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riviera74

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Everything posted by riviera74

  1. riviera74
    Smk4565, that vehicle looks a LOT like the Chevy Avalanche/Cadillac Escalade ESV that used to be on sale a couple of years back, but was cancelled because of poor sales. Mercedes is not the only one who can go over the top if the ideas are valid.
  2. riviera74
    In general, right to work can be better in most cases. Especially where such labor is easily found and/or replaceable. Our UAW and CAW have not truly accepted that concept just yet, and neither have unions in our public sector. By domestic standards, German unions are among the strongest and most stubborn worldwide. If Germany is not careful, they may not have much to export other than manufacturing prowess to the USA and elsewhere ---- along with the factories that will leave the Old World too.
  3. riviera74
    Can we at least wait for the XT3 to be released? It is true the Cadillac looks like it is behind because of current sales trends, but budgets, time constraints and limited resources all take their toll. Without the Escalade, Caddy would have a Lincoln-sized funding gap problem. It wan not that long ago that Caddy was simply not competitive in the luxury space and a lot of bad decisions led to inferior product. The Germans and Lexus have made so few mistakes in the last 25 years or so that Cadillac looked really bad. As far as I can tell, Cadillac has largely escaped its worst days and will be fully competitive within five years or so. The XT5 (and CT6) are proof of that. The XT3 will be more proof once released. You could say that the best thing about Cadillac is Chevy, since unlike Mercedes Caddy does not have to appease the non-luxury market anywhere. Cadillac is going in the right direction and it will be just fine in 2020 or so. No need to panic.
  4. riviera74
    Damage control is nice. But, as always, there will be factory closures and lost jobs in Europe for one simple reason: the sales are not there. Sooner or later (my over/under is three years), the European auto market will really shrink because the sales are not there and there has been excess capacity for YEARS. The only problem is that no auto company (GM, PSA, VW, FCA, Ford etc.) want to be first to shutter a factory, whether it is the UK or France or especially Germany. Economically speaking, much of Western Europe has not fully healed from the Great Recession and the Euro is a straitjacket. Somebody has to just say: we are done supporting this economic farce and we are done. Too bad Europe makes it really hard to close failing businesses since that is what they need, just because their citizens fear losing a lot of jobs.
  5. riviera74
    A major difference in the US corporate environment and Europe's corporate environment is bankruptcy law. Here you can reset (see GM in 2009 and its use of Section 363); in Europe bankruptcy tends to mean liquidation and a whole LOT of lawsuits since BK is about revenge not just money. If it is as bad as hyperv6 says it is for the people of Europe to think this way (i.e. excessive socialism AND a ridiculous sense of entitlement from corporate Europe), then much of corporate Europe should move a whole lot of their operations (not just a few factories) to the USA to save a whole lot of bother. I doubt they will (unless Congress and the current administration end corporate taxation). If I were running a European multinational, I would certainly consider a move to the USA as a lower-cost, less-regulated place to do any and all business and let the Old World deal with the consequences of no jobs and a very nasty recession to go along with the BK of their socialism and their governments.
  6. riviera74
    Drew, why should GM BUY PSA? The auto market in Europe has too many brands and too much capacity given low and falling sales. GM has been leaving unprofitable markets ever since Mary Barra has been CEO, which is a good thing. The European market will be in an auto recession before we are here in the USA. Even though a lot of R&D is in Europe, that is NOT where the $$$ is. If and only if auto capacity were cut in half, the auto market would begin to fully recover from the the last eight or nine years. Opel may have its place, but shuttering planes in Germany is extremely difficult, especially compared to the USA. Better to let PSA and VW fight over a shrinking market than play (and lose $$) in this space. As for killing Pontiac and Oldsmobile, the problem was that there were simply too many brands given a US market share of less than 30%. If it was 1990 or earlier, both could be kept because they added to the bottom line. I miss Olds but I have accepted that GM survival was more important, especially when GM ended Pontiac and Saab and Saturn and Hummer. GM could not be what it was 25 years ago because of the Japanese and the Korean automakers period. Same with MB, BMW and VW. CEO Barra understands something we all should be cognizant of: smaller and more profitable (and higher free cash flow) is better. No need to be huge and lumber towards a possible liquidation. Remember what happened to Chrysler after 1998, and the current fate of FCA points to a long-term end.
  7. riviera74
    The internet can do a lot of things, but it cannot abolish agency laws that protect dealer monopolies. Bypassing those is harder than it looks.
