smk4565
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Everything posted by smk4565
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I like Balthazaar's large coupe idea best, and do agree they need a convertible. I think they should do an Eldorado full size coupe/convertible, something big and over the top like the Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead, but more along the lines of CT6 turbo V6 pricing, like $70,000 range.
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Porsche News: Porsche Debuts A New Twin-Turbo V8 Engine
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Volkswagen
True Dat. Johan would probably trade his first born for such an engine. -
Then why price the LaCrosse and Regal like they do? Regal was around $30k base and they dropped the price because sales were so bad. If Buick wants to compete with Lexus, they should price the LaCrosse dollar for dollar with the ES350. Make the LaCrosee $37,950 base price, if people always buy a loaded model, sales shouldn't suffer. As far as Sierra Denali (and cars like Maxima and Cadenza) depends on what your definition of luxury is. It used to be that leather heated seats and power seats, locks and windows was luxury. Now any car has that. If luxury means performance those cars don't fit that. ,
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ATS, it is rear drive and has more power if it us a 2.0t
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BMW News: Next BMW X5 to Use Underpinnings from 7-Series
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in BMW
The BMW X7 is getting a V12, the only thing GM has that is close is the Z06/CTS-V engine. They aren't going to match that V12 in smoothness or refinement, they could be close in power and torque. -
BMW News: Next BMW X5 to Use Underpinnings from 7-Series
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in BMW
Cadillac should do an Alpha SUV and an Omega SUV. GM has all these platforms, put them to use. XT5 is already on C2xx, that is fine for competing with the Lexus RX and Lincolns and Acuras of the world, a D2xx could slot below that in the low $30s. People buying a low $30s crossover are probably coming from a Rav4 or Ford Edge or something, they'll like the move to a fwd based crossover that drives like what they are used to but has more luxury. With 2 front drive crossovers you cater to the sheeple that blindly buy anything that is a crossover, and with Alpha and Omega crossovers you can sell performance. -
Good review from rogueriver and welcome to a new poster.
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Since the argument was made that German brands rely on low end models, I figured I would post the sales of the luxury brands for models with base price over $50,000. This weeds out a lot of lower end models, and yes you can option a 3-series to over $50k, but most sold probably are 328i's. Starting price of $50k, probably means selling price of $60k or higher, so that gives us a better idea of where the sales of expensive cars are. 2015 sales numbers. Mercedes 135,228 BMW 126,728 Porsche 38,223 Lexus 36,270 Cadillac 35,921 Audi 32,201 Infiniti 15,646 Jaguar 14,466 Lincoln 11,964 Acura 2,195 Volkswagen 7,037 Kia 2,524 Hyundai 2,332 Buick 0 Volvo 0
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CLA is an average car from the reviews, I don't like the interior of the CLA, I would never buy one. But even a mediocre at best car with the Mercedes badge will sell, because there are people that will buy it just because of how it looks and the badge on the hood. Also just as the LaCrosse is often sold with leather package, most CLA's have Premium 1 package and another option. My local dealer has four CLA's for sale, MSRP, $40,030, $41,580, $35,475, and $39,730. I get that all cars have options and none of them sell for the base model advertised price. But the best way to compare is with starting points. Usually cars with the same base price, option up to a similar price.
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What luxury cars are the $21,000 Verano and $24,000 Encore competing with? LaCrosse is priced lower than a Maxima, Avalon or Cadenza, are those luxury cars?
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Good point by Oracle of Delphi. And Cadillac has ads for "the first ever CT6"
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Tire wear is going to be fairly similar, brake wear as well I'd image. Most Cadillacs I think use Mobil 1 oil now, same as a Mercedes does, so all that routine stuff is similar cost.
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Since the request was made, here are Buick's numbers from 2010 sales year to 2015 sales year. 2010: 155,389 2015: 223,055 They gained 77,666 in volume. The Encore and Verano(both which start under $25k under the price of any 2010 Buick) combined for 99,435 in 2015. If Buick did' move down market under they would have a sales decline. Mercedes and Audi without CLA and A3 still have an increase.
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I have often said they need more product, that is the problem, but years later no new product. So what are the people i charge of the brand doing? Cadillac should have a small crossover, it could be on D2xx because at $33k with the Lexus NX, Lincoln MKC, Acura RDX, it is all front drive and those buyers don't care about drive wheels. I would add a mid-size alpha crossover and a full size Omega crossover. That gets them 4 crossovers, 2 front drive, 2 rear drive. If they want to do a crossover coupe or V-series or whatever off that they can. But at least they would have 4 model lines plus Escalade fora 5th SUV. They have to have at least 1 convertible somewhere. It is low volume, but they look good in commercials and you have to offer at least one, you can't just ignore an aspirational body style like that.
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Mercedes doesn't compete in Buick territory. The cheapest Mercedes is more than the LaCrosse. The only Buick that cost more than the CLA the past 5 years was the full size SUV Enclave, and most full size SUVs are going to cost more than a compact sedan. That isn't cherry picking, that is a fact of what the prices are. If Buick wants to make the Verano base at $32k, the Regal at $40k, and the LaCrosse at $50k (yes above XTS) then they can say they compete in the Mercedes price tier. What is Buick's ATP? Like $33K? The median price for all new cars is $34k, Buick is just average.
