regfootball

I think manufacturers had some models they hoped would sell more, become niche sellers, like a Taurus. But hello, the Taurus was fresh in 2010 so you have to change models much more quickly than 8 years or whatever. Mfr's have to act faster to keep up with hot sellers and so I think they want to trim number of models and put more resources into nailing volume segments. Or segments with more margin, or both. Still, as always happens, gas goes up in price, the market changes, and then customers respond. We got the new Focus and new Cruze in 2011/2012 and all the luxury compact cars. People embraced those and now after an ownership cycle of pricey gas and stagnant economy, we have cheap gas and good economy and so people want to buy Expeditions and pickups again. Bob Lutz i think said people will buy as large as they can afford and that is CUV's, trucks and SUV's because big sedans are taboo. Aging population, no one wants to bend down to get into and out of cars, this also why sedans are losing sales. Not everyone wants an SUV but it is true part of the reason for SUV / CUV sales is the easy to get into factor. 20 years ago, not many choices for taller sitting vehicles. Now its more the norm and more people are making the choice for it. "Sonic, Cruze, Impala, Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, Taurus, 300, Charger, Lacrosse, CT6, Volt" those are all cars with limited interior space or they are low riders that people don't want to get into and out of. Just by that nature the numbers would go down if still on the market. We can be simplistic and merely say if Chevy pulls the Impala, the Blazer is really it's replacement. Ford will lose Fusion and Taurus but now the Edge may just double in volume. Compact CUV's give the illusion of space due to sitting high but their cargo holds with seats up are actually not equal to many sedans. I see where compact SUV segment tops out in sales and the Blazer, Edge Murano segment gets cheaper access to entry and more market volume. This is a segment too where A Buick is needed, a 2 row version of the Enclave / Enspire whatever. Note Honda recognizes this and has the Passport. 2 row larger crossovers without the third row.

Cadillac should be ALL IN on the 3.0tt . I did drive a CTS recently with the 3.6 that actually surprised me, smooth and quiet. So i can't figure out why so many of the other GM's I have tested recently with the 3.6 weren't as smooth and quiet as the CTS.

The domestics all basically abandoning the affordable products is their first step to the graveyard. And they don't really care. I look for Hyundai and Kia to make big gains in the next ten years and take over most of the affordable segments.

