smk4565
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Everything posted by smk4565
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Sales: January 2012 Sales: Ford Motor Company
smk4565 replied to Drew Dowdell's topic in 2012 Sales Archive
I too am surpsised the Ranger still had that many sales, that is a horrible vehicle, who is buying that thing? The Lincoln sales look pretty sad, but fitting since their product line is sad. Amazing how truck reliant Ford still is, 93,000 of their 136,000 sales were trucks/crossovers. -
I'd say Jeers, 80s styling, especially on sedans just wasn't that good. The W126 S-class looks cool, and one of my favorite 80s cars that I see as a classic/collectible is the Mercdes SL, which was actually designed in the early 70s. But this was a bad era of automotive design. I guess the 70s was the worst, but 80s wasn't much better.
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Audi News: Audi: Hybrids For Fuel Economy, Diesels For Performance
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Volkswagen
I like the idea of more diesels, once the German trio have a big offering, others will copy. And that will be good for consumers to get the option to pay a little more to get more torque and fuel economy. What Audi should do it put the V12 diesel in the A8, that thing makes like 750 lb-ft of torque, the A8's current engines are a bit gutless. -
Cadillac News: Rumorpile: Cadillac Ponders An ATS-based Roadster
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Cadillac
I would agree, it is sad to see their cars getting bigger and heavier. Everything gets heavier, but The 5-series was 187-190 inches long for a couple decades, now they are up to 193+. Not much but as their customers grow older, they seem to be softening things a bit to appeal to them. BMWs still sell in big numbers and things purists hate like SUVs sell well to the yuppie crowd. Even though they may have lost what they were, BMW is still better in driving experience than the FWD generics, or the vanilla pudding that Lexus is peddling. I guess in Infiniti has a couple sporty cars, but the G37 is more herky, jerky and rough in an attempt to feel sporty, rather than the seamless driving dynamic that a BMW can provide. That being said, as BMW softens, the opportunity is there for someone else to go hardcore performance. -
Cadillac News: Rumorpile: Cadillac Ponders An ATS-based Roadster
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Cadillac
But GM claimed to have met or surpassed BMW in the past, Lexus claimed the same, ditto for Audi. Yet none of them are BMW, the 3-series and 5-series whoop on the IS, GS, A4 and A6. I want to wait to see reviews on the ATS, especially from European testers, they will be most critical. Car and Driver loves BMW, if the ATS can win them over, then Cadillac is getting somewhere. Did you say EXITEMENT!!!! That should be reserved for Pontiac, Buick can't handle it. -
Acura News: Next Acura RL To Be Shown At New York, SH-AWD To Be Optional
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Acura
Well no, the hybrid will be the Acura RL SH-SH-AWD-DIV6-h. And this is exciting, I always wanted a $60,000 Honda Accord, so I can't wait. Hard to tell if I want the RL more or the $90,000 NSX that won't outrun a Nissan 370Z. -
Cadillac News: Rumorpile: Cadillac Ponders An ATS-based Roadster
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Cadillac
It will be interesting to see how the ATS drives, hopefully better than the CTS. The CTS isn't bad, but it just doesn't feel nimble to me, and handling and steering are just not as precise as a 5-series (E60 generation, havn't driven the new one). I hope the ATS is sporty, as in 335i sporty, not Pontiac Grand Prix sporty, but the exterior of the ATS looks a bit soft and wimpy. The CTS looks too blocky and chunky. I don't get why Cadillac can't make a car sleek and streamlined and agressive looking, the orginal CTS pulled that off much better than the STS, 08 CTS and ATS have. On the roadster front, they need a convertible, but the Allante and XLR were failures, so I wonder if 3rd time is the charm or if they still haven't figured it out. -
Cadillac News: Rumorpile: Cadillac Ponders An ATS-based Roadster
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Cadillac
I also wonder about the torque load the Alpha chassis can handle, many cars now are designed for smaller engines. And if the 400 hp and torque level is the peak for Alpha then a turbo V6 could get them there. But if they can modify the platform or if it can handle power and torque in the 500 range then I see V8s. Genesis coupe is V6 only, if the Camaro were downsized they could go that route, but I have a hard time believing there won't be a V8 Camaro. Of course who thought we'd see a full size Cadillac without a V8. My guess is they find a way to make V8 Alpha cars, there are still customers that want V8s. On wheel bases, the Omega will be needed for bigger cars for sure. The S-class has a 126 inch wheelbase, Epsilon and Alpha can't fight that, and I don't think Sigma or Zeta can, plus they are old and/or heavy. -
Chrysler News: Chrysler Reveals Future Plans, Avenger To Live On
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Chrysler
The Avenger and 200 are such terrible cars, but I suppose Avis and Enterprise will keep buying them. But Dodge does need something in bewteen the Dart and Charger. To me Chrysler and Dodge are still tremendous overlap, I am surprised that company turns profit. -
Chevrolet News:Some Chevrolet Dealers To GM: No Thanks To More Volts
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Chevrolet
The Volt is too expensive for what it is. It is Cruze/Civic/Elantra level in performance, size, features, etc at double the price as earlier stated. The electric range is not far enough and recharge time not quick enough. Draining a battery in 1 hour and needing 8 hours to recharge it isn't appealing. Battery technology just isn't good enough to make a car like the Volt desirable. -
Cadillac News: Rumorpile: Cadillac Ponders An ATS-based Roadster
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Cadillac
Cadillac needs a convertible. An ATS convertible would probably sell better than a roadster, but a roadster would probably look cooler. -
They don't. That is why GMC should be work truck or commercial trim, and Chevy should not build a work truck.
