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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    That's Too Much Cars!!! They need to cut production way back, I imagine the discounts will hit most of those cars come the winter months when sales tend to slow down even more. But look at that list, luxury sedans and sports coupes. Coupe sales are dropping everywhere, full size sedans dropping every where, and the ATS never really hit it, the Infiniti and Lexus counterparts outsell it with ease, let alone what the German leaders do. GM also has to look at their brands, they are too car heavy. Chevy has more sedans than crossovers, that makes no sense. Cadillac has 1 crossover, they should have 4. The market wants crossovers. We enthusiasts like rear drive luxury sedans and sports cars, but the sheeple out there want tall wagons for their "active lifestyles" or some crap.
  2. smk4565
    Mercedes can beat their plug in, theirs has 275 hp and 443 lb-ft, they just need to get it on the E-class here. The M550i does beat the E43 in performance, the E43 is fast, but not turbo V8 fast. That is a weak spot Mercedes has left by dropping the V8 E-class and I wonder if they'll drop the V8 CLS too and go with the new inline six next year. Speaking of, we have an inline 4 hybrid and a V8, but this is a BMW, were is the straight six? That is what the BMW fans want.
  3. smk4565
    E-class is the only luxury vehicle on the market that comes in Sedan, how ya doin', Coupe, how ya doin', Convertible, how ya doin', and Wagon, how ya doin' !
  4. smk4565
    I feel like VW hasn't built anything with style in over 20 years, they need something like this. I think younger buyers that want something urban or modern, or want an active lifestyle vehicle or whatever you want to call it would love something like this. How many millennials out there that don't want to buy Mom's Explorer or Pilot would buy up the Microbus, and EV is a good idea, because of the packaging and eco image. The problem with current minivans is they aren't mini, they are like Cadillac CT6 footprint. Look at how the Kia Soul caught fire, I think a Microbus that was like a size up from that but had that boxy, funky look could be a hit.
  5. smk4565
    I think it looks good, and they got it out less than a year after the sedan, the sedan has only been on sale 5 months. Makes sense to start with the V6, I sort of wonder why 329 hp instead of 354 but I guess it doesn't matter much, and I think that engine will be short lived as the Inline six is coming soon. People can hate on it, but what competition is there? There is no A6, CTS, GS, Q70, or S90 coupe, there is the 6-series, but that has become a 4 door that costs as much as a 7-series. The mid-size luxury coupe is extinct because the E-class ran the rest out of town, just like it did in wagons and convertibles.
  6. smk4565
    Important to remember that gas will never cost more than $3 a gallon, millenials all make $75,000 a year live in rural areas and buy big trucks and baby boomers aren't buying smaller vehicles, they want full size sedans. FCA has the lineup for the future, I think they might phase out 4 cylinders because no one buys those anymore.
  7. smk4565
    I think what Sergio is doing here and has been doing for the past couple years is to trim R&D spend down to a minimum to show a profit and pay down debt. He is making moves that make the company look more suitable for purchase. The huge problem is if he doesn't sell the company come 2020 he has no product to sell except a couple Jeeps and a pair of Alfas.
  8. smk4565
    Traxx should be like $18,990 and they could fit another crossover between Traxx and Equinox and get one more in between Equinox and Traverse.
  9. smk4565
    $26,300 for a Malibu diesel sounds better. $26k for a Cruze seems a bit steep. Most won't buy this, not only are the gas models way cheaper but they are always discounted too.
  10. smk4565
    Cadillac if they would get some guts could build an Eldorado that stomps the LC500. I'll say at least Lexus had the guts to build something risky. Lexus powertrains still lag behind what others are offering. Think of the LS460's V8 makes less hp and torque than the CT6 turbo V6, or even an Infiniti Q50 turbo V6. A 375 hp V8 was great in 2007, but Lexus hasn't improve the motor since and it is 2017 model year now. You can't go 10 years with no improvement on your "Flagship" product that is supposed to be cutting edge.
  11. smk4565
    The LC500 looks like an RC in the front, and a Toyota Marai fuel cell car in the rear. It also isn't a full size coupe, they want to compare it to an S-class coupe, but it is the size of an E-class coupe, and an E43 can run with that LC500 V8, let alone what an E63 would do to it. I would actually be surprised if the new LS had anything other than a 4.6 liter V8 from forever ago was the base engine, and they offer the 5.0 V8 as an LS500-F.
  12. smk4565
    But the Bentayga crystal clock option costs more than a whole Grand Cherokee. I think it would do better if it was a bit more truck looking, and a long wheel base model can always work.
  13. smk4565
    I think the pricing is pretty good, the base model does 0-60 in 5.1 seconds, and the Quadrifoglio is the fastest 4 door around the Nurburgring. So this is pretty high level performance here. That being said, I wouldn't trust the build quality or reliability for a second, and why has this car been talked about like 2 years and always delayed? On performance per dollar it does really well, but when you look past performance there isn't enough there to make me think it is a good idea to buy one. If these think tank in resale value there could be an argument for them on the used market.
