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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Gas prices will eventually go back up. This is what doomed GM the first time around, they thought gas would always be cheap so bet the farm on huge trucks and SUVs, and in 2008 or 2009 whenever it went to $4.25 a gallon and the economy tanked, those big truck sales died. You have to diversify the portfolio. Marketing a diesel is easy. 425 lb-ft of torque and 38 mpg. I fail to see how near Corvette like torque with Chevy Sonic fuel economy is a hard sell. Or for people that don't understand that, "the new CTS diesel, 30% more fuel economy, 50% more torque than the gas V6 model." That is a pretty easy advertisement, even Cadillac can get that one right. Although they might make an ad that says "Dare to be different, Dare to Diesel" and it will be really vague and no one will understand it.
  2. smk4565
    That is a crap ton of Equinoxes, the Lambdas did well too overall even though the Enclave was down. Crossovers are staying hot. Which I don't get the mass appeal, I'd rather have something that drives sporty. Silverado still up with the Colorado on sale, so that is a good sign that people just didn't buy the smaller truck and flee the Silverado. CTS is hurting, 2nd month in a row with a huge drop.
  3. smk4565
    Diesel four and six cylinder is for sure needed, and they need it in the USA, that shouldn't even be up for debate. The A4 and C-class are getting a diesel, the Jag XE will have one and the 3-series has it. I'd imagine the next Jag XF will have a diesel here, and of course the 5-series and E-class have one. Cadillac has to have diesels for the ATS and CTS, and a diesel would be good in a crossover where torque matters more than horsepower. Most of the German SUVs offer a diesel engine already, Cadillac should put a diesel in the XT5.
  4. smk4565
    No, I am not saying they need to fool customers. I am just saying Cadillac shouldn't aspire to be the value luxury brand, they need to promote the product more than the price. If this car is better than an M5, I'm sure Cadillac would like to price it at $95,000 base and pocket and extra $10k in profit. But I'd imagine their pricing analysts don't see them getting enough volume if it were M5 money. That perceived value or brand image is where the luxury brands make their profit.
  5. smk4565
    All expensive sedans depreciate quickly. Sports cars hold value, cars like a 911 or Corvette. Which I never got why someone would pay $60,000 for a 6 year old 911 when a new one is $85,000. Cadillac really needs the CTS-V to sell on merit so they can build the brand image. You don't want to have the image of "we're the discount luxury brand, buy our car because it is cheaper." You want people to buy to buy your car because it is better or the brand image creates some emotional connection. That is how Porsche gets fools to pay $800 for a carbon fiber rear window wiper.
  6. smk4565
    I don't think the interior is very good on this car, it looks really bland. I bet they overprice it like the XF is. When the XF came out you got the 4.2 liter V8 for E-class V6 money, I think it was actually $2,000 less than an E350 at around $49k. There was a value equation in play there. Now a 4 cylinder XF is $51k and the interior hasn't really changed since 2009. That doesn't seem like a good deal to trade a V8 for a I-4 and the price went up. I bet when they price the diesel over $40k and $50k for the V6, and then people will go buy a 3-series because it is cheaper and a proven commodity.
  7. smk4565
    It was a joke. Like saying a VW Microbus is rear engined so it probably handles the same as a Porsche 911.
  8. smk4565
    Why not just put a "d" badge on the diesel cars, and an "S" badge on the Supercharged V6. Then if they do a 2 liter gas engine they can put no badge on it. Sort of like how the F-type has Base, S, and R. I do like the engines though, the diesel should post high mpg and the V6 out powers everything but the C400. The performance is there. I wonder if the pricing will be competitive or if they'll want over $50k for a V6.
  9. smk4565
    Wait, did you just compare a Fiero to a GT40? Although, they both are mid-engined, so they are basically the same. Other than the 4 consecutive LeMans wins.
  10. smk4565
    Priced about where you'd expect. More than a Charger Hellcat, less than an M5.
  11. smk4565
    After the MKZ becomes the Zephyr, the Continental takes over for the MKS, the Sentinel can be their biggest car, and here is the Mark 9. They build all these concepts then run a rebadged Fusion out there, gee I wonder why Lincoln is near dead.
  12. smk4565
    Lincoln should build this: The grille needs reworked, but for 20 years ago, this is better than the crap they build now.
  13. smk4565
    I don't see the point of the GLC coupe either, but dopes will buy crossovers no matter what, so I guess we are getting it. They should just let the S-class take care of the Panamera. The S-class is so good, I don't think even Mercedes could build a car that competes with it.
