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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    XT5 should be priced $10,000 above SRX, the XT3 would be smaller like ATS size and priced where the current SRX is, that still allows for a compact $32k crossover around 178 inches long. Make a 3 row crossover and that gives you 4 total.
  2. smk4565
    Ellinghouse says there are going to be 2 crossovers below XT5 and a 3 row crossover above XT5. He said there could even be a 5th crossover in the line-up, that would also be above XT5. I am curious how they price the XT5, because if they price it against the Lexus RX it is going to be hard to get 2 vehicles below that.
  3. smk4565
    I just think once you build 2 cars in China, it is easy to build 3 or 4, and then they are going down that road. Johan told Car and Driver that they are working on a 4.2 liter bi-turbo V8 with upper 400s horsepower for the CT6. They need that ASAP, and I'd actually like to see them put that in the CTS V-sport and ATS-V. Then the 3.0 TT V6 can be the mid-level engine in the CTS and ATS, and the 2.0T would be the base engine. Then you don't really need the 3.6 V6 anymore, and Cadillac sedans would be all turbo.
  4. smk4565
    The Infiniti names were always a bit jumbled. I can hardly keep straight what is what in their line up. They don't market their products well, and basically every Infiniti gets miss-mashed together because they all have a similar name with no meaning. And as far as some aspiration stepping stone, what a joke that is. They think the Q50 buyer aspires to buy a Q60 the next time (which is a 2 door) then buy a Q70, a big four door, and then buy a Q80 that doesn't exist so they buy a Genesis G90 instead? I think that moving up thing is a myth anyway. If you love the 3-series, you will probably keep buying 3-series because you like the nimble handling and sportiness. I don't know if a 3-series buyer wants a 7-series that is 2 feet longer and weighs 5,000 lbs.
  5. smk4565
    Pontiac Torrent. Those have to be dirt cheap at this point.
  6. smk4565
    What happened to the Taurus?
  7. smk4565
    And yet the people that sell the Ghost, Phantom, Mulsanne, Panamera, Cayenne, Aventador, Gallardo, Rapide, Range Rover, and Quattroporte are international.
  8. smk4565
    Who is all this BMW shadowing supposed to appeal to, that's going to sign for a Cadillac? These folks want a misshapen & bloated 4-dr hatchback, they can march over to BMW for their fat dozen sedans and kindergarten naming schemes. Again: Cadillac does not "Need" to answer all 43 models at BMW. I agree. BMW's history is the 3-series, I actually thought the coupes and convertibles should have stayed 3-series. That is their bread and butter product, variants of it are a good thing, but I don't like the 4-series split, and a 4-door 4-series is just stupid. I also don't get why Cadillac wants to be so much like BMW. It is like they sat around the product development table at Cadillac and said Joe says "we need a BMW X5 competitor." Then Sally says "oh I have a great idea, lets make an SUV the same size and call it XT5! Then buyers will know it matches up to a BMW X5, and by putting a "T" in there we can't get sued for trademark infringement." Then Joe says "great idea Sally, and we can make an XT1 and an XT3 as well to compete with the X1 and X3!!!" It's pathetic. Even in their own brand "Escalade" is there most recognizable and successful product. Yet they don't want to follow use of word names, or pay homage to the Eldorados and Fleetwoods of the past (which were mostly good cars until the mid 80s). This copy BMW will get them no where. Cadillac should be Cadillac. I don't think they need 43 models, but they need 3 crossovers plus Escalade on the SUV side, 4 car lines and some sort of sports car.
