mustang tops Norway car sales in May | Nasdaq

    Historic December saved car sales | Dn

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    How is it there’s suddenly confusion on terminology?

    ’Mustang’ is a Ford, ‘Mustang GT’ is a Ford, ‘Mustang Mach-E’ is a Ford, Mustang Mach 1’ is a Ford, ‘Mustang GT500’ is a Ford.

    Ford is the brand, not ‘Mustang’.

    Other that to make money (meanwhile devaluing the model cache’), there’s no reason to build a ‘Corvette suv’.

    Porsche doesn’t build their SUVs because they’re performance SUVs, they build them to keep the factories running/the lights on.

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    5 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

    I don't think you're understanding how branding within a corporation can and does work. 

    Doesn’t seem like you know either. 

    1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

    sporty SUVs

    I cannot think of a more contradictory term. 

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    7 minutes ago, surreal1272 said:

    Doesn’t seem like you know either. 

    I cannot think of a more contradictory term. 

    Then you don't think very hard.

    I didn't say "sports car SUV". "sporty" is not the same. 

    Kind of like a sporty station wagon. I know that's a concept you understand. 

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    50 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

    I don't think you're understanding how branding within a corporation can and does work. 

    As a verb, and applied generally-speaking under a marketing umbrella, ‘branding’ is somewhat nebulous.
    As a noun and applied specifically to the auto industry, ‘brand, has an established & well-defined meaning.

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    GM makes ZERO RWD / AWD Pure Sports SUV's/CUV's. I would love it being a Cadillac, Chevrolet, Corvette, GMC or Buick Performance Pure AWD/RWD SUV/CUV to replace my Chevrolet Trailblazer AWD SS.

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    20 minutes ago, David said:

    GM makes ZERO RWD / AWD Pure Sports SUV's/CUV's. I would love it being a Cadillac, Chevrolet, Corvette, GMC or Buick Performance Pure AWD/RWD SUV/CUV to replace my Chevrolet Trailblazer AWD SS.

    Why? Everything is going EV with them anyway so there is little to no chance of a performance ICE based SUV/CUV. Maybe they go that route once the EV transition is complete but people wishing for it right now are just pipe dreaming IMO. 

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    1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

    Pipe dreaming is exactly what it is. There's also nothing wrong with that. 

    Never said there was but it is the opposite of the reality right now. Again, when they go all EV, it may be a different story but it’s not going to happen with an ICE under the hood, no matter how much pipe dreaming that takes place. 

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    1 hour ago, David said:

    GM makes ZERO RWD / AWD Pure Sports SUV's/CUV's. I would love it being a Cadillac, Chevrolet, Corvette, GMC or Buick Performance Pure AWD/RWD SUV/CUV to replace my Chevrolet Trailblazer AWD SS.

    Problem is, unless they make a performance version of the Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon or Escalade, it isn't happening...the rest of the GM ICE CUV lineup is generic FWD/AWD transverse engine appliances, not the ideal platform for a performance vehicle.  GM doesn't have a proper RWD/AWD unibody SUV/CUV platform. 

      I could see maybe performance versions of their EV CUVs in the future, though...

    Edited by Robert Hall
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    1 hour ago, surreal1272 said:

    Why? Everything is going EV with them anyway so there is little to no chance of a performance ICE based SUV/CUV. Maybe they go that route once the EV transition is complete but people wishing for it right now are just pipe dreaming IMO. 

    Not dreaming of an ICE replacement for my SS.

    I want a BEV Performance SUV Replacement by any of these labels: Cadillac, Chevrolet, Corvette, GMC, Buick.

    I see no reason to not take the 1,000hp tri-motor configuration from the Hummer and build a performance focused Ultium BEV AWD SUV.

    I can totally see a Corvette Performance SUV BEV.

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    RUMOR: GM May Be Working on a Corvette-Branded Electric SUV for 2025 - Corvette: Sales, News & Lifestyle (corvetteblogger.com)

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    10 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

    Problem is, unless they make a performance version of the Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon or Escalade, it isn't happening...the rest of the GM ICE CUV lineup is generic FWD/AWD transverse engine appliances, not the ideal platform for a performance vehicle.  GM doesn't have a proper RWD/AWD unibody SUV/CUV platform. 

      I could see maybe performance versions of their EV CUVs in the future, though...

    I could me mistaken, but GM has the most generic CUV/SUV lineup of any company. Nobody has a more bland and boring lineup. The only ones that stand out at the big boys in the Tahoe, 'Burban, 'Slade. 

