smk4565
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Everything posted by smk4565
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What's the perfect car for someone who doesn't care about cars?
smk4565 replied to Drew Dowdell's topic in The Lounge
Not a mistake the the best 2 are from Stuttgart. ? And the answer to this question is Toyota Corolla. Because if you don't care about cars you might as well get a cheap one and the Corolla will get you from point A to B in the most boring way possible. -
Audi News: Audi TT To Bow Out For An Electric Successor
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Audi
Boxter/Cayman/718. Mercedes SL, although that will likely become a 2+2 like the 911, only with the engine in front, as a way to replace the loss of other coupe/convertible Mercedes. I think Audi will go electric in a pretty big way, they like to push themselves as being tech focused where as Bentley and Lamborghini are old school big gas engine focused. Obviously they will need gas Audi's in the A4, Q5 level stuff, but the A8 might as well go EV now, they don't sell a lot and the S-class has been out powering and out performing that car forever so they might as well try something new. -
Kill Fiat in the USA for sure. If they want to move their Miata clone to Alfa Romeo with a 280 hp turbo 4 that could work. And they have to do something like that if they contracted with Mazda to build the 124 for a certain number of years. I think they can kill Chrysler also and move the Pacifica to Dodge.
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GM News: GM Delays Diesel Launch; Expands 6.2 V8 Availability
smk4565 replied to Drew Dowdell's topic in General Motors
Diesel is going to be a rough go, and emissions will keep getting stricter and stricter so I wonder how long they can keep it going anyway. -
Apple should buy them but Elon isn’t going anywhere. He has too much stock, unless they way over pay him for his shares. Their brand equity is soo good they can ship a car with different color door trim and get away with it. If GM or Ford have a hood that is 2 mm off they get roasted. Side note, Doug Demuro says MBUX is better infotainment than Tesla’s.
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Tesla would be a great buy for Apple if they want into cars. And Tesla’s electronics are far ahead of the rest. And the real value would be in the data. Apple would be able to take all that driving data, how often people stop at Starbucks, when they charge, what restaurants they go to etc. Just like Google is tracking Internet traffic, Apple could do that with a car because Tesla owns the data on the car. I am sure there are restrictions on how it can be used but insurance companies would love that data for writing premiums and in claims handling.
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Time for Apple to buy them up.
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Just make more crossovers, problem solved,
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I am seeing those crossover coupes more and more, I could see cutting GLC coupe that seems to sell worse than the GLE. SLC is dead, And some of the coupes and convertibles will die because people don’t buy those anymore. They sold 2200 S-class coupe and convertible last year, that is a lot for a $150k vehicle so cutting that is curious but the new SL can replace those. They are also adding GLB, EQC, EQA, EQS and more so they don’t seem to be shrinking just rearranging the lineup.
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My statement what you have in bold states my belief that Cadillac is currently losing sales to Mercedes and others that have high performance SUVs. They easily lose 500 units just by not offering the product and I think Cadillac can get 500 people that were going to buy an Escalade anyway to pay an extra $60,000 for a V-series. They could sell 1,000 Escalde-V a year I think, 100 a month on average for a vehicle that has about 2,000 units a month volume I think is doable.
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Mercedes could lose sales if there was a 700 hp Escalade. That could eat into GLS63 or G63 sales. The performance SUV market is growing thankfully, I am sure Mercedes has lost sales the the Bentayga and Urus because the AMG SUVs, Cayenne Turbo and X5 M weren't the only game in town anymore. But there is more and more demand for this sort of thing. My point before was Cadillac is losing out on sales opportunity by not offering an Escalade-V or a CT6-V based crossover because all these other guys have ultra SUVs now. For some odd reason there is demand for sub 4 second 0-60 SUVs that can do 190 mph and get around the Nurburgring in under 8 minutes all while offering top end luxury.
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500 a year which at a $60k premium for an engine swap, and beefed up brakes and suspension seems like a way to get an extra $40k profit per unit which is $20 million in extra profit. And they might be able to move 1,000 per year. But also the 500 they sell are not 500 sales lost to Mercedes or Bentley or someone else.
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Right, Cadillac doesn't really have any unique attribute or clear mission and that has been going on for 25-30 years. Even with the CT6 they talked about how shedding weight in every way possible was the focus, and yet their most successful product is a an overweight, 6,000 lb truck with a big V8. Then they did this big push how CTS and ATS are going to beat the 5-series and 3-series in performance and no one cared, because Cadillac buyers wants space and comfort, like in an Escalade. No focus, no clear mission.
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Corvette should be Chevy's ultimate sports car, not GM's. But sports cars are a dying breed so I get GM not wanting to pump R&D money into a Cadillac sports car when they can sell re-worked Acadias and Equinoxes instead. The 911 has never been in any danger of going anywhere, and there is rumor that the 928 is coming back as a front engine V8 coupe. Agreed on needing all wheel driver over 500 hp, otherwise you are just spinning tire and 800 hp does nothing different that 500 hp does at that point. Or you need mid-engine and loads of downforce when you get into big power numbers. I think Corvette should stay true to its roots. Like you won't ever see a mid-engine Mercedes SL or Porsche 911 because they are sticking with what they are. They did other models for mid-engine when that was called upon (AMG One, Carrera GT, 918) Agreed Cadillac needs a convertible, I don't know how a luxury brand doesn't have a convertible. If Cadillac clientele are not asking for a Tesla competitor, it is because their customers already left for Tesla. Tesla is the hot brand, Cadillac should be looking at going after them.
