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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    If they already profit share then the UAW doesn’t really have anything to complain about.
  2. smk4565
    Sure unions are greedy, but GM had $8 billion on net income least year, Mary Barra made $22 million. Corporations are greedy too. Maybe what GM should do is offer a profit share bonus, so on years like 2018 when there is an $8 billion profit, take $1 billion of that and pay to the workers. So then the workers also have incentive to build quality product, and ensure the company does well.
  3. smk4565
    Is this better, it isn't all black This car is also entering its 6th year on the market, and still top of the class, and they'll advance it on the next one.
  4. smk4565
    I think the CT5 interior is decent, still a lot of black plastic button on that dash and not sure about that big gray slab of rubber on the center console. But overall it looks good for the price point and pricing it below the C-class and 3-series is smart on them. Not having sat in a CT5, I don't know how the material quality is, so it is a wait and see on that.
  5. smk4565
    Probably won’t be long before they cancel all Malibu’s. I don’t think GM seems too motivated to invest in family sedans.
  6. smk4565
    This makes total sense as there is demand for off road vehicles and you can get a pretty profit margin on them too. I would offer the ZRX with both the 6.2 and a supercharged version. If you can charge $10k as a stand alone option engine upgrade then why not.
  7. smk4565
    3-pointed Star and better technology for one. The “real” V-series should be the Blackwing V8. But I don’t even know how much that moves the needle, we have had 15 years of V-series cars and Cadillac has lost market share in that time.
  8. smk4565
    It is larger so probably heavier, and the turbo 4 makes less power than the last one, the 2.7 makes less hp than the V6, although more torque. I feel like if the Camaro went 237 hp turbo 4 standard and 325 hp turbo 4 in the SS then people would riot. When Cadillac does it, it is called better. What don’t see any overall performance gains coming with CT4. The interior hasn’t been improved any, it looks to be Mazda-level. What hooks buyers from other luxury sedans or gets them to buy CT4 over a crossover of similar price? I think price is Cadillac’s only play, I would price this car at $29,950.
  9. smk4565
    I don’t think the CT4 looks better than the ATS, it is a little bigger but I don’t know if it is roomier. No V6 options. I don’t know if they did anything here that makes this better than the ATS which wasn’t selling. If they price it below ATS maybe they have a chance.
  10. smk4565
    I actually think Safari on my phone works well, I'd probably just continue to use that.
  11. smk4565
    The GLC is rear wheel drive. Top 4 sellers in order in the USA are GLC, C-class, GLE, E-class. All 4 are rear drive, all 4 offer a V8.
  12. smk4565
    So Cadillac who made 1 FWD car in their 2009 lineup, and now has 4 (until XTS is officially dead) and introduced the front drive ELR, forgot about that disaster is not relying on FWD for sales? Cadillac's 2 best sellers are front drive, XT6 will probably outsell Escalade and for sure will outsell CT4 and CT5. And the A-class is in a segment that Cadillac doesn't even compete in, by size class anyway, we don't know how CT4 is priced yet. As I have said before, transverse mounted 4-cylinder engine vehicles are by far the most popular set up, it is what people are used to. Smart move by Mercedes to offer a product to pull people into their brand with something they are familiar with. Not everyone wants a 500-600 hp V8 rear drive car, I would like that, but most of the market wants horsepower in the 200s and gas mileage in the 30s. Mercedes is building what people want, and they haven't killed any rear drive lines and replaced it with front drive.
  13. smk4565
    It is kind of a catch 22, because the UAW wants more for their workers, but the more they get paid the more GM is going to be motivated to automate more jobs or build more cars in China. It is a fine balance.
  14. smk4565
    Funny how the C-class outsells all Cadillac sedans combined, you'd think if quality was so bad people wouldn't buy it. And as I said recalls are are not directly related to build quality. CT5 is priced BELOW the C-class, Cadillac knew their only hope to compete with a C-class was to re-work a CTS and take $10k off the price, CT4 they know would do worse against the C-class than the ATS did. I still think CT4 is a one generation car, and Cadillac will move to a 1 sedan lineup around 2025, unless they put an EV sedan out.