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    5 minutes ago, David said:

    I can totally see a Corvette Performance SUV BEV.

    While I agree with the rest (and that is what I getting at), just a hard no on doing that to the Vette name.

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    I've thought they needed a Porsche Cayenne or Macan competitor for years...an ICE Corvette branded CUV would have been great 10 years ago...problem is, GM never developed a platform for a performance CUV. 

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    2 minutes ago, surreal1272 said:

    While I agree with the rest (and that is what I getting at), just a hard no on doing that to the Vette name.

    My friend we will agree to disagree. :P I see no problem with a Corvette and Camaro performance SUV in BEV form.

    Course I can honestly see Chevrolet doing an SS version of everything leaving Corvette with a two door BEV only while everything else in the portfolio gets a performance AWD/RWD version.

    GMC I can see bringing back the Typhoon and Syclone in BEV form.

    Buick a BEV Grand National and Electra as BEV.

    Cadillac which is slated to become all BEV by 2025 I can see having V versions of BEV.

    1 minute ago, Robert Hall said:

    I've thought they needed a Porsche Cayenne or Macan competitor for years...an ICE Corvette branded CUV would have been great 10 years ago...problem is, GM never developed a platform for a performance CUV. 

    This is the one thing I can see being a reality as per my post above on a Performance CUV for Corvette. A Hybrid or pure BEV as a competitor to Porsche totally makes sense to me.

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    3 minutes ago, balthazar said:

    Anybody know why Porsche didn’t name the Cayenne the -say- ‘911-X’ ??

    Well, the Cayenne isn't a rear engined CUV on the 911 platform, so it's not part of the 911 family.  Porsche, though, is supposedly working on a safari style lifted AWD 911, maybe that will be the 911X. 

    Edited by Robert Hall
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    And a Corvette isn’t an AWD 4-dr SUV,  so they aren’t part of the same family either, right?

    By all means build a hyper-powerful ‘sporty SUV’…. Just. Don’t. Put. Corvette. In. The. Name.

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    51 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

    I've thought they needed a Porsche Cayenne or Macan competitor for years...an ICE Corvette branded CUV would have been great 10 years ago...problem is, GM never developed a platform for a performance CUV. 

    100%. It would be too late to do so now but if they developed an EV version, I'd be all for it. Heck, even 5 years ago would have been plenty fine. 

    A Mustang wasn't a "AWD 4-dr SUV" either, until they made one. 

    36 minutes ago, balthazar said:

    By all means build a hyper-powerful ‘sporty SUV’…. Just. Don’t. Put. Corvette. In. The. Name.

    Why, would it make you not buy one? ?

    Edited by ccap41
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    1 hour ago, balthazar said:

    Anybody know why Porsche didn’t name the Cayenne the -say- ‘911-X’ ??

    Exactly and they had no problem moving them despite not carrying over that “branding”. 

    1 hour ago, Robert Hall said:

    Well, the Cayenne isn't a rear engined CUV on the 911 platform, so it's not part of the 911 family.  Porsche, though, is supposedly working on a safari style lifted AWD 911, maybe that will be the 911X. 

    Then that makes a Vette SUV an even more ridiculous idea since it is not mid-engine and that most certainly will not carry over to any SUV or CUV. 

    Edited by surreal1272
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    Porsche was smart enough to protect the image of the 911... especially in light of never have ANY SUV before. 

    I'll bet most 911 buyers would never consider having a Cayenne/Macan.

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    3 minutes ago, surreal1272 said:

    Exactly and they had no problem moving them despite not carrying over that “branding”. 

    Then that makes a Vette SUV an even more ridiculous idea since it is not mid-engine and that most certainly will not carry over to any SUV or CUV. 

    Would a RWD Vette SUV not be mid engine since the electric motors are just ahead of the rear axle area as they are on the Hummer EV? ?

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    5 minutes ago, David said:

    Would a RWD Vette SUV not be mid engine since the electric motors are just ahead of the rear axle area as they are on the Hummer EV? ?

    Until we see an actual EV Vette, we won’t know for sure. In its current state though, it’s not possible. 

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    6 minutes ago, balthazar said:

    Porsche was smart enough to protect the image of the 911... especially in light of never have ANY SUV before. 

    I'll bet most 911 buyers would never consider having a Cayenne/Macan.