  14. smk4565
    The Lexus LS is ancient at this point, as is that 306 hp 3.5 liter V6 in every other Lexus. That ending came out in 2005.
  15. smk4565
    Chevy needs more crossovers, they need something in between Equinox and Traverse. Depending on how much the smaller the Equinox gets, they might be able to slot one between Trax and Equinox. These crossovers sell like crazy, you have to have compact, small, medium, large, maybe more. Look at how many Jeep has and they all keep selling no matter how many they introduce.
  16. smk4565
    Most companies put seats in the back like oncblu stated. Then they are passenger cars, once said n the USA they take the seats out, ship the seats back to Europe and repeat the process. this is one of the dumbest taxes ever too. But kudos to Daimler for creating American jobs while Ford and Chrysler ship them to Mexico.
  17. smk4565
    My take on all this, is government regulations are good, it brought us cleaner cars, more efficient cars, safer cars, etc. There was a time when seat belts weren't required too, so the regulations push progress. That being said the regulations have to be realistic and attainable, and with consumer protection in mind. One thing important to remember is CARB was around before the EPA, so they can regulate what they want because they pre-date EPA. And if CARB says sell electric cars, every automaker will line up and do it, because California by itself is the 6th largest economy in the world, no automaker would even think for a second to leave. GM is choosing to lose money on the Bolt. They could price it higher, or they they could build electric cars in higher margin vehicles. Small cars have the worst profit margins, yet car makers try to make electrics out of them which also have no margin. Make the Escalade electric only, that thing already has a $10,000+ margin or it. As far as V8 pickups go, they will be dead soon anyway, V8 luxury cars are pretty much dead unless you pay $100k, sports cars will soon follow, trucks as well. Plus a 2007 era Silverado V8 had 315 hp, a Mustang 2.3 liter engine does that now, you can get the power of a early 2000s V8 from a 4 cylinder now, in 2025 4 cylinders will make 400 hp and there will be no reason for a light duty truck to have over 400 hp. Plus electrics make massive torque, that is good for a pickup and you have lots of room for batteries too.
  18. smk4565
    If you really want to cut down on emissions, tax gas at $2-3 per gallon and people will flock to electric cars and out of 15 mpg trucks. CAFE is a skewed number anyway, they can hit it with electrics and hybrids. Car makers will still try to work cost out so they can sell cars. There are cities in Europe talking about banning diesel cars from entering the city by 2025, countries saying by 2030 gas powered cars won't be allowed to be sold. If Europe and china ban emission producing cars in 2030, there would be no reason for an American car company to even develop a gas engine when it can't be used in 2 of the largest car markets in the world. They will put ever dollar into EV.
  19. smk4565
    Jeff Gordon is going to drive the Cadillac car.
  20. smk4565
    I think it will look better when done and I think it will sell too. The Ballers and Rappers that buy Escalades now will flock to this and there will be a waiting list. It probably looks like a tall wagon in the teasers because the Phantom on which it is based is a huge car. The Phantom is longer than a Chevy Suburban, it is over 2 feet longer than a Cadillac CT6. I bet this truck is taller and wider than it appears here, and will look rugged enough to be an SUV, but restrained enough for Rolls-Royce. And now Rolls Royce Phantom owners won't have to spend winters slumming in a paltry $150,000 Range Rover Autobiography.
  21. smk4565
    FCA should do an Alfa Romeo version of the Pacifica with a 3.0 V6 turbo to boost sales. The problem FCA has is not enough Alfas, they only sold 23 cars, that tells me they should spend every last dollar they have to make about 10 new products for Alfa Romeo.
  22. smk4565
    The 200 and Dart have really fallen off the table, I guess those will be discontinued sooner rather than later. What should be troubling to FCA is they are advertising the heck out of the Pacifica, and it is selling worse than the Town and Country, and the Caravan is dropping off now too as they clear those out. So their van sales are down about 50% with a new product.
  23. smk4565
    Chrysler - Down 47%Dodge - Down 21% Fiat - Down 15% I am shocked by these results.
  24. smk4565
    Depends on how you do and how much you can get from sponsorship. And it depends on what you want to spend. Mercedes and Ferrari spend $400-500 million a year on F1, a team like Sauber spends $100 million. Ferrari gets a payout from F1 every year, that with their prize money is $150-200 million, Mercedes made about $170 million in winnings this year. So it comes down to sponsorships to make up the difference. I read the Williams F1 team posted a small profit. I found a story that Daimler lost $30 million last year on the F1 program, but they think the advertising value more than makes up for it. I would imagine any factory backed racing team in any league isn't really in it to make money. I doubt Audi made any profit in prize money for winning Le Mans all those years, but they got advertising out of it. So it is really in how you weigh the exposure and the bragging rights that come from racing.
  25. smk4565
    I think racing is a good idea, it helps from an engineering and marketing standpoint. However they are in a racing series that hardly anyone has heard of, so there isn't that much marketing exposure, and I don't know how much entering benefit there is using a Corvette racing engine. They should step up to prime time and join Formula 1.
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