smk4565

You mean I-6. I thought maybe they'd use the Toyota 3.5 liter V6 and twin turbo it. But I haven't read up much on what the plans for the Supra are.

So Buick is the brand people don't recognize? Probably not best for business.

From what I have read, the Fusion seems like a good car, but $39k for one is crazy. Even if you drop the fancy paint, 19" wheels, premium mats and inflatable belt bags, you are still at $37k. Seems like a lot for a Fusion.

In my head I was thinking $49,950 base price before I read your post. And that would be with the 400 HP engine and AWD standard.

I think time has passed this car by. Or perhaps Mitsubishi's lack of investment in it. But 10 years ago the Lancer was making near 300 HP, which was like Mustang V8 power. 300 HP was a lot in 2005, and all wheel drive grip wasn't common either in sports cars. The performance level was huge compared to other 2005 sedans under $40k. Fast forward to today and a lot of cars have all wheel drive and 270 HP, you can get an A4 or ATS for $40k. The Lancer Evo sat still, the world has passed it by.

I am all for less regulations in F1. The best engineered cars and best drivers would still win, and it would be more exciting for fans. They should just set an engine type (size and configuration), I like the length of the races and no refueling. And let them use whatever tire combinations and do whatever they want with the car. Less regulation puts more strategy into it.

Not a fan of those ads. Sort of like the "this is not your father's Oldsmobile" ads. I don't like poking fun of the brand in your own ads, or stirring up memories of decades of mush box cars that they made. They should form an identity and advertise the brand image and product attributes. Another thing I hate on car ads is mentioning your competitors and "real people, not actors." Why mention the competition, you don't see Coca-Cola talking about Pepsi in their ads. Apple doesn't talk about Samsung (although Samsung compares to Apple because they are chasing, not leading). I think you look weak when you talk about a competitor, promote yourself and don't worry about them.

F1 could use improvements to make it more exciting. Maybe go to a V8 hybrid instead of V6 to allow for some more power and noise. Maybe modify some tracks to make more passing zones, etc. But Ferrari is probably just mad because they can't win. If Ferrari was winning every week they'd probably want no rules to change.

What Cadillac should do is make the ATS, 5-series sized so it is roomy inside, but still charge 3-series money. Oh wait, nevermind.

This does more to help Mercedes sales and image than the Corvette does to help Cadillac sales and image, and at least it is built by Mercedes and wears a Mercedes badge on it even if you can't have one. And nothing beats this on a road course or track with turns.

Corvette not quite a luxury car. But we can compare a Z06 Coupe (which is quicker than the convertible) to an AMG GT with Car and Driver numbers, they are pretty close. But the Corvette does nothing to help Cadillac sales or Cadillac brand image. Z06 AMG GT 0-60 mph: 3.0 seconds 3.0 seconds 0-100 mph: 6.8 seconds 6.9 seconds 1/4 mile: 11.1 sec @ 127 mph 11.2 seconds @ 127 mph Top Speed: 185 mph 193 mph 70-0 braking: 128 feet 141 feet skidpad 1.19 g 1.05 g Fuel econ: 13/21 mpg 16/22 mpg

They do make this though, Cadillac has no answer for it.

Small crossovers is what the people want. The CLA gets 38 mpg highway, 35 mpg for the GLA. Pretty strong numbers, and as was discussed they need that for CAFE when the V12 cars get 12/20, most of the V8s are around 16/25. I'd much rather them make a CLA than stop selling V12s and V8s. The CLA is outselling the Regal, ATS, ILX, 1/2-series, and the A3 sells even better than the CLA. I don't think Mercedes would want to hand over another 25,000 sales a year to Audi. The CLA makes good business sense from a sales standpoint, from attracting new buyers to the brand, and from a CAFE standpoint.

True, I forgot about that part of it. Either way the original Escalade was pretty bad, they hardly did anything to change it from the Yukon. Te 2nd gen had distinct headlights and the 345 hp when the GMC had 315 or whatever, but I feel like the 2006 Escalade is when Cadillac really stepped it up and tried to differentiate more. Although even still in side view there is a lot of commonality between a Suburban and Escalade.

