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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. smk4565
    But you are replacing the ATS too. I think they are just going to give up on mid-size, the E-class has that segment sewn up, Lexus might cancel the GS also. There is still volume at the C-class/3-series segment, A4, Q50 and IS all sell solid numbers. They want to get into that $35-45k entry lex sedan market, MKZ and Acura TSX are mid-sizers in that price range, Cadillac probably thinks with a mid-sizer are $35k base they can get 2500 units a month.
  6. smk4565
    About time someone offered gold plated 3D printed DNA maps on the dash trim.
  7. smk4565
    I said something the other day in the sedan axing thread, that probably what Cadillac will do is make an Infiniti Q50 size car, someone else said they should go back to the tweener CTS, and it sounds like that is the plan. They'll probably do a 190 inch long car that splits the size difference between the current ATS and CTS, price the turbo 4 model at like $37,990. Then the CT6 will be where it sits today. Sort of what Lincoln has with MKZ and Continental. 3 front drive crossovers and the Escalade will round out the line up, and Johan will have wrecked this brand even more than it was in 2012 which seems almost impossible.
  8. smk4565
    Audi and Infiniti sales went up after he left. All he is doing here is gutting their sport sedans to sell some re-worked Equinoxes and Enclaves.
  9. smk4565
    The 2.0 turbo might beat the V6 in 0-60, torque affects acceleration not horsepower. The 4 should weigh less too.
  10. smk4565
    Audi and Lexus will stay as discount option to the S-class. Maserati needs to dump the Quattroporte and Jag should dump the XJ. They have to lose money when they sell maybe 5,000 units a year. G-wagen is a class above Escalade and 2016 was the G's best sales year since its 1979 debut. And the other guys are smart they don't try to go after it, they stay away. On a side note, I saw an 2010 or 2011 era Quattroporte S with like 40k miles and the Ferrari V8 and all that, $127,000 base when new and it was $26k used. No one wants that car.
  11. smk4565
    Eventually there will be batteries that charge in minutes, plus autonomous cars that can drive you you sleep, so a 10 minute recharge would be no big deal anyway. The tech isn't there yet but look at a cell phone battery in 1997 and look at today's.
  12. smk4565
    Jaguar can go home in this segment Audi has China to save them and the fact that that A8 chassis is shared with Bentley. BMW actually sells some 7-series and they share that platform with RR. If this new A8 tanks maybe they will give up, the S-class is going to offer a V6 and come after what little sales the A8 has left. The only reason BMW, Audi, Lexus and Jaguar have any sales is because they start $20k below the S-class. Mercedes let them have those sales until now.
  13. smk4565
    Hold on, they devoted a whole trim level to privacy glass and optional Wearher Techs?
  14. smk4565
    This all depends on battery technology. If Toyota comes up with the solid state batteries they want in 2022 that charge in minutes and are a fraction of the weight to lithium ion then the gas engine in trouble. Once lithium ion is replaced with something better electric car sales will take off.
  15. smk4565
    The S-class outsells the A8, 7-series and XJ combined.
  16. smk4565
    Why not design the Camaro and all other alpha platform cars to be right and left hand drive? Like every German car, every Toyota, etc. Makes sense to sell them in Australia as they need any sale volume they can get as coupe sales drop.
  17. smk4565
    The S-class has had an MCE, an all new model and another MCE in the time this XJ has been sitting on the market with the same body, interior and 5.0 V8 from 2010.
  18. smk4565
    But we'll have great healthcare, the finest, most luxurious health care ever, to take care of all the people that get cancer and emphazima from breathing in coal smoke.
  19. smk4565
    Gas and diesel pollutes, an electric car does not. The regulations will force the change and I imagine emissions regulations will get so tough that it will cost too much to meet them. You can argue the electric producing power plants will pollute but that won't be the auto makers fight.
  20. smk4565
    I imagine all of Europe will ban sale of fossil fuel burning cars by 2040. Some countries are banning them in 2030. I think post 2040 no car maker will use a gasoline engine, and if they do it will be as rare as today's diesels.
  21. smk4565
    Tesla needs to learn how to mass produce cars and they need to learn fast. They have good ideas, the solar panel roof, power wall and all the live off renewable energy stuff sounds great in theory. But they have to deliver the goods. If they can't get their production up to scale, then the Germans will wipe them out. And if Toyota gets into EV's in scale look out because they know how to manufacture.
  22. smk4565
    GM still has cars though. Ford is about to have 3 cars, 7 SUVs, 2 vans and 2 pick ups.
  23. smk4565
    I agree about dealerships. I wish the car maker could just sell factory direct. We should be able to buy a car online for dealer invoice or for whatever price the manufacturer decides to charge. Then the dealer would have to provide great service if someone can just buy it online. It should be no different than any other retail product.
  24. smk4565
    The Grand Cherokee can run up to $60k range it should get some sales from luxury shoppers, especially anyone that actually wants to go off road. As I said the GC is a hit vehicle for them and a cash cow. But at the other end of the line they face more competition. And if you don't have the money to update your line up, (see Dodge and Chrysler) then you start losing sales and then losing products.
  25. smk4565
    The G-wagen is $98,595 more than the Wrangler. The Nissan Versa is closer in price the the S-class than the Wrangler is to the G-wagen. Not competitors. If GMC made a Wrangler competitor and the Bronco takes a few sales, Wranger sales could drop 50,000 a year. Not going to break Jeep, but it is still less sales. But as I said before Jeep has a few good cash cow products, but FCA has a dozen products that are losing money or they don't have the money to replace with a new one. Jeep is strong, but how long can Jeep support Dodge, Chrysler, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Maserati.
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