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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    The Silverado outsold the RAV4 by 4,000 units. And look at how many competitors the RAV4 has. That small crossover segment is on fire.
  2. smk4565
    Johan is a marketing guy and Cadillac has awful marketing. And why do you have a marketing guy in charge of your luxury-performance division? Shouldn't they have an engineer or design guy (and by guy I mean person, male or female) in charge of Cadillac, so the product comes first?
  3. smk4565
    The S-class is longer than a GLS, but it is more luxurious, and above all it is pushed by Mercedes as their top car, and the S-class goes up to about $250,000 in top spec. Yes they have the G-wagen and the AMG GT but the embodiment of Mercedes is that S-class and that is why they make the C and E class like scaled down versions of it. Why Cadillac doesn't put Escalade styling on like 3 other SUVs is a mystery to me. Cadillac's chances of being a big player in sedans is pretty much over, but they could still be a strong luxury truck brand if they capitalize on the Escalade attributes and styling. Although I am not a fan of calling every SUV they have Escalade like the 6 Range Rovers that Land Rover is selling.
  4. smk4565
    It started when the 2004 STS was lack luster and of poor quality, the 2004 SRX looked too much like a station wagon and the XLR flop didn't help. Then they brought out the XTS as a stop gap, made the SRX a lower priced fwd SUV instead of keeping the SRX a mid-size performance SUV and introducing a new model below it to have 2 crossovers (like everyone else did). Then they brought ATS and CTS knives to a German gun fight, and they forgot to build a sports car like Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Acura and Lexus did. To aide in all that, Johan DeNyschen left Audi and sales went up, then after he left Infiniti their sales went up, and he came to Cadillac and Cadillac's sales have declined. How Cadillac can't outsell Acura and Infiniti in the USA is a mystery to me. To fix it, they have to spend money they don't have.
  5. smk4565
    No, but I bet if you polled 100 people at a Cadillac dealership and took the window stickers off the cars, the majority would say the XT5 is a more premium or more desirable product than the CTS and even the CT6. Because most advertising is made to make people think the crossover is better. Another problem is size doesn't equal luxury any more. In the 80s and maybe some in the 90s, the large sedan meant luxury because it had space. Not people see crossovers as having space, but also no one wants a large vehicle. A Rav4 that is 180 inches long or whatever it is is seen as a family car, and even as a better family car than the Camry that is actually bigger and roomier. It defies logic. Anyone notice that the LaCrosse is a new product and down 56%. It is a rough business selling big sedans, I think car companies need small to mid-size sedans that offer luxury and performance way above what the SUVs can offer to stay relevant. I think the new Camry stepped it up a lot to try to get people back in sedans. Since the Lacrosse and Impala are going away, they should take the interior out of those cars and put it in the Malibu, then maybe people would consider a Malibu over a Rav4 that seems to sell 2,000 units a day now.
  6. smk4565
    No, the S-class is clearly Mercedes flagship product. The power, the technology, the luxury is all put there. This is a difference between Mercedes and a lot of car companies, they invest big dollars into that sedan and they position it as their halo product. Cadillac and Lincoln make an SUV their top product, Buick does it with Enclave, Acura does it with MDX, etc. Most brands market their SUVs as what you should buy because that is where they make their profit. Nothing wrong with that either. But I am a fan of cars, I don't like SUVs, so I like a brand that pushes cars.
  7. smk4565
    Not only handles better, but probably brakes better, gets better gas mileage too. But the people don't care, they see Crossover = Status symbol or Crossover = premium vehicle. Part of the problem is people won't even give the car a chance. If you have a 2010 Fusion and come to the dealer and look at a 2017 Escape Ecoboost, then the ride, handling, gas mileage, etc may be better on that Escape because it is getting compared to a 7 year old car.
  8. smk4565
    What is surprising is their SUVs didn't go up much, sort of mixed results there. The sedans are getting beat on except for the 5-series which is new and last July they were probably buying out the old model.
  9. smk4565
    Cadillac is #7 in luxury sales in the American market. They gotta do something.
  10. smk4565
    People aren't buying crossovers for space concerns they are buying them more for image. If you took a group of average people and put an Equinox next to an Impala, the majority would think the Equinox was roomier and more luxurious and that it was a more premium product. They wouldn't know that the Impala was 2 size classes bigger had more leg room or had more luxury features, they would see the SUV as the more desirable vehicle.