GM is the big SUV leader for sure now. But I was more talking about when the Navigator was announced in 1997, whoever was head of Cadillac at the time said Cadillac was not a truck brand, and the Yukon Denali was the GM luxury SUV. Then the Navigator sold like hot cakes and 1 year later they did a literal badge swap on the Yukon Denali and called it the Escalade. Cadillac has often been a reactionary brand, so often they are chasing segment leaders rather than being the defining car in a segment. I think the 2006 Escalade really left the Navigator in the dust, and other car makers started to give up on big trucks, so the Escalade became the king of that segment, despite the GL outselling it a couple times, the Escalade is sort of the defining vehicle there. For Cadillac to really be on par with the big boys they need more models, and some high end models, a true sports car, true flagship sedan, V12 engine, diesels or hybrid, convertibles, etc. I think Cadillac knows what they need, but I just don't know if they'll really follow through on what it takes to get there. Like will Cadillac ever have a sports car faster than a Corvette? I'd love to see a mid-engine Cadillac supercar, but I don't think the Corvette people would like it, so it probably won't happen.

I do think Cadillac needs to play on the heritage more, their advertising right now is very weak, the heritage is something they should celebrate, but they seem to run and hide from it. I think now they are seeing a path to what they want their product line to look like, but for a while they thought we need a 3-series clone, a Lexus RX clone, Navigator clone going back to the late 90s, etc. They just wanted to copy the leaders in segments, regardless of whether it fir their brand or not. I think now they are trying to define a brand identity and be more consistent. As far as service goes, I haven't really noticed any different treatment of people regardless of what car they drive at the Mercedes dealer I go to. Everyone gets a free loaner car regardless of what you drive, the loaner fleet is C-class and GLK. The nearest Cadillac dealer to me has its service department at the Chevy dealership. OMG, the Escalade owners might run into a Chevy Sonic owner, chaos will erupt! I don't think it really matters that much, half these people probably don't even go to the dealer for service. As far as the CLA goes, obviously they have the A/B segment platform already in place, the CLA helps attract some younger buyers, that probably otherwise wouldn't consider the brand and helps the CAFE equation. I am not a CLA fan, but I understand why it is there. The electric B-class is dumb, but California mandates you have to have an electric car, so there you go. Sometimes you have to have a couple compliance or business case models in place. Mercedes knows what they are doing though, they know how to market and create brand image.

Jaguar and Maserati have high ATP's and they have super low volume. But I don't think any other luxury brand is striving to be like those two.

Which makes you wonder where are the Cadillac hybrids and diesels? I just don't think Cadillac will ever be able to throw product out there as fast as the other companies do. Lexus has 6 hybrids for example. The body styles that BMW and Mercedes put out is almost mind boggling they can do so many. They can really hit specific tastes of luxury buyers that want something unique or different.

If BMW does the X7 well, I think some of these big body on framers could be in trouble. And maybe not so much because buyers know the difference, but if the X7 rides and drives well, has technology and performance, better fuel economy, etc, I bet they can steal some sales off the establishment.

Sounds like they are a bit desperate. Interesting how aluminum in the Corvette or in Cadillacs is good and they tout weight loss and how it gives them the advantage over the competition. But when a competitor uses aluminum, all of a sudden it is bad and steel is better.

I think $75k for a Yukon Denali is nuts, just like I think nearing $100k on an Escalade is nuts, but people will pay it, so more power to GM for getting it. Obviously Escalade sales are up, so people are willing to pay the price for it.

I agree. I wonder what the ATP is on vehicles other than Escalade and if those are up. Escalade sales rose a lot in 2014 and so far this year, and it is the most expensive vehicle. Increase Escalade sales by 50% at an ATP of $80,000 that is going to pull the brand numbers up. If Cadillac stopped selling ATS, they could get ATP up even higher, but that isn't what is good for business. At some point they still need volume.

The CTS is replacing the STS of 5-10 years ago, they never had a coupe there before. Audi A6 and Lexus GS don't have a coupe, the 5-series has the GT, but I imagine 95% of 5-series are sedans. I don't think a coupe magically boosts sales 30% in that segment.

Imagine if the Supra is like $35-40k on a BMW chassis and BMW suspension, a Lexus 8-speed, with a twin turbo V6 making near 400 hp. It will run circles around the RC-F.

Automatics are faster shifting, smoother shifted and get better economy than a manual. The computer is just too good compared to what a human can do. I'll throw this out there as a reason it isn't all about power. Look at a Mazda Miata, if they put a 300 hp V6 in it, they chassis would be stronger, engine heavier, transmission heavier, bigger wheels, brakes, etc. It would weigh 3250 lbs, not 2250 lbs, and then it wouldn't be a Miata anymore. The best BMW is the E39 M5, that had 400 hp, but it was 3900 lbs. Now these M cars are getting so heavy. If BMW can put carbon fiber into mass production and make an M5 that is 3600 lbs, 500 hp is plenty, it will smoke what they are building now. I guess to sum up, BMW doesn't really have a horsepower problem, they have a weight problem.