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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Maybe they should just shut it down and waive the white flag to Mercedes and BMW. But VW has crazy money and can survive about anything. On another note, the new A7 looks a bit like a Jensen Interceptor which is pretty bad ass. That is a good looking car.
  2. smk4565
    What do they have to lose? Jaguar sales are pretty low, and I am sure they don't have the money to develop EVs and gas cars and build them side by side, so they probably have to pick on or the other. They might as well go all in on EV and try to get ahead of the curve.
  3. smk4565
    20 mpg city sounds decent, but 23 mpg highway rounds rather weak. You'd think a 4-cylinder engine would post better numbers. I also don't know why Toyota hasn't done a Tundra Hybrid with the Lexus LC500h powertrain, that is good for 26/35 mpg in a 4500 lb car, I imagine in a truck it would still be good for over 25 mpg.
  4. smk4565
    You can lease a Volvo XC40 T5 Momentum for $415 a month. Insurance is about $80 a month. So does Volvo believe that maintenance on a new car under warranty is $205 per month? Only way this service makes sense is it was unlimited milage and a person who travels for work or drive Uber full time and puts 40,000 miles a year on the car could abuse the heck out of the thing and hand it back after a year.
  5. smk4565
    They have a 600 hp V8, problem solved.
  6. smk4565
    SUV coupes are the way of the future. Hatchback, wagon, whatever this GT is, are all non-starters. Those aren't body styles that work. Take the Kia Stringer for example, probably will die on the sales charts and be dead in 5 years, but if it was an SUV coupe they'd have a hit.
  7. smk4565
    48% price increase in 10 years is crazy. But this is where leases and 8 year car loans come in. New car dealerships sell monthly payments, not vehicle prices. The higher the prices go, the longer the loan terms get, and you'll see the auto manufacture finance arms offering 10 year car loans one day. Which sounds like a recipe for disaster for consumers but people will sign up for it.
  8. smk4565
    The Tesla Model 3 last quarter outsold the Ford Fusion, Chevy Cruze, Nissan Altima and Chevy Malibu. The traditional 3-series segment is not only shrinking due to crossover defectors, but Tesla is gobbling up market share at this price point.
  9. smk4565
    The E43 isn’t the same as the E400, otherwise they would not do both. This is getting improved with the 430 hp E53. And AMG still puts them handling, exhaust sound, steering feel, the AMG 4matic is different, etc in a C43 or E53. I still say Moers is the best, he knows what he is doing. He got the AMG One to market, he did a 4 door GT he is working on an S73 and SL73, your typical bean counter auto exec wouldn’t do any of that.
  10. smk4565
    Why not, all of Ford’s car buyers left for Toyota. If Toyota has a segment leading truck they would steal sales, but they have the worst truck.
  11. smk4565
    Genesis sold 1 G70. Good job on that.
  12. smk4565
    AMG is ultimate hot hatch, the ultimate sedan, ultimate convertible, ultimate coupe,ultimate SUV, etc. Yes they make 50 models in every body style, but all have performance. I like that AMG makes every body style and has cars like the E43 soon to be E53, because some people want the performance handling and braking, but don't need 600 hp. This is also why there is a Corvette Gran Sport and Z51 to get the best handling, but maybe you don't need a 700 hp engine. As to the A35 I am indifferent, it could be an A300 with an AMG appearance package, much like you can get an E450 or S560 what is the upgraded engine over the base on those classes. They were going to make this car either way, and the GLA, CLA, GLB will get this same engine. I don't really care if they call them CLA 300 or 350 or AMG 35.
  13. smk4565
    The S4, S7, S8 cars are performance cars. I don't know what M-sport is doing. I know AMG does a lot of work on their cars, the C63 for example has a longer hood and different body than the C300 because the V8 doesn't fit in a standard C-class. AMG is it's own company with 1,500 employees that is owned by Daimler. They aren't just an appearance package like Lexus F-sport.
  14. smk4565
    First off Tobias Moers is the best auto executive there is and he is CEO of AMG so I’d go so far to say this guy is the best automotive CEO. He gives the people performance. I never heard anyone complain that too much horsepower is a bad thing or too many sports cars is a bad thing. At a time when most brand are dumping performance cars in favor of 4 cylinder crossovers, I am glad there is someone like Moers who can deliver performance to every type of vehicle. And he is the reason we are getting a Formula 1 powered road legal car. I don’t really see this diluting the brand, they could have called it A300 or A350 and put a sport package on it and I would have been fine with it too. But AMG is about the whole package not just the engine.
