smk4565

The Tesla Model Y is on pace to surpass the Corolla as the number 1 selling vehicle in the world in 2023. EV demand is massive. Ford should have the Mach E outselling the Mustang coupe 10 to 1 right now.

The grille looks like it belongs on a Toyota Tacoma. This thing looks too squared off, it looks worse than the current car I think, but I am not in the market for a Mustang so doesn't matter to me really. Could have made AWD an option on the Mustang and 0-60 would have dropped more than from a power upgrade to the engine.

The average gasoline car has a 300 mile range, and I don't know a single person that fills their tank every day, 7 days a week. And if you did, assuming a $70 fill up, 7 days a week, that's $490 a week, and $25,480 per year spent on gasoline, in which case it is all the more motivation to buy an EV.

GM has to scale up faster than any of their rivals. I don't count Tesla as a Chevy rival due to the price difference, no one else is scaled up yet in EV production, if GM can be the first big mover they might be able to get ahead and hold an advantage, assuming these EV's are good and people come back for a 2nd.

I get that the purpose of the buy outs is not to build cars in China, but it is more a function of the majority of Buick sales are in China, and also China is pushing for all EV's so Buick USA is basically going to get product that is either from Buick of China, thus mostly EV's. Or Buick will get a version of an Chevy/GMC. The buy outs of Cadillac and Buick dealers is basically because they have to upgrade to EV or go away, and the Cadillac and Buick brands aren't growing, they need to trim some fat anyway.

GM is offering buyouts to Buick dealers in the USA, so clearly the focus in on China.

Right but the $80k price cap doesn't start until January, so the EQS SUV qualifies right now, but I don't think they are even to dealers yet, so there is only going to be a 2-3 month window they get that tax break. EQB isn't built in the USA. I am saying Mercedes would be better off making EQB's in the USA to get the tax credit on them, and if there isn't enough capacity in Alabama to make GLE, GLS, EQE SUVs, EQS SUV, GLB, etc then move production of the EQS SUV to Germany since it is not credit eligible. Really this new law is industrial policy, which I happen to like. It isn't so much about giving car buyers a tax rebate, it is about forcing the car companies to bring battery production to the USA and the free trade allies and out of China. And all the car companies will come to the USA because you don't want to be Honda selling your electric CRV for $7500 more than Chevy's electric Equinox because in the mass market segments you are dead in the water if you are priced 20% higher than a rival in the same segment. This is also a buffer to block the Chinese brands form coming, because they will start importing cheaper Chinese made EV's.

Electric cars needing to reduce vehicle height to improve range is all that will save us from crossover SUV everything.

I don't like SUVs either. But if you ask most car companies what they see as a good product mix, they would rather have 8 SUVs and 0 cars than 5 SUVs and 3 cars.

Get them now before the $7500 tax credit goes away in January. The Alabama battery plant really only needs to serve demand for EQE SUV and EQS SUV. That's all they are making there although it would make sense to make their lower end cars there so consumers can get the tax credit on them, because the $80,000 price cap is going to disqualify EQS and maybe all EQE trims. They actually need to build the A-C class vehicles in Alabama, build the EQB there for example, it starts at $56,000, get the tax credit to $48,500 and then all of a sudden that looks like a good deal.

Once the inflation reduction act passed, it seems like the flood gates opened on these companies bringing battery production to North America. In addition to that Volkswagen and Mercedes have a deal with Canada to mine lithium and battery materials there. This is great news because we should be making this stuff in North America, not having to rely on China, who is currently making about 70% of EV batteries.

Crossover coupe! In 2030, all vehicles will be crossover coupes.

Sure, but Chrysler got the LX cars and the WK Grand Cherokee (thus Durango, Commander) from Mercedes, plus the Crossfire, plus they sold Sprinters for a little bit. Outside of the Ram pickup and Wrangler, I don't know how many platforms Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep Ram have come up with in the past 25 years. Almost every product has been a hand me down from another car company. A google search says the Giorgio platform cost $1.07 billion dollars. Mercedes spent $1 billion on the W212 E-class refresh. The Giorgio platform didn't take all the money out of the company, they should have had at least a $5 billion annual R&D budget. FCA spent many billions on product. Although they do have very little to show for it because the cars it produced weren't as good as BMW's. They may have nothing to show for the Tonale and Hornet.

Alfa Romeo got 2 products on the same platform, which is now used for Jeep's #1 selling product. That didn't starve CDJR of product. The Alfa 4C was around before the merger as were the other cars you mentioned. Jeep got the Renegade, a replacement for that awful gen 1 Compass, the Cherokee, Dodge got the Dart, Chrysler the 200, Ram the Promaster and Promaster City. Fiat gave CDJR 7 new products.

