smk4565

Scion's cars are ugly with cheap interiors. To make car like Scion is a bad idea, but I think Saturn should have gone after the demographic Scion goes for. Had they stayed what they were with value pricing like Hyundai/Kia they would have been in a good position when the economy tanked.

The Relay dug the grave, Outlook pushed the brand in the hole, Astra threw the dirt on top. Saturn should have focused on low price cars for younger buyers (like Kia or Scion) but when they started to make 7-8 seaters, and tried to move above Chevy, they turned off current customers, and weren't attracting many new ones. Same with Pontiac killing the Firebird and sports cars in favor of Torrent/Montana and rental cars. GM's mistake was trying to change brand identities. A brand should try to do one thing well, and be known for it.

Jaguar sales rose 8% worldwide in 2008. They are small, but growing revenue. They abandoned the sub $50k market, because that was a Ford idea, and they are not an entry level luxury brand. Porsche doesn't sell $35k cars either, because they (like Jaguar) cater to upscale clientele.

MKS is on a totally different platform, front drive and about 9 inches longer than the XF. They have less in common than a CTS and DTS. Lexus has better reliability than any luxury brand, doesn't mean they make the best car. Jaguar is a growing brand, and doing it with zero products under $50,000. The other luxury brands have moved downmarket in search of sales in the $30-50k range.

You can get a DOHC V8 (385 hp, 16/25 mpg on 2010 model) in the Jag, lasar cruise control, rear view camera, better stereo, better leather, better wood, better carpet, better headliner, real aluminum trim, real leather on the dash, metal grille, style and sophistication. CTS is a good entry level car, it is nothing more. No Cadillac competes with the XF, and the E-class is for the 65+ crowd and can't match the XF in performance/handling. If the CTS were $52,000 base, nobody would buy it, Cadillac is not on par with Jaguar and the Germans. Cadillac is Lincoln/Acura, nothing more.

Tried this with the Catera, failed. Tried this with Saturn, failed. Tried importing Holdens as Pontiacs, failed. Let's not learn form mistakes.

Jaguar's JD power quality and reliability ratings have been good over the past few years, and they are #1 in both sales satisfaction and service satisfaction. First year glitches, Jaguar will fix it, and Jaguar is no Saab. There aren't reports of horrible glitches on the XK or XJ, so they'll take care of the XF's problems. The CTS and C-class are priced too low to compete with the XF.

But a 1970s S-class could do 120 mph with the inline 6, or 130 mph with the V8, and up to 140 mph with the 6.9 liter V8. But what does it matter what Mercedes built in the 60's and 70's when the Cimarron was an 80's car? Mercedes has always had a solid reputation for tank-like well engineered cars, they had it in 1909 and still have it in 2009. Cadillac doesn't have the reputation now that they did 50 or 100 years ago because of junk like the Cimarron, Catera, and old geezer sedans of the 80s and 90s.

Probably the worst GM car of all time, certainly the most damaging. Front drive, overweight, underpowered, based on a Chevy platform, a recipe for disaster. Good luck to the SRX and DT7, they are about to continue where the Cimarron left off and that will be the final blow to the Cadillac brand.

Could be the Beat or an Aveo replacement. It kind of reminds me of a Suzuki. What country were these photos taken in? It could be a car just for Eastern Europe or Brazil or other developing nation.

Well by original I meant the squared off ugly thing from the 70s-80s, since that is only post-war car with Lagonda attached to it.

The original was probably the ugliest car of the 80s. This is far worse.

They will shrink to zero brands if they don't do something, because they are deep in debt and haven't made money in years. Size or market share was how the old GM got it done, that won't work, PROFIT is all that matters now and in the future. They fell further into the tank when Oldsmobile died because they didn't drastically improve Buick and Pontiac. Products like the Enclave, 2010 LaCrosse, G8, Solstice should have been on the market in 2004-05. Instead GM dumped money into Hummer and pickup trucks, and W-body cars while Chrysler did the 300C, Japanese did crossovers like the Pilot, Highlander and RX350, Mazda had the Miata, Nissan the 350Z, etc. Now GM comes 4 years later with crossovers, rear drive sedans and sport coupes. It is 4 years too late. GM has been following the market, rather than trendsetting, so their overall lineup hasn't been that desirable to many consumers in a while, and thus the deep discounts to mode metal. So the answer is fewer, better products. Spend $1 billion on the new Malibu for example and make it best family sedan in the world. Rather than $4-500 million on the Malibu, then some on the Aura, some on the G6, Grand Prix, LaCrosse, etc and end up with 4-5 mediocre cars.

