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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    If it is S-class size, then this is a big car. The S-class is over 206 inches long. What makes this car eagerly anticipated is Cadillac has said they want to be on par with the Germans, and there is no bankruptcy excuse that can be used, that could have been used 5 years ago. This is their shot into the upper end of the luxury market, which is a place Infiniti, Acura, Cadillac, Lincoln, Volvo, etc have either failed at or not tried to get into that segment. Even Lexus after 25 years of the LS sells it way cheaper than the European V8 rivals, and the LS in some ways feels like a big Toyota inside, to Drew's point, a lot of the window switches in an LS460 are the same you find in a Camry or Avalon.
  2. smk4565
    From the spy photos it looks more like an XTS than any of their concept cars. I expect mild styling, nothing dramatic. I will say this car will be interesting in many ways. For one they are going further upmarket than ever before, so the execution of that will be interesting. We know it is about 7-series or LS460 sized, so how they price it and what will it be up against? And then how does it influence the rest of the lineup and where do they go after it? I'm curious to see the final product and to see how it sells.
  3. smk4565
    Well Audi has to discount, they aren't as good as Mercedes. 3-series are really cheap, I myself am surprised at how low the price starts, but then again they put zero equipment at all on those base cars, and the 328i starts at $37,500 and $39,500 for awd, which is pretty close to C300 pricing. I want to see a C250 bluetec, that is supposed to be coming, but I don't know if they would price it any lower than the C300.
  4. smk4565
    Not when it is V6 from an Accord, or costs more than a Corvette. I think the Corvette is a great product, I almost don't like that they try to push it up market and do the $100,000 versions, because the Corvette is supposed to be the every man's sports car. The Corvette is about value or at least it should be. This is why I wish Cadillac had a $100,000+ sports car so there is no need for a Corvette above the Z06, and the Corvette can stay true to it roots. Without reading anything about this upcoming NSX, other than hearing that a hybrid may be used, I would guess the powertrain is the Acura RLX hybrid V6 deal with like 350 hp and a 6-speed auto. The interior won't be any better, might even be worse, so you care getting a $50k car interior and powertrain for $100,000. The NSX is one of the biggest rip offs in car history. The whole Acura brand should just be closed down to save themselves future embarrassment.
  5. smk4565

    Flops?

    smk4565 replied to Drew Dowdell's topic in The Lounge

    The Chrysler-Benz merger was a flop for sure. A foolish idea from the start, and a money loser for Daimler, and Chrysler ended up in Bankruptcy 3 years after it ended. Really the whole 10 years Jurgen Schrempp was CEO of Daimler was a flop, he did nothing well. He let quality drop from the standards set in the 80s, put out the worst E-class of all (1996-2002), started Maybach of a previous generation S-class and did the Chrysler merger. Dr. Z cleaned up that mess and more so, he and Alan Mullally I think are the top 2 auto executives of the past 25 years.
  6. smk4565
    The base ATS has no power though, 200 hp, 190 lb-ft or something, the CLA has 258 lb-ft of torque and a 7-speed transmission, and Mercedes styling and badge are probably enough to get them to sell, plus the CLA gets 38 mpg highway in fwd trim, that is pretty good. I personally wouldn't consider a CLA because of the FWD roots, but people buying a $35k car probably aren't too worried about drive wheels, especially when AWD is offered. Look at all the fwd crossovers that sell, they are actually preferred to the rear drive ones, and compared to an Acura ILX or Lexus CT200, the CLA looks like a peach. If Cadillac wants the ATS to line up against the C-class, that means $40k base price, that would open up room for Buick, but then the CTS at $44k needs to go up to $50k, and can Cadillac get sales doing that? They are struggling as it is.
  7. smk4565
    I can't wait, I LOVE $100,000 cars with a 3.5 liter V6 out of an Accord.
  8. smk4565

    Flops?

