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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    It looks good on the outside, I'd be curious to see the inside and how big it is and what the powertrains are. Could be a strong contender though in the full size segment.
  2. smk4565
    Agreed then maybe you market the V6 AWD as the TRD performance, at least it would have that going for it. The new Altima has AWD but they left it off the top engine because they said the car would cost too much, which makes sense because they probably know a $35k+ Altima is a hard sell. Same with the Camry if you put too much on it gets near $40k and then that is Lexus level.
  3. smk4565
    A million up votes. And it would seem that you can be a financial genious if you lie about the numbers.
  4. smk4565
    So zero power upgrades for a "performance" trim. Also only about 7% of Camrys are sold with a V6 anyway. I wonder how much difference the suspension makes, you still have a nose heavy front drive car, and I can't imagine suspension tweaks make it fell all that much different than a regular Camry. So this is probably mostly a body kit and wheel package.
  5. smk4565
    What is a real SUV? Is a Wrangler going to last longer than a Cherokee or Compass? Does a G-class last longer than an E-class sedan? I don’t buy into a truck lasts longer than a car so it has better resale. I think crossovers are hot and the used market isn’t flooded with them yet to where 70% of used car lot inventory is a crossover/suv which will happen.
  6. smk4565
    I wonder how crossover resale value will be in a couple years when used car lots are flooded with them and Ford and FCA have quit on sedans. There is also a consumer falacy that an SUV is more rugged and longer lasted than a car is, when a Fusion/Edge or Camry/Highlander are basically the same chassis and power trains coming out of the same factories.
  7. smk4565
    GM’s marketing is bad across the board. The Chevy focus group guy is annoying and the ads are terrible, and how did they find people to be in these focus groups that have not watched TV in the past 5 years to know it is the Chevy guy conducting the focus group. “That’s not a Buick” ads are fired and played out and weren’t that good to begin wih, they are literally admitting that people have no idea what their cars looks like or stand for. Cadillac hasn’t had a good ad in about 10 years. Subaru does car advertising right, they are on point and on message and look what their sales have done over the past 10 years.
  8. smk4565
    So does every other expensive car. I like a car with strong acceleration and 0-60 is jus the best measure of that. In general I see plug in hybrid as low appeal. A hybrid or mild hybrid that can add some performance or fuel economy without adding a lot of weight or cost I like. But after that you might as well go full electric and get 0-60 in 3 seconds.
  9. smk4565
    4 cylinder hybrid is going to have a low take rate on any luxury car. People in the upper price ranges aren't going to care a lot about fuel economy, so electrification needs to be more about a performance play. And turbo 4 in a full size car isn't performance. Plus they priced this high, I remember when the CT6 came out thinking the hybrid was too expensive, they wanted close to turbo V6 money for it.
  10. smk4565
    I don’t think this is a Mercedes platform but all Aston Martin V8s are from Mercedes and so are their Nav-Infotainment systems I think.
  11. smk4565
    I can't wait for the big 4 SUV comparison of Lamborghini vs Ferrari vs Aston Martin vs McLaren and who sets the best lap times around some F1 circuit or Laguna Seca.
  12. smk4565
    This will be impressive if they pull it off. This is also the sort of thing that would get EV’s mainstream.
  13. smk4565
    I think Toyota has 5 of the top 10 highest domestic parts content cars. Camry, Highlander, Tundra and Sienna for sure are up there.
  14. smk4565
    Making the TT a sedan makes no sense. They already have A3, A4, A6, A8 sedans and a 4-door A5 and a 4-door A7. That is six 4-door cars! And yes Mercedes has six 4-doors but I feel like they can kill the CLA or CLS and not miss a beat. This is a move that just reaks of stupidity.
  15. smk4565
    Lexus GS can die off, the German sedans crush it, and Lexus has the ES which is a midsized car for less money than a GS and their buyers are fine with it. RC is a coupe of an existing model, so I don't know if that is so much it's own model, they could call it IS coupe if they wanted. The Avalon they can do without because the top trim Camry is about as nice as an Avalon, and if you want a car a little bit nicer than a Camry they have the Lexus ES which shares a platform and drivetrain with the Avalon. They need something below the Corolla I think, and if the Yaris is built by Mazda or shared however they do it, that may not really be costing Toyota much.