Driven: 2018 Buick Regal Sportback GS 3.6 AWD and Regal TourX Essence 2.0t AWD Prior review thread worth reading of 2018 Regal Sportback here. So I won't get too deep into here, I'll try to add on what is notably different or of relevance. REGAL GS HIGHS: -sexy look for the GS package -feature laden, the GS package is, heated and cooled seats with memory, heads up display, etc. Lots of content. -v6 for those that don't want a 4 cylinder. -Manual mode with the shifter is delightfully simple, slide to left, tap up / tap down. Explains why no need for paddle shifters, which using the lever is much easier in this car. 9 speed tranny is really good as well. -Love the thick rim flat bottom steering wheel. -All the efficient space and packaging benefits of the sportback. LOWS: -Heavy, heavy. Strangely porky compared to its FWD platform mates. The v6 plus AWD pays the price with extra heft. -V6 has nice specs, and can be quick, but doesn't feel like a great powertrain. Engine is not engaging or super smooth, nor does it have an endearing sound quality. Lack of turbo also means not a big thrust unless you wind it up. Throttle response is ok but it really doesn't like to rev. It's better as a cruiser. -Can't really feel much of anything different when sport mode is turned on. -Nothing really great about the steering and handling. Sure its a bit sportier and quicker and has decent feel. But there's nothing there to suggest sports sedan. It's just an appearance package like the old Bonneville SSE. -Can't turn off autostop -Needs a power hatch, especially with all the extra kit elsewhere in the GS package. Plus the wagon, it's available. -Design your seats for your likely buyers, which is white older men in the midwest. We are large and wide. These seats are too narrow and the bolsters too much for a cornfield state cruiser (you didn't tune your handling and powertrain for a sports sedan, so why the seats?) -heads up display is initially hard to get used to and a bit gimmicky. Maybe it takes an adjustment, but with the gauge displays so fancy nowadays, not sure this has huge benefit. May have to use this feature again more. -interior of the Regal, as has been said in many reviews online, could stand to be better overall. SUMMARY: It's good that Buick doesn't expect to sell a lot of these. It's a nice option to have this car, but the execution is consistent with the online reviews that are out there for this car. It's really a Regal with v6 and AWD and a lot of features. It's not all of a piece, it's not German, it's not a performer (although it does scoot a bit, it just isn't exciting in any way). At the end of the day, it looks cool and has 2 more cylinders than the plain Regals. It's really just a tarted up highway cruiser like the old Pontiac GT's and SSE's. This particular rig was a GM exec car, so what that means is they are not selling, and so a GM lifer gets to drive it for 3 months or whatever and then it hits the used market. Perhaps had GM put a twin turbo six into it and dialed it in for superb chassis and not just good cruiser chassis I think they would have been on to something. I just don't think they are committed to marketing this Regal line so it was far easier to just package it up like they did here. The 3.6 is underwhelming in this application here like it can be in other products. In a Traverse its more of character. Here it's just not suited to the part of performance car. Doesn't stimulate the senses or feel like a great powertrain in any way. Add to it the indifferent chassis and heft and you just don't get awesome for the dollar here. I think if Buick lightened the feature list a bit, kept the sexy body work, and put in the AGR seats of the Euro Regal and the great brakes, flat bottom wheel....on a FWD chassis with some great tuning and a hopped up 2.0t, they'd have something that may sell a few more copies. Simply call it 'Sport Touring'. We don't need an AVENIR. I don't think there is much effort being put into anything on the Buick side for marketing at GM these days. I may be perceived as harsh here but I would give the GS Regal a C+. Mainly just due to styling and feature content. Eventually I'll get my TourX notes up here. I like the TourX, but it's not super different than the Sportback. The extra cargo area is nice, the AWD does add some heft and it feels a bit less quick than the FWD Sportback. The big moonroof is a huge win in my book. I would love to see a FWD Regal wagon with GS style bodywork here in the US, I think that would be the winner of the Regal offerings for me.

I agree, Cadillacs should all be forced induction. Love the pics and the review and the review video! Cadillac is so foolish if they kill this car. And i don't think they will. I think they will bring it from China. They've done enough fixes that the car deserves to live. They need to price and package it for more sales volume. Your comments about the 3.6 are interesting. I tested a Regal GS this weekend and didn't like the 3.6, didn't like it in the LaCrosse either. Most GM's with the 3.6 I can't like much. But I am intrigued by how you say this CT6 performs.

a lot of this recent GM and probably Ford bullshit. They clearly want to shed US production, and keep digging into the union contracts. That's probably why Ford initially killed the Ranger back when, at least part of it. Now they are bringing it back. GM can kill making the Cruze and other vehicles here, Ford can kill Fusion and Focus. Rid the market of such things for awhile, then bring the products back and stealthily have choice of making it elsewhere. There is a part of this that is political also. Like it or not, they want to hold this over Trumps head for the 2020 election. Get started on shaping public opinion now. "This is Trumps fault". They want their voter base that switched in 2018 to 'switch back' for 2020. GM's 'bailout' in 2009 had so many strings, one of which was bow to the CAFE altar, spend tons of $$$ of EV's (curiously without any product to show besides the Volt and Bolt and nothing to challenge Tesla) and dump all sorts of coin into autonomous technologies (which someday will make government control of your transportation device and surveil you). Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, gone. Cars with power, gone (Unless you pay dearly). Now GM spends more time worrying about PR, social media, autonomous vehicles, etc. They ignore their traditional base a lot of the time, and can't keep up fast enough with new products. This really would have been a good time to replace Barra, and concentrate on product again. By that, I mean more and better choices, better gasoline engine powertrain development, and at least getting real competition for Tesla if they want to think they are part of the EV game. Fix Cadillac, try to keep market share elsewhere and gain it, not cede it.

until i see lots happening in building convenient and fast charging networks, this is great PR.

