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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

How is that not chasing sales volume working out for Lincoln?

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.

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.

What is funny, is I bet with the loss of coupe/convertible sales off the 3-series chart, the C-class which for 2015 will have an all new model will outsell it. Then C-class will outsell 3-series, E-class outsells 5-series, and the S-class outsells the 7-series. Mercedes will have all 3, after about a 30 year stronghold from the 3-series.

I just had a thought, it still has less power than an Equus. Maybe the ad should be the 2 of those drag racing, since people that buy either are likely to drag race on their way to Walgreens or bingo.

Agreed that the music wasn't too good. I am not sure why they now try to market the XTS as a sports sedan, when the CTS is here for that. Cadillac falls into the same luxury car ad trap that Lexus and Audi do, they put a BMW or Mercedes in the background and make some claim on how their car does something better. The leaders advertise based on the merit of the brand image or the product attributes. The followers make a claim like "the Lexus IS350 has more horsepower than a 335i" but big deal, it is a slower car with worse handling, but Lexus has to try to make some comparative claim because the car is vanilla and no one buys it.

BMW is on SUV overload, I don't think SUVs are the ultimate driving machine.

I like it, looks really nice, a bit of SLS in the tail lights, and CL was a lame name anyway, better to be S-class Coupe like it used to be.

They should just close this brand down already. The product line is terrible, the advertising is terrible, they have no consistent design language, and no strategy for the future. They can't compete with the German and Japanese luxury brands, they can't keep up with the money those brands spend, and those brands have a big lead already. So that leaves them to battle Buick and Chrysler, and I don't think Lincoln can even do that, their lineup is worse than Buick's and the Fusion is actually nicer than the Lincoln version.

We are going to leave that one in the closet.

There was a Cadillac Calais in the late 60s, early 70s. I don't like the name, but they don't have a lot of names in the arsenal that are any good besides Eldorado and Fleetwood.

I don't think it would really sell, these hybrid sports cars cost a lot, and are more novelty cars. Is there a business case for it? Most Corvette buyers are 55-65 years old and fans of old school muscle cars. It could attract new buyers, but I think if you were going to go with a hybrid, you'd want a boosted V6 or a smaller engine than what is in there now. I suppose come 2025 everything will have a hybrid or diesel option to hit the CAFE target.

So is this going to race in some Euro touring car series, or is this for wanna be race car drivers to take to track days?

It looks like a 3-series sedan. The problem with this and the 6-series Gran Coupe, is they don't at all look like coupes. At least the Audi A7 for as ugly as it is, has that sloped rear. The original CLS which started all this madness, looked sort of like a coupe form the side. This looks like a sedan and is pretty pointless, but someone will pay an extra $3,000 for it even though it is the same as a 3-series.

Omega sedan should be Fleetwood, Omega coupe should be Eldorado. CTS renamed to Seville, ATS renamed to LaSalle. Escalade keeps its name, and I am sure they can find some French names for the future crossovers. XTS could be renamed Calais so that people don't associate it with the Deville.

SRX had a huge month, I wonder what caused it. CTS was better than last month, but the year end close out deals have to be good there. The Regal is dying on the vine, although the other Buicks are doing really well. Impala must be running out of the old fleet queens since the sales numbers are coming down. The pickups and SUVs did well, proving again that Americans like trucks. The economy must be picking up.

Every year there is a new slogan, I guess the "standard of the world" of no more. I think they just come up with lines based on what they think might create some sales in the next 6 months. They never think of a slogan that they can use for 20-30 years. BMW has been "ultimate driving machine" for 30 years, consistency is good, people know what BMW stands for. "Be Lucky" sounds like a sign outside of a cheesy casino.

I like it, I think it looks good. It has some P1800 in it, and the rear 3/4 angle and C-pillar have a bit of Jaguar XK in it. It is nice to see a coupe with some style, rather than the wagons and SUVs they usually make, or that ugly S60.

Except it is widely believed, and I think Car and Driver confirmed, that the ATS-V will have a 420 hp V6. If that is the top end, there isn't really any point in having an engine between the 3.6 and twin turbo 3.6. If the ATS-V had 500 hp, then for sure, I think there is space between 320 hp and 500. But engine sizes are dropping, I think Cadillac is better off making a turbo diesel 4 cylinder for the ATS rather than a 500 hp model. These F-sport and V-sport sort of reminds me of the old Chevy Eurosport days, it is just a marketing ploy. Is it so bad to call it CTS 2.0T, 3.6 and 3.6TT.