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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Mercedes sold about 2,000 B-class electric cars between Europe and USA last year. They aren't at zero, but they bascillay just have a compliance car. That is why they are making more, but it isn't like Mercedes can spend all their time and resources worrying about a company that sells 50,000 cars a year when BMW and Audi are selling 2 million, they still have to build what the market is buying and the market isn't buying electric cars in big quantities yet.
  2. smk4565
    Either way. Daimler is a bigger company than BMW, they do nearly double the revenue. Some things like autonomous drive technology they develop for the S-class is ending up on Freightliner trucks. So they get to spread their cost around more. In 2015, Mercedes-Benz Cars did 83.8 billion euros in revenue last year, at 9.5% margin. BMW Autos group (Mini, BMW, Rolls) did 85.5 billion euros in revenue at a 9.2% margin. Shockingly close actually. Mercedes did beat BMW on cars sold 2 million to 1.9 million.
  3. smk4565
    It almost has a crossover look to it. The shape is similar to the Accord Crosstour, reminds me a bit of the Subaru Impreza Crosstek, just not quite as tall. When I think Civic hatchback I think 3 door not 5, so this was a bit bigger than I was expecting. But I think the popularity of crossovers inspired this look and the 5 door.
  4. smk4565
    We'll see who wins between BMW and Benz.
  5. smk4565
    BMW wants one platform for all. This is what gets you Rolls-Royces built on a 7-series platform (although they are supposed to get their own aluminum chassis), and how you get 4,400 lb 5-series because they built it on a 7-series platform with 6 inches of wheelbase cut out. If they put a 70 kWh battery in a 3-series chassis, where does it go? They'll do it, but they will have to pack batteries under the hood, the floor plan, the trunk, etc. Even if they still get the 50/50 weight balance, will they have low center of gravity and will they have trunk space? Oddly enough in a comparison of the Mercedes B-class and the BMW i3, Car and Driver said the i3 was better because the B-class electric drive was just a B-class loaded up with batteries and an electric motor to power the front wheels, while the i3 was lighter, better weight balance, rear drive, and handled better since it was made to be an electric car while the B-class was not.
  6. smk4565
    They are starting now, thus the 4 EVs that will be on sale in the next couple years. I don't see Cadillac or Lincoln with any electric cars. Is Cadillac going to build 4 electric cars? Tesla is a good car because it has zero pollution and is wicked fast. These are traits of electric cars, that Mercedes can easily copy. What Tesla can't copy is the Mercedes interiors, build quality, etc. Even though Tesla uses Mercedes switchgear in all their cars. Tesla might be selling because it is the only came in town, then buyers have to pick between Tesla, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, maybe that isn't such an easy win for Tesla.
  7. smk4565
    Mercedes is on pace to sell 2 million cars this year, Tesla like 50,000. And Tesla has lost money 13 quarters in a row. Mercedes doesn't fear Tesla now they fear what Tesla could be in 2025. And Europe is more green concious than we are here, and they are more likely to buy German. They can keep Tesla as a small player in Europe even if Tesla grows big here.
  8. smk4565
    Nissan made the Leaf, BMW made the i3, in a different way Toyota made the Prius rather than a Corolla hybrid. Many car makers have introduced an all new model as their "green" vehicle. This is a new product for a new segment, it gets a new name. The Tesla Model S is the size of a CTS though, the S-class is way bigger than a Model S and the S-class burns gas. Maybe they lose some sales, but how many have they lost to Tesla, or could they lose to an Audi A8 E-tron or something? They can steal sales back from Tesla now, prevent them from stealing future sales. We also don't know anything about how they will price these electric Mercedes or how fast they might be. But Mercedes doesn't want to get caught with their pants down with no EVs when the market takes off. Sort of like how Cadillac is starving for crossovers right now, Mercedes was ready for the crossover craze, perhaps they invented the luxury crossover craze with the ML in 1997. But when crossovers got hot, they had 4 of them to sell, when EVs get hot, they'll have 4 to sell while the other guys are playing catch up. Always one step ahead.
  9. smk4565
    Not mass market, but both brands can introduce an EV and give it a new name. Why didn't Chevy just call the Bolt the Spark EV and charge $39,000 for a Spark? Clearly that would not be the right way to go, that is why Mercedes isn't going to make an E500-E and charge $125,000 for it. Mercedes is supposed to have 2 crossovers and 2 sedans that are electric. Tesla is making a Model Y small SUV to complete the S3XY line up as Elon says, I'd imagine the 4 Mercedes products will be very similar in size to those 4. This is all part of the grand plan to dominate the luxury segment. The C-E-S classes fight BMW and Audi, they made the AMG GT to take on the Porsche 911, the EV line will take on Tesla, the Maybach to go against Bentley. They want to take them all on.
