Jump to content
News
Reviews
Discussons
Activity
Create New...
Close

smk4565

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    13,685

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    11

 Content Type 

Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Daimler is still turning a healthy profit, just not as high as before. Ford had a $47 million profit last year, Lewis Hamilton made more than that. Daimler spent $10.3 billion on R&D last year which rose from the year before. Profit is down because EV and autonomous driving costs money. Better for them to pour money in now and be ready than to cut R&D and be screwed when the market shifts.
  2. smk4565
    They redesigned the GLS for 2020 model year. And all GLS have electric motor boost so you have instant torque to bridge the gap to that 2,000 rpm point where gas engine torque starts kicking in. Also Mercedes doesn't really need a "hellcat" or "zr-1" sort of ultra GLS because it isn't a Mercedes halo product. The AMG GT, S-class, SL, G-wagen are their halo product, the GLS is like 5th in their hierarchy, where as an Escalade is by far the flagship Cadillac, the brand doesn't have anything else. Likewise with Lincoln and the Navigator. Mercedes already has $200,000 product for the fans that will pay that price. Cadillac does not have $200,000 product, but I would bet there are some die hard Cadillac fans out there that would spend $200,000 on a 755 hp Escalade with 2wd and Michelin Pilot Sport tires even if it is pointless, just so they can say they have the ultimate Escalade.
  3. smk4565
    The GLS 450 is no doubt the top seller, but it's 0-60 time is about the same as the Escalade or Navigator, and the GLS580 beats them both before even getting to the AMG. There may be an AMG 73 hybrid GLS with 800 hp. They need an Escalade-V even if it isn't any good. Look at how Dodge got people to pay $80k for Hellcat Chargers that otherwise are a fleet sedan on a 20 year old platform. That is like Ford selling $80k Crown Vics. I think Cadillac should make an Escalade ZR-1 with the 755 hp Corvette ZR-1 engine, even if it was rear drive only, delete the 3rd row to save weight and they could sell that for $180,000 easily. Hell I would even rate it at 760 hp and advertise it as the most powerful GM vehicle ever.
  4. smk4565
    I was talking about sales, GLS should have more appeal since they have versions from 362 hp to 603 hp, and the Maybach which is segment exclusive luxury. Much more bandwidth where as there is less choice at the competitors. Maybach is the top GLS trim. And if people didn't want high performance SUV's Lamborghini's #1 seller wouldn't be an SUV, Bentley wouldn't have a Bentayga Speed, Audi wouldn't have an SQ8, Ferrari wouldn't be joining the game, and no doubt Aston Martin's SUV will be their #1 seller.
  5. smk4565
    I actually think the GLS may reign supreme. They have AMG and Maybach versions which BMW or anyone else doesn't have equivalents to. The X7 seems to be well reviewed and do well in comparison tests. GLS and X7 are both superior to Escalade, Navigator and QX80 in jus about every way except towing and they aren't beat there by all that much. These body on frame SUVs is like a Town Car going against an S-class.
  6. smk4565
    Well the X7 was the #3 seller in the segment in 2019, and it was only only on sale for 7-8 months. We'll have to see how a full year goes with it, GLS and Escalade. The journalists seem to like the X7. And I am pretty sure the SRX was renamed XT5 solely because BMW makes an X5. I bet 7 years ago Cadillac had a 4 hour meeting to debate whether to change the SRX name to XT5, QT5 or MLT.
  7. smk4565
    I am surprised that the Escalade wasn't renamed XT7 to better align with the current naming scheme and also position it better against the segment leader BMW X7. Because in GM thinking, an XT7 is greater than X7.
  8. smk4565
    Well with the death of the Blackwing V8, GM can live and die with the small block V8. Silverado and Escalade have been bleeding market share with it, Camaro will probably be dead in 2023, although that has nothing really to do with the engine and everything to die with it not being an SUV. Although I think GM’s design department has let them down way more in recent years than the powertain people. Engines aren’t really GM’s problem, design is.
  9. smk4565
    So Formula 1 cars, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Porsche got it wrong, but Dodge and Chevrolet get it right? Sure. They had the SLK, 4 cylinder supercharged, the 3.2 V6 and that 5.4 V8 with superchargers from the Daimler-Chrysler days, and they probably threw all those away for good reason.
