regfootball

Must be because it's front drive....lol a5 sales surprise me. Otherwise if you took away the a4 Audi doesn't have much presence here in the USA. A6 used to sell huge around here. But then I think every other Luxo marque got AWD and audi's uniqueness was gone.

SRX may be a Cadillac Vue but 550 percent increase tells you all you need to know.

I'd like to see Lincoln do better. Ford is promoting 'Ford' so much, Lincoln's new product is getting lost in the shuffle. Look at those truck based explorer and expedition sales...... Ford has momentum. But Toyota does too?

I saw and touched and looked in the 9-5 at the local autoshow. Styling wise, it s unique. I think it lacks some presence, but that is seeing it stationary. Some vehicles take on a different presence in motion from a distance. The 9-5 might be one of those vehicles. I guess ultimately it makes sense for a Scandinavian car to not shout 'look at me'. While I may prefer more dramatic styling, it is possible th design will remain fresh longer, and it is unmistakable as a Saab. I like the 9-5 but it is slightly anonymous. It may not give the aura of a lux car and that may hinder it's ability to get higher transaction prices. The lack of a stick hurts. I think the center stack controls and buttons needs a redo. But other than that, I really like the 9-5. To comment on the a pillar and visibility. I drove the lacrosse. The a pillar is brought forward quite a bit. While it obstructs your forward view in your line of sight you are used to, you adjust. What you gain in return is a wider field of vision out the front part of the side window. It's a bit of a wash. I thought it was cool to see things out the side window I had never seen before. I think a driver can adjust.

The cobalt /hhr SS is one of the smoothest engines I know of. It's like buttah smooth.

keep in mind I think the fusion hybrid is on the Atkinson cycle. I've also driven the Escape 2.5 with auto6 and man5 and it's an equal to the ecotec. The ecotec revs freer and seems more lively. But basically the two engines IMO are a draw. The ecotec may be less thirsty in real world mpg but that is just my guess. The ford four is a little smoother seemingly in the escape than the fusion. I hope ford's next fusion excercises all of mazda6's crappiness out of the next gen.

I've driven the 2010 Fusion and Malibu each twice now. The Fusions have been sticks though. The Fusion before 2010 was not worth considering. Now its pretty good. My main beef with the Fusion is that the gauges are cheap and there's a little vibration that comes up through the floor. Overall the Fusion is pretty good now. The Malibu 6 speed hunts too much but so much to be a deal breaker. Power wise its probably a non issue. Both about the same. I think its really a matter of what your preference is based upon looks or whatever. The Malibu rides a bit too low for my tastes and has a fairly inconvnenient trunk. Neither is a deal breaker if the price is right. I prefer the Malibu's styling although the Fusion at least has nice door panels inside. Thing is, sit in and drive the new LaCrosse and Taurus and you'd pretty much would want to save up some more money to get one of those. FWIW the Altima with CVT is a smoother drive than the Malibu and Fusion but not by a lot. All the cars in this class are close. Just pick the one you like the styling and features. Either is a good car. the new ford 2.5 is as good or better.

that is the point though. Why sticker it at 31 if 7 grand in discounts is needed? Don't get me wrong, that is how I like to buy cars to save money. But again folks don't have the time to process incentives. They see a sonata limited for like 25. And wonder why an LTZ mal with less power and warranty is 5k more on the sticker.

I know but I wAs merely using it as an example that gm usually has too high msrps on all their stuff. If a g3 was 19k, a turbo Malibu would never msrp less than very high twenties.

There is complete and total merit to that. But cars are like real estate and homes. They only want to go by the information they can quantify and obtain quickly without brain damage. Hp is to cars jus like square footage is the easiest metric to classify a house. We all k ow you can have a 4000 sf house and it can not be as nice as a 3000 sF one. But if you are looking homes on the net and don't have time to search in detail he nuances of each home, then you are going to want a metric by which to judge it numerically and quickly. Like sf. Or hp. Or mpg. Or 7/100 instead of 3/36 or 5/60. Hey I am already tired of the hyundais shape too. But thing is that most buyers don't look at cars as much as we do. So they see something rakish that mocks a Lexus and it just happens to be a hot item right now. I was at he Hyundai dealer yesterday in fact becuase I wanted to test drive one and also a Tucson but the place was packed I could t even get anyone to help me. And I can tell you, they were all people who probably would shop Japanese brands by nature.