  10. smk4565
    There is a Malibu and a Bolt. There will be an E-class and an EQ-whatever. Same difference. MB isn't going to kill the E-class, they'll add more hybrids over time, and the day the gas engine dies, the E-class will soldier on with electric only. No one is saying that Bolt means death to the Malibu or Cruze or Equinox. They can co-exist. We just need Mercedes to build this and it's go time! Maybe they can do it in gas and electric.
  11. smk4565
    But if GM is going to move toward EV cars, why make a Volt and Bolt? Why not just make a Pure EV Malibu, Pure EV Cruze and cancel the Volt and Bolt right now. Mercedes is doing nothing different than Nissan did with the Leaf, or Chevy did with Bolt. Mercedes is making a new model that is electric only. Probably by 2025 every Mercedes will be a plug-in hybrid, and then I'd guess there will be pure electric versions of E-class, S-class, etc as technology changes. I am thinking in 2050 Mercedes and most car companies might just have electric cars. But that is a long way from now, EVs are still a niche product.
  12. smk4565
    Mercedes used "Unlike Any Other" and "Engineered like no other car" for a lot of the 80s and 90s as their slogans. I did put my line up, I am not opposed to multiple body styles on one name, I think Eldorado is iconic for Cadillac as a 2-door, so I would make that a unique offering as their top end coupe in a mid-size vehicle. Cars: Calais: compact sedan/hatchback Lasalle: small sedan/coupe/convertible Seville: mid-size sedan Eldorado: mid-size coupe/convertible Fleetwood: full size sedan SUV/Crossover: Avignon: small crossover Alicante: mid-size crossover Imaj: large crossover Escalade: large SUV
  13. smk4565
    But the electric cars are also not E-class or S-class cars. These are brand new models, new chassis, new interior, etc. Mercedes has 3 plug in hybrids now with 7 more coming. The C300e and S550e are already on sale, they can't make a 2nd and totoly different car with that same name. This isn't Hyundai Genesis sedan and coupe with 2 products and 1 name. The EQS would have less in common with an S-class than a GLS does with an S-class.
  14. smk4565
    Perhaps they leave numbers off the electric car names. And just make EQE, EQS, etc and then just put a number on the trunk for battery pack size. Like Tesla puts 70, 85, 90 on the trunk, but they are all just called Model S. Or like how a lot of cars will have a 2.0t or 3.0t badge on the trunk, but the model name is the same, or an Accord might say EX or LX on the trunk.
  15. smk4565
    Cadillac loves French and Spanish names. Cars: Calais: compact sedan/hatchback Lasalle: small sedan/coupe/convertible Seville: mid-size sedan Eldorado: mid-size coupe/convertible Fleetwood: full size sedan I'd skip a full size coupe since that is such a tiny segment, and position Eldorado about $5-10k above the Seville. SUV/Crossover: Avignon: small crossover Alicante: mid-size crossover Imaj: large crossover Escalade: large SUV For a slogan I would go with "Since 1902" it is doesn't have clever marketing speak, but it reminds people they have been around a really long time. Problem with the slogan:
  16. smk4565
    None of those CUVs, that they get the bulk of their sales from these days, have the "heritage" you speak of yet I couldn't help but notice that you skipped over that part. I'm with Balth btw. The letter schemes being used by car companies these days is just too generic and lacks identity. My point to you is that if it is a knock on Cadillac, then it is also a knock on Mercedes. Mercedes first SUV was the G, all their SUVs now have G in the name. And hard for a GLK or GLC to have heritage when it came out in 2009. But they have kept the naming nomenclature similar , and it is consistent across the line.
  17. smk4565
    But they already have a C350e, GLE550e, and S550e on sale right now so they can't just add an e to the end of existing names. They have to do something new unless they go 1930s style and go with names like 540k or 770k and use a number for kilowatt power of the motor. But then how do you differentiate body styles with the same power. EQE or EQS at least lets them segment their electric cars to the existing line. I don't really like the Q. Might as well just do EV-E, EV-S, etc.
