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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    They should offer AWD on every Corvette. Lambo and Porsche offer it on every model, AMG is moving to it on every car, the AMG GT is the last of their RWD only cars and it is at the end of the life cycle. McLaren is going to have all wheel drive, Ferrari has it on some models, etc. I think AWD would expand that appeal of the Corvette being the everyday, every man's sports car, if you can use it all winter long in the snow belt.
  2. smk4565
    Chevy is going to build a high revving, flat plane, turbo DOHC V8, which is something out of a Ferrari playbook, and you expect low maintenance? And maybe it will, but we won't know until they have been on the road 5 years. Still need all wheel drive for the ZR1 and Zora, Lamborghinis are all wheel drive for a reason. Would be good to have all wheel drive on the Z06 also. And I mean all wheel drive from the V8 not just from the electric motors up front. Because without AWD, that ZR1 will bet beat in 0-60 and 1/4 mile runs all day long by less powerful Porsches. A 911 Carrera 4S does 0-60 in 2.8 seconds and that's with 443 hp and 390 lb-ft of torque. That's giving up 100 lb-ft to the C8 and it is still quicker and the C8's 2.95 seconds.
  3. smk4565
    This engine won't be like an LS/LT engine, they are building an engine more like the Panamera Turbo Hybrid or the 2021 AMG GT73 hybrid. Maybe those cars aren't expensive to maintain, but I would guess they don't have NA V8 ownership costs.
  4. smk4565
    True but the Blackwing V8, which is closest to the LT6/LT7, makes 131 hp per liter. Now they are going to 155 hp per liter, so that is extra boost. Now there are 200 hp/liter engines out there, so I don't think it should be an issue, but I don't think these are going to have LS1 maintenance costs. The issue is really getting the power on the ground, they need an all wheel drive system that can handle 825 lb-ft.
  5. smk4565
    GM currently doesn’t make a turbo LS/LT engine, nor do they make a V8 hybrid. So they are going into new territory. Also Ferrari engines need a ton of maintenance, if the LT7 does also, I see no problem with that as long as they disclose it up front.
  6. smk4565
    They need all wheel drive if they are adding power otherwise it won’t get to the ground. The Z06 is probably the limit of 2 wheel drive. They said Zora was 2025 model year, I assume it will be low volume, probably really expensive but why not go that route. Good money maker to have a low volume high price version. I have a big question on LT7 reliability. Yes you can get 850 hp from a 5.5 liter if you rev the hell out of it, but I have to imagine that is going to be Ferrari like reliability and maintenance costs. I wouldn’t be surprised if every 25-50k miles there was a $10-15,000 service due.
  7. smk4565
    I am surprised the V6 is still around, yeah it is in the Avalon and ES350 so it is easy to do. But I read a couple years ago the V6 take rate was only about 7% it is probably lower now. Seems like it would be easier for Toyota to put a turbo on the 2.5 liter 4-cylinder, get about 260 hp, 260 lb-ft and replace the V6 in their front drive products. Maybe keep the V6 for Lexus, or a rear drive Toyota. The V6 here makes the Camry $37k, that is a lot, with a 4-cylinder it is $33k which is more reasonable, and appropriate for this buyer segment.
  8. smk4565
    But that is more than G90 money. Although I will also say the current Lexus ES and LS have a high belt line, and high inside center console which makes the interiors feel kind of cramped on both. The LS has really lost it's way, it used to be a more stately and roomy luxury sedan, now it looks like a glorified Maxima or Mazda 6, and it is trying to be a sports car or something. The Lexus GS is dated, but the ES sells because it is the same size as a G80 or GS or E-class and it starts at $39k. It is mid-size car for G70 money.
  9. smk4565
    The Palisade is roughly the same size as the GV80, even if they grow the platform they can’t go against the Escalade with a front drive Hyundai platform and they can’t charge more for a Palisade based SUV than they do for GV80 which is a rear drive Genesis platform. GV90 will be a a rear drive product as I suspect GV70 would be. And a GV60 could be made off the Tucson platform or whatever small suv platform they have.
  10. smk4565
    Who here thinks the G80 is better than the CT6? CT6 was in the $50-70k range, was G90 size and had 4 engine options instead of 2. CT6 also had livery and past Cadillac owners to pull from.
  11. smk4565
    Genesis is cheaper to maintain than a Cadillac, has better product than Cadillac but still people aren’t buying Genesis. This new G80 is a step forward but they need to do more with G80 or price it at like $42k. This thing should be CT5 and Lexus ES money, but Genesis will price it like a BMW and the product will fail. And personally I think Hyundai/Kia are really on top of their game. But no hybrid, no EV, no twin turbo V8? If you want to play with the big boys that is price of admission.
  12. smk4565
    If Genesis is such a good deal why did they sell 21,000 last year and they are down Q1 this year? They aren’t that good a deal because they needed better styling, interior and power trains which the G80 addresses. G80 looks nice, but it isn’t better than what exists already. A challenge brand has to beat competition not build “almost as good as”
  13. smk4565
    I went through Volkswagen’s 2018 annual report since I didn’t see a 2019 up yet. They do a nice job listing global sales volume of every model and they break out brand revenue and profit. VW brand had 3.2 billion Euros in profit, Audi had 4.7 billion Euros and Porsche 4.1 billion Euros. Skoda made 1.4 billion euros. VW had 6.3 million units sold to Audi’s 1.8 million and Porsche’s 253,000. Skoda sold 1.2 million units. That little volume of a Porsche made more money than VW brand. Audi beat VW and Skoda combined profits. Note that Audi numbers include Lamborghini, because Lambo is part of Audi. They definitely want to sell Audi and Porsche over VW and Skoda.
