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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    The GV80 really seems to upstage this interior too at the same money. I feel like XT6 is just an also ran, sort of like the MDX and whatever Infiniti is peddling in this segment.
  2. smk4565
    No, they should not split into 2 companies. Tesla is over inflated, maybe they will be able to monetize data collected from their drivers/owners, maybe they will be able to produce self driving cars that generate money for the company like an Uber driver would, but with no driver and the money going to Tesla. But maybe also the Germans squash them in the EV market. A lot of maybes but I think Tesla is over valued. And other car companies should not try to be like Tesla because they aren't.
  3. smk4565
    The problem of this car is the price. $65k for that V8 seems like a decent deal, but not $89k. There are more powerful, faster, better equipped, more modern cars for that same money. But this car will probably be gone in a year or two because car companies aren't investing in sports sedans and sports coupes anymore, or V8s anymore. I was just thinking the other day how the VW Passage had a W8 option before, the Bonneville had a Northstar V8, the Impala had a 5.3 V8 option, and this was all about 15 years ago. Now you are lucky to even find a V6 in a front drive car, they are mostly all turbo 4. And look at how the Sky/Solstice, Camry Solara, Accord Coupe, Altima Coupe, Monte Carlo, Scion tC, and more coupes have been killed in the past 10-15 years. It is all about FWD, 4-cylinder crossovers now. Lexus will soon replace this with that LCX-Limiteless crossover thing, that will probably have a 3.5 V6 plus hybrid combo making about 400 hp pulling 5,000 lbs, and they'll want $95k for it and position it as the flagship Lexus performance vehicle. Because that LC will be dead by then due to no sales.
  4. smk4565
    The interior is where the IS and RC really fall short. I feel like it hasn't changed in 10 years and I don't think it was that good 5-10 years ago either. That interior is a lot of plastic and Toyota switchgear. The engine sounds good in the video, but it too is really dated. You can tell Lexus is just letting their sedans die on the vine, like they did with the GS. The IS/RC will probably be gone in a year or two and they'll keep the ES around since it is an Avalon/Camry and they will probably keep the LS even if it doesn't sell just to have a flagship. I think the M440i might even outperform the RC F at this point. Probably why Toyota went to BMW to make the Supra.
  5. smk4565
    I think they'll charge a lot of this, but clearly they are concerned with the Bronco coming and stealing sales, and they want to create some hype on the Wrangler. I doubt they do a Hellcat though because it would probably drive like total crap, due to off road tires, high center of gravity, etc.
  6. smk4565
    500 hp, 0-60 in under 5 seconds, 300 mile mile range, win, win win. That grille though, nope! BMW styling is a train wreck right now.
  7. smk4565
    The $6300 Inscription package seems like a big waste of money, especially since part of it is a stereo upgrade when there is $3200 then added on for another stereo upgrade.
  8. smk4565
    $87k for a Volvo is bonkers crazy.
  9. smk4565
    It isn't a bad price for the iD4, but the base iD4 is rear drive, and people buy crossovers for all wheel drive even if they don't need it. So when the dual motor comes at $45-50k, that gets to be a lot. And I get that EV's have less maintenance and operating costs, but there are like 100 crossovers on the market, you have to be competitive to get sales. I also think media, auto companies, journalists, etc fall into the trap of comparing EVs only to other EV's. When really you have to compare EV's to all other cars of similar price. Yes some consumers might shop EV only no matter what, but a lot are coming to compare the EV to a gas car.
  10. smk4565
    Small crossover is a great idea for an EV since that is what sells. Most of these new EVs are 4-door sedans, which is exactly what people are going away from. This looks to be a good product at the wrong price. Because people won't really compare it to a Tesla, they'll compare it to a Tiguan or RAV4 that is $30k, and is the same size, acceleration, has same features, etc at the iD4 at $40k. They still need battery prices to drop some more to make these EV's really appealing.
  11. smk4565
    Probably when 3 years old these will be $30k, which will be a great deal.
  12. smk4565
    There is a shortage of big, comfortable cars since most are the sport sedan so I think this will have appeal to those that want a traditional American luxury car, even though this isn’t American. This sort of sits alone in the market but I don’t know if there are enough buyers left for this sort of vehicle.
  13. smk4565
    The big rectangle looks stupid, the rest of the car looks fine, nothing bad but nothing really striking or exciting either. Other problem is the GT-R is the halo car at Nissan, the Z is like the 2nd tier. At a time when sports coupes aren’t selling, I don’t know if they did enough to make this sell. The Infiniti Q60 coupe looks better and probably will have the same price as the Z.
