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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    So the 3/4-series get combined so that it doesn't look like the 3-series is losing in sales to the C-class. How clever of them. The 5-series is getting smoked by the refreshed E-class.
  2. smk4565
    The Lambda SUVs are cooling off, although they have been strong sellers for a lot of years, maybe they are growing long in the tooth now. I am surprised the Impala got outsold by the Malibu, yes the Malibu is cheaper but not by that much and the Impala is a much nicer car. The Cruze seems to have fallen off a cliff, that i a big drop unless it is just a on month fluke.
  3. smk4565
    Automakers need to stop the insanity of 4-door coupes. Most don't even look like coupes anymore.
  4. smk4565
    The Avalon is the polar opposite of an 80s Pontiac, no EXITEMENT!!! I have sat in this Avalon and the previous ones, I have to say the build quality of the interiors is pretty good, everything is a tight fit and the materials are near Lexus level. However, this car and the previous Avalons have awful layouts and the design of this interior is really bad.
  5. smk4565
    Sheeple love crossovers. Crossovers = safety Crossovers = prestige Crossovers = more passenger space
  6. smk4565
    Coupe they need, but the V8 they don't (other than in V-series). A 420 hp engine is plenty and really more than you can use in every day driving. The E550 is dying, the A6/S6 doesn't have a V8, I bet the 5-series loses the V8 soon. The V8s are going to be gone soon, even the 7-series and A8 and S-class are offering V6s, often with turbo or in diesel form, but still. I love V8s, but over 400 hp you can't really use, for the great majority, 300-330 hp in a small turbo V6 getting 30 mpg is what buyers want, or even a turbo 4 getting 33 mpg.
  7. smk4565
    The E-class is the most expensive car in the class and the best selling, so they must do something right.
  8. smk4565
    The Volt has a gas engine in it. The Volt is the electric car that admits electric isn't as good as gas. I am not against electric, I think a quiet car with instant torque that is cheap to run is a great idea. But electric cars won't begin the take over until there is a 0-60 in 7-8 seconds, 400 mile range quick charging car that costs about $25,000. Because there are a dozen mid-size sedans for $25,000 that can do that. The day the Volt costs the same as a Cruze is the day electrics begin the takeover.
  9. smk4565
    Mercedes interiors may not be flashy, but they last. Look at a 20 year old Mercedes interior and in most cases the trim pieces are all still in place, the leather isn't cracked or torn. Mercedes may use a simple design, and I agree that the all black interiors look drab, but they are built to last. My car has the Designo interior so it is better than a base E-class. It may not have a leather wrapped dash, but it also won't have cracked or sun faded leather on the dash once it gets older. The new S-class showed they they aren't going to just continue with function over form, and are putting more design into the interiors. As far as BMW goes, I not a fan of their styling or that their cars keep getting bigger and heavier, but he 3-series now is selling better than it has in years, since the ATS went on sale 3-series sales have gone up, and C-class sales are still high despite entering its 7th model year. No one is really hurting BMW or Mercedes right now, Audi is maybe a little bit, Lexus has regained sales but it is with blue hairs and entry level cars, the GS isn't selling, and Infiniti is almost dropping off. I am curious to how the CTS will sell and what prices they can get for it. The XF, GS, A6, M37 are all sort of slow sellers, so I think the market is open for someone to step and challenge Mercedes and BMW. But you can option the 321 hp CTS up to $70,000, so will people pay that much for a CTS?
  10. smk4565
    This is the best electric car around right now, in a straight line it crushes it's gasoline counterpart. But it costs $500,000, so there can't be a very good business case for it. Full electric beating gasoline is a while away I think, maybe not decades, but at least 10 years before they get competitive. Diesel or hybrid diesel will be the future, if these diesel cars can put out 350 lb-ft of torque and get 50 mpg, that is hard to beat. Unless someone makes a battery that weighs 200 lbs and has 400 mile range and recharges in 10 minutes.
  11. smk4565
    They have to use a V8 and the V-series is going to need AWD. The CLS AMG and E63 AMG do 0-60 in 3.2 seconds, the Audi RS6/RS7 are 3.4 seconds 0-60, that is crazy fast. And Mercedes is switching to a 9-speed tranny next year, so if that speeds it up they are nearing the 3 second barrier on a sedan, you need AWD with launch control to get times like that.
  12. smk4565
    I think the interior on the 07-09 E-class is better than the current car, the materials are softer tough and I like the layout a bit more. I am not a big fan of the round headlight look of my car, but I couldn't afford a 2010 or newer E-class, and I would rather have the old interior than the current one, and when you are driving you can't see the front end anyway. Mercedes has crazy good build quality though, even if that rubberized plastic stuff on the dash doesn't feel or look as expensive as what is in other cars, the build quality is rock solid. I think the A6 interior looks better than the CTS and the A6 is sort of old, but then again the E-class whips the A6 in sales, so that interior isn't enough to get it done. Although how as the E250 Bluetec? One day when I no longer want a big engine, that 45 mpg is going to be really tempting, on a 22 gallon tank I'd fill up once every 5 weeks I bet.
