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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. 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.
  2. smk4565
    Sounds like a good PowerTrain, would make sense in a Charger, Grand Cherokee and Ram truck.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. smk4565
    And RWD V8 is dying fast. I am a rear drive V8 fan, but the market wants fwd crossovers which PSA has.
  12. smk4565
    Citroen and Peugeot outsell Dodge, and have better margin. If Chrysler stays then they are getting straight badge jobs I image.
  13. smk4565
    Carlos Tavares, the man now in charge of Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler and Fiat. If he keeps Chrysler here they will be 100% badge swapped cars from the European stable and probably same for Dodge in time.
  14. smk4565
    I think he has a better chance with Peugeot than Opel or Citroen, and Chrysler and Fiat are dead weight that are only kept around out of nostalgia of the owners of Fiat-Chrysler, but FCA as a company is gone and Carlos has no nostalgia for them. If you read up on Tavares, he has a no private jets rule, he personally travels economy class on planes and trains, this guy is a cost cutter extraordinaire, and he doesn't care about volume, only cares about profitability and making money. GM could never make money on Opel, he made money on it in 18 months. This guy will be aggressive, slash through the dead weight and push Peugeot and DS where he makes margin.
  15. smk4565
    Dodge, Chrysler and Fiat have negative images. Carlos is going to bring something here, and I am betting that it isn't going to be Opel.
  16. smk4565
    Peugeot is the #1 selling brand worldwide for Stellantis and the guy that runs the company is from the Carlos Ghosn school of cost cutting. He has zero emotional connection to Dodge or Chrysler or Fiat, he is going to push what makes money and my guess is he sees money to be made with Peugeot's crossovers being sort of his GMC/Buick competitor as something a little more stylish and upscale than Chevy/Toyota mainstream offerings.
  17. smk4565
    Fiat will be gone, I think 2021 model year is rumored as the final one for the Chrysler 300. So if Chrysler is only 1 minivan, they can just move that to Dodge and close down Chrysler. That gives Stellantis Dodge-Jeep for American flavor, and they'll bing in Peugeot for European flavor and put that in the same dealerships. And Ram will stay as it is with American sourced pickups and European sourced vans.
  18. smk4565
    All that aside, if they offered the 86/BRZ with the 241 hp turbo from Lexus, they could do that as a stand alone $2k option, and broaden the appeal. Probably they'll do it in the final model year when sales are dropping off just before they kill the car. It isn't so much about what the competition has, but people just walking away from the BRZ/86 due to it being low on power.
  19. smk4565
    I have not driven either, but there aren't many cars in this segment. I have driven the Genesis Coupe with a V6 years ago, that at least had 300 hp for similar money to the BRZ/86. A Nissan 370Z is the same price and has 332 hp and it is is a fairly light weight car, smaller than something like a Camaro or Mustang. And I don't expect the 86 to drop a 300 hp V6 in there, but I don't see why they can't offer the 241 hp turbo 4 in the Lexus IS or the 268 hp Subaru WRX engine. Either would work and make this car worth $34k.
  20. smk4565
    It would be a slow racing series and no one want to watch a one make race. 154 lb-ft just isn’t enough for over $30k of car.
  21. smk4565
    I get that they are small and light, so you don't need a lot of power, but this car is slow for $34k. Golf GTI is a much better buy. I'd imagine too whatever good handling it has, it pays for in ride comfort, being a short wheelbase car with some stiff suspension set for handling.
  22. smk4565
    $34k and it doesn’t have any power and it isn’t very nice inside, so what do you get for all that money? Also there are 6 cylinder cars with 400 hp putting out 21/28 mpg or even beating that number.
  23. smk4565
    There isn’t one as the V60 is the only small luxury wagon in the United States. The Impreza wrx wagon if that is still around is the only other small wagon I think. So credit to Volvo for creating a niche, but I think there is a reason no one else builds a compact performance wagon.
  24. smk4565
    The V90 is their E450 wagon competitor. The V60 Polestar has good performance, but there are better performance/luxury cars for $69k.
  25. smk4565
    First off the E450 is a whole size class bigger than the V60, and the E-class interior blows away an S90, let alone the V60. Secondly, the V60 has a transverse engine and transmission so all that weight sits over top of the front wheels. The last V60 Polestar has a 60/40 weight split which is no bueno. A more fair fight for the Volvo would be a a CLA45 shooting brake if they make another one, or even a GLB45 would be closer in size, price and performance. The plus for Volvo is no direct competitor exists, this is like a luxury trim Subaru STi Wagon. Although a Tesla Model Y Performance with Autopilot is $69k and is very close in size to a V60 Polestar, and the Tesla is more efficient and does 0-60 in 3.5 seconds. As far as top speed, Volvo said a year ago that they would start limiting all their products to 112 mph top speed.
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