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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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?
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. smk4565
    Correct. Until the Bolt can put accelerate a Corvette I am not interested. The Model 3 is a much faster car than the Bolt and looks better and is from the “in” brand not your grandpa’s brand.
  17. smk4565
    Having sat in the Genesis cars, you can definitely see and feel where they cut corners on the interior to save money vs some other luxury cars, but they do have a lot of room and get a lot of features in there for the price. So you get what you pay for but you pay a lot less than you would on a European luxury car. I feel like the G80 is almost as big and roomy as a G90 and has the same powertrains so the G90 seems semi pointless. My big complaint with the Genesis cars is the engines are from a generation ago. That 5.0 V8 came out in the 2012 model year and has had no updates since then.
  18. smk4565
    For some perspective, a 2012 Silverado LT had a 302 hp V8 with 305 lb-ft of torque and the Work Truck had a 195 hp V6. So the 2.0T could easily replace the 4.3 V6, and the 2.7 liter beats that V8 that people trading in a previous generation Silverado are used to.
  19. smk4565
    What they should do is dealers should keep like 3 examples of each model, for test drive purposes, and then people just order what they want off the computer and it arrives 2-3 weeks later. I don't know why car companies don't do this. Tesla actually has that strategy, except they can't build the cars.
  20. smk4565
    It seems that there will no longer be entry level cars, they will just start at $25k and go up. Which in a way should help the used market a ton, because we aren't to far off from a Mustang being the 2nd or 3rd cheapest Ford available and FCA wants to get rid of Dodge/Chrysler and now Fiat so they can build $75,000 "entry" level Maseratis, because those will sell.
  21. smk4565
    I wonder if it is half a 5.3 liter V8 with a turbo on it? (and rounded off displacement) And as ccap had pointed out, that is more power than an early 2000s GM V8, heck even the Northstar in 2010 before it died was making like 320 hp and 315 lb-ft. Yeah, the 5.3 liter V8 should die and be replaced with the 3.0 TT V6 from the CT6. Cadillac should get an all new V6 based off the 4.2 liter V8 they just came up with.
  22. smk4565
    I agree that it is about time someone did a turbo 4 in a truck and I am not too surprised they did it. I actually think the 2.0 liter turbo four will show up in the Silverado work truck/fleet duty trims where 265 hp and 290 lb-ft is enough. Would not surprise me if the 2.7 liter turbo 4 is the #1 selling engine choice within a couple years.
  23. smk4565
    They do have big shows in New York and LA and that is where most of the luxury brands push their new product because they want to do it in front of big city coastal elites.
  24. smk4565
    I feel like if Elon wants to talk about how great Tesla's technology is, then it should be the best, it should be better than what is on the S-class or the A8. And this just sounds like Tesla is more concerned about cost cutting because they are running this company on a shoestring, losing money and selling hats and t-shirts to fund construction work on an assembly line.
  25. smk4565
    No one cares about this show anymore because Detroit is not the center of the automotive world anymore.
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