  14. smk4565
    There was a Cadillac Aurora concept car around 1990. Cadillac could use Aurora, Seville, Fleetwood for their sedans, Eldorado for a premium coupe. Come up with another name for an SUV below the Escalade. Sounds better than CT3, CT5, CT6, XT3, XT5, Escalade.
  15. smk4565
    The standard ATS is boring looking, the lower front fascia on the V makes it look a lot better. The hood scoop and spoiler are a bit too boy racer, the hood scoop reminds me of a 90s Firebird. I think a solid hood would have looked better. It would be nice for them to replace CUE and switch the instrument cluster to a TFT screen. I don't get how BMW once made the holy grail of steering feel and now they can't find it. The M3 still seems to get accolades from the chassis and overall handling. It will be curious when these cars end up in a comparison because the C63 has the V8 muscle but is 3,900 lbs, the M3 is only 3540 lbs so it has the weight advantage.
  16. smk4565
    I am not really sure where they are going with this, because the CLS uses the E-class chassis, which moving forward will be on the MRA platform that the C-class and future GLC use. They'll have a CLS63 which is about a $100k car, that already sort of competes with the Panamera. The S-class has its own platform, and even though it is a luxury car, not a sports car, it still has the muscle to match up with a Panamera. The S-class already outsells the Panamera easily. The only way to differentiate would be to take the AMG GT and make it a 4-door, because that car is 97% aluminum and very light, but I don't think anyone wants a 4 door sports car, no one bought the Aston Martin Rapide.
  17. smk4565
    Alpha numerics saved Pontiac, look at the success of G3, G5, G6, G8, oh wait, that didn't work. I wish Cadillac would use names, they could even source "Aurora" and "Bonneville" for entry level cars if they wanted to. Even though they weren't Cadillac names, they have been gone a while and are from the GM stable. Lincoln could use "Mariner" for the MKC to pull a Mercury name back.
  18. smk4565
    Sort of like how American car companies have to rely on pickups and SUVs to turn profit, we know the Cobalt, Focus, and Caliber weren't paying the bills. VW brand does really well elsewhere in sales, just not here. Profit per car on a VW globally is only like $700, not that much. I don't see Peich just retiring to Austria to drive his Veyrons, the guy is going to come back with a vengence because he is a narcissist.
  19. smk4565
    Peich doesn't seem like the type to go quietly. I imagine he will try to work up a merger or company split or something. He still owns 10% of Porsche and Porsche owns 51% of VW.
  20. smk4565
    The G-wagon is mostly hand made Since the current assembly lines are tooled to make it. It is most a 1970s blueprint after all. They were going to drop the G-wagon 10 years ago but the fans wanted them to keep making it. The fan base likes the vehicle as it is, I think that is why it hasn't changed. Being mostly hand built and low volume jacks the price up, but the G-wafon faithful keep buying it.
  21. smk4565
    Bring back the names, leave town car dead, but Continental, Zephyr, even Mark VIII would be way better. They have Navigator, might as well have an Aviator.
  22. smk4565
    Any sedan, coupe or convertible Cadillac makes should have a V-series. If they have a rear drive crossover they could do one for that also. Definitely need it for the cars though. There may be an M7 coming, BMW needs it because Jaguar, Maserati, Porsche, Audi and Mercedes all had performance versions of their sedans. BMW missed their chance back in 1988 they built a prototype of a V16 7-series called the 767i and they never built it. That would have been the granddaddy of all sport sedans.
  23. smk4565
    New look is awesome. Much easier to read and navigate. I like it.
  24. smk4565
    My main points are that Cadillac has lacked consistency over the years, and they haven't progressed as they should have. The Northstar was a great engine for the early to mid-90s, but then they didn't keep updating it, and moved to the corporate V6 because it was easy to do. Marketing has been inconsistent, naming schemes inconsistent, and even now, the Cadillac company line is how every gram matters, cut weight, and CT and XT names are the way to go. But their most noticeable and most successful vehicle is super heavy and has a word name, and is not an XT8. It doesn't make sense, you can't have one strategy for half the line up and a different strategy for the other half. I still think Johan is over-confident and thinks a light weight platform and some turbo fours and sixes will defeat the Germans, but they tried that on the ATS and CTS, against old German products and it didn't work. Now the A6, E-class and 5-series are all getting replaced in the next year with a new model. Cadillac needs to go back to its Eldorado and Fleetwood V8 roots and be the American luxury car again. And I don't mean build land barges, but modern luxury with bold styling and big power, the way they used to do it.
  25. smk4565
    When is the Escalade moving to Omega platform to save weight? They can drop that gas hog V8 and put a 2.0 Turbo hybrid in the Escalade and really stick it to the over weight Mercedes GL once and for all!
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