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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Glad to see their sales are up. The Mazda 3 and 6 are probably both the best cars in their segments, and they often get overlooked. I think Mazda does really good interiors for the price point of their vehicles. More people need to look at Mazda rather than default to the Camry, Corolla and Civic.
  2. smk4565
    E-class "ain't world class" compared to the S-class, either. But neither the E or the CT6 are going up against the s-class, are they. It seems that the E-class is getting the same interior the S-class has. We shall find out in January.
  3. smk4565
    Can't compare cars with trucks, different buyers, different market niches. I assume the 4cyl version will be for fleet sales or black car/Uber drivers... They sell Silverados to fleets. I think a 2.0T making 270 hp and 295 lb-ft is adequate for a Silverado. 10 years ago a V8 Silverado was making that much power. Ford has multiple V6s in the F150, the 3.6 V6 would be a good standard engine in the Tahoe and Yukon, let's see GM up the fuel economy on those to help CAFE, rather than put thirsty V8s in all their trucks and build 1.5 liter Malibus and 2.0 liter Cadillacs.
  4. smk4565
    That is exactly what I have been saying for years. Allante, Northstar V8, Sigma platform cars, Alpha platform cars, etc. Always chasing, never getting there. And I actually liked the 98-03 Seville STS, I liked the Northstar V8, it was a good sounding engine. I liked the styling of the XLR, it was just overpriced and under powered, and the interior build quality was closer to Corvette than it was to Mercedes. Cadillac always takes a shortcut some where and it back fires because the product election is not good enough. GM has no problem putting a 450 hp V8 in a Chevy Camaro, because they need to try to one up the competition, but when it comes to Cadillac a 270 hp 4-cylinder is deemed adequate while even Hyundai has a 420 hp V8. And I realize that is a top Camaro to a base CT6, and I get the CT6 weighs less than an Equus or Genesis. But to me Cadillac's volume engine should be a 3 liter twin turbo V6, that shouldn't really be the top end. GM will put V8s in $30,000 pick ups, but not $65,000 luxury cars. Doesn't make sense, and I am not saying I want a Silverado engine in a Cadillac, I do not, I want Cadillac to have their own V8.
  5. smk4565
    Johan had to down play expectations, because his company doesn't build the Best or Nothing, but rather "Good Enough and Wait till next year"
  6. smk4565
    I don't know if low weight and handling prowess will help sell this car. Not like buyers of big sedans are looking for that. They want ride comfort and luxury. This is partly why the S-class dominates, it has legendary ride quality. I also don't see why this car, or the Continental for that matter wouldn't start with a 3.0 liter turbo V6. Ford and GM will sell V8 pick ups for $30,000 but then try to sell a 4 cylinder car for $60,000. A big Cadillac or Lincoln sedan should have more power than a Silverado or F150. This is also why I wish CAFE and gas guzzler taxes applied to pick ups the same as they would a sedan, but that is a whole other issue.
  7. smk4565
    I'd like to see Cadillac get it in gear. They have a storied and proud history (well for most of their history), and they should be able to really outshine the Japanese luxury brands and the Genesis/Equus but they can hardly achieve that. I still think GM compromises Cadillac for no unearthly reason. They'll make 500 hp Camaros or 600 hp Corvettes, yet put a 270 hp 4-cylinder in the biggest Cadillac. Why isn't the best sports car at GM at Cadillac? An average Cadillac should be better than the best Chevrolet in my opinion. Really the worst Cadillac should be as good as the best Chevy. Look at Lexus, their worst car is probably the ES350, which is still better than an Avalon.
  8. smk4565
    I hope the CT8 blows this thing away. Really the CT8 should blow the Escalade away if they do it right. If they did a Buick version of the CT6, does the Buick get the 2.0T as the base engine and the 3.6 V6 as the range topper? And how do they price that, $39,995 for the 2.0T and $44,995 for the V6 model? And should they build such a car, doesn't that just crush CTS sales even more. I also think Lincoln should make the base Continental twin turbo V6 and price it under $50k. Lincoln has to go for the kill against the likes of the Acura RLX, Volvo S90, Lexus ES and the Cadillac XTS.
  9. smk4565
    I remember when the XTS came out, and it was just a stop gap vehicle, and how the next car coming would be the flagship Cadillac had been waiting for. Now the CT6 isn't even on sale yet, and it is already a stop gap and we are waiting for the next car. Cadillac can't always have the car to challenge the Germans 4 years away, they have been saying that for 15 years.
  10. smk4565
    People love crossovers. I don't get it myself, but most of America would rather spend $50k on a loaded up Toyota Highlander than $50k on a 335i or CTS. Look at these sales, even the dated crossovers still sell, the newer cars are not. I think this is where marketing has to do a better job promoting the positive attributes of a sedan. The CTS for example probably has more front and rear seat leg room than an SRX, handles, better, rides better, gets better fuel economy, has a better interior, has awd, and yet people buy the dated SRX instead because it is 2 box design shape vs 3-box design. I'd buy a car over a crossover every day of the week and twice on Sundays, but most of the country doesn't think that way.
