smk4565

The new Equinox is a mid-size (as was the old one), this will be getting the old Trailblazer/Envoy crowd and competing with the Edge and Highlander. I am guessing they make base price around $24,990 and run it to $35k with features like nav system and back up camera. It is too big and will be too pricey to compete with the Escape or CR-V. Which is fine, mid-sizers do well, and I suppose the HHR will serve as their compact utility vehicle.

"We have a very successful consumer brand with Saturn. We need to find the right business model," said LaNeve, adding that the company has received hundreds of letters from Saturn customers supporting the brand. "We are completely behind Saturn." The brand has never turned a profit, that isn't success. They have had 18 years to find a business model and have yet to do it, too late now. GM management may be behind Saturn, but their bank account is not. This is discouraging to me because it shows how much GM is refusing to change. They still want to keep all of these brands and think they can be viable with them. Market share is 19%, they don't need 8 brands or even 5 brands with that little amount of market share.

I too like the Gran Turismo a lot, it is a phenomenal looking car. The front on this looks pretty good, but the back is too Lincoln MKS. The front looks like it should be on a coupe, not a sedan much like the Aston Martin Rapide and the Porsche Panerama don't look right. Some things work on 2-doors, but not on 4 doors.

What they should look at and copy is: Ford-Mercury-Lincoln Honda-Acura Scion-Toyota-Lexus Nissan-Infiniti Mini-BMW-Rolls Royce VW-Audi-Bentley (and Bugatti and Lambo) 3 tier brands work. 8 brands with 5 or 6 operating in the same segment of $20-$30k cars does not.

They sold 1,958 MKS in November, it was Lincoln's best seller that month. They have sold 11,000 to date. I suppose that is as good as it gets for a big front driver in a bad economy. Buick would only get $40k for a car if it was fully loaded with stuff like back up camera, head up display, maybe adaptive cruise control, ultraview roof, etc. The average sale price of the car would be low $30s. Much like the Lucerne now, it can touch $40k, but the bulk of the sales are closer to $30k.

The 3-series, A4, C-class, IS250/350, Jetta, Mini, TSX, would disagree om there not being a market for small premium cars. The 3-series outsold the Cobalt the last couple months. Even the 9-3 and Volvo S40 and S60 find buyers and they aren't even good cars. I agree though that any thing with Buick written on it could be a tough sell. Buick's small car shouldn't be aimed at young people wanting a racer like the GTI, but rather the middle aged demographic that wants something comfortable but doesn't need a big family car. They can target people that had a Cobalt or Civic and are trading up, or people that had a CamCord but don't need as big a car, but want some luxury feature. Gas will likely go back to $3-4 a gallon one day, so a small premium car will find buyers. If GM doesn't have them, it will be a repeat of the summer, when GM truck sales died and they had no desirable fuel efficient cars to sell. Autoblog is reporting the LaCrosse will be the biggest Buick, and the Lucerne will die.

Saab is as good as dead, there probably won't be a next 9-3 or 9-1 or anything else.

I think they should have done some evolution of the rectangular headlights that the Trailblazer has and Silverado used to have. It looks too rounded and like a Saturn up front, Chevy trucks used to look at little more rugged. The headlights look like they are from a Pacifica or Acadia, the Equinox could get lost in the crowd a little bit. Same with the Traverse, it doesn't say Chevy to me.

The profile view and C-pillar on the new Equinox is similar to the first generation Lexus RX as well. Ford website lists the Escape as an SUV, not a crossover, but I looked up the CD2 platform which is a unibody design.

This Equinox is 187.8 inches long, the Edge is about 186, an Escape is only 175. Size-wise the Edge and Equinox are very close. All 3 tow 3500 pounds, but the Escape is body on frame, the other two are crossovers. Most people won't know the crossover vs SUV difference though, to me they are all SUVs and crossover vs suv is splitting hairs. We'll have to see what the pricing on the Nox is. Escape starts at $20k for a really basic version with manual. Edge starts at $26k.

I too was just thinking from the side it is really similar to the ML350, so that can't hurt.

I am not a fan of the C-pillar and rear window design, but I don't really like any SUVs. The plastic on the door panels looks a little cheap, this is a weakness of the Malibu as well. Massive improvement over the current version, but I think the Edge is slightly nicer. 4 and 6 cylinder options should attract a wider range of buyers though. The Saab, Cadillac and GMC versions look like they share some sheet metal, this is going to be the Lambda quadruplets competing with each other part 2.

