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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    I like the front, but not a fan of the back. Plus if it is wider than a Veyron, it must be really wide.
  2. smk4565
    They'll extend the S-class to about 213 inches long, there was already a prototype being tested. They can definitely up the level of luxury with silk and cashmere fabrics, that was rumored also, and they have the V12 and all the engineering bits they need. The S-class has more technology in it than a Rolls or Bentley, and they can beat them in performance, they just need to make the rear seat area like a private jet. 3rd world dictators love Mercedes also, they'll buy them up fast.
  3. smk4565
    The Charger can die off because they have the 300, and they could replace the Challenger with a rear drive Chrysler coupe. There are rumors that the Challenger will be replaced by a Chrysler/SRT Barracuda in 2015. If they want to keep an SRT Charger, they could, then you a V8 only Charger (competition for Chevy SS) that can sell for near $50k. If people want V8s post 2015 they are going to have to pay a steep price. The Chrysler 300 would get V6 gas and diesel and a V8, they could do the SRT Charger and Barracuda off the same platform which gives them 2 "halo" cars and something to appeal to the 55-60 year olds that used to drive muscle cars and still want that sort of car. This also clears out the $15-30,000 mainstream car segments (where Chrysler is terrible anyway) for Fiat to move in with their econoboxes. When the 2025 CAFE hits, and as the younger urban generation takes over and the "traditional American car buyer" dies off, our car market is going to look a lot like Europe's does now.
  4. smk4565
    CTS V-sport is cheaper than this. Interesting that they make this AWD and the CTS V-sport is rear wheel drive as to try to make them not compete against each other. I think no one is going to buy the XTS V-sport, why pay more for a heavier car with less power, less gears, and worse handling than the CTS V-sport.
  5. smk4565
    I saw a 9-4x on the used market, but it was over $25k I think. I was shocked, I didn't know they even sold any of them, I thought the brand went bankrupt before any were built. Interestingly enough, a Passat TDI just did an 8,000 mile, cross country trip and averaged 77.9 mpg, can't do that in a GMT360.
  6. smk4565
    Because the Town and Country has a base price of $31,000 and the Caravan's is $19,995. It is about profit per car, not volume. Chrysler Corp went bankrupt because they made no money, and Fiat bought them because they had Jeep and American dealerships. If Chrysler didn't have Jeep in the stable, they'd be with Saab and Pontiac.
  7. smk4565
    Dodge may have volume but how much of that is to fleet sales. Ford and GM dropped minivans, Dodge can lose theirs too, and the plan is for the 2016 van to by Chrysler only because it has a $31k base price, compared to $20k for the Caravan. Fiat is going to look for profit, not volume and sell vehicles with higher margins. I think Dodge is done after 2015 model year, they are weak on CAFE, and without the Caravan and Avenger, they have no mid-range products. The Dart will get revised to become a Chrysler 100, Challenger redesigned to the SRT Challenger, joining the SRT Viper. Journey dies, Durango is replaced by a 3 row Jeep SUV, because a Jeep Wagoneer can sell for $10,000 more than a Durango. Fiat can't survive with all these brands. Chrysler and Lancia will have overlapping products, similar to Buick-Opel, or the One Ford plan, but same product, different badge. Fiat-Alfa will expand offerings here, and SRT will stay for the Mopar fan boys because they can jack the price up on those. Jeep has always been a solid brand name with a loyal following, nothing to change there. Fiat didn't buy Chrysler for Chrysler/Dodge, they wanted Jeep and entry to the American market. When you look at Chrysler-Dodge-Ram-SRT-Jeep in the USA and Fiat-Lancia-Alfa Romeo-Maserati-Ferrari in Europe, that is 10 brands, that is what destroyed GM. Now a few of those brands are low volume and super high profit margin, so they are safe, but and Automaker doesn't need 10 brands.
  8. smk4565
    There were only about 500 GNX's built though, that is a rare car. There are tons of SL's out there ranging from classic car to beater. Overall the 80s was a pretty weak car decade. Possibly the worst decade for cars, because the 50s and 60s had a lot of cool stuff, and even in the 70s, they still had muscle cars early on. In the 80s everything was boxy with lousy build quality and V8s had 150 hp.
  9. smk4565
    No-va, like the name, it's a no go.
  10. smk4565
    Looks pretty beat and it is probably parked because that diesel engine broke down. There are very few 80s cars that I think are desirable. Aside from the high dollar rides, like the S-class, SL roadster or Ferrari F40, Porsche 959, etc, there wasn't much good going on that decade.