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A Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley or Rolls-Royce doesn't have the cache of an Escalade? Oh Please. Believe me, if Cadillac could sell the Escalade at $300,000 they would price it that way. Bentley is now selling a book about their 100 year history for $255,000. A freaking Bentley book is over a quarter million and some rich bastard will buy that just to say they own it and to rub it in the face of their neighbor who doesn't have the Bentley history book on his private jet. I do think Mercedes is smart to try use Maybach to fill the space in between where Lexus and Audi stop and Rolls and Bentley begin, there is like $100k of gap there. If Cadillac wants to build big luxo barges and be the American Rolls-Royce that is fine with me. But they have to pick a mission and stick to it. XT4 isn't moving the needle, CT5 is a down-market CTS, so I expect CT4 to be a down-market ATS. Americans are getting bigger and older, maybe going back to luxe barges in sedan and SUV form is a play for them. Problem is they never execute these plans well.
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I am a believer that the Corvette should be turbo v6 base and V8 optional and live in a $50-90k price range like a Boxster or base Corvette vs a Supra because it is a Chevy and should have value sports car as the equation somewhere. Which it what it was from 1953 to 2006 before they starting to get into high dollar ZR-1's and now going mid-engine. But even if Corvette is to stay how it is, and their numbers show the current car is profitable and doing what they want I am fine with that. But what if someone wants more performance than the Corvette offers? Or what if they want Corvette performance and Escalade Platinum luxury and Super Cruise? I know Cadillac can't build all things for all people, but they need some sort of sports car. The sports car isn't just for it's own volume it is to build image for the brand. And what if Cadillac engineers want to build a rival to the Tesla Roadster, do they just get told no, because they aren't allowed to make something faster than a CHEVROLET? That makes no sense. 100%. Drop a ZR1 engine in an Escalade and charge $160,000 for it. It would be pointless but people would buy it anyway. There are idiots with money out there.
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Correct but that X7 is off to a hot start, April it did better than in March. So I'd like to see where the X7 is at come the end of the year. Considering the GLS's age, being #2 and being up for the year is pretty good. And the Escalade I have said many a times is a big success, that is easy profit margin for Cadillac given the price and volume, and engineering work that is spread across a lot of vehicles. The Escalade's secret sauce hasn't been able to be replicated on the rest of the Cadillac brand, that is the problem. And even though Escalade does well here, I think there is room for something above Escalade in the $200k range. I wouldn't change the Escalade, it isn't broke so don't fix it. But all these car makers are coming up with $200-300k SUVs and even more expensive and that was unheard of 10 years ago, when maybe a Range Rover or G-wagen was $100k and that was the most expensive SUV you could get.
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Navigator had 4,469 in Q1. The X7 has only been on sale like 2 months, let's see where the year ends. The GLS is the oldest in the segment, and still doing pretty well, and the GLS has a vehicle above it that could steal sales off it.
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The X7 and old GLS both outsell the Navigator already. The 2021 Escalade will still be a Tahoe underneath, where as the GLS can fit someone 6’4” in the 3rd row as it was designed to have the roomiest 3rd row. Also the GLS Maybach will be on sale in 2020, and it will be the most expensive American made vehicle ever oddly enough. The uber lux crowd is shopping Maybach, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bentley for an SUV come 2020.
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Mercedes sold out 275 copies of a $2.6 million car right away, anyone can sell out such a small number. The 1992 Allante in today’s money would cost $116,000 and the 1999 Seville STS loaded is $82k in today’s money. The Allante is still the most expensive Cadillac in comparison to the market and inflation. Cadillac prices have just moved with inflation, they haven’t really gone up market.
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I think the GLS and X7 will both outsell the Escalade in 2020, X7 will probably beat it this year. GLS has no production right now with the model change, unless that new one goes gangbusters when it comes out. I still think Cadillac needs something above the Escalade, but the problem with GM is they do this thing where Corvette = best performance car in GM, Escalade = most expensive most luxurious car at GM, etc. So even if Cadillac could benefit from a sports car above the Corvette, they can't let that happen because Chevy dealers will be mad. Even if there are a dozen SUVs more luxurious than the Escalade, Cadillac can't change anything because they have to tie the Escalade to the Tahoe which is a $50k product. GM can't get out of their own way.
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For the first 2 reasons, that is a problem with Cadillac management that has existed for 25 or 30 years. They don't have the products and they don't have the marketing. They thought Johan was the guy to change that, he didn't, then they tossed him aside too. I don't know who at GM has the magic switch to throw Cadillac back in gear. Cadillac is like the automotive equivalent of the New York Jets or New York Knicks, new management every 3 years, same result. As far as the CT6 Blackwing, they have a really low number of those, and they are priced like an S450, so I wouldn't say the CT6 is pushing things up market If the Blackwing was $150k and sold out then that is another story.
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The Escalade has done well for sure. But there are also more expensive SUVs out there, but Cadillac has pushed Escalade up into that $85-100k range which is job well done by them. CTS-V still sells at a big discount compared to rivals, and now it is gone anyway. Allante, ELR, XLR, XLR-V, STS-V all went bust for one reason or another. CT6 could get the ax too, that has been rumored, so we'll see how that plays out. Even when CTS has gone up in price over the years sales dropped every generation but trying to have a vehicle switch segments was also a bad idea from the start by the marketing folks.
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I could see that argument and making Cadillac up at Maserati or Porsche level pricing. However every past attempt of Cadillac to go up market since the Allante failed. The uber lux crowd isn’t buying Cadillacs but the Buick-GMC crowd will and if GM can suck an extra $1,000 of profit out of someone because they bought an XT4 vs a Terrain then GM has a duty to their shareholders to do just that.
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I don't think 3 sedans is too much, but in today's market you could make a good argument that 2 sedans is enough for Cadillac. The question is how many more crossovers are they making? It isn't uncommon now to see 6 or 7 SUVs in a brand now.
