smk4565
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Everything posted by smk4565
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The ELR interior should have been in the ATS. Would have made the ATS more competitive. The ELR wouldn't have sold at anything over $50k, the Volt is a slow seller, a luxury Volt was always going to be an even slower seller.
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The CTS is the cheapest car in its segment, and it is cheaper than the STS 10 years ago in that segment. The car isn't over priced, it is under delivered. Cadillac is trying to copy what other luxury makers do well, and not be what Cadillac was. The SRX went to fwd and size and price almost the same as the Lexus RX, even the names are similar. The ATS was built within an inch in every dimension of a 3-series, Cadillac even uses the same XF steering that the 3-series uses. The ATS-V got a twin turbo 6 because the M3 left the V8 in favor of a 6. Johan is renaming the cars to a similar scheme Audi and Infiniti use. Cadillac uses a lot of Chevy engines, transmissions and parts still to go after the imports (XTS, ELR, Escalade, etc). Chevy can't really beat Toyota/Honda, how are those parts going to beat BMW and Mercedes? The Cadillac brand doesn't really have a clear definition or consistent marketing, the marketing campaigns change every year, a new tagline comes every year, etc.
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The performance battle with the Mustang should be pretty close. I think the Ecoboost Mustang will beat the 4 and 6 cylinder Camaros because the Ecoboost has 320 lb-ft and weighs 3500 lbs. The Camaro SS has more muscle than the Mustang V8 though, should be a little quicker than the Mustang GT. The pony car war is heating up I think.
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This car should have been $49,995 base price, but come fully loaded with no options. It's a Volt, asking $50k is even stretching.
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Looks pretty much the same as Gen 5, I wish they went away from the retro look interior and to more of the modern Chevy interior. The lower front grille is huge, I think it would look better with a larger upper grille and smaller on the bottom. Too many cars do that big lower grill look.
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The ELR was over priced, and in other news water is wet.
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It appears as if the 2016 Camaro is getting the 3.6 liter V6 with 330 hp. So it won't be a Cadillac exclusive. The Camaro will have the 270 hp turbo four as the base engine. Even if Cadilac drops the 2.5 liter ATS, the Camaro would have the same base engine and same step up engine as the ATS/CTS. To me a Cadillac should be better than a Chevy. I'd make the V6 the base Cadillac engine (sort of the rental spec model) and the performance trim would jump up to a 3.0TT V6. ATS-V and CTS/CT6 V-sport models can be a TT V8 with 475 hp and dump the 3.6TT.
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Jeep News: Jeep Planning A Competitor to the Range Rover
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Jeep
They'll fail at this, who wants a $100,000 Jeep? The Range Rover has old world name recognition and badge snobery, plus it a proven off road warrior, even if most of the owners will never take it off road. Maserati wouldn't have any off road or SUV credentials, if they make a Maserati SUV (which I think they are) I would guess it more like a Porsche Macan sort of car. I wonder is Sergio sees a Toyota Camry or VW Golf on the street and says" that makes my blood boil, we should be able to build a car as good as that." -
They could use the 2.0T for foreign market, and not offer the 3.6 V6. But without a competitive diesel (or diesels) they have no shot in Europe anyway.
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Let's look at this way. The 3.6 V6 can't compete with the supercharged Audi and Jaguar V6s, the bi-turbo Merc V6 or the BMW turbo six that just got a power bump, all those engines make way more torque at a much lower rpm. This leaves 2 options. Don't even offer the 3.6 liter, go from 2.0T base engine to a 3.0 TT V6 mid range. Or option 2 is put the 3.6 V6 against the competitors 240 hp turbo fours and and remove the 2.0T engine. Cadillac doesn't need both engines. I'd rather see them use the 3.6 V6 as the base engine, then the marketing people can promote how Cadillac has a standard V6 and has standard 335 hp, while the competition has 4 cylinders, less power, etc. And if Chevy and Buick are using turbo 4s, it makes Cadillac look better compared to them.
