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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    I never said it was overweight, but Cubical said the 300 has to be at least 4,000 lbs as if weight was good, and if they put it on a lighter platform it would be bad. That is like saying a CT6 must add weight to be more "American." People want to praise the Cadillac chassis for cutting weight with aluminum and structural adhesive and mixed materials, then crap on the Giorgio platform which is the same thing. And the next-gen Jeep Grand Cherokee will be built on the Giorgio platform, and I bet it is lighter, faster, more fuel efficient, better braking and better handling than what they have now. The GLE and Grand Cherokee are obese because they still have too much of that 2006-2010 era chassis in them. And all the Mopar fans will say how great it is, not that the platform is from an Alfa Romeo Guilia.
  2. smk4565
    The Australian police car market has to be in the 100s of cars per year, and the 300 was sold in Europe. It isn't now. Dodge/Chrysler failed in the 80s, failed under Daimler, failed under Cerberus, and so why would Sergio be expected to make them prosperous? I don't think Sergio is a great CEO but his job as CEO is to satisfy the shareholders, not to save Chrysler. As long as he makes the Agnelli family money he is doing his job, and the way to make them the most money is probably to split up FCA into pieces to sell off.
  3. smk4565
    They aren't, but if Mercedes could make the E63 4,000 lbs vs 4,500 lbs that would be a big win. The cost would be ridiculous, but less weight is good. And yes, with 5,000 lb SUVs, a 4,000 lb car seems light. And suspensions and brake systems are better and better and can compensate for it, but weight hurts performance and fuel economy,
  4. smk4565
    In their current form though the 300/Charger only sell in the American market, they are useless as a global product. That might not be a problem if the full size sedan market in America wasn't tanking fast. The 30 is down 11% YTD and the Charger is down 5% YTD. Which isn't terrible, but how many of those sales are rental cars. The worst selling Jeep outsells every Dodge except the Caravan, and I imagine a solid 50-60% of those Caravan sales are fleet sales
  5. smk4565
    Why does it have to weigh over 4,000 lbs? Just because it has a V8 doesn't mean it has to be extra heavy, anytime you can cut weight it is a good thing. As far as Sergio hinting the 300 may not return, I would give a 5% chance at a next generation Chrysler 300 happening and a 50/50 chance of a new Dodge Charger.
  6. smk4565
    Jeep is adding a 3 row D-segment SUV, a 3 row Grand Cherokee and a Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. That is 4 new 3-row SUVs, they don't need the Durango anymore, or anything else from Dodge. FCA's formula will be simple, if you want a crossover, you buy a Jeep, unless you are in the Alfa-Maserati price territory. And they'll probably exit the sedan market just like Ford did, save for Alfa Romeo and Maserati luxury sedans, which who knows if they even each keep 2 sedans.
  7. smk4565
    Mercedes conquers BMW again to remain the reigning, defending, universal champion. Mans yes manufacturing and slowing car sales can be sign of a recession, same with rising credit card debt which I think is an all time high right now.
  8. smk4565
    I find it hard to believe that they are bleeding money on Maseratis that cost $80-125,000 and haven’t been redesigned in forever, no matter how poorly they sell. I looked at the product roadmap they put out for both, there is nothing in there to scare the German brands but I understand why FCA is trying, they see margin potential on high end cars.
  9. smk4565
    What makes sense is to pull Fiat from the USA, build only the 500 and Panda for emerging markets like eastern Europe or South America. Dodge and Chrysler I wouldn't put a dime into, and let the vehicles run out their current life cycle. They could move the Pacifica to Ram and do cargo and passenger versions if they want to keep that van around. I can see them getting rid of Dodge and Chrysler in 2022, they aren't global brands. And if you chop FCA down to Jeep, Ram and Alfa/Maserati you are left with high margin product.
  10. smk4565
    Exactly, I don't see Trump and his family driving Chevrolets. Trump has had Rolls Royces for decades and England isn't buying many American cars either, and Rolls is now German owned. If he puts a tariff on just cars made in Germany, the GLE and GLS are made in the USA, so doesn't affect those Mercedes, BMW builds SUVs in South Carolina, doesn't affect those. And then what if Mercedes takes Chinese built E-classes and imports them to the USA, and sends the German built E-classes to China. Is he going to tax all Chinese made cars too? The major problem here is you have a president that wants to pick winners and losers, which is more like North Korean communism, and not capitalism. What if the next president decides there should be a 50% sales tax on Trump hotels and a 0% sales tax on Marriott Hotels? And tries to pick which companies make money and which ones go out of business. They could have a 0% tariff on American cars, Europeans aren't buying them because the only good American cars are big trucks that are too thirsty and too large to sell over there. Likewise for China with the displacement taxes. If GM wants to make a Malibu with Cadillac CT6 level build quality that gets 55 mpg then game on in international markets, but that current car is hopeless.
  11. smk4565
    That isn’t how it works, it is commonly know that every sedan made by every manufacturer in the past 20 years loses money and every crossover makes at least $10,000 profit. This statement hangs on the wall of auto execs around the world.
  12. smk4565
    That is correct, plus a luxury brand with another 14 crossovers that are 2 inches apart. The car buying public will not be satisfied until Toyota/Lexus has 50 crossovers to pick from. As far as the Corolla goes, this looks pretty ugly, the sedan looks better, and the sedan isn't winning any design awards either.
  13. smk4565
    Here is another problem with this tariff idea or attacking China, more than 50% of GM's business is now in China. If China kicked them out, GM would be a shell of what they are today. Likewise with Ford if the EU struck back against them. So all this isolationist stuff is ridiculous, that is the economic strategy of North Korea or communist Russia. And I don't care what car Trump drives, if he wants to buy 10 Rolls-Royces, more power to him. People are entitled to buy what they want. But I don't agree with how he wants to decide what other people buy.
  14. smk4565

