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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Audi, Jaguar, and BMW all use the same transmission though. I don't know if it matters to Jaguar buyers if the engine comes from BMW, there used to be a Range Rover with a BMW V8 in it in the early 2000s. The exterior styling, interiors and infotainment systems are way different on a BMW and Jaguar. If you want exclusive engine and transmission in a luxury car though, there is only one place to look.
  2. smk4565
    From what I have read about the new Ridgeline, it's ride and handling are light years ahead of the Colorado/Canyon, Frontier and Tacoma. Autoline had a review of it and said it wasn't even close. I think the inked trunk is pretty innovative, and the way the rear seats folds up to make storage space back there. The General should get a unibody pick-up to market, perhaps a size smaller than the Colorado since the Colorado is rather big, especially compared to what the S10 was.
  3. smk4565
    There was talk from within Mercedes of an AMG hybrid around 2020, possibly every AMG model being a hybrid at some point. There is also rumor of a 1,300 hp hybrid hyper car that weighs under 3,000 lbs under development, but Mercedes denies it. AMG feels that their customers want a V8 and they want that noise, so I think that will have to stay in play there, but for the regular cars, I could see the plug-ins taking over by 2020.
  4. smk4565
    Exotic cars have V12s, there will always be a place for that sound among the supercars. Luxo barges like Rolls and Bentley could easily go EV. The LT series V8 is good now, but I wouldn't put much money into developing a replacement for them since the next generation Silverado will probably have V6 power. A twin turbo V8 would be good for high end cars the next 10 years, then around 2025 maybe even Corvette is a electric car and that need for a V8 goes away. The Corvette engine could be useful in the CTS V-sport or CT6. I would like to Cadillac have its own V8, but since they don't have one better to use the Corvette engine than have no V8 at all.
  5. smk4565
    You could argue the Corvette better off with a twin turbo DOHC V8 though, and Cadillac could use one for sure. If there is a mid-engine Corvette (which should be a mid-engine Cadillac supercar) a high revving DOHC unit would be better there too. It is possible by 2025 the the Silverado, Sierra, Yukon, Suburban all have a V6 as their big engine, the Camaro SS will be a V6 by then, probably the only V8 Camaro will be a ZL1. I don't think GM will have a V8 for sale for less than $60-70,000 come 2025. CAFE just won't allow that. So if they keep the LT series, it is for Corvette and big Cadillacs, plus it wouldn't parts share with their DOHC V6. It probably makes more economic sense to have a 4 liter V8 sharing a block with the 2 liter 4 or 3 liter V6.
  6. smk4565
    You need a twin turbo V12 to be a luxury/sports car maker of the highest level. Turbo/super charged V8 to be in the luxury game. However EV's are going to infiltrate that space, and then it will just be an argument of 500+ hp with no noise and that will be a new form of luxury. After 2020, EV luxury is going to become more and more common. I do think it makes sense Jaguar/LR and BMW team up on a V8. Most Jaguars have a supercharged V6, only the R models have a V8 and they can't sell that many of those. Likewise with Land Rover, pretty much just the Range Rover uses the V8, and that has a base V6 also. Over at BMW you have the 7-series and M vehicles. Combined they probably produce less than 100,000 V8s worldwide per year and shrinking, so might as well co-develop one.
  7. smk4565
    I think I read about a 2 hour recharge time for this truck. 126 miles doesn't seem like a lot, but I guess if that is enough to run 5 hours, then theoretically in 12 hours this truck could do 2 shifts of deliveries with a recharge halfway through. I love the idea of an electric truck for city use to cut down on noise and exhaust. And some cities are already starting to have emission free zones, I think in China that will happen with how bad the air is there, they'll just ban diesel trucks from cities, so this truck could be in high demand.