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Wait.. so BMW can peddle a 180hp 4-cylinder 320i, Audi can peddle a 220hp 4-cylinder A4, Mercedes can run a 241hp 4-cylinder C-Class.... but Cadillac must have a 335 hp V6 minimum? The bottom end Infiniti has 328 hp, so why not. BMW doesn't have a sales problem, hey can pretty much do whatever they want and they keep on selling. But how does Cadillac get more ATS and CTS sales? Cadillac is already priced cheaper than Jaguar, Lexus and the Germans, they have to generate excitement some how, so why not more power. And they'll probably make the alpha chassis Camaro with a standard 325 hp V6 for $25,000, yet not put a standard V6 in a Cadillac, that's whack. Let's see the outrage if they put a 200 hp 4-cylinder in the Camaro and made the Camaro SS a 330 hp V6. Because if that engine lineup is good enough for Cadillac then it should be more than enough for Chevrolet. And the 90s Camaro had 200 hp base, 305 optional, so they can get those same numbers with better fuel economy now with smaller engines. In the 90s the Seville/Deville had 275-300 hp, and today the CTS/XTS are making 270-304 hp, so if 90s level horsepower is okay for Cadillac, why not do the same for Chevy.
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I would argue to replace the 200 hp 2.5 liter four cylinder and 270 hp 2.0T with the 335 hp V6 at those price points. Make the V6 the value engine rather than the step up. This way the least powerful Cadillac on market is 335 hp, and save the four cylinders for Chevy and Buick.
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Cue needs to lose the touchscreen in favor of a clicky wheel. Engines are the next phase that needs improvement. In last months Car and Driver comparison the ATS coupe 3.6 got a 5 out of 10 in engine NVH, and a 5.6 seconds 0-60 time. The comparable Audi S5 did 0-60 in 4.5 seconds and got a 9 in NVH. The 335i (now 340i) was not in that test, but you know a BMW straight six is the gold standard of NVH and the 335i and C400 can do 0-60 in 4.8 or less. I'd propose removing the 2.5 L and the 2.0T from the Cadillac lineup, making the new 335 hp V6 the base engine in the $35k ATS and $45k CTS, the plugin hybrid 2.0t becomes an option for the greenies with the 3.0 tt v6 making 400 hp an option. The coming 500 hp TT V8 would be the ATS-V and CTS V-sport. They need to drastically increase power. Even Infiniti dropped the G25 model in favor of making the 328 hp V6 the base engine priced against a 240 hp BMW 328i because they knew they had to have wow factor just to get sales.
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Porsche charges $360 for a rear wiper on a 911, another $3,850 for alantera seat inserts and $1720 for painted air vent slats. With stupid overpriced options like that, I can see why they make $20,000 margin per car. Are you suggesting that Cadillac follow Porsche and become primarily an SUV maker? Then we wouldn't need GMC, you could just have 4 crossovers with the Escalade at Cadillac. Cadillac is so hell bent on going after BMW, but it isn't working. They would have an easier time getting people spending $40-50k on a domestic SUV to buy a CTS than getting a 5-series driver to buy a CTS. They should re-target the advertising.
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Porsche still makes big margins on SUVs, you can run a Macan up to $100k. I mean SUVs in general. People are spending $45-50k on a Jeep, Tahoe, Explorer, Pilot, etc and those aren't luxury brand products. Cadillac should be able to steal those type of buyers and get them into a luxury car rather than a non-luxury SUV that costs the same money. I think it easier to steal crossover buyers than 5-series/E-class buyers. But Cadillac has to make sedans seem cooler and better than crossovers, and take those buyers away from Ford, Jeep, etc.
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CTS isn't priced too high, it is the cheapest car in the segment. E-class: $52,650 Jag XF: $50,175 5-series: $49,950 GS350: $48,600 Audi A6: $46,200 CTS: $45,345
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CTS sales in 2014 were the lowest ever. And the ATS is selling at a slower rate than the 2004-2006 CTS that used to be good for 4,000 units a month at the same price point. Both cars need upgraded interiors, a better take on the Art and Science look and both need to replace CUE. GM should just pay Google or Apple $100 million to have them make an in car info-tainment system and be done with it. The big problem is marketing, and after years of GM and others convincing everyone they need a crossover (because they got better margins on them than cars) they now have to convince people to buy a RWD (or AWD) sedan. From the early 90s when the Explorer and Grand Cherokee hit, automakers made SUVs = luxury in advertising. So now, how does Cadillac make sedans cool and convince people to buy sedans instead of crossovers? Because people are spending $40-50k on Honda Pilots, RX350s, Buick Enclaves, Tahoes, Grand Cherokees, etc. And a lot of them don't use the 3rd row or tow anything. Cadillac needs to get that crossover market buying their cars and say this is more luxurious, better handling, safer, better braking, more fuel efficient than a crossover, and bring those buyers in.