  11. smk4565
    Fiat won't look at it that way. They will see themselves as the owner of Chrysler LLC or whatever that company out of bankruptcy is called, and Fiat will call all the shots. Fiat in their minds doesn't need all these brands that are basically all in one dealership anyway, they'll trim it down and streamline it. Fiat didn't buy Chrysler to keep everything, they bought it to raid it, get Jeep which is a valuable brand, get Ram trucks because pickups = profit in the usa, and most importantly get entry into the US market for their own products. I think Fiat's plan is to dump Dodge, align Chrysler against VW and Buick since there is a bit better profit margin there than there will be batting it out on price and volume with Toyota and Hyundai, and rely on truck and SUV sales for profit in the short term, while importing more and more Fiats and Alfas to the USA because car sales in Europe are at a 20 year low. But Fiat can't beat Ford or VW in Europe and they won't beat them here either.
  12. smk4565
    The Dart could be the "all new" Chrysler 100, and they would just have to change the front and rear fascias. It is a cheap way to make a new model.
  13. smk4565
    I think Dodge is toast. The Durango is basically a longer Grand Cherokee, they could easily replace it with a Jeep, or a 3 row Chrysler SUV. The Dart could get a new grille and move to Chrysler, and the Charger is already at Chrysler and no one buys the Journey anyway. Plus there is potential to expand the Fiat brand, or to bring Alfa Romeo here. I don't really care for Fiats or Alfa's, but Fiat may be thinking there are better profit margins to be had on selling European imports, and the current Dodge cars can be merged into Chrysler and then you don't have competition among Dodge and Chrysler.
  14. smk4565
    I hope they bring it here, because then they'll do it in Jaguars, and others will do it too. You put a V6 turbo diesel and an electric motor together and you are talking over 500 lb-ft of low end torque. That is Bentley-like.
  15. smk4565
    Jaguar doesn't care about CAFE, it's a small fine (per car) and they actually itemized it added it to the sticker (really*)! When the XF first came out it had two V8 powerplants -- with or without supercharging -- that's it. It stayed that way from the 2009 through 2011 model year, although the 2010 and 2011 V8s are 5.0L vs 4.2L in the 2009 cars. 2012s actually got a face lift and the new engines but NOT the 8-speed. 2013 brought the 8-speed online. Under Tata, Jaguar has a progressive product upgrade strategy, every year brings something new instead of waiting 4~5 years for a major overhaul of the model. *I just acquired a 2010 XF Supercharged (5.0L SC w/ 470 bhp) to replace the 2005 C55 AMG... they kept the original window sticker. How do you like the Jaguar? I drove a 2009 XF, not supercharged, and it was nice but it feels cramped because of the high belt line. I think even the 09's will be out of my price range, unless it has 90k miles or something, and I don't want that. Jaguar probably doesn't care about CAFE, but they do care about getting buyers, and I think V8 and Super V8 was overkill for most people. Offering 4 and 6 cylinders gives adequate performance and fuel economy that people want, because 15/23 might turn a lot of people away too. The turbo 4 is hitting all these luxury cars because an engine like that can make 250-270 lb-ft of torque at a low rpm and with an 8 speed transmission that can get a 0-60 time under 7 seconds which is more than adequate for most. But like Cubical, I still wouldn't want one, I'd want a 6-cylinder at least.
  16. smk4565
    Lambda's are big, over 200 inches long which is gives it more length than a Tahoe and similar length to a Honda Odyssey or Chrysler minivan. They just don't have the width or height as a Tahoe, but like vans they are pretty long. I can see a lot of people not wanting something that big and GM wanting more in the midsize space, or compact suvs like the Encore. However this smells of a Trailblazer-Envoy-Rainier repeat, and GM is going back to it's product overlapping ways.
  17. smk4565
    The Jaguar XF 2.0 is $47,000, but $50,000 will get you the 340 hp supercharged V6. I don't know if these car companies are putting the 4-cylinders in for CAFE or to keep the price under $50k, or as a way to say $47k gets you the crap engine, so pay $3,000 more for the good one. Perhaps it is all of the above, but I wouldn't want a 4-banger in a mid-level luxury car even if the 8-speed tranny makes it accelerate like a V6. The only exception I can see is a diesel 4-cylinder because it has loads of torque and possibly 40 mpg, that makes it a sensible buy especially for people that do a lot of highway driving.
  18. smk4565
    The 4-cylinder 5-series will start over $50k for 2014. I wouldn't pay $50k for a 4 cylinder either (assuming I could afford $50k to begin with), but people will. If it were me, I'd want my car in this class to have at least 6 cylinders. I love V8s, but the A6 3.0 and 535i have 0-60 times around 5.2 seconds, that is quick, a V8 isn't much quicker in everyday driving and is much thirstier. I know people will fork out $50k for the BMW, the question is will they pay $46k 4-cylinder Cadillac and over $50k I assume for 320 hp V6.
