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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Lexus was founded basically to build a car like the S-class but at a lower cost. Lexus sold their cars cheaper than the Germans and they had better refinement and quality than what Lincoln or Cadillac had, so it was only a matter of time before they took sales away from both. But 25 years later and the LS460 still sells at a discount to the German competition, they were never able to elevate the price up. Bentley, Rolls, Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Mercedes all have a 12 cylinder sedan, so I do think you need one for that cache level. The Panamera has a turbo V8 and brings a big price, but Porsche never needed a big engine to charge crazy money. I don't think the Quattroporte, LS460 or XJ have the status level of the big boys. I don't think Cadillac should make a V12 for this car though, they need to see if they can sell V8s first, and GM doesn't really have any economies of scale for a V12 because there isn't much else to use it in. They will have to charge more for the LTS than they do for the ELR, GM/Cadillac isn't afraid to throw out a high price, if they make it great, then at $80,000 they may find enough buyers, I don't think they can at $100,000. Cadillac's current customer base does not buy sedans that expensive, the DTS, STS, XTS, CTS all have been priced in the $45-60,000 range for 15 years. That group isn't going to magically spend double on their next car, so now you need to conquest the establishment. Tough task, it is worth trying, but it won't be easy. There should also be sedan, coupe and convertible versions of this car.
  2. smk4565
    No chance the LTS will get to $140-200,000 even in V-series form. You need a V12 to get that kind of price, and huge brand cache, neither of which Cadillac has. Even the 12 cylinder A8 and 7-series are in the $130-140k range. I could see Cadillac going with a $75-100k price point. I don't even know what they would do for a V-series, I guess a Z06 engine, but then you are filling your top end Cadillac with Chevy engines and Cadillac is supposed to be better than Chevy. S-class will get a mid-cycle refresh for the 2017 model year, but also remember they are years ahead of everyone else, Audi, Lexus and BMW have been chasing it since 1991 and haven't caught up yet. Mercedes is also releasing 10 plug-in hybrid models in the next 3 years, the S-class being the first one. One complaint I have on the S-class is Mercedes hasn't made a transmission that can handle over 800 lb-ft of torque because the S65 engine makes 811 lb-ft of torque but they limit it to 738 lb-ft because of the transmission.
  3. smk4565
    Most consider the S-class the best car in the world and it has been that way for 20-30 years. Cadillac has a big challenge at hand, although I do think Cadillac needs the LTS. Without a flagship you are no better than Acura or Infiniti, the big boys all have $100,000 sedans. But also look at how established models like the 7-series and A8 are getting killed by the S-class. A new entrant to this segment better aim high. Corvette motor wouldn't surprise me either, but this has to be the quietest car GM has ever made, is the Corvette engine going to offer that level of refinement? Put a 6.2 liter V8 and 8-speed in there and it is the Escalade powertrain, and is that enough for a car that should be priced above the Escalade.
  4. smk4565
    I think unless the ATS gets 100 mpg, does 0-60 in under 5 seconds and comes with a 10 year unlimited mile bumper to bumper warranty with free maintenance for 10 years, the 3-series will still outsell it, no matter how bad steering feel might get or even if the interior hasn't changed in 10 years. 3-series buyers love the 3-series, they aren't leaving. 3-series sales have actually increased since the ATS and updated Lexus IS went on sale. Mercedes is making a smart play to not copy the 3-series and make the C-class a luxury car. They build luxury cars, that is their strength.
  5. smk4565
    If they make this car with a 3.6 liter V6 and 6 speed automatic for sure I will complain about it. It better have an 8-speed standard, Lexus had an 8-speed on the LS460 in 2008 I think, Mercedes had that 7-speed all the way back to 2004. I myself am a bit surprised the 9-speed hasn't taken over but the 2015 CLS has it. Most 2015 Cadillacs still have a 6-speed, that is yesterdays news. If the LTS has a plug-in hybrid, a turbo DOHC V8 then we might be getting somewhere. I am not expecting V12 power, the CTS V-sport engine as the base wouldn't be awful, but they better have more to offer than just that. Interior better blow away the current Cadillacs. I still think the bean counters will crush this car, regardless of what De Nysschen wants.
  6. smk4565
    The 3-series is the go to car for many, reputation alone will get it a ton of sales. The new C-class looks great, I have not driven one, I have driven the last 2 generations. The C400 is only 2 inches longer and 60 lbs heavier than a V6 ATS, still pretty close but Mercedes feel heavier and bigger than they are. The solidness and quietness I think translate to people thinking it is heavier than it is, people think my car is bigger and heavier than it is.