  15. smk4565
    They still make the Lexus GS? Obviously the Rav4 and Camry are what pay the bills at Toyota. But 11,000 Tundras is unacceptable. That truck is dated and uncompetitive and wasn't even that great when new. Not being more competitive in the highest profit margin segment is pathetic really. They should easily be selling 30,000 Tundras a month if they had a better truck, they put out a new Camry every 4-5 years the Tundra is like 10 years old. They need to go into those deep pockets and make a Tundra that can steal sales off the F150. Even FCA with no money comes up with a Ram truck that does really well, Toyota has $53 billion in cash, yes $53 billion in cash, and a crappy full size truck.
  16. smk4565
    There is so much margin on pickups, if I wanted market share I'd offer big discounts too because they are still turning profit on those Rams. Why Toyota doesn't take the full size pick up segment more seriously is beyond me. They should have a new Tundra every 5 years and a hybrid version getting 30 mpg, they have boatloads of cash in their coffers and they see Ford selling 80,000 F150's a month, even if Toyota stole 10,000 off them, with the margin on these trucks that is a lot of profit.
  17. smk4565
    Why is it 3 inches longer? Maybe sales keep dropping on this car because it is now a mid-size car and isn't that small sporty car it used to be. This thing is the size of the E39 5-series, which I get was the holy grail of sports sedans, but they already make a 5-series, you don't need to make the 3-series bigger. Aside from that, the 382 hp inline six sounds awesome, they have a big power bump there. Looks like they are upping the price too, $41k base is C-class pricing, which is good, because this will force Mercedes to put the 429 hp inline six in the C43. Competition is always good.
  18. smk4565
    I imagine it is for dealer network they want it at both places. Freightliner does have over 40% market share in medium and heavy duty trucks, so they are the go to spot for most commercial operations. There aren't a ton of MB Vans dealers. Vans were up 44% last month, Transit was down 15% last month. Mercedes is growing, I am sure they are happy with that. Plus Ford has way more dealers to sell Transits at which makes it easier to sell retail and not just commercial which is sort of how Sprinter is positioned, and the Sprinter is the premium cargo van, the Ram is the discount leader. We are also talking about the #1 selling luxury brand who is rapidly growing in commercial vans, no one else does both markets well.
  19. smk4565
    Amazon just ordered 20,000 Sprinters. With the new factory now in South Carolina their growth in the US will continue. Without the chicken tax and import taxes, etc that Sprinter price is closer to the Transit.
  20. smk4565
    I don't feel so bad for the GLE being down 14% after seeing the X5 down 53%. I think a new X5 is coming soon though, that is probably a model change over issue. The X3 and GLC are outselling the XT5, go rear wheel drive!
  21. smk4565
    Envision and XT5 dropped about 25% and the Acadia was down nearly 50%. In an SUV crazed market, that is concerning. It is actually sad to see the Malibu down 45% because it is just a sign that car companies are going to quit making sedans one day, and I don't like SUVs and will never buy one.
  22. smk4565
    3 in a row is concerning, mainly because of the weak volume out of the GLE, GLS, and G-wagen. The new G-wagen isn't on sale yet, and the GLE/GLS are the most dated products they have and they don't have new ones out yet and it is showing. They need the new SUVs in dealerships. They are designing and showing off this great product like E53 range, the EQ C, G560, etc but it isn't in the dealership, they need to get production on this new stuff cranking, and in other parts of the world some if this stuff is on sale. C-class being down so much for the year I think is part crossover mania, and part Tesla Model 3 taking sedan sales away. So I think they need to get the EV's to fend that off. Awesome month from vans though, new Sprinter (made in America) is kicking butt. With that said, YTD sales: Mercedes: 225,384 BMW: 225,065 Lexus: 213,612 Well Dieter Zetsche is stepping down as Daimler CEO in 2019, but will take over as chairman of the board in 2021.
  23. smk4565
    These 2 are super out dated. 380 hp V8? there are 3 liter V6's that make more horsepower and torque than these, and in fact Lexus has a turbo V6 with more 40 more lb-ft of torque than this V8 does. Even the body shape on these looks like it is from 2005. With as lucrative as the full size pick up market is, you'd think Toyota would have a brand new Tundra every 5 years meaning brand new of these 2 every 5 years.
  24. smk4565
    So is the XT4 a Lexus NX competitor or UX competitor? The UX is $33,000 and the NX is $36,000 and the UX is larger than a GLA. And a BMW X2 is smaller than a BMW X1, yet the X2 is $2,500 more than the X1. This small crossover group is carved up so many ways.
  25. smk4565
    Of course they did. And really CA just needs to drag it out until 2020 and then if Trump loses they get their wish. If Trump wins they can keep fighting, and if they can't agree on anything 2025 shows up eventually.
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