  14. smk4565
    For one, these car companies can just do online video releases of these cars whenever they want, and it is cheaper than an auto show. Then they can have some locations they let journalists come to, to write reviews, get photos, etc. The car company can get the same buzz without the auto show concept. Other problem with auto shows, is 1,000s of people in an indoor convention center all touching door handles, sitting in cars, sneezing and coughing on steering wheels, etc. As long as coronavirus is around, which could be years really, then there is no auto show.
  15. smk4565
    800 lbs is too much, but I wonder how much of that is water proofing and adding skid plates and equipment to protect the battery. Which wouldn’t be needed on a car. Also a turbo 4 is probably 200 lbs less than a Hemi V8. So it might be like a 400 lb difference on a Charger and they can make some of that up with the Georgio platform being lighter than the LX platform. Jeep also has to do a hybrid to try to stay ahead of the Bronco.
  16. smk4565
    Sounds like a good PowerTrain, would make sense in a Charger, Grand Cherokee and Ram truck.
  17. smk4565
    Brands that have low volume and are not high margin. Although part of the cost savings is Stellantis can make three 4-cylinder engines in 1.3, 1.6 and 2.0 liter trims, and one 3 liter V6, along with 1 front drive transmission and 1 rear drive transmission. And with 4 engines and 2 transmissions they can source every Opel, Peugeot, Citroen, Chrysler, Dodge, Alfa, Jeep, etc. They can do the same mechanicals on all these cars and just put a different front clip on them, although that didn't work for GM.
  18. smk4565
    Gran Cherokee's last major redesign was 2011, Charger and 300 have had one refresh since 2005. The Dodge Journey is over 10 years old and has a 4-speed automatic in the base trim, or at least it did a year ago. The Pentastar V6 is from 2011 the 5.7 Hemi is over 10 years old, etc. And I would imagine the Mercedes W210 platform could not handle the Hellcat, since the most powerful E-class in the 90s was like 355 hp, and I would hope 25 years later they have modified the platform. But why not make a new one? Why is the Grand Cherokee still on a Daimler-Chrysler era platform, that merger ended 12 years ago. The Alfa Romeo Georgio platform will underpin any future rear drive Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep, Alfa may lose money but without them, they wouldn't have a platform for the Grand Cherokee, or a mid 2020s Charger. I wouldn't be surprised if Stellantis drops Fiat everywhere, but I think they will keep them in Italy, eastern Europe and South America where they need cheap cars, and the Fiats will be a badge job of an Opel or lower end Peugeot. And the big thing PSA had was a head start in electric. The future is electric and self driving, and FCA was way behind the competition.
  19. smk4565
    That is too many cars. And FCA had good profit margin in 2019 mainly due to them putting so little money into new product the past couple years. The Ram 1500 and Wrangler are the only 2 new precuts of the past 2 years. Some of their products have gone 10 years without a major update. And i am sure that was by design to cut costs everywhere possible the last few years to make the company look profitable and good for sale.
  20. smk4565
    Agree, interior looks great and a lot of features on this car. I am not too crazy about the outside though, the 2011 Sonata nailed it and this looks a bit odd.
  21. smk4565
    I am just saying front drive crossovers are the #1 selling product type. You could price a Porsche 911 at $30k and the Rav4 would still outsell it because most people don't want a sports car, they want a crossover to haul stuff, even if they don't haul stuff, and they think they need AWD for snow, even if they don't, and they want good gas mileage so they'll live with a 1.6 liter turbo to get it.
  22. smk4565
    No it isn't, I said they should kill Chrysler, and move the van to Dodge. And add Peugeot to current FCA dealer network. And they can drop Fiat in the USA.
  23. smk4565
    I don't know if it is garbage, Peugeot and Citroen are outselling Opel this year, and GM was sourcing their Buicks from Opel. And on styling and interiors the Peugeot's look better than the Opels. So if Peugeot beat Opel in Europe (before buying out Opel) then I don't see why they can't beat Buick in the USA, much less Chevy or Hyundai or whatever other brand they want to compete with.
  24. smk4565
    The Rav4 by itself sells as much as the whole Dodge brand in the US. There is plenty of market for front drive crossovers. And PSA knows how to make money, they had over an 8% margin last year, most car companies are happy at 5%. Dodge is still around with a stale lineup because the only way for the brand to be profitable is to sell vehicles that the tooling was paid off 5-10 years ago. If they started pumping money into new product they'd be broke, which is why FCA was putting out so little new product recently. Any hopes of Dodge's rear drive future lie on the Georgio platform.
  25. smk4565
    And RWD V8 is dying fast. I am a rear drive V8 fan, but the market wants fwd crossovers which PSA has.
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