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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    I hope they start using Omega in a big way, however what I am seeing here is Front wheel drive XT2, XT4, XT5 and XT7, and a front drive CT2. It will be interesting to see the course they go. But Johan has been there a while, Alpha platform is 5 years old, and yet XT5 and XT4 are coming out front drive, I think Cadillac wants front drive so they can just platform share with Chevy and cut cost. It is "old GM" at it's finest. What I am not seeing in this list of new products are any coupes, convertibles, sports cars or electric cars. Shouldn't they have EV's? Shouldn't they make a sports car if they are a top tier brand? Shouldn't they make 1 freaking convertible if they are an aspirational brand?
  2. smk4565
    I agree, I don't like the names either, never did. And I will believe a CT8 when I see it in the showroom. Here is the problem with a S-class fighter, it will cost then $3 billion to do it right, that is probably more than the Silverado and Sierra's development budget and Cadillac will just never get that kind of budget. It won't happen.
  3. smk4565
    Because they need volume, and their dealers want product to sell. And GM sees dollar signs by taking a Chevy Traxx and making it a Cadillac and selling it for $30,900.
  4. smk4565
    Mercedes I believe is the only luxury brand that sells more cars than they do SUVs other than Bentley or Rolls, so they still have a large sedan business. C and E class can total over 700,000 a year globally. Making C, E, and S class sized EV sedans makes a lot of sense. Especially if they use the EV platform then put the same basic interior of the gas car in there. What Tesla lacks is cash, R&D budget and production facilities. Mercedes has all that, they can build these electric cars in any of their existing factories. And especially with electric cars, once you have a scalable platform you can build a ton of body styles rather easily because you don't have to work around the engine, drive shaft, exhaust, etc.
  5. smk4565
    That should shut down Tesla's 4 model line up. I bet an all electric SL turns up around 2020 for the new generation and that would be epic.
  6. smk4565
    Yawn, it is still an Accord, it certainly is not "precision crafted performance" because it has no performance. I just read the other week how the MDX hybrid is the most powerful Acura SUV ever and it has like 315 hp. That is a joke.
  7. smk4565
    Subaru sales have doubled I think in the past 10 years. They'll sell a bunch of these, because people want crossovers. And how long have they been selling sedans and wagons to people that now have bigger families and need more space. They used to lose those customers, now they can keep them It will probably look boring, but they need a 3 row crossover badly, and not a disaster like the B9 Tribeca was.
  8. smk4565
    I gaurentee they lose money on the B-class EV. But without it they couldn't sell cars in California which is not an option. So they have to sell it. That B-class will be dead the day the EQ crossover goes on sale. As far as China goes, Mercedes has passed BMW and is closing in on Audi. So they are doing pretty well there.
  9. smk4565
    Following AMG in product planning, as is BMW. In a couple years there will be M versions of X 2 through 7 and RS versions of Q 3 through 8. Performance crossover is the next hot market but you don't have to wait til 2019 for these guys to do it, AMG will sell you one today.
  10. smk4565
    Good point about the early 2000s Even can add the Celica and MR2 and Supra in that time frame and Camry Solara and Monte Carlo later. Honda S2000, Sky and Soltice all dead. 2 door cars are disappearing at an alarming rate the past 20 years. I think E-class coupe and convertible are safe, the E-class line does a lot of volume, and it sits right in the middle of their line up. What can keep the S-class convertible around is profit margin, those range $125-250,000, hard to cut something you can sell for that much money and potentially make $50,000 per car sold. What it comes down to is what does the consumer want? I think Dieter's point when they introduced the E-class convertible was if you buy them, we will keep building them. But if people only want crossovers, it becomes hard to justify building convertibles just because it is fun.
  11. smk4565
    But they already build the car, doesn't cost them more money to sell the CLA and GLA here. Why give up 3,000 units a month, especially when they are to new buyers to the brand.
  12. smk4565
    The A/B class totaled 425,000 sales last year. Hardly a flop. Mercedes never said their model line is out of control, Dieter said that the convertibles and coupes are niche models, and it is hard to make the business case for all of them as China wants sedans (and not convertibles with their dirty air) and most of the world wants crossovers. He did say there would always be coupes and convertibles offered, maybe they don't have 6 or 8 of each but they aren't all going away. Their electric SUV has 400 hp and 300 mile range which on the surface is quite appealing, the price will be a big factor.
  13. smk4565
    Smart isn't a Mercedes, they'd probably like more sales there, that is a brand they need to rethink, maybe make them an EV city car. They have global Smart sales, they need CAFE help in the USA, they actually need more volume from Smart in that regard. B-class exists because California state law says they have to sell an electric car. They can't stop making it until the electric SUV goes on sale in 2019. And I don't think they care if they sell 300 G-class a month, they were going to kill it in 2006 but the fans wanted them to keep it, so they did. They sell about 14,000 G-class a year globally, and most are AMG. The upgrade price from a G63 to a G65 is $79,000! The profit margin on a $220,000 truck with body and chassis paid for decades ago for has to be obscene.