  8. riviera74
    How will China NOT survive a trade war (or zero access) to the US market? This is NOT 1979. China is in better shape than anytime in the last two or three centuries. They may have a problem or three but I am sure they can survive without trading with the USA just fine. They did just that for centuries. The problem with trade wars is that they tend to beget real wars, as in mobilized armies preparing to invade other countries. Our war against Japan (in the 1940s) started with an embargo against selling oil to Japan back in the 1930s, admittedly to protest their militarism in the western Pacific and much of East Asia. Trump seems to think that this is a game. He may be grossly underestimating their resolve---and overestimating our ability to withstand such massive unnecessary economic pain to make a point against one of our largest trading partners. Running trade policy as if we are trying to restore Detroit to 1950s greatness is a fool's errand. Such blatant protectionism is wrongheaded on its face and very misdirected. Instead, we should be wedging China's borders open to MORE American goods and services, not cut ourselves off completely.
  9. riviera74
    How many cars in Europe even have v6 engines in them?
  10. riviera74
    Two questions: do GM cars use Apple or Android for their maps? If not, then how can anyone best avoid a NAV system without sacrificing features and amenities in a GM vehicle?
  11. riviera74
    Amen Dfelt. Maybe GM should mandate the Saturn (dealer) model across all current GM vehicles. It sure would raise customer satisfaction.
  12. riviera74
    It is a bright idea. Dealer franchise laws do need to go. Cadillac can survive if not thrive on about 500 dealers. The little guys need to disappear.
  13. riviera74
    Why would anyone turn an Impala into a crossover or wagon these days? How would Chevy justify the Equinox?
  14. riviera74
    Maybe GM will fix all issues with the Cascada either next year or the year after. That 4cyl has to go though, since it is as weak as any motor as they always push in displacement-constrained European markets.
  15. riviera74
    So nobody wants to buy a midsize car, and every automaker is making cash hand over fist with crossovers and SUVs. Maybe every automaker should move their midsize car production to Mexico and pocket the difference. Ford already does with their Fusion.
  16. riviera74
    Is this LT1 being used today? And in which models?
  17. riviera74
    Cmicasa, I agree that the Impala should be on Omega and essentially replace the SS (or create an Impala SS trim level and make us proud). Your ideas on the CT5 should also be implemented ASAP. I personally find it sad that it seems that everyone is running for the CUV (and even sadder that consumers wish to buy or leas them). It reminds me of the SUV craze of 1991-2008. When driving around town, it is increasingly difficult to see around anybody because they all insist on driving in a CUV or an SUV.
  18. riviera74
    While I do agree with you, what is the reason people should take the extended warranty if purchased instead of the debit card? I know from elsewhere that leased customers will only receive the debit card.
  19. riviera74
    A lot of large corporations are pursuing the idea that courts are to be replaced with mandatory arbitration, especially in the technology sector. Since you seem to believe that tort reform is the answer to this and other issues, are you willing to push for mandatory arbitration? Just remember that mandatory arbitration is completely biased in favor to those who pay the arbitrator, and very seldom said arbitrator is pro-plaintiff.
  20. riviera74
    Count me in for the Cadillac XT5 as a substitute for the Jeep GC Edition. The interior is fab, but I must admit I would NOT use plum for the seats. I forget which GM car it was, but the Cocoa Brown spoke to me much more than that plum.
  21. riviera74
    What does Cadillac mean to me? I think the better question is: why should a luxury auto buyer buy Cadillac over Lexus and the Germans? Solve that riddle and Cadillac will do even better than ever.
  22. riviera74
    IOW, Chrysler still can't build GOOD Small Cars since the 1970s. Good Midsizers have eluded them since around 1990.
  23. riviera74
    OK. Then why does anyone buy Dodge trucks or Ram trucks at all when Chevy/GMC is obviously better?
  24. riviera74
    I would say that this may well be the real economic issue of our times: who's economy is it anyways? The 1% decided about 40 years ago that loyalty to maximum profit shall tower above all else. Don't believe me? Head to Youngstown OH after September of 1977 ---- after six steel mills shut down with NOTHING to replace them. Then look at the decline of all the factory towns since then, especially those that have found no real alternative to being a factory town. You see discontent (if not anger) over all sorts of things because the USA MFG sector is about a third of what it was in 1970 and MFG employment is about a tenth or even less, compared to 45 years ago. The typical economist answer is to change jobs and skill sets, but what if you cannot afford the education required to be a computer coder or a nurse? What about your children? As much as anyone likes to reminisce about a particular time (for me it is the 80s not the 70s), those times have passed. Those who say that we have unfair trade agreements with China may have a point. Free trade with developing nations has sent a whole lot of otherwise domestically based jobs overseas because they have (once very) cheap labor and the fairly rapid rise of automation (especially in the last 25 years or so). The working class need to make a living, not live under near-impoverished conditions. The underclasses need that even more so. What they see is rising costs and stagnant or falling wages combined with the fact that many of them are increasing unemployable. The question I have is simple: what is to be done and how can we get that done? I have no answers for this set of economic problems, simply because I don't know. By the way, I personally would rather live now than 30 or 40 or 60 years ago. What many see as difficulties can become (with the right ideas and execution) long-term opportunities.
  25. riviera74
    Which nations need RHD anyway?
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