  8. smk4565
    "Imported from Detroit" can change to "Imported from Mexico" As I have said on other threads, I don't really care so much what country the car is made in, or where the corporate office. But for those that want the "buy American" run away from this company. The product is made outside of the USA, the money goes to Italy, so Sergio can can live out some fantasy of Alfa Romeo competing with BMW and the Ferrari F1 team beating Mercedes. More info on those stories at www.nevergoingtohappen.com
  9. smk4565
    Daimler made $2.6 billion in profit last quarter. Mercedes cars make money, and they are on pace to sell 2 million cars this year, and only 350,000 or so will be in the USA. So I doubt most of that is coming from American car sales. We are only 20% of their volume. Daimler probably makes a nice profit on Freightliner trucks and Detroit engines and transmissions sold in the USA though. The S-class is where the money is really printed from a global standpoint.
  10. smk4565
    Congrats, you are fortunate to love what you do. Sounds like an an exciting job, and you have to start somewhere, never know where it will lead.
  11. smk4565
    Crossovers and trucks make money. As long as those keep selling the money will keep rolling in.
  12. smk4565
    "New" GM should be responsible for anything done by "old GM". Bankruptcy filings don't mean you are not responsible for breaking the law in the past. To put VW in this scenario, they could split Porsche, Audi, Lambo and Bentley into "new VW" and file bankruptcy with "old VW" and say they can't pay the fines. Doesn't work that way. These companies are responsible for their past. They chose to cut corners or cheat or break laws to drive profits. So If you do that and get caught you pay up.
  13. smk4565
    Good for MT for calling out Ford for not supplying a car. Does Ford not have confidence in their own product? If they refuse to show up sounds like they know they have an inferior car. Car and Driver just did a small car comparo, the Mazda 3 I think was the most dated car in the comparo and still won. Car companies should have faith in their product.
  14. smk4565
    They should try to sell 1 sedan first before they worry about a 2nd. Wasn't the Gulia supposed to be on sale like a year ago? Still waiting...
  15. smk4565
    50 is still pretty high, but at least more attainable than 54.5. If they really want to cut fuel consumption a higher gas tax will do it. CAFE is pretty pointless.
  16. smk4565
    The original 128i and 135i sold here were rear wheel drive. They were cut down 3-series chassis. The current 2-series as it is now sort of caters to that buyer that loved the late 90s and early 2000s 3-series, because it is that size, and the M2 version is pretty fast, the 0-60 time is 4.0 seconds, 163 mph top speed and .99 g skidpad rating, 3500 lb with 365 hp. Those are pretty major league numbers for a $55,000 car.
  17. smk4565
    Probably they can put a 1.6 liter turbo from Mini in there to avoid the displacement taxes. It is a car that will sell in China. I don't think it would sell much here.
  18. smk4565
    Why doesn't Cadillac have Porsche-like profit margins? Or even Audi-group-like profit. They have help from GM platforms. Cadillac run correctly could generate 50% of GM's profit.
  19. smk4565
    But a car like the Fusion has gone up in price to where the Taurus was. And people are turning away from larger cars. I do agree that car prices are rising faster than salaries, which really puts a boom on cars like Escape, Soul, Elantra, Rogue, Fusion, etc. A lot of those used to be bare bones model cars, but now have the power heated seats, nav-system, apple car play, and upgraded stereo that used to be on the luxury cars. I can't tell if you're agreeing with me or not. People want those features you listed and are willing to downsize to get it. Just like someone who bought a C-class in 2006 probably is going for a CLA today because the C-Class is out of their range, and clearly coming from an '06 C-Class interior quality isn't a deciding factor. I partly agree. There are some trading down. I am sure there are people that had an 06 C280 and for them the CLA is enough car and meets their needs and it is sized like their C280, and the C300 is now $45,000 with some equipment, maybe that is a shock since they paid $36,000 for that C280. But the C-class in 2015 sold better than it did in 2012. C-class sales are higher now than they were before the CLA was on sale. The best year ever for the E-class in the USA was 2013 with 69,830 sales, they sold 55,683 in 2003 during the first year of the W211 model. So the C-class hasn't really stolen from the E-class, it is a rising tide lifts all boats scenario. The E-class is doing better now than it was, in 2008 they only sold 38,576 as the economy slowed and that was near the end of the W211 life cycle. I think as size and price creep pushes a car like a Fusion to 194 inches long and $36,000, some past Fusion buyers will buy a $25,000 Focus. They traded down on the name plate, but the 2016 Focus probably has everything their 2009 Fusion had and more. I think these compact luxury segments come from part trade down, and but mostly trade up from a compact non-lux car.
