smk4565

GM does by and large follow the Toyota playbook, though...offering a wide variety of boring FWD appliances..Ford is on the same plan, unfortunately. Yes they do, the Cruze is mostly boring and geared toward the Civic/Corolla, the Impala is being repositioned to take on the Avalon, which Ford already did with the Taurus. Toyota/Scion has the iQ, and here comes the Chevy Spark to compete. Rav4 and Highlander go unibody crossover, GM SUV's aren't far behind. Lexus has the RX, Cadillac has the SRX. To a large extent, the Toyota playbook works though, that is why others follow.

BMW is making more profit than GM is this year. BMW also posted a healthy $6.4 billion profit last year, about $1 billion less than GM did, and GM is a far larger company. BMW will be fine, although I wouldn't be surprised if Suzuki and/or Mazda fail.

I think the ATS should get a 3800 V6 Supercharged instead of the 2.0T engine or 3.6 V6. BMW, Audi and Mercedes are all wrong by offering turbo fours, people really want a 3.8 liter V6 in their compact luxury sedan.

Maybach isn't a core product, and was a failure. They are focusing on the core products by dumping that and putting the efforts into the S-class. They aren't trying to be Toyota either, that is what GM is doing, making Cadillac a Lexus clone, and Chevy a Toyota clone.

Jaguar has a nice diesel V6 too, it makes around 265 hp and 440 lb-ft. I would be more fuel efficient than the 2.0 turbo also. I don't get the crazy push to put turbo 4's in everything from the Verano and Subarus, all the way up to Jags and BMWs, when a diesel will give better fuel economy and better acceleration.

Cadillac has been 90% DOHC since 1992 and 99% DOHC since 1997. Perhaps there is another reason for the difference or do you just wish to continue to harp on the inane? Oldsmobile was the division inside GM with more DOHC models than any other outside of Cadillac..... It really helped them. In fact, I'm probably buying a 2012 Toronado tomorrow. Not just on DOHC, but size of vehicles, engine options, safety, design, marketing, etc. On the whole, those 3 brands are doing quite well and had success that Lexus or Cadillac can't match, and forget the rest like Infiniti, Acura or Lincoln.

Why would a diesel hybrid be harder to do? Apparently the stop/start feature of hybrids leads to some refinement issues on a diesel engine, but a review I read of the E300 Bluetec Hybrid says it is pretty seamless. Cost is a factor also. It must not be easy to do since no manufacturer outside of Mercedes and Puegot/Citroen makes one. The E400 isn't the car we want though, the better choice is the E300 bluetec hybrid because it has 224 hp and can still get the E-class from 0-60 in 7.5 seconds, but it gets a Prius beating 56 mpg.

My guess is that Audi, Mercedes and BMW are doing something right since they each sell over 1 million cars per year, and each year they are setting records for sales and profit. They already have the formula down. Cadillac doesn't need to invent the mousetrap here, just try to build a better one.

I drove one of those a couple years ago, it was rather floaty and poor handling for a RWD car, and sadly they killed the V8 on it a couple years ago.

It is good for business to have more fuel efficient options and all wheel drive. It is a bit of a shame that the 5.0 V8 is gone, 340 hp is a bit weak, and it is a big jump in horsepower and MSRP to get to the supercharged V8. I will miss all Jags having a big V8 and rear drive.

So put a 4.0 liter DOHC twin-supercharged V8 that revs to 10,000 RPM and is hand built for all I care. The V-series Cadillacs should have something better than what any Chevrolet product offers. It is not only Cadillac, it is V-series Cadillac. AMG has engines that cost $18,000 to build, they don't care if an AMG car is expensive, it is rare, people pay for exclusivity.

Define 'M-B cars'. They also have 5-6 times as many models, don't forget. M-B cars would be the A-class up to the S-class, and the GLK up to the G-wagen SUV. Cars/SUVs sold at dealerships. M-B commercial trucks would be Sprinter, semi-trucks, dump drucks, etc. Then they have Freightliner, Thomas Built Buses, and the other product lines. They have a lot of product lines, but they fund them all.

The problem with the E400 is the diesel is better. They should put the hybrid system on to the Diesel V6 or even the turbo 4 diesel if they really want to sky rocket the fuel economy. I know diesel-hybrid is a bit harder to do, but I remember reading that Mercedes has pretty much got it figured out.

Personally, I'd like to see Cadillac get an exclusive DOHC V8 again, but time, money and CAFE will probably prevent that.

But before they do that, they need to ask a simple question. Why is a 3.6 Bi-turbo V6 better than a 6.2 Gen V DI V8? Because a Nissan GT-R lays waste to anything GM has ever made?

I saw it at the auto show on a platform and didn't care for it, but on the road the XTS has some presence to it. The front end is probably what the STS should have been all along, it has the Cadillac look and has a classy and modern look and the grille looks sharp, something that was a let down on the STS. Back end is a little stumpy, but overall the car looks pretty good. That being said,I still wouldn't want one because of the chassis and drivetrain. And there are some other $50k cars that look a better.