    I would question that considering how few CUVs are on used sites for sale compared to the cars. ISEECARS and AUTOTRADER have thousands of the cars for sale compared to SUV/CUVs for sale on Porsche 

    6 minutes ago, balthazar said:

    I'm not in that market... but I was speaking to the 'big picture' of image/ legacy/ enthusiasts/ etc.

    All of which can be changed by just one auto in a flash. 

    Ford changing their image / legacy / enthusiasts by the Cobra and Le Mans and now the Mach-e.

    Who knows what can happen with a RWD/AWD Vette BEV or SUV BEV.

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    4 minutes ago, balthazar said:

    ^ You think the Mach-E is pulling Mustang GT / GT500 owners away from their coupes??

    No, But it very well could be adding to their household auto's they drive. Mustang sales are stagnant and Mach-e are surpassing them and 70% are conquest sales from Tesla, Nissan, etc.

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    19 minutes ago, balthazar said:

    I'm not in that market... but I was speaking to the 'big picture' of image/ legacy/ enthusiasts/ etc.

    I guess we will see how the Mustangs go. 

    11 minutes ago, balthazar said:

    ^ You think the Mach-E is pulling Mustang GT / GT500 owners away from their coupes??

    Away? No. 

    Adding one next to their other Mustang to drive daily? Yes. 

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    6 minutes ago, David said:

    No, But it very well could be adding to their household auto's they drive. Mustang sales are stagnant and Mach-e are surpassing them and 70% are conquest sales from Tesla, Nissan, etc.

    But would those Mach-E sales be any different if it were called something else? 

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    10 minutes ago, David said:

    No, But it very well could be adding to their household auto's they drive.

    But that's completely irrelevant to the image & legacy of the Mustang.

    - - - - -
    I don't know- we need long-term data to analyze. 

    I stand firm on my rock; do not sully the names of iconic models with family-hauler versions. Just don't.

    Edited by balthazar
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    8 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

    We will never know...

    Well then, it’s a little presumptuous to assume that the name is what brought the sales. If it’s a solid ride and looks good (inside and out), then naming them after a legendary nameplate like the Mustang is irrelevant. Ask Porsche about the Cayenne, as an example. 

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    And about the Mach-e.  I wonder what percentage came from Mustangs or other Ford products vs conquest sales.  The one Mach-e owner I know came from a Tesla Model S that had replaced a Mustang GT a few years ago.  

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    7 hours ago, ccap41 said:

    I still see zero issues with a Corvette-branded SUV sitting along side a Corvette. Make it Cayenne-sized and competitive and it would sell like hot cakes. 

    They don't sell a 911 SUV for a reason.

    7 hours ago, ccap41 said:

    General Motors has zero RWD-based SUV's that compete with high end sporty SUVs. In fact, GM has zero sporty SUVs across all 17 brands. 

     

    Correct on no sporty SUVs, GM needs those, but they shouldn't be called Corvette.  They could do a Chevy whatever, Cadillac XT-whatever, and bring out a whole slew of 500 hp SUVs, but don't call an SUV a Corvette.

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    17 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

    They don't sell a 911 SUV for a reason.

    Correct on no sporty SUVs, GM needs those, but they shouldn't be called Corvette.  They could do a Chevy whatever, Cadillac XT-whatever, and bring out a whole slew of 500 hp SUVs, but don't call an SUV a Corvette.

    A Corvette branded performance CUV would likely get way more sales and attention than a Chevy <something else> branded performance CUV.  The Corvette name has a performance cache that Chevrolet by itself doesn’t have.   A Cadillac V series performance CUV could do well also. 

    Edited by Robert Hall
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    3 hours ago, David said:

    Not dreaming of an ICE replacement for my SS.

    I want a BEV Performance SUV Replacement by any of these labels: Cadillac, Chevrolet, Corvette, GMC, Buick.

    I see no reason to not take the 1,000hp tri-motor configuration from the Hummer and build a performance focused Ultium BEV AWD SUV.

    I can totally see a Corvette Performance SUV BEV.

    image.png

    Sounds like you need a Tesla if you want a performance electric SUV.  

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    9 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

    Sounds like you need a Tesla if you want a performance electric SUV.  

    Or Audi. Tesla’s quality is horrible and their CUVs are shit.   I’m sure there will be more performance BEV SUVs on the market in the future. 

    Edited by Robert Hall
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    4 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

    A Corvette branded performance CUV would likely get way more sales attention than a Chevy <something else> branded performance CUV.  The Corvette name has a performance cache that Chevrolet by itself doesn’t have.   A Cadillac V series performance CUV could do well also. 