They're the only ones who make all wheel drive vehicles ya know

wow, it took them this long to arrive at 'DUH'?

1 YEAR VANNIVERSARY! over 17,000 trouble free miles. Have fixed two tires for screws in both, maybe i better consider getting a spare. Had a couple recalls done along the way. The Apple Carplay is not working now after a phone update. Shop says unpair phones and retry. Haven't gotten that to work yet. Aside from this, Carplay was working almost flawlessly, especially compared to the Malibu I drive, where it only works 1/2 the time. This could be the best vehicle we have had. The nerdiness of a minivan eats at me when i drive it, but as far as vans go, its the most stylish, and IMO the nicest drive. It's a shame there is not a large crossover and large sedan on this chassis as well. Not everyone wants a Jeep or Ram, tell that Sergio up in the clouds. The pentastar v6 is AWESOME, GM only wishes their 3.6 was as smooth and responsive. Gas mileage in normal weather and normal 10% ethanol tainted gas is 22-24 combined everyday driving. On trips 25 is easy to get, we have gotten 27, 28, and 30 also. Even loaded, the van has balls and cruises effortlessly and passes well, north of 70 mph. The 9 speed tranny will rarely engage 9th, but miracles do happen and it does sometimes. That actually makes a diff on FE. The twist knob is quite functional and space efficient in a van, but i admit a small gearshift lever would be my preference, if it were a daily driver. They need to add some way to enable manual gear control. I think the console works ok but wish it had 4 cupholders in front and I wish the whole console was a bit more practical. Still, not egregious. The fold down armrests are nice, but again for a daily driver I would prefer a typical full console and nice big wide armrests. The front seats are really comfy and supportive and fit my wideness quite well. The opposite is the case in my Malibu, which has flimsy, narrow, insubstantial seats (with a lumbar bag that cuts into your back). The rear sto N go are indeed a compromise for seats when it comes to adults, but if we get another of these I may look at the 8 passenger config, which has a full armrest between the seats and would add a lot of comfort back into the second row. The Sto N go is totally worth it, you may only use it a few times, but when you do the small tradeoff in seat comfort is worth it for the cargo flexibility. The main screen and UConnect is large and looks great and is easier to use than the GM stuff I've been in recently including my Malibu. Something egregious is that the seat and steering wheel heat controls are only on the screen. They really do need to have their own buttons on the dash. The Autostop works well, it waits just a bit when stopped before it shuts off. ANd its much quieter about that, stopping and starting, again than the Malibu. Plus, having the switch on the dash to turn off the Autostop is AWESOME. I use that 30-50% of the time. I felt guilty getting it, and I didn't think we needed it, but the huge moonroof is AWESOME. It's been flawless and it really brightens up the inside of the car. The shade part does a great job blocking the sun when you don't want it. I'm spoiled now, I really wish my car had this big moonroof. Now I am thinking a Regal TourX with the big moonroof over a sportback with the small roof may be the way to go. Really sucks it seems like they are trying to kill off Chrysler........

I've warmed up on the Escala, if GM actually built it to look like the show car.

as usual per Mazda, all talk and no go. Replete with a Japanese style imitation BMW interior.