  7. smk4565
    Lexus RC is in this space now too and the V8 RC-F is like $62k so Lexus seems to have priced their car competitively. I think every Cadillac should have an 8 speed transmission standard, a new straight six would be nice also as a Cadillac exclusive engine.
  8. smk4565
    A loaded ATS is priced like a BMW or Mercedes but it isn't as good as those 2. Nor does the badge command the price. I think the ATS interior could be better, for sure roomier, and the V6 has no torque. A new engine and transmission would help. I don't think they should cut the price but I think they need to put more into the car.
  9. smk4565
    The Ford Transit and Transit Connect would have been a good blueprint to copy. There is a noticeable size and price difference between the two, they don't overlap and don't fight for the same customer, and they cover from small and cheap to large and expensive. GM should have done that with the pickups.
  10. smk4565
    "certain S-Class models from the 2011 and 2012 model years, including the S 550, and S 550 4-Matic, S 400 Hybrid, S 63 AMG, S 600 Bi-Turbo and S 65 AMG. 158 examples of the breed built between March 3rd through July 30th, 2011 have a glitch with the tire pressure monitoring system." It is 158 total cars, they don't make 158 model variations of the S-class, plus their factory can only produce a maximum of about 400 S-class per day and this is a 4-5 month time frame when only certain cars were affected. The Corvette, Silverado and Cruze are bread and butter products for GM, and the ATS and CTS are supposed to be import killers and world standard cars, but GM has fallen short on these cars with the build quality, the recalls, stop sales, etc. In W-body Impala, a cheap part that went defective causing a recall would not surprise me, but that shouldn't happen with this new wave or products. Cadillac wants to release a $90,000 sedan, why should anyone think it won't be recalled and have defective parts in it just like all the other GM cars? It is in their DNA to cost cut now and hope no one notices later.
  11. smk4565
    Agreed on the mini pickup, the Canyon/Colorado should have been in the $20-32k range, since the Silverado/Sierra start around $26k. In fact if you go to the GMC website it shows the Canyon with a base price of $26,725 and the Sierra with a price of $26,075. Doesn't make sense.
  12. smk4565
    376 is a lot less than the 130,000 Toyotas recalled last week or the 25,000,000 vehicles that GM recalled this year. Every car maker has recalls, but the concerning thing of GM is it is almost every model over 10 year span. And after the first round the GM defenders said that the recalls were addressing old problems and the old way of doing business, while the new products were world class. Well the new products designed after bankruptcy are basically no better than the pre-bankruptcy stuff.
  13. smk4565
    MB has nothing to do with it. They recalled under 1,000 cars in 2013 and don't have an image problem. GM has recalled 25 million cars this year, if all of them were 2004-2009 pre bankruptcy cars that would be one thing. But when The Cruze, ATS, CTS, C7 are getting hit with stop sales and recalls that is a problem. Those cars are from the new GM that is supposed to fix the old mess, but it looks like more of the same old GM.
  14. smk4565
    Can GM get any car right? Everything they build has a stop sale or recall. Car and Driver had a long term test Corvette and the engine blew after 6,000 miles.
  15. smk4565
    I'd rather have a diesel GLK.
  16. smk4565
    Wind tunnel and pedestrian impact standards rule all.
  17. smk4565
    Price cut makes sense, the interior on a Viper might be worse than what you get in a Dart. The Corvette interior has always been better than the Viper and the Corvette is cheaper. And there are new sports cars like the Jaguar F-type which have style, the Mercedes AMG GT is coming, old standbys like the 911 are still there. There are a lot of fast cars for $100k that are more of a total package.
  18. smk4565
    I would imagine the 2.0T is the base engine, I would guess $36-38k for base price. An XF starts at $50k, Jaguars aren't priced to be the value leader in the segment. They already confirmed the 340 hp 3.0T for the "S" model and I bet they price that near $50k similar to the C400 pricing. I don't know if they did enough though to price like a Mercedes or BMW and get enough sales to avoid massive discounts to clear them off dealer lots.
  19. smk4565
    The original was ugly, and so is this one. Looks huge too, which sort of defeats the purpose of buying an Aston Martin. The DB5 and DB9 I think are 2 of the best looking cars ever, hard to believe the same people designed this.