Daimler's total R&D budget is usually in the $6-7 Billion range, Mercedes-Benz cars usually gets $4-5 billion of that. Mercedes has far more money at their disposal than Cadillac, Lexus, Acura, Infiniti or Lincoln. And to Dwight's point about a 3.6 liter twin turbo not existing and having to be solely developed just for Cadillac, exactly, they should do it. They can add a Cadillac only bi-turbo V8 while they are at it. If they plan to go after the S-class in the near future, they better get some big guns ready. And it goes beyond the engine, it is the whole package, and if they parts bin something as big as the powertrain, they will parts bin elsewhere. The bean counters will love it, car buyers won't.

As far as manufacturers not investing in fuel efficiency, Mercedes last year said half of their $5.6 billion R&D budget on alternative powertrains and fuel efficiency. $2.8 billion dollars for a company that sold 1-1.5 million cars seems like a pretty large amount of money.

Who's to say what the Acadia, Silverado, etc get, if they get a 3.0 bi-turbo with 350 hp, the ATS could get a 3.6 liter bi-turbo with 450 hp. Then they are different and the ATS already has the 3.6 in it, they just have to add turbos. At least then the ATS has something unique. and a 3.6 twin turbo could be used in other Cadillacs. Cadillac can't truly compete with the Germans with the Chevy/Buick parts bin, they have to develop some exclusive things to set themselves apart from GM and get into the game with the Germans. On the ATS-V price, Car and Driver just drove an ATS 3.6 that cost $48,190. I just priced out an ATS 3.6 Premium RWD, added the optional wheels, cold weather package, sunroof and driver assist package and it came out to $53,705. An ATS-V can't be $50k when the ATS 3.6 is $50k, the V-series will add at least $10 grand, it not 15. CTS-V will see a big price spike, so it better be fantastic or the 5-series and E-class will crush it like they did the M37, GS350, STS, and even the A6 in this country.

A Twin turbo V6 is unique because GM doesn't even make a single turbo V6 right now, let alone a twin turbo. Using the engine from a Camaro may make the ATS different than BMW, but it makes it too much like a Camaro. Why pay $65,000 for an ATS-V when a $36,000 Camaro has the same engine. The ATS's interior isn't lined with silk and cashmere to justify that big a price gap. And a loaded ATS 3.6 is near $50k, the V-series will be over $60k. And I don't care if they use a V8, but it shouldn't be the engine out of a Camaro or Silverado. BMW and Audi also sell in countries where gas is $7 a gallon or taxes on displacement exist, etc. And they both are selling over 1 million cars a year, what they do seems to work.

.... because the engine is the only criterion in determining the value of the car.... Actually for me, that would make the choice rather easy. The Verano is a better car and you give up almost nothing in interior room or cargo space. Since the new Malibu seems not so good, you are probably right, the Verano is better. Engine isn't the only criteria, but one would think that a mid-size Malibu LTZ would be more car than a Verano, which is basically a fancy Cruze. On the flip size, the Verano trubo is only $2k less than a Regal Turbo, GM has a lot of models packed tight together at this price point. If the Verano dialed up the interior a bit I'd say it was worth the price, but the car's interior is a bit too much Cruze to justify $30k to me. And not that any of it matters, the Sonata Turbo Limited is $27,595 and better than any of those other cars.

V8 sales are at an all time low though, and 4-cylinder engines are now making up about 55% of new car sales. So it seems to be what the majority of the public wants, or can afford. If we are talking Cadillac V-series engines, CAFE shouldn't be a concern, nor should cost to produce it. They should make the best engine they can and it has to be special, if it is the same thing you get in a Chevy, why pay V-series money for it. AMG cars cost a ton because they give you something special that you can't get elsewhere.

Well if you drive a Z06 hard you are probably getting 13 mpg. I was just going off EPA ratings because it is the fairest way to compare cars. If you drive a 911 around in 7th gear all day at 55 mph I am sure you can get 25 or better and edge out gently driving Z06 drivers. Obviously driving style and weather conditions are going to affect mpg.

A bit pricey I think for what it is. That is $2k more than a Turbo Malibu with the same engine. But I suppose a lot of cars are getting pricey.

Porsche's turbo flat six makes 530 hp and gets 17/25 mpg. I can't think of another 500 hp engine that gets 25 mpg. I don't really care if the ATS-V has a six or an eight, there are advantages to both. But, being that the 3-series is going with a six, I'd be inclined to follow the leader on this one. As far as cost goes, who cares what the engine costs, it's a Cadillac. Some AMG engines are upwards of $15,000, they just charge more for the car, and people it because it is special. A V-series Cadillac, or any Cadillac for that matter, should be special. And if you don't want to pay big bucks for special, then that is why Chevy and Buick are around.