  16. smk4565
    And I personally have never seen an Escalade, Navigator or GLS with a trailer behind it. Although I also don't do cross country driving in the midwest where that may happen. But I feel like tow rating is about 50th on the list of considerations for which of these 3 to buy.
  17. smk4565
    The AMG has a 7500 lb tow rating. So in fact, a GLS63 could probably tow a Navigator and go 0-60 faster than a Navigator can get itself from 0-60. As far as what ballers drive, it is this because it has side pipe exhaust: And it is body on frame and tows more than a Navigator. Some other towing capacities: Mercedes GLE: 7200 lbs Cadillac XT5: 3500 lbs Lincoln Nautilis: 3000 lbs Why are Lincoln and Cadillac so far behind if they are so focused on towing needs of Americans?
  18. smk4565
    The GLS has the most torque in that segment, what is not to trust? And the G63 has as 627 lb-ft and that engine/transmission combo will go into the 2020 GLS. I also suspect towing capability is rather low on the priority list of luxury SUV buyers. The Infiniti QX56 tows 8,500 lbs, how does that thing sell?
  19. smk4565
    A V6 GLS yes, but the V8 is 5.2 seconds and the AMG is 4.5 seconds 0-60. And those should improve next year with the new model. 99% of GLS owners may not go off road but the point is they have the ability to, they engineered that in. Just like they tested it on the Nürburgring for handling. They go the extra step, the Navigator at the end of the day is an Expedition with 30 way seats and the turbo boost turned up. The Escalde would get crushed off road by a Range Rover or GLS, I have seen enough Top Gears and car shows to see those things struggle off road. In global sales the GLS wins easy, I know we are talking American market sales, the GLS out sold the previous generation Escalade, it does not now. I do think Mercedes needs to step it up on the new model, the current GLS is way old, and not in a good way like the G-Wagen where the older it got the better it sold.
  20. smk4565
    It is a higher league? The Escalade and Navigator are slow, poor handling, body on frame SUVs. The GLS has up to 577 hp and stuff like independent rear suspension which the Escalade is lacking. The GLS also offers an off road package, the other 2 do not. I do think the Aviator will do well. They sell a lot of Exploers and have for years, you get some of those people to move up to Aviator, and get some MKX/Nautilus drivers to move up, and steal some Acura MDX drivers (which sells well) and Lincoln should be able to stir up about 3,000 Aviator sales a month.
  21. smk4565
    I do think the Aviator looks like it will do well and is a huge upgrade over stuff like the MKT or MKX. The Navigator looks better and they did a good upgrade to it to get it more competitive, but look at the sales of it. Navigator has averaged about 1,000 per month all year, the Escalade easily does 2500 and is getting dated, the GLS does over 2000 per month and has been on market about 7 years without a lot of changes. The Navigator barely outsells the Continental and the Continental is on it's death bed due to low sales.
  22. smk4565
    Also consider Mercedes makes over $1.2 million in profit per hour, so all these models and variants must be a good thing. Lincoln, Cadillac, Acura, Infiniti, etc that have small lines don’t have that kind of cash flow and profit margin.
  23. smk4565
    How much is it really costing though? GM makes a Corvette convertible of which probably 95% of them sell in the USA and no other GM car shares that chassis. The 8-series will sell in Europe and China (although low volume) and is on a chassis shared with other BMWs. Plus they will sell these for $130,000, I am sure they have profit margin baked in. This car is $50,000 more than a 550i which has the same powertrain, and is about the same size. I guarantee BMW isn't spending $50k on a convertible top and interior trimmings. Yes there is tooling and manufacturing costs, but the Germans have that figured out. Wouldn't surprise me if they made $20,000 per car on these.
  24. smk4565
    If there is a recession the billionaires will just get another tax cut in the name of "job creation" I actually think a crossover convertible is stupid, but I think a lot of crossovers are stupid and people still buy them in droves. No one thinks it is dumb for GM to make a Corvette Convertible, the 8-series convertible is no different. This is a car BMW needs, because for one it is easy profit margin and because Mercedes has 3 $100k+ convertibles, BMW has to have something to offer.
  25. smk4565
    Millionaires and billionaires got a tax cut this year, they need something to spend money on. Also BMW should build an X8 crossover convertible for $150,000.
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