Jump to content
News
Reviews
Discussons
Activity
Create New...
Close

smk4565

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    13,686

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    11

 Content Type 

Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    It should have the electronic door closers so the doors never slam. I imagine the only manual adjustable thing will be the rear view mirror, which was motorized on the 90s S-class but I think they went back to manual because that is sort of a pointless thing to motorize.
  2. smk4565
    Sound at 60 or 70 mph I think matters note than idle. How often do cars idle especially now they they all have start/stop and the engines are shutting down at stop lights.
  3. smk4565
    I took the MB USA sales figures and GM sales figures off what is posted here and C & G, and 2 of the past 4 years the GL alone outsold the Escalade.
  4. smk4565
    It was only a partial year for the Escalade. There were a few scattered on dealer lots in April, but they took till mid summer to get into full swing. They still can't build them fast enough to satisfy demand. ATP on Escalade is up nearly $20k over the previous model. Escalade sold 30,500 in 8 months when it took Benz 12 months to sell 26k. Yes.. for vehicles with $80k - $90k transaction prices... that's a blowout. I don't disagree that the Escalade is a successful product for Cadillac, it is usually 1 or 2 in sales in the segment and has been for the past 10 years, while stuff like the Navigator and LX570 have died on the vine. And the Escalade commands a high price as you stated, if you can be the highest priced in the segment and best selling, you are doing something right. What I don't get is why Cadillac doesn't use the formula that has worked with the Escalade on its cars. Instead we get alpha numerics, dull styling and the corporate V6. And I get that Americans buy big trucks so it is easier to convert a Tahoe to an Escalade and get sales than it would be to convert a Chevy sedan to a Cadillac, in that regard Cadillac needs its own chassis.
  5. smk4565
    All Mercedes SUVs? Combined they sell like 100,000. But the GL sold 26,000 in 2012 and 29,900 in 2013 which beat the Escalade (all trims combined). The Escalade outsold the GL by about 500 units in 2011, the Escalade beat it in 2014 and Escalade is ahead this year. So as I said, they have gone back and forth. The Bentley SUV will have the 500 hp twin turbo V8 standard, a 4.2 liter V8 diesel making 375-400 hp and over 625 lb-ft of torque, and the W12 from the Continental GT is expected to be an option. The Rolls-Royce SUV will have a standard V12 Rolls only has V12 engines to pick from. The BMW X7 is based on the Rolls, an optional 544 hp V12 from the 760 is expected, no doubt a V8 or diesel inline six will make up the bulk of the sales though.
  6. smk4565
    We also don't know the price of the CT6 yet either. Just like when the ELR was discussed. Had the ELR cost $49,000 it might have been a hit, but at $77,000 it is a total flop. If the CT6 is like $55,000 it could be a hit, if they charge Escalade money for a base CT6, could be a total flop.
  7. smk4565
    Escalade sold 30,500 last year, the GL sold 26,600. It is not like a total blowout. When the GL was new and the Escalade had been on market for a while, the GL outsold it. Those two have gone back and forth for the past 5 years or so. The Escalade is a product that Cadillac gets right, they give the target audience what they want, they use a V8, a word name, lots of luxury and bling. I don't know why they don't apply some of those principles to the sedans. I think a V8 Fleetwood sedan loaded with luxury will sell better than a V6 CT6. There are some new big boys coming to the SUV market though, the Bentley, Rolls, BMW X7 and I think all 3 are expected to have 12 cylinder power. I'd imagine Mercedes will put the V12 in a Maybach trim GL at that point. The Escalade will outsell all those still, but it might lose some status as the biggest, most over the top SUV.
  8. smk4565
    Under 3800 lbs would be a remarkable feat, the 100% aluminum Jaguar XJ is 3,854 for a RWD V6. I like the XJ, but even though it is lighter and cheaper than the German rivals it still doesn't sell. It will take more than lightweight construction, the interior better be fabulous and I still think there has to be a V8. But then also what happens to the CT6's weight when you put on V8, AWD, heated/cooled/massage/reclining seats at all 4 corners, a refrigerator in the trunk, etc? It is going to be heavy too. The Escalade is 300 lbs heavier than a GL550, 500 lbs heavier than a GL450, and it doesn't seem to matter, the Escalade sells just fine.
  9. smk4565
    The 3.6 TT and 6.2 S/C aren't really the hallmarks of refinement and quietness. But I guess it is back to the parts bin. Heaven forbid Cadillac develop their own V8, they haven't done that since 1993.
