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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Since the Cadillac ATS is going away I guess the 3-series will slide back to 2nd place in sport sedans behind the Alfa Romeo Guilia. I don't think BMW is so lost that they can't win a sport sedan battle with Alfa Romeo over time.
  2. smk4565
    Except the Smart is $24,000 and the Bolt is not. And Daimler has way more $7500 credits to use than Chevy. I'd like to see Them get the Smart car down to like $20k then even when the tax credit is gone it is a decent deal.
  3. smk4565
    I think Sergio's chances for a sale go up if he can close Chrysler and or Dodge. Then Alfa and Maserati can be it's own company and Sergio can head that, or even merge it back with Ferrari.
  4. smk4565
    Indeed. Transitional is a better word, as in the RLX is transiting out of the market. They should just make an MDX-L SH-AWD hybrid. Or an Acura Ridgeline, that would sell better than the RLX does.
  5. smk4565
    Making Smart EV only makes a lot of sense. Cutting down the dealers also makes a lot of sense. The Smart car isn't an all around car, it is full of compromises. It only works in cities, where you have loads of congestion, don't drive on a highway, and make short trips to placed with limited parking. I think Boston, New York City, Philly, D.C. and California are markets where Smart EV's make sense, in most of the country they do not.
  6. smk4565
    No one wants a 1-series, yuppies know the 3-series is where it is at. And they can argue it is better than a 5-series because it has heritage as the ultimate sports sedan and it is for young and hip people. Where is the 5-series is like Dad's car.
  7. smk4565
    The Gen 6 Camaro does look too similar to the Gen 5 Camaro. And I think the current Mustang is the best looking Piny car of the past 10 years or so. I like the Mustang's interior more than the Camaro's also. Huge missed opportunity by Ford not to offer an Ecoboost V6 in the Mustang, and I don't know why Ford hasn't made an Ecoboost V8 yet.
  8. smk4565
    The A7 is dead in the water, the 4 door coupe phase is over, I know there is a new CLS coming, but I don't even know if they need it with 4 body styles on the E-class and 4 engine choices. The A8 will probably see an uptick with the new model, but then there is a V6 S-class coming to get down in the A8's price range, so maybe not. Audi has ridiculous volume in China though, so the A8 has enough globally to make it viable. A3 E-tron they can chalk up to a compliance car, plus they have a gas A3 that sells ok. I think the TT could be gone after this generation, that is dying segment.
  9. smk4565
    Yeah but 3 of those are over 250. They are all lousy sellers, but, the RLX sells under 100 per month, even Audi's crappy sellers beat that. And I don't really count the R8's volume against them, that is a really high end car.
  10. smk4565
    They don't seem to interested in dropping the price because they want to move it up market. It used to be a loaded Camaro was about the same price as a loaded Impala (or Lumina) in the 90s 4th Gen, and the base models were about the same too. They are going more for a higher price, higher margin plan now it seems, not a volume play like FCA sort of goes for with their discounts. The Charger/Challenger have all wheel drive though, and the CTS has it, it would be so easy to add AWD to a Camaro V6 for the snow belt states, then you find some more sales. The Supra is coming, if they price it like the Camaro and Mustang it could shake up this segment a bit.
  11. smk4565
    The RLX has sold 619 cars this year so far. The only Audi lower than that is the R8 at 554. Even last year January-July the RLX sold 833 cars. The 2nd worst selling Audi is the TT at 1,318 YTD. The A7, A8 and Allroad are slow sellers, but they can all easily beat the RLX, and at least the A8 and A7 have some profit margin on them. The RLX sold 64 cars in July, I was shocked to read that, I thought at least they were in the hundreds.
  12. smk4565
    That is true too, it is a hard car to get in and our of and see out of.
  13. smk4565
    I feel like a lot of brands price the V8 or sport model high because they know enthusiasts will pay extra for it. And at the same time it helps their CAFE by putting a big up charge on a V8 so it drives sales to the smaller engine. It would be nice to be able to get a V8 without getting a lot of option packages but re-Shuffling the options will not create more sales. If they want sales increase they should offer all wheel drive.
