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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    The $59k price includes the extended range. The $35k Model 3 and $38k Bolt in base from both have 60 kWh batteries. At $40k the Tesla has the same stuff you get in a Bolt Premier for $42k, add $1,000 to the Tesla for metallic paint if you want. So they cost the same with similar options, the Tesla is a rear drive sedan, the Bolt is a fwd Hatchback, buyers can choose which body style they prefer. You can't compare a 310 mile Tesla with a 5.1 0-60 to a 235 mile Bolt with a 0-60 of 6.5 seconds and say the Tesla should cost the same as the Bolt.
  2. smk4565
    Because the B-class is a bad car, and despite having more cargo capacity than an i3 or Bolt or Model 3, no one shops on cargo capacity. And the B-class prouduction is ending by September and will no longer be offered. The B-class and i3 are the wrong shape, I don't get why GM copied it for the Bolt. And since Surreal says Tesla doing a sedan was a mistake he will be happy to know that Mercedes next EV will be a crossover. Back to Cadillac, question is, what do people want the CT5 to be? How should it be sized and priced? What platform, what engines? Is the Alpha platform staying for the CT5 and Camaro?
  3. smk4565
    $59k includes $8,000 worth of self driving hardware to make this car fully autonomous, which isn't even available yet. Even at $56k, the Model 3 is more advanced than GM's Super Cruise and has more range than any EV outside of a $135k Model S P100D. So I question why doesn't the Bolt go 0-60 in under 5 seconds, why doesn't the Bolt have all wheel drive (which the Model 3 will), why doesn't the Bolt have over 300 mile range, why doesn't the Bolt have Cadillac's Super Cruise now before even Cadillac gets it on the CT6. Oh right, because of cost and they don't want the Bolt to cost $65k. The Model 3 has to have some compromises to sell at $35k, even fully loaded it is $59k which isn't a bad price for an EV with that kind of range and ability to drive itself. And Motor Trend says the Model 3 handles better than the Alfa Romeo Guilia which is the best handling 4 door car on the market right now.
  4. smk4565
    Hatch would be nice, but also costs more. And it isn't like the ATS, 3-series, A4, Prius, Volt, C-class or whatever else people might cross shop with has a hatch back either. They all have a trunk too. And they can't make it longer, it is a small car. That is like saying the Cruze has a small back seat, so it should be 6 inches longer, because then it is a Malibu. The Model 3 has 180,000 orders, it only will outsell the entire Cadillac brand in 2018, and all wheel drive and a performance variant are coming next year. I don't think the trunk size is of any concern when they are probably going to sell 200,000 of these next year.
  5. smk4565
    The Bolt isn't a performance car though and the Model 3 is a sports sedan. The Model 3 seats 5 like other small sedans and has similar cargo space to other small sports sedans. It has plenty of attributes to attract buyers. The Model 3 is faster than a Bolt, I would take performance over truck space every day of the week. The Mercedes B-class has more cargo room than a Bolt, does that make the B-class the better than the Bolt? CUVs are being picked over sedans for a lot of reasons. I personally hate CUVs, but the market wants them and I get that is why car companies are offering 5 CUVs and 2-3 cars. It also makes me thankful that the brand I like still makes cars and doesn't have to merge 3 of their sedans into 1.
  6. smk4565
    The Model 3 has a rear engine, err motor, so obviously they can't have a huge trunk. What they have is adequate enough for a couple suitcases or groceries, it isn't going to stop people from buying the car. And they will have a small CUV for those that want a box on wheels. It isn't like the 3-series, ATS, A4, C-class have turns that hold 6 suitcases. The Volt as a 10.6 cubic foot trunk, and seating for 4 not 5. Where is the outrage over the Volt's cargo capacity and passenger room? Because most of the buyers don't care, they drive alone or with 1 passenger, put some groceries in it, and that is about it.
  7. smk4565
    The Model 3's cargo room and interior space should match up well with any other small sedan, the Model 3 has exactly the same rear legroom as a C-class, and has about an inch more head room, an inch less front head room. And there is a Model Y crossover coming for those that want an SUV. Tesla I think can cause a rather big disruption to the market, and the pie is only so big so Tesla's gain is someone else's loss.
  8. smk4565
    The Bolt isn't really a CUV though, it is a hatchback. It is also 20 inches shorter than the Model 3. The Model 3 has 15 cu ft of cargo space, the Bolt has 16.9 cu ft. That isn't a huge difference, and the Bolt has 95 cu ft of passenger space, I imagine the Model 3 can meet that, they haven't put out the specs yet. The Bolt stopped production because they have a 110 day supply on dealer lots, there isn't demand for it.