    smk4565 replied to Drew Dowdell's topic in The Lounge

    Volkswagen Phaeton! I'd say Pontiac Aztek, but they got the Rendezvous out of it and it was built off an existing platform, so the investment was probably low for the number of crossovers and minivans sold. The entire Hummer brand I think was a flop, because while Toyota pumped money into the Prius, GM put their dollars behind the Hummer. They may have made big margins on the trucks they sold, but the PR damage was big and when gas prices skyrocketed, Hummer tanked, GM went bankrupt, and there was Toyota with the Prius as the darling of the media. And perception is reality in the mind of the consumer.
  9. smk4565
    Reliability does hurt VW here, maybe in Europe they get away with it because they have a lot of 50-60 mpg diesels and there might just not be enough competitors in the small car space, other than Fiat who has worse reliability and Hyundai/Kia/Honda aren't powerhouses in Europe, so it leaves Ford to compete with. Skoda and Seat seems like overlap though with the lower end of VW. VW at least keeps their luxury brands unique.
  10. smk4565
    Ding, Ding Ding! Not enough body style or engine choices, not enough crossovers, and 2003 was the original quest to take on the Germans, it has been 12 years now. C-class coupe comes out December 2015, convertible in March 2016, so they will have done, sedan, wagon, AMG, coupe and convertible in an 18 month time frame. Cadillac probably doesn't need a wagon since that is a European body style, so all they have to do is 3 body styles in 18 months, that should be doable.
  11. smk4565
    The groupings are insane, if a DB9 or Phantom Coupe is a compact they shouldn't have gas guzzler tax. And the Mulsanne is like 214 inches long. Size class should not be interior volume but exterior footprint. Try fitting a Phantom Coupe into a compact space at a parking garage. It might not even fit in a regular space.
  12. smk4565
    VW has profit centers like Lamborghini, Bentley and Porsche. Low volume but those cars have $20,000+ profit per unit, Audi runs at a 10% net margin too. VW brand just has to break even. Instead of these new entrants they should just buy Fiat-Chrysler and reorganize the whole thing cutting overlap, then they would have every segment imaginable covered.
  13. smk4565
    Group one meets European pedestrian impact standards, while group two does not meet American crash standards anymore.
  14. smk4565
    Same number of airbags
  15. smk4565
    First group all have DOHC engines and automatic transmission and ABS.
  16. smk4565
    The first group are all built on a platform shared with another vehicle, Fiesta/Mazda2, Camaro/Holden Commodore, Q50/G37, CLS/E-class, Phantom Coupe/Phantom sedan and 7-series, Yaris/Vitz. The Aston Martin name and grill was used on a Scion iQ to make the Cygnet, so they don't share a platform, but share a badge.
  17. smk4565
    That crowd will be dead by the time they get a car in that segment. Taurus and Maxima sales are terrible, even the Avalon and Impala combined sell about 15,000 cars a month, how much can vW get in that segment, 2,000 cars a month maybe? And that could decline.
  18. smk4565
    My guess is all have satellite radio and they probably all have a Nav system, even the Yaris probably offers those. The 3rd group has increasing buyer age, Regal buyers are older than Sonic buyers, Ls460 buyers are even older and Mulsanne buyers are were alive when King Edward was in power.
  19. smk4565
    They all offer Bluetooth
  20. smk4565
    The first group of cars are all made outside of the USA. The second group are 2+2 seating layouts. The 3rd group are all sedans.
  21. smk4565
    Besides all having 4 wheels and a steering wheel, I was going to guess electric power steering. But I had to look up the DB9 and that has hydraulic power steering.
  22. smk4565
    I have seen 2011 Regals for around $13,000 before, but those would be the base 2.4. I just looked on auto trader and there are 2012 certified regals with low miles for $16-17k. Most GM sedans have poor resale value, especially ones like the Malibu, Regal and Impala that have higher fleet rates. A CXL or premium trim Regal for mid teens is a pretty good deal. Lincoln MKZ's are great used car deals too, they lose like 50% of their value in 3 years.
  23. smk4565
    VW already makes the Audi A6 to take on the E-class and 5-series. And with how similar VWs and Audis look, a VW based on the A6 would look like an A6, but have to sell at a $10,000 discount, which is neither good for Audi or VW. The Phaeton will fail again if it comes back, no one wants a luxury VW when they can buy an Audi and at least have a trendy badge. VW needs to focus on the Jetta and Passat and selling a mid-size crossover that isn't $50k like the Toureg is.
  24. smk4565
    This looks boring, and sort of like the Passat and Jetta, when they restyled them they got boring and squared off looking. As if they wanted to see how safe and forgettable they could make it look.
  25. smk4565
    For crossovers in general, but not for coupe-like crossovers with no utility. Americans love crap like the Rouge or Rav4 and will pay $28,000 for it, but at the same time think a $18,000 Sentra or Corolla sucks, and not realize it the same product, but one is a wagon on stilts. BMW and Mercedes buyers prefer sedans though because they actually enjoy good handling, that is why their sedan sales kill their SUV sales. That is why I don't think Mercedes needs a GLE coupe, it too small a market and their customer base doesn't buy that sort of product.
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