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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Because coupes don't sell. The Gran Coupe outsold the 6-series Coupe and convertible combined last year. I don't think the 6-series GT is going to sell either but they won't lose money on it. They sold over 2 million last generation 5-series. That is huge economies of scale that pays for 90% of what is on a 6-series.
  2. smk4565
    Rolls, Bentley, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Audi all make a convertible. Chevy has 2 convertibles, Buick has 1, yet Cadillac has none?
  3. smk4565
    BMW is not going to lose money on a $75,000 car.
  4. smk4565
    Perhaps zero. But my point was they can make a Camaro convertible, even if they only sell 500 of them a month because the coupe paid for the car. The 6-series GT is already paid for by the 5-series sedan, all they have to do is put a lift back on it, and a body kit on the front bumper and they are pretty much done.
  5. smk4565
    Cadillac needs a coupe and convertible for sure. You can't be a luxury brand without it, even if they sell 5,000 a year, who cares. It looks good in an advertisement and draws people in. Plus they can build it off an existing platform, existing powertrain, it isn't all that hart do stamp some new body panels. Chevy makes the Corvette, brands need that one special car, even though crossovers are what pays all the bills.
  6. smk4565
    Cadillac sales are hurting because they don't have 5 crossovers. Plain and simple. They could make the CT6 have 500 hp, get 100 miles per gallon and sell it for $25,000 and the Toyota RAV4 would outsell it 5 to 1. The enthusiasts want the sports car, the convertible, the sport sedan, etc. But the masses just want a homogenized box on wheels.
  7. smk4565
    The 6-series GT won't sell much, but Chevy makes a Camaro convertible, a ZL1, these are small volumes of a car, but they are profit margin. Given the 6-series GT is a rebodied 535i for $70k, i bet there is margin to be made. And I don't think the volume will be low on these crossovers. Toyota sold 70,000 RAV4's in 2004 and 2005. In 2016 they sold 352,000. And they are still losing out on 100,000s of sales for not having a vehicle or 2 below RAV4. Crossovers are going world wide too, it is likely that a big company like GM, VW or Toyota could be selling over 5 million crossovers a year. Even with 20 crossovers, that is 250,000+ per model. Even if Buick went from 3 crossovers to 5, all 5 would outsell Regal and Lacrosse. There is a lot of volume left in the crossover market, the people keep buying them.
  8. smk4565
    Mid-size sedans are down this year. FCA is out of the segment, and the rest are hemorrhaging sales to crossovers. The only car segment with any growth in the past year and a half is small cars (Civic, Corolla, Cruze segment) and even now those cars aren't so small or sparsely equipped. Small cars are still hanging on because for one it is what people can afford, and 2, compact crossovers haven't taken over yet. Toyota is planning another crossover below Rav4, this market is about to flood. I could see Toyota in about 5 years having Corolla, Prius, Camry (maybe Supra) as their whole car line with at least 8 crossover/SUV. Audi is about to have 8 crossovers by 2019 and probably the only reason they don't make 10 of them is because they want Porsche and Bentley to sell more of them.
  9. smk4565
    One car out selling a whole segment is a telling sign. The Camry outsells the Avalon's whole segment also. If you are an auto company looking at that and planning for the future, it is hard to make any commitment to the full size sedan segment. 2016 was a record sales year and those 8 cars took a dive, it is repeating this year.
  10. smk4565
    Fun Fact, the Civic alone outsold the 8 cars on that list combined last year by over 35,000 units.
  11. smk4565
    Large sedans are tanking. These are the 2016 results and in 2017 most of these are down another 25-30% from last year's numbers. Credit to Car and Driver for the list. The Maximum was up to 62,000 units, it was the lone gainer. Chevrolet Impala down 17% to 97,006 units Dodge Charger down 1% to 95,437 units Chrysler 300 flat at 53,241 units Toyota Avalon down 20% to 48,080 units Ford Taurus down 10% to 44,098 units Buick LaCrosse down 34% to 27,582 units Hyundai Azera down 11% to 4942 units Kia Cadenza down 36% to 4738 units
  12. smk4565
    On the Grand Tour they tested the Focus RS and Mustang GT 5.0 and when they ran them around the track, the Focus RS was faster. Wouldn't surprise me if the Civic Type R could beat a V8 Mustang around some race tracks. That being said, I am not too excited about a $35k Civic. If you are a hardcore Civic fan I'm sure you'd like this.
