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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. smk4565
    Good news, we need more crossover coupes. Where is The Cayenne convertible?
  14. smk4565
    They should definitely build something called Grandmaster, that’s bad ass and will sell regardless of what it looks like.
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. smk4565
    Hmmm, V8 power, delicious. I feel like this thing has looked the same since 2001.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. smk4565
    Looks too much like a Ford Edge and the grille looks like something off a Toyota. Doesn't look at all like a coupe, nothing here looks exciting.
  21. smk4565
    So I could lease an S560 4Matic for $1500 a month, or pay $3,000 a month subscription to get the same car. Sounds like a great idea. These subscription services make zero sense if they aren't a ride sharing thing with an autonomous car where 4 people can split the cost up and get robot chauffeured around for $500 a month. I think one other case this can work is for a replacement for car rental, where someone was on an extended vacation for a month or at a 2nd home in retirement, or sent on business to work in a particular city for a month, and in this case it could be cheaper to do this than to rent a car from Avis or Hertz for 4 weeks. But then if that is the purpose, you would need to do this in Florida for the retirees that go down there in the winter.
  22. smk4565
    I wonder about that because Mercedes uses the same architecture for the 184 inch long C-class as they do for the 212 inch long Maybach S-class. Yes it is scalable platform and they change things, But how did they do it, and FCA can’t figure it out? I think Sergio’s end goal he is build Alfa/Maserati into a semi full line luxury brand and sell it for $9 billion to the Chinese. That puts money in the Agnelli coffers and it gives him a big bonus check for retirement.
  23. smk4565
    Sergio has already said that the 2 and 3 row Grand Cherokee will be built on the Alfa Romeo Stelvio platform. That is a done deal. If they can put a 3 row Grand Cherokee on it, I don’t see why they couldn’t put a Charger on it, unless they plan to kill the Charger and don’t want to spend the money.
  24. smk4565
    What if they used the Ghibli/Quattroporte platform? The Quattroporte is the biggest Sedan FCA makes and I don’t know if it is going to the Giorgio platform or not but if it does then Giorgio can underpin anything. I think no move to a new platform mean Charger and 300 are on death row.
  25. smk4565
    Agreed, cars from 50 years ago were death traps. The amount of structural reinforcement in cars today in incredible. Then you look at how much sound deadening material, speakers, power heated seats, Nav systems and computers, glass roofs, which requires more bracing, etc get added. A 90s Cadillac had power, heated, leather seats, 8 speakers, and a sunroof and that made it a luxury car because the average Chevy had manual crank windows and a 4 speaker am/fm radio practically. Now a Kia Forte or Focus has a heated steering wheel, self parking, radar cruise control, etc, they have equipment you got on year 2000 S-class now on compact cars, just with a plastic dash rather than wood and leather. All that crap adds weight.
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