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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    This would sell better than any car FCA has put out in the past 10 years in the USA.
  2. smk4565
    Citroen has a pretty funky line up, which would be nice to have something different, but Americans tend to buy boring mid-size sedans or boring compact crossovers or boring 3-row crossovers. So I don't see Citroen making it here, just like Fiat, VW Beetle, Chevy SSR, Prowler, HHR, Scion brand, etc have not made it. Some brands are definitely getting whacked. Even with Alfa Romeo, I feel like a Maserati Guilia would have a better chance of selling than an Alfa Romeo Guilia. The Maserati name has more cache I think, and maybe if you can get a Maserati for $45k people would buy it.
  3. smk4565
    This is a great move for these 2 as they'll become the 4th largest auto company in the world, and they can streamline this beast brand wise, and engineering wise. Basically their platform and engine development, EV and autonomous drive tech engineering gets split in 2, which is huge savings. It lets them get some class leading product going by pooling resources and the previously mentioned R&D budget. It opens a door to bring Peugeot to the USA, where FCA's brands outside of Jeep and Ram are sucking wind.
  4. smk4565
    One day GM will build all of their vehicles in China, probably just after the UAW negotiates a $200 per hour deal for the last remaining 87 members.
  5. smk4565
    There is tremendous brand overlap that has to be solved with all these. But if you look at it from a standpoint of engines and transmissions, battery and electric motor, etc, you really need like 3 four cylinder engines and a couple V6 that could get spread across 3 million units per year. And probably 3-4 platforms that can underpin 30 different models and all you have to change is the styling. For sure need Ram, Jeep and Peugeot, and they need a luxury brand so Alfa or Maserati has to stay. They don’t need 12 brands though probably 5-6 will do it.
  6. smk4565
    They gotta merge with somebody, really in both their cases. Either one of these companies isn’t sustainable as they are.
  7. smk4565
    These GM SUVs need an overhaul, I just read a Car and Driver comparison where the Telluride scored 215 points, the Pallisade 213 and the Enclave 187. The Kia/Hyundai really set the standard in the segment, then you get to the Mazda, Pilot and Highlander, then the lower half of the segment with Explorer, the Subaru, VW and GM SUVs. As far as this Enclave goes, I think the front end looks good except for the headlights, and I am not a fan of "floating roof" on any vehicle, reminds me of a Nissan and doesn't look expensive.
  8. smk4565
    Doesn't matter if it has a tiny battery or no range, it is a crossover coupe!
  9. smk4565
    The X1 is larger and cheaper and has pretty much all the same interior bits and features I imagine. Better off with the X1, the X2 makes no sense.
  10. smk4565
    Won't work as a brand, too niche and too much of a bad reputation. I think a single "Hummer" model sold as a GMC Hummer that is their version of the Wrangler with a turbo 4 and a turbo 4 hybrid option could work.
  11. smk4565
    It may not be a lot of volume, but almost every other new vehicle that comes out is a coupe like SUV. Even stuff like the Audi Q3 and Ford Edge look sort of coupe like, some traditional SUVs are going that way. Then you have Q8, Atlas, GLC, GLE, X2, X4, X6, there is an X8 coming, etc etc. And there is margin on these things too. If Chevy made a Traverse coupe with 2 rows and a fastback roofline, it would basically be the same size as a Blazer, but would sell for $10k more because it is a "coupe". That is why the sales/marketing people love these things.
  12. smk4565
    I think they are mostly stupid but they are probably the fastest growing segment right now. Even traditional 3 row SUVs like the VW Atlas’s have a coupe version now.
  13. smk4565
    That engine had a longer than usual run from them, due to customer demand. They could have killed the V12 five years ago but I think it is good that they kept it as an option. That didn’t stop them from introducing new V8s, since that V12 went into service AMG had the 5.4 supercharged V8, the 6.3 V8, 5.5 liter bi-turbo and the current 4.0 bi-turbo. They kept moving forward.
  14. smk4565
    V8s are dying every year, and Mercedes is usually a trendsetter not a holder on. Porsche Boxster/Cayman are 4 cylinder only now and they are still fast. We will probably see a 4 cylinder is a volume engine of full size crossovers in the next few years. It is just how it goes. Personally I’d rather see an inline six C63, but we don’t know what they will come up with.
