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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Yep, too many sedans.
  2. smk4565
    A lot of Christmas time red and green on there. I am shocked Maserati actually sold over 1,000 cars. Volkswagen being down is a surprise because they have the Atlas now, and I don't think they had it last year. Everything else is sort of what you'd expect, the Eclipse Cross must be on sale now to boost Mitsubishi, but I am sure that will be short lived.
  3. smk4565
    A lot of these car companies say a diesel is coming, but then give no specs or timetable for it. Makes me wonder if it will ever arrive, or if it does, it might not be until 2020. And at that point, diesel is going to be a thing of the past, it almost already is.
  4. smk4565
    The new naming structure is the best move Lincoln has made in 10 years. The problem is this is still just a Ford Edge and the Continental is just a long wheelbase Fusion.
  5. smk4565
    I'd like to see fuel economy on both, I read the V6 was better than the old one, like 17/23 maybe, but I am guessing the Turbo 4 has faster acceleration and better gas mileage than the V6. So I am not sure what the point of the V6 is.
  6. smk4565
    It is a car for old folks, those are the people that spend $125,000 for a full size sedan. And not the same face as a CLA, and perhaps the best deal ever is the Maybach S650 that has the same engine as an S65 but is $20,000 cheaper.
  7. smk4565
    The rear seat looks like it would only fit people under 4 feet tall but that could be enough for people that want space for their kid’s friends once a month that they actually need a 3rd row. So for that it is good to offer the 3rd row. The RX looks even uglier with the new grill and I think they have had that 290 hp V6 since 2007, so how about something new?
  8. smk4565
    This doesn’t look as good as an S-class, it also isn’t as large or as well equipped or as powerful. The real question is why not just buy an E-class sedan or coupe that has the same interior and will have the same engine for the 2019 model year. The engine is the winner here but every Mercedes will have it next model year as they retool the production lines. The original CLS was a stunner so you paid more for it, this car looks a bit weird.
  9. smk4565
    The new inline four is 299-308 hp that will replace the 241 hp four that they use now, it is said that 65-75% of the parts will be the same, because you have identical cylinder size and layout. This new inline six can make up to 496 hp in AMG form, and the six is the base engine of the S-class, they still have the V8 and V12. Right now the C43 or E43 V6 is basically the base model of the S-class anyway.
  10. smk4565
    Neither is good. They should use names, as evidence by their #1 most successful product of the past 20 years and the icon of the brand has a word name. And the alphabet soup models seem to have about a 10 year life span before getting the axe. Escalade was around before CTS, STS, DTS, XTS, SRX, XLR and ATS, and it will be here when all 7 of those name plates are dead. I'd go with the names. They got like 50 years out of Deville and Seville, they don't necessarily have to use those 2 names, but anything is better than "CT5"
  11. smk4565
    Inline six needs no balance shaft. Plus an inline 4 and an inline 6 can share about 75% of the parts which helps in manufacturing. This engine will be an all star until the day that an electric powertrain replaces it. The face looks like it was done by whoever designed the 2013 SL, that car was also ugly as could be until they redid it last year. From the side of back the CLS looks fine, the front is a train wreck. They would be better off putting the 2004 front end on this car and it would look better. I imagine the E-class coupe will outsell the CLS, it looks way better, and is probably cheaper. But this instead people:
  12. smk4565
    I like real names, I am surprised they didn’t use Aviator here and come up with something new like Nautilus if they do an SUV in between MKX and Navigator. But I applaud the dumping of MK-whatever names.
  13. smk4565
    The face looks a bit droopy, he rest of the car looks good, need to see it all, I imagine the inside is E-class coupe, no reason to change anything. The big news is the inline six and how soon they can get that to the other cars.
  14. smk4565
    Variable compression ratio is a novel concept, but is it just a gimmick? The horsepower and torque outputs are inline with other turbo 4's out there. The gas mileage looks good at 26 mpg combined, an X3 is 25 mpg and a GLC300 is 24 mpg combined. Maybe the variable compression gets it there, maybe it is the CVT.
  15. smk4565
    SRX because it is a Cadillac vs a Buick, and the SRX has a V6 vs a turbo 4. And even though the SRX has some terrible FWD proportions, I still think Cadillac's styling language looks better than Buick's.
