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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Cheap gas = Sales for full size pickups and SUVs. What is a little scary is 1/3 of Chevys are fleet sales, and you have to figure a lot of that % is on the Malibu, Cruze, and Silverado, if the Malibu is 40-50% fleet, the retail sales on that car could be 6,000 a month. GM is really weak in that key segment. XTS looks to prove that FWD luxury cars can't last, sales of the XTS are starting to look like how the DTS was selling 5 years ago. That is another one and done poduct.
  2. smk4565
    They should make cuts. They need the original, the Clubman, convertible and the Countryman because it is more like a crossover. That is about it. They should worry more about reliability or offering a high mpg diesel rather than body styles.
  3. smk4565
    I have Airmatic, in Sport 2 it handles pretty well, very little body lean. But bumps are noticeable, especially on our garbage roads, so I almost never use Sport2.
  4. smk4565
    So why do Audi's ride hard compared to a Mercedes or BMW. Audi has to use a super stiff suspension for handling because they are front heavy and not as well balanced as a BMW. Rear wheel drive cars have a handling advantage over fwd, thus the suspension can be tuned somewhat for ride comfort and still handle better than a stiff suspension front driver. Mercedes and BMW make a superior car to Audi is all I am saying, they have better ride/handling balance.
  5. smk4565
    I don't like Audis personally, the lower end cars aren't luxurious, the 2.0 is a buzzy engine, they are unreliable and they have stiff suspensions because the don't have a rwd chassis, so they have to sacrifice ride quality for handling where as a BMW or Mercedes is pretty good at both. I don't think Cadillac needs to copy Audi, I am just saying Audi sells a lot of cars and they have a lot of resources and money to work with because the Premier group is VW's profit center. Cadillac isn't seen as the cash cow of GM that gets whatever it wants.
  6. smk4565
    BMW has spent a lot of money on carbon fiber, electric motors, batteries, etc for the i3 and i8. If cars like that become the future of driving they might look like geniuses 10-15 years from now. I think BMW wastes money on things like the 3-series Gran Turismo, 3-series Gran Coupe, X4 crossover coupe, etc. They should put money into a 7-series based SUV to go into a new segment, rather than making 8 versions of the 3-series when the 3-series already dominates that segment. Mercedes has a more complete and well thought out line up. If Cadillac were to go the Mercedes route, they would need compact, small, medium and large size cars with sedan and coupe (8 models) compact, small, medium, large SUV (4 models), and mix in at least one sports car, and at least 2 of the 4 cars (like ATS/CTS) should have a convertible version. That is 15 models, at least 10 need a V-series, so that is 25. They would have to roll out 4 products ( a coupe or v-series version of an existing car would count) a year on 6 year cycles to keep the line up fresh. It would be at least $2 billion a year, probably $3. They aren't rolling out products that fast now, I doubt they have the money to do so.
  7. smk4565
    Audi has an A5 convertible, TT convertible, to which Cadillac has no convertible. Cadillac isn't in the A3/Q3 segments, the XTS is a one and done product, the XT6 if it is priced in the 70s probably straddles the A7 and A8 in pricing. It isn't yet clear what that car will be against. There are a few product line gaps, more importantly Cadillac has a lack of diesels, and the ELR is their only hybrid/electric. Cadillac takes too long to get things to market too, alternate body styles and V-series trims appear 2 years after the base sedan. Again it goes back to lack of funding, Audi might lie about what they spend, but we know BMW and Mercedes are good for about $6-7 billion a year in R&D and Cadillac barely has the budget to keep a 5 vehicle lineup fresh, imagine if they tried to do it with a 10-12 vehicle line up. And to give Cadillac more money that means you have to take it away from Buick and GMC, which would be fine with me, but GM won't do that.
  8. smk4565
    I don't know what Audi is spending it on either, most of their cars seem to have barely changed in the last 5 years. I am only saying that Audi stated they would spend $30 billion from 2014-2018. But remember Audi is the #1 selling luxury brand in the world, they sell like 400,000 cars a year in China. This is where the problem for Cadillac is, they don't have the economies of scale or volume for GM to give them a massive R&D budget. So Cadillac gets limited to 3 sedans, a couple SUVs and maybe a coupe. It has been that way for 15 years. And they haven't expanded the line yet or got the money to do so.
  9. smk4565
    Audi is supposed to expand to 60 models, but A4, S4, RS4 is 3 models by how they count. They spend a lot on body styles. Perhaps money will go into new engines because that 2.0T and supercharged V6 have been around forever. Maybe they will role out a new version of MMI and a self driving system for the A8, there was rumor of a new rear drive platform for the A8. Electric drive could consume a lot of dollars, if they make that E-Tron sports car, or a fully electric sedan that could be a big R&D investment.
  10. smk4565
    A diesel is sorely needed, but still 5 years away? He has some lofty ambitions, but Cadillac isn't going to have a 911 fighter or a $250,000 car or any of these niche cars. The money just isn't there. I read the other day that Cadillac is spending $2.5 billion to expand their model line, Audi in spending $30 billion over 5 years on new models. Cadillac will have a hard enough time just keeping the ATS/CTS current, let alone spending big money on low volume niche cars. Part of his job is PR, he has to talk about the bright future to keep investors buying stock in GM. All this same stuff was said back in 2003 when the CTS came out, how they'd have a new crossover SRX, a new rear drive STS to battle the 5-series and E-class, a new converitible to battle the Mercedes SL, and 5 years later GM was bankrupt and half those models were scrapped. We have heard all this optimism before without results. I don't think Johan will have any better result than those that came before him.
  11. smk4565
    That looks like a Range Rover Sport, which is really an LR3, and they probably have bad tires in it. Put mud and snow tires on it and it will out perform almost any other SUV.
  12. smk4565
    A Cadillac sports car or grand tourer would be a nice edition, I just don't think they will make one. Especially not as a stand alone model, like a mid-engine V12 super car. Maybe as a rebadged Corvette, but that experiment failed the first time around. And I still think the Corvette guys don't want Cadillac selling a version of the Corvette that is faster, more luxurious, more refined and all around better car. What Cadillac should have done for the ATS-V is make a 4.0 liter twin turbo V8 based of the 2.0T engines they have already, that would have given them a 500 hp, 500 lb-ft engine that they could have hand built for V-series cars, it would cost more, but it would have had credibility.
  13. smk4565
    The original Maybach though was built on a 90s S-class chassis, and it was also like $400,000 and not many people knew what a Maybach was. The S-class is the king of executive luxury cars, so doing a Maybach trim level or sub brand makes more sense. It is just like doing an AMG S-class, it just makes it more special. There is likely a Maybach GL600 coming to go against the Bentley SUV and the Range Rover Autobiography. I don't think Mercedes wants Land Rover or Bentley having the ultimate SUV, so the Maybach sub brand helps the cause.
  14. smk4565

