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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    I liked the Seville STS, but it wasn't the car to beat the Germans, it was full size American car. The XTS is about the same size as a 1998 STS, there is still a market for a big American smooth riding car. And I think the people that are going to buy an XTS, are going to buy an XTS and won't care if it has a 6-speed or a dated chassis or whatever. They aren't going to care, so there is no point is putting a lot of money into the XTS, Cadillac did the right thing here doing the minimum cost MCE, and just let the car soldier on The money needs to be spent on crossovers and EVs.
  2. smk4565
    Notice all Cadillac's "exciting" cars are 4 door sedans. And the Escalade can't go off road, it is GLS competitor. The AMG GT R can beat any Corvette ever made on the Nurburgring and a faster Black Series is coming. Which is why Cadillac needs a sports car above Corvette.
  3. smk4565
    Excellent post, I agree. i actually have no problem with the XTS sticking around a while because it sells and they can fleet sale it without disturbing the core line. I will point out people say the XTS prints money, the S500 has an options list that is $55,000 if you pick everything and that doesn't include an engine upgrade. That is a whole XTS worth of options, that is how you print money.
  4. smk4565
    The lack of crossovers goes to show the poor management that has plagued Cadillac for 20 years or more. Even the first SRX was about 6-7 years after the ML and RX and about 4 after the X5. Even the Escalade is here only because the Navigator hit big in 1998 and Cadillac lost the sales crown. Cadillac's boss in 1998 said Cadillac will never build a truck because they are a car brand, 6 months later the Escalade arrived as a Yukon with a badge swap. crossovers have been hit for years and Cadillac still only has one. Why don't they have 5 of them? GM fans praise Denali because it makes a profit, a Cadillac version would make twice as much. GM has introduced new Chevy, Buick and GMC crossovers, so they have the ability to put new product out, they are just ignoring their most profitable brand.
  5. smk4565
    Boring, bland lineup, yes. I hope they can find some more excitement to compete with all the fun over at Audi or the spindle grills and front drive crossovers at Lexus.
  6. smk4565
    I actually liked the Seville STS redesign of 1998. It was my favorite car of the late 90s. But it didn't win the battle, and then when they did the 2005 STS, I seem to remember they rounded it off and dumbed it down, they didn't use the original car Bob Lutz wanted, and it lost the battle. Now the CTS is in it's slot, losing the battle again. I wish we still had the Seville, I don't like the alpha numerics, and I think a Seville done right would be a bigger threat to the imports than the CTS is, CTS was always pushed as an entry level car, now they want it to be their middle car. It would be like Honda deciding to make the Civic a Camry fighter, it doesn't make sense.
  7. smk4565
    While everyone was concerned with Mercedes move down market, they forgot the other half of this story, also coming in 2018 is this nice 805 hp V8 hybrid sedan. Which is actually the 2nd most powerful car they are releasing in 2018, and also when what ever the track record on the Nurburgring is goes down.
  8. smk4565
    If "Seville" was a success, it would still be here, if STS was a success it would still be here. I actually still think the current ATS should have the CTS name, and the mid-size car should be called STS. They botched that. Mercedes is building 10 EV's by 2022, Cadillac should be able to stir up 5 of them. I am holding them to half the standard of the worldwide leader. Volkswagen makes about $700 per car profit, while Audi makes $5,000 per car profit. Which car do you think VW wants to sell? GM has a similar set up to them, they should want to sell luxury cars like crazy. And I think Cadillac could go further up market than where they are. They are held back by GM bean counters, old ways of thinking, lack of R&D budget, bad marketing department, etc.
  9. smk4565
    No, I want them to sell 2 more crossovers (rear drive ones on Alpha and Omega), and a sports car and a convertible. And if the sports coupe and convertible are the same vehicle like Jaguar F-Type and Corvette have 2 body styles that works for me.
  10. smk4565
    They should do a Type R Grand Hatchback SH-AWD and sell if for $59,000. Because everyone wants them some $59,000 Civics. Seriously isn't the Civic Type R pushing $40k as it is? They can barely sell Acuras for over $40k, who wants an entry level Honda at that price.
  11. smk4565
    The FWD Seville and the mid 2000s era STS that replaced it were both deemed failures, and yet both sold in better numbers than the CTS or CT6 sell at now. So even if they build some corner carvers, people aren't buying them. Really Cadillac's best chance for success is as a truck company. Their 2 SUVs outsell their 4 sedans with ease. And by the time Cadillac gets a TT V8 out, the market will start moving toward electrics. Why not get 5 EV's in development for Cadillac to launch in 2020? The G-wagen had it's best sales year ever in 2016, so being decades old didn't seem to matter at all, in fact it seems to help, the older it got the better it sold. Mercedes makes the GLS which competes quite nicely against the Range Rover and smokes it in sales. But there is an all new G-wagen for 2018. And why does Cadillac not have aspirations of higher sales? As the most profitable brand at GM, they should want to sell as many Cadillacs as they can. If Cadillac had Audi sales volume, GM stock would probably be $50 a share and not $30. Not that I care, I don't own GM stock, but their shareholders I am sure would like more Cadillac sales to generate more profit.
