smk4565

Which is what, like 180 lb-ft? On a car heavier than a CTS. The only way for the ELR to work is to vastly increase the power over the Volt. It has to be faster than a Chevy, handle and ride better than a Chevy, otherwise why pay for it. Cadillac selling a Volt with an interior upgrade is a page from the Lincoln playbook and that doesn't work.

I saw the Converj at our auto show last year, I wasn't that impressed with it. I prefer the Evoq and XLR for a 2-door. The Converj hood seemed too short and stubby. And this car could be a 4,000+ lb compact. The weight is going to be hard to overcome.

A pick up truck with the pick up bed in front, and the passenger cabin and engine in the rear. That way you can watch your cargo while you drive.

Money isn't the whole determiner in a car...the Lexus supercar sucks in comparison to the others, yet it is much more expensive than many. While I would mostly agree on the Lexus, it does do the Nurburgring in like 7 minutes 14 seconds (with Nurburgring package). So it has that going for it. The Maybach is dated now, but it still a good car. Probably not worth what it costs, but part of the reason to buy that car is to flaunt how wealthy you are. I don't think Mercedes needs Maybach though, they have the S-class, so I agree with the decision to cut the Maybach brand.

The exterior is even worse! Lexus in the 2010s is going to fade the way Buick did in the 1990s.

The haters are just jealous because no American car company can get close to the S-class, let alone a $500,000 Maybach. And really a $500,000 sedan is pointless; Mercedes is almost doing a service by not letting rich fools spend that much money on a car.

The E-class is the #1 selling mid-luxury car in the USA, and the C-class is the #2 seller in entry luxury. The S-class outsells its competitors in the U.S. also. Globally, they sold 323,000 E-classes in 2010, I don't see their lead in core segments dropping. Mercedes had it's best year ever in 2010, and is looking better in 2011. They are fine, actually more than fine, their 125th year of selling cars was their best year. And about a $300k S-class, they already factory build the S600 Pullman Guard that sells for over $1.4 million.

No, $6,000 is a bad deal for that.

They do need expand what they offer. I love Jaguars and would want mine RWD, with a supercharged V8, but I realize most people don't see it that way. Jaguar has 4 and 6 cylinder diesels already on sale in the UK, that seems to be the easiest solution to certify the engines for U.S. sale. The 4-cylinder is probably too weak for our market, but the diesel V6 could do well. If/when they do a smaller car and produce a 3.0 liter gas V6, that could be put to use in the XF, but for now the diesel is the quick solution. And a 35 mpg XF that does 0-60 in 6.2 seconds is pretty appealing.

When the Maybach first came out it was quite impressive, and in a lot of ways it still is. But after nearly 10 years on the market it has gotten dated. And you could argue that they never really needed Maybach in the first place since they have the S-class. The demise of Maybach is good news for the S-class because they can expand the range and offer more.

The Lexus GS isn't any good. At least the last one wasn't, the 2012 might be decent, but it has a carry over powertrain from the old car, and the inside looks like a BMW rip-off. And 450 hp with likely a sub 400 torque rating isn't going to take on an M5. The 550i will probably outrun the Lexus V10.

I like this, they can make the S-class more upscale and cement it as the best car in the world.

They can sell diesels here but they will have to promote it. The higher MPG, lower maintenance, longer engine life, torque/performance are all strong attributes, they just have to make sure customers know about it. It is possible though, when hybrids first came out it took a few years to catch on and they had to advertise them. I think diesel has more benefit than a hybrid, I'd rather see a diesel CTS than a hybrid CTS. The Mercedes S-class may be a good case study on this, because they have a diesel and a hybrid and they cost the same.

If the Crue diesel puts up say 50 mpg with equal acceleration to the gas version it may catch on. But I wonder if it is easier to sell diesels to in the luxury price range where people are more likely to spend the extra money for the extra torque.

I hope they put a diesel in the ATS and CTS, might as well in the Escalade too, maybe even the XTS even though it is wrong wheel drive. The Germans are going to keep bringing diesels here, Cadillac might as well join the party. If they (all automakers) keep killing V8s, at least give us a diesel with crazy torque. Word is that BMW's triple turbo straight six diesel makes 381 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque. Imagine that in a CTS cranking out over 30 mpg. Even imagine that in an Escalade, it is a loss of 20 hp, but a gain of 100 lb-ft of torque.