  14. smk4565
    I can't believe they are still continuing on with this car that sells like 250 units a month and dropping, it might be under 200 by now. I also can't believe the 200 people a month that buy one, didn't buy a German car instead, or even a CTS or MKZ which are about the size of a RLX and probably cheaper. It is just sad that the "most powerful, fastest Acura sedan ever" has 377 hp. My 08 E-class has 5 more hp than that, and was the middle engine option back then. If they wanted to sell that 377 hp RLX for like $44,995 then they could get sales, but no doubt it will cost like $60,000 and be way overpriced. 46,000 E-class sold last year and they did that with an under-powered 4-banger, no wagon, and a last generation coupe/convertible. And they have a new 329 hp E400 sedan this year, the AMG 63, coupe and wagon are out now, and the convertible is should be here soon, it is on sale in Europe already.
  15. smk4565
    A 1-series sedan won't sell much volume but I think they want it just because Mercedes and Audi have a car in that segment. It is taking a long time to get the X7 to market, they have been talking about that for years.
  16. smk4565
    Right and 6-7 years is a typical life cycle of a car, meaning there should be an all new Journey on sale for 2018. FCA has very little money going into Dodge/Chrysler right now.
  17. smk4565
    Doesn't need a manual, they sell in crazy low numbers and the ZF will be faster and get better fuel economy anyway. I think those 2 engines are fine for standard level, I am surprised there isn't something with more power unless that is coming later. Pricing should be competitive on this, it has to be cheaper than a Z4.
  18. smk4565
    That is probably the plan. They definitely don't need Dodge and Chrysler and it is possible that neither one would be profitable if they actually had to develop new cars. Jeep makes something like 75% of FCA's profit, and that is with them putting almost no money into the LX cars or Journey in the last 10 years. If they didn't have Dodge and Chrysler, Sergio would have found a merger partner already.
  19. smk4565
    If the ProMaster and Pacifica weren't front wheel drive, I'm sure they'd make a Hellcat version to spur on sales.
  20. smk4565
    Cool stuff if you want a super power Grand Cherokee. FCA doesn't have new products though, so this is also done to serve as a distraction that they are putting new stuff out there. But this makes sense, easy money to put a Hellcat in something and charge a lot of money for it, might as well cash in now before CAFE gets really tough in 2020 and before EVs take over.
  21. smk4565
    Musk said the battery packs are around 50 and 75 kWh in the Model 3. 258 hp is decent since the torque rating is probably higher and it comes on right away. And the Model 3 is like 3600 lbs, it isn't that heavy of a car for an EV.
  22. smk4565
    When do they put the Hellcat in it?
  23. smk4565
    I know Tesla uses a dual motor, one front one rear, Mercedes did the SLS electric with a motor at every wheel. With an electric car you can do pretty much anything you want. With a gas engine, especially a V8 you need like a 3 by 3 by 3 foot cube, you can't stick that in the middle of an SUV and make it work. Maybe, rear engine like the old VW buses, but even then what would be the point of a rear engine SUV with no cargo capacity. I'd say a all electric Corvette with motors at each wheel makes sense though.
  24. smk4565
    I am not talking $h! on USA. I know you said the Yukon could "hold its own" and that is false. As I pointed out even the fastest SUV not he planet can not keep up with a 335i in corners. This is scientifically proven, and I only picked a racetrack in Virginia and one in Germany since that is what I could find for a 335i, there are dozens of tracks with lap times for newer, faster 435i's. And I agree that the Corvette's engineering trickles down to every other car, but same goes for the Audi R8, the AMG GT, LF-A, 911s, etc. Even the Alfa Romeo has 75% of a Ferrari V8 under the hood. That is industry standard.
  25. smk4565
    No, that won't work. The engine would rob all the interior space and it would still be to heavy and tall of a vehicle to do anything with it. What you could have is an electric SUV with a motor at each wheel and the batteries in the middle, but then that is basically a Tesla Model X.
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