Hyundai Sonata level 2 (SEL) and level 3 (Sport) trim has ----heated---- leather wrap wheel standard. SE trim is comparable to Chevy LS trim. Neither the SE or LS do, and that makes sense. When the competition starts to outspec you, and sell at equal or lower prices (with longer warranties in this case as well), it is easy to see why GM loses market share. Their management doesn't want to address it, they just choose to jack up MSRP's or close plants. The Sonata has blind spot and cross path standard on all trims. Again, GM, even on Cadillacs, makes you get expensive pacakges or trims to get what lowly Hyundai gives you standard. Auto high beams is a feature everyone should have in their standard list for most trims by now too. It makes more sense to include the stuff for customers and those who don't want it can simply not use it. But if buyers see it as a feature to look for when buying new, they will make decisions based on it.

^^^^^ they've done that now on the Malibu. The leather wrap went away on the standard LT. The RS gets one, but not an option for heated cloth seats. Heated cloth seats and dual zone now standard on the LT Malibu. BUT YOU CAN'T CONFIGURE IT WITH CLOTH AND A LEATHER WHEEL ON THE LT TOGETHER. The RS trim that will appeal to young and sporty buyers and no moonroof optional on that trim. Who are are the useless dipshits at GM? I would love it if they could contact me personally and explain some of this stuff. Like Buick Regal preferred 2 with cloth seats a heated steering wheel is standard but you can't get factory heated seat. WTF, idiots. I mean, really Mary. I can see leaving off the leather wrap wheel on the LS Malibu, but to save 15 bucks of cowhide on the LT version is really flat out comical. Actually, the fact that on many GM models you have to pay EXTRA for packaged bundled just to get simple blind spot and cross path detection. Even on some Cadillacs. How misguided are the planning folks over there? Safety systems included are a big chance to steal sales from other makers. Nope, GM don't care. Toyota can build a bland limp compact sedan and sell the shit out of them, GM wants to be a world player and they can't do something simple and basic like that anymore. GM has gone astray, think of all the lost opportunities, a real Tesla competitor, a new commercial van chassis, small commercial vans like Ford Transit, on and on. And they can't even do a small car anymore. Schooled by Hyundai, Toyota etc.

Sad deal is, the Cruze now, apart from needing a little more go juice is a pretty good small car. And definitely better than a corolla. It’s irritating to see corolla get new duds and Cruze get hammered. If Chevy has out a sexy front end on the current Cruze I think it’s fortunes would be different. 30K sticker prices don’t help either. When the current Cruze is done and used ones with 20k miles are available for cheap, and gas goes to 5 bucks a gallon like IT WILL. That Cruze will be a good buy for your college kid or a second car for the household.

This vehicle intrigues me but the turbo should really be a much better engine than you suggest... why did they mess it up so bad

Probably truth but now with tariffs and such, and just image wise I think the top sedan coming from China is problematic. I think Cadillac could still manage 30-40k volume on the CT6 a year in the US once the XTS is gone and then realign the trims.

I still don't buy that the CT6 is being discontinued. If so, Cadillac is fully to blame for how they have packaged and priced the car. But apart from that, they have now created the sweet v8 for that car and they will announce either a production move to China or will stage a dramatic PR plant rescue for the car here in the states. Again, the collateral damage of Cadillac not having a big sedan to me means Cadillac becomes a crossover heavy company with no essence. Might as well shut it down. When does Mercedes get rid of the S Class? Not yet. Aside from that, you might as well put it in the Escalade. If they put it in the CT5 or CtS replacement whatever it is, it's a completly useless proposition to the market if they don't give it all wheel drive. If their plan is to only make it RWD in the CT5 than Cadillac's braintrust is on to the next level of stupidity, surpassing the overall level of GM stupidity for the last 10 years or so.

Size is always the issue in this class. Which is what Subaru, Volkswagen, others learned. GM defined this segment with the Lambdas (and subsequently shot themselves in the foot with a downsized Acadia). Current Traverse still the ideal size. Palisade is a 3 row new Sante Fe, so the Sante Fe is nicely large but the Palisade maybe doesn't add much more real space despite the third row. Hyundai will credit / finance anyone and can manufacture cheap payments.... so this may allow access to the third row market that some buyers previously did not have.

now, something with 250hp or so, as an option.