  9. smk4565
    The Bolt doesn't have a 310 mile battery or autonomous driving. And Model 3 is larger and faster than the Bolt. If you take off the $9,000 battery pack and $8,000 autonomous drive which Bolt does not offer the Model 3 is $42k even with paint and wheel upgrade. And a Bolt Premier is $42k.
  10. smk4565
    Mercedes has 1 EV and if the retro fitted B-class compliance car for California. I am not counting their hybrids if it has a gas tank it is not an EV. I believe their pure EV's will get the job done. They are looking at 300 mile range and 400 hp, that seems pretty desirable. Mercedes is also joining Formula E, so they can learn more from EV's there.
  11. smk4565
    They probably don't need one, the A3 and CLA are like 1,500 unit a month sellers, maybe not even that, it isn't a big segment. An XT3 crossover would sell better than a small sedan. Lexus has a crossover below the NX coming, Cadillac could put the XT4 against the NX and then do a XT3 against the new Lexus sub-compact, and I imagine Acura will do an HR-V clone, and Infiniti has their GLA clone, Audi has Q3, and a Q2 coming. So if I were Cadillac I would do CT3 long before another sedan, 2 sedans is enough.
  12. smk4565
    No because the CT5 will operate a price level below 5-series/E-class. Cadillac has to give up this segment, the STS failed, the CTS failed, and the segment is shrinking, time to bail. CT5 will be priced against the C-class, CT4 would be like $31k Audi A3 competitor. According to what Johan has said. I agree with OldsHurst's assessment. I think CT6 is the top sedan, it is full size sedan at German mid-size prizes and Cadillac will try to play up on that as a value, and appeal to those who just want a large car. The Acura RL will probably drop out of the market along with the Infiniti Q70, so that could help the CT6, and I think they'll keep it low $50s base price so that is is attainable by those that had XTS or DTS in the past.
  13. smk4565
    First I said the CT5 will probably be priced lower than the XT5 because it is common for a sedan to cost less than the same size crossover. Then you said, CT5 will cost $40,000, same as an XT5. To which I said, I could see them doing that, and I agreed with you that CT5 and XT5 could cost the same because Mercedes uses this strategy. I don't really care how they price the CT5, I was just predicting that they would go after those $35k sedans for sake of volume, and that is sort of where the CTS had success back in Gen 1. Mercedes will have more EV's than Tesla by 2022. Tesla is going to be strong player I think, but Mercedes has the manufacturing capability Tesla does not, and Mercedes can design and engineer cars. They will be able to take the fight to Tesla too, the ones that need to worry are the Lincoln, Cadillac, Acuras of the world that don't have an EV coming soon, and the low volume guys like Jaguar and Alfa that can't afford another player coming into the segment to slice down the pie even more.
  14. smk4565
    I am not a fan of no speedometer or gauges in front of the steering wheel, and the interior is plain, but other than that I think they nailed it. They had to keep the cost low somehow. For $40k you get the luxury package and a solid performing car. The MT write up was quite good. If you don't care about auto pilot it is easy to keep the cost down. Even with 220 miles per day driving, that is 80,000 miles per year. Even the base car has enough range for 99% of driving. Suprcharge it if you have to drive more than 200 miles in a day. I think they can easily sell 5,000 cars a month, probably even 10,000 a month, I expect this car to sell like hotcakes.
  15. smk4565
    I think $45k will be common because the luxury package is $5k, and Auto pilot is $5k. So that puts it at $45k which still seems like a good deal. A Bolt Premier with the driver package and infotainment package is about $43k and it is a smaller, slower car and doesn't have Super Cruise. If you don't care about autonomous driving though, you can get the luxury package and the bigger battery, have a car that goes 310 miles and does 0-60 in 5.1 seconds for $49k. That is a heck of a deal and without the tax credit.
  16. smk4565
    I said most brands price their crossover higher than their similar size sedan. And most buyers will pay more for the crossover. Mercedes prices C-class and GLC, E-class and GLE very close together, it works for them. Cadillac could price CT5 and XT5 the same, price CT6 and XT6 the same. That is probably a good way for them to go. The majority of brand don't do this, and they charge for a more for an RDX or MKC type small crossover than a mid-size sedan even. Cadillac should price CT5 and XT5 the same, but that isn't how GM usually operates. So we'll see. The Model 3 is $35,000. $5,000 for the luxury package, $5,000 for auto pilot, $9,000 for the bigger battery and quicker acceleration and $1,000 for metallic paint. That puts it at $55k. Take away the battery pack upgrade and you are at $46k for a car with a 5.6 second 0-60 and loads of tech. That is pretty impressive. And it says Tesla on it, which makes people drool. Tesla is the future, Cadillac is the past. Hard to sell people the past.
