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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    I'd rather have a V12 than a V8 at this price point, and I'd rather have a 7-series with M badges over an Alpina. I think the 0-60 time is less important than the passing power. That V12 at autobahn speed will shine more than the V8 would. I did sit in a new 750 tonight at the Pittsburgh Auto show. I prefer the S-class since I like Mercedes, but I have to say that 7-series is pretty nice, and the back seat leg room is insane, the lighting is really good. Overall they did a good job on that car.
  2. smk4565
    The Escalade is the most successful Cadillac product, if it ain't broke don't fix it. I do think at some point they will need a unibody large crossover. I'm sure they'll get a lambda, it would be nicer if they had a 3 row Omega bases crossover. I could see the day when the BOF suv is dead, but I think that is beyond 10 years from now. A V-series Escalade would be a good idea, people will always pay for more power, well except for Toyota Corolla buyers, they won't. But the types that buy big SUVs will pay more for more power. As far as competing with the Bentley, they won't do it with the Escalade. The Bentayga has a 190 mph top speed, you can't get an Escalade to 190 mph. Maybe Cadillac shouldn't be thinking about pushing the Escalade up-market but rather introducing a vehicle above Escalade.
  3. smk4565
    But if crossovers and utilities are the hot segment and highest margin item and if Rolls, Bentley, BMW, and Mercedes will build a 600 HP SUV (maybe Audi will too) and Range Rover has a 550 HP model, then where is Cadillac without an ultra performance crossover? Cadillac had to build the CTS-V and ATS-V because the Europeans had high performance sedans. Well now the Europeans are cranking out high performance utility vehicles. So cadillac crossover will be behind again just like the fwd cadillac sedans were 20 years ago.
  4. smk4565
    Mercedes rules sales charts with the front-wheel drive CLA and GLA. The standard for today's world is who rakes in the most cash. Cadillac sells boatloads of SRX's and that's all that matters in the end. Cadillac does not rake in much cash. They could sell 1 million SRX and still get outsold by Audi and BMW. The GLA is outsold by the GLC, GLE and GL. The GLA doesn't really light up any sales charts. Those 2,000 GLA's a month are basically used as a gateway drug to get otherwise non-mercedes drivers into the brand.
  5. smk4565
    Perhaps ATS and CTS should move to front wheel drive Cruze and Malibu platforms as well. Drop the prices to $27k and $34k and watch the sales rise. They priced the XT5 at $39k, XT3 would have to be $34k and an XT1 around $29k. That is more of a push into Buick territory rather than German territory. People here want to criticize Mercedes for selling 1 fwd crossover, Cadillac is about to have 3 FWD crossovers in the $30-40k space. And no V-series crossovers.
  6. smk4565
    But they also have a 2025 CAFE target that they have to hit.
  7. smk4565
    I wonder how long this and it's Infiniti cousin, along with the LX570, Tahoe, Expedition, and other big body on frame SUVs stick around. I feel like a lot of them are as dated as the Crown Vic and Town car were, but there are so few, they sort of have the market sewn up, until one day the market just dies all together. You'd think as we near 2025 these manufacturers will move to unibody full size crossovers.
  8. smk4565
    Why would it be less reliable when it has the same powertrain and mechanical components? What I don't get is why the 4-cylinder diesel makes those power levels in the Sprinter, yet in their passenger cars it is more like 200 hp and 360 lb-ft. Seems like they should have a power bump for both 4 and 6 cylinder Sprinters.
  9. smk4565
    Oldsmobile Bravada or Buick Rainier or GMC Envoy with the straight six engine. BMW-like performance. Pontiac Torrent is probably cheaper to buy and cheaper to maintain though, and not quite as old as the GMT360s. I bet those Mazda 5 van things are sort of cheap. And Mazda builds a pretty good car and is often overlooked. If you want a cheap van, Hyundai Entourage and Kia Sedona are there, and those have the 3.8 liter V6 with like 250 hp.
  10. smk4565
    Looks better, looks more in line with their other models.
  11. smk4565
    14 mpg here we come!
  12. smk4565
    Did we rule out the Subaru Baja?
