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Drew Dowdell

Editor-in-Chief
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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    that's what she said....
  2. Drew Dowdell
    But in this case, are they wrong about what they're complaining about?
  3. Drew Dowdell
    I disagree that the greenhouse has to be smaller than the sedan, I disagree that the rear seat has to be small. Even the roofline bit, while not wrong, is not a rule.... but I agree with most other things. A Coupe Deville was anything but sporty... but it was, somehow, marginally sportier than the Sedan Deville.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    yeah, that's what I'd do.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    Plymouth was because there was no point in marketing low cost sedans and minivans that were identical in content and price to Dodge. Olds was a mistake, it was the most technologically advanced division at the time outside of Cadillac. If nothing else, Olds should have been merged into Saturn in order to shed the name baggage. By the time Saturn died, they no longer did anything special. Everything they built with the exception of the Astra could be bought at the same price at another GM dealership Saab was just excess capacity that only a few fanbois wanted to keep around. Pontiac had some special models, but largely survived on the $199 down / $199 a month G6 leases, and it simply wasn't sustainable in that capacity. At the time, GM was forced to flood the market with cars simply to keep up with their union and capital obligations. Ford was doing the same with Mercury and the lower end of their car lineup. Ford and Pontiac both were dumping their small and mid-size sedans onto the Federal Government. To that end, there is still excess capacity out there. Lordstown is only about 50% capacity even when Cruze production is maxed out, I don't even know what it is down to now. Lansing is about to get a whole lot more room. VW Chattanooga apparently has room for more. The list goes on.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    You can express your viewpoint in more appropriate ways. It's the language, not the sentiment, that I object to. And in reply to your pre-edited comment.... Let's not get hyperbolic about if it's dangerous to ask the community if that type of comment is appropriate here. You couldn't get such language past the moderators at Edmunds for example.
  7. Drew Dowdell
    The Honda Civic can go over $30k now. In May I was driving a Cruze with a $27k sticker and zero powertrain upgrades. There was over supply of vehicles when we lost those nameplates. I don't know the supply level of nails, but if that company goes under, you better believe there is going to be a shortage if 50% of the supply goes away. The whole point of tariffs is to give the protected industries some breathing room on price. No they are not required to raise their prices, but now that their competition's price is raising they would not be fulfilling their fiduciary duty to stock holders. Will the results be immediate? I can't answer that... but without a change in course, prices will be higher.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    Honestly don't know. I'm willing to leave it up until and unless I get a notification from Google AdSense.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    In this case, this company was buying steel from itself in Mexico. The automotive equivalent would be if GM owned a steel plant in Mexico, rolled it into sheet metal, and then shipped it to Michigan for stamping in Lansing. The tariffs allow the US steel companies to raise their prices, so even if they did switch to US steel in order to avoid the tariff, they aren't avoiding the cost increase. Any shortage in the supply chain will cause the other 14 manufacturers to raise prices as well. In the end, anyone who buys nails will pay more.... and that's why sudden moves like this are bad.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    Just a heads up. Sometimes I get dinged by adsense for bikini clad women on here. I can't risk the revenue stream, so if I get a ding, I have to take that down. Nothing personal.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    You can downvote me all you like @ocnblu. It doesn't change the fact that you don't understand the economics of what is happening and what was happening before trump. The most "American" sedan out there today is the Avalon and it is likely to increase in cost by about $1700. Buick could potentially be closed as most of its lineup is imported. Retaliatory tariffs mean that all those GLEs and X5s built in the US can no longer be sold in the EU costing Americans jobs. The ham fisted tariffs are already costing hundreds of jobs and potentially wiping out 50% of the nail making capacity in North America.... so the cost of building a house will become higher. Housing prices being higher, plus mortgage interest rates going higher means fewer people buy homes, means fewer people shop at home improvement stores and furniture stores. Everything is tied to everything else. Toying with the economy is something done with delicacy.... not the way it is being done now. Seems like Ocn's post above is a good way to test the community moderation. If it gets enough reports for abusive behavior, it automatically gets moderated away. Democracy in action.