  11. smk4565
    I am not ragging on GM, I am pointing out that Tesla has a high value, they are worth more than adore too and they might pass Daimler in a couple years. Tesla is selling a lifestyle, they car the solar roof, the in home battery pack, etc. if they keep growing and are way ahead of the EV curve then they could take huge chunks of market share. They also don't have the legacy costs of GM or Ford. Ford and GM have so much overhead they need to sell millions of cars or they go bust, as what happened in 2008 when the SAAR was 8 or 9 million units, they collapsed.
  12. smk4565
    Going back to the mid 90s most sedans aren't that good or don't offer the features of an SUV either. These companies programed people to think the SUV was more luxury and an upgrade. I
  13. smk4565
    Bad month unless you are Toyota corp. Alfa cracked 1,000 which is good but that might flatline around 2,000 a month. Will be interesting to see what happens there. The part of this list alphabetically from Buick to Ford told a severe beating. Not surprised really.
  14. smk4565
    This is a good bye and good riddance. They only made this to comply with California laws so they could sell their gas guzzlers there. The new wave coming in 2019 I am optimistic about, 250+ mile range and 405 hp, 5 second 0-60 time.
  15. smk4565
    Daimler is worth $64 billion and Tesla is worth $53 billon.
  16. smk4565
    So you think an Electric Jeep is a bad idea but love the Bolt and I assume think the Buick SUV Bolt will be a hit? The first brand FCA should look at for EV's is Jeep. Jeep is their best brand image name plate and their most profitable. It is also global and has volume. Spending a couple billion to make EV Maseratis with no sales is asinine.
  17. smk4565
    Amazon had almost no total profit their first 10 years, most years they had losses. Now retail powerhouses like Sears, JC Penny, Macy's, are going out of business and even Wal-Mart is hurting. If Tesla becomes the Amazon of cars, then they aren't over valued at all, they'll put half the brands out of business.
  18. smk4565
    I think there are a lot of young people that buy Wranglers though, and you'll have more success selling EV's to millennial than "old school" buyers that want a full size sedan with a V8. I could see electric Renegade, Compass, Wrangler type vehicles doing well. Small to mid-size SUVs. They will sell a crap ton more of those than EV Quattroporte's and Ghibli's, no one buys those cars now. Not sure why Maserati is still around, other than Sergio loves them since they have a Ferrari derived V6, but they don't even own Ferrari anymore.
  19. smk4565
    ATS and CTS are getting killed off. That isn't doing just fine. And we know nothing about the CT5 yet, so we don't know if it is an upgrade or how that will play out. Musk's house of cards is worth more than all of GM, it could crumble, but if the Model 3 is a hit, he is on his way. The one thing Tesla has going for it, is a passionate leader. GM is run by finance people and accountants that are care takers of a shrinking empire. Musk is relentless and takes this all personally.
  20. smk4565
    Charger sells like 50% fleet.
  21. smk4565
    The optimism for the Bolt is reminiscent of how the ATS and CTS were going to challenge the Germans and take them down. And here were are with ATS and CTS going to the grave, and the Germans still going strong.
  22. smk4565
    This is a good idea and if it is larger than the Bolt, say 173 inches long it will be in the middle of the Encore and Envision in size. Pricing I imagine would mirror the Enclave.
  23. smk4565
    The Electric B-class is a bad car. The gas B-class I imagine is fine for an entry level people mover but I still don't like the body style. A GLA even looks better and does the same thing as a B-class, they have a GLB coming which could be cool, the current B-class I think they should dump world wide. A lot of the funky looking EV's don't sell but the Tesla Model S sells partly because it is a good looking sedan. I think if you want to sell an EV you make it a sedan or crossover. The Bolt is the size and shape of a Honda Fit, that isn't a winning formula. I would prefer that GM made the Bolt a Cruze or Malibu size sedan, but they didn't since they have the Volt. I wouldn't mind seeing Cadillac go all EV and making the CT5 a mid size sedan that did 0-60 in 5.5 seconds with 250 mile range and $45,000 price point and do a CT4 small sedan at $35k with a 200 mile range, rear drive on both.
  24. smk4565
    i think they will top 100,000 Model 3 sales in the US for 2018. That is nearing 10,000 units a month which is huge for a $40k car.
  25. smk4565
    They didn't do electric vehicles before for the same reason they haven't updated the 300 and Charger or brought out a capable mid size sedan, they have no money. Maserati sells no cars now making them electric will not get them anything. Why don't they do an electric Jeep Wrangler, something that people buy and could benefit from low end torque.
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