Is Ford going to show the Explorer yet or is that saved for Detroit?

honestly, RWD platform, 400hp v6, nice styling inside and out, this is an unexpected big win for Lincoln and Ford. And it will fund the next cop car/SUV chassis. My op of Ford is down the last few years but they did good with this one. May make the Cadillac XT67 look like crap possibly if it is lacking 400hp or a good dynamic chassis or LAVISH interior.

dealer that i got my car from has called me three times now this month to dangle out a special private offer of 1000 bucks to try get me to get into a new vehicle (8 months sooner). the sales downtown i assume is the motivation. but tell me this, why should i aspire to your vehicles, GM, when you package simple and common safety equipment like blind spot and cross path detection, that is standard on a lot of mainstream cars on other makes, but you choose to bundle into optional expensive trim packages, even on your Cadillac brand? You puff up your MSRP's to ridiculous levels that literally price out buyers before they can even muster courage to spend more than 90 seconds looking at pricing data to discover all the hidden and constantly changing incentives buried below the surface? Vehicles that would sell much better if the pricing and packaging models weren't so stupid? And GM, you spent the last ten years downsizing many of your vehicles and leaving a lot of folks with lesser powertrain options as well. Poor packaging and bad styling, who can't you own up to that rather than throw out the 'we'll close our plants' (used primarily to stake out ground vs. the union for future labor negotiations). And you do this why? So you can spend all this money on autonomous vehicles and electrics, techonology that should be funded on its own payback rather than raiding the pot from your normal product development budgets? When you could use that same money to develop real competition to challenge a lot of the current hot market sellers?? GM could have easily outTesla'd Tesla and made Tesla their bitch, but they didn't seize that opportunity when it was there. But i bet you they spent a shit load of money in development with nothing from a product standpoint to show for it. Where's the accountability to GM managment to pissing away all this money and having no product that showcases that, to make all that money back? Makes you wonder if some unwritten terms of the buyout wasn't to commit all sorts of resources to that 'unbillable' development work to be shared with the government or others.

Stuff I've seen suggests the CT5 surely won't be any larger inside than the CTS, excepting perhaps a little more knee room around a less obtrusive console. The styling based on spy pics doesn't suggest a game changer or even something improved. Large sedan is Cadilac's DNA. If the CT6 goes away, quite simply, they are f---ed. CT6 will replace their XTS volume if they repackage their trims and sell enough of them in non platinum 90k plus trim levels. This simply honors the fact that Cadillac can't sell at absurd transaction prices like the Germans, and that enough of their showroom product has to sell in lower lux tier volume prices to keep the dealerships doors open. I'll even go a bit further and suggest the people running GM don't even care 2 shits about the product. It's old lore that GM was run by bean counters but the influence of performance did come through. GM is so diluted in crap these days I don't think most at the top give a shit if GM doesn't fade into being Hyundai or Toyota. GM is more concerned with social media, PR, autonomous driving, electrics, than product. Show me any of the top tier execs who flex their muscle to fight for anything besides Corvette and Camaro, which may be all they are given the ability to even keep.

By (enough) performance car (choices) for the average Joe, I refer to say, a midsize sedan --with sport suspension---, that may hit say a 5.5 to 7.0 second 0-60, that sell for a mid level price. Not just burying the larger motor in a more expensive trim and options package, Regal GS is a great example. Hey, we'll sell a v6 Regal, but it will only be stickered at 44,000. Or the 2.0 only being available in Malibu with the full on Premier trim. At least Dodge offers the Charger with a v6. Honda's Accord Sport package is maybe one of the few cars that addresses driving and a decent motor for a close to mid pack middle America price. Or even simply, a mid level hatchback with decent handling, not a full blown Focus RS or ST but just something more playful.......Where is a simple 200hp engine upgrade for the Cruze? Right.