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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Again there is nothing wrong with the price and if you are griping about its price then you should gripe even more at the pricier, with far less range, i3. Let's see. Has the same range as $100K Tesla yet is only $37k. Yeah, real overpriced there. Comparing this to an i3 is also like comparing a Sonic to a 3-series. One is a BMW, one is a Chevy. The Tesla has slightly better range, but the Model S is also faster than a Corvette Z06. I don't believe the Bolt will do 0-60 in 2.8 seconds. The Bolt is similar in interior, size, performance, etc to a Sonic, but it is double the price. That is a big premium for electric. This is another problem with electric cars in general. You pay more for range. That is like paying an extra $5,000 for a Chevy Cruze with a 23 gallon tank vs the standard car's 14 gallon tank so you get more range. No other car is sold on the basis of range. And that isn't just an attack on the Bolt it is on all electric cars.
  2. smk4565
    $37,500 before the incentives is a bit steep. You could get a Leaf or Focus electric for less money, although you won't have as much range. If you want to sell electric cars, they have to be price comparable to gas powered car. There are a lot of good cars for mid $30s money. But perhaps these manufacturers don't really want to sell electric cars.
  3. smk4565
    I like it, I think it looks better than the Cruze sedan and the added cargo space is nice for people that want versatility and don't want a crossover. The base engine is fine, but you have to have something "Hot" in a hatch. A 250 HP 2 liter turbo would be nice.
  4. smk4565
    You don't think if Cadillac had a $110,000 sedan, that it wouldn't lose 60% of value in 3 years? The CT8 will have even worse resale value than an S-class.
  5. smk4565
    I think the majority of crossover buyers won't even know where the Envision comes from or care that it comes from China. It is a small crossover, that is what buyers want, they'll buy it if they like how it looks and drives regardless of the country of origin. If it becomes cheaper to build Buicks in China and ship them here, I wouldn't be surprised if GM made every other Buick there and shipped them here. They'll do what makes the most money. Sadly they are in business to pay the stockholders a dividend, not create jobs in Detroit. I am all for American jobs, and wish companies would keep them here, but that isn't the case most of the time. Buy your Envisions now though, under President Trump any Chinese made auto will have a 5,000% tariff put on it, making the price of an Envision the same as a Bugatti Veyron.
  6. smk4565
    Cadillac needs product. During bankruptcy I said they should kill off GMC or make it a work truck and commercial truck brand, sort of how Ram has become pickups and commercial vans. Then Chevy would sell the retail vehicles, GMC the fleet and commercial. Put the product into the flagship brand, that is where the profits are.
  7. smk4565
    The 2017 E-class was awarded an autonomous car driver's license by Nevada today, the first production car ever to receive one. This new car is cutting edge,
  8. smk4565
    An Escalade ESV Platinum loses $48,540 in 3 years. Is the Escalade not the #1 most profitable GM product by a long shot? People still buy the Escalade, it is the corner stone of the Cadillac brand. The Escalade has 50% value after 3 years, and trucks hold value better than sedans. If Cadillac had a $100,000 sedan, it would lose $60,000 in value after 3 years just like the other big cars do. All these $100k vehicles lose money because people the make an average salary buying used cars can't afford the gas, maintenance, insurance, etc on them. As far as leases go, I don't see them as any more crazy than 0% for 75 month financing that some brands are offering. The finance wings of car companies are always looking for ways to get monthly payments low so they can sell people on a monthly payment, not the price of a car. And wasn't this a complaint of Cadillac dealers a few years ago? That they couldn't match the lease deals on Mercedes, BMW or Lexus because Cadillacs didn't hold value well enough, and they felt they were losing customers. Personally I look to buy a 3-4 year old used car after the depreciation hit, and then pay it off in 4-5 years and keep it for 4 years after that. I am not a lease fan myself, because you own nothing after it and forever will have a payment, but they do put people into a new car with a warranty for a low payment.
  9. smk4565
    I like the premise, especially if it is $30,000 before tax credits. The exterior looks funky, but all these electric cars do for some reason. The interior looks bad, looks cheap. Which is why I think it needs to be $30k before the credits and not $40k minus tax credits to be around $30k. For a $40k sticker you can get a BMW i3, which at least says BMW on it.
  10. smk4565
    Cadillac should be the pinnacle of everything at GM. I still believe the worst Cadillac should be better than the best Buick or Chevy. As far as the Regal/Insignia goes, they are closer to E-class size than CLA size. And the Envision is larger than a GLA, it is closer to a GLC. But again, GM is pushing the luxury crossovers and SUVs to Buick and GMC, when Cadillac should be getting the luxury product. This is sort of why I wished post bankruptcy that GMC became the commercial truck brand, the Buick line now has 3 crossovers, they could make a Buick version of the Equinox/Terrain to make it a 4th. If you have 3-4 Buick crossovers at a mid-level, why do you need 3-4 GMC crossovers at the same level? GM keeps trying to push Buick and GMC up market, but Cadillac is in the same price range and product starved. That makes no sense, give the product to your top line brand.
  11. smk4565
    People want crossovers, and the CLA and GLA are the same price. Same chassis, engine, transmission, interior, etc, in 2 different shapes. I'm sure Mercedes doesn't matter which one people buy. And neither appeal to the traditional Mercedes buyer, they aren't losing C-class and GLC sales, I think the A-segment cars are bringing more new people in. They can't kill the B-class because California law mandates you sell an electric vehicle. Wouldn't surprise me if California was the only state that actually had B-classes on a dealer lot.
