smk4565

Chrysler makes concepts all the time that they never build, and they don't have the battery, electric drivetrain or fuel efficient engine technology that they have in these concepts like this one and the Liberty EV. So I am not too excited about something they are unable to build now, and probably won't be able to build until 2013 and they could be bankrupt well before then.

No one is going to pay $80,000 for a front drive hybrid with Prius-like performance. Cadillac shouldn't be in the front drive business anyway. At $50k they may find some buyers, they can give it an interior/features that are similar to a loaded CTS to offset lack of performance. But at $80k there are too many high end cars that have loads of features and loads of performance.

2 Volts would mean the Converj is nearing $80,000. Cadillac already has an $80,000 2-door that no one wants, making one with similar interior and less performance won't sell. It better perform like a 911 if they want to charge $80,000 for it.

51 is totally reasonable for Lexus because the ES350 is 61, and the LS460 is the only other car they have that has an older customer base. The RX and IS attract younger buyers (35-55) and the RX is their best seller. Toyota's average age doesn't matter, people don't buy a Toyota and automatically trade up to Lexus as they age. There are young people that can afford a luxury car just as there are older people that can't.

CAFE is a weak excuse, they still make Hummers, Suburbans and Tahoes that suck far more gas than any rear drive car. The CTS gets the same mileage as the Malibu, so FWD vs RWD makes no difference in mileage. The problem is too many years of feeding Saturn, Saab, Hummer, etc and not enough time making modern, lightweight platforms, clean diesel, hybrid cars, etc. Only now are they getting the 6-speeds and DI engines to market, they should have been doing that in 2005-2006, but they pushed the GMT900s as priority one, and thought "high value" 3500 and 3900 V6s is what the market wanted. Sigma may not seem dated now, but the E-class and 5-series are getting redone this year, and BMW is already has the test mule for the next generation 3-series, if they don't start on a Sigma replacement now, they will be behind again.

335d for sure kills all these luxury hybrids. They don't sell it here, but the BMW 116d gets 53 mpg, which is better than the 2010 Prius. And it is rear drive, so the myth that rear drive sucks gas while front drive is the way to go is false.

The Lexus ES350's average buyer age is 61. The Lexus brand in 2007 had an average age of 51. And Lexus already has 2 cars the size of the Regal, plus one smaller than that, and they already have a smaller (than Enclave) crossover and a convertible (even though the SC430 sucks, but IS convert. is coming). It could take Buick 2-3 more years to get a smaller sedan and ute, while Lexus has those vehicles for sale today.

But do they need 2 cars of identical size with similar engines , transmissions and acceleration with only suspension tuning and some sheet metal being different, especially when they have the Malibu also. They can do a sport model of the Malibu to get younger buyers. The goal should be 400,000 Malibus a year, not 180k or whatever they sold this year. The 2.8 turbo isn't even efficient, in the 9-3 which is a little car it is rated at 15/24 mpg, there are V8s that get better.

Buick is getting the Regal which is a restyled Aura, so that is already covered. Don't need 2 of the same car at the same dealership. If Pontiac stays it should be Solstice and G8, maybe the Astra. But they won't make money with 3 cars so I doubt they stay for long.

Sales volume doesn't equal profit.

It is bigger than the ES350, it is the same size as the Avalon. However an Avalon starts at 3490 lbs, and is 3610 for the limited. So LaCrosse is 450-500 more. It could be cheap steel that is heavy; lighter weight metals cost more and GM has to nickle and dime somewhere.

GM Shanghai had a poor year in 2008, with Buick being the reason. Chevy did well and posted an increase, but Buick was down 10%. I do like the Pursuing Lexus tagline. For example Lexus had a 250 hp, 3 liter, DI V6 in 2006, now in 2010, Buick gets one.

Because the Enclave's average is around 56-57, which is enough to bring the Lucerne/LaCrosse 67 down to 63. Oldsmobile's by comparison was 47 when they got rid of them, whoops, got rid of the wrong brand.

No one will buy it, or even take it for free. Lutz admitted today that Saab has never made money and has lost up to $800 million a year since GM bought it. Saab probably lost GM a solid $10 billion since 1990, plus the $2-3 billion they spent to buy it in the first place. Combine that with all the billions wasted on Saturn, and it is no wonder GM is where they are today. If the $20 billion lost on those 2 brands was given to Chevy, maybe they would be dominating Toyota right now, not vice versa.