  14. smk4565
    Audi has VW, and they still make A3 and Q3, heck they make a Q1. Why? Because a Q3 is going to make more profit than a Golf GTI or Tiguan, etc. Volkswagen would rather have people buy a Bentley than an Audi A8, same chassis, but the Bentley has higher profit margin. VW makes something like $700 per car, Audi makes about $5,000 and Bentley makes about $20,000. Which do you think they want to sell the most of? Every sale Audi takes from VW is $4,000 extra profit. Porsche does about $20,000 per car also, think they'd rather sell a Porsche Macan or an Audi Q5? Every Macan sale stolen from Audi is a $15,000 win for the company.
  15. smk4565
    The most expensive E-class is $25,000 more expensive than the most expensive Escalade.
  16. smk4565
    Once upon a time, BMW sold over 10,000 3-series a month, and the X3 didn't exist. Now the 3/4 series sell maybe $5k units a month, but the X3 sells another 6-7,000 units at a price higher than the 3-series. BMW made a product that stole sales from their own model, but did so at a higher price and higher profit margin. If Cadillac made an XT3 that brings in new buyers that otherwise never would have bought a Cadillac, and also takes 10,000 sales off Buick/GMC at an additional $1,000 per car, then Cadillac just made GM $10 million in extra profit. This is why GMC and Denali exists, to take sales away from Chevy and make more money because they can jack the price up more on the same product.
  17. smk4565
    That is a very good question. This will be a close one, I think Malibu will die at the end of this life cycle because the mid-size sedan segment is competitive, Camry, Accord, Sonata, Optima are all strong, Subaru has loyal buyers, Nissan will stay in because they get a lot of fleet sales and have global scale. For GM to keep the Malibu competitive it will cost a lot, they won't spend that. I do think GM may keep a Spark/Sonic type car around because down at that price point $15,000ish there isn't really any strong competition, they are mostly rental fleet or pizza delivery cars or something where buyers don't demand anything, and they can build that car in South Korea or China on the cheap and maybe keep that profitable. I'd say even money odds as to which GM kills first the CT4 or Spark/Sonic. The wildcard could be introduction of an EV sedan that is like $30k if batteries get cheaper.
  18. smk4565
    Cadillac, in theory, should have the highest profit margins of any GM brand. Just for random numbers, if a Chevy has $1,000 in profit margin, a Buick/GMC $2,000 and a Cadillac $3,000, then GM should want to sell as many Cadillacs as possible because it represents the highest profit margin. Not only does Cadillac need a full line to steal sales away from other luxury makes, Cadillac needs a full line to steal sales from Chevy, Buick and GMC. Every time someone buys a Buick/GMC instead of a Cadillac (or in this case a Cadillac that doesn't exist) GM is losing potential profit. And I am talking like for like vehicle, not a Yukon Denali vs a CT4. Every Encore or Terrain sold that wasn't an XT3 is lost profit. And as a side note, GMC needs and SUV smaller than the Terrain.
  19. smk4565
    Cutting below the E-class would be like Cadillac cutting everything below Escalade. Makes no sense. Also the CLA35/GLB35 can run into the $60,000 range, they aren't so cheap. Mercedes has has 9 consecutive years of sales growth, #1 selling premium brand in the world, #1 seller of vehicles over $100k in the world. I don't think they need to have change a formula that is working.
  20. smk4565
    A/GLA are not their best sellers, E-class alone does close to the volume those 2 do combined worldwide. C and GLC outsell the A's also. Buick only has 1 product smaller than an XT4, and that is the Encore and Encore GX if you want to call that 2 products. Neither are luxurious, the Encore doesn't even have a center arm rest for the front passenger seat. Nor do Buicks have Super Cruise. I think a CT3 Cadillac would be an absolute bust, however an XT3 would sell. An XT4 is 182 inches long. There are several crossovers on market right now in the 165-170 inch long range so XT4 is much bigger than some current crossovers already on market.
  21. smk4565
    Worldwide the Mercedes A/GLA outsold the entire Cadillac brand last year. I would say Cadillac could use an XT3. Cadillac’s largest market is China, a place loaded with displacement taxes and booming with small vehicle sales. Hence why Genesis needs a GV60 more than a GV90.
  22. smk4565
    Cadillac for sure could use an XT3. Genesis really should have GV60 before they do GV90.
  23. smk4565
    GV70 they need badly, it is the biggest segment in luxury cars and they aren’t there. I am curious to see how the GV80 does. If it doesn’t do well, I have doubts that they will do a GV90 to take on the Escalade which sells strong, and X7 and GLS. The big problem for Genesis is they have no current owner buyer pool and a likely limited buyer pool of Sonata and Santa Fe drivers trading way up to G80 and GV80. So their sales have to come from conquest, and who are they conquesting with no brand image/awareness and a small dealer network?
  24. smk4565
    Very true, all of them do massive business in China and Europe as well. I remember Audi selling like 250,000 A6 alone in China a couple years ago. Audi’s Chinese sales alone are on par with Lexus’s global volume.
  25. smk4565
    VW has 3 crossovers, which is the #1 selling body style. They could use one smaller than Tiguan for sure though. Mercedes first 4 EV’s are small and compact SUV (the biggest growth segments) and Full size and mid size sedan will come next. And they are focused on Europe because of emissions regulations. They have to sell every EQ C they build in Europe to lower their fleet CO2 average. Once they scale up the EV’s they can bring more to the USA, but EV sales are like 3% of the American market, they aren’t missing out in anything right now.
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