    Depreciation

    smk4565 replied to balthazar's topic in The Lounge

    5-7 years ago there were more sedans on the used market, now we are going to see more used SUVs on the market than used sedans.
  15. smk4565

    Depreciation

    smk4565 replied to balthazar's topic in The Lounge

    Pick up trucks and things like a Corvette, convertibles, Jeep Wranglers, etc always have some value because there will always be someone that wants a truck or a convertible to drive on the weekend. I think crossovers have had high resale recently but once the used market is saturated with millions of off lease crossovers they will have the same resale as sedans.
  16. smk4565

    Depreciation

    smk4565 replied to balthazar's topic in The Lounge

    I did a 500 mile each on car gurus and there were no V8 E-classes from 2003-2005. Sure it will still depreciate, but it has a 3 point star on it, so it will always be worth something.
  17. smk4565
    Not sure what the difference between an S500, S520, S550, S560 can be. I think they just trademarked everything to have it. EQ C is a crossover, EQ A is a small hatchback, EQ S is a full size sedan, EQ E must be a sedan, not sure what EQ B is, but they need more crossovers in this EV line, and at some point everything will be EV and they will have to merge the gas and EV lines back together.
  18. smk4565
    It is made in America with 78% American made parts. GM made over 300,000 pickups (all crew cabs) in Mexico last year, Ram made 246,000, Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ are made there too. So if this goes through, the tariff goes on the Silverado, Sierra and Ram, but not the Camry, Pilot, Ridgeline, Sienna, etc. Nissan builds a lot in Mexico also, so really this move against NAFTA production just hurts the Detroit 3. Even if the tariff hits the S-class and Porsche 911, the people buying those won't care, they have crazy money anyway. 25% tariff on a Ram or Silverado makes that $40k truck a $50k truck, and the Toyota Tundra is American made, go ahead and give a $10,000 price advantage, that really helps American business. That is true, people like a lot of the imported cars, they have good performance cars, good luxury cars, most of the Japanese brand cars are made in the USA anyway. Will there be a tax on ties and dress shirts made in China?
  19. smk4565
    Foreigners aren’t taking auto jobs, robots are. Also the Camry is the most American car, a lot of “domestic” cars are made in Mexico or Canada so who does this hurt besides the consumer that will get hit with higher prices? And if you tariff all these cars and sales drop, profits drop, etc these car companies will just make more cuts. Mid you really want to boost American jobs, manufacturing and wages put a 90% income tax on corporate profits over $5 billion, then all of a sudden these companies will pay higher wages and invest back into the company rather than try to post record profits to inflate their stock price.
  20. smk4565

    Depreciation

    smk4565 replied to balthazar's topic in The Lounge

    2008 Mercedes E550 paid $23,000 including tax, dealer fees, registration, etc in 2013. Avg trade in value is $7800. I have only put 30,000 miles on it since I got it. 51 cents per mile cost to own thus far. But I will probably keep it another 5 years because the depreciation is over, even a 15 year old Mercedes will be worth $5k.
  21. smk4565
    People today want "active lifestyle" vehicles and crossovers. That is what sells, and in that regard the Pontiac Aztek should come back. The removable center console cooler, the air mattress, the tent, the in car air compressor, bold, bright colors to capture the eye of millenials, etc. The Aztec had good ideas that would work now, but it was one of the all time ugly vehicles, with a garbage powertrain and questionable reliability. I think if GMC did some sort of active lifestyle crossover with Aztek ideas, targeted toward Subaru Crosstek, Jeeps, Hyundai Kona, 4Runner, etc, and I know those products are all over the map, younger buyers like bright, bold colors, a fun vehicle that they can pile the friends in and go surfing or camping or active lifestyle type things that I don't partake in.
  22. smk4565
    These trucks are getting overly big. And that has nothing to do with capability, a mid-size vehicle could be made to out tow the Ford Super Duty that is 80+ inches high and 225 inches long, and I know this because a Tesla Model X can tow a Boeing 787 which weighs 287,000 lbs.
  23. smk4565
    The 3 box sedan will never die, and gas prices are rising, SUV prices are rising, at some point the economy will take a downturn and people won't be looking at $40k mid-size crossovers for transportation when they can get a mid-size sedan for $30k. I think people do like AWD though, Subaru is smart to make that standard. if they keep these cars fresh they will get sales when Ford leaves the market.
  24. smk4565
    The Bolt is a tiny car, which right away is a turn off to many, it isn't a mid-size sedan or even Cruze sized sedan and it isn't as big as an SUV and people want SUVs. And yes Tesla has production issues and needs another SUV. Mercedes will have a whole wave of electrics with no production issues like Tesla has, and they'll be SUVs and sedans that people want, although with 1 hatchback, but those sell in Europe.
  25. smk4565
    I’d like to see it come back, I always liked the XK. I don’t think they will sell many though, Jaguar is a sales struggle to begin with and Coupes are not a growing market, but maybe if everyone else is quitting it is time to fill the void.
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