regfootball

So if 50 miles of electric driving means buying gas 4 times a year. Couldn't a 150 mile range mean never needing gas? If I had a short commute, which I actually do, I would rather have a pure electric car and never need gas. If the goal is zero emissions, no trips to the gas station, then a pure EV is the end game. As to why in 2016 you will be able to buy the BOLT! Gm spends gobs of money to make camaro Ss and cts v's the average person doesn't want when AWD is what larger cross sections of the population want and will buy. Face it. Subaru builds an AWD legacy with same mpg cheaper than chevy makes a new Malibu. And it's totally reliable and top notch. Much of gm's fan base is in cold weather states. If gm sold a version of the Malibu with remote start heated seats and AWD for the same money as a Subaru they could steal many sales away. They choose not to because they would rather try to extort 10 grand more for that in a crossover body or as a buick. I get it. Gm really is not market share aggressive and before, it was because they had North American production. But now when they flood buick with Korean and Chinese vehicles yet Subaru and even mits can make and sell AWD vehicles in the us for less and pick away at market share it really underscores what GM wants to do. They don't care much about market share. Gm can bleed resources all over Camaros but not into bread and butter products. Apparently. As for the regal, it's my guess the next one will be available in the hatch version here which may be good. It may be something that is a. Distinctive choice and sets it apart. The spy photos of,it to me suggest what we see is the hatch version. An egg with no trunk.

Gotta have an "x" in there or the consumer won't think you have all wheel drive!

not cheap

Nice write up. Murano definitely resonates with the market. One thing I thought from sitting in one was that the back seat was pretty low for a crossover / adults

cVT is good in really small cars with low output motors because the gear ranges can get REALLY high and REALLY low. Typical slush boxes just aren't efficient and flexible enough.

First off all of the models you list are not cars. Second all are far from world class AWD for grip and performance. All but the Subaru are mostly AWD just to sell them to folks that foolishly believe they need it to drive in 2" of snow. A Malibu at $24 grand makes no money and if you add options like AWD you lose money. Again you show no real creditable info on how it would make a good business case. That's ATP's two flaws in one - weighted average and no indications of specific margins on the product mix. Since when is it fair to dismiss the priority of some customers because they don't want an AWD crossover? Subaru btw has been killing it on sales gains year over year, and I have a good hunch their incentive spending is probably among the lowest for mass-market brands. Their ownership loyalty is among the best, and it's been like that consistently. GM needs to show that its product prowess is going to deliver above average returns. That isn't happening yet if you take the aggregate of the entire company. But Chevy probably cannot court the Subaru buyers anyways. And why would they consider Chevy, when they get great engineering available at a great purchase price. http://www.autonews.com/article/20150116/RETAIL01/150119773/subaru-expects-7th-year-of-record-u.s.-sales# http://www.cheatsheet.com/automobiles/is-there-a-downside-to-subarus-u-s-sales-explosion.html/?a=viewall 200,000 cars a decade ago, soon to be looking at 600,000 cars a year in the US..... but the public doesn't want this and you can't make money at this...... GM just reverts to their tired recipe. I love GM but they prefer to punish the buyers instead of giving them what they want. Instead of trying to meet the Subaru charge somewhere in their product line, they push higher and higher priced crossovers to profit off the all wheel drive boon that way. Just like GM has usually refused the last 10-15 years to give real cabin room in a car unless it was like 40 grand. GM's AWD recipe is to pawn it off on Buick or pickups and Lambdas and make everyone pay 10 grand more than a Subaru at a minimum. When they could mix some all wheel drive into some more of their products besides the late Trax and the expensive Equinox / Terrain. Rather curious considering a lot of GM's bread and butter states are cold states. I also have a hard time with the notion of Subaru's all wheel drive systems not being advanced. They are advanced from the standpoint that they are reliable, don't penalize the price or mpg of the car, and people love having them. I don't think the volume buyer cares whether the AWD is a haldex or a new twin clutch like the Envision. I would have more confidence in the Subaru system being reliable as opposed to the higher performance newer GM systems. I would be worried the GM systems would break down a week after the powertrain warranty is over. It wouldn't hurt Chevy to mix in an AWD option on the Impala at least, and possible even the Malibu. The Fusion only sells for what it does because Ford plays the same game. They think they can charge a premium for it on the sedan and keeping the bulk of its AWD off the sedans pushes people into the more expensive crossovers and trucks. People just want an AWD boost to help them get traction on a tough road, intersection, or driveway. GM, instead of losing share, could use Subaru as an example of how to gain share, and not saving AWD for just the higher priced segments. I don't think Buick can be remade of its image into an 'all wheel drive' division either. Buick is about broader vehicle characteristics. Comfort, solidity, style, etc. Regarding VW. When they enlarged the Passat and dropped the price, the Passat sales increased dramatically. So it is clear people respond to interior space and affordability. On that point, when Subaru enlarged their cars, is part of what fueled their growth too.

i drove the Focus with the 1.0. It was pretty good but in the end it doesn't make sense to me when a Cruze costs the same and has the extra cylinder. A 3 popper 1.0 would be just about perfect with the Spark. I would use a CVT in a Spark with the 1.0.

