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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. smk4565
    Hold on, they devoted a whole trim level to privacy glass and optional Wearher Techs?
  5. 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.
  6. smk4565
    The S-class outsells the A8, 7-series and XJ combined.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. smk4565
    GM still has cars though. Ford is about to have 3 cars, 7 SUVs, 2 vans and 2 pick ups.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. smk4565
    I think this is the XJ's farewell tour swan song. The sales are low, there has been rumor that they would not replace it. And this XJ came out in 2010 or 2011, and is looking a bit tired now. And a base model S-class has 516 lb-ft of torque and is nearly as fast as this special edition XJR. I think they are just trying to milk a couple more years out of the XJ, and they'll replace it with a big 3 row crossover.
  18. smk4565
    It isn't doom and gloom, they have a big world wide business, and Wrangler and Grand Cherokee do well as has been stated. But what if Ford and GM come after the Wranger, they could lose some sales there, Toyota is coming for the Renegade, so that could hurt them too. The big problem with Jeep is their profits are going to support dead weight money losing brands like Fiat and Chrysler and Dodge. If Jeep is 45% of the sale, but 75% of the profit, Jeep is paying the bills for other's which limits how much they can reinvest in Jeep itself. Overtime you can't support dead weight, See what GM did with Olds, Saab and Pontiac.
  19. smk4565
    Jeep doesn't have a 3 row SUV to get the family business. And they are getting hit on all fronts by an onslaught of crossovers from other markers. The real problem is most FCA products, much like many that Jeep has aren't all that good. The Jeep Cherokee is a Dodge Dart underneath, look at how the Dart flopped. Not surprised at all that a Rav4 or CR-V is outselling the Cherokee when those other brands have better, more reliable products. Jeep has great brand image, but a lot of that leads to the Grand Cherokee and Wrangler sales, and both of those are still sort of in niche markets without a lot of competition. The Compass and Cherokee have probably 15 other crossovers to compete with.
  20. smk4565
    Because the 2nd Gen Aurora was a great car.
  21. smk4565
    26% of GM sales are cars, 74% is truck/van/crossover. GM has too many sedans, and the sedans they have aren't good enough to fight off the competition.
  22. smk4565
    CTS used to sell 50-60,000 per year, now it is under 10,000 a year. GM is a volume car maker, they look for big numbers not niche players in a mid size sedan segment. I could see it getting the axe and CT6 staying ATS growing in size but not price and becoming CT4.
  23. smk4565
    Interesting that Johan says no plan to cancel the CT6, he didn't defend any of those other cars which I think sort of confirms they are history at the end of their life cycles. I hear team owners say the head coach is safe and they have full confidence in him and a week later the coach is fired too. I suspect Cadillac will go to 2 sedans. I have said for years they need rear drive Alpha and Omega based crossovers. Oldshurst has made great points. Here is why sales matter. These sedan segments are shrinking. Just like minivans shrank and if you weren't top 3 or 4 it was hard to survive. GM, Ford and Hyundai got out of minivans because sales fell. Chevy and Ford look like they'll get out of full size sedans, Cadillac may get out of mid size sedans. These segments just can't support 8 or 9 players, the strong survive the weak give up and focus somewhere else.
  24. smk4565
    Yes, Porsche is so poor, they bought 52% of Volkswagen. The world's largest car manufacturer.
  25. smk4565
    The sales charts tell the story. The 3-series has grown sales. The C-class and E-class both sell more than they did 10 years ago and they didn't even have a GLK/GLC back then. So they survived the move to crossover without losing sedan business. As far as Porsche 911 goes, that car alone might make more profit than the whole Cadillac line, or Acura or Lincoln line. They make over $20,000 per car profit on the 911. CTS and ATS sales are so far down, they could kill both and bring out a new crossover and no one would care, they'd make more money.
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