  12. smk4565
    The average S550 buyer is 62 years old with a $324,000 median income (also 83% male). The average AMG S63 buyer is mid 40s and income of $500-600,000. I don't think these are the types of people that care about depreciation. $54,000 in depreciation is 2 months salary for an S550 buyer. According to MotorTrend, the S-class overall has an average buyer age of 61 and median income of $371,000. Which interestingly enough, the average income an an E-class wagon buyer is $375,000. And that probably explains why they still make it, when he A6 Avant, 5-series wagon and CTS wagon are gone.
  13. smk4565
    Depreciation doesn't seem to stop the S-class from selling. It outsells it's 3 closest competitors combined, and has for 30 or so years. Acura, Cadillac, Infiniti, and Volvo won't even put a car against it, and BMW, Audi, Jaguar and Lexus put cars with a base price $20,000 lower against it because they know they can't go against it head on. The S-class is so much better than the competition, buyers are willing to take a $50k depreciation hit over 3 years. Then the secondary question is why buy a CT6, Equus, LS460, etc, when you can get a used S-class for $62,000 and it still has more tech and performance than those cars, and with the certified warranty is covered to 6 years of age, and and all Mercedes have lifetime roadside assistance. 2015 residual values after 3 years: S550 4matic 43% A8 4.0 quattro 42% 750iL xDrive 40% XJL supercharged 42% LS460L awd 48% They are all living in the same neighborhood.
  14. smk4565
    Cadillac needs more product but that goes to show the inept management and product planners at GM. In what world would you not want to have the most products in your highest profit margin brand? For example, Audi on 1.7 million cars a year contributes more dollars of profit to VW than the VW brand selling 8 million cars. The Cadillac brand if run properly should produce as much profit as Chevrolet (if not more), therefor Cadillac should have an R&D budget and product range as large as Chevrolet. As far as the Detroit show goes, the new Buick should obviously be a version of the Volt called Electra. It can be a 2-door coupe version of the Volt for about $58,000. That will be a hot seller.
  15. smk4565
    Full size sedans lose value the fastest from any brand. I went to cars.com and looked up the ALG residual value on an S550 4matic and it is 43% after 36 months. The Cadillac CTS and XTS are both 39-41% for most trim levels. Lots of luxury cars lose value fast. The C300 holds 51% of value by comparison, small cars hold better than big ones. As a brand Mercedes won the ALG award for highest residual values for a luxury maker in 2014, Land Rover won 2015.
  16. smk4565
    Well other cars in that class don't have that high of an ATP. The S-class has $23k in options on average, only the Porsche 911, Cayman, Panamera, Audi A8 and Range Rover are sold at a greater dollar amount over the base model. And we know Porsche's have outrageous options lists and trim levels.
  17. smk4565
    GLC sold great for month 1, the GLK was always a bit of a sales dud. I think the GLC will get growth in that segment. New E-class is coming and will raise car sales, the E-class is their oldest product right now and still their #3 seller. SLC and refreshed SL go on sale in spring, plus C-class coupe and hybrid sedan and S-class convertible. Lots of cars coming, C-class and E-class convertibles are in the works too giving Mercedes 5 convertibles. They have a huge car line up, but people buy crossovers.
  18. smk4565
    ATS had a really good month. SRX must have some incentives on it, but people want crossovers and the SRX is an inexpensive luxury crossover compared to what some of the others cost. On the flip side the Malibu and Impala were down about 30%. People don't want sedans (or coupes) anymore. In 10 years Chevy will probably make 4 cars and 10 crossovers.
  19. smk4565
    Car and Driver just did an article about the average transaction price of a car vs the base model price. The S-class has an ATP of $118,312, 24% over base price.
  20. smk4565
    Hard to say buying an E-class would make you feel like you cheapened out since you didn't get an S-class. For one, the S-class is 13 inches longer than the 2017 E-class, the S-class is a really long car, some people just don't want a car that big. Secondly, there is about a $45,000 price difference between them, that is a lot. I do agree that it will sell like crazy though. The current car still sells well despite being in it's 7th model year, the A6 has looked the same for 10 years, the GS is ugly, and the Infiniti M-Q70-L is older than dirt with lots of name changes to cover up that fact. The E-class could take over this segment just like the S-class did the top.
  21. smk4565
    This car isn't about lap times, but that makes it unique that it is about horsepower and top speed. And most people don't know which car is faster around the Nurburgring between the P1, 918 and LaFerrari, or at least they won't in 20 years, but they'll remember the Veyron had the highest top speed, just like everyone remembers the McLaren F1 was the fastest car of the 90s.
  22. smk4565
    The Fiat-Alfa-Maserati trifecta is really lighting it up.
  23. smk4565
    I guess the sales were "The best or nothing"
  24. smk4565
    You have to wonder if it is time to close the Chrysler brand. Make the 200 the Dodge Avenger, and sell more Caravans and Chargers.
  25. smk4565
    The S-class has a .23 CD, so apparently this is an aerodynamic shape. I imagine the AMG sport package will liven it up a bit, but the E-class was never a flashy looking car. I think this car looks better than the current car and the interior is light years ahead. The W212 interior I think is boring, it is well made, but not interesting. This car is definitely not cheap when you look at all the color and trim choices, aluminum switches, the auto pilot features, self parking, the optional 1,350 watt stereo, etc.
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