  17. smk4565
    The Model 3 is $35,000 base before tax credits. 220 mile range, 0-60 in 5.6 seconds. Elon delivered. The Bolt is done, it doesn't look good, it is slower with similar range, it costs more, and it is Chevy while the other one is a Tesla, possibly the desired brand in cars, and maybe even outside of cars.
  18. smk4565
    I know they have nothing in common as far as platform goes, but they are both the middle sedan and middle crossover. They very well could price the CT5 at $40k and split the size and price of the current ATS and CTS. That would probably make the C-class and Guilia the primary targets on price. The real question is how will the CT5 turn out? I don't see how they build a better luxury car than the C-class or a better performance car than the Guilia, plus the Tesla Model 3 will be widely available in 2019. If it was so easy for Cadillac to build the best in segment car I feel like they would have done it already. The ATS and CTS were the best shot they took in decades and they both fell flat.
  19. smk4565
    After watching the Tesla Model 3 release, they better start the CT5 at $35,000. Elon delivered on what he said he would. Another thing to consider is the crossover version is usually more than the sedan equivalent. If an XT5 is $40k wouldn't surprise me if they make the CT5 less money because people expect to pay more for a crossover. Pricing CT5 at $45k just puts it where the CTS is now and not selling. if the CTS we know today was $36k base (and the ATS was not around) they would sell about 2500 a month which is the sales level you need in that segment.
  20. smk4565
    Johan said the CT5 will start between 35 and 45 thousand. If there was no chance of it starting at 35k he would not have said that. I am sure the product planners are still working on size, engines, interiors, etc and seeing where the market goes. If you look at the 3-series segment though, the 3/4 series, C, A4, IS, ES, TSX, Q50,etc can all sell 2500 units a month, some of those are 5-7,000 a month. When you jump to the E-class segment, there are only 2 cars that routinely are over 2,000 units a month. There is no volume there. Cadillac is going to go where volume is. The 2006 CTS had more volume than CTS, ATS and XTS combined have now, and I am sure their bean counters see that and are thinking of going back to that formula.
  21. smk4565
    CT5 is going to be priced $35-45k, that is below the C-class, or at the C-class, depending on where they go. The CT6 is the car priced against the E-class. And the E55 was around before the CTS-V ever was, and they haven't had to look at what Cadillac is doing. The E63 is plenty fast, probably the quickest in the segment, and it has the most luxurious interior by a country mile over the CTS, aging A6 and shoestring budget XFR and better than the 5-series never changing interior.
  22. smk4565
    Another thing to consider, the LaCrosse is probably dead around 2019 or 2020 also. So all the more reason to make the CT5 midsize so it can replace the Lacrosse, XTS, ATS and CTS. Starting in the mid to high $30s is a price point that previous generation CTS buyers liked, and allows current ATS and LaCrosse buyers to afford it. Rueters said CT6 would be around $50,000, I assume the current $55k will stay. I also wonder if V-series will be dead in 2020. They aren't going to do a V-series of an XT5, XT4 or XT-Enclave. They don't have a CT6-V and don't seem to be talking about one, and if they wanted an Escalade-V they would have done it already. Are they going to do a CT5-V and have 1 V-series product? Seems like that is not worth the marketing dollars and development cost and CAFE gets way harder in 2020.
  23. smk4565
    The consumer chose SUVs, so unless you have a great sedan, the consumer doesn't seem to want it. Maybe this is just change in taste, maybe it started in the 90s when American car companies made terrible sedans and people went to Explorers and Grand Cherokees and wrote off American sedans. The Camry and Accord are still going strong, the weaker sedans are just dropping out of the market. Olds, Pontiac, Scion, Saturn, Saab, and Suzuki were the weak cars, they went away, Dodge Avenger, Dodge Dart, Chrysler 200 followed. Now the next round of cuts will be Taurus, Impala, Azera, these Cadillacs, probably Infiniti Q70, Jaguar XJ, etc. The E63 will benchmark what Mercedes always benchmarks, themselves. No reason to copy the people that are chasing them. CT5 is going to be $35-45k, that is more inline with an A4, but I bet it is a mid-size car, so more like Lincoln MKZ size and price. Bad idea in the first place to take the CTS which was an entry level car and put it against the 5-series/E-class.
  24. smk4565
    So the CTS will be gone, Lexus GS is rumored to be gone, and the Infiniti Q70 is well past it's prime and may not be replaced at the end of it's life cycle. The E-class is cleaning out this segment.
  25. smk4565
    I wonder if that CT4 will ever even happen, and if it does, it will probably be a Cruze based car as Autoline says the target would be the Audi A3. The CT5 is going to be priced at back where the 2008 CTS was, I imagine they will size it like an 08 CTS. There will never be a CT8. Too costly for too little revenue.
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