  15. smk4565
    Every auto maker has recalls, that isn't an indication of quality or long term reliability, especially when the recall can be for different things. Talk about moving goal post, "Benz has released more FWD models in the past 4 years than Cadillac" Not sure what that has to do with anything. Although the only FWB Benz released in the past 4 years was the A-class, and Cadillac introduced XT4 and XT6 this year. If you want to go back to 2012 when the CLA/GLA came out, the XTS and XT5 have been released since then. Not that any of that really matters. I don't see how selling the A-class effects any other car in the line up. Chevrolet makes the Spark and Sonic, it has zero effect on the Corvette.
  16. smk4565
    16.4% of Mercedes sales in 2019 are FWD based compared to 64.6% at Cadillac. If Mercedes has a high number then what is Cadillac?
  17. smk4565
    BMW is the #1 selling luxury car in the USA in 2019 and Mercedes is #2. And they command higher prices than any of their competitors. Lexus hasn’t been the top selling luxury brand in the USA in about 20 years and they are surviving on 2 products right now. Cadillac has lost crazy market share in the past 20 years, and not just here they are way behind in China and non-existent in Europe.
  18. smk4565
    The CT4 is 187 inches long, a C63 is 187 inches long because the hood is longer to accommodate the V8. A C300/C43 is 184.5 inches long. A-class is all wheel drive too. The X3 and GLC outsell the XT5 now. The ES350 outsells all Cadillac sedans combined, does that mean Cadillac should kill all rear drive product because people want front wheel drive? Or maybe people just want a Lexus ES because it has been on the market for 25 years and they keep trading in for another. I question how long the CT4 will last, my guess it is a one and done product like so many other GM sedans of the past 20 years because I just don’t think they will find enough volume. I think the CT5 will do better since it is bigger.
  19. smk4565
    64.6% of Cadillac sales first half of 2019 were FWD. And that number will rise since XT6 wasn't on sale then and ATS was, and ATS is now dead. Cadillac is a 70% front drive brand and most of that rear drive is a Chevy Tahoe with luxury appointments. Standard of the World I am sure.
  20. smk4565
    I haven't seen any complaints of build quality on the A-class, like the recalls we are seeing on the Explorer/Navigator, or seen complaints of panel gaps or creaks and rattles, etc. I have sat in the A-class, interior seemed well put together from a quality standpoint. It doesn't have the fancy materials of the higher Benzes but it isn't poorly made.
  21. smk4565
    The ATS is closer in size to the C-class than it is to the A-class, and the ATS is out of production. Also the CT4 is actually larger than the C-class, CT4 is 3 inches longer. CT5 is $2,000 cheaper than a C-class, CT4 I would assume is $10,000 cheaper than a C-class and that is how Cadillac should price it.
  22. smk4565
    When GM, Toyota or VW builds a car the size of the A-class it costs $18,000 and yet the A-class costs $32,500. They are putting money somewhere. This CT4 will also cost less than an A-class and is a size class bigger, so how is the build quality on it when even expensive Cadillacs don’t have good build quality?
  23. smk4565
    I do believe the A-class has the same build quality of any Mercedes. The A-class was rated the safest car tested in 2018 by Euro NCAP. It may not have the materials or technology or engine of an s-class but the A-class is still well built, it is still super safe.
  24. smk4565
    FCA quality at work. That turbo 4 is also very closely related to the Alfa Romeo turbo 4, but they probably cut even more corners on Jeep since it isn’t a performance brand. The reliability of this thing must be spooky and people will buy it anyway.
  25. smk4565
    You wonder if they know this stuff is faulty and sell it anyway or if they just don't test this stuff up front and then learn 4 years later that it doesn't work. You'd think with the massive profit margins on GM's big trucks they would put more money into the R&D and testing side to make sure they got everything right before putting it on sale.
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