  10. smk4565
    Why on earth would you benchmark the loudest engine in the entry-moderate level luxury segment for your high end luxury car? And an engine that came out in 2008 and hasn't changed since. Shouldn't they benchmark a Lexus LS460 or something for refinement? The LS460 is a V8. Apples/Oranges. There is a difference between engine loudness and engine loudness that you can hear from inside the car. From auto-decibel-db.com - rating at idle 2009 Infiniti G37 3.7 - 38.5 2012 Infiniti JX 3.5 - 41.0 2012 Infiniti M37 - 42.9 Lexus 3.5 - 40.9 2013 Cadillac 3.6 - 42.4 Buick 3.6 - 41.4 Audi 3.0 - 42.9 Mercedes E350 - 38.2 Jaguar 3.0 V6 - 44.4 Acura RLX 3.5 - 39.5 BMW 535i - 42.8 If Cadillac did as they claim and shaved 4dB off of the Infiniti number, that would make them extremely class-leading no matter which Infiniti model they started from. At worst, it would put the new 3.6 in the 37 dB - 38 dB range. At best, it would be in the 34 dB range (which I doubt they'd hit) But that is how you get ahead, you benchmark your $60,000 car to be better than Lexus's $80,000 car, not Infiniti's $40,000 car. Funny how the Mercedes 3.5 liter is the quietest on that list when it is the oldest engine in the M-B lineup and being phased out next year.
  11. smk4565
    Why is that 3.6 even in the CT6? Unless the CT6 is replacing the XTS in a sense and they need and entry level model around $50k for the fleets and old people. While they are making "all new" engines, where is the V8? Look across the automotive landscape and no one is selling a sedan with a naturally aspirated V6 for over $50k with the exception of the E-class which is losing the 3.5 liter V6 after this year. The GS350, Q70 and RLX are all $48k.
  12. smk4565
    Why on earth would you benchmark the loudest engine in the entry-moderate level luxury segment for your high end luxury car? And an engine that came out in 2008 and hasn't changed since. Shouldn't they benchmark a Lexus LS460 or something for refinement?
  13. smk4565
    The 3.6 peak power is again at 6800 rpm, the current V6 makes peak torque at 4800 rpm, the new one is at 5300. So you really have to rev the crap out of that engine to get the power from it, which was always something I didn't like about the Gen 2 CTS or the Infiniti G37. Unless you are above 4,000 RPM those cars have no power. The twin turbo makes good power, that is a proper engine for Cadillac. What is curious is they compare it to the A7 and 740i, so is that the target competition for the CT6? If so, Cadillac does realize those cars offer a V8 right?
  14. smk4565
    The engines are a 3.6 liter V6 with 335 hp @ 6800 rpm and 284 lb-ft @ 5300 rpm. The ranger topper is the new 3.0 liter twin turbo V6 with 400 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque which Cadillac states is more powerful than an A7 or 740i. Cadillac seems to forget those cars offer V8s and a V12 for the 7-series. So the CT6 really doesn't bring any more power than a CTS or CTS v-sport does, I wonder if they price this car in the $55-65k range and just kill the XTS off. Then you have ATS at $35k, CTS at $45k, CT6 at $60k.
  15. smk4565
    I always liked the wheels on that car. The 01 STS had some 7 spoke wheels I believe with slightly beveled edges, those looked good also.
  16. smk4565
    It is a clean look, but it is a little boring too, simple design is good, but perhaps they could have had more colors or something. Overall the inside and out looks similar to the current car. I like the current car, but it is a little dated too, so you wonder if we are going back to the old days of Jaguar where cars go like 20 years without much change.
  17. smk4565
    Lexus interiors have gone really ugly, they do have build quality, but the designs are a disaster. That Infiniti Q70 has been on market for a while and is showing its age, although that interior wasn't good when it was new either. Acura is hopeless, that is just a Honda interior with extra wood and leather. But notice that Infiniti and Acura don't compete with the big Germans, and Lexus sells the LS460 V8 for less than a 6 cylinder A8 or 7-series.
  18. smk4565
    The current Malibu is pretty much a fleet car anyway. But I don't get how GM thinks they can successfully sell an "all new" Malibu while the old Malibu is flooding rental lots and dragging image down.
  19. smk4565
    The thing is who is going to buy it? Current Cadillac buyers have been groomed to spend $45-55k on a sedan for the past 20 years, so is the person that bought a CTS 5 years ago going to trade it in on the CTS? The group that has bought the DTS or XTS could care less about RWD, handling, weight savings, etc, and they aren't going to spend $80k on a car, if they wanted an expensive car they would have bought one in the past. I think Cadillac is going to have a hard time moving buyers up the ladder, at least for the next 5-10 years. The other pathway to sales is to conquest the Germans and the Lexus LS460. So if you don't fit into one of the existing segments, it could be hard to steal buyers that currently have a 7-series or A8. The CT6 is interesting because Cadillac is going into new territory, I am curious to see the final product and even more curious to see how they price it.