some G3's had MSRP's north of 19 or dang close. No turbo.

i hope you're right, but to be honest that turbo Aveo will be 21k, that turbo cruze will be 24k, and the turbo regal we already know will be 30k. Any Malibu with a turbo will be a higher trim level and will probably also hit 30k. Hyundai's turbo is coming soon for the Sonata, it will be of great interest to see how they package and sell that. The Volkswagen CC is a tish under 30k but GM likes to over MSRP their cars to leave slush room for incentives. The best actual guess one can make is the Malibu LTZ is 29-30k and if the turbo is a sub for the v6 in concept then any turbo Malibu will be minimum high twenties. Most Malibus these days go out the door closer to 20 than 30 so there will be very few Malibu turbos. Even the CObalt turbo was 25-26....with a stick. Pretty tough sell for a car that lots of dealers like to loss leader advertise at 16-17k after all 6 rebates now.......

i think the malibu has a chance to be a better driver. but by then, toyotathon will be hyundaiday, perception is reality, the malibu will need to be cheaper, prettier, have more warranty, nicer interior, more trunk and passenger space, all that. but if they can't even make a case on the spec sheet, then they may be DOA. I just think it would be a real advantage if this new one was stunning, and i know its just spy photos, but I cannot say from them there is a high probability of it being anything besides another anonymous 2012 midsize sedan. the interior had better be bangup. what was scary to me, when i was at the autoshow and saw the cruze in person, it is one sharp looking car. so at least we can hold hope that the malibu has some of that going for it as well....that is something that doesn't show the best in photos but looks a lot better in person.

and even so the malibu will be 2-300 pounds heavier. another strike. just sayin, the malibu has its work cut out for it. this new wrapper ain't gonna help its cause much. the toyota bangers are moving over to the hyundai showroom.....

98% of the buyers won't take the time to look at or understand the chart. they will compare the numbers in the brochures and see the deficit of hp and torque in real numbers. then they will see the cheaper price, longer warranty, and sleeker styling, more spacious and nicer interior of the hyundai. the chevy is nice, but....... the hyundai may not be a smooth engine, because i think its a long stroke design, but in that case GM needs to get butts in the seats of each car, something they usually couldn't do vs. camry and accord.

chevy family sedans sold in volume to value conscious customers won't have the expensive turbos. GM is so f@#king cheap they can't even put aluminum wheels on an LT Malibu right now. Or a base LaCrosse. Or rubbermaid plastic on the door panels inside. Something that Ed should fix right away.

Not sure how you can suggest that when the hyundai has the most hp AND the best mpg. And. Sleeker styling. (better warranty and cheaper price too)

ah, the numbers prove that the current bu indeed is too narrow, like it looks. a good size for a car in this class is 6 x 16 feet. i.e. 72x192. 110 inches is a good wheelbase. 58 inch height is good.

this this. i would say its a reasonable evolution of the current one, at the same time it breaks no new ground. this is anonymous where the current one is iconic and unique. it won't stand out and it does nothing daring. it won't be a lasting design on the market, it'll already be a bit dated when it hits. for me, if it solves the malibu's functional issues (small trunk, cramped in spots inside, cheap interior, additional refinement), then we may be ok. its almost like they are trying to breed a cross between the current malibu, the current jetta, and the current accord. problem is the market moves fast. if the 012 malibu has a four year run even, that means this design will be through 2015 and i really think this will be stale long before that. give them credit for committing to keeping current, i guess. this looks better than the patent drawings for sure. that Brendy Priddy sure must be like a hawk to get these shots. Of course, they might have been staged........for the publicity.... if chevy thinks a 169hp four will be adequate for the engine for this in 2012, then i think they are mistaken. I'd really like to see something a little more ground breaking in this segment pretty soon. Its pretty bad when Hyundai is taking the most risks in the segment.

