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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    The Corvette has a dime store interior. But not sure why Corvette must beat competition but Cadillac does not have to. Maybe that is why Cadillac is a mess.
  2. smk4565
    You don’t think it would make sense for VW to sell a $135,000 sports car while a top Audi is around $100k? ? They can call it Phaeton 2.
  3. smk4565
    My beef is the market wants crossovers. The market didn’t say they don’t want performance or sporty vehicles, but they do want crossover/SUV whichever you want to call it. So GM, and mainly Cadillac, needs performance SUV’s. Maybach version 1 and 2 failed also, 3rd time seems to be the charm, although the early 2000s Maybachs had 600 hp, there was no shortage of power. But that is also a chauffeur driven car too.
  4. smk4565
    Why does Chevrolet kick Cadillac’s ass in performance? Why would someone want to spend top dollar on a Cadillac only to get beat by a Chevy? Cadillac is irreverent if Chevy is above them.
  5. smk4565
    Problem is the market is now 50% SUV or more, maybe 25% car, 25% truck/van. And SUV is growing the fastest of the 3 with car shrinking. So performance SUV is what they need. SUV is the battleground.
  6. smk4565
    2 brand can have performance cars, but Cadillac should have the best performance cars at GM, then work your way down to the others. To use the VW example, Bugatti is $1 million plus, Lamborghini is $250k-$500k or whatever they cost, Porsche is $50k-$250k (baring a one off Carrera GT or 918 Hybrid). Throw in Audi if you want but the R8 is not as fast as a Huracan and their SUVs or A8 aren't as fast as a Cayenne or Panamera. They keep things in levels, it makes sense what they do.
  7. smk4565
    I think a better application would be the 306 hp version in longitudinal form. Because that would be good in the E-class and GLE to have a more powerful 4-banger there, vs the 241/255 hp units they are working with now. I don't think there would be much demand for a 400 hp, 7200 rpm screamer of a 4-cylinder in an C-class, definitely not in an E or GLE. Related though, if they can get 400 hp from a 4, they should be able to get 500+ from an inline 6, I think that is an area to explore in pumping the 6 up for the AMG 53's. There is more in the V8 too, they probably hold these engines back for reliability or emissions.
  8. smk4565
    360ish lb-ft in a front drive car (well all wheel drive) and from a 4-cylinder, that seems like a lot for those circumstances. Plus an A45 or CLA45 is like a 3400 lb car, not a lot of weight to move. The 6 and 8 make more torque.
  9. smk4565
    But Chevrolet is the performance division of GM as proven by the fact that the Camaro and Corvette have better performance than any Cadillac. The gen 1 CTS was a good looking car, it stood out, looked nothing like any other GM product. The XT6 looks like it was designed by the same person that designed the Blazer as do a lot of other Cadillacs. Yes the identity keeps changing that is a big problem, the other problem is product as displayed by CT4 and CT5, and the 3rd problem is marketing. They have 3 main issues and I don’t know if they can get 1 right let alone all 3.
  10. smk4565
    I agree with Riviera that Cadillac needs identity. But Cadillac right now reminds me more of Chevy. The design language inside and out screams Chevy, all their SUVs are based on Chevys as well. I can’t remember a time that Cadillac design seems so close to Chevy since maybe the dark days of the mid 80s.
  11. smk4565
    Toyota builds most of their cars in the USA, and the others in Japan with even higher costs. They seem to have figured it out.
  12. smk4565
    They had a 1972 450SEL, they called S-class. Doesn’t matter if the S was a true end or the front. The 300SL is still and SL.
  13. smk4565
    SL for 65 years S-class 47 years G-wagen for 40 years E-class 26 years Pretty consistent there, the suv names are new but the suv craze is new.
  14. smk4565
    GM cares about salable product. They could always have Cadillac Blackwing series that is above V-series and slap V-badges on 50% of the product they sell. Name equity means nothing at Cadillac, they dumped Eldorado Deville and Seville for STS, CTS, SRX, and dumped those for CT4, CT5, XT5. They don't care about name brand being built up. They might be thinking V is desirable, so if they have $40k V cars they will get sales volume. I am surprised all SUVs aren't called Escalade Sport, Escalade Imaj, Escalade Evoq, etc
  15. smk4565
    .... As far as CT5-V goes, what if it is $49,950 including destination with a $2500 cash back or 0% for 60 months finance deal on the hood? I could see the CT4-V for $39k, if they price these low enough they could get some sales volume. Although if they can't sell at that price point they might as well give up on sedans.
  16. smk4565
    It hurts them all for sure, some just have higher margins or more cash on hand that can weather a storm.
  17. smk4565
    Some is the key word, on 110 billion euro in revenue, they had 3.6 billion in profit. That is barely more than a 3% margin, which isn't a lot of room for error and the past few years were banner years for the auto industry. And that is all while these guys haven't spend a dime on new product for Dodge/Chrysler or electric cars or autonomous cars.
  18. smk4565
    A recession or a 25% tariff on Mexican imports could run FCA deep into the red, and I wonder how much cash they have on hand to survive a down turn of a couple years. Actually I'll answer my own question. FCA has 23 million euros cash on hand in 2014 and ended last year with 12 billion euros cash on hand.
  19. smk4565
    Honda really has 2 cars, Civic and Accord. So it isn't like they have models to cut, it isn't like they have 5 sedans. And they have mainstays in the segment. As long as the price is decent on them, they will be fine for decades more to come. Stuff like the Insight, Clarity, Fit, and whatever other oddball stuff they make my not last. People have to get sick of crossovers at some point. Baby Boomers don't want full size sedans because their parents had them, Gen Xers don't want minivans because their mom had one in the 90s and they aren't cool. I could see Gen Z not wanting crossovers since their parents all had one.
  20. smk4565
    So does this mean Carlos Ghosn won’t be CEO?
  21. smk4565
    Although Elon says the Tesla truck is a better sports car than a 911 and can tow 300,000 lbs and will cost $49,000. Shot fired!
  22. smk4565
    Single market brands have a hard time. That is a problem FCA has. Alfa and Fiat are stronger in the USA than Chrysler and Dodge are outside of North America. When you have regional brands, it is hard to stay competitive. Same problem with Renault, another regional company, if they merge all this together, they need to get a "One Ford" type plan where they have 1 car sold all over the world, maybe under different brand names.
  23. smk4565
    They were up 0.4%. At least they aren't down 34% like Alfa Romeo, or down 26% like Chrysler or down 7% like Jeep in an SUV market and Jeep is down 7% for the year as the SUV market is just getting flooded with entries.
  24. smk4565
    That is some good low end torque and pricing the same as the V8 is a good idea so people actually buy, unlike the huge up charge that some diesel vehicles have.
  25. smk4565
    Moers said they are close to production, so that could happen this year. The last hurdle is clearing emissions as ccap points out. We know the powertrain works, it is undefeated in Formula 1 this year and has won 5 consecutive championships. That VW EV that did the Nurburgring isn't a road legal car, and it was also turned just for the Nurburgring,
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