  9. smk4565
    Freightliner has over 40% market share for class 6 and 7 trucks in the USA. If you add Western Star, Daimler is nearing 50% market share on semi-trucks. Easily the #1 truck maker in the USA. As far as names go, what I don't like about CT1, CT2, CT3, etc is people want to fill all 9 slots. If you had Eldorado, Seville, Lasalle, Fleetwood, etc then you would just build the cars you want to build that have a proper place in the market. I will say a slight problem with Cadillac's line up is the XT5 is probably going to be around $40k and is mid-size, XTS is $45k and full size, mid-size CTS CTS at $45k starting even a CT6 starts at $56k. So you have all these mid to full size products in the 40s and 50s. They need small and compact, they have to go down in price to the low 30s because they have no where else to go.
  10. smk4565
    I would only offer a gas 4-cylinder in a base 2 door wrangler, hard top or soft top. Not in the higher trims or 4-door. Probably not the pickup. But look at FCA's CAFE situation too. What do they make that gets good fuel economy and sells in volume? The Dart has lousy volume, the Fiat brand is a sales joke. So they are going to have to find fuel economy gains in Jeeps, Rams and 300s and Chargers.
  11. smk4565
    I would hope they get 25 mpg. An S550 4matic gets 26 mpg and has a V8 with a lot more power and it is a bigger car. Audi A8L with a 450 hp V8 is 19/29 mpg. If Audi can get 29 mpg with 450 hp, Lincoln better hope for 30 mpg out of the 400 hp V6.
  12. smk4565
    The Wrangler in the 80s and 90s always had an entry level price 4 cylinder model. It seems now like the Wrangler got big and they want to see 4-door v6 Wranglers. I still think the 2.4 liter Tigershark with the rwd 8-speed would give decent enough acceleration, near 30 mpg highway and low base price. And there has to be a 4-cylinder diesel in the FCA empire, that they could put in a Wrangler.
  13. smk4565
    Maybe the sub ATS will be offered in a hatchback. I don't think anyone has a rear drive hot hatch, so it would be unique. The CLA is 183 inches long, but it also has fwd overhang also, a rwd chassis would have less. If you look back to the 2002-2007 C-class or the early 2000s 3-series they were about 178 inches long. Cadillac could make a 179 inch long car, plus if it is 4-cylinder only you don't have as much weight or hood space to worry about. The ATS could be 184 inches long and there is still a size gap (and power gap) between it and the new car.
  14. smk4565
    So if the CTS has more sales in China than in the USA, should they move all CTS production to China as well? I get why they are doing it with the Envision, they need a crossover yesterday and this is the fastest way to do it. As far as the CT6 goes, they might sell 20 plug in hybrids a month, so I get not wanting factory tooling for that. I just think if it works here, what is to top GM for building every Cruze in China and shipping it here? Once you go down that road it is hard to turn back.
  15. smk4565
    I wouldn't move to China, just as I wouldn't buy a car made in China. And I owned 2 American cars before the German one. And before I bought my E-class I also drove a 2010 Genesis 4.6, 2010 CTS and 2010 or 11 MKZ. The MKZ was obviously the worst car, felt like driving a Fusion, I did like the V8 aspect of the Genesis, but it was just too boring of a car, and the CTS just didn't have enough power form the 3.6, unless it was at 5,000 rpm. So I didn't just default to a German car. But I liked the E-class the best. I wonder how many cars GM decides to make in China and import. This is the 2nd one, what if there is a 3rd, 4th, or 5th?
  16. smk4565
    A Cadillac sold in the USA, made in China is sad. I think this is the beginning of the slippery slope. Envision and CT6, then in a few years it could be the Regal and LaCrosse, etc. Once they start producing cars on the cheap in China they'll keep it going if they can get away with selling them. I would not buy a Chinese made car.
  17. smk4565
    Rear drive should give Cadillac an advantage in this segment. I'd also venture to guess that if they start this car at $30,000, they can move the ATS up to about $36,000 and drop the 2.5 liter base engine.
  18. smk4565
    A 4-cylinder diesel Wrangler would be sweet.