The G8 represents GM product mismanagement. They had the Zeta platform and chance to make a flagship Chevy (like what the 300C did for Chrysler in 2005) and possibly a Buick version Either or both could have been GM's Genesis that got people to rethink the brand. Instead they did what was easy and just imported the G8 from Holden, but importing it is costing them too much, and the interior is behind a higher end Camry/Accord or even Malibu LTZ. Not to mention Pontiac's brand image is damaged from years of rebadges and fleet sales. There is just too much product overlap, too many dated products still in the lineup, and not enough real winners that will sell without a rebate and hold value. Until 100% of GM's lineup is Malibu, CTS, Silverado, Corvette like products, sales will keep tanking. Saturn and Pontiac have just become Chevy clones and can go away. A Zeta sedan or Kappa roadster would sell better with a bow tie on it anyway. GMC I was never a fan of staying, but Buick dealers on their own would go out of business. I think GMC should be the commercial truck, work trucks, etc and cater to businesses, let Chevy cater to families. Otherwise GMC does luxury SUVs and Buick does cars only. But they don't both have to do one step up SUVs from Chevy.

But notice Edmunds and Motor Trend didn't include a Cadillac in those comparisons because Cadillac has no credible entry into the mid-level luxury sport sedan segment. And you are comparing the G8 to the same 5 year old 5-series. And wasn't the CTS supposed to challenge the 5-series, why is Pontiac? The G8 is a Charger with better handling, that is all, it is no 5-series. Doesn't mean it is a bad car for the money, but it isn't an elite sedan.

But that Jaguar was on the Car and Driver 10 best list, Automobile All Star list, and won comparison tests by Edmunds.com and Motor Trend. It is an award winning machine, and that was with the old 4.2 liter engine, with the new 5.0 is is going to be even stronger. Jaguar sales were up in 2009 while everyone else went down, so the car is doing it's job.

Cheap plastic interior, like the GTO (or Astra or Catera) it doesn't quite have the design or features to really fit the American market. Such as no Nav system.

GM can try to spin it, but down 53% overall and 43% down in retail is really bad. The Lucerne was down 73% and DTS down 68%, yet they want to make a front drive big Cadillac? No one wants big huge front drive luxury cars. Hummer is embarrassing; they need to go away. I think that is the G8's best month ever, big discounts or fleet sales? I don't like the G8 because it is a Holden clone, but a zeta Chevy sedan designed specifically for the American market could do well, especially when Chrysler folds and they can pick up Charger/300 sales.

At the rate they are going, the CTS will be the "last ever" rear drive Cadillac. That is sad.

G3 is a Chevy Vibe it a Toyota G5 is a Chevy G6 is an 04 Chevy Malibu Those can be bought elsewhere. G8 sells 1,000 units a month, and they could sell it as a Chevy if they wanted. Solstice/Sky are niche products that GM can't really afford to do anymore.

I live in a snowy place, although mostly it is just 1-2 inches, only a few times a year do we get 4+ inches. But I still see a lot of Mustangs, Corvettes, Ford Panther platform cars, the old CTS, 7-series, Lexus LS, and Mercedes without 4Matic. People that care about driving dynamics will buy RWD, they won't get scared away.

The S-class suspension virtually eliminates body roll, pitch or dive with hydraulics and air springs, which goes beyond what the Vette's magnetic shocks can do. The S-class can vary it's ride height also, it is a suspension beyond what GM has at the moment. To go for the S-class, the chassis, engine, transmission, and suspension would have to be done from scratch almost. That costs a billion dollars easy, that is why they are going to make a $45,000 front diver instead and have the Lexus IS and ES type overlap in price, but going for 2 kinds of buyers.

Agreed, the MKS is $38-47k, Cadillac may have to price the DT7 overlapping the CTS. So the SRX and DTS are basically moving down market. They don't have the motor or the 7-8 speed tranny to go after the high end sedans. So the question becomes will Cadillac be able to fend off Hyundai who has a rear drive platform, modern V8 and has a more powerful V8 and 8-speed on the way, and the Equus sedan may come here also.

Zeta was developed with the Commordore and other large rear drive cars, it was never intended to be specifically for Cadillac. An aluminum suspension isn't enough most luxury cars have that. To go after the S-class would cost GM as much as the 08 Malibu and Volt combined, so it isn't going to happen. 2012 is still a long way too, the STS and DTS will be really dated by then, Cadillac won't have much customer base except for the CTS, and a big front driver isn't the way to win new customers.

Killing Pontiac saves GM because every dollar they would have spent on Pontiac can be spent on the Cruze, Malibu, and Impala, basically doubling the budget behind each car, then the Cruze, Malibu and Impala will have actual retail sales that turn profit, not fleet dumps.