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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Escalade does well but it starts at $75k and loaded out is $100k. A $200k start price is 2.5 times higher. Celestique is supposed to start at $200k so with options we could be in the $220-250 range. But bring it on, competition is good for the industry and the consumer. Before the CT6 came out, all the Cadillac fans rejoiced that the S-class killer was here, and then the CT6 had to be price cut down to $55k, never competed with the S-class and after 4-5 years it is gone. Now they want to go 4 times more than the price of a CT6, I don't see how that works. People aren't going to pay Bentley Money for a Cadillac, it makes as much sense as Chevy selling a $130,000 Impala or Kia selling a $125,000 K900.
  2. smk4565
    Are they? The Escalade sells well on name and the fact that GM has strong full size truck buyer pool, from Silverado, Tahoe, Yukon, etc. And credit to them for cornering that market and FCA isn't even there and Ford they really squashed in full size SUV's the past 10 years. Aside from Escalade, North Americans have not shown up for any high priced Cadillacs in the past 30 years. They don't sell in all levels, Mercedes doesn't have sub $20,000 product, just like Toyota/GM don't have $100k+ product. And I am not opposed to them selling in all market levels, the Corvette sits on the same lot as commercial vans and Spark and Sonic sub-compacts and no one cares, and Corvette fans still love it. Because what a Spark or Express van is has zero impact on what a Corvette is. Just like what the A-class is has zero impact on what the G-wagen or S-class are.
  3. smk4565
    They haven't delayed anything. They are selling the EQ C in Europe, they aren't selling it in the USA because they need to sell 100% of the units they build in Europe to try to beat the C02 threshold and avoid a billion or multi billion euro fine. Europe has imposed C02 standards that basically want auto fleets to be Prius level emissions or face fines. That is also why they introduced 4 or 5 plug-in hybrids last month. EQ A, B, S, E all are pretty deep in development. Sure it would be nice to have them now, but they have to get the product right, and plus with cheap gas and a a really good inline six mild hybrid engine and inline 4 hybrids, a lot of buyers are going to choose that over EV.
  4. smk4565
    I don't care about brand ATP's. If Mercedes wants to sell A-classes and Metris ands then good for them, give consumers more choice and put more good product out there. I would hate if it Mercedes was just 2 sedans and 4 SUV's like a lot of luxury brands are. Google search said 6.2 billion which was before their taxes and right off I think. in 2020 I imagine Daimler will be lucky to just turn profit, as long as they stay profitable this year I think they are in great shape when the economy rebounds and EV demand rises.
  5. smk4565
    2.7 billion Euro after the adjustments so like $3 billion. But that doesn't matter as long as they aren't losing money. What matters is they had record high spending on R&D, they didn't budget cut and sacrifice future product like FCA has done the past 10 years and starved their product line. All these companies are about to have a bad 2020, Daimler will have a bad 2020 no doubt they already said they are going to hold R&D the same as it was in 2019 which is super high, but they'll be ready in 2021 and 2022. Anyone pushing hard for the EV change over is going to have rough years because you are spending on ICE and EV at the same time, once the transitions happens, the profits will come back.
  6. smk4565
    I looked up some numbers, the G-wagen alone outsold all Ferrari, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Rolls-Royce globally in 2019. And they sold 71,700 S-class sedans so with coupe/convertible that has to be at least 80,000 and the cheapest V6 rear drive S-class with no options is $94k, which means 99% of them are going to sticker over $100k. Mercedes sold 4200 AMG GT in the US alone, so that number is probably more like 15-20k globally, plus the SL, the AMG 63 cars, the GLS V8's etc. They are easily doing over 200,000 units a year of $100k and up product. That's impressive.
  7. smk4565
    I'd like to see what that Cadillac number is when CT4 and CT5 are on sale, and CT6 is out of dealers. CT4 is $33k, CT5 is $37k, XT4 is $36k, and XT5 is $44k. 4 of their 6 vehicles are under $45k to start, and I know options get added on, but still, half their lineup now starts under $37k. ATP for a brand is also a meaningless metric, Maserati has a great ATP, and it is a borderline dead brand. Jaguar leas that list and they are near dead in the water. ATP per segment is more relevant if you want to compare. Mercedes has 4 models starting under $40k so their brand ATP is pulled down but Mercedes sells more cars over $100k than any one. More than Bentley, BMW, Audi, Lamborghini, Rolls, etc and probably more than those 5 combined if we are being honest.
  8. smk4565
    Daimler had $6.2 billion net profit in 2019. And keep in mind Mercedes-Benz Cars Division alone spent $7.92 Billion in R&D compared to all of GM that spent $6.8 billion or all of Toyota Corp spending $10 billion. GM sells 4 times as many cars as Mercedes does, Toyota sells 5 times as many. Why doesn't Cadillac have a $7 billion R&D budget to compete with Mercedes? GM fans should be outraged. So not worried about Daimler's profits when they are spending heavy for the future, they'll have the electric car arsenal and carpet bomb all segments, while the others play follow the leader like they have with ICE cars the past 30 years. Cost of ownership for a luxury brand is irrelevant due to high leasing and also Acura is what the 7th or 8th best selling luxury brand in the USA and has a very limited global footprint. Buyers don't care about Acura's resale or maintenance costs.
  9. smk4565
    They found a soft spot in the market around $175-$250k that is above where Audi and BMW end and before Rolls and Bentley begin for the most part. And they took that space over. I don't know why there isn't a Maybach G-class which would make way more sense than an AMG G-class. An electric G-wagen is coming though, could be a nice place to do a Maybach version.
  10. smk4565
    Mistake on my part, I meant CT6, the big sedan.