  13. smk4565
    Every GM pickup and SUV and probably half their sedans should have a diesel option within 3 years. Not sure what is taking so long, but once the German diesels spread, they will become the new hot item like AWD has become. 20 years ago no one cared about AWD luxury cars, then Audi did Quattro, Mercedes did 4Matic and all of a sudden every Infiniti, Cadillac and Lexus had AWD on it. Diesel will be the same, when the A6 TDI gets 38 mpg and 0-60 in under 6 seconds, a E250 Bluetec gets 45 mpg and an A4 TDI and C250 bluetec follow, it will start to catch on. Someone will make a 30 mpg full size SUV, Audi and Mercedes are close now, GM should get the diesels ready to be ahead of the curve rather than behind. Sadly, I totally agree. The SUV buying public will pay it because they are stupid.
  14. smk4565
    Sounds like they want a return of Hummer. There is a narrow market for these off road or modified big trucks, so I am sure there is profit potential in there because you can jack up the price by $10,000 on a Tahoe but I get the feeling that GM is going to be really dependent on big SUVs, much like they were in 2005-2008 and that plan failed. How about focus on making a Malibu that people buy.
  15. smk4565
    GM doesn't make an all electric car though. The ELR is closer to a plug in Prius than it is a Tesla Model S. I think this is more a move to draw attention to the ELR and Cadillac because Tesla gets a lot of free media attention. But in the end, none of these electric cars are money makers, they are too limited in what they can do until someone makes a super battery that can make an electric car perform like a gas car.
  16. smk4565
    It does the Nurburgring in 7:24 or maybe even less now, that makes it a super car to me. It isn't a mid-engine V12, but it has super car performance.
  17. smk4565
    I am still not a fan of the front end, the grille looks fine, but the headlights look weird. I wish the headlights were lower and not pull back over the hood. The inside looks too much like the ATS, I think they should have made the CTS nicer than the XTS Platinum because they are going against heavyweights here and you can't hold back. The driving dynamics are where they can do some damage, but my question is does it only have the 3 modes, tour, sport and track, for everything or is each component individual? Like I just bought an E550 (previous generation) and the transmission has comfort or sport, the suspension has 3 setting, so you can be in sport plus suspension with comfort transmission.
  18. smk4565
    I like the interior design, but the Optima on the outside looks better, as does the Azera. The Cadenza exterior is boring and trying too hard to be like BMW in the front end.
  19. smk4565
    The reason they probably did it was to charge more money for the coupe. People will think a 435i is better than a 335 because the number is higher, higher the number the higher the price tag. At least that is probably what BMW is thinking. I think BMW's lineup is getting to be chaotic, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 is crazy, for a sedan/coupe lineup. Not to mention all the GT styles, or crossovers.
  20. smk4565
    BMW's naming is getting crazy and they don't even have 3-series GT, and X4 here yet, and can't wait for the X2, because they need to fill that space between the X1 and X3. Ooh, and the 4-series Gran Coupe may be coming too, ridiculous.
  21. smk4565
    I think these have a lot of "if it ain't broke don't fix it." They have the same shape they had in 1994, the body panels look the same as the previous, just new grille and headlights, the interiors are better, a bit of an Impala vibe in the dash which is good. Their formula works, might as well milk it while they can, but I do feel like they need a diesel option or a more effective hybrid to keep gas mileage decent. Because the Toyota, Ford and Nissan big SUVs are pretty much dead, it is a dying segment. GM is going strong for now, but they don't want to end up like Ford did in this segment, best to stay ahead of the curve.
  22. smk4565
    Mercedes is the most profitable car company on a per unit basis though. They beat BMW, Audi, and smoke GM and Ford. They make something like $4,000 per car, many auto makers are under $1,000 per car. The 3-series is the only car that BMW has that outsells its Mercedes competitor (and X3 usually beats GLK), I find it funny that once they split the 3-series line, the 3-series volume will probably drop below the C-class volume. Not that it really matters, at the end of the day BMW sells the same number of cars, but marketing people like to brag about individual segment sales.
  23. smk4565
    How is that not chasing sales volume working out for Lincoln?
  24. smk4565
    What's shameful is how wholey mercedes is chasing sales volume. Because car makers are successful with fewer sales? I am sure GM would like to sell 7500 ATS per month and 5,000 CTS. Mercedes has has C, E, S-class in coupe and sedan form (and some wagons for the E) for about 40 years, the SL has been around for 60 years. They added the SLK in the 90s and added SUV as all luxury makers did. The only new look for volume is the CLA and coming GLA which is needed due to global economic downturn and fuel regulations, they need attract buyers that can't afford their expensive stuff, and they need CAFE helpers to offset the AMG cars. What they do is no different than Chevy offering the Spark and Sonic, why doesn't Chey just start with the Cruze and go to Malibu and Impala and have 3 sedans. Because they too need entry level cars and CAFE helpers, and don't want Ford, Toyota and Honda to take all the sales in the $12-18,000 segments. And I don't see how they are chasing volume when the C-class, E-class and S-class are all priced HIGHER than their competitors, they aren't trying to undercut Lexus or Cadillac or Audi on price. Lexus's whole plan was to undercut the Germans on price in hope for sales volume, that has been the philosophy since 1989.
  25. smk4565
    The 2014 Regal won't sell either. It it too expensive for that it is, why buy a 184 hp Regal over a V6 Azera or Cadenza which are only slightly bigger and have way more features, and look better. The Verano when I see it on the road actually looks better than the Regal. I think the Regal is worse then the Fusion, Accord, Optima/Sonata, Camry, etc, yet it costs a good $5,000 more than those cars.
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