  14. smk4565
    Under 1,000 a month in USA would only cut SLC, G-wagen, SL and AMG GT. The last 3 of those are mostly $100-200k cars with big margins and the SL and G-Wagen are never going anywhere. SLC they could kill and no one will miss it. Plus remember global volume of these; Mercedes sold 1.8 million cars outside of the USA last year. S-class can sell 100k units a year globally far more than any othe car of that price.
  15. smk4565
    Mercedes has 6 convertibles right now, they can drop the GT convertible since they have the SL, and they can drop the SLC since they have very little volume and are a unique line. C-class gives them an entry level convertible, i think they can sell enough to justify it. BMW can cut the Grand coupes and Grand turismo hatchbacks and go back to regular coupe and sedan and unleash more crossovers. BMW wants the sales crown back from Mercedes though and in releasing 40 new models by 2019.
  16. smk4565
    What is the take rate on ATS-V and CTS-V? What is the take rate on an SQ5 or GLC43 vs the base model. I don't really know, but it must be enough to build them.
  17. smk4565
    It will increase sale price though. Jaguar is putting a supercharged V8 in their crossover of similar size. Mercedes doesn't need to put a Bi turbo V8 in theGLC but they are doing it anyway. Or maybe they do need to do it with the Stelvio coming.
  18. smk4565
    CTS is better and cheaper and gets outsold 4 to 1. So how does Cadillac stay competitive in the setment? Should they just get out of it like Lexus is doing? We know Cadillac has to cut sedans, and bad news for performance fans is the XTS is Cadillac's best selling car and probably cheapest to make given the platform share with Lacrisee and Impala. ATS and CTS are probably highest in danger of getting the axe unless Lacrosse/Impala/ XTS all die together.
  19. smk4565
    But Cadillac won't put a turbo V6 in an XT5, I doubt they would in an Enclave. And car makers are going toward engine downsizing, I'd bet on a turbo 4 showing up in the Enclave before a turbo 6.
  20. smk4565
    2017 E300 lease is $549 a month with $5,043 due at signing. 2017 CTS lease is $449 a month with $4,309 due at signing. $100 a month less and $700 less down, and Cadillac still can't sell cars (they can sell trucks). Found this in Detroit news from December 2016. "GM at the end of November, it had a 168-day supply of the LaCrosse; 177 days of the Camaro; 170 days of the Corvette and Chevrolet Spark; 121 days for the Cruze; 119 days for the ATS; 132 days for the CTS; and 110 days for the CT6, according to Autodata."
  21. smk4565
    The sales volume of Mercedes shows people want their product, they are priced above their competitors and outselling them, so people are willing to pay a premium for the product even. Base GLC weighs 3,891 lbs a GLC43 (V6, awd) weighs 4,145 lbs. Base XT5 weighs 3,985 lbs, a Premium AWD weighs 4,310 lbs. So it is heavier, not lighter. GLS got the 9-speed because all Mercedes will have it, when cars get it just depends on where they are in the update cycle, in another year the whole line should have it as either new models or mid-cycle refreshes are done. They already made a GLS that does 0-60 in 4.3 seconds, I don't think they worry about the performance of an Escalade or Navigator or LX570 at all.
  22. smk4565
    GM's V6 has no torque is the problem, but like Paolino stated, they will go from a 6 speed to 9 speed probably, drop a couple hundred pounds, and the Acadia has a 310 hp V6, the Enclave now has 288. That is a 22 hp bump, they will see that as enough improvements for who is buying these. Plus Cadillac will have a version, so you can't put a 400 hp version in the Buick and a 300 hp version of the Cadillac. They have to force people into the Cadillac somehow.
  23. smk4565
    Gotta get ready for that Model 3 for sure. Not only does it clear space in the market, probably streamlines Model S manufacturing too.
  24. smk4565
    Huge difference between a GLA and a GLC even when you sit in them, even more so when you sit in a GLS. I don't think they have an interior problem vs the competition, I just don't think the GLE and GLS are as nice as the E-class. Can't get this in a GLA, and I think they are competitive with any other SUV out there, even the Range Rover.
  25. smk4565
    Luckily that GLE and GLS interior get scrapped in about a year for an S-class style look. The GLE and GLS are the 2 oldest cars in the product line (aside from the G-wagen). And they still sell well, it isn't like they are struggling. But they'll fix the interior, new platform and engines, they should be well ahead of the competition, which is basically BMW x5 (soon to be X7) and the the Escalade, they dominate the rest.
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