  20. smk4565
    To go with this..kind of.. Personally, I would rather have a loaded up smaller vehicle than a stripped down larger vehicle. I could have bought an Edge when I bought my escape but it would have been a lesser trim, 2wd(not like I NEED AWD), and it would have literally only been a larger vehicle. This trend is exactly what is fueling the sub-compact crossover market. When the Encore first came out it was really the first of its kind. The Nissan Juke was there, but it doesn't really have any usable space or rear seat room. Buick was very specifically targeting people coming out of Explorers, Volvo XC90s, Highlanders, etc, who no longer wanted to wheel around such large vehicles and no longer needed that sort of room. People trading down is exactly why the GLA, CLA, A3, Q3, X1, 1/2-series, Encore, Trax, etc exist. Or are they trading up from a CR-V or Rav4 into X1, GLA, etc? People want luxury brand names, and compact SUVs like Escape, Rav4 and CRV together can sell nearly a million units a year. Even if 5% of those people go to a luxury compact crossover, that is 50,000 new buyers. Size creep plays a role here too, a CLA is larger than a 2007 C-class, look at a 90s 3-series compared to today's 3-series. Look at a 90s Accord compared to the near full size Accord they sell now. If you had a 2005 Malibu and liked that size car and walk into a Chevy dealer, the Cruze is closer to that size than the current Malibu is, so maybe you just buy the Cruze that has enough room and a lower payment.
  21. smk4565
    General Motors first quarter this year posted a $1.95 billion profit. Porsche for the first quarter had a $992 million profit. GM sold 9.8 million cars per year, and Porsche sold 225,000. GM sells 44 cars to every 1 Porsche, beats them only 2 to 1 in real profit dollars. Porsche makes more total profit dollars (or Euros in this case) per year than VW brand, and VW brand sells 5 million cars a year.
  22. smk4565
    But a car like the Fusion has gone up in price to where the Taurus was. And people are turning away from larger cars. I do agree that car prices are rising faster than salaries, which really puts a boom on cars like Escape, Soul, Elantra, Rogue, Fusion, etc. A lot of those used to be bare bones model cars, but now have the power heated seats, nav-system, apple car play, and upgraded stereo that used to be on the luxury cars.
  23. smk4565
    In 2015 SUV was the #1 selling body style in Europe at 22.5%. Subcompact car was 22%, compact car was 20.6%, and MPV was 4th with 10.5%. MPV would be your B-class, Ford S-max, Fiat 500L, VW Golf Sportvan, etc. So those are close to crossovers, sort of Europe's minivan. Mid-size sedan and station wagon are 9% of European car sales, and most of that is sedan, so the wagon market in Europe is even pretty dead at this point.
  24. smk4565
    They don't all trade up to an M3 obviously. Most could not afford too. But you have to offer that high end option for those that want more. It is why there is a V-series. High trim levels are where the profits live. Porsche is the classic example. I went on the Porsche website and built a 911 Carrara 4S and was able to put over $72,000 in options. $3,000 was PDK transmission and there was no engine upgrade. That is $69,000 of paint, trim, equipment, wheels, etc, crazy profit margin.
  25. smk4565
    Think of this, Cadillac could sell 50-60,000 XT5 in a year. If it had an LT1 Corvette engine in there for $65k, they couldn't get 5% of XT5 buyers to buy that? That is 3,000 sales at a good profit margin. CTS sells about 15,000 cars a year, even if V-series is a 15% take rate (which is generous) that is 2,250 high margin sales per year.
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