  19. smk4565
    They are profitable and those margins have gone up every year since bankruptcy. Again, pay attention to the actual facts. That is also not the ONLY way for them to make more profit. Their trucks are proof of that alone. And don't sit there and now try to dismiss Toyotas numbers. You brought it up and were corrected as to why those numbers are misleading. Admit you just pulled that out of your rear and own up to your error for once. Even if you take away the currency manipulation and yen exchange rates, Toyota is still kicking butt. That article mentioned they get like 500 million from the yen exchange, even if it was $1 billion, they still made an $18 billion profit. I don't like Toyota nor their products, but that company bankrolls cash. I know GM makes their money on trucks, that is how the company has been since the 90s, all the profits came from trucks with Hummer, Escalade, the GMT360s, Silverado/Sierra, Aztek/Rendezvous, Colorado/Canyon, etc. They had all those trucks in the early-mid 2000s and still went bankrupt. Their trucks didn't save them then. If you look at the current GM lineup and current auto sales over all. Crossovers, particularly small crossovers are growing, luxury segment is growing. Pick-up trucks and full size SUV is sort of a flat market, plus you have new Tundra, Tacoma, Titan, Ridgeline hitting the pick up segments. I don't think GM can hope to grow global Silverado sales 20%, but I do think they could grow global Cadillac sales by 50%. And Cadillacs should have high profit margins. If GM could sell 500,000 Cadillacs a year at $4,000 profit per vehicle that is $2 Billion in total profit. If they sold 1 million Cadillacs that is $4 billion in profit, that is more than all of GM makes now. That is why Cadillac is the most important brand GM has.
  20. smk4565
    I am not a Johan fan either, I'd rather see Cadillac embrace their history rather than run from it. I think Johan wants to make Cadillac like Audi, bring on the CT1 sedan, the XT1 and XT3 crossovers and go after urban buyers currently buying A3s and Q3s. And yes you need small cars and crossovers, but Cadillac should be Cadillac, the company that made the first mass produced V8 engine, the company that made extravagant Eldorado convertibles, etc. Where GM has the big advantage over Ford is Cadillac. Ford doesn't have a luxury brand that could be global (and by that I mean more than USA and China) and post strong volume. Cadillac could mop the floor with Lincoln if GM would get Cadillac the product they need. Imagine an Alpha crossover lined up against the MKC, and an Omega platform 3-row crossover in the $60,000 range, with the XT5 in the middle and Escalade at the top.
  21. smk4565
    I'd go with the Patriot name, those 2 models do need to be merged into one, there is a lot of overlap with the lower end Jeeps right now. Renegade, Patriot, Cherokee, Grand Cherokee gives them a nice line up. I love the Wrangler pick up idea. The Wrangler is an icon product, pickups sell well, and a Wrangler pick up would be a really strong competitor to the Tacoma, Colorado/Canyon, and Frontier. Wrangler could use some updated powertrains though, they still have a 5-speed automatic in it, I think they should make a 4-cylinder option also to pair with the V6. The 190 hp 2.4 liter 4-cylinder with the 8-speed auto from the Charger/300 would make a nice entry level Wrangler, and probably get pretty good fuel economy.
  22. smk4565

    smk's

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  23. smk4565
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    From the album: smk's

    Summer 2015
  24. smk4565
    Downsize is a good idea. Sales will go up, and they have the Traverse/Enclave as bigger, plus the Yukon. Terrain and Equinox are shrinking remember. You can't have a 182 inch long Terrain and a 201 inch long Acadia, especially when you have a 160 inch long Encore and 201 inch long Enclave in the same showroom. You have to have a mid-size, medium is often the best selling size.
  25. smk4565
    What other factors? GM needs profit, bankruptcy 7 years ago is not an excuse to not be profitable, especially when they argued that if the government bailed them out they would become a profitable company. Regardless of what Toyota or Honda do, GM is not as profitable as they should be. Ford is a more profitable automaker than GM as far as total dollars of income, and Ford has less revenue. The easiest and best way for GM to improve profit margin is more Cadillacs.
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