  15. smk4565
    Looks like a few years old Corolla from the front and a Supra from the back. Ugly car. Doesn’t even look like a coupe. Since car companies call 4 door cars coupes to make them sound sportier and charge more money, maybe they should call 2 door cars sedans for increase sales. A lot of people don’t a 2-door coupe because it isn’t practical. If Ford made a Mustang with a 3 box design they could market it as a family sedan and sell 200k a year even if it has 2 doors. A 2-door sedan has practicality in the buyer’s mind.
  16. smk4565
    This will be interesting and a gamble if they go this route. I don’t know if people want to pay $90k for a turbo 4 hybrid. I think if they use the inline 6 with electric boost for over 500 hp then no one would complain because it is sill 6 cylinders and smoother. Could pay off if the C63 is a 500 hp car getting 30 mpg.
  17. smk4565
    I would like to see a 6 door coupe with rear suicide doors.
  18. smk4565
    I am holding out for the Honda Odyssey 4-door coupe with a fastback roofline. 4-door could all things! I would be tempted by a Gen 2 CLS, the gen 3 is ugly. E53 all day over the current CLS. But I don’t need a car, so we’ll see in a few years.
  19. smk4565
    Shouldn’t they offer $3k to anyone? Rather than just Mustang owners which I assume are less than 1% of the total car buying population.
  20. smk4565
    That didn’t take long, I wonder if a plain Jane Taycan for $90k is next.
  21. smk4565
    CTS-V is slower than an M5 or E63 in a straight line, CTS-V also isn’t around anymore and the E63 and M5 still are. Also the E63 wagon has the Nürburgring record for wagons, the AMG GT 4-door has the Nürburgring record for 4-door cars. With no insider information I think GM will find a way to keep CT6 around, but you never know what the bean counters will decide. $100k is a lot for a Cadillac but almost all the euro luxury brands have $200k products. Cadillac isn’t in tier 1 until they get up there. And I also think Cadillac should focus on tier 2 and try to dominate it and not go after tier 1. Cadillac had better market share 15-20 years ago than they do today, chasing the Germans didn’t work, which is why you see their top 3 sellers as FWD crossovers to go after Acura and Lexus now.
  22. smk4565
    I have a pretty good feeling the C-class is going to be better than CT4 or CT5 based on Cadillac not having build a sedan better than the Germans in the past 40 years. I'm not sure they all of a sudden found the secret sauce to build a world beater. They are killing the CTS and probably the CT6, unless they import CT6's from China next year, and the CT5 is priced below a C-class because Cadillac knew they had to cut prices. Which I think is the best strategy for them. Cadillac should be targeting Acura, Infiniti, Genesis, Lincoln, etc, not the Germans. An Escalade Platinum with options is about $101k, and that is their most expensive product. A Mercedes GLC 63 Coupe costs that, Porsche has cars that cost 3 times that. Even at GM, the most expensive car is at Chevrolet, it isn't even a Cadillac.
  23. smk4565
    This car seems more like what the GS should be. The interior is more inline with mid-size luxury cars, the turbo V6 would be a nice optional engine for a GS with a base engine below it. I don't think the LS has big luxury sedan presence or good looks either. I think the GS is supposed to die at the end of this generation and the LS will have to fill he void, so maybe they don't want to push it up market much. The new G90 I think looks better inside and out than the LS, but the G90 has dated engines too. That Hyundai 5.0 V8 hasn't seen an update since 2012 model year, that is 8 years now.
  24. smk4565
    Probably so with the A-class that is why it should have the 221 hp version of that engine, the CLA250 has the same torque rating at the CT4. There are A35 and A45 versions but I'd like to see how those get priced. I don't think the A-class needs a ton of power because they are appealing to people that never owned a Mercedes and are coming from a some sort of front drive 4 cylinder car. But 188 hp is weak, should have been the 221.
  25. smk4565
    I think they should have the 220 hp version in there. I have drive. The previous CLA250 and GLA, I think those are 208 hp, they are fine for daily driving, but nothing fast. I imagine the 188 hp in the A seems like it needs another 20-30 hp. And that is all tuning so I don’t see why not change it.
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