  19. smk4565
    This is what I expected, pretty close to Audi A6 or Infiniti M pricing, and a little below BMW and Benz. If it sells, I wouldn't be surprised if they push the price up another $2,000 in year 2. It will be interesting to see what the sales are like, since the Lexus GS, A6 and Infiniti M aren't strong sellers in this class.
  20. smk4565
    It is a cultural thing for sure. It is marketing and product both, I get that. Vehicles GM spends money on developing and then advertises every year sell. But some cars are done a shoe string, get advertised then forgotten about and left to die. I haven't seen many Regal ads on TV lately, and they ran all the time when it first came out. VW can advertise the luxury brands in Kiplinger because that is cheap to do and it is targeted. GM has to buy ads during NBA finals, prime time sit-coms, NFL games, etc, they are buying high dollar media because they need to hit mass market eyeballs. Ford and Toyota are in the same boat, but I think Ford does a better job of keeping a fresh and well advertised line up than Chevy does.
  21. smk4565
    Mercedes and BMW advertise the low end cars because that is where the volume is, and people in the masses can afford them so they do mass advertising. You don't need to advertise a $100,000 car during a football game to get a lot of eyeballs to see it, you can put a small ad in the Wall Street Journal and the one percenters know the S-class is there anyway, you hardly have to advertise it. Mercedes and BMW have bot always done a good job of advertising the brand, with luxury goods, the brand is often more important than the actual product. If GM can keep 4 vehicles lines fresh and advertise all 4 then they should keep all 4. But if they advertise the Impala a ton this year, then for the next 5 quit and don't offer any updates and just let it get out dated, they are hurting core products to chase after niche markets. I'd rather have class leading Cruze-Malibu-Impala than making a GMC clone of a Chevy SUV to cater to a few people that want a different badge on the front of their Tahoe.
  22. smk4565
    I suppose, but they are better managing 4 brands than there were managing 8. The problem is their managing of resources, but the fewer brands or models to advertise the simpler it gets. VW doesn't advertise Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini, it isn't like they need TV campaigns to sell those cars. Porsche needs little advertising too since they basically have a 4 model lineup and get lots of free press from magazines and TV shows anyway. VW mainly has to advertise VW, Skoda, Audi. GM advertises it's pickups every year of the life cycle, but most cars get forgotten about, then the sales really drop off. In the case of the Cobalt or STS/DTS, so forgotten about that they have to dump the product and release an all new one. I mean how many compacts has Chevy gone through in the time Toyota has had the Corolla nameplate. Cadillac's oldest name plate is the Escalade at 15 years, compared to the S-class at over 40 years, or the 3-series at over 30 years.
  23. smk4565
    But the Camry and Accord at the end of their life cycle were still 1-2 in sales. If you advertise a car throughout and do some updates you keep it selling. Old GM was guilty of doing a new model, advertising it a ton for a year or 2, then letting it site there for 5 years. If you didn't have to advertise 5 GMC models, they could spend those dollars on Chevy or Buick products.
  24. smk4565
    Amen to dropping the 2.5 liter. 2.0T is a good base engine. Agreed that if they ask a premium price, you have to have a premium product. As far as turbo V6's the Nissan GT-R does fine with what it has, in pretty much beats every V8 and V12 in 0-60 sprints. But I still think once BMW said the M3 would have 6 cylinders, Cadillac made it's mind on 6 cylinders. BMW decides what the market wants, and Cadillac is going for the Euro-Import buyer that BMW, Audi and Porsche already have groomed to shop a certain way. If that crowd wanted big V8s, they would buy the Corvette over the Boxter or an SRT8 Charger over an S4 or 335i, etc. Even Mercedes and Jaguar who used to love V8s are moving away from them to use more V6s.
  25. smk4565
    Problem with trying to have unique cars, is Alpha will underpin the CTS and ATS, thus the CTS becomes a bigger, more expensive ATS, and the Camaro and maybe a Buick get that chassis too. So now you have a shared platform, an 8-speed bought of ZF that everyone else had 3 years ago, and the 3.6 V6 that is in every GM product, just with turbos added. AMG has hand built engines and carbon ceramic brakes. Alpha is a great chassis, but GM seems to always default back to the parts bin, rather than developing an all new engine, all new transmission, and spending the money on all the little details that make the difference to make the car whole. You can't get the reputation the Germans have by taking shortcuts, Cadillac needs perfection, otherwise the people buying the German cars will keep on buying them. You have to give them a reason to switch, or just keep stealing sales off Lincoln, Infiniit and Acura, which works too.
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