  20. smk4565
    Which would make it about 203-204 inches long. So are they going to price it in between and A8 and 7-series? Because then they are competing with the German flagships, if they price it at $60k and make it that big they are competing with the Hyundaii Equus.
  21. smk4565
    I don't think a lot of buyers really care that much about the warranty, it isn't a deal breaker on the car, otherwise the Camry wouldn't outsell the Sonata by 2 or 3 to 1. Cutting the warranty looks bad short term, makes people think GM doesn't believe in their product, but after a few months people will forget about, and most buyers probably only expect 4 yr/50k mile warranties anyway.
  22. smk4565
    Let's say the CT6 is high 190s in length, it would be a little bigger than a CLS or 6-series Gran Coupe or about the size of the LS460. At that size it isn't competing with an S-class or 7-series and it is unlikely the would jump to S-class pricing level. So we could probably assume this is more of a $65-75,000 car. With that size and price the CLS, A7, and 6-series are competitors, but none of those are big volume cars to begin with, and when the CT6 goes on sale, a new E-class will be on sale at the same time, with a new CLS 1 year after. This is a lot of speculating, but I still have a hard time seeing what the CT6 matches up against, it is conventional sedan, not a 4-door coupe or fastback type car, and the size is in between medium and large. Seems like they are between segments. I believe the E-class will have more of a leap forward than the C-class did, which makes me wonder if the CT6 will be better than the E-class, let alone competing with the CLS, and for get the S-class, the CT6 won't contend with that.
  23. smk4565
    yes So what is to say the next 13 years will be any better? If they sucked at it for this long, why all of a sudden would they have the best marketing in the industry? Marketing alone isn't going to save Cadillac anyway, the product line is still too thin and I think there is room for improvement in the existing products. GM spent $2.15 billion in advertising in the USA in 2013, Ford is the only car company that spent more. The ads can't be that scarce because GM is spending the money. So it isn't like they are going to spend more, they need to be more effective with what they do spend. If this CT6 flops Cadillac is in trouble, because not only will it be a short term financial hit, the bean counters will step in and say no more high budget cars, work with turning Chevys into Cadillacs on a shoe string budget.
  24. smk4565
    The CTS started the Cadillac shift to rear drive and Art and Science 13 years ago. Has marketing been bad all 13 years? And who's fault is that if marketing sucks? That is GM's own fault. I also don't think the ATS and CTS are a marketing plan away from being hit sellers. Image hurts Cadillac for sure, but how do you repair that image? You need flagship sedans and halo sports cars. The CT6 I doubt is going to be a 7-series killer, let alone an S-class killer. If the real flagship is coming in 2020, the competition can do a lot between now and then also. Where is Cadillac's sport car? There seems to be some unwritten rule at GM that nothing can out perform the Corvette. Cadillac should have a Corvette killer, they are Cadillac, the best GM brand should have the best sports car. Until Cadillac builds some legendary stuff, they are going to be like Acura or Infiniti.
  25. smk4565
    Having the same options doesn't mean it is the same car. The ATS has more torque in the 2.0T than the Germans, but the C400 has an 80 lb-ft advantage over the ATS 3.6. ATS has CUE, the Germans all have something better. ATS isn't really striking a nerve with buyers, it seems to be stagnant already. Whether it be lack of body styles, lack of a hybrid, CUE, build quality, styling, etc, for some reason it doesn't sell.
×
×
  • Create New...

Hey there, we noticed you're using an ad-blocker. We're a small site that is supported by ads or subscriptions. We rely on these to pay for server costs and vehicle reviews.  Please consider whitelisting us in your ad-blocker, or if you really like what you see, you can pick up one of our subscriptions for just $1.75 a month or $15 a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way to help support real, honest content, that isn't generated by an AI bot.

See you out there.

Drew
Editor-in-Chief

I've whitelisted
Continue without support

Write what you are looking for and press enter or click the search icon to begin your search