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BMW, Lexus, Mercedes, and Audi have all pulled off those numbers by moving down market into Buick territory... so if you want to include that market, merge the Buick and Cadillac numbers. If you don't want to include that market, drop the 1/2-Series, GLA/CLA/B-Class, A3 and low end lexuses. Edit: and possibly GMC Denali numbers... I have been telling him the same thing for weeks. If you are going compare all Mercedes models for sales purposes then you have include all that apply from GM, not just Cadillac. Of course, that would kill his weak argument and he wouldn't be able to continue his cherry picking campaign. GM covers these two markets with 3 brands, Mercedes covers it with one. There is a valid debate to be had over which strategy is superior, but comparing sales numbers without acknowledging these facts is dishonest. Then you have to give BMW all Mini sales, because the cheapest Mini costs the same as a Verano and the Clubman is the same price as an Encore. Mini sales aren't any good, but if you want to compare sales down to $21,000, BMW should get them too, Audi should get to add the Volkswagen CC, Tiguan and Toureg, because those are priced higher than similar Buicks. Bottom line is Cadillac is GM's luxury brand, it is the one with the task of targeting Lexus and the Germans.
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BMW, Lexus, Mercedes, and Audi have all pulled off those numbers by moving down market into Buick territory... so if you want to include that market, merge the Buick and Cadillac numbers. If you don't want to include that market, drop the 1/2-Series, GLA/CLA/B-Class, A3 and low end lexuses. Edit: and possibly GMC Denali numbers... The CLA costs more than a Buick LaCrosse, and no BMW or Mercedes or Audi costs $21k like a Verano. The Germans have more up market products, say $75k and up, than the American and Japanese brands also. The Escalade and The LS460 and LX570 are it.
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Tesla still has 400,000 orders for the Model 3. People are thirsty for a Tesla, the demand is off the charts high for them. The company however at some point has to turn those sales into a profit. They can't survive forever without making a profit.
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If they could come up with a fully autonomous Pacifica that would be pretty sweet. You could set the computer to your destination and lay down in back and sleep overnight and arrive at your destination. That is better than first class airline travel with those bed/chair things.
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Why does Cadillac only have 1 CUV? Horrible job by the product planners. Even Buick has 3 of them, and they share a showroom with a brand that only makes trucks and SUVs. Cadillac has gone from 4th place to 6th place in the past 5 years. They need crossovers fast.
- 141 replies
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- April 2016
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I pulled the luxury sales from 2010 and 2015 to compare how much everyone has grown. Everyone is up since 2010 since the market rebounded. I ranked it based on 2015 sales volume. Mercedes had the biggest volume gain, Audi is the fastest growing, nearly doubling sales in the past 5 years. Brand 2015 sales 2010 sales Change % Change BMW 346,023 220,113 +125,910 +57.2% Lexus 344,601 229,329 +115,272 +50.2% Mercedes 343,088 216,448 +126,640 +58.5% (Sprinter not included) Audi 202,202 101,629 +100,573 +98.9% Acura 177,165 133,606 +43,449 +32.5% Cadillac 175,267 146,925 +28,342 +19.3% Infiniti 133,498 103,411 +30,087 +29.1% Lincoln 101,227 85,828 +15,399 +17.9%
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I pulled the luxury sales from 2010 and 2015 to compare how much everyone has grown. Everyone is up since 2010 since the market rebounded. I ranked it based on 2015 sales volume. Mercedes had the biggest volume gain, Audi is the fastest growing, nearly doubling sales in the past 5 years. Brand 2015 sales 2010 sales Change % Change BMW 346,023 220,113 +125,910 +57.2% Lexus 344,601 229,329 +115,272 +50.2% Mercedes 343,088 216,448 +126,640 +58.5% (Sprinter not included) Audi 202,202 101,629 +100,573 +98.9% Acura 177,165 133,606 +43,449 +32.5% Cadillac 175,267 146,925 +28,342 +19.3% Infiniti 133,498 103,411 +30,087 +29.1% Lincoln 101,227 85,828 +15,399 +17.9%
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I think you have to buy what you want. If an Acura TL with the Honda V6 was said to be more reliable than the 2.0T, would that make you want an Acura instead? I am guessing not, so you have to buy the car you like driving, any used car can have repair costs, or maybe the brakes and tires are 4-5 months away from being replaced, etc. There could be cost in any used car. You have to pick the car you want and just go with it.
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Mercedes invented the 4-door coupe, which Audi, VW and BMW were quick to copy. Now all the mainstream sedans want to look like a 4-door coupe since that is the trand. CLS started it all in 2004. The C230 was junk, lesson learned and they got out of that and changed course. The 1963 Mercedes 600 was overly engineered, and pioneered a lot of technology. That car paved the way for a lot of what the S-class got in the 70s and 80s.
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The Cadillac product planners have often missed, and when they saw the 3-series take off they did a quick fix of Cimarron and did more damage. RWD was popular for luxury cars in the late 90s, they took another shortcut with Caters and did more damage. Their decision making since the 80s has been reactionary and short sighted. It was posted on another thread that Mercedes and BMW would be screwed if they didn't have SUVs, which is true of any brand. But Mercedes has 5 SUVs. They say the market shift coming and were ready for it. Cadillac never gets out in front or dictates where the market is going or creates a new niche.