No, gouge the public. Subaru can offer a legacy AWD that is quality for a great price. Look at their sales. GM is the worst at some things. If you want a car with actual interior room, or all wheel drive, they bend you over for it. Companies like Kia wouldn't have gotten their footholds like they have if GM wouldn't have failed the value equation so badly over the last 10-15 years

i've configged a few passenger transit connects before. I liken them to an Escape alternative. And, they are pretty huge inside for their footprint on the outside. I think mfrs could diversify these boxes for passenger use a bit more. Maybe this would be the next segment to get mass customized......

The Dealership of the Future: May Resemble an Apple Store http://blog.caranddriver.com/the-dealership-of-the-future-may-resemble-an-apple-store/ i hope not, i hate apple stores

Has Tesla Sunk Itself With the Model X? http://www.caranddriver.com/columns/has-tesla-sunk-itself-with-the-model-x-column

best post of'15

You won't ever get 300 mile range. Or 500 mile range. Lots of folks don't want to refill the tank, so to speak, so often. When i travel to see my mom, she's 300 miles away. I can get there without a refill. I do have to stop to pee. Gas stations don't have electric chargers where you can fill your car in five minutes, so you still need gas range extender. It will continue to be as such for a long time...many years. If i could, though, on a trip like that, run 150 miles on electric instead of 50 miles, it makes the drive experience that much better. Likewise, if i have 150 mile range now for driving to work, I don't need to plug in every night. Again, convenience.. a-you still need the gas range extender to make it complete road worthy vehicle b-adding whatever range you can increases the user convenience and electric only experience. Its like your cellphone.......you can get by with an adequate battery but people like it when they have to hook it up to their charger less and less.

go to gm-volt.com you don't buy a volt. you lease it, to protect yourself. One possible exception, you can buy a 14 or 15 new volt very well discounted. The new 16's, base models with all available tax credits aren't too bad either. But turning in a lease that had a 25k residual and offering the lease company like 16k for it, and them possibly taking you up on it, really in my mind underscores that to lease one is probably a better idea while this technology is still rapidly evolving. Aside from the 'how can i get into one' the car itself is class by itself. The only thing I wish Chevy would do now is get plug in miles up to 100 at least or 150. More as a convenience than anything. The other thing most folks should know too. If you get one, you'll prob really want the 240v charger, and getting that wired up at your house is not cheap either. The electric drive experience, you'll get hooked on it, and won't want to run on gas hardly ever since you drive one. A friend with first gen volt said on family trips 200+ miles and 4 people can get 45 mpg..... I wish the volt were a sedan, and i wish there were a larger volt....

I think the worries about 'too many Buick sedans' is a bit off. The Verano is the Astra. And Buick won't sell a bunch of those because right now again, people are buying larger since the economy improved some and gas is cheap. People bought small cars 2009-2013 etc (and that's also why the LaCrosse had a four popper) because of the tight economy and gas prices. Buick is never intended to be a brand with a lot of small car sales in the states. The Avenir may or may not make it to market here. If it does, it will be very niche. The Regal and LaCrosse are to be the staple sedans in the US lineup. The Regal not having done well here has crippled Buick. The car was good, but small. The new Regal and LaCrosse will both be adequately large, and will have more defined styles and personalities. Many Buick buyers bought LaCrosse because it was the biggest Buick. And that will continue. But now, the Regal won't be shunned as a bad value so much. You still want a large Buick in the lineup that won't be construed as a poor value due to size, and can hold up the performance end of Buick. So even to have those sedan choices, the lack of the Envision segment crossover for Buick has been a huge flaw and it could be the biggest seller if Buick were to do it right. New Envision looks good, but it seems already dated. In its absence, the Enclave continues to sell well. My beef with GM a lot of times, is they exclude things from Chevrolet, just to keep them in larger priced offerings, just to suck more money out of you, when other manufacturers give it to you for less. AWD is one example. Subaru gives you a good AWD product for less money if you want it trimmed out less. There is no Chevy Malibu AWD for example. Or interior room. GM purposely has made so many of their sedans with no room the last 5-10 years, to force you to move up to a LaCrosse or Lambda SUV and blow extra $$$$, just to get leg room in the back, etc. side note, i checked out a new Malibu on the lot last week.......didn't get inside it but from the ext view, the interior on lower trims of that Malibu is really cheap looking, and not at all cockpit like, like it is now. Chevy's really turned the Malibu into a car that has all the aura of bad Camry, and I'm not sure even Camry buyers will like it. Chevy never really quite hits a home run with the Malibu. I do like the new exterior shape, but Chevy's really dumbed down the Malibu i fear. I guess this opens up the void for Buick to succeed even more, but GM wants to constantly jack up Buick prices.