  20. smk4565
    The LED light bars seem overdone, every Ford or Kia has them, time to move on to all LED headlights then you can just have daytime running light LEDs. That goes for the entire industry. If people are thinking CTS pricing is ambitious, how is Cadillac going to justify nearly double the price of a CTS for the LTS/large car that is coming. LTS could be in the $80-90k range.
  21. smk4565
    Lexus has the worst performance line of any luxury car maker, well at least for the ones that have a performance line, I guess Lexus is better than Lincoln or Acura. But they basically have the IS-F and some trim packages that amount to wheels and a spoiler and stiffer suspension on their cars. Nice performance line. Then they want to make a GS-F with 500 hp and 380 lb-ft or whatever it will have. 0-60 of 4.5 seconds, but does Lexus realize that is what the E550 and 550i can do? Even the Mercedes C400 has been posting 0-60 times of 4.6-4.9 seconds. The big boys are putting out 500-600 hp and torque, running 0-60 in the 3's now. The GS-F performance numbers are about 10 years behind, in fact they sound like a 2004 BMW M5.
  22. smk4565
    It is a nice looking car, but I think the XF looks better and the F-type is way cooler looking than this. The XE has nice proportions and most of the Jag styling cues, but I don't think it has a lot of wow factor like the F-type does. The interior looks average, granted there are only a couple pictures of it, but the doors look plain as can be, like a slab of vinyl, and the dash and everything looks almost like what a well trimmed Hyundai or Kia might have. I don't see this as much of a threat to the 3-series and C-class. But it is a car Jag needs and it is nice to have a lower priced pathway to get a Jaguar.
  23. smk4565
    And this sort of factual nonsense is continually brushed aside as if insignificant. I will state it again, Cadillac is NOT here to push volume, but still people -clinging to Old World Think- believe Cadillac needs to outsell every competitor or it's 'floundering/failing'… yet no such talk about the A6 or GS, for example. Wonder why the standards are so different for some people?? I think it is because in the case of Audi they have had growing sales, up about 10% per year for what seems like 5 years in a row now. Only 30% of Audi sales are A6 and higher, so 70% of their sales come from A3, A4/A5 and Q5. They are selling well on the bottom end, which if those are younger buyers that trade up could mean Audi has a bright future. If they can't get people to move to A6 and higher then the future isn't so bright, I don't think they'd be in trouble, but they'd always be seen a bit as a 2nd tier brand if they can only sell in that $30-45k range. Lexus GS and LS sales are crap, but they sell so many RX and ES, the overall brand numbers look good. But Lexus has sold a lot of those 2 cars for years, and they haven't been able to get people to trade up to a GS or an LS, in fact LS sales are probably worse now than they were 10 years ago. The IS has been a bright spot for them, sales of that really picked up this year. If the RX and ES sales dropped 20% and the brand got in trouble, people would be saying the GS isn't carrying its weight and make a deal out of it. The problem for Cadillac is they don't have an 8 or 9 vehicle lineup, and the ATS and CTS are 2 of their newest products and both are down. Cadillac needs the ATS and CTS to survive, Lexus could sell zero GS350's and it wouldn't really matter.
  24. smk4565
    Ponchoman is pretty spot on. I agree with what he says. As far as the sales advantage the Germans have with multiple body styles and engines, why isn't Cadillac doing that? It isn't like this is some new strategy they just thought up, there have been 3-series and E-class sedan, coupe, convertible, wagon since the 1980s or early 90s. They have been doing it for 25 years. Lexus has been doing hybrids for 10 years or so, the Germans have been pushing diesels big time for the past 5 years. Cadillac only has to blame themselves for not offering more body styles or engines.
  25. smk4565
    According to CNBC Ford is #1 in customer loyalty at 64% and number 2 is Mercedes at 57.8%. Toyota was in 3rd, BMW and Lexus are in the top 10. Chevy is the only GM brand in the top 10, my guess is the Silverado drives that, just like the F150 drives Ford's number. http://www.cnbc.com/id/101800143/page/10 This year Lexus, BMW, Audi and Mercedes all have 9-16% growth (Lexus leading the way), and Cadillac is down. And even worse is the ATS and CTS which are their new products are down the most. The current strategy isn't working, this is like the CTS-STS-DTS trio of 2006 that wasn't working, so they scrapped 2 of those and put the CTS in a different class. They have the same results with ATS-CTS-XTS. Cadillac marketing is I think worse now than it was 10 years ago, and I don't think they have the money to really go toe to toe with the Germans or Lexus, even though most Lexus product isn't that good considering how much money Toyota spends.
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