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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    14 mpg here we come!
  2. smk4565
    Did we rule out the Subaru Baja?
  3. smk4565
    Like this one?
  4. 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.
  5. smk4565
    Only 590 lb-ft, the AMG S-class laughs at such weak numbers.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. smk4565
    How would you know? Nissan is building their QX30 out of mostly Benz parts. That they are, but none of the body panels or interior is the same. And in this case, the Nissan would use their engine/tranny and I'd suspect Mercedes would use theirs, I suppose they could offer air suspension too.
  17. smk4565
    The Mercedes truck wouldn't have the same engines or transmissions or body or interior as the Nissan though. It would probably have less in common with the Nissan Frontier than a Chrysler 200 has with a Jeep Cherokee.
  18. smk4565
    I do think it would be interesting if Mercedes went into the mid-size truck market with a luxury offering, priced above Tacoma, Canyon/Colorado, etc. They could probably build the best mid-size truck ever and still keep it under $50k with a C300 level interior.
  19. smk4565
    Who is against progress? I'd say replacing the 3.6 NA V6 and 3.6TT in the CTS with the 3.0TT V6 and 4.2 V8 is progress.
  20. smk4565
    I'd imagine an updated Traverse is due soon. And Equinox is supposed to get smaller to Envision size, so that opens the door to mid-size Chevy Crossover so they'll have 4.
  21. smk4565
    The Azera is probably a cheap used car buy already.
  22. smk4565
    I have actually a lot of times said the Escalade is the best and most successful Cadillac. I don't like any monster SUV, and you could argue that the GL is better than an Escalade because it is lighter, faster, more fuel efficient, the GLS450 is actually the CT6 of large SUVs, lighter than the other guys V8 models with a twin turbo V6. You could argue that the Escalade has more bling, more size, standard V8, and is more truck like than the GLS and some buyers may prefer that. They are different but without question the top 2 vehicles in that segment. The current Escalade at least changes some body panels and has a unique interior compared to Gen 1 and 2 that were not very different from a Yukon. I'd actually like to see the Escalade drop the 6.2 V8 and go to the 3.0TT V6 for the base model and the 4.2 TT V8 optional. That would make it more inline with the other Cadillacs. I'd offer the 4.2 V8 on the CTS as well and build an Omega crossover to use the 3.0 V6 and 4.2 V8. Then you create consistency through the line up.
  23. smk4565
    The Azera isn't even all that big, it is only about 3 inches longer than a Sonata. Size creep of the mid-size segment will kill off all these full size sedans, along with less people wanting full size sedans. So Azera bites the dust, rumors are out there the the Taurus and Impala could be in their last generation. I think a lot of brands will have a B, C, D segment cars (Accent, Elantra and Sonata in this case) and at least 4-5 crossovers. Hyundai could have an Accent based crossover, just as Honda has HR-V and Ford is planning a crossover below Escape. Then Tuscon, Santa Fe Sport, Santa Fe and they could make a bigger crossover if they wanted to have 5 total, before you even get to Genesis brand. Sadly I think a lot of brands will have more crossovers that sedan and coupes combined in their line up.
  24. smk4565
    There is no "exactly" when you say $320K, which was median income i.e. household income) and when I say $174K, which is referring only to the individual buyer. You literally have not been paying attention from the get go because my whole statement started with the E- Class and yours with truck buyers (of which you still have provided no proof of btw, you just threw out numbers). I cited 2 sources for S-class buyer income. Neither source said "household income" "M-B says the S-Class buyer averages 62 years old, is almost certainly a man (83% of buyers), married (87%), has a college degree (81%) and enjoys a median income of $324,000." Those are all statistics for an individual, measuring the buyer, not who is in the household. Yahoo Autos in 2013 stated that the average household income of an S-class owner is $371,000. So I guess if you want to assume a 2 income household of 2 people with identical salaries, that $186,000 each. But maybe it is more likely that the S-class buyer is making $320,000 and the other person $50,000. Regardless if the household is $371,000 to buy a $120,000 car, the car price is 1/3 of the income. A $45,000 truck on a $65k income is 2/3 of the income for the price of the truck. So pick-up buyers are willing to spend a greater percentage of income on their truck than what typical luxury car buyers are. (Audi for example, $180,000 median income and the ATP is like $49,000 on those) Given that people are willing to pay a lot of their income for pickups, I can see why Mercedes is tempted by that market. If it isn't a commercial only vehicle and they try to market it as a luxury truck, I think people will buy it. I still think they should not build the pickup at all, and if they do, just sell it only to businesses. I'd rather see them stay focused on luxury cars and crossovers.
  25. smk4565
    The problem with FCA is most of those brands are money losers and worthless. Mazda for example builds better cars that Fiat, Dodge or Chrysler. They don't need any of those brands. Likewise with Hyundai or Honda. The only brands of value are Ram, Jeep and possibly Maserati for an auto maker that needs a luxury brand. And Maserati is only valuable if they can actually sell cars, which right now they can't. Basically you'd be buying Jeep and Ram and forced to take a lot of crap. FCA is actually more valuable if they shed brands I think. Maybe dropping some cars, lets them move to phasing out brands and making a more streamlined company to sell.
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