smk4565

Of course they had to copy the Mercedes speaker covers and door mounted seat controls. It is funny how people here say Mercedes does so many things wrong, yet Cadillac and Lincoln both want to copy them, and Lincoln especially is hopeless in competing with them.

Mercedes could use cardboard boxes for front seats and the E-class or S-class would out sell the Continental. They may use faux leather on the base models, but they also offer a lot of options that others don't, and more 500 HP models than any other brand.

Still looks sort of boring. I look forward to seeing the sales numbers, and how Ford tries to spin in it when it doesn't sell.

Totally agree on the 640,000 mile E-class taxi. You'd have to buy 3 of any other car to get that many miles on it. The Lexus ES probably has better fit an finish than a Continental, maybe not as many gadgets or 30 way seats. But you have to remember in the minds of the consumer, Lexus has the best reliability Evaaarrrrrrr! Here is a comparison though, I don't think they are that far off.

The 2.7 V6 probably has decent low end torque, so it might not be that bad. However I don't think anyone is buying the Continental for speed. They would be buying it for interior, and unless you pay $65k+ for Revel audio, 30 way seats, leather and fabric upgrades, etc, then you aren't even getting that good of an interior. I think the people spending $60k or more will want some performance, and the people that just want a comfortable interior with no performance are happy with a Lexus ES350 for $43k. So there in lies the hard sell for Lincoln.

E-class luxury trim testing on the Nurburgring: Maybach S600 on Nurburring: A GL at the Nurburgring: etc, etc

SMK where did you hear officially that the XT7 will be based on the Enclave? I have found nothing and heard nothing to this statement at all. We have no idea what the new platform will be. Yes the XT7 could be a stretched bigger version of the XT5 but nothing has really been stated yet. There were pics of a test mule a while back, bit there was some debate. The belief was the XT7 along with Enclave and Traverse would be on long wheel base C2xx, while Acadia and XT5 are short wheel base. If I we're Cadillac I'd build it on Omega, make it 1,000 lbs lighter than Escalade and put a 400 hp turbo V6 and a 500 HP V8 in there.

All funny stuff, but also remember: Thou shall not call it luxury unless it has been tested on the Nurburgring. Some people don't care if the leather is real or not, so MB TeX does drip the base price more. I guess they priced this car pretty close to the XTS, but Lincoln has less credibility than Cadillac and less of a following. This car will struggle to sell 1,000 a month, they will fleet sale and discount the heck of out in year two.

Hold up.. are U saying that General Motors is incapable of building an engine with more power/torque than the V12 BT?? LOL.. U Crazy.. On top of that.. why would they need to. The LT4 in a car the weight of a CT6.. that's almost 1000lbs less than the S-Class doesn't need that much torque to achieve a.. LOL.. 4.2 0-60 time. It could achieve that with a NA LT1 The argument about the S-Class being heavily discounted is not only sound.. but relevant. If U are gonna tout the $220,000 price as something that is so desirable.. then explain why NO ONE ACTUALLY PAYS the $220,000 price. Incentives?? Even without the $220,000.. ooooops... $170,000 (price corrected for fire-sale) Cadillac still managed to have the highest ATPs last month and ranked in the top 2 most of 2015 and 16 Bottom line on the CT8 is U don;t kno a GOD DAMN thing yet.. nor do I, but I personally don;t see a need for a CT8, when the CT7 hasn't shown up yet. Quite frankly I would be disapointed if Cadillac followed the tired German formula at this point with just another big sedan in a market segment that is going no where I'll agree on CT8, or anything else above a CT6. We don't know anything, especially because as of now it looks like they aren't going above CT6. But maybe they will, maybe the CT6 in 2nd generation will go up market and get a name change, when they name change ATS and CTS to CT-number cars. So we have to wait and see what happens there. I also think GM is capable of building a V12 engine, I just know that they won't spend the money to do it. They could try to increase more power form the LT4, but at what level of refinement? A car in that price range needs to be quiet and smooth too. I also think if it was so easy as drop an LT4 into a CT6 and price it against an AMG S-class they would have done that already. As far as ATP, the Escalade is a big % of Cadillac sales right now, it outsells the ATS and CTS. Once they get an XT3, and XT1 or sub-ATS car and the line up fills out, that average will drop. A better judge would be ATP of ATS compared to 3-series, IS, C-class and compare ATP of CTS to A6, 5-series, E-class, etc. If you go segment by segment Cadillac probably loses all of them. But BMW and Audi don't have an $85k SUV (base price, I know a loaded up X5 gets there) to pull their average up. Which why it has taken BMW this long to get na X7 is their own dumb fault as well. But I think brand ATP can be misleading on brands with only a few models. Nada... The Escalade sold 3200 last month.. the SRX.. right the least expensive due to incentives to get rid of old model for arrival of XT5, sold almost 1000 more. Surely that should have brought the ATP down.. or at least nullified any real gain that the Escalade offered. I think what U may be afraid to admit is that CTS sales stabilized.. being down by ONE.. ONE sale. On top of that.. a $100K CTS-V boost that number up some. I will add that the CTS was actually higher than the 5series in ATP in 2015.. Just admit it.. U hate Cadillac.. U hate GM.. U hate America I don't hate Cadillac, I am realistic. I have said for years I wanted a Cadillac convertible, a DOHC V8, more models etc. They could make some good product, especially when you compare to what Lexus and Acura have now, those are beatable brands. I did read when Johan de Nyschen said CTS avg. transaction price in 2014 was $47,000, better than BMW. Maybe he meant the BMW brand as a whole. Right now a 528i rear drive with no options and destination charge is $51,195. Now I am pretty sure there isn't a single BMW sold in the USA that has zero options on it, so once the BMW options lists jacks the price up, no way they are selling 5-series for under $50k, even with discounts. If we are going to use ATP as a measure of Cadillac success vs the Germans, then once Cadillac has an XT1 and XT3 for sale for $35k eating up volume, we should use the same measure. I'd imagine Volvo has a good ATP since half their sales are XC90 SUVs. Are we going to crown Volvo king of luxury cars because no one buys the S40 or S60? Jaguar has a high ATP too, simply because they don't have any cars under $50k for sale until that XE hits dealers. Jag is practically on life support, their ATP of $65k or $70k isn't doing them too much when they sell 1000 cars a month.