    But they'll trash the Corvette name if it is an SUV, much like GM has trashed the names: Grand Prix, Grand Am, Cavalier, Cobalt, Impala, LeSabre, Park Avenue, Lucerne, Deville, Seville, DTS, STS, CTS, ATS, SRX, etc.  All those cars GM trashed the name so they replaced them with a new named car, only to trash that or wait for the market to just phase it out as with the Buick LaCrosse for example.

     

    I could see 50-50 odds on GM taking the Cadillac Lyric dual motor, throwing a Chevy Blazer interior in it and calling it the Corvette SUV and selling it for $90k, and it will weigh like 5400 lbs, do 0-60 in 4.9 seconds just so they can claim "sub 5-seconds 0-60" in their ads.  And the Corvette will be come to be know as a slow, mediocre handling SUV (that isn't as good as the German SUVs) and it will just trash any cache that the Corvette name still has.

    Also to be noted, is the Corvette is most popular among baby boomers, the average buyer age is in the 60s on a Corvette.   Not sure this is the crowd that wants to go all in on EVs.

    3 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

    Or Audi. Tesla’s quality is horrible and their CUVs are &#036;h&#33;.   I’m sure there will be more performance BEV SUVs on the market in the future. 

    Well yes there will be a bunch or performance electric SUVs coming in the next year or 2.  But Tesla Model X Plaid is available for order now and does 1/4 mile under 10 seconds.  And you can still seat 7 and tow 5,000 lbs with it.

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    6 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

    But they'll trash the Corvette name if it is an SUV, much like GM has trashed the names: Grand Prix, Grand Am, Cavalier, Cobalt, Impala, LeSabre, Park Avenue, Lucerne, Deville, Seville, DTS, STS, CTS, ATS, SRX, etc.  All those cars GM trashed the name so they replaced them with a new named car, only to trash that or wait for the market to just phase it out as with the Buick LaCrosse for example.

     

    I could see 50-50 odds on GM taking the Cadillac Lyric dual motor, throwing a Chevy Blazer interior in it and calling it the Corvette SUV and selling it for $90k, and it will weigh like 5400 lbs, do 0-60 in 4.9 seconds just so they can claim "sub 5-seconds 0-60" in their ads.  And the Corvette will be come to be know as a slow, mediocre handling SUV (that isn't as good as the German SUVs) and it will just trash any cache that the Corvette name still has.

    Also to be noted, is the Corvette is most popular among baby boomers, the average buyer age is in the 60s on a Corvette.   Not sure this is the crowd that wants to go all in on EVs.

    Well yes there will be a bunch or performance electric SUVs coming in the next year or 2.  But Tesla Model X Plaid is available for order now and does 1/4 mile under 10 seconds.  And you can still seat 7 and tow 5,000 lbs with it.

    They have to do something to make Corvette relevant and appealing to younger buyers. No future in catering to boomers.  The C8 seems like a step in the right direction. 

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    45 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

    They have to do something to make Corvette relevant and appealing to younger buyers.

    Whew, that’s certainly a line from way back!

    ’Younger buyer = great necessity’ is a fallacy. ABA follows the general population trends; Lamborghini ABA is about 48 yrs. 

    ‘They’ were saying Cadillac needed younger buyers or it would be soon gone…. in 1975.


    Corvette C8 made an earth-shattering leap onto supercar relevancy (if there were actually a methodology of charting such); your wish has been granted.

    Edited by balthazar
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    2 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

    They have to do something to make Corvette relevant and appealing to younger buyers. No future in catering to boomers.  The C8 seems like a step in the right direction. 

    The Camaro is either going to die or become a sedan.  That leaves the Corvette as the lone coupe at GM, they could do a cheaper version with a turbo 4.  Or they just hold out until you have a common EV platform, and the Corvette underpinnings are no different than any sedan or SUV since you can put just about any body style on top.  Then it doesn't really matter how many they sell because the economies of scale are built in.  

    But at the end of the day, no coupe will sell well.  

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    2 hours ago, balthazar said:

    Whew, that’s certainly a line from way back!

    ’Younger buyer = great necessity’ is a fallacy. ABA follows the general population trends; Lamborghini ABA is about 48 yrs. 

    ‘They’ were saying Cadillac needed younger buyers or it would be soon gone…. in 1975.


    Corvette C8 made an earth-shattering leap onto supercar relevancy (if there were actually a methodology of charting such); your wish has been granted.