the width / girth is the main thing for me. My Cobalt is narrow, and the shoulder room in the Encore seems even less so. My two vehicles are of the extreme, small Cobalt, and WIDE chrysler van. Someday I will find the ideal. The envision looks about it, but I won't be able to swing that when it comes out.

does this mean Buick will become the AWD brand for GM? I really don't think they need to do this, they should have been all in on the Envision and even another crossover first. The Envision looks from 2012 already and the place of build and limited quantity means not all in IMO. But as a niche for Buick to do this, like the Cascada is ok. It may help build interest in the brand as unique. I know the Allroad A6 wasd popular in these parts in like 2004, but all those folks have moved on. I don't think people like the look of ruggedized jacked up wagons. If Buick wants badly to fill niches then where the eff is the Adam, and the 3 door hatch and wagon versions of the Astra? The three door OPC astra would be a huge image car for Buick. Buick should offer a whisper quiet diesel in the upcoming Regal and also Verano.

i checked out the buick gmc store today and was going to take out an Encore, but I remembered how tight it may be for a guy like me. Took a FWD Terrain out instead. I love how nice the design and interior are on the Encore.

It was quite coincidental when you posted this thread the other day. I had just done my Aldi stop to pick up fuel for the house, and when i got out, there was a new Encore parked right next to my pathetic Cobalt, in the lot. As i walked toward them, it struck me how positively hulking the Encore looked in comparison to my Cobalt. I paid particular attention because I have pestering my wife for us to get me into a new ride soon, and the Encore is one of the better deals at least as far as leasing goes right now. I've had a couple separate Chevy Cruze rentals recently, and one was for a 700 mile round trip. The 1.4 is surprisingly peppy (But frenetic) in the Cruze. I would imagine at least for the FWD it would be similarly peppy. I can of course take Drew's drivership experience to get a great idea of what an AWD would be like. I didn't get great mpg out of my Cruze but i was pushing a lot of wind that weekend too. When i sold cars, of course it was lowly Suzukis, but the SX4 was their bread and butter. The small crossover I could tell was a segment people wanted. When GM joined with the Encore and now Trax I knew they could become the class standard. The other thing I found out with the SX4's were with the AWD, it killed the gas mileage. SX4's crossover AWD got about 25-27, sometimes not even that if you stood on it. The FWD SX4 sportbacks with 6 speed manual, though, you could get mid thirties. Just like the diff between automatic Cruzes, and the Eco manual. My Cobalt at this time of year and now mostly city, I average 27. An Encore FWD would probably get close to 30 in routine driving I bet. It's actually very few vehicles these days that get real world mpg over 30. Regardless of the physical size of the vehicle. So I think Encore does well in the mpg department. I wonder if real world mpg will take any big hit with the new motor option. ARGH now i am going to want to go test drive an Encore this weekend and refresh my memory. Encore is perfect size for my mom's condo parking garage, but she wants something bigger (like a Chinese made Envision)

should do well in China! it's like a Chrysler 300 mated with a Hyundai of some kind. Avenir, or CT6, take yer pick props for being a big improvement over the MKS though (my brother in law has an MKS and loves it)

Diamante and Town and Country. Two rentals that got us to buy them later.

impressive press release. (i.e. long) about time for some revised infinitis

^^^^^ but look at what GM just posted on Mary Barra's FB page https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/big-idea-2016-year-detroit-takes-silicon-valley-mary-barra shared mobility, autonomous vehicles and alternative propulsion systems cars need a driver or you will see bedlam on the roads.

congrats on another exellent choice.

2500 is with volt loyalty, and the costco membership is executive, and the 700 is a gift card. if you have a competitive lease (which i do), the incentive is 1500 instead of 2500. there are other incentives involved. i caught this a few days ago and already ran some sceanarios