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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Post of the year and paragraph of the year right here. I almost spit Pepsi all over my screen reading about the seat back positions.
  2. smk4565
    I feel like these Alfas will never go on sale, and if they do arrive at dealerships they'll be limited supply, limited options, and just no exposure or marketing dollars and no one will buy them. You should be able to sell any crossover in the thousands with ease, people walk blindly to buy the things, but someone Alfa will be the one to build a crossover with sluggish sales.
  3. smk4565
    I think the powertrains are solid and there is value in the Genesis brad for sure. However I feel like they want from ripping off Mercedes and Infiniti styling with the 2009 Genesis, to now just ripping off more current Mercedes and Infiniti design for the new car, and they put a huge Audi grille on it. I think if they had a unique design language that was stunning they would be a lot more compelling. I still get a luxury car knock off feel from these cars.
  4. smk4565
    Agreed with that, the S-class runs in the $200,000+ range, the bare bones model is $98 grand. It is in the upper echelon where Cadillac, Lexus and even Audi are not.
  5. smk4565
    Small crossover is a booming segment, but I don't think this will match up to what BMW and Mercedes are already selling. And really, Alfa Romeo has the same problem as Dodge/Chrysler. Alfa Romeo in unable to compete with BMW, Benz and Audi, just like Dodge/Chrsyler can't compete with Honda, Toyota and Ford. This thing has a ton of power which is great, but they'll charge $80,000 for the V6, and you can get a Porsche or AMG product for that money, and you'll get the performance, with better reliability and better interiors, resale, etc.
  6. smk4565
    This is such easy profit margin it is an I brainer. Truck buyers will pay $45-50k for what is basically a $30k truck with a lift kit and big tires. A Tacoma TRD is over $45k and it has a Camry power train and Camry level or below interior, but costs $20k more, easy money.
  7. smk4565
    Same 0-60 as the S550e, similar MPGe of 65 vs 63. The S550e is the cheapest and slowest S-class though, the S550e is $20k more than the CT6 plug in because it is a class higher of car. CT6 isn't really an S-class competitor, it is E-class prices.
  8. smk4565
    I love how the F-type looks, like the XK's, I like Jaguar styling overall, but I don't like how this looks. The F-pace is far better looking, this doesn't even look like an SUV. On the flip side, 400 hp, 516 lb-ft and 90 kWh batter are all very good.
  9. smk4565
    Takes a while to get an electric car built from scratch basically. The Bolt isn't going to compete with Tesla. A Cadillac sedan Tesla fighter would have to have performance above the CTS-V, that isn't something they would just draw up in a year or two. Probably more like a 4 year plan.
  10. smk4565
    The specs are good, I think the price is a bit steep. By making this the most expensive engine option, you can pretty much guarantee that it will be the least popular engine option. I always thought they should price this on par with the turbo V6 which is about $68,000 to start.
  11. smk4565
    Well the S-class isn't a sports car, but the AMG versions should hang with a Panamera Executive just fine in a straight line. The Panamera is a fast car, no denying it, but the 4S sport Chrono that does 0-60 in 4.2 seconds is also S550 money and 8-9 inches shorter of a car. Put an E63 against the Panamera 4S and they are closer in size and the same price, and the E63 will own it.
  12. smk4565
    Still looks ugly, the rear isn't as bad as before, but still not good. If they put the inline six in the S-class next year, it will have 408 hp, a lot more than the 330 in the Panamera. And the S550 will have 476 hp next year, sort of stomps on the Panamera S. Porsche seemed to have forgot the power.
  13. smk4565
    They will sell tons of them. People want small crossovers.
  14. smk4565
    I don't know if the Continental is all that good though, and it's base is $45, but most are probably like $55k, a loaded Lexus LS is probably $50k with every option box checked. Plus it is a lot bigger car, the ES350 is smaller than an MKZ, just slightly. So given that, why buy a Continental, when you can just get an MKZ with the same engine and it looks the same and is $10k cheaper. Lincoln isn't giving any reason for people to spend $60k or more on a car, it has a Ford Chassis, with a Ford chassis and engine the Continental should have Audi A8 level interior to ask $60k because you aren't getting anything out of the powertrain.
