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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    My mom had an 2002 9-5, she actually drove a CTS after I told her to give it a try, she didn't like Cadillacs then and still doesn't now. After the 9-5 though she got an Audi A4 because she thought the 9-5 was too big. I am just using that as an example, that some people don't want a mid-size car, just like in your example your mom wanted a full size car. So you have to build 3 sizes of car, Cadillac in 2001 had 3 cards over 200 inches long and the Escalade, how do you only build 4 large cars and ignore the rest of the market? Lexus seems to be going down that path now, build the ES which is Avalon size now and LS, an upper mid-size and a full size, because full size sedans are a hot segment to pour money into... Not sure how Mercedes is missing out on a market for large trucks unless you are talking pickups. Not counting the vans (which a Sprinter is pretty large) they make a full size SUV. I am not opposed to Mercedes building a full size pickup, I think they could do it better than Ford can. I think if they took the X-class and modified it more for the American market it would sell.
  2. smk4565
    I don’t have issue with the CTS back then being mid size for 3-series money but what about the people that thought a CTS was too large? The largest car my mom ever had was a Saab 9-5 and she thought it was too big. For people that wanted a small car Cadillac and Lincoln didn’t have one until the ATS showed up. My issue is not with the CTS it is with totally ignoring small cars which was a huge segment then and is now. The STS was too big and couldn’t perform like a German car and the interior quality was low, I actually thought the 1998-2003 Seville had a better interior. That was a car set up to fail from the start, they even changed the design right befor they launched it to make it more bland.
  3. smk4565
    The CTS and Lincoln LS were the same size of a 2002 5-series or E-class. Yes that was a good size. The problem was the Cadillac and Lincoln weren't as luxurious or as well built, or as powerful as those 2. The M5 had a 500 hp V10 when the 400 hp CTS-V went on sale. The other problem was the Germans had small, medium and large cars, Lincoln and Cadillac just had a bunch of large cars and one mid-size. The Continental, STS, DTS, Town Car, Mark VII, Eldorado of that late 90s, early 2000s era were all over 200 inches long, those were 7-series/S-class sized cars and some people just don't want a big car and why would 1 brand build 3 large cars, 1 midsize and 0 small car, it makes no sense. Imagine today Chevy offering the Malibu, Impala, SS and Corvette and that is it for cars, and saying well if you want a Civic or Corolla, just cross shop a Malibu.
  4. smk4565
    I looked up the size of this car, it is roughly E-class coupe size, the E-class has a 2 inch longer wheelbase but is 1 inch shorter in length, the 8-series is 3 inches wider and 3 inches lower in height, so I am guessing head room is tight. So we aren't talking S-class coupe size. This is similar in size to the original 8-series so that is a good thing, I like this size of car, but I wonder if BMW will make a bigger coupe. The 8-series is also close in size to a Bentley Continental GT, but if you want a big luxury coupe it seems like S-class and Rolls-Royce are the only options. Perhaps Cadillac should get into that space.
  5. smk4565
    I would assume a lot of fleet sales, livery and rental sales will go to crossovers too in the future, just like what happened with police cars, you hardly see police cars anymore you see Police SUVs. And if this fleet sale market is so huge, why did Cadillac or Lexus never get in on it? Or Infiniti for that matter. Instead all 3 are just cutting their sedan line up down to 2 cars probably, and I could see Infiniti with 1 sedan and Lincoln with zero. These luxury brands are fleeing sedans like Ford and FCA have fled mid-size family sedans, they just can't compete anymore. But once you give up on sedans, you better have some great SUVs if you are going to survive on one product.
  6. smk4565
    The GLS is bigger than an XC90 though, you are talking Escalade money for a GMC Acadia size vehicle there. And the Excellence trim I think is a 4 seater, if you want a luxury 4 seater I feel like there are better ways to spend $110,000. And imagine if Cadillac priced the new XT6 over $100k, people would lose their minds. Like I said Volvo has some good stuff going on product and design wise and I like the hybrid and environmental stuff, that is all good. I just think they charge too much for what you get. For example, they want $155,000 for a Polestar 1 or you could get a BMW 8-series for like $100k, or maybe $125k depending on how they price it, but look at the difference.
  7. smk4565
    I know the Excelence is like their Maybach, it is a luxury trim, but still that is a lot of money for an XC90. I have sat in the S90 sedan and thought, this is a nice car, I like the Swedish contemporary design of it, but then when you look at the price and it is E-class money, you think, ok, this is no E-class. And there in lies the problem with the new Volvos. I think the XC40 looks good, all their new generation cars look good, the turbo charged, supercharged, plug-in combo is good. I like what they are doing, but an XC60 for example starts $1,000 more than a GLC. They want Mercedes-Benz money but don't have Mercedes-Benz level interiors, performance or badge cache, and that latter is the most important to most luxury buyers. I mean who wants to spend $60k on a Volvo and then have to explain why they bought it instead of any 3 of the German cars.
  8. smk4565
    Who says the Polestar will be cheaper? These new Volvos are nice, but they are crazy expensive too. An XC90 Excellence trim is $105,000, I mean that is ridiculous. If you want to charge AMG or M money, you better bring it, and I don't think you can do enough to an S60 to compete with an AMG or M car.
  9. smk4565
    It's been 20 years since the last BMW 8-series and 20 years since BMW made a really good looking car. This is the best looking BMW since the last 8-series (which still looks good today, and looks totally badass) and this is a really outstanding looking car. They got this right, it has that shape reminiscent of the last Jaguar XK or an Aston Martins DB9, the tail end might be a little busy, but overall a great looking car. And nice job bringing the power, they brought the big boy V8, not some wimpy six cylinder.
