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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Mercedes outsold BMW and the GLS outsold the X7, GLC outsold the X3/X4 combined and the GLE outsold the X5, even with the X5 being up 222%. E-class outsold the 5-series, S-class doubled the 7-series. It is kind of sad that people don't buy BMW passenger cars anymore, though. The Sheeple are just bailing on fun to drive product for boring bigger, heavier, slower, worse handling product, that costs more money.
  2. smk4565
    Nissan and Infiniti have stale, old lineups and it shows. I imagine GM and FCA are dropping seeing those gains at Hyundai/Kia and Honda. German luxury up across the board, Mercedes was up too, not surprising.
  3. smk4565
    Sounds promising, but these upstart companies usually fail because it takes billions to design, develop, engineer, build and market vehicles.
  4. smk4565
    When you spend near zero on new product, easy to post a profit. I feel like Carlos Tavares will overhaul FCA and those weak brands will be whacked. I would't be surprised if Ram and Jeep are the only 2 left, but Dodge could stay selling rebadged Peugeots and Opels and maybe Maserati stays because it is their top brand and in theory should have high margins.
  5. smk4565
    They can put this interior in an SUV though, and this sort of kills anything in the $30k range. They have a 12 inch screen and a 10 inch screen, night vision available, all the driver nannies, etc
  6. smk4565
    This would sell better than any car FCA has put out in the past 10 years in the USA.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. smk4565
    They gotta merge with somebody, really in both their cases. Either one of these companies isn’t sustainable as they are.
  12. 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.
  13. smk4565
    Doesn't matter if it has a tiny battery or no range, it is a crossover coupe!
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. 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.
  22. smk4565
    I would like to see a 6 door coupe with rear suicide doors.
  23. 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.
  24. 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.
  25. smk4565
    That didn’t take long, I wonder if a plain Jane Taycan for $90k is next.
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