  12. smk4565
    Why don't they make Volvo electric cars? I wonder how many will buy a Polestar over a Tesla, Mercedes, Audi or BMW. That is a tall ask from a start up brand
  13. smk4565
    Not just 2009, but 1999, and even 1989, that Cadillac has been fighting the same battle. Their image and public perception has trailed away past 2009. The Allante was going to challenge the Germans and create prestige for the brand, that failed and that was 30 years ago. In 1997 Cadillac was the #1 selling luxury brand in the USA on a 50 year streak of being #1 and today they are 7th place. They are almost more clueless now than they were in 2009 or 2002. They just have better engineers covering up the blatant weaknesses in product planning and marketing and R&D spending.
  14. smk4565
    The argument for killing the XTS after 2019 is that the Deville buyer won't be buying new cars by then, the Impala or other full size front drivers may not be around either, so the volume is gone, and lastly you can sell a CT6 for an extra $10,000 to the person who wanted an XTS. The dealer will just talk the person into a 7 year loan vs a 6 year to stretch the payments. Or there is the CTS or a crossover. Once Cadillac has 4 crossovers no one will miss the XTS. No one sweats the coming loss of the Taurus because people are buying crossovers anyway. But for the next 2-3 years I would kill every dime out of the XTS.
  15. smk4565
    The A-class in China sells for higher price than any Buick except the Enclave and Volt. This is why Buick sells a million units a year in China, they have 6 or 7 products below CLA. Western Europe is actually Mercedes largest market but largest country sales would be China. About 500k a year there and 380k in USA.
  16. smk4565
    Well that car has been in steady decline for years.
  17. smk4565
    So the 2017 Lexus ES350 has the same engine as a 2007 Toyota Camry. That's how sorry Lexus is. The XTS is more modern than that at least. So they can milk a couple more years out of it, I think the plan was to build it until 2019 anyway, and then kill it.
  18. smk4565
    Probably because the 2006 era V6 in that car isn't compatible with anything else.
  19. smk4565
    Well as I said, I don't think they have any interest in main stream product. They could do a main stream brand, but why bother. They pouring money into electric cars, they don't need a distraction. I think it is a waste of time to offer two 4-doors off the front drive platform, they should have a 4-door, a hatchback and a GLA and GLB crossover, because crossovers are what sell. The GLB is supposed to look like the off roader concept they had a couple years ago.
  20. smk4565
    The current CLA starts at a higher price than a Maxima or Lacrosse, and loaded goes higher than either of them also. The CLA starts $300 less than an Acura TLX (their middle sedan) and $1,250 less than an Infiniti Q50. They are playing low for Mercedes, but above the non-lux brands top offering, and right in line with the mid-range Acura and Infiniti. And there are some that will only see a badge, however if it was just a badge that mattered the CLA wouldn't get outsold by the C-class and E-class and I think even the S-class was close to outselling it last year. And the GLC, GLE, and GLS all outsell the GLA.
  21. smk4565
    There could be money to be made if Smart expanded and used the A-class platform for a compact sedan and a CLA size sedan, but in the $18k and $23k range respectively. I am sure they could get a 1.4 liter turbo off Renault for the motor, and they could do a little crossover, maybe some EV versions of those. I don't know if they really want to expand the range out that far though, or put money into that brand. They are pretty busy with the Mercedes line as it is. They are bringing the AMG GT sedan to the USA with possible 805 hp hybrid V8 powertrain. Their future is really hybrid and electric rather than Smart brand.
  22. smk4565
    I am sure they will bring it to the USA, it would be a hit. They could use a crossover larger than Sorrento also, but this compacts crossover segment is hot.
  23. smk4565
    Companies know where sales are going. They may not know exact numbers, but in Cadillac's case they could look at other brands conquest data or market share changes, etc.
  24. smk4565
    Yes, but that was a new car, new interior and stuff. I don't think they wanted to do anything with the XTS except put a new face on it. This was like the GM w-body treatment of keep the 3800 and 4-speed going just to save cost, and put on new headlights and bumpers. This new XTS looks a lot like a CT6, and is the same size, with standard V6 power to standard 4-cylinder power. They need something for the sales people to use to sell the CT6 (better transmission) and they need to keep cost down for the livery market.
  25. smk4565
    Well most luxury brand buyers are coming from another luxury brand. What about their top outflow? Year to date, Cadillac is up .9% Audi is up 6.5%, BMW is down 3.6%, Lexus is down 13.1%, Infiniti is up 24%, Mercedes is down 1%. Volume wise, Cadillac is 7th in the American market. I'd think Lexus would be the easiest for Cadillac to steal off of, especially with the slew of FWD crossovers that Cadillac is going to position directly against Lexus. Also keep in mind that Mercedes and BMW have sold the most luxury cars the past 10 years, with Lexus in 3rd, so it makes sense that that is their biggest conquest, just on sheer numbers there are more of them out there.
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