Nothing at GM is making money right now. And it still costs something to rebadge a Chevy, run advertising for it, pay GMC management, brand V.P.'s etc. It could be profitable in the future, but I am not convinced that having Chevy trucks alone wouldn't yield and equal or better profit margin for GM as a whole.

That isn't perception, that is truth, the average age of a Buick sedan buyer is 67. Build a conservative looking, soft riding, full size sedan with oversized buttons and clocks on the dash and you'll get that demographic. "The only way to travel is Buick style" is my guess. Otherwise they will just use whatever Lexus used 10 years ago, since they want to be like Lexus but are several years behind them.

The Fisker Karma is the direction Cadillac should be looking, electric with performance. If this is front drive, the SRX is front drive, Escalade moves to Lambda and DTS is front drive, that is a whole lot of front drivers. The STS and XLR are expected to die off, so just the CTS is left for rear drive Cadillacs. What happened to rear wheel drive and V8s?

This is a good plan and should have been started 2 years ago. Saab, Hummer and Saturn should go fast. I suspect Pontiac will close down around 2012, and GMC will stay because a stand alone Buick dealership would never survive. GMC could also be the fleet and medium duty truck sales outlet.

Why did they release info on a dedicated hybrid whose only selling points are economy and that it is a cheap way to get Lexus, and not include any gas mileage figures? They are selling fuel economy, but make no mention of what it is, at least estimate a number based on testing. This is a dumb car that dilutes the Lexus brand. a hybrid IS250 would have made more sense.

Lutz even said the "Voltec" (I guess that is like Vortec for the 21st century) technology could be used with different battery and engine sizes. Why not double or triple the battery capacity and use a more powerful engine, so it can go 80 miles on a charge, and has 200 kilowatts, rather than 120. Or scrap the 4 cylinder all together and replace that space with more battery. And drive the rear wheels. If they kill the STS and move Escalade to Lambda, the CTS is the only rear driver left. I wonder what the Volt and this thing weigh, because they have a gas engine, plus electric drive and batteries, this could be a 4,000 pound compact, so handling probably won't be a strong suit. There are a lot of challenges in making an electric car, and unless it performs as well as gas, and is equal or less total cost of ownership, people aren't going to switch to it.

The Lexus HS250h has too many H's in the name and it looks too like a Corolla with a Fusion grille, but it is actually 6 inches longer than the Corolla so maybe it is more Prius than Corolla. Either way it isn't very expensive or nice looking. As far as the Cadillac, it should perform like a CTS otherwise it shouldn't be a Cadillac. Make Chevy and Buick versions if they want front drive and soft riding at a reasonable price point. Cadillac lacks brand focus, and they haven't been able to create that elite upscale image. Cadillac should be making high tech, high performing, high style cars that can get $50-100k without need for rebate or incentive.

I don't like that it is front wheel drive and probably performs the same as the Volt. 120 kilowatts is 160 hp, a 160 hp front driver is not a Cadillac. A Cadillac electric car should perform like the Tesla, it should be fast and handle well. As far as looks, the Cien type rear end is good, but the headlights and tail lights sweep too much into the body of the car, and I don't like the hatch look, it looks too Japanese. I would rather see a traditional looking coupe.

One thing that they did very well that GM tends to struggle with is the inside of the doors. The arm rest, leather with the vertical stitching and the wood all tie in well and it looks good. No plastic seatbacks either, and I noticed heated and cooled front seats and heated rear seats. Ford did a great job with this vehicle.

The tail lights look like the Camry, the front looks almost Korean and the quad fog lights is just odd. I don't know what they were thinking, because the S-class, C-class and CLS all look pretty good and they look like a Mercedes. The interior is traditional Mercedes, but the exterior doesn't look how a Mercedes should.

STS is common in Western PA, I think for a few reasons. It had awd in 2005-2007 when the CTS didn't, and the population is older and the STS was usually discounted a good bit. Used ones are really cheap. Now that the CTS is awd and so many other cars offer it, the STS lost that advantage.