  10. smk4565
    Superchargers are mostly used by GM, Dodge and 90s Toyota Previa's. Not exactly the who's who of engine manufacturers. Supercharged engines suck gas too, electric turbo is better and faster.
  11. smk4565
    My guess is this engine dies with the CT6. They don't have a crossover that can take a V8, CT5 can't fit it, they probably aren't going to make a sports car. That leaves the Escalade-V if it shows up, and I think they'll used the 6.2 supercharged there, because it is cheaper and easier.
  12. smk4565
    Doesn’t even need a lift kit, maybe a 1 inch lift. Plastic body cladding = rugged and off road.
  13. smk4565
    Slap some plastic body cladding on it and some Trail Rated badging and you have the all new Pacifica Montana.
  14. smk4565
    Awesome MPG, I like the optional solar panel too, that is really cool. This new Sonata is really impressive, it looks good, has best in class interior and technology, now 52 MPG. They brought their A game with this car, it is a stand out.
  15. smk4565
    Since the diesel and gas engines make the same torque, are they both Escalade 600?
  16. smk4565
    Tesla definitely needs to make a CyberSUV The X7 and GLS are selling at a higher rate than the Escalade. The Navigator was outsold by the ancient Infiniti QX80 last year which is embarrassing.
  17. smk4565
    That VW is an Atlas which is built on the Golf platform.
  18. smk4565
    The new 3.8 liter V6 is less powerful than the Nissan 3.7 liter V6 that made 328 hp 10 years ago.
  19. smk4565
    Cadillac SUVs are same sausage, different lengths. If the Germans do it, Cadillac will surely copy it.
  20. smk4565
    Good technology on the new Escalade, it has the stuff you need to offer in this segment. Styling wise it looks too much like a Tahoe. I don't know why Cadillac is going to horizontal headlights on all their vehicles when that is a Chevrolet styling cue, and Cadillac has used vertical headlamps for about 20 years. Unless GM cost cutting is getting so bad they figure it is easier to put the same shape headlights in Chevy and Cadillac.
  21. smk4565
    We knew this was coming. Need to push money towards EV’s anyway.
  22. smk4565
    The marketing seems good so far. The torque thing is a bit of freedom with how torque is calculated. In actual torque it will probably be more like 900 or 1,000, which is still insane but it doesn’t make 11,500 lb-ft comparative to a gas engine.
  23. smk4565
    Wikipedia said 203 inches. If it was only 189 it didn't seem it since it was 6,600 lbs and the H3 was 188 inches long which seemed much smaller. But I think 190 inches long is a good spot for a new GMC Hummer.
  24. smk4565
    H2 is much wider and taller, and the H2 was 203.5 inches long because it is a Tahoe. Individual pickups sell more because there are fewer of them. Add up the pickups then compare it to SUV's, there were 8.27 million SUV's sold in the USA in 2019 vs 3.11 million pickups. And pickups have a much higher fleet rate than SUV's in general. And there were zero light duty pickups sold in the USA over $100,000 last year, while SUV's do sell for over $100k. I think the GMC Hummer is going to be expensive given their specs, so their best chance at sales success is SUV.
  25. smk4565
    The G550 is a mid-size SUV. It is smaller than a GLE. The GMC Hummer should be a mid-size SUV, which hits the sweet spot of the market, also makes it better off road. If it is a pickup I think it will fall flat. SUV is a bigger market segment, and the Cybertruck is going to be out and steal the thunder from the market. Also luxury pickups have failed in the past, the Escalade EXT, the 2 Lincoln attempts, the Hummer truck, Mercedes didn't even try here and is pulling the plug elsewhere, etc. The $100k+ luxury pickup market is non-existent, Sure they can try to create it, but that is tough sledding.
×
×
  • Create New...

Hey there, we noticed you're using an ad-blocker. We're a small site that is supported by ads or subscriptions. We rely on these to pay for server costs and vehicle reviews.  Please consider whitelisting us in your ad-blocker, or if you really like what you see, you can pick up one of our subscriptions for just $1.75 a month or $15 a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way to help support real, honest content, that isn't generated by an AI bot.

See you out there.

Drew
Editor-in-Chief

I've whitelisted
Continue without support

Write what you are looking for and press enter or click the search icon to begin your search