  18. smk4565
    Next BMW i8 is supposed to have 750 HP and be all electric with a 300 mile range. So I applaud them for that because the current 420 HP $150,000 plug in hybrid is a rip off. Still 5 years away though.
  19. smk4565
    Mercedes has used s-class, SL, E-class, G-wagen for 40-60 years depending on the model. It has been consistent. The 10th generation E-class just went on sale, that is consistency. Cadillac's oldest nameplate is 1999, their 2nd oldest is 2002 and they are about to kill it. They threw all there heritage names in the trash for alphabet soup. That is my criticism of Cadillac names. Cadillac's oldest nameplate is also the only one with a word name and it is their most successful. Yet they don't go back to Fleetwood or Eldorado, they want to sell a CT6 instead.
  20. smk4565
    First production automobile with gasoline engine, patent proves it: Karl Benz invited the car, Bertha Benz was the first person ever to drive a car a distance of 100 km. They invented the car, and cross country driving. Benz invented the first gas engine with horizontally opposed cylinders in 1897 and they rear mounted it. You're welcome Porsche.
  21. smk4565
    If the Regal and XTS are all they are making, that plant looks like it is closing. XTS doesn't have much time left, the next Regal could be built where any Epsilon car is made, and they don't make that many of them to begin with. Sadly I think most sedans from the Big 3 will get built in Mexico where the labor is cheaper, and the SUVs and trucks will get made here. Unless the UAW wants to accept starting wages at $18 an hour not $29 an hour these jobs will keep leaving. All these factories offer overtime, an entry level auto worker could still make $40k a year with benefits at $18-19 an hour. UAW wants $60-70k a year wages to build cars, no wonder the Big 3 are leaving. The unions aren't doing their members any favors, and the didn't do them any favors in the 90s or 2000s either. Notice the non-union auto factories in the South are not shutting down, most of them are expanding. And I am democrat.
  22. smk4565
    What excuse? They haven't even named the car yet. Where is Cadillac's electric car? Maybe in 3 years we'll get a Cadillac Bolt with 200 front drive horses. And GM fans will say it is better than a Tesla or the Audi E-Tron or the Mercedes electric cars that can do 0-60 in 3 seconds.
  23. smk4565
    Cadillac could do better than "SRX" when Lexus sells an RX, or better than XT5 when BMW sells an X5. At least the Equus isn't on sale anymore. It seems that Mercedes will have EQE and EQS sedans, and they did trademark EQG, so maybe an electric G-wagon one day, maybe they use EQM and EQX for crossovers since they used to have an M-class, seems like that letter would make sense. They have to call it something, and I'm sure they want to relate it to the current C-E-S line they have now. Mercedes-EQ S400 with 400 hp, Mercedes-EQ S500 with 500 hp could be a way to go, just make the number the electric power or do a 400, 500, 600 like Tesla does 70, 80, 90.. They'll figure it out. The important thing to remember is Mercedes invented the car, and will reinvent it.
  24. smk4565
    In reading some auto news from the UK, it seems that Mercedes had trademarked a range of names like "EQA" "EQB "EQX" and the belief is the Mercedes electric may be called Mercedes EQS( large sedan), Mercedes EQX (crossover). Seems like it will still be Mercedes-Benz then EQ and a letter that lines up similar to what they have now or Mercedes-EQ S, Mercedes-EQ X, etc.
  25. smk4565
    All I see are excuses why it's okay for Mercedes to borrow from a mainstream pick up maker and why it's not okay for GM to do it from within the company, even though the Escalade does not share one common exterior panel or interior piece with its GM cousins. I don't think it is a problem that the Escalade is built on a truck platform because Escalade buyers want a truck. And the Escalade is the best cash cow Cadillac has, and sells very well for its price point. I wouldn't mind them seeing an Omega based SUV that isn't 6,000 lbs and could go around corners and get more than 15 mpg. One of my biggest criticisms of Cadillac has been taking the SRX (now XT5) from a CTS based vehicle to basically a Chevy Equinox based vehicle. And today all they have is a front drive crossover, when Cadillac in 2013 was saying RWD is the future of the company and we are going to focus on class leading handling and weight savings, blah blah blah. We also don't know what the Mercedes pick up is yet, it is likely a work truck for Europe and developing countries, for that purpose a Nissan chassis, with 4 cylinder gas and diesel mercedes engines, 9-speed transmission, and 4matic system are probably more than sufficient to suit that market.
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