  16. smk4565
    The pricing has been announced: $150,000 for a 300 mile range truck and $180,000 for a 500 mile range truck. That is quite good because I looked up a Freightliner Cascadia and they sell for $140-155,000 for most models, unless you get a stripped down base model for $120,000. So a slight premium for the Tesla, but it should make that up in operating costs rather easily.
  17. smk4565
    GM and Ford make profit because the annual sales rate is 17 million cars, there are forecasts that post 2030 the annual sales rate could be 6 million cars, that is well below the 2009 levels than drove GM to bankruptcy. Airborne drones will replace cars at some point, might be 10 years, might be 30, but at some point car sales will go into decline and never rebound. The value in Tesla is the charging network, Solar City, solar roof, batteries, autonomous tech, etc all of which can be applied to a flying drone just as easily as it is to a car.
  18. smk4565
    GM doesn’t have the money to buy Tesla. No automaker does. Toyota maybe has enough cash with a stock swap to make it work. Toyota has $50 billion in cash, with a $188 billion value, they are the only one that could buy, and then Musk can refuse to sell too, which he would. I think Musk will raise the money to keep Tesla going, he will find more investors because there is a chance that Tesla is Amazon and GM, Ford and Toyota are JC Penny, KMart and Macy’s just waiting to fall.
  19. smk4565
    Not true, you can still order a Model 3 for $35,000. Not sure when it will be built, but you can order one on their website. I think he could issue more stock to raise money, he is still a wall street darling, because the Model 3 can stabilize the losses, if he gets the Semi truck he could change shipping and make a lot of money.
  20. smk4565
    Musk is worth $20 billion, if even 10% of that is cash and cash equivalents then he could have enough to buy time if he had to do it personally. He did make $300,000 selling Boring company hats. The cash flow issue is solved once the Model 3 is producing 5,000 cars a week, he just has to get it to that point and Tesla will be fine.
  21. smk4565
    Question is how much cash does Elon Musk have? He might actually have $2 billion in cash to put into the company to keep it afloat until the Model 3 is at full production and the 2nd SUV hits the market since it will just be a tall Model 3
  22. smk4565
    Maybe, maybe not we don’t know too much about long term reliably of the Hyundai twin turbo V6, but Kia scores well in reliability ratings. The Kia will depreciate twice as fast as a BMW though, a five year old 3-Series will probably sell for $10,000 more than a five year old Stinger. Case in point, a 2015 Kia K900 V8 was $59,000 new, they sell certified used for $27,000 now, that is a hell of a drop.
  23. smk4565
    I am glad Kia made a rear drive car, I wish there were more of them out there. But imagine Chevy trying to sell a sedan smaller than the Malibu for $40-50k, when they tried a full size car with a V8 for $45k that didn't work. The Stinger is a better deal than the Regal, but there are Camaro, Mustang, Challenger, Charger, 300 for less money. I think if they priced it like and targeted Mustang and Camaro (performance with a back seat and awd) then Kia could get a lot of sales. If they try to be a value play to the Germans it won't work.
  24. smk4565
    In a way it is competitively priced in another way I think they are a little high. I see this car's real competitors as Camaro and Mustang, but the Stinger has 4 doors. You can get a Mustang premium for $30k and a Mustang GT for $35k, and I haven't looked feature by feature, but I imagine a lot of the equipment is similar on both cars. And to that point a V8 Dodge Charger is $35k, a V8 Chrysler 300 is $39k, and they always have big discounts at FCA dealerships. The version that Car and Driver drove was $50,000, that is just too much for a Kia. $29,900 base and $37,000 for the V6 would have looked more competitive. The problem I suspect is Kia will see BMW or Alfa Romeo as their competition, which it isn't.
  25. smk4565
    Rav4 and Highlander hybrid are where it is at. The Prius serves a mission for being an affordable hybrid, huge mpg for the commuter types that do 95% of their driving alone. But for families that want crossovers, the answer is already there with their hybrid crossovers, just advertise them more and make them better. They are selling 4,000+ Rav4 hybrids a month and I feel like they don't even advertise that they have it.
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