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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    In the late 70s, Mercedes was selling the 450SEL 6.9 for over $50,000, when a top end Cadillac or Lincoln was $20,000. I think they were selling a luxury car.
  2. smk4565
    The Aurora was more sedan, although both generations were good looking cars. That CLS looks better with age, that was 10 years ago and it still looks better than that awful 6-series Gran Coupe thing.
  3. smk4565
    I thought I read once that the length was 200 inches, so the CT6 could be slightly smaller than the XTS. But the CT6 doesn't have 4-door coupe styling, so it isn't really an A7 or CLS competitor. Probably this will be sized like the standard LS460 or short wheel base Jaguar XJ. I am curious what they position this car against. It is believed it will have a new 3.0 liter twin turbo V6, which will lead to GM's new line of V6s so I'd imagine the 3.6 will start getting phased out at the end of the decade.
  4. smk4565
    But to make these big profits you need high prices. The Escalade is where Cadillac's profit comes from because it has high price, and is based off an existing Chevy, and the Tahoe itself is a high margin vehicle. I wonder if the ATS and CTS run on big margins, because they don't really command top of segment pricing, and their global volume isn't that high so they don't have the economies of scale that the Germans have.
  5. smk4565
    The old 5-series still outsells the new Lexus GS and CTS. The 7-series is bland and bloated, and of course it has terrible sales, it is up against the best car in the world. BMW does make a triple turbo diesel inline six in Europe, but of course, they don't sell it here. Maybe they should to add some spice to the 5 and 7 series cars. Jaguar makes loads of SUVs, they are called the Land Rover. That is why I always thought a Jaguar SUV was stupid, it is one company, and you wouldn't make a Land Rover 2-seat roadster, so why make a Jaguar SUV.
  6. smk4565
    The W126 S-class is the best selling S-class ever, with over 892,000 sold. That car really expanded the global presence of Mercedes, probably more than any other car in their history. You could make a claim that the W116 S-class was the best car in the world, especially with the 6.9 V8. That was mid 70s, so that puts it on a 40 year run as the top luxury car in the world.
  7. smk4565
    The electric one could be cool, loads of instant torque and no noise.
  8. smk4565
    All these Audis look the same, and they seem to be getting uglier. Before they had some classy looking cars, but now to make them more dramatic, they are just making them uglier. I do like the 455 hp and 553 lb-ft of diesel-electric power. That is like a locomotive engine!
  9. smk4565
    Or if you want a TT V8, you could buy a 5-series, 6-series, 7-series, E-class, CLS, S-class, S7, S8, or Panamera right now. I "dare" Cadillac to keep this Dare campaign going until 2019 when the CT7 or CT8 arrives. By then there will be a new slogan, and they will have some new plan. Eventually one of these plans has to work, Cadillac doesn't really have infinite tries here. I get that Rome wasn't built in a day, and I don't think Cadillac will even end up as poor off as Lincoln, but how long will GM pour money in to a brand that doesn't get sales. Eventually the bean counters may force a Lincoln strategy where they just gloss up Chevy's and sell stuff like the Escalade and a Cadillac Equinox because those are easy and high margin.
  10. smk4565
    That 4 cylinder is a diesel with 369 lb-ft of torque though and that was five years ago. I think they pair that engine with a hybrid system now for Euro market cars. There has been a V12 S-class since 1991. Without 12 cylinders you are a pretender, not a contender. Sorry to Lexus, Jaguar and Maserati.
  11. smk4565
    Johan said in an interview that the 2.0 turbo 4 would be standard and the 3.6 liter twin turbo optional. Basically the same power trains in the CTS. He did say in the future there would be a twin turbo V8. I'd imagine that is their V-series. Makes you wonder if this is more of an XTS replacement, can't be an S-class fighter with a 4-cylinder. Even the A7 and CLS have boosted sixes and eights, so what is their competitor?
  12. smk4565
    The A6 isn't quite $400,000. I'd like to see Cadillac spend $2 billion on a S-class/Maybach competitor and put their money where Johan's mouth is.
  13. smk4565
    Why would anyone pay $400,000 for a car with a Corvette motor, when they could just buy a Corvette, for 1/6th the price. All these high dollar cars have a V12 for a reason. Cadillac couldn't even compete with the Mercedes SL, I can't see them pulling off a super car.