    Is this it?

    smk4565 replied to ocnblu's topic in Chevrolet

    I work for a bank, 2.74% to 2.99% on new cars loans of 5 years is a good rate. I have seen dealers offering less than 2% in some cases. Assuming you have a decent credit score you should be able to find under 3% for a car loan.
  15. smk4565
    They did for a new interior in back and change the size of the car. That is more differentiation than most others do. And regardless of what it is called it will sell because there is a niche market for this sort of car and very few competitors, 2 at most.
  16. smk4565
    It is a trim level, it isn't a badge-engineered car. I think they can go after the Flying Spur and the Ghost with this, this is a better chauffeur driven car than those 2.
  17. smk4565
    It doesn't matter how many Range Rover drivers take it off road, what matters is that it can do it. The approach and departure angles, max water fording depth, terrain recognition system, adjustable height suspension, hill decent system, locking differential, etc make it an off roader. Most SUVs aren't made like that. I still think it unlikely that Cadillac makes a V-series only sports car, even if they pit it against the F-type and AMG GT and use the Corvette as the basis.
  18. smk4565
    The back seat area is phenomenonal.
  19. smk4565
    The Range Rover would own the Escalade off road though. The Escalade isn't made to be a true off roader. Secondly the Ranger Rover Supercharged has 550 hp and weighs less. Now if they give the Escalade the off road credentials and a 600 horse V-series then it could be game on. The Corvette is a fast car, but compare it to an Aventador or Ferrari 599 or a McLaren and it isn't even close, let alone something like a Koenigsegg or Pagani Huayra. Depends on where Cadillac would want to go, if Aston Martin Vantage and Jaguar F-type is their target, the Corvette performance level would be enough.
  20. smk4565
    I think it would be great if Cadillac made an R8 or Ferrari competitor. Finally then the USA would have a super car, preferably they'd use a V12. But I just can't imagine Cadillac building a low volume $200,000 car that is also a Corvette killer. The Corvette guys egos will get in the way and the bean counters will get in the way.
  21. smk4565
    It is grand, and it is a convertible. There is something to be said about a car like this or the Phantom Drophead that is a 2 door convertible about the size of a Chevy Suburban. It is so ridiculous, but that is the point, it stands out as being unique. The boat decking is sweet too. The downside is the S-class has more technology than what a Rolls or Bentley has, and the S-class has as much power and costs less, and an S-class convertible is on the way too. So if buying the better car or better value, it is S-class all the way, but the Grand Convertible and Phantom Drophead have that over the top ridiculousness that none other can match.
  22. smk4565
    Seems to keep getting uglier. This is basically the same body/chassis they have been selling since 2005. They changed from a 3.5 V6 with a 5 speed to a 3.6 V6 and an 8-speed, and did some front and rear fascia restyles along the way. This car is becoming the new Ford Panther platform.
  23. smk4565
    The spoiler is too big and looks tacky. Not a fan of the hood with the bulge and air intake, it looks like something from a Pontiac. The lower grille is too big, the upper grille too small. I don't get my car makers do that, Cadillac isn't alone there, but why make your grille smaller to show off the crap air damn and stuff below the bumper. Jaguar has done it too on the XFR. The power and performance looks good, more power than the M3, not the horsepower of the RC-F but Cadillac will beat the Lexus on torque, and Lexus doesn't know how to build performance cars anyway. BMW loyalists will still buy the M3 on name alone though. But at least Cadillac put what is basically Corvette level performance into this car. Unless Cadillac gets a V sports car like the AMG GT. Not going to happen for 2 reasons. Development costs too high for a niche product, and can't outshine the Corvette at GM. GM would never let the Corvette be inferior to a Cadillac sports car.
  24. smk4565
    This thing seems pretty sweet, I just wonder if it will be under $50k or have some crazy $60-70,000 price tag to where it is a rip off. For everyday driving, I still think the Ecoboost 310 hp and 22/31 mpg is the Mustang to have.
  25. smk4565
    The Acura RLX is the Honda Legend in Japan. I think Acura is better off with Integra and Legend than crap like ILX and RLX.
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