The interior doesn't even seem all that great. They are asking Mercedes E-class money, for a car based on the Fusion, good luck.

Sounds awesome just like my Cadillac dealership. Glad the experience is so solid. Yet with that, just like my dealership, this is just bland and does not speak luxury to me. In this case I would have to say that both MB and Cadillac have failed us in having a luxury attractive dealership. That building is actually pretty huge, because it goes back really far. And you drive inside to drop your car off,so you are never outside, which is nice in winter. But the service from the people I think is more important to the experience rather than the building.

CLAR does sound like a cluster of materials. The new 7 is lighter than the previous, so I assume they will be able to used this mix material concept and cut weight on all models. What is interesting is that the X7 is going to be a different platform. Maybe a Rolls-Royce platform then, but that seems odd that they wouldn't use the 7-series platform for it. They say there will be a V12 in the X5, that won't happen, the X7 is getting a V12 though. I would assume CLAR must be really flexible, because Mercedes builds the GLE and GLS off an SUV platform they have, it is not shared with any cars. Thing about the Cadillac XT7 though is it is going to be Enclave based, that won't hold a candle to a rear drive V8 and V12 SUV.

I don't call $45k for a Lincoln Fusion with the same 3.7 V6 from a Taurus a good deal. Even worse is the $55k Reserve trim still has the 3.7 V6. At least make the 2.7 V6 standard at $45k price point and up. If they want to offer a 3.7 V6 or even a turbo 4 to the fleet market for $39,995 go on ahead. Problem he is they aren't selling handling or performance, nor are they selling badge or image or prestige. All they have to sell is quite and comfortable interior. At least with the 2.7 turbo V6 it would have low end torque so you could drive around at a low engine speed and the car would seem quiet and torquey, and have a bit of a premium feel. Cranking that 3.7 V6 up to 4,000 rpm to move all that mass isn't refined luxury.

Since we are posting dealerships, here is where I get mine serviced. Bobby Rahal Mercedes is a 12 time Best of the Best award winner. I must say they are on it, they greet you right when you pull in, loaner cars are waiting, service advisors meet with you pretty quickly, they text and/or call with updates, car is always washed and clean when you pick it up. The people there are top notch at customer service.