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So will GMC be dropping the work truck models and commercial cabs? I always though GMC should be the commercial and business fleet brand and Chevy the retail brand. If Buick and Cadillac have luxury suvs do we need a 3rd brand of luxury Suvs.
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Hyundai News:Hyundai Confirms Ten-Speed Automatics
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Hyundai
Maybe it is 5 forward gears and 5 rearward gears for dual threat street and stunt racing! -
Cadillac News: Cadillac To Build RHD Models, Take Europe Seriously
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Cadillac
So what were they doing for 100 years? They just now figure out you have to build to market demands and they trying to sell old rehashed product that people don't want doesn't work? They do need to go into Europe and become more global, and RHD is needed. But they need diesel engines above all and build quality still has to get better. -
Mercedez Benz News Mercedes-Benz & Its Four New Compacts
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Mercedes-Benz
FWD hurts when it is all you have or when your mid to large vehicles are FWD. Mercedes isn't making the E-class FWD, a subcompact car in FWD or AWD won't hurt Mercedes especially when they can offset it with V12 rear drive cars. And Mercedes already sells the A-class and B-class elesewhere and it hasn't hurt their brand at all. Cadillac has a more fragile brand image. Although if Cadillac made a Sonic based car with an ATS/CTS level interior and 200 hp base engine and 270 hp turbo 4 optional, I wouldn't mind. But any Cadillac ATS or larger should be RWD. -
Chevrolet News:Spying: Chevrolet Corvette Testing In Canada
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Chevrolet
Looks like evolution of the current car, the shape looks really similar. I wouldn't be surprised if a V6 shows up in this car, they have down sized the engines and cylinder count everywhere but the Corvette and Silverado. -
Mercedez Benz News Mercedes-Benz & Its Four New Compacts
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Mercedes-Benz
The R-class is a bust, they should kill that thing unless it sells exceptionally well in Europe which I doubt. R-class is a drain in the brand. A and B class can be ways to lure in younger buyers and Mercedes retains about 60%the of their customers and I think the best in the industry is 64%. -
Mercedez Benz News Mercedes-Benz & Its Four New Compacts
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Mercedes-Benz
I like the A-Class or B-class idea, I like the B-class more than the A. I don't get the CLC, why do they need a FWD car to compete with the C-class, when FWD is not as good as RWD. And no more crossovers please. Luckily that will fail and Mercedes will give up on a FWD crossover the size of a roller skate. -
If it is 90% to 95% the size of a Silverado, why not just put a 4-banger in the Silverado at that point and see how much that sucks. They already have the Silverado, which for some bizarre reason still doesn't have a V6, they can improve efficiency on the Silverado a couple mpg to get it to where the Colorado is now. The Colorado I still think should be on Theta or something unibody so it is smaller than the full size trucks. And for people that want the versatility, but don't haul a lot of weight or tow over 4,000 lbs it could be successful. Especially with the commercial market and business fleets that are buying Transits because the fuel economy is better than bigger vehicles.
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If names don't matter, why was 500 axed for Taurus after 2 years. Why is the Navigator still the Navigator and not the MKN? The MKnames are dumb, as are all alphabet soup names with no meaning. They should go back to words, especially since they aren't selling cars outside of North America anyway. But the Lincoln product is no good either.
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Toyota News: Rumorpile: Next Toyota Avalon To Become A Hybrid
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Toyota
Camry Hybrid drive train will go into the Avalon and Lexus ES. The 2 most boring cars on the road just got even more boring.