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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. smk4565
    Cadillac is #7 in luxury sales in the American market. They gotta do something.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. smk4565
    Daimler is worth $64 billion and Tesla is worth $53 billon.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. smk4565
    Charger sells like 50% fleet.
  16. 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.
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. 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.
  22. 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?
  23. 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.
  24. 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.
  25. 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.
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