  15. smk4565
    The first part of that statement is true. I don't know about how "premium" anything Ford makes is though.
  16. smk4565
    Think of this, the Buick Lesabre was on sale when the first LX Dodge Magnum went on sale, and I think 2005 was the first year of the W-body Lacrosse and the Lucerne came in 2006. Buick has replaced the Lacrosse 2 more times since then and Chrysler/Dodge still have the same basic car. The LX was based on a Mercedes chassis (w210 I think) they have done 3 new chassis since then. Chrysler is so hopeless, you can't compete with 20 year old stuff, they'll be selling Chargers for $19,999 in another year or two. This is also Sergio hoping some white knight will ride in and save him with a merger and a line of established good cars that's he can rebadge. But Honda or Hyundai aren't walking through the door with a line of fresh sedans and crossovers for them to add some chrome and leather and sell as Chrylsers.
  17. smk4565
    I meant 6 cylinder model, not 5 cylinder.
  18. smk4565
    The 7-series is up 48% this year because they have a new model, that is clearly hurting the S-class. The S-class refresh with the new engines should help, I think no 5 cylinder option hurts the S-class when all the competitors start $15-20,000 less in price point. But it isn't all doom and gloom, S-class has sold 15,834, it is outselling the CTS that costs less than half as much. he A8 is down 8% with 3,300 sold YTD, the Lexus LS is down 30% with 4,465 sold, the 7-series has sold 10,372, Panamera has sold 3,636. They are clobbering the competition still. Mercedes overall sales are up 29.5% in China and up 12.7% in Europe.
  19. smk4565
    Well no need to trade in a 2010 S-class, that has 20 more good years in it. They are probably making $15-20,000 per car in profit on the S-class, Mercedes has a 10% net margin overall on the car line, the S-class has to be like 20% margin, because I'd guess a C-class or CLA is more like 7 or 8%. Big sedan sales are shrinking, some of the other guys will just drop out of the market, leaving the S-class with few competitors.
  20. smk4565
    This has been rumored for a while and makes no sense when the E63 when the E63 is built on a modular platform with a 4.0 V8 and will add 48 volt and ISG eventually. The AMG GT makes sense because they don't want to lose sales to 911s or GT-Rs or NSX, and the SL is a touring convertible with a big engine. I don't see them selling these GT sedans to anyone that wasn't already buying a Mercedes, unless the GT sedan is a 730 hp electric car. That makes more sense than another V8 sedan.
  21. smk4565
    S-class was up 26% last month and outsold 7-series, A8, Panamera and Lexus LS combined. I'd like to see the Camry outsell the Accord, Fusion, Malibu and Altima combined or F150 to outsell Silverado, Sierra, Tundra and Titan combined. That is how dominant the S-class is.
  22. smk4565
    I don't think that TT4 will see the light of day in the S-class, not even in China, unless it is combined with en electric motor as a hybrid. That twin turbo 4 is to replace the 241 hp turbo 4 in the C-class, GLC, E-class and GLE and be the workhorse of the mainstream cars. The inline 6 will replace the V6s, which saves on manufacturing costs since it shares a lot of parts with the inline 4. They already have the 4.0 V8 with the AMG cars in various stages of tune, but they need to move away from the 4.7 and 5.5 liter V8s due to fuel economy, displacement tax etc. The Exciting thing is an inline six S-class would still have over 400 hp and probably start at like $88,000 not $96,000, that's good value.
  23. smk4565
    Interesting that these engines debut on the 2018 S-class but the car in the picture is an E-class. Makes me wonder how long the 396 hp V6 will last in the E43, they might replace it after 1 or 2 years.
  24. smk4565
    Inline six is as smooth as it gets. This is going to be S600 levels of engine refinement, and you'll be able to get it in a GLE or E-class or base model S-class. And this is about a 10% bump in fuel economy over the current engines, with more power.
  25. smk4565
    Lincoln does have the oldest buyers, everything I read puts them at 61 or higher. But Lexus is top 4 in age, I have seen 57 to 61 for average buyer ages. The NX will bring some younger former RAV4 drivers in. Buick is still among the oldest buyers, they dropped from like 67 down to 59.
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