smk4565

They are priced about the same, the Model Y is $1,000 cheaper base price but I prefer the Ford interior of the 2 from what I’ve seen on video. But what is next for Ford also? If the Mustang Mach-E is the top performance Ford EV, do they just go down from there? The Model Y is the slowest Tesla. For Ford I think electric F150 is key to get that market locked down before the Cybertruck takes it over.

Daimler had a $10 billion R&D budget in 2019 vs Tesla’s $1.3 billion and $7.4 billion at Ford. Their 20% cut is more aimed at fixed cost. Daimler in December 2020 said they will invest 70 billion euros in EV’s from now until 2025. Money isn’t a worry. The question is if they can build Tesla killers. I think they can but they have to prove it.

The Taycan 4s is $103k and has 227 mile range and 0-60 in 3.8 seconds. The $69K Model S beats both those figures, the $91k Model S Performance has a 387 mile range and 0-60 in 2.5 seconds. Porsche should be selling the 4s at $80k, they are $23k too high. Diesel fines have nothing to do with the pricing of the EQA and the Daimler R&D budget is pretty huge. In fact Mercedes R&D budget is about 5 times Tesla’s. That EQA and any other Mercedes EV should be priced competitively. And final pricing isn’t out on the EQA so we’ll see what happens. All I am saying is Mercedes and the rest better be competitive or else when gas cars get banned Tesla is going to own the car market.

The Model Y is faster and cheaper although I prefer the Mach-E’s interior with an actual center screen. The Model Y has more range too. They are comparable, but the Tesla seems like the better buy. But I don’t think the iD4 or Bolt compare well to the Model Y and the iD4 isn’t even on sale yet. Talk about aiming too low. Also brand image matters a lot, Tesla brand image is Mercedes/BMW level and maybe better. Ford/VW are a far cry from that. I imagine all things being equal, people would pay $5k more for a Tesla than a VW or Ford.

What is embarrassing is no one else makes an EV as good as Tesla. The Taycan is fast, but doesn't have the range of a Model S and it costs more. Taycan interior looks nicer, but the Model S is old. And after seeing the EQA, I am thinking Mercedes is putting not enough motor and too much price into their EV's.

An electric Corvette would be cool, if it is a C8 body and not an SUV.

Rolls is good now because of the BMW running gear underneath them, so mechanically they are much more competitive than say the Rollers of the 90s that were really dated. But Rolls is on point as far as design and interiors go. The Maybach S650 has more hp, torque, technology and safety than any Rolls, it is also half the price. The Maybach GLS580 is comparable on power and performance to the Cullinan and also half the price. The Rolls have more opulent interiors, but the purpose of the current Maybach is to exist in the space between a standard S-class and a Rolls, not to compete head on with Rolls. Consider a Phantom starts at $455,000, that is 4 S500's.

But Maybach was a dead brand, brought back to life as a trim level of the S-class and GLS. Hummer was a dead brand brought back as a model, sort of different but same idea. In keeping with that idea, GM has plenty of dead names they can use for EV’s, Bonneville, Aurora, Envoy, Riviera, Electra, Rainier, Aero X, Belle Aire, Eldorado, etc. All those can work on EV’s.

Which Maybach? The original was built in a modified W140 S-class chassis, but a Bentley Bentayga is based off an Audi A6 platform and no one cares because of how flexible these platforms are. And offering a $200k Maybach S-class now is the opposite of diluting a brand. It is pushing the s-class up market. And there is no Maybach brand anymore so you can’t dilute it. Just like the GMC Hummer doesn’t dilute the Hummer brand because the Hummer brand died in 2009.

Maybach was a brand with its own dealers, not a model like the Corvette is a model sold by Chevy. And the brand was dead. Actually GMC Hummer is almost the same thing, take a dead brand name and repackage it under a current brand. GMC with Denali does the same thing Mercedes does with Maybach and it is a good idea to have an up level luxury trim. GM has Cadillac to make high performance SUV’s. If Cadillac is the luxury/performance arm at GM they should be all over that. If someone buys a Lyriq and a C8, the money from both goes to the same place. I am not bashing a domestic car, I am saying calling an SUV a Mustang or Corvette is dumb. Ford Mach-E would have been a perfect name for that vehicle. Just like Bell Aire would be a good name for a Chevy electric SUV and they can offer some bright colors as options unlike the VW iD4 that you get white, gray or black unless you get the top trim them blue is an option.

Porsche didn’t call their SUV the 911. Chevrolet should not call their SUV a Corvette. Now if Corvette is going to spun out of Chevrolet into it’s own stand alone dealers as an all EV brand with 5-6 models and and an electric charging network at the dealers then that is a different argument. But this is why GM has Cadillac.

The day the Corvette becomes an SUV is the day the Corvette dies. I don’t think they should turn the Camaro into an SUV either, and I do think that name plate will die because coupes are like 2% market share. I think It better for Chevy to use names like Belle Aire, Kodiak, Scottsdale, etc dig up some names that have been dead a while for EV’s, especially Belle Aire, what is more trendy California than an electric car.