Pontiac is going to be phased out eventually. They'll drop to G8 and Solstice while they close down Hummer, Saab, Saturn. Then around 2012 I suspect Pontiac will go also. They just can't close every brand at once. GM will be better for it also.

I wasn't impressed with the interior plastic on the door panels, this is a weak spot of the Malibu as well. The new Equinox is a massive improvement over the old, but I think the Edge is a little better. I am not a fan of the C pillar or the center console. The exterior looks much more expensive than the current model, but it looks too much like the Vue or Acadia up front.

Bottom line is the date on the bankruptcy filing will read March 30, 2009 rather than December 30, 2008.

The Regal is larger, it is identical in size to the Aura, the 9-3 is about 7 inches shorter, and sportier I can't see Saab being alive in 3 years though. I think Saturn will be dead also, so the Regal basically takes the place of the Aura.

I agree Chrysler is done for and headed to Chapter 7 liquidation. Wagoner even admitted that in 2007 GM spent $8 billion on labor costs, while Toyota spent $4.5 billion. UAW contract is a problem that needs torn up.

Agreed. This doesn't solve the problem, it just delays the day of reckoning. What if they haven't become "viable" by March 31st and the government recalls the loan, there is no way they will be able to pay it back then.

I have 2 concerns with Cadillac sharing Alpha with Chevy. First is people will be able to knock the BTS and say it is on a Chevy platform, just as the Lexus ES gets knocked because it is a Camry. 2nd, if the platform has a low enough cost to be in a Chevy, is it going to be as good as the 3-series platform? And by the time Alpha gets here, BMW will have an all new 3-series. Cadillac is already sharing the 3.6 V6 with the other brands and will share the 3.0 V6 as well, which is okay on a low end Cadillay, but they have to have some exclusive, leading edge stuff to pull buyers in. If you buy a BMW, you can't get that engine in any other car. If you buy a CTS you can get that engine in a $24k Chevy.

That will be too many cars on one platform, the Cadillac version will seem cheaped out. Buick only needs 3 cars, small, medium, large with lengths about 183 (cobalt size), 190 (aura size), 196 (G8 size) inches. How do you price the alpha Buick if there is a DeltaII car which would be $23-28k (assuming the Curze goes to $23k and Buick picks up there). If you price the Alpha Buick at $28k it overlaps with the Regal or LaCrosse. A rwd compact Buick will struggle to sell and could sell worse than the G8 is now.

No alpha Buick, Delta II makes sense. Buick buyers want soft, front drive is fine, it is easy to handle. Alpha has to be stiff and able to crush the Camaro SS in handling, because Alpha has to go against the 2012 3-series. So the Alpha platform will need a lot of time on the Nurburgring, no Buick needs to undergo testing in Germany.

For $42k you can get a Genesis loaded, a $42k CTS would be DI and some options, but not all. So both would have nav, heated seats, power windows, locks, etc. CTS wouldn't have cooled seats or 18" wheels, wood trim package or a spare tire (spare tire is an option on a Cadillac for some reason and the car doesn't come with run-flat tires either). The Genesis has a couple extra features that are negligible, but a huge advantage in stereo. The difference is powertrain. 304 hp V6 vs 375 hp V8. Genesis is faster than a CTS, Genesis' braking beats a 550i, and beats the CTS on the skidpad. Cadillac bragged about 3 mm panel gap tolerances on the CTS, the Genesis is 1.3 mm, tighter than an S-class. I haven't driven a Genesis, so I don't know what it feels like, maybe it doesn't drive as well as a CTS and is just good on paper. But I doubt it. I sat in the Genesis, the interior materials and build quality are equal to the CTS, the Genesis' leather is probably better. The Genesis isn't here to compete with the luxury brands though, it is here to boost Hyundai's image and I think it is working.

People underestimated Lexus 20 years ago, look at them now. The Genesis has really solid specs, and they have updates already planned for it. The Genesis may sell slowly now, but it's mission is to change Hyundai's image. 10 years from now Hyundai could be thought of as equal or better than Nissan, Chevy, Ford and for sure Chrysler if they are still around.

The Genesis is the car Cadillac wishes it had.

I hate how they did the gauges and how that part sticks up, the dash should have been one piece. Otherwise it is good for Buick and it has push button start. I like the 2010 MKZ more, but I am guessing the Buick will be a little cheaper than that. Better than an Azera or Avalon.