Hold up.. are U saying that General Motors is incapable of building an engine with more power/torque than the V12 BT?? LOL.. U Crazy.. On top of that.. why would they need to. The LT4 in a car the weight of a CT6.. that's almost 1000lbs less than the S-Class doesn't need that much torque to achieve a.. LOL.. 4.2 0-60 time. It could achieve that with a NA LT1 The argument about the S-Class being heavily discounted is not only sound.. but relevant. If U are gonna tout the $220,000 price as something that is so desirable.. then explain why NO ONE ACTUALLY PAYS the $220,000 price. Incentives?? Even without the $220,000.. ooooops... $170,000 (price corrected for fire-sale) Cadillac still managed to have the highest ATPs last month and ranked in the top 2 most of 2015 and 16 Bottom line on the CT8 is U don;t kno a GOD DAMN thing yet.. nor do I, but I personally don;t see a need for a CT8, when the CT7 hasn't shown up yet. Quite frankly I would be disapointed if Cadillac followed the tired German formula at this point with just another big sedan in a market segment that is going no where I'll agree on CT8, or anything else above a CT6. We don't know anything, especially because as of now it looks like they aren't going above CT6. But maybe they will, maybe the CT6 in 2nd generation will go up market and get a name change, when they name change ATS and CTS to CT-number cars. So we have to wait and see what happens there. I also think GM is capable of building a V12 engine, I just know that they won't spend the money to do it. They could try to increase more power form the LT4, but at what level of refinement? A car in that price range needs to be quiet and smooth too. I also think if it was so easy as drop an LT4 into a CT6 and price it against an AMG S-class they would have done that already. As far as ATP, the Escalade is a big % of Cadillac sales right now, it outsells the ATS and CTS. Once they get an XT3, and XT1 or sub-ATS car and the line up fills out, that average will drop. A better judge would be ATP of ATS compared to 3-series, IS, C-class and compare ATP of CTS to A6, 5-series, E-class, etc. If you go segment by segment Cadillac probably loses all of them. But BMW and Audi don't have an $85k SUV (base price, I know a loaded up X5 gets there) to pull their average up. Which why it has taken BMW this long to get na X7 is their own dumb fault as well. But I think brand ATP can be misleading on brands with only a few models.

Overpriced. The fwd fleet version should have been $39,995, the 400 HP model $55k and the black label $60k. I expect slow sales on this one.

Not even remotely in the same ball park, chief. There isn't really a $30k coupe that I like, the Genesis coupe is rough and loud, I wouldn't drive a Mustang, Challenger is too big, and too cheap inside. 370Z does nothing for me. So I'd rather have a Mazda 6 that is a good all around car.

Yes I forgot Lexus. The NX crossover is another vehicle they can tackle.

I would buy a Mazda 6 Grand Touring with the technology package. That comes out to about $33k, which is pretty much loaded for a Mazda 6.

The LT4 doesn't have the NVH characteristics needed to match any V12. Secondly, it doesn't have the torque. The S65 has 738 lb-ft, and has had that for 10 years now. The head of AMG has said there would be a power bump, but not when. I'd imagine they are waiting until the awd system and transmission are beefed up. That engine can easily produce over 800 lb-ft of torque, they detune it to 738, because you have to put that on the ground somehow. I always love the argument of how S-classes are so deeply discounted. As if the competition doesn't do the same thing, or more. Usually the #1 selling vehicle in a segment isn't heavily discounted. S-class outsells it's 3 closest competitors combined. Cadillac spends more on incentives than any of the Germans do. Bottom line is CT8 is dead, and Cadillac isn't going to step up to the plate to go after an S63 or S65. Cadillac should roll out the crossovers to really put the hurt on Acura, Infiniti, and Lincoln. Those brands are weak and ripe for the picking. Cadillac should try to steal all their customers.

They should take the CT6 platinum interior and put it in a a CTS and ATS. They have a better chance lifting those cars up to Mercedes-Audi level than they do lifting the CT6. Plus I don't think anyone will pay for $100k Cadillac sedan no matter what it is. I think Cadillac should go Crossover crazy, and not only do front drive XT1, XT3, XT5, XT7, but also at least 2 rear drive crossovers, XT4 on alpha, XT6 on Omega. Then they would have 6 crossovers and can compete with Q3 the coking Acura version of HRV, all they way up to Porsche Cayenne and X5 M.

Not even in Fantasyland at the intersection of Dream Street and Hope and A Prayer Avenue will the CT6 get enough upgrades to compete with an S65. No one is paying $220,000 for a CT6.

Making the front end of the CLA ugly won't help any. I do wish the E-class had the split head light set up to make it different from the other model lines, or that the SL went back to 50's era round headlights, but this soft, homogenized look seems to work for their customer base and gives them broad appeal. They have to have a styling theme that works in Germany, China, Middle East, USA, etc. Aero plays another role, most Mercedes are around .24 drag coefficient, so the similar style is probably a push toward maximum aerodynamics, plus the pedestrian impact and crash standards, that make the shape of a lot of cars similar.

Aluminum is stronger than steel, so this makes sense. Kudos to Ford for taking the gamble on making the F150 aluminum, cutting the weight, going with turbo V6s, etc. They are trying to move toward the future and keep the F150 compliant with crash regs and the coming CAFE hurdles.

Airscarf is offered on all Mercedes convertibles, came out a few years ago. It blows hot air around the driver's neck and shoulders, so you can drive with the top down in cooler weather. That combined with the AirCap spoiler thing on top of the wind shield and the wind diffuser behind the back seat, keeps you comfortable in all season. Airscarf is built into the seat though, so it takes the air in from behind the seat and heats it and blows it out. It isn't run off the car's HVAC system fans.