  14. smk4565
    That basically looks the same as an XTS or CTS, although with a cleaner appearance and more appropriate front end styling. The CTS LED light bars look a bit over the top and tacky. It looks like a Cadillac should, but it isn't exciting, it just looks sort of slab sided and boring. I guess we are still waiting for the next car to come to really compete with the Germans, and this is just a stop gap replacement to the XTS until it arrives. What is with the Dare Greatly campaign? Another new slogan? Every 2 years they change, BMW has had the same one for like 40 years. Props though for using the kick music from Inception, but that song in French is "I regret nothing" and I am pretty sure they regret the Cimarron.
  15. smk4565
    I'd like to see Cadillac go after Rolls-Royce with a Covette/Silverado engine and see what happens. Or Maybe Cadillac can build a Lamborghini Aventador or Ferrari F12 competitor with a Covette motor. I think people would pay $400,000 for a Cadillac with the same engine in a $60,000 Corvette.
  16. smk4565
    Yes, because Billionaires care about depreciation or gas mileage or operating costs. Not sure where you could even find one used.
  17. smk4565
    Close to 10,000 lbs with armor, a V12 is needed. A V8 in this car would be like a 2.0T in an Escalade ESV Platinum. WRONG! It is a little small 6 liter V12, The GM 6.2L V8 would do a better job than this engine with better gas mileage. Again you are hung up on the badge and not the real facts. That V8 could not produce the NVH standards needed buy a car like this. They Maybach cars don't use Mercedes most powerful engine for a reason, they need smoothness and quietness. The Mercedes-AMG V12 makes 811 lb-ft of torque, but the computer limits it to 738 lb-ft to protect the transmission and reduce wheel spin.
  18. smk4565
    EV2
  19. smk4565
    This thing is about as big as a railroad car. It is 3 feet longer than a Suburban. They will sell every one of these they build I am sure, and probably at $1 million a pop. And they have made previous versions of the Pullman and 6 door limos, I think this is just a better execution of it than what they did on the W140 and W220 chassis. Close to 10,000 lbs with armor, a V12 is needed. A V8 in this car would be like a 2.0T in an Escalade ESV Platinum.
  20. smk4565
    The original Pullman came out in 1965, so Mercedes has had that name for a good while now. I read elsewhere that this car was designed specifically for "governments, rulers, and royal families." So in other words, dictators and monarchs. Clearly the best option is the possibly $500,000 upgrade for the VR9 ballistic protection, which let's be honest, the majority of people that buy this car are getting the armored version. Also important to note that this car has a rear cabin speedometer, so that El Presidente can yell at Jeeves for driving too fast, or perhaps to make sure that Jeeves is traveling at a high enough speed to run over the ifedels.
  21. smk4565
    I mostly agree with Z06, the two clowns are going to try and fix Cadillac with naming schemes, the move to NY and a bunch of PR spin. Marketing and Facebook posts aren't going to turn Cadillac around, product will. These two guys aren't car engineers or designers. The Escalade is the only thing keeping Cadillac alive right now, maybe Alpha-numeric names are not such a good idea.
  22. smk4565
    This guy is all talk, and little action. Cadillac has talked about renaissances multiple times, and after 10 years they aren't really in any better shape than they were in 2005. We'll see what he comes up with, but he even mentions how they will have a consistent naming nomenclature for their products, but then the Escalade which is their most recognizable produce is excluded from that naming system. That makes no sense. Johan was in charge of Audi of America, but Audi perfoms better everywhere else in the world, and he did nothing with Infiniti. If he couldn't tackle BMW and Benz with VW's resources, couldn't do it with Nissan's, I don't see why it will be any different at GM. Granted Cadillac I think is a better brand name than Infiniti, there is a bit more potential there, but why there wasn't a GT-R powertrain Infiniti sedan to take on the M5 just shows how clueless Johan is.
  23. smk4565
    That is a bad move, they are a luxury car maker, not a sports car or SUV maker. Pretty much guarantees now that there will be a Maybach GL600 to compete.
  24. smk4565
    Cadillac interiors need work, I sat in a CTS V-sport and XTS V-sport the other day, and they are Lexus GS level. They aren't up to Audi A6/A7 levels, they aren't even at C300 level, the whole center stack in a Cadillac feels like it came out of a Volt or Ford Edge with those weird, black touch button controls. The performance specs on this car seem pretty good, but you wonder if it will really hit a 3.8 0-60 time, because that quicker than a Corvette with more weight and not quite the power.
  25. smk4565
    S-class has been the best car in the world for the past 30 years. I don't think the best in the world can be overrated. Few cars have had that long a run at the top of their class, 3-series is probably the only other one. The Phaeton can't even compete with the A8, there is no point in VW making it. They should put those resources into the Jetta and Passat and get them more competitive.
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