  11. smk4565
    Mini is a dead in the water brand. The 3-series still sells like gang busters, so luckily they have that. I assume those sales are the new 7-series, S-class is killing it.
  12. smk4565
    I think 2,000 a month is the ceiling of GLA and CLA. Traditional Mercedes buyers won't buy them, so those are being used to pull in new buyers or maybe get someone into a Mercedes rather than an Acura, Volvo or VW. The GLC will sell well, people like crossovers and the GLC looks like a winner. GLS refresh is coming soon, the GLE is selling, they are getting that crossover line in order which bodes well for 2016.
  13. smk4565
    I think they'll get 500 sales a month, mostly stolen of the XTS, with this price. Cadillac had to price it low.
  14. smk4565
    Pretty pathetic that Audi and Porsche were doing this also. Audi and Porsche claim to have such outstanding engineers, you'd think they could have designed an engine that could legally meet emissions requirements in a cost effective way. Interesting that Audi was pushing diesel as the future, as Mercedes is going to plug-in hybrid, and Mercedes was historically the biggest proponent of diesels. I hope VW group takes a big hit over all of this. The one sad thing is diesel engines in general will probably get a real bad reputation, and that is a shame because the diesel technology (done the right way) is pretty good.
  15. smk4565
    Olds and Pontiac are never coming back. Although "Aurora" is the only name from either brand I think Cadillac could use, because it is a good sounding name, it had a short run at Oldsmobile, and was originally used for a Cadillac concept car. Cadillac doesn't really have enough names to cover all the models, so they have to invent some new ones, or recycle some from dead brands. I think they'll stick with the alphabet soup names until Johan is gone.
  16. smk4565
    Amen. I'd even say you could use the "Aurora" name plate to replace ATS so you have the classic names for the larger cars.
  17. smk4565
    The CT6 is the gen-1 CTS but a class up. The original CTS was 5-series size, 3-series priced and was knocked for being a tweener. This is 7-series size, but 5-series price, so you get a big car, but not the luxury or tech or V8 of a 7-series, you basically get the interior of a 5-series with a longer wheel base. I just don't see the appeal for a car this big with this engine mix. If 300-400 sales a month is their goal I guess they'll be happy, but then they put a lot of money into this car for not a lot of return. Not like you have a huge margin when CT6 is the only product on this platform and isn't selling for a really high dollar amount.
  18. smk4565
    E-class will have a better interior, and probably only give up like 3 inches of rear legroom, which to the old folks that buy these cars and don't even use the back seat, it probably won't be an issue. We'll see if the CT6 carves out a niche, but if you want a driver's car, then you'll buy a CTS or 5-series or other mid-sizer. So CT6 is just a bigger CTS, you aren't really getting more power or luxury, just space, and the CTS isn't really a small car, it is as big as the 2005-2009 STS was.
  19. smk4565
    The 2017 E-class will compete well with the CT6 as far as what Mercedes it would be closest to. Not sure what the point of having CTS, XTS, CT6 all in the $44-55k base price range, that is a lot of overlap there.
  20. smk4565
    There hasn't been an S350 since 2013 model year. And a 2016 S-class does not do 0-60 in 7 seconds. Outside of Europe Mercedes went to the plug in hybrid to replace the diesel for the fuel economy model, seems like that was a good idea in light of the VW scandal, and the plug in technology offers better fuel economy and acceleration than the diesel did. And the CT6 is priced below the Kia K900 and Hyundai Equus, so we know where Cadillac has placed the target and it is not on the S-class, so it doesn't really matter.
  21. smk4565
    Pretty aggressive pricing on the CT6, but I figured they would want to price it close to the E-class. I still don't get why the 2.0T is in this car for $2,000 more buyers get a V6 and AWD, no one is going to buy that 2.0T model anyway, it shouldn't even be there. The twin turbo V6 price seems good, but $84k for the Platinum seems steep. I wonder what a Platinum has over a twin turbo model that makes it cost $19,000 more. CTS pricing is messed up, too many trim levels, and too may trim levels on the different engines, and it is just confusing to figure out. They try to make the CTS look cheap with the $44k base price, but as mentioned a V6 becomes $55k which is what a CT6 V6 costs. And then they have Luxury, Performance, Premium trims, but it isn't clear what is better or what packages include the other. Why not just offer base, a stand alone luxury package and a stand alone performance package and let buyers pick neither, one or both packages.
  22. smk4565
    The performance numbers for the Camaro are pretty awesome, those are Corvette Z06 numbers from 10 years ago, and pretty much Corvette Stingray numbers of 2015. The Camaro offers some legit performance. I just wish the 6th gen didn't look so much like the 5th gen car.
  23. smk4565
    And the S350 is a diesel, which isn't sold in the USA in this generation of S-class. Diesels are obviously made for fuel economy before 0-60 time. I think CT6 is more of a Hyundai Equus/Kia K900 competitor anyway.
  24. smk4565
    Base S-class in the USA is 0-60 in 4.8 seconds. S-class also offers a V12, game over to all the non-V12 cars. Without a V12, you are in the 2nd tier.
  25. smk4565
    Sliding doors are a good idea in tight spaces. I bet it handles like it is on rails with that low center of gravity.
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