smk4565

Escalade sales went up like 30 or 40% last year, it is Cadillac's #2 seller I think behind only the XT5. So is it not luxury anymore because they sell too many? Especially since when you combine Tahoe, and Yukon, that sheet metal is like a couple hundred thousand units a year.

The X5 outsold the 3-series last year (in the USA), the X5 starts at $60k and the M is over 100k. So it isn't like they are just selling cheap cars. The X3 was their top seller, but Lexus and Cadillac's top sellers are the SUV's of the same price also. 20% gain last year for X5, up 32% for X6, up 12% for X7, up 20% for 7-series, brand was up 20% overall. So their expensive stuff is gaining just as much as any of the low cost stuff. Worldwide BMW sold 163,542 M cars, up 13.4% for a record high. They didn't water anything down, they are just selling more, so the consumer must like what they are building.

And yet they were #1 in the USA last year and #1 in the world in sales. So people seem to like what they are building.

I think the Atlas I-6 got a reputation for not being that reliable, although maybe that could have been engineered out over time. Also that engine was probably too big and thirsty to continue on past 2008 when gas prices spiked and the economy tanked. Although they could have downsized it for fuel economy maybe and done other engineering tricks to get the MPG up. I think the big problem though is GM (especially in the mid 2000s) didn't do much long term planning. They introduced G5, G6, Solstice, G8, renamed the minivan, replaced Aztec with the Torrent and redesigned the Grand Prix, only to kill Pontiac within 5 years of all that. Cadillac had CTS, STS, SRX sharing the sigma platform, the XLR on a C5 platform, the Escalade and the DTS they planned to kill off which would have been a 100% rear drive line up by around 2010. Instead they kill the sigma platform cars, move SRX to to FWD, come out with the XTS (a rebodied Impala) to replace the STS/DTS combo, then bring out 2 more FWD SUVs. They change their minds on products every 5 years, so all this stuff is thrown out and restarted. Compared to BMW that has been doing straight 6 and 4 cylinders for like 40 years, and just improves and refines the formula, because they know every car and SUV they build will be able to accommodate a straight 6 (or 4 since it is the 2/3 of the same engine block).

Mercedes is going to performance hybrids based on their F1 car. I think BMW and Audi want to milk their V8 as long as they can until that gets replaced with EV's and then probably same for their 6 cylinder. Really, this might be the last ICE Escalade, this generation probably gets them to 2026-27, they want to make Cadillac an EV only brand, I'd imagine the next Gen is just an EV.

The Blackwings just recycled the engines from the ATS-V and CTS-V. It isn' like they took the CT6 turbo 4.2 V8 and put it in the CT5 or CT4 which was at least an engine designed for Cadillac. And they didn't do a performance hybrid or anything new. Which is why I think they'll recycled the supercharged 6.2 for the Escalade-V because GM probably doesn't want a spend a dime on ICE engine development anymore, basically what they have now is what is going to exist to 2030.

The Blackwing V8 is dead, they won't use a twin turbo V6, so that leaves the Supercharged 6.2 or the Corvette Z06 DOHC V8, which they won't use that. I can't see them doing a performance hybrid either, easiest thing is to slap a supercharger on the existing engine and call it a day.

That’s all they released???? Some tweaks to the fascias which I can’t tell the difference between the V and the Sport trim, other than some V badges. I didn’t expect much styling change but I would have thought they would reveal the engine and specs. I don’t see the point of showing a few exterior shots when we all know it is a 6.2 supercharged V8 because GM doesn’t have any other engine to put in it.

You'd think a supercharged 6.2, but also I would think it would be all wheel drive, so it depends on what GM's all wheel drive system can handle. The Camaro has like 650 hp at the top end I think, I would expect something around 650, and I wouldn't be surprised if the exact same powertrain is in an Silverado and Sierra as a competitor to the Ram TRX and Raptor R. I don't think they really need out out-hellcat the Hellcat, because let's say you are a die hard Ram fan, you aren't going to buy a Silverado Trail Boss ZR1 just because it has 755 hp and the TRX has 707. But what GM probably wants is to get people willing to spend $100k on an Escalade, to spend $140k on that Escalade, or people willing to spend $70k on a Silverado to spend $100k on that same Silverado because they put a supercharger on it and a ZR1 badge. You can probably eek out an additional $20k in profit on top of the $10k in profit they are already making on these big trucks.

420 hp, but regardless. An Escalade-V will still handle like crap, but people will pay for it because it is the V. It is easy profit margin for GM, they can put a supercharger on, beef up the brakes and suspension a little and charge an extra $30,000 for it. And people will pay it because it they'll want bragging rights that they have the V and the other guy just has a regular one. All those Hellcat vehicles make no sense, but people are paying $80k for a Charger which is an otherwise terrible car. This is easy profit margin for GM, that is why they should have done it 10 years ago.

Should have done this 10 years ago, but better late than never.

I had Moderna with booster, didn't have any side effects, just a sore arm for a day or so each time. A moron. It's expensive to be stupid.

These semi-autonomous systems that are level 2 and 3 I think have really little value to the consumer, especially not what Tesla wants to charge for it (when all the level 2 self driving stuff is standard on and S-class). They do have crash avoidance, which should help reduce accidents, but at the same rate 2021 was a record year for accidents and traffic fatalities, even though cars are putting all this tech in. Mercedes Drive Pilot is the first UN certified level 3 system, it is cleared for use in Germany, looks like they are working on America and other markets, but need regulatory approval. I couldn't find a price for it, or if that will be standard, I am sure it won't be $12k like Tesla charges for a level 2 system. If Ultra Cruise can deliver, this is a chance for GM to make it standard on all Cadillacs and stick it to Tesla. At the least Super Cruise should be standard on all Cadillacs, and Ultra Cruise not a $12k option. And Super Cruise has a monthly fee, I think they need to get rid of that, OEM's can get data and utilize that for profit like Google does. I don't have to pay google to use their search or email, because they know how to monetize data and make money of things there are free to the consumer.

