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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    No one offers 7 seats in this segment. A win for Mercedes. The GLB 35 won't be a $20k premium, the 45's are a $20k premium.
  2. smk4565
    My gripe is the Stinger is overpriced. The V6 Stinger costs more than a V8 Mustang or Camaro for example. And the Stinger isn't really any more luxurious or better equipped than a Mustang, it just has back doors. A Stinger is more than a Hemi Charger, too, and again the Stinger is maybe marginally better on interior, only because the Charger is ancient. I love the fact that Kia made a rear drive sports sedan, something different than all the FWD generic stuff that is out there. But they missed the mark on pricing. Kia has sold 3,227 Stinger in the first quarter, (which is down from 3,920) and they sold 22,668 Optimas which is up from last year. Same size car, I think similar interior quality/luxury in both. You can even get the same 2 liter turbo in both, but in the Stringer they change you $10-15k more than Optima because they turned the engine the correct way. Way too much of an up charge to send power to the back wheels instead of the front.
  3. smk4565
    I don't think it will be that cheap. I am thinking like $80k base model. Although that is also without me seeing the interior or knowing engine specs, but I predict price is going up.
  4. smk4565
    But nothing else is going to look like the G-wagen, that is why it is an icon. The biggest flaw I see in Mercedes design is with the SL. That should look like the 1955 version and be a retro style to be to the car side, what the G-wagen is to the SUV side. Compare the GLB to an XT4 or NX200 or 250 or whatever Lexus calls their small SUV which has almost the exact name a s Nissan commercial van. And we know 300 hp is right around the corner from launch of the base model, which is more than any of these other compact 4-cylinder SUVs have.
  5. smk4565
    That was never a future G-wagon, why would they ever change the styling? in 2040 the G-wagen will look the same as it does today.
  6. smk4565
    GLB looks a lot like that. That concept "invokes genes" of the G-class, that is like when Chevy puts out a Blazer that is inspired by a Camaro, that is all marketing speak that has nothing to do with anything. They never said Ener-G was a preview of the next G-wagen, the G-wagen wasn't going to change styling. GLB is for "tomorrow's off road adventures"
  7. smk4565
    What is it priced well compared to? The Stinger is no nicer than an Optima or Camry. A V6 Camry loaded up is $35k, the Stinger is that with rear drive and an extra 50 hp or so for $15,000 more. The Stinger isn't a luxury car.
  8. smk4565
    The Ener-G concept is the GLB. The Ener-g concept was not a G-Wagon concept. I thought it would have had more G-Wagen in it as well. This is the Ener-G concept comps to life. I do think this looks rather good, it might be their best looking SUV other than the G-wagen which is kind of love itnor hate it because of how obnoxious it is.
  9. smk4565
    Here is the Ener-G Force concept car put to production form, so Mercedes does build concept cars. I think this looks amazing inside and out and I don’t like crossovers. The “active lifestyle” millennials that will never go off road will buy these up in waves because they think they’ll go off road and haul kayaks, just like they think they’ll commit to going to the gym 4 times a week as a New Year’s resolution. 3rd row seat even if just for kids is a huge plus in this segment and Mercedes now has three 7 seat SUVs after having only 1 last year. Also important because people don’t buy the seats they need they buy the number of seats they Might need. The production interior probably won’t be that, but I hope they offer that Alcantara and stitching and leather in a designo package. Also the roof lights, gotta offer that too.
  10. smk4565
    The TLX is also a mid-size car, it is near E-class size.
  11. smk4565
    ILX is a CLA competitor. TLX competes with C-class.
  12. smk4565
    Stinger is wildly over priced. The Turbo V6 goes over $50k which is getting into 340i territory and the 340i is much faster, plus it a BMW not a Kia. Even the 4-cylinder Stinger is $33k base so most of those are probably listed for $40k. And the Stinger isn't any nicer inside than an Optima, and that new Sonata looks more luxurious than the Stinger. If Chevy added a 4-door Camaro that was $27k base and $45k for the 460 hp V6, they would add some sales to that 51k, rather than watch it just die off as coupes die.