The best times I ever saw on a northstar equipped bonneville was mid sevens.

i am not sure the CTS wagon will last long. Of course, if the CTS wagon doesn't then I don't think we'd see a G8 one. We still might see the Regal wagon too..... The ATS based Pontiac would need to sell at a price within reach of a young demographic, but not be available to everyone like a chevy would be. As far as a Buick coupe, I'd really prefer it be on Epsilon so as not to be confused with any future Pontiac product. The LaCrosse is a pretty good car, I've driven it, I would even buy one if the price were right. I really like the LaCrosse. In fact, the LaCrosse I drove was a more refined car than the G8 v6 I drove a couple years ago. Hopefully Holden fixed the junkiness on that car's powertrain and NVH. My point is that Buick is well served with the refinements to the Epsilon platform. Buick might benefit from a park avenue on zeta, but it really wouldn't sell that much. It just depends if they want a halo car or not. Saturn fans shouldn't get their shorts in a bind. Their time is done. Now that Chevy doesn't have to compete for resources for cars in volume segments with Saturn and Pontiac, GM fans should be optimistic that Chevy's product will be much improved and fresher and more competitive across the board. For that reason, I am fine with mst of Pontiac being laid to pasture, but bringing back an ATS pontiac and a Zeta pontiac I think would be fine. Saturns customer service savvy needs to be applied to Chevy. We want Chevy to get the best resources. Chevy is the one that can sell the Camaros, and we want them to still be around. A Hummer H3T passed me yesterday. Now that is a cool truck! I am actually mad that has to go away.. SUPER COOL! To be honest, anyone who hopes for a Pontiac return, the only chance is if Holden still keeps producing its own design and large RWD chassis. If there were no future Zeta replacement platform, then Caddy will just make one version of its ATS rather basic to keep the price down and accessible to those who would otherwise be interested in a Pontiac ATS. If if the Commodore still goes its own way, then i think the chances of a Pontiac revival with at least two cars instead of just one might have legs.

fusion S has alum wheels. Fusion SE has larger wheels but they are steel wheels with hubcaps. Malibu forces you into hubcaps pretty much across the board. the LS malibu hubcaps are better to look at than the fake chrome ones on the LT, but neither are really desirable. GM should give you an option for alum, like they do on the Lacrosse CX. and they wonder why people develop opinions of their products as cheap.

another i would add is an ATS based Solstice.. 2 seater only. Buick needs a Riviera, but that should be four place. Cadillac IMO should also get a new vette based XLR as well. And do a better job with it this time.

I've been thinking about this. I think Pontiac is in hiding. They pulled Pontiac because the task force told them they needed to. But also, it gives Pontiac time away from the market to get all the inexpensive G3 / G5 / G6 / Chevy and Saturn clones out of people's minds. Pontiac if it exists in the future will need to have high transaction prices. We all know that Zeta down under is likely to undergo revisions, lose weight, more refinement. I personally think all wheel drive needs to be added. I think it may be a 2012 or 2013 when the Commodore sees a revision if it doesn't go Epsilon (and I don't think the Aussies will allow it to). We also know the ATS in under development. We also know the Torana or a concept of it is too good to die on the vine. I think at some point when the GM financial picture clears up and the IPO happens and the government gets out of it.....I think we may just very well see Pontiac resume as a niche brand here in the US, as a complement to GMC and Buick again. I don't think we'll ever see Pontiac try to dupe on Chevy's turf again (sorry, no Trans Am) and I think maybe this is why the Impala is not being changed to a rebadged G8. I think we'll see Pontiac return from hiding at some point but I do think the offering will be simple. Most likely just the new G8 / Commodore, and a version of the ATS.....in sedan and hopefully coupe. I wouldn't see Pontiac ever expanding from that again, nor should they. Two RWD / AWD platforms and new revised G8 and whatever vehicles they spin off the ATS platform. I really don't think GM can justify a whole platform for the ATS alone, and I have my doubts that the next Camaro will happen sooner rather than later. I see the Camaro getting a complete new interior by about 2012 or 2013, so therefore I see GM prolonging the life of their best styling job. Its so iconic, I don't see them moving off it for a long time, so I don't see a new Camaro on the ATS platform till maybe 2015 myself. GM will want to amortize the current Camaro as much as possible and fix the interior in the meantime. The next Camaro may ride the ATS platform, but by then they will be able to charge a lot of the development money off Cadillac, and to wait means having access to the ATS platform when it is cheaper later on down the line. The question I have for fans is, would that satisfy a return of the marque with only 2 platforms and what is basically the G8 and then to add another range of models? I actually would prefer to see the G8 wagon return in this scenario and I also would like to see a return of the G8 GXP. I don't foresee Pontiac returning to 'G' monikers. I think we'll get names back, if they do bring it back...i.e. Grand Prix, etc.

wow, nice rig. personally, i f-c-ing hate pinstripes. I am not ever sure why people pinstripe vehicles these days. makes my blood boil.