smk4565

They have a solid lineup, the weakness is the Focus and that will soon be resolved. The other good thing about Ford's lineup, is the Econoline van has only one competitor (GM's vans) and the Transit Connect has no direct competitor. The Fiesta is carving out it's own niche as well, Ford does a good job of being a mass market brand, but also finding segments that aren't overly crowded with Hondas and Toyotas.

Funny stuff, but the Cruze is made in Ohio. I think the execution on the Cruze is good, aside from the anemic engines, but $24-25k for a small Chevy is too much.

The new Elantra isn't even here yet, and it looks better and better every day. Cruze is too expensive, Jetta is all cheaped out and plain looking.

I think the Cruze goes too high in price, I am all for upgraded interiors and equipment like bluetooth, nav and a hard drive for music, but that stuff shouldn't cost that much. An iPhone does that for $300. Plus the Cruze engines are weak. The Chevy Cruze I think still needs to be about value and be affordable. A Buick version of a Delta 2 car could be in the $23-27k range and offer a comfortable, more luxurious interior with leather and some wood trim, kind of like the current Jetta does, minus the stiff suspension. There are a lot of 55-65 year olds with the kids gone that are downsizing, and would like a car like that. But for a Cruze to be $25,000, that prices out people with a lower income looking for a starter car.

I don't like how the CTS coupe looks at all, the A5 or 335i coupe looks better, especially the A5. I haven't sat in the CTS coupe, but I've been in the Camaro and it was super hard to see out of, so if the CTS is worse, it must be pretty bad. The sedan is a better buy, but there is a lot of plastic in the CTS and the leather quality isn't Lexus or Mercedes.

I think GM should just save time, and not even make a new Malibu and forfeit the segment to the Sonata, king of all mid-sizers. The Sonata is on pace to make up 50% of all new car sales by 2020, and studies suggest that driving a Sonata may cure cancer.

The Sonata's 198 hp engine is naturally aspirated. It makes 200 hp with the sport package. The Sonata is currently the #3 selling mid-size car behind the Camry and Accord, with only one engine. This fall, the Sonata Turbo with 274 hp, and Hybrid with 39 mpg city go on sale. Then they've got 3 engine choices.

The difference is Mercedes still offers a V12. So they fool the greenies in Europe with the diesel 4-banger, but then turn around and sell a 600 hp V12 in Saudi Arabia.

I think a 4-cylinder diesel is on the way, I doubt that makes it to the USA though. Unless it is a plug-in hybrid or something. But once the S-class does it, everyone else will copy it.

I don't like the gauge pods sticking out, or that curve put in above the glove box, but we will have to wait to see the final version. The Camry interior is boring, but their buyers like boring, and they have a lot of Toyota loyalists that keep coming back.

Agreed, used cars are a much better deal. The Korean cars right now offer the best value, lots of equipment, good price, good warranty.

Interior quality looks pretty high, and the color scheme is good. The center arm rest could be a bit bigger or not set so far back. I don't care much for the design of the center stack, but the fit and finish looks very good for a small car. However, $24,000 for a Cruze LT isn't worth it, I think they are over estimating the appeal and demand for this car.

A noble effort, but this is not the second coming of Sonata.

Oh my god, a Nav screen!!!! Finally. The nav screen is a definite improvement, but the way the center console slopes forward and the curve around the glove box, it has an Accord look to it. I don't like how Honda interiors feel like they are sloping forward, or have that two-tier set up like Nissan likes. But the car buying public seems to like Hondas, so probably not a bad move for Chevy. One thing I hate is the Camaro-style instrument cluster. I much prefer an instrument cluster integrated into the dash, not that pod sticking out that the current Malibu, CTS and Altima do. I'm not sure if I like this more than the current Malibu, aside from the Nav screen. The Sonata however is better than this.

I am curious to see where this goes. The S-class has been the standard since the 1970s, and other brands keep saying they are going to dethrone it, yet here we are, and the S-class is still the gold standard. The next generation S-class isn't far away either, and they up the ante every time.

Mitsubishi should just leave the US, they clutter up the market. Much like Isuzu, they just aren't needed.

I'd like to see an aluminum chassis and some carbon fiber body panels. Try to make it lighter than the XJ. Please don't make a 5,000 lb hybrid V8 like the Lexus LS600h, no one wants that.

I would think that Allison transmissions would be too heavy for a passenger car. Mercedes is working on a 7 or 9 speed to mate with the V12 to replace the 5 speed ZF unit.

I hope Cadillac builds a flagship car and it's the best car in the world. I'd love to see Cadillac get back to being the standard of the world, and not become another Lincoln. All I am saying is I am not going to get my hopes up until I see the car. We've seen numerous attempts by other car companies to dethrone the S-class over the past 25 years and all came up short. Cadillac may be no different than all the others, hopefully they get it right.

Cadillac has not been going up market lately, they have gone down, the SRX is $10,000 less than the model it replaces. The XTS is a DTS on a LaCrosse platform, yawn. Cadillac built high dollar cars in the 1930s, but that is a long time ago, today no Cadillac sedan carries a base price of $50,000 or more, and the only two priced over $40,000 are set to end production in a year.

And what V8 is out powering the AMG V12's 738 lb-ft of torque? And it is 738 only because that is the max the transmission can handle, Mercedes has a new transmission in the works and plans to increase torque to 850 lb-ft. Note also that a car like this has to be very quiet, and something like a ZR-1 engine is not quiet. And it doesn't matter the power output, a V12 is still a V12 and that gives you status and people will pay for that. This price point is all about status, and you can't find status on the stat sheet, that is what Cadillac's biggest challenge will be. Look at the Rolls-Royce Phantom for example, on a stat sheet, it doesn't stack up well to any other uber sedan, yet in status, it crushes them all.

I'd like to see Cadillac do it, I've been saying for years they need to go up market and forget about the old geezers and forget about volume leaders and make high dollar, high profit cars. But this is territory GM has never been in, and isn't yet equipped to build cars for. Does Cadillac realize twin-turbo V12s is pretty much the norm in this class? They don't have one. Do they realize it takes 120 hours to make the headliner for a Bentley? I'd love to see Cadillac do it and put American cars back on the map, but I am not going to get my hopes up. This is the brand that made the XTS.

Right, because Europe wants pushrod V8s, and that builds street cred there. Europeans will laugh at it, and say Cadillac took the engine out of a Chevy pickup truck. That is some pretty ambitious pricing as well, nearing the price of an S600. If they are going after the S600, Cadillac better bring it like they have never brought it before. The R&D budget to make a car like this is huge, I am skeptical of GM giving Cadillac that much money for a low volume product.

GM almost always finds areas to cost cut and design the car on a budget because they have a low price in mind from the start. This Mercedes commercial says it all, it isn't about putting a big engine and chrome wheels on a standard car and calling it a performance sedan, it is about doing everything well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTluiXWxE3o&feature=related

Cadillac has to remember by the ATS comes out, there will be a new 3-series, and a new C-class shortly there after. Plus Jaguar is coming into this segment and the small Jaguar will be based on the XK's aluminum chassis. Jaguar has turbo V6 gas and diesel engines planned. M3 has a turbo straight six planned. So that is what the ATS is up against.