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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    The V12 will probably be a $50,000 option.
  2. smk4565
    More people are willing to spend $90k on an SUV than are on a sports car.
  3. smk4565
    Benz will have a strong response and the GLS is supposed to get a Maybach trim. And we know the GLS63 will have 603 hp, they trademarked GLS73 for something above that. So I imagine BMW will have to do an 600 hp X7 M. Horsepower wars are on!
  4. smk4565
    I have to say the interior of this looks top notch. I saw some photos of the beige and blue interior and that looked quite good. The pricing is quite good too, BMW came to play here, gauntlet thrown, we'll see how Mercedes responds with the 2020 GLS.
  5. smk4565
    Dynamic Handling Package indeed. This is a vehicle they need, they have to have a big 3 row SUV, especially for the American market.
  6. smk4565
    Nah, E-class, especially the E53.
  7. smk4565
    Technically it is a re-badged Nissan Navara, which is a new truck. The Frontier we have in the USA is the 2004-2014 Navara. And the X-class was never designed for the US market, it was made for Europe, Africa and Australia. If they wanted to do an American version, I imagine there would be interior upgrades, more sound deadening, different engines, and suspension changes. And you wouldn't need a G-class platform for any of that, but they could pull suspension and differential bits from it to put on the X-class. From a CNBC article a few days ago: Mercedes-Benz, a luxury car company founded in 1926, makes an average $339 profit every second. This amounts to an average $20,310 every minute, $1,218,656 every hour and $29,247,743 every 24 hours, according to Staveley Head, a U.K.-based car insurance provider.
  8. smk4565
    I was thinking more the rear of the car, with the shape of it. And we are talking about 45 years in between designs.
  9. smk4565
    Full size truck is too big for Europe, they are becoming too big for the USA. Canyon or Colorado could work in Europe, assuming they had the dealer network, but they don’t. FCA could sell a Wrangler pick up there I bet. As far as the X-class, I think that is putting their toe in the water. If it does well they can do a mid cycle refresh and give it a new interior and make it ready for the US market. The Mercedes turbo 4 has as much torque as the V6 Colorado or Tacoma and the in-line six blows away any mid-size truck on sale here. Americans love pick ups and the money spent on them is pretty high, it is a tempting play for Mercedes to go into that market. Daimler has a lot of truck parts in the empire to pull from if needed and I imagine an X-class with the G-wagon’s suspension, locking diffs and 4-wheel drive would make an awesome off roader.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. smk4565
    They have a 600 hp V8, problem solved.
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. smk4565
    Genesis sold 1 G70. Good job on that.
  21. 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.
  22. 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.
  23. 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.
  24. 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.
  25. 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.
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