  10. smk4565
    Which are all good attributes and in profile view the CT6 has good presence and looks good. There are plenty of reasons to buy it. The E63 can do 0-60 in 3.0 seconds, that is the exact same time Car and Driver got for the Corvette ZR1. Performances win for the E-class over the CT6. But besides that the E-class has plenty of attributes to sell on too, that is why it has been the best selling mid-size luxury car for decades. Plus the E-class has 4 body styles and 5 if you count the CLS, so that works in its favor too. More choices for the customer = more sales. Lexus, Infiniti and Cadillac sedans aren’t bad cars, it is just to have a successful sedan now you need to be lights out good otherwise the sheeple will just buy a crossover.
  11. smk4565
    Except the S-class is the most aerodynamic Mercedes and it has 3 box design so 4-door coupe must not do anything. I do think SUV coupes are ugly but Mercedes and BMW have so Audi and Porsche want it. And if the Germans do it then every other luxury brand will copy it. And I have said before that I think the CT6 is more an e-class competitor than S-class competitor. The E-class still has a better interior and more performance than the CT6, the CT6 has a larger back seat. Customer can pick what matters most to them. But then what is the CTS become, other than irrelevant? From 60k sales a year to 12k sales a year, it is in the same boat as the Lexus GS.
  12. smk4565
    Well I bought a 5 year old Benz, 5 years ago. But nevertheless, you are right about the copy cat industry. But that is the followers problem for copying the leader, not creating the next trend. Mercedes built the first luxury SUV, then everyone else jumps in, BMW had the 3-series, Lexus and Cadillac had to copy, Lincoln even tried copying the 5–series with the LS, now every sedan is a 4-door coupe because the Mercedes CLS did that in 04. People laughed at BMW and Mercedes for crossover coupes, and he come Audi and Porsche with them and you know Lexus and Cadillac will follow. Lexus has a dated lineup because there is no imagination or creativity in it and because the Lexus LX570 and GX460 latterly haven’t had an update since 2007.
  13. smk4565
    Dropping cars isn’t how you get more sales. There is no rule that says Alexus can’t keep every sedan and build 10 crossovers. The real issue here is the GS is ugly, has a poor interior and dated powertrain sand the same can be said for the IS. These cars just aren’t good. I hope they drop them, more market share for Mercedes who continually invests in their sedans.
  14. smk4565
    Price. Absolutely it matters but when the car has a 60/40 weight split or whatever the S60 has and puts most of the torque to the front wheels then the torque is useless. Different class of car but the M5 and E63 can send 100% of torque to the rear wheels. A 494 lb-ft Volvo is about as useful as a 494 lb-ft Acura TLX or Lexus ES.
  15. smk4565
    So still less power than a C63 or M3 and this Volvo is wrong wheel drive. Unless they make it rear drive, it doesn't matter how much power they put in the S60 or S90.
  16. smk4565
    VW has crazy cash, so this isn't even going to hurt them all that much, but I think no car maker will make diesel anymore because of stuff like this. It isn't worth it.
  17. smk4565
    Losing 1-2 million sales is not a way to create jobs or strengthen the middle class, it is just bad and outdated thinking to tariff things. If they did put a 25% tariff on Chinese made cars, then the Buick Envision would cost more than th Enclave and XT5, which would make that vehicle dead in the water. The whole idea is just stupid.
  18. smk4565
    Probably they should make a 911 Cross Country with lifted suspension and some plastic body cladding like the Regal Tour X. I think a 2-seater Cayenne roadster would be a good idea, really put the SPORT in sport utility, remove all the utility.
  19. smk4565
    Good news, we need more crossover coupes. Where is The Cayenne convertible?
  20. smk4565
    They should definitely build something called Grandmaster, that’s bad ass and will sell regardless of what it looks like.
  21. smk4565
    Super Cruise on every Cadillac does make sense. I am not sure I believe Mark Reuss when he says a lot of customers come in specially for it because it is only offered on 1 Cadillac and it is on their lowest selling car.
  22. smk4565
    But the E-class got larger and probably more equipment put on, so even if you take 220 lbs out of the chassis, you add it back on. And I don't think they should have increased size any, the E-class is 2-3 inches longer than it needs to be.
  23. smk4565
    Hmmm, V8 power, delicious. I feel like this thing has looked the same since 2001.
  24. smk4565
    Right, but the C-class, GLC, E-class/CLS all ride on the MRA platform, all 4 of them lost weight compared to their previous version. So they managed to make all sorts of vehicles from one architecture or platform or whatever you want to call it, it is the same foundation. FCA should be able to do the same thing. I thought the S-class was on MRA because of the added aluminum and reduced weight, it has the same construction theme of MRA, but I just read the S-class is not on MRA, it is on an updated version of the W221 S-class chassis. The next S-class will be on MRA though, so FCA could make a Quattroporte size car on the Guilia platform I think if they wanted to. The GLE and GLS will ride on the new MHA platform, and electric cars will get their own platform. I don't know, the VW Atlas full size SUV is on a Golf platform. But here is a nice picture of Sergio in his sweater thinking up new Alfa products.
  25. smk4565
    Well that is the platform according to Motor Aurhority... "At the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles investor conference in Italy last Friday, Motor Authority asked company CEO Sergio Marchionne for clarification on what will underpin the next Grand Cherokee, and he confirmed it will be the platform used for the Alfa Romeo Stelvio SUV, as well as the Giulia sedan. "It started originally off the Alfa architecture, which has now been modified and extended to reach both a two-row and a three-row Grand Cherokee," Marchionne said, noting that the platform has been adapted to reflect the requirements of Jeep." So not only will it replace the current GC, but a 3 row version which you figure has to be at least 6-8 inches longer than the current vehicle.
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