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Jaguar News: Rumorpile: Jaguar Working On XE-R To Take On BMW M3
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Jaguar
They already have the V8, makes sense to put it in the XE. Funny how BMW dropped the V8 in the M3, then Jag and Mercedes come along with 500 hp V8s for that class. Also funny how the Lexus V8 makes so little torque, if they could get more power from that engine the IS-F might actually be a contender. -
Wasn't the GX a 3 row SUV, or does he want a unibody crossover? Either way, they had the GX, it just sucked for so many years because it was based on an old 4Runner. They should replace the GX with a Lambda-like 3 row crossover but in the $50-65k range. The NX has the $30s, the RX has the $40-50k range. As far as down market goes, the CT200h is cheaper than a CLA, and the IS, ES, RC and NX are cheaper than a C-class. Aside from the RX, the bulk of Lexus sales volume is cars with a base price under $37k. I don't think Lentz wants to put his average sale price against the Germans or even Cadillac.
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Industry News: Vans Are Making A Huge Comeback In the U.S.
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Industry News
I'd like to see a Transit Connect SHO with the 3.5 liter Ecoboost. People love performance models of coupes and sedans, why not a van. -
Pay the minimum because the rate is so low. The interest you'll pay on a $22,000 car loan at 2.24% is $1,382. Even if you got just 1% return on a savings account in 65 months you'd make $1,218. If you could get a 2% return it is $2,491, you make over $1,100 by having the $22,000 in a CD at 2% and paying the monthly payments. That is assuming you had a lump sum in the bank and could pay it off now or make payments. Even if you are just putting the extra $100 a month in the bank, better to do that, because interest rates will eventually go up, in 4 years your car loan will still be 2.24% and savings accounts might be 3% by then. No sense paying off a loan quickly right now when loan rates are at historic lows.
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In the world. VW as a global company cares about global sales. It is easy in the USA to think of Audi as a small brand, until you look that they sold 763,000 cars in Europe last year and another 579,000 in China. VW brand sold 6 million cars last year, but they only have 2% market share in the USA. Buying FCA and leveraging some of those products/dealers could bolster their position in the USA. VW doesn't need the American market, but it would be foolish to turn their back on it. On the flip side, how long is FCA going to survive with their limited product lines and cars like the 300 and Charger that go back to 2005. If not for Jeep they'd probably go bankrupt again, and I still think Sergio's grand plan is to sell off the company at some point to cash out, since they bought Chrysler on the cheap in the first place.
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- April 2015
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Lexus styling is awful. I think the 90s BMWs look better than the current ones, but why would BMW change the look when people keep buying it. You don't fix what isn't broken. When they strayed off the path in the Bangle era people hated it, so back to the basics BMW styling came in.
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The Audi A6 outsells the entire Chrysler brand. 300,000 is not a lot of cars to VW who sells 10 million cars. They could repackage products to different brands. Pontiac sold 400,000 units a year, GM is making more money without them than they did with them. The only reason for VW to buy FCA is Jeep and Ram pickups because of the profit margins on those, they don't really need the rest, which is why they won't buy them. I've driven a 300 with the Pentastar and 8-speed. The transmission is fine, non complaints about it, the V6 is average. Not as smooth or quiet as others, not really all that punchy either. I'd rate the Pentastar better than the Hyundai 3.8 liter or the non ecoboost Ford 3.5 liter V6, but there are a lot of better ones out there. When I drove the 300 I wasn't impressed.
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I found a chart that shows a breakdown of fuel types in the world. Hybrid and Diesel are each about 3% of market share in the USA. Gas and flex fuel are 94%. China is 99% gas. In Europe though 53% is diesel, in India 51% diesel, Japan is 20% hybrid. I think though the Germans will get the take rate on hybrids and plug-ins to rise because as engines downsize, it will be the path to added performance. Look at in another way, how many engines were turbocharged in the 90s? Volvo and Saab used turbos on most models, some of the sports cars like the 300ZX or Mitsu 3000 GT had optional turbos, but turbocharging wasn't widespread because it was expensive and gas was cheap so they could just use a V6 or V8. Now turbo engines aren't just in BMWs and Audis, but in most Fords, Cruze, Malibu, Sonata, etc. Turbo engines are rather common. I think in 15 years hybrids and plug ins will be common because as batteries get cheaper, and fuel economy and emissions regulations toughen, there will be more 3 and 4 cylinder engines with electric help.