  13. smk4565
    I think this will help, the CT6 now looks a little droopy and boring in the front, this refresh seems to have a more powerful look to it, from what can be seen under the camo. I don't like the headlights pulled back over the front wheels, so maybe this will fix that.
  14. smk4565
    Jaguar could sell the XF wagon for half the price of the F-pace and the F-Pace would outsell it by a wide margin. People just don't want wagons. They want a tall box, even if it has flaws.
  15. smk4565
    They'll get fined, have to pay out in lawsuits, have to fix these vehicles, etc. Same old story. These diesels are costing car makers so much, I can't imagine any of them move forward with them. They'll be coming for the Cruze and Colorado next. Diesel will be out of the market in 5 years.
  16. smk4565
    Audi wants to introduce wagons to the USA for the anti-crossover crowd. And a wagon gives crossover cargo space without all the weight, handling, and fuel economy penalties. But I don't see wagons catching on. Crossover people want to sit high up, and anti crossover people don't like 2 box design.
  17. smk4565
    This thing is a waste of time. I suppose selling $70k 5-series hatch backs makes profit but after the X7 comes out, they would be better off focusing on an X8 crossover coupe to compete with the Audi Q8. Although where is the X7 now when they need it? They do a new 6 series every other year with a new body style because the Mercedes SL killed the 6-series convertible then the CLS killed the 6-series Grand Coupe.
  18. smk4565
    C, E, and S class are each #1 selling sedan in their segment. Mercedes will cut the SLC at the end of its cycle. They may trim down coupe and convertible versions of the core lines. G-Wayne sales are up and they have an all new one on sale next year, so that goes nowhere. There is a plan for a GLB crossover with off road looks . BMW is going to have X1 through X7. Wouldn't surprise me if they come up with an X8 at some point. You can have 6-8 crossovers and sell them all. It is the only growing segment in the industry. Sadly.
  19. smk4565
    The sad reality is Cadillac could put 6 crossovers in their line up and all 6 would likely sell better than the CTS. I don't like SUVs but they are what sells. Buick I think is fine with 3 crossovers because GMC is in the same dealership and they could have 3 or even 4 if they expand offerings. GMC could easily add more crossovers or a Wrangler like off roader. You can make something look off road that isn't like the new Toyota J whatever it's called.
  20. smk4565
    They can start cutting sedans. Any brand needs a minimum 4 crossovers to survive. Buick could get by with 1-2 sedans and Cadillac needs 3. Chevy can drop Impala and Sonic and bring out 2 more crossover and see sales grow.
  21. smk4565
    Envision is smaller than the XT5 but similar size to the Equinox. For sure Cadillac will get an Enclave, they are hurting for crossovers. Upgrade the interior and put a 400 hp V6 in and Cadillac has their Q7 fighter.
  22. smk4565
    Cadillac needed a 3 row crossover yesterday and they need 2 crossovers smaller than XT5. Buick could put another crossover in between Envision and Enclave easily. GMC needs a crossover smaller than Terrain.
  23. smk4565
    What love how the 5-series GT was a flop, the 6-series coupe was a flop, so they combine them both into one car. Amazing strategy!
  24. smk4565
    GM and Ford are building better products because the Japanese forced them too. The Japanese had the small and midsize cars they had crossovers early on while GM and Ford stuck with body on frame getting terrible gas mileage. Cars like the CTS-V exist because the BMW M5 exists. Competition force GM and Ford to adapt or die, which they almost did in 2009. But now they are doing pretty well and the crossover and truck boom helps because that was always a strong spot for GM and Ford. The Q7 has a really well made interior, far better than and MDX or Infiniti QX60. The Q7's 4 cylinder beats the V6's in gas mileage and can still accelerate with them, and the Q7 V6 still gets 19/25 which is segment average but it much faster the other luxury 3 row crossovers at this price. The Q7 is a full size Audi starting at $50k, that seems like a steal when a mid size VW Touareg costs that. And for the record there has never been any Audi in history that I had any desire to own or even liked. When they put the Lamborghini V10 in the A6 that was kind of cool, but I still wouldn't want one.
  25. smk4565
    The A6 is the #1 selling Audi in China.
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