    I would say that getting younger buyers isn't as important to getting buyers with money, or appealing to those with money.  Since that is where you can get profit and sell higher end models and tack on lots of options. 

    C8 a supercar?  I don't think so, maybe if the ZO6/ZR1 really dial up the performance.  Part of being a supercar is also rarity and collectibility, although perhaps that is now the hyper car market and you can call a top end Corvette, a 911, AMG GT, etc super cars.  And this list of Nurburgring lap times would suggest the 911 and AMG GT are super cars:

    1315229394_ScreenShot2021-08-27at10_09_01PM.thumb.png.0607f10184aa6ec066dbea6fe30855bc.png

    You have the 488 Pista there at 7 minutes from 2 years ago, if the Corvette can crack the 7 minute mark then I'd say it is in supercar territory.

     

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    6 minutes ago, balthazar said:

    Again with this?!?!?
     

    Screen Shot 2021-08-27 at 10.06.09 PM.png

    The Porsche 718 has a turbo 4, the Supra has one, Alpine A110 in Europe, there are 4 cylinder sports cars.  AMG has a 2.0 liter turbo 4 hybrid coming next year with 643 hp, I'd rather that that 4-cylinder than the 6.2 V8 making 495 hp in the Corvette.  Now I know GM won't do it, they'll ride the pushrod V8 to 2030 when the ICE V8 dies.

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    4 minutes ago, balthazar said:

    It's not up to you to define. 

    Sorry.

    So these are supercars then.  As they are both faster on a track than a Corvette.

    spacer.png

     