  13. smk4565
    And how is the TLX selling? Especially since it is made in USA for USA and they don't have much global volume off it, if any. TLX was down 12.6% in 2018 and it is down 21.6% YTD. They sold 30,000 of them in 2018, they'll probably be lucky to get 25,000 sales this year. And that is pretty much their only sedan now.
  14. smk4565
    At GM, shiny chrome = luxury. At Mercedes it doesn't. The GLS has done well, and they have to consider Chinese and European tastes also, as the USA is Mercedes' 3rd biggest market. I think this will hit the mark.
  15. smk4565
    The Veloster has low sales, maybe that is a bad example, but the Camaro isn't an inexpensive sports car anymore, as the original mission was. Or maybe sports cars are just dying and it doesn't matter. They won't because sports car sales are so low. A 4-door Camaro that undercuts the Stinger by $5k (and VW Arteon by $8k) could have appeal. It would be easy to make a 4 door Camaro lift back off that platform, hell most of the work is done with the CT5. And they could price that where the current Impala is when that dies. Then at least Chevy would keep 3 sedans, whatever compact survives, Malibu and Camaro sedan. On a side note I think Ford is in trouble in the future, because Lincoln is weak, their SUVs like Escape, Ecosport, Edge are easily outsold by the Asian competition, and there is more Asian competition coming, they are basically hanging on by the F150. If Tesla or someone else disrupts that full size truck market, Ford doesn't have anyplace else to make money.
  16. smk4565
    If Chevy wants to make the Corvette challenge to McLaren, Ferrari and Lamborghini then they need mid-engine, high rev turbo engine, carbon fiber panels, etc which is all expensive and opposite of what the Corvette has always been. I think they should made this a Cadillac and kept the Corvette as a V6/V8 front engine car in the $50-100k range. As far as the Camaro goes it is too expensive too, sales of that car are bad, they should make it roomier and like the coupe alternative to a Veloster or Golf GTI in terms of price point. But you watch the Camaro move into $35-75k range to fill the void left when the Corvette goes up in price, then the Camaro will well like an ATS and GM will wonder why.
  17. smk4565
    It has a bit of an Acura NSX profile to it, and I don't think the NSX looks good. We have to see it to really comment on how it looks though. I think the big make or break for the C8 is pricing. I get the sense that GM will price this rather high and that may miss the mark for current Corvette owners and a price point that tChevy dealers can support. And they need GM fans to buy it. The C8 could go 250 mph and get 100 mpg and cost half what a Ferrari F8 costs, and ZERO Ferrari owners will even give it a look because no one is going from a Ferrari to a Chevy. This is a similar problem Cadillac has with name brand in going to high dollar segments.
  18. smk4565
    Not much a departure from the current, but I think that is good. The interior is a big upgrade, that is where the current model seems dated. I like the sport front facia more than the standard, overall I think the exterior looks good, familiar but more modern. The interior with the back seat upgrade looks more the like S-class of SUVs. I assume the 48 volt I-6 is standard and the 4.0 V8 is optional. Who picked that green paint? They aren't going to sell many of those. Fun fact, they have another 3-row SUV debuting next week.
  19. smk4565
    A-class/GLA/CLA sold about 400,000 units world wide last year and C-class was near 500,000 I think. Plenty of volume there, E-class was around 350,000.
  20. smk4565
    The A and C Mercedes sell, the TLX, not so much.
  21. smk4565
    They still make Acuras?
  22. smk4565
    That is what I meant. The inside but not the whole box.
  23. smk4565
    How I wonder what this will cost since carbon fiber is really expensive. And this is just a carbon fiber lining it sounds like but that could still get costly. I wonder if they could get the manufacturing cost down if they could build the whole box from carbon fiber. To go a step further if you could build the whole body from carbon fiber I bet a Sierra would be sub 4,000 lbs with the turbo 4 and would probably be faster than the 6.2 V8 models they have now. And have more payload capacity.
  24. smk4565
    WOW, a crossover that looks like a coupe, this has never been done before. TREANDSETTER!!!!
  25. smk4565
    295 lb-ft in the CLA is more than adequate for a 3500 lb car. That is more torque than the majority of sub $45k cars or small SUVs.
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