G. David Felt

Bet a Fleet mgr would not turn down Uber or Lyft from buying them. Fusion Hybrid police package does make an interesting used auto purchase when they hit that magic 100,000 miles retirement point for the police department.

They are BIG FANS of the Predator Movies I think!

Cool New Taxi Options from Ford: https://www.autoblog.com/2018/06/14/ford-fusion-hybrid-taxi-diesel-transit-connect/ Fusion Hybrid with Cop suspension and brakes or a Diesel Transit Taxi. ?

So how would you justify the Polestar in comparison to the craptastic A to C class AMG versions. I think this kicks their ass.

Yea like everyone wants a crappy C, B or A class MB. Badge snobs with crap products is all that MB makes there in addition to the E-Class Taxi cab of the world with a 52% depreciation loss in the first 3 years.

What an ugly auto with a terrible dash. It is like they decided to pick pieces from everyone and throw it into the dash and call it good. You have the circle vents on the outside of the dash by the windows which remind me of Mercedes-benz, cheap rectangle vents in the center stack, the heat control section under the center vents says Ford to me but I cannot seem to remember which specific model I seen that control panel on. Weird, but it really is just a mess or design types with no flow and terrible quality. Bill is right on in that the Alfa line is a PASS for everyone as there are far superior products out there.

Agree, I think it would be very interesting to see from 2000 to 2017 a chart showing this level of detail on how the auto industry in all categories has gone. I think you would be right in seeing very small gains in the SUV/Truck segment compared to the car segment.

I was a take it or leave it on the streaks, never really cared about it, I loved the Vertical headlights and the Beak nose in the grill.

Yes true, but my bad I should have stated, EV and Plug-In Hybrid in CUV form. Ya know me all about the CUV.

Never understood how people lose their center cap? ? Just noticed that Monte has the T Top option. Sweet.

This Matte Green with the Matte gold rims actually works for me.

I totally agree with you that they will sell the shit out of the XT4 and the CT6 VSport was cool and move. But this was a chance to also put the Germans on Notice and surprise the rest of the auto world by showing off a Luxury EV Concept. I think we are all in agreement that Marketing of Cadillac and the rest of GM has really sucked and GM needs all the positive shocking wake up and take notice announcements. Maybe this is the fault of the ex leader of Cadillac being too slow and too focused on mimicking the Germans, but Cadillac should have a plug-in Hybrid and EV concept shown already and be working to have them out by Spring 2019. Just my feelings on this, I think Cadillac could and should have done much more.

As I posted in the Random thread, I think Porsche will have the SOUL of EV auto's for the German / European brands. I expect Mercedes-benz to be the poster child for ev excess of so many models but soulless and BMW will be just below them along with VW. Audi might get a little soul from Porsche in their EV auto's.

Totally agree that a lifted 2nd row would be better, it dawned on me that the SRX 2nd row of seats is theater style in the SRX's. I really like that they were a couple inches taller and slide back n forth for better comfort and room. All SUVs should have the 2nd row theater style seating. I wish Cadillac had delivered at the NY Auto Show this year. They shocked the world with the bolt and then built it, they should have had an EV auto out before MB or anyone else even the Jag iPace. Should have been showing off what is coming.

Totally makes sense, right now many feel comfortable in their job and security and are willing to give up MPG for room, comfort and space. Yet as the BP study seems to show, demand is increasing big all around the world and as such prices are rising across the board. I have to wonder if we have not seen the final days of low gas prices with the next wave of increases in gas to be permanent. ?

Porsche is promising a Soul for the Taycan, something Tesla seems to be missing! Latest RAMJET

bp-stats-review-2018-full-report.pdf https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/statistical-review-of-world-energy.html Here are the highlights from the BP Stats review of World Energy: Global energy demand accelerated in 2017 by 2.2 percent. A 17 percent gain in clean power such as solar and wind did little to offset the dominance of fossil fuels in the rapidly expanding global economy. Demand for hydrocarbons rose across the board, led by a 3 percent increase in natural gas consumption, the fastest since 2010. Demand for oil rose 1.8 percent, far more than in the previous 10 years. Use of coal increased for the first time since 2013, by 1 percent, driven largely by Indiaand China. The share of coal in power generation today remains around 38 percent, practically unchanged since 1997. The share of non-fossil fuels slightly dipped as nuclear power capacity shrank. Power generation accounts for over a third of carbon emissions. Carbon emissions grew last year by 1.6 percent, compared with little to no growth in the previous three years but still lower than average growth of 2.5 percent in the 10 years prior to 2014. Crude oil prices were the highest they've been since 2014. Thanks to shale oil, the United States overtook Saudi Arabia in 2017 to become the world's second-biggest oil producer behind Russia. In response to U.S. output, OPEC, Russia and other major oil producers reduced their global output by 1.8 million barrels per day to limit inventories and shore up prices. But U.S. production growth of 2 million barrels per day of oil and natural gas liquids since October 2016 offset a large part of those cuts. Renewable power generation accounted for half the growth of all Power Generation which raised global renewable power generation by 1% to 8.4% world wide. Cobalt production has only grown .09% in the last 12 months but prices have doubled compared to Lithium production increasing 6.8% with only a 37% increase in price. China and Japan grew their Nuclear Power Generation whil South Korea and Taiwan reduced theirs. Some very interesting data. Additional interesting read is by another site of this same report: https://www.autoblog.com/2018/06/14/bp-world-energy-report-oil-coal-renewables/ To quote their ending comment on this report that shows that things are not good in the energy sector and enjoy the prices as they are going back up for good. This story also points out the 1.6% growth in Greenhouse gases and how this is due to demand for power which is fueled by Coal. Dirty power. Quote: "This is the most startling passage in Bob Dudley's introduction to the 67th edition of the study: "Despite the huge policy push encouraging a switch away from coal and the rapid expansion of renewable energy in recent years, there has been no improvement in the mix of fuels feeding the global power sector over the past 20 years. Astonishingly, the share of coal in 2017 was exactly the same as in 1998. The share of non-fossil fuels was actually lower. ..." Interesting ?