The supercharged V6 seems likely, but Krafcik did say they were considering a 450 hp V8. A V8 in a Genesis coupe would be a tasty treat indeed. Perhaps they can do both, but that would be 4 engines for a coupe that doesn't have a lot of sales volume. Maybe they should just supercharge the V8 instead.

$26k seems a bit steep for this. If Package 1 was included with auto up windows and fog lights I would think it was a good deal. But the Malibu isn't a full hybrid, and a Fusion hybrid gets 41 mpg city compared to 26 mpg on the Malibu, big difference. The Fusion hybrid for example has standard power front seats, auto dimming mirror, rear parking aid, fog lamps, and leather steering wheel for $28,700. With the same features, the Malibu Eco and Fusion Hybrid will be really close in price, and the Fusion has that 15 mpg advantage in city. The other question I have is what does eAssist/Eco cost, $2k maybe? So are we looking at $24k for a base Malibu? Which I am fine with if the car has the equipment to back up the price, but they seem to have most features optional.

I like it if the running boards and wheel on the trunk come off it. Although I preferred the late 80s Seville to the early 80s, I like the smaller one.

I am not surprise the 500 hasn't sold, it is sort of expensive for what you get. It has some unique Italian styling quirks and I like the fold back cloth roof. But it has about 106 hp and only gets 32 mpg highway. There are 40 mpg cars with more power for less money.

But in 2005 after the CTS, XLR, STS, and SRX were on sale, they did the DTS rehash for 2006 and an Escalade update also. Why in 2006 were they not planning for the next generation of rear drive Cadillacs? It is like they re-did the CTS and let the rest die on the vine. To me the most frustrating thing about Cadillac is they won't get the model line in order, like you said, they have CTS, SRX and Escalade right now. It seems like even with 4 brands GM can't keep the pipelines full. BMW has had that 3, 5, 7 set up since the 80s, after 30 years Cadillac is still trying to get to the small, medium, large sedan line going, and they keep fumbling the ball.

Even just on handling alone, I'd take an Audi over a Buick. The A4 is pretty similar to the CTS as far as handling, but the A4 is firmer, probably has less body roll (but it is lighter too). I can't see any Buick handling like a CTS. I'd actually be interested in driving a Regal or LaCrosse to see how far GM fwd has come since cars like the Aurora, Seville STS, Grand Prix GTP, Malibu, 9-5 Aero because I have driven all those. But I am driving my last fwd car, and my next car will be rwd, so I haven't bothered to look at anything fwd. I am not anti front wheel drive, for compacts and mainstream sedans it is great, for the demographic that buys an ES350 and doesn't want power and performance it suits their needs. But Cadillac should build "Standard of the World," take magnetic ride, hyperstruts, air springs, etc and put that on a rear drive chassis. I'd like to see them take the CTS-V suspension and put it on the base model ATS and go BMW hunting, but the bean counters won't allow that.

The S-class is the most profitable sedan in the world, any car maker wishes they had that. You all can hate on it, but it has set the standard for 30-40 years now, and Daimler is pretty well run and profitable company. They know what they are doing, and everyone else seems to try to copy them.

If they make a Jaguar edition of the Tata Nano I might just have to give up on cars.

Cadillac isn't a leader, but the frustrating thing is they could be up in the conversation with BMW and Mercedes. Infiniti, Lexus, Acura, Lincoln, and even Audi have flaws that Cadillac could be and should be exploiting. If they added $10,000 to the base price of the CTS it would allow them to equip the car so that it can go against the A6, M, 5-series, E-class. Problem is I think that is where they will price the XTS, then you have the DTS-STS price overlap all over again, just with different models. The ATS is what I am waiting for, it is a Cadillac I might actually want to buy. But my fear there is they cheap it out too much to keep the price under the where the CTS sits now. The 2012 3-series pricing basically matches the CTS, so does the ATS cost as much as a CTS or does it become a poor man's 3-series with compromises.

The S-class is worth the price. Even after 6 years on market while everyone else has a fresher model, the S-class still outsells them all despite costing $10-30,000 more than its competitors. The S-class interior may be a simple design, but it has sophistication and the build quality and materials are outstanding. Plus the technology, the engines, and when you buy an S-class you are buying a legendary reputation.