    As is this ugly BMW

    spacer.png

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    • I was upgraded in a rental contract and, while going up by one category is not a big deal, getting to try out the new hybrid Camry was somewhat of a big deal.  The latest and current Camry only features hybrid powertrains.  The base 2.5 liter 4-cylinder engine, which was previously naturally aspirated, continues forward, but is assisted by an electric motor.  To make the powering on and off work, a CVT is now the standard transmission, when Camry had an excellent 8-speed automatic transmission for many years.  This vehicle had front wheel drive, but AWD is also available.  The V6 engine and ICEs are no longer available. Getting used to this car doesn’t take much time.  Having already driven another rented hybrid – a Honda Accord – all I needed to know is that turning the key does not fire up an engine, but makes the car ready to move in EV mode, at least initially. With 2.5 liters, the Camry pulls away nimbly and with agility, even with a minimally feathered pedal.  It doesn’t take much.  It’s fun to watch the centered power display setting move between eco and power modes.  If stomped on, the engine responds very quickly.  Surprisingly, stomping on it produces a more notable than expected engine hum.  The cabin remains mostly quiet and handling is predictable, neither firm nor vague, with some rougher pavement making it less quiet.  The transmission feels very much like a CVT, but a well behaved one.  Still, drivers with old school tastes can lament the absence of the very last slick shifting 8-speed automatic that came standard in the Camry.  I know I do.  However, the current CVT behaves well because it doesn’t have that “stuck” feeling when pushed, but the spool is more of an exhaust node than the winding out and high rpm droning caused by the variable gearing. The Camry’s exterior was freshened up and they worked off the last model.  It’s a compendium of small changes that, together, amount to a lot.  The front lights are narrower and cleaner.  The “appliance” grille is more understated than it once was.  (Sadly, it’s the more expensive versions where the grille is more flared, and even overworked.)  The rear lights are thinned out, complete with a boomerang effect, as they wrap around the rear fender edge and add to the horizontal look of the rear lip and the monolithic bumper panel.  Also, the almost retro, and not too effective, sweep of the rear pillar (think ‘72 Caprice coupe) is gone and the side profile of the windows is cleaner, perhaps a larger rendition of what was done with the Corolla.  Most of the vantage points look better than those of the previous Camry. Inside, the Camry is also much improved.  The dashboard is organized in cleaner volumes.  The dash has a simple main instrument pod.  In its center is a round dial, whereby the upper part displays the speed and eco/power, and the lower part, through toggling, provides other information – direction, tire pressure, trip information and mileage, or even graphics of the flow of energy involving the engine and the battery.  There is no dedicated tachometer; however, the temperature and fuel gauges remain.  Around the main circle are small digital readouts for the exterior temperature, the time, the odometer, and the remaining range.  Filling up this hybrid showed close to 500 miles of range.  Not only that, the fuel cap is on the driver’s side and, like the trunk, they can be remotely opened by buttons in the interior. That said, there is none of that capless fuel filler stuff! Being a Camry LE meant the lower grade fixtures inside.  Sadly, this meant a urethane steering wheel.  Sometimes, a mere leather steering wheel imparts the feeling of better handling and a smoother ride.  It’s that equipment choices and groupings seem to work together to give a vehicle its feel. The LE seats are nicely upholstered in a tougher, durable fabric with slightly contrasting parts.  The front headrests can scoot all the way down and they actually point forward so the driver and passenger can use them without having to lean their heads all the way back.  Headrests for rear seat passengers are integrated into the seating and do not have features to adjust them. The infotainment system is on its screen which is engaged to the dash, but moved slightly forward, and creates a cleaner look because it does not go up over the top of the cowl.  Fortunately, it remains a touch screen.  The functions are easy to work with, but I had a little bit of finicky interactions with Bluetooth and Android Auto.  Climate control has toggles instead of dials and they are easy to work with.  I will only say that the center vents of the climate control system do not work that quickly and powerfully.  Beneath this small panel are the cubby, a charging pod for a phone, and the flat console surface for the shift lever.  I found the console a little high for my taste.  Possibly to accommodate the new mechanical set-up, there is no storage cubby underneath the console as one sees on larger GM products, for example – both SUVs and even the last-gen Buick LaCrosse.  However, the console box is amply sized. In addition to being able to look over the hood, visibility is commendable all the way around.  Except for being a little shoehorned into the Camry’s cockpit, the front of the cabin feels spacious and the legroom is also good.  (I had to push the lever to get the seats to move upward, which provided a view over the top of the hood, as evidenced by seeing the paint color, and which I prefer.)  They have retained good cabin space in the rear of the cabin.  Also, the trunk has a decent amount of usable capacity for this genre and for having kept this sweeping roofline.  I again want to state how pleasing it was to control the trunk, in addition to the fuel door, from a bar of buttons on a panel at the lower left part of the dashboard rather than on the floor near the door.  There are 5 functions and they were thoughtful about putting the (auto) lights control onto this bar, and all the way to the left, such that it can easily be noticed from behind the steering wheel.  The new Camry shows a lot of thought as to how the driver connects to the car through its controls and functions, and this is one of the areas where this Camry shines. While I didn’t calculate fuel mileage, I know that I added only 3.5 gallons of regular unleaded fuel to cover one jaunt of about 160 miles of mixed driving.  This seems close to the EPA estimate. The little green EV icon shone quite a bit. I imagine that this is a very easy car to live with over the long haul.  For Camry, this powertrain is obviously a new combination, but it’s technology that Toyota and other Asian marques have worked with for quite a while.  I mostly took note that, apart from the major powertrain change, there is the evident synergy of the many small changes that make this a more nicely packaged vehicle than the last Camry. - - - - - PHOTOS FORTHCOMING
    • The BYD Han interior does look really good.  Shame the outside looks like a 2-generations-ago Civic.
    • No one cares about that amount of horsepower in this class. These are chauffeur driven vehicles. Up until electrics came around, most were trundling around with 2.0T 4-cylinders or diesels.  While Genesis is still relatively new to us in the the U.S., they've made such strides on interior quality that I'd put them up against MB dollar for dollar. The nicest of the Chinese EVs sedans, the NIO ET7 is a pretty good looking car though I kinda think it looks like a Model-3 had it's way with a Buick Envista. It would do really well in the US up against the Teslas, but it is still not playing in the luxury ballpark with Genesis (or Benz or Audi) when it comes to design and materials.  Low end EQE Sedan rival? Sure. G90 rival? No.
    • Well 25% tariff added to it, which makes a G90 like $125,000, and probably dead in the water in the US.  The Chinese have luxury cars with over 1,000 hp for less than the price of a G90.  I don't know that they are really going to compete there either.  Unless they come up with some  next gen EV tech and have full self driving and impeccable build quality or something.
    • The thing is that Panera offers a better laptop and hot drink environment than does Starbucks and they cash in on that.  It's "space rental." The tab for a HALF chicken avocado chipotle sandwich and a small CUP of baked potato soup (both good, not great) was absurd.  Coffee, tea, and lemonade are roughly the same. I go there because it's near a friend's condo and it's better for having a discussion than a fairly nice Starbucks nearby.  A Starbucks has to have an excellent interior for me to go there and pay their now crazy prices for coffee and tea.
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