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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Anything that says RAV4 on it will sell. The RAV4 hybrid outsells the Prius and Ll other hybrids, I bet the plug-in outsells all other plug-ins also. People love these things. Although I bet Toyota’s definition of “spirited acceleration” is different than say Porsche’s.
  2. smk4565
    This will probably outsell the F150 next year because crossover coupes are the #1 in demand product. Jokes aside, I think it looks pretty good, has a bit of an Audi profile to it. 8 trim levels seems excessive, you’d think they could get by with 4. My question is how on earth do they only get 267 hp from a V6? Not much “sport” in that.
  3. smk4565
    First I doubt Mercedes is the most expensive to maintain, I had more stuff break on my GM vehicle than I have had on my Mercedes, my mom is on her 2nd Mercedes, and it has been more reliable than anything she had from Saab, Volvo or Audi. My friend has a Mercedes, I problems. JD Power Almost always has Mercedes ranked in the top 10 of all cars. That brand image wouldn’t exist if they built crap that broke all the time. If all it takes to have a successful luxury brand is a badge, why doesn’t Cadillac have badge snobs?
  4. smk4565
    Even if BMW and Mercedes are the 2 most expensive are to maintain, it doesn’t matter. They are the 2 best selling luxury brands in the world and in the USA. And this is nothing new in terms of their.costs or their sales level. So how does Cadillac get sales? Cadillacs cost less to buy and less to maintain yet they still don’t sell well.
  5. smk4565
    German car maintenance costs are irrelevant because consumers just don’t care. The top 3 selling luxury brands in the world are German, 3 of the top 4 in the USA are German and it took Lexus being #1 in reliability for 10-15 years to get a reputation that was mostly built off Toyota. And even today Lexus lives off 2 Camry platform products for a significant portion of their sales. Lexus IS dead in the water with their products that start over $50k. Cadillac is making the right move with larger car for less money, I think for what CT4 is it should have been even less money or else had more equipment standard. Like automatic braking and other safety items should be standard for a $34k asking price.
  6. smk4565
    They don’t but an E-class is an E-class, just because it has Nappa Leather and a digital screen doesn’t mean it has high maintenance costs. A diesel probably last longer than a gas engine but I have seen 300k mile and up gas Mercedes too. Right, and you get what you pay for. I actually thought CT4 should start at $30,990, because Cadillac has to attract buyers. Going after the Germans for 15 years cost them market share and didn’t work. They need to go a different direction.
  7. smk4565
    Highest service costs and yet there are 500k miles E-class taxis out there and 500k mile Sprinter vans. You’d think if maintenance was an issue FedEx, UPS and Amazon and the taxi companies would either be broke or find something else.
  8. smk4565
    A Mercedes will last longer, has better resale, better interior, the MB-Tex will last forever. I would bet $100 to a donut that the C-class will outsell the CT4 even costing $10k more because consumers know it is a better car. CT5 is the C-class competitor now any way. I think CT4 is a decent alternative to an IS or Q50 that undercuts both in price, not those models are dying on the vine. Kia Stinger and Genesis G70 are at this price point and don’t sell, Alfa Romeo Guilia has power and performance and doesn’t sell. CT4 is no different.
  9. smk4565
    This should be priced below an A-class if they want them to sell. Can’t compare this to a C-class as the C is a way better car, plus the CT5 is the C-class competitor. Plus this is Cadillac, they can’t get German pricing. Now I didn’t read the whole standard equipment list, if this car is really well equipped on the base model then the price is okay. But this is basically Tesla Model 3 money without Tesla brand image.
  10. smk4565
    Premium Luxury is the way to go at only a $5k jump over the base model. They over priced the base model, but they’ll probably have discounts or a lease special to move them. Not sure if the V is worth it for another $7k for 16 horsepower and bigger brakes and a limited slip diff unless some other stuff is thrown in.
  11. smk4565
    They still have C7 orders to fill, so they can’t retool the factory until those are built.
  12. smk4565
    Looks like the UAW strike will delay the start of production for the C8.
  13. smk4565
    That is not good looking. Even the Lexus predator face thinks that is too busy.
  14. smk4565
    It is, Motor Authority said test mules are out and it should be released in 2021 or 2022. Plus the next SL shares this platform and is supposed to be out in 2021. They say the new platform will shed 500 lbs of weight and we already know all Mercedes V8s are going mild hybrid, rumor is up to 700 hp with all wheel drive. And as I said in the previous post, the GT still has to be a luxury car, as does the SL even more so.
  15. smk4565
    I meant the C8 is half the money. I think the C8 is great value to get a mid engine car with that level of performance for that price is fantastic. And if the yet get the top trim the interior seems pretty good with a lot of tech too, not like it is Porsche/Mercedes level interior but Acura level which compare the C8 to an NSX that is double the money and you see why no one buys the NSX. The issues I would have with the Corvette are Chevrolet dealership/service experience, Chevrolet build quality, Chevrolet brand image. And Corvette is good at performance but not luxury. When Mercedes makes a sports car it can’t just go fast, it has to be luxurious and high tech also, if the Corvette was more luxurious than an Escalade Platinum and had Super Cruise where would that price go? Corvette to AMG GT or 911 is an apples to oranges comparison.
  16. smk4565
    Of course the Corvette will outsell the AMG GT, the Corvette is half the money. As far as racetrack goes, we will see, and the next Generation GT is pretty deep in development, they have some weight savings and I think all wheel drive coming, so we’ll see when they get on track. I think it would be cool if Mercedes made a mid-engine car that wasn’t $3 million though.
  17. smk4565
    Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Chrysler are dead brands, I don't know why they are still around other than to run out the current product life cycles. None of those 3 could be turning a profit. Infiniti and Nissan don't put out any new product because they are basically the Japanese FCA with no R&D budget or available money. If we get a recession some of these brands will be wiped out.
  18. smk4565
    Cadillac up was a surprise to me because all the sedans are down and XT5 is down 15%. I didn’t think Escalade would be up with new competition in the segment, and XT4 is making up for lost ground elsewhere.
  19. smk4565
    SUVs down 10%, which wouldn’t be so bad if they weren’t killing all their cars to focus on SUVs.
  20. smk4565
    Strong quarter, moral of the story seems to be that trucks sell and cars don’t. As is the case every where.
  21. smk4565
    I explained why GLE and GLS were down for the year, model change, notice the GLE has had increased the past few months. GLE up 27% this month, yes people want their SUV’s.
  22. smk4565
    GLE and GLS could finish up for the year, they were hurt by model changeover and no inventory. Look at the GLE now with full inventory. GLS and CLA are just hitting dealers now. Sedans are down every where, 3,00 E-class is great when Lexus sold 350 GS’s. And Mercedes has EQ C, EQ B, GLB and Maybach SUV next year since all people want are more SUVs.
  23. smk4565
    Do they still make the Passat? What happened there? They need the T-Roc here to replace the Beetle for a small product below the Tiguan. VW basically has a 2 SUV lineup when Hyundai/Kia are up to 6-7.
  24. smk4565
    They are up so that is a plus for them. I think Volvo has a pretty good styling direction and good product right now, but they are also a bit pricey for what you get.
  25. smk4565
    If you want to include Vans, they are down 0.1% for the year and ahead of BMW. But I don't like to compare MB total vs BMW since it isn't fair to throw Vans in. Infiniti, Lexus and Acura are suffering huge losses, when GM and Ford numbers come out tomorrow, I bet Lincoln and Cadillac are as well. If Mercedes even ends the year even that is good when most of the luxury market is down double digits.
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