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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    It does, but the Golf looks better for $10k less, so why buy this? Make it look like an Arteon and charge $35k for it and they would sell a crap ton.
  2. smk4565
    It is less aerodynamic than an S-class, or an E-class, or C-class or an A-class, take your pick. So I am not sure what aerodynamic efficiency was gained with this body shape or that tri-tone paint.
  3. smk4565
    Concept EQ S debuts tomorrow. Production model is probably on sale in a year. Mercedes might be the #1 EV brand in 5 years, either them or VW. VW groups if you combo VW, Audi, Porsche, Bentley will probably be #1 as a company.
  4. smk4565
    There is a GLE version of this powertrain too, I think this is a euro only thing, maybe China, where having that plug-in hybrid deal beats congestion charges and probably gets some tax benefit. Government regulations are why a powertrain like this exists. Good performance though, but I feel like this is a stop gap to full electric vehicles. But at least they give customer choice of 48 volt mild hybrid gas, hybrid diesel and EV. They have all bases covered.
  5. smk4565
    Nice range and price, but why is it ugly? You wouldn't make a gas car that looked like that, so why make an EV that looks like that? They should make their EV's look like the Arteon if they want them to sell.
  6. smk4565
    I think weak brands that build lousy product should be discontinued. If GM and Ford put out class leading product then there is no problem. But their crossovers are no more competitive than the Cruze, Focus, Fusion, Impala, etc that all got discontinued. Lincoln seems to be trying, we’ll see how they do.
  7. smk4565
    I mean Ford is going all in on SUVs and GM is going pretty hard there too, but I could see Ford and GM cutting stuff like Escape, Ecosport, Traxx and Equinox when they can't compete with the Asians, same way they cut minivans and sedans when they couldn't compete with the Asians. Ford and GM can "focus" on SUVs, doesn't mean they will build good ones. They didn't build good sedans, they don't build good crossovers now with the exception of the Explorer/Aviator seem to be on point. And the body on frame trucks don't have any outside competition.
  8. smk4565
    Ford, Chevy and FCA are giving up on sedans to focus just on crossovers, and yet the RAV4 is dominating them all. I think they are in dangerous territory when you pull out of a lot of segments to focus on SUV and pickups and it is only a matter of time before the Asians take all the SUV market too just like they did cars.
  9. smk4565
    But that's GM for you. It should have been a sedan or crossover, but GM had to make a dumb decision somewhere, maybe they thought Prius-like hatchbacks were the way to go, but the Nissan Leaf doesn't sell well either, the Model 3 rakes in sales. Although I don't think GM really has many well styled cars right now, even if it was an SUV they probably would have screwed up the styling.
  10. smk4565
    The RAV4 is better than most small crossovers, they also market it a fair amount, have Toyota reputation and I bet they have awesome lease deals due to the Toyota resale value. If there was better competition they might take some sales from it. I don't like the RAV4, but it is better value than the others in the segment. Corolla, Camry and Avalon all up, so cars aren't dead yet, at least not at Toyota who is probably capitalizing on Ford and Chevy not making sedans.
  11. smk4565
    Good write up. We already know that Audi and Mercedes will have electric sedans out in the next year or so, but these are going to be Model S, Taycan type competitors and probably cost $100k. BMW is pretty deep in development on the i4. I think we are 3-5 years out form there being more EV's in the $35-50k range that are desirable cars and not a compliance car like a Kona EV basically is.
  12. smk4565
    Really good month all around. Business booming over at Mercedes, Infiniti is really tanking, that brand has almost nothing desirable, I wonder how many of their sales are Q50 rental fleet cars.
  13. smk4565
    The battle is on now, Porsche build quality is top notch, Tesla not so much. The multiple touch screens is cool, this interior is way better than a Tesla. Mercedes EQ S debut next week so then there will be 3 and more will follow. Will be interesting to see how Tesla responds to the competition.
  14. smk4565
    The CT6-V was delayed for emissions reasons too and it just has to pass American standards which aren’t as tough as Europe’s. The Mercedes W125 did 267 mph back in 1938, so I bet over 80 years later they can find another 33 mph in a prototype vehicle if they wanted to.
  15. smk4565
    Well Toyota doesn't own FCA, at least not yet. Maybe in the next recession if FCA stock gets cheap they'll buy it out.
  16. smk4565
    Well it makes sense to sell cars in a place with 1.2 billion people, even if it isn't a wealthy nation.
  17. smk4565
    Only 808 hp, not much of a hyper car. They should come back when they get 1,000 hp.
  18. smk4565
    I bet the SUV is coming next. And they'll probably tout a record for fastest SUV.
  19. smk4565
    Fiat is done in the USA, small cars don't do well here, and Fiat doesn't build good small cars either. They are probably tied to the 124 Spider for a number of years in the deal with Mazda. They could always pull the Fiat brand out of the USA and put a Dodge grille or emblem on a 500X or the Spider. I think FCA overall has too many brands and too many models.
  20. smk4565
    I am not praising it but the GLB looks good and even in 35 trim will be faster than the competition even more so in 45 trim. I have also said in the past that under $50k you can get away with front drive and in small cars you can also. No one does rear drive in this segment, even in the segment above only half of them use rear drive. XTS was full size and over $50k, that doesn’t work with front drive.
  21. smk4565
    XT6 will be dead on arrival. I see XT5 sales hitting a slump and that isn't that old a product so it will be a while before GM replaces it. The Lexus RX is the only SUV they have that sells, the rest a sales dogs because they are either a glorified RAV4, 4Runner or Tundra, and they aren't getting it done.
  22. smk4565
    Even Lincoln is seeing the need for a 500 hp Aviator, even though they aren't aiming to be a performance vehicle. But we can all watch the Germans and Tesla see rise in SUV sales while Cadillac and Acura die on the vine with their range topper 305 hp V6 3-row crossovers.
  23. smk4565
    I would bet money that if GM made a Corvette SUV that was rear drive/awd, 495 hp and same price as the C8, it would outsell the C8 by a wide margin. Performance SUV is a hot growing segment.
  24. smk4565
    Hot crossover is already upon us. AMG, M, Audi SQ, Alfa Stelvio, Jeep GC Trackhawk, Porsche has 2 SUV, Lamborghini has one, Ferrari and Aston Martin will have one next year, Tesla will have a 2nd. There are probably 20 crossovers on sale now with what was deemed sports car performance just a few years ago.
  25. smk4565
    The XTS was never a very competitive car to begin with, and compare it to an E-Class or 5-series or a full size luxury car. XTS was front drive in a rear drive segment, which is why it is dead and the Continental will be dead. The GLB is competing with the NX, XT4, X1, XC40, etc. There is no performance benchmark in that segment and no one has rear drive. Really is it what the hot hatch segment is going to turn into as most of the hot hatches aside from the Golf are dead and those fwd/awd hot hatch crowd will probably trade into compact “hot” crossover.
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