  13. smk4565
    Like this one?
  14. smk4565
    The S65 is supposed to get a power increase when they add all wheel drive. Tobias Moers wants to create a "meaningful power gap" between the AMG V8s and the V12. The V12 supposedly makes over 800 lb-ft of torque, but the electronically limit it to 738 lb-ft for transmission durability, and to reduce wheel spin. The S65 does 0-60 in 4.2 seconds, but 60-120 mph in about 8 seconds, the pulling power at highway speed on that thing is just insane.
  15. smk4565
    Only 590 lb-ft, the AMG S-class laughs at such weak numbers.
  16. smk4565
    What about Subaru Outback or Forester. Those have utility and Subaru's seem to last a long time without much maintence. And it has a Boxer engine just like a Porsche 911.
  17. smk4565
    Audi has a couple electric only models coming in 2017-18. Mercedes is working on an electric car platform that will spawn 2 sedans and 2 crossovers. These will be dedicated electric vehicles, rather than an E-class converted to an electric car. So Tesla could have a threat coming. BMW has the i5 in the works already.
  18. smk4565
    It is sedan with 7 seats. That is pretty impressive. I think Tesla is onto good concept. Sleek looking, sort of futuristic cars, with incredible performance. And you have the green benefits, and none of the maintenance of an ICE. However, they need a broader product line and economies of scale. They have talked about Model 3 for years, and there is still nothing, at some point you actually have to deliver the product.
  19. smk4565
    I think the Nitro is really cheaply made, those Dodge/Chrysler 2005 era vehicles had early 90s GM car level interiors. I think the Vue with the 3.5 V6 is a good option, because those Honda engines do run forever. You could get 250,000 miles on it probably.
  20. smk4565
    That is a really strong number and a good number for them. That is about where they should be, however it was an industry sales year of like 18 million cars. Huge year for all automakers. Crossover sales surging helps too.
  21. smk4565
    For the asking price of the ELR it should have performed like an ATS-V AND had the Volt's electric range. People are still not willing to pay a premium for electric cars with average or less than average performance. Tesla sells cars because they are faster than a Corvette. The P85D can accelerate like an Aventador and it is a 4 door sedan. XLR just had shortcuts all over the place. And that segment has basically died with the SL as the last car standing. Lexus SC and Jaguar XK died too.
  22. smk4565
    I didn't think the poolside ad was all that great. First off you have a dressed up Chevy Volt, not exactly aspirational. And even the statement out people going on vacation for a month is a shot at Europeans, yet the Europeans have been beating Cadillac for over 30 years. I tend to like ads that promote your own brand image and own product and don't even mention anyone else. For example, you don't see Apple ads that talk about Samsung and how you can get an iPhone cheaper than a Galaxy. Apple sticks to their logo and their image and ignores the rest.
  23. smk4565
    This makes sense. Scion sales are junk. The GT86 would sell better as a Toyota, and the tC was a good Celica/Grand Am coupe type replacement 10 years ago but it is well past due now. Toyota should just make a Celica off the Corolla platform, and build a new boxy thing to compete with Kia Soul. Those Mazda rebadge Scions that will become Toyotas won't do anything.
  24. smk4565
    Good move to kill it. They should have made a Voltec crossover instead. They still could, but at sub $2 gas that is a hard sell. Maybe an XT3 with Voltec around $42k could sell. Cadillac needs crossovers in a bad way. If the CT6 plug in is more than $59k it won't sell. I mean the CT6 will be low volume anyway, but the hybrid will be like 20 cars a month if they try to price it much more than the base V6.
  25. smk4565
    Not even worth it. I was watching Autoline After Hours last week and a couple Hyundai people were on. John McElroy brought up that crossovers and trucks could become 70% of the market by 2020 and the Hyundai guys seemed to agree. Azera doesn't get that many sales, they are better of building another crossover. The sheeple want crossovers. Even for the Genesis brand they are making a small RWD sedan, they need to get 3 crossovers in there, so better to focus on that than the slow selling Azera. I actually sort of like the Azera, I don't think it is a bad car, it is just a sort of car people don't want anymore.
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