If CDJR was so profitable, why was it that Fiat bought them and not the other way around? It was Fiat and Marchionne that bought CDJR. And it was Peugeot (PSA) who bought FCA. IF CDJR was such a powerhouse, they wouldn't have been taking over by a struggling company that was later taken over.

Stellantis didn't "steal money from American nameplates" Stellantis owns all these brands. Stellantis is a Netherlands based company trading on the French and Italian stock exchanges. Stellantis gives these brands a budget, pays the employees, etc. And Stellantis could wipe out half their brands without a single person losing their job, because they don't have Dodge employees, or Fiat employees, or Opel employees, they have Stellantis employees. And we already know Stellantis gave all these brands a budget and time to see which ones stick and which won't be needed. As Tesla takes more and more market share around the world, I predict a major reorganization (similar to GM 2008 minus the bankruptcy) happens at Stellantis. A lot of these brands will go away and they'll have a value brand, a luxury brand, an off road brand (Jeep) and a performance brand. This might be a 4 brand company in 2030.

Probably all true as far as parts go.

All of those concepts are ugly and what is with the flying buttress C-pillar on the Audi and the Cadillacs, looks chunky and heavy. As far as the active sphere goes, Audi definitely needs more crossover copes for active lifestyle people, I suggest they do a QC1, QC2, QC3, QC4, QC5, QC6, QC7, QC8, and QC9 so they can have 9 Q-coupe versions of their current Q suv's. This way they can have 18 SUVs each 3 inches and $3,000 different in price.

None of those cars listed can be considered reliable. Car and Driver did a long term test on the Guilia Quadrafolio and it was a maintenance nightmare. 2400 miles before the first break down, the rear diff needed replaced at 10,000 miles and it took 31 days to get one and that is before covid supply chain mess was a thing. In 14 months they had the car it spend 80 days out of commission, that's ridiculous. Every time a new Alfa comes out, they makes this "oh we fixed the reliability, it isn't like the old days" statement. Alfa also said they were going to sell 250,000 cars a year globally and they hit like 123,000 in 2019 and have dropped since. Now they say they'll sell 300,000 a year within 4-5 years. This is the biggest empty promise brand ever. I assume Dodge Hornet buyers will need to get to work, not sure what they'll do then their car breaks down and they have to wait 1 month to get parts from Italy. And I have seen worse with collision repairs, not uncommon to wait 6+ months for something like fenders or tailgates on a Jeep Renegade in the past year.

They said the Guilia was going to be reliable and not like Alfa's of the past, and it wasn't, likewise with the Stelvio, likewise with every Maserati currently on sale. I don't believe him for a second, and if they want to put their money where their mouth is, offer a better warranty than Hyundai or on these. They couldn't make a Guilia with a 2 liter turbo 4 reliable, which I think every car company on earth has a 2 liter turbo 4, that is like the most basic and common engine out there. Now they are going to go to a high boost 1.3 liter with an electric drivetrain mixed in, when they have zero history of hybrid powertrains, compared to Toyota who has 25 years of doing it. I don't trust it.

Ford was just ordered in court to pay $1.7 billion in damages for a F250 roof that collapse and killed the occupants. And Ford will appeal, and they’ll still F-series trucks, just like Toyota will keep selling. Toyota was the #1 selling brand in the USA and the world, the Corolla is the best selling car in the world with 1.15 million last year. They must be doing something right. And it isn’t like the Corolla is luxurious or sporty (save for the GR 300 hp version that wasn’t on sale last year). But they are reliable, they last, they are cheap to maintain and that’s what sells.

Exactly. All day long they are people that will pay near $20k for a 15-25 year old Land Cruiser and it’s Lexus twin. It’s not my cup of tea, but the cult following exists.

Probably make it a crossover coupe version of the Blazer EV. It can share parts with the Acura ZDX that's coming back, because yay, crossover coupes.

More power than a Model S Plaid? Or the 1200 hp Lucid? Horsepower doesn't really matter anymore, everything is fast, you can get a Kia that does 0-60 in 3.4 seconds for like $70k.

So I assume they will have to change this to a sedan for production, or do sedan and coupe versions, unless they have a different sedan coming later and the Charger is a coupe only for lower volume as they ramp up EV production. They don't mention power, range, battery size or anything, so I am guessing this is a good bit away from production still, maybe late 2024 as a 2025 model.