The 911 is not a brand. And I can't image you would want to see a Corvette SUV. GM has made some bad moves in the past, but a Corvette SUV would make the Cimmaron and Alante look like good ideas.

They all look similar because they are all Porsches. Chevrolet can build as many electric SUVs as they want, and none should have a Corvette badge on them. On a side note, why is it that these car companies think a high performance electric SUV is the way to go? Cadillac won't make a high performance SUV now, notice there is no demand for a 500 or 600 hp XT5 or XT6, no demand for a 450 hp Traverse or Blazer, etc. Shouldn't they aim for the meat of the market, like pickups, Rav4 sized SUVs, etc? If that is the case, the Corvette can't be a crossover.

I feel like these will be a good deal on the used car market because they'll probably drop in value and Hyundai/Kia products have pretty good reliability and warranty so you can probably pick up a reliable used car with good performance for like half the cost of new when they are about 3 years old.

Making SUVs saved Porsche, not turning the 911 into an SUV. Also the 911 has ridiculous profit margins which helped them, and between the 2 they got the cash to buy 1/3 of VW or whatever they got in that merger/acquisition thing they did. Porsche is a band, Corvette is not. 911 is the same 2+2 rear engine car it has been for 50 years. You can not buy an 911 sedan or a 911 SUV.

As I said in my other post, M is a trim level, AMG is a trim level. Corvette is not a trim level. GMC puts "Denali" on everything, as they should. And Cadillac could use more V-series cars. Making a Corvette SUV makes just as much sense as Cadillac making an electric 2 seat sports car and calling it Escalade.

AMG isn't a car though, it was a tuner company bought by Mercedes. And now is a trim level of sorts. If GM wants to make electric SUV's with Denali, V-series, Avenir, or SS badges all over it, then have at it. A Corvette SUV would be like if Mercedes made an SL electric crossover, or Porsche made a 911 3-row crossover. Makes no sense. Corvette is 2 seat coupe/convertible and has been for 60+ years, it can't be an SUV.

About 2 years Dr. Dieter Zetsche was CEO, Dr. Thomas Weber was in charge of R&D for Mercedes and Tobias Moers was CEO of AMG, and all 3 are engineers, but now they are all gone. Now Ola Kallenius is CEO ( was formally was head of AMG and R&D) but he is an economics and finance guy. So we'll see what happens, they might run into the beancounter abyss also and get run over by Tesla. I agree Tesla's stock value doesn't make sense, but it keeps going up.

Well yeah, I am sure there are other good engineers they can hire. My point was more that the engineers and designers don't run the company, the finance people do. And the danger is them making finance decisions over product decisions. Because they see Tesla worth $750 billion or whatever they are worth and GM worth $70 billion and they'll probably do anything they can to compete with Tesla because the stockholders will demand it. And Tesla copying is where a lot of car makers can get in trouble.

But he'll one day retire or be forced out. Or if they tell him to make a Corvette SUV, he'll have to do it. I tend to think GM isn't that stupid to make a Corvette SUV or Corvette sedan or anything else like that. A Corvette EV sure, but all that is is swapping the gas engine for batteries and motor, it would still be a 2 seat sports car.

I imagine in a few years all these products are going to be pretty similar. Stellantis is going to come up with a couple transmissions, a few engines, 1 infotainment system, and regardless of which brand you buy from, most of the car will come from the same parts bin. So whether the car is called Dodge, Chrysler, Opel, Peugeot, etc, it will be similar with the exception of the styling on the front and rear fascias.

One badge I think, Bronco Sport is similar, they are really trying to push “Bronco” not Ford. Which is fine, but the Ford brand doesn’t have a lot of cache. That’s why their Tesla Model Y fighter is called Mustang rather than Ford E-whatever since all their SUV’s have E names. Ford needs to use their #1 model name to stand a chance against the Tesla brand, but if the Mach-E is a bust then it drags the Mustang down with it. I don’t like calling an SUV a Mustang, nor do I like calling an SUV a Corvette. Early reviews seem pretty positive on the Mach E, but I am curious how it does long term.

I don't think any live Auto show happens in 2021. Who would go even if they had one? It would lose money. Just like how every movie studio keeps delaying their movies, even if a theater is open no one will go and blockbuster movies that would do $100 million in a weekend pre-Covid open with like $8 million and the studio loses money.

A Corvette SUV is a horrible idea, they shouldn't do it. However I think GM will do it. The "Corvette" name still means something because it hasn't been watered down or trashed. If GM wants to make a high performance electric crossover, I'd say that is what Cadillac is for. And if they want to make a high performance electric crossover with a crappier interior call it Blazer SS, or GMC Typhoon or make up a new name. Also not a fan of "Mustang Mach-E" because you know, it isn't an actual Mustang. Why isn't it just Mach-E? This goes to a greater problem with how trash the brand image of Ford and Chevrolet are, why they have to call everything Corvette or Mustang, why the Bronco doesn't say Ford on it, etc. Compared to say Tesla, where the brand matters more than the model. Ask a Corvette owner what kind of car they drive, they'll say Corvette, not Chevy, ask a Model S owner and they'll say Tesla. GM needs to make the Chevy brand cool, not trash the Corvette name with SUVs.