And if you sell the car to a new owner, it gets disabled. Which seems like a total scam to me. If you pay for a feature on a car, it should be there forever.

Explorer was the "it" SUV, but now it is the Rav4 and Highlander. Ford lost their edge (and will lose the Edge next year). The Jeep Grand Cherokee was popular in the 90s, still is today, they were able to maintain with new competition. Side note on that Ford sold over 400,000 Taurus's a year in the 90s, Fusion and Taurus both gone now. Camry became the #1 selling car I believe in the 90s, in 2021 it was the #1 selling car. So others have maintained their leadership.

The German brands each sell about 700,000 units per year in China. Lincoln is about 600,000 units a year behind, a non-factor. And Mercedes EV's aren't too expensive, their full size EV sedan costs less than their gas full size sedan.

The fanboys will still wait for it.

Cop cars is probably a profitable business, but my point more was if you take our the fleet sales, the retail demand doesn't look so great for the Explorer, compared to others in the segment. DING, DING, DING! on vehicles were a lot less expensive. This is my point with these EV's, too expensive. Explorer sales are 50% what they were 20 years ago, so if Ford makes it electric, and jacks the price up more, do sales get cut in half again? Not sure how that is a long term plan for success, you can't charge Tesla prices for a Ford. We'll see how GM does, if they can deliver on a $30k Equinox, maybe they can have something affordable that isn't too expensive for the market.

Maybe that is a win for Lincoln, but it isn't a win against any of the competitors, most of which are seeing double digit increases while the Aviator and XT6 are declining. Cadillac kind of has an excuse, they phoned it in early on the XT6, Lincoln actually tried on the Aviator. The Toyota Highland also outsold the fleet heavy Ford Explorer last year. I remember when Ford sold over 400k Explorers a year in the 90s, before any of them were cop cars; they sold 219,000 last year, in a market that is larger than it was in the 90s. The Aviator also had better sales numbers in 2003 and 2004 than it did last year or in 2020. These guys just let the competition walk all over them.

But a Lincoln version of a Mach-E would add say $10,000 and be in that $55-75k range and a Corsair size vehicle. The Aviator is like $20k over a Corsair, and Aviator EV could be $90,000. Aviator sold 20,924 units in 2021 down 9.3%. MDX 60,057. up 26.8% GLE 48,154 up 35% X5 60,725 up 19.9% Lexus GX 32,509 up 14% Q7 25,362 0% change XT6 20,662 down 8.6% So I wouldn't really say the Aviator sells well, 7th place in it's segment, mainly because Infiniti is a mess and Genesis is new, they might overtake the Aviator next year.

It outsold all of Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bentley combined. And while not quite in their price tier, they are selling for $150-200k (probably more with dealer markups) and easily the best selling vehicle in that price category. For a couple years they have said they would die at the end of this life cycle. I imagine Ford will put a mid-size electric SUV out instead, but if a Mach-E is $45-65k range, are we talking $55-75k for the mid-size and $65-85k for the Explorer EV? I don't see a big market for $75,000 Explorers. So they have to get cost out to make any of this plan work.

Not really, and by 2030 all S-classes, Maybachs, Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, etc will be electric. The rich will buy them and probably like them more because they will be quieter and more powerful than those vehicles with gas engines. And the bulk of BMW and Mercedes sales are in the $50-80k range so if they have EV's priced there that is nothing new for their consumer base. I want to know how many people are buying a $60k Kia EV6, Kia couldn't sell a full size luxury sedan for $60k, now they want to sell a small crossover for that much.

The important part of the Daimler press release is: All their top end cars are doing well, G-class at its best ever. And the GLS is the Escalade competitor, the G-class ATP is like $75k higher than an Escalade, not really a valid comparison, also a G-class is a mid-size SUV, not a full size. I'd imagine the S-class it the #1 selling vehicle in the world with a base price over $100k. So this actually goes to my earlier point, Mercedes will have no problem selling $100,000 EV's because they already sell vehicles in good volume at that price, and the upcoming Mercedes EV's should be in the GLE's price range and the GLE was their #1 seller in the USA last year. So there is no sticker shock there. Where as VW iD4 is Tiguan size at $50k for all wheel drive, that is sticker shock when the Tiguan in the same showroom is like $30k. And if Ford does an EV Explorer above the Mach-E, are we talking like $60-80k? And $100k for the Expedition EV? Hard sell at those prices.

G-Wagen had an all time global sales record in 2021. It’s more popular than ever.

Car and Driver has an estimate of 172,000 Model Y sold, Forbes best selling car lists estimates Model Y at 190,000 since Tesla doesn't give exact numbers. Either way it is the best selling EV, and it dwarfs 27,000 Mach-E and 17,000 iD4, which are both a lot cheaper than a Model Y. And I expect it will be the same story with the Ionic 5 and Kia EV6 next year, those are too expensive to do any significant volume, $50k for a Hyundai/Kia hatchback, I don't think so. Only way these mainstream brands to compete is get their price down, if Chevy really delivers on a $30k Equinox that could be game changing. But that would be half the price of a Model Y, that seems like it would be hard to do. But if they can, they can capture the consumer base that can't afford a Tesla, which is what main stream car companies should be trying to do, rather than go head to head with Tesla.