  11. smk4565
    Maybach is doing well, 2019 was a sales record for the Maybach S-class with sales up over 10% despite global S-class sales down 8% being that it is in it's 6 model year. They have expanded to a 2nd model, which being an SUV will do well for sure. Mercedes got Maybach wrong on the first reboot, but this 2nd try they got it right and they are on the rise now.
  12. smk4565
    #2 at GM?
  13. smk4565
    No one will buy a $60,000 Cadillac sedan that is why the XT6 is dead. The CTS at $46k base was too much so the CT5 starts under $40k. I don’t know know where these $200k buyers are coming from, even an Escalade starts around $85k
  14. smk4565
    Cadillac has to be held to some standard, they should be trying to combine Lexus reliability, with Tesla technology and Porsche Performance into a package. They have to beat those benchmark brands in product if they want the sales and profits. Cadillac's president said the Celestique will start over $200k. So that is going after Bentley, no one is going to spend $200k on a Cadillac unless it is was somehow nicer than a Rolls-Royce with Bugatti-like performance and then they'd lose money on every one sold. It is like how VW built the Phaeton to the highest specifications possible but it wasn't going to sell with a VW badge on the front even if it was a better car than the W220 S-class. All that did was motivate Mercedes to make the W221 the best car in the world, and the the Phaeton was gone.
  15. smk4565
    No EV does crazy volume, Model 3 does pretty well though. But Ford is built on the F150, Explorer and Escape, GM on Silverado, Equinox, Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade, Toyota the Corolla, Camry, RAv4, etc. These brands do most of the business on a few core models. EV's are vanity projects that sell 20k units a year for most brands. What someone (other than Tesla) needs is an EV that is one of their big sellers. Whoever can get an EV that is selling 300k units a year is going to gain massive advantage. That is what I'd like to see GM crack the code with the Chevy SUV, can they make an electric SUV that sells in Equinox volume.
  16. smk4565
    Also, Allante was a failure, XLR a failure, STS-V a failure, ELR a failure. CT6 and CTS-V 3rd Gen did okay but got killed off so couldn't have been that good. Those are all cars under $100k, but all Cadillac attempts to go up market. Now they want to go to $200k, more than double the price of those other cars that didn't make it. And really the measuring stick for this is how well will the Equinox sized EV sells. They need an EV in the heart of the market that can do big volumes for this to work. Car companies aren't build on vanity projects, they are built on those 3-4 core products that do crazy volumes.
  17. smk4565
    The Model S is getting dated, that vehicle needs an update, mostly with styling and interior, since they are still fast and like 2.4 seconds 0-60 with ludicrous. GM won’t allow a car to be faster than a Corvette, especially not a Cadillac sedan. So the Celestique will be slower than the C8. Now that isn’t a problem if luxury is off the charts, Bentley, Rolls and Maybach S-class don’t really crack the 4 second 0-60 barrier but they have luxury. Cadillac hasn’t had a class leading interior in 50 years so I want to know how they think they can have a car that costs more than double an Escalade ?
  18. smk4565
    The Model S challenger is the Celestique but it is double the price and slower. A winning strategy.
  19. smk4565
    Daimler, BMW and VW have taken a hit from Tesla. As have Cadillac, Lexus and Infiniti. Look at how all those brands are seeing their sedan sales die off yet Tesla is cranking out Model 3's and S's are a pretty good clip. Cadillac Celestique won't sell, it will be a bigger failure than the ELR was. No one will take a hit from that other than Cadillac.
  20. smk4565
    Cybertruck has over 500,000 orders, where are those coming from? There are only X number of full size truck buyers in the market. People that never bought a truck or never thought of buying a pickup are not all of a sudden going to buy a Cybertruck. I suspect F150, Ram 1500 and Silverado all see a 10-15% drop in sales the year Cybertruck goes on sale. Taycan is faster than a C8 Corvette and it says Porsche on it. The Cadillac won't be faster than a Corvette, because the Corvette has to be the fastest car at GM, so the Celestique won't be faster than a Model S either, since the C8 is slower than a Model S. And interiors have never been a Cadillac strong suit, they haven't had a best in class interior since like 1960 so I can't imagine all of a sudden they come up with a Bentley level interior for this car.
  21. smk4565
    The Chevy/Buick SUVs are important since that is the meat of the market. They will have to beat out the Tesla Model Y and Mustang Mach E. The pickup is also important since Cybertruck pre-sales look like there will be strong demand and that will really eat into Ford/GM/Ram sales, and for those brands that is the #1 profit maker. Steve Carlisle said the Celestique will be over $200,000. He must be outside his mind if he thinks people are going to pay more than Porsche Taycan prices for a Cadillac.
  22. smk4565
    But an XT3 would be more luxurious than a Buick and have Super Cruise. If it is about R&D dollars and they want to spend the money on EV’s then I can see that as a better use of resources. A small EV Cadillac would make more sense, especially from a weight and packaging standpoint. As for the UX, if it was a hybrid at this price point it wouldn’t be as much of a rip off and Lexus buyers would be able to brag about driving a hybrid even if the car sucks, it still gives them a reason to buy.
  23. smk4565
    Toyota sold 17,000 UX’s last year and 49,000 of it’s platform mate the CH-R. And they probably sell more than that in Asia. It is a small segment but it is growing, and Cadillac will probably only sell 17k CT4’s this year and that car actually costs some money to build, definitely costs more than a rebadged Trax would. Probably the only reason there isn’t an XT3 is so that it doesn’t overlap the Buick Encore/GX.
  24. smk4565
    The Lexus UX needs more motor, at least as an option a turbo or the Camry’s 2.5 liter.
  25. smk4565
    A Cadillac XT3 would outsell the CT4 or CT5 easily and would maybe outsell the Escalade but not have nearly the margins Escalade does.
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