Makes sense to offer an AWD option for the new ES, Dump the GS and refresh the IS as that is still a decent sellar.

Today, I took a lunch brake to walk the top of our roof at First and King St. in Seattle. We have two large areas for BBQ, eating, relaxing and enjoying the view. This is facing North East towards the Downtown core. This is facing Northwest over Puget sound.

Gotta Love this, HellCat Crate motor installed into Ram Rebel. http://www.trucktrend.com/how-to/engine/1806-ultimate-mopar-swap-installing-a-700hp-hellcat-crate-engine-in-a-2017-ram-rebel/

I agree that it does make sense especially a white auto that is a confusing color during the day to see. One would hope that the person could react fast enough if they were watching with hands on wheels, but I think that too many are lazy and willing to ignore their responsibility to pay attention.

Seems Skoda is setting track Records! https://www.motor1.com/news/247711/skoda-kodiaq-rs-nurburgring-record/ @balthazar Thought you would like this story on the 16 Russian made auto's. Some cool new and old stuff, but I think it is all old stuff. https://www.motor1.com/features/247900/soviet-cars-russia-world-cup/

Very cool story on 10 Forgotten Muscle cars that deserve to be restored. Love it. https://www.cheatsheet.com/automobiles/10-muscle-cars-deserve-restored.html/ Of the 10 on this list, which one if you could only pick one would you want to have?

Top 10 Fastest Depreciating Auto's I See Cars Study 4.1 million auto sales reviewed that became CPO resales and this gave I See Cars a clear picture of the top 10 auto's with the highest depreciation. In the Luxury segment, this led by BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-benz E-Class. iSeeCars 10 Best Bargains on Almost-New Vehicles Rank Car Avg. 3-Year-Old Used Price % Depreciation Depreciation Compared to Average 1 BMW 5 Series $ 30,846 52.6% 1.5 x 2 Volkswagen Passat $14,906 50.7% 1.4 x 3 Mercedes-Benz E-Class $34,010 49.9% 1.4 x 4 BMW 3 Series $24,024 49.8% 1.4 x 5 Ford Taurus $18,098 49.7% 1.4 x 6 Chrysler 200 $14,011 48.4% 1.4 x 7 Volkswagen Jetta $13,157 48.1% 1.4 x 8 Audi A3 $21,120 47.9% 1.4 x 9 Cadillac SRX $ 26,291 47.2% 1.3 x 10 Buick Enclave $26,620 46.8% 1.3 x Average for All Vehicles 35.0% 1.0 x According to their study, auto's on average after 3 years lose 35 percent of their value with Trucks being the best value holder at depreciating only 23.3 percent. Of the highest depreciation on the list is that 6 of the 10 auto's are german and they are on the list due to one very clear reason, extremely high repair costs that should make a potential buyer stop and think twice about buying them. Best value can be also had in auto's that are discontinued even if they are pretty solid auto's such as the Taurus and 200. Safety wise, I See Cars does point out that all the auto's on the list except for one are rated 5 out of 5 stars for crash safety. The Mercedes-benz is rated 4 out of 5. The study covers the following categories and is a worthwhile review if your looking for a solid CPO or New Driver first auto. Categories of the study: 10 Best Bargains on CPO auto's Best Bargains under $20K for Grads and New Drivers Best Bargains on CPO SUVs Best Bargains on CPO Trucks Best Bargains on CPO Minivans Best Bargains on CPO Luxury Autos I have to post the Luxury list as except for a single cadillac and Lincoln, the list is dominated by heavily depreciating German auto's and one Japanese car. iSeeCars Best Bargains on Almost-New Luxury Vehicles Rank Car Avg. 3-Year-Old Used Price % Depreciation Depreciation Compared to Luxury Average 1 BMW 5 Series $30,846 52.6% 1.2 x 2 Mercedes-Benz E-Class $34,010 49.9% 1.1 x 3 BMW 3 Series $24,024 49.8% 1.1 x 4 Audi A3 $21,120 47.9% 1.1 x 5 Cadillac SRX $26,291 47.2% 1.1 x 6 Mercedes-Benz C-Class $27,007 46.4% 1.0 x 7 Mercedes-Benz M-Class $34,628 46.2% 1.0 x 8 BMW 4 Series $31,196 46.2% 1.0 x 9 Acura TLX $22,319 44.5% 1.0x 10 Lincoln MKC $24,544 44.3% 1.0 x 11 BMW X5 $39,268 44.1% 1.0 x Average for Luxury Vehicles 43.4% 1.0 x Average for All Vehicles 35.0%

Morons are everywhere but these idiots take the cake.