  12. Drew Dowdell
    This statement shows an utter ignorance of what is going on both before and after Trump. Hope you like paying a lot more for everything... even your "American made" stuff. It will wipe out any tax break you may have received and then some.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    Something's wrong. I get 13 mpg in my Toronado. No way the xt5 did that badly.
  14. Drew Dowdell
    He's speaking of build quality.... and the Corvette was not considered a luxury car in the mid-80s. The SL in the 80s had exposed screws in the trim, the lights... giant rubber grommets behind the door handles. . It had those huge battering ram bumpers (the corvette was much more svelt on that count). Even my Oldsmobile has better build quality... I cannot see any exposed screws from the drivers seat except for one small silver one holding the power window/door/seat control in place. The SL has really fantastic leather seats and a dream of an engine that is a nightmare on your checkbook to repair. Like the CLA and G-Wagon (until 2018), just because it sold at a luxury car price does not make it a luxury car.
  15. Drew Dowdell
    Ferrari has already been legally separated from FCA. Maserati is as well.
  16. Drew Dowdell
    It's a hatchback
  17. Drew Dowdell
    Just quibbling on terms... the only luxury car Mercedes sold back then was the S-Class. The other cars they sold were like the CLA is today... luxury pricing on less than mediocre vehicles. The E-class of the day was an awkward Malibu sized car powered by an 89hp - 110hp 4-cylinder.... or if you really wanted to twist your tweed, you could get it with a 65hp non-turbo Diesel.... not exactly anything close to zoom zoom.
  18. Drew Dowdell
    That was the Grandma and Grandpa Kettle version. It wasn't about features, it was about cheap transportation.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    Like it or not, platform volume is easier to get with EVs than it is with petroleum-burning ones. Remember GM's skateboard concept? That was to an extreme, but the idea is right, and we're already heading in that direction. Tesla only makes two power units and they can drop in and out of a car at the repair shop faster than any gas car. I think it is under an hour. As EVs get closer to the GM Skateboard concept, the number of body variants available will only increase. Eventually, it will be as simple as plopping a different body on the right wheelbase chassis. That's where the volume will come from.
  20. Drew Dowdell
    The Euros will never build a full-size pickup because they can't sell it globally, if they did, it would be a half-hearted effort just to dip their toe in the water. It's the mid-size segment where they'll come in and tackle Ford, GM, Nissan, and Toyota. Dropping the Chicken Tax means the X-Class comes here, that the Amorak (sp?) comes here. BMW doesn't build trucks currently, but given the market for them globally, I could see them coming out with a T535iXDrive and T745iTxDrive-MSportPersonal. Soon after, the T435diXdrive bluefficiency would come out... a 4-door crew cab pickup.... coupe. They'd sell 12 of them, all to US BMW executives, but count it in with 3-series sales. Mercedes will just rebadge a Titan. Land Rover could make that Defender Pickup and have it have a chance.
  21. Drew Dowdell
    The Ford Transit Connect, the Promaster, the Transit, even the Nissan NV all dispute the idea that the Europeans can't do "trucks" in this market. I'd say that only Toyota has come close in the Full-Size segment, but they've let their entry wither on the vine. The ones to watch will be VW and Hyundai... if those two jump in with serious competitors, particularly in the Colorado/Ranger segment, it will start to be an interesting race.
  22. Drew Dowdell
    People who accuse Europe of not playing fair don't seem to remember the 25% tariff we've had on EU trucks since the 1960s. It's also why ALL of the German automakers have built plants in the US over the past 20+ years. There is quite the pretense in demanding the EU "play fair" when we've been far worse than 10% tariff for a long time. Ford gets around this tariff for the Transit Connect by shipping them in from Turkey with a full set of seats, stripping the seats out after entry, and converting them back into cargo vans. They throw away the seats..... that's how ridiculously unfair our own tariffs have been.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    Sure, why not? It's already a niche vehicle. If they can put enough batteries in it to give it a good range, it should do decent as an EV. Plus, it's a car people already love even if not a lot are sold. Also, making it RWD with the batteries up front would make for an interesting profile.. less overhang in front of the front wheels/
  24. Drew Dowdell
    NYC style is still the best
  25. Drew Dowdell
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