hyperv6

I agree that the lack of a manual is more an issue for reviews and less an issue for real sales. When the average take rate on manual is 7% for the market and while a little higher as you stated in the sport sedans it is still low. The V series will get it with the TT turbo and it should. We have to keep in mind GM has not shown all the cards here and we have only seen the intro versions of these cars. More good things are to come for the ATS. I would though forget the V8 as it is going to the CTS not the ATS. A 400 plus HP TT V6 will be enough for the light ATS and the CTS will take a the new V8 for the V.

The review from any mag is only as good as the writer. Then it is only as good as the editor. I have been getting these magzines since the 70's and I find that often many of the reviews flawed in some way. Yes there are good reviews but they also show where the writer did not do his homework or showed his like for one brand over another that is not always subjective. Of all the magazines i have found Autoweek to be the mosty consistant. It may be the fact that they do not live only on the automakers advertising only. They are not perfect but tend to be the most fair. After seeing how things work first hand between advertisers and magazines I know the truth that there is a lot of influance there that many never consider. . Things often are far from impartial than they appear. Also magazines today are only a shadow of what they once were. Staffs are small and many of them are very very underpaid. I also wonder how much goodwill GM bringing in the few writers from the media to advise on product development has helped them in reviews. No only are they paid but they also had imput into these cars. Would you bad mouth somthing you recomended or advised?.

Maybe in some areas, but I never see those around... I see very few GM models in day-to-day traffic that are older than 10-15 years old.. It is funny but I even saw 2 different Citations in the last week. Barretta's are very common and they may not be pretty but they keep on running. I saw even saw a beat up Pace car one Saturday. Most old GM cars are the choice for winter beaters or first cars for high school kids. They are easy to find, cheap and easy to repair and keep on running and running. The guy I work with has a Grand Am that is on the original engine and tranny and will hit 300,000 this fall. Now keep in mind that we also live in the snow belt of ohio where they even salt the road when the sun is out and they are clear. On the other hand it is rare to see any Asian cars older than 12 years old. Most have rotted away or were more expensive to fix than they were worth. An very old Honda here is rare.

The reviews have all been good and they all have a few nit picks. What I find funny is how Autoweek complained about the A pillar but I think it was Car and driver praised them for being so thin? There were other subjective things they all did not agree on. But in the end they all agree it is a car to consider vs the BMW and that has never been said before. We have to remember these reviews were not easy for these BMW lovers to do. This is only the jump off point and it will only get better, faster and refined. At least Cadillac is in the circle of choice and not just outside. I expect with the added price the CTS will only build on the ATS as it will have more room to do more things with the cost involved. Now with Cadillac coming out and finally stating the LTS is approved and now expected in 2015 we should have a good car line up. The only thing I worry about is the unrealistic expectations of some I have seen on the web for the LTS. Some seem to think they will be getting one of the two show cars as the production model. Then when it appears as a real production car they will piss and moan that they should have had the V16 or wood carved dash, Cadillac has a 10 year plan and I would expect that would get us to the next gen of each of these cars in 10 years and it will be interesting to see where they take this then. In the mean time I hope they evolve the engines into their own while they refine the cars. The Turbo V6 ATSV may be intersting with the base car being this good. Even the F2 suspension got praise.

One thing GM and Cadillac needs to do is create engines with their own tune and trim. It is not realistic to do one off engines for Cadillac but they could take these engines and get a little more power from them and trim them better than just plastic covers to set them apart from Chevy. GM and Cadillac can afford to make this move to set them a level above the rest of the GM line. Hell I have nearly the same Turbo in my HHR. Great engine but I would think 300 HP would make a better statment from Cadillac from 2.0 liters. GM can do it very easy as they have already proven it before. My HHR is almost to the 300 number now only limited with the 4 speed transaxle.

The XTS was as much for China as anyone. Not sure about the Turbo in this one unless they boost the power a little more. It will move it around ok but I would want a little more power to deal with the weight. But it is better than a 2.5. Cadillac needs to take these GM engines and make them their own with their own tunes and their own trim. I know it is not cost effective to to Cadillac only engines but they could do more to tune them to the Cadillac line and give us a little more from them vs a Chevy.

The iq is seriously lame... Scion has shot themselves in the foot with every car they have brought out since the original xB, which still isn't that fantastic of a car. Trust me, my wife wanted one so we bought it...she now drives a Cooper S and my son droves the crap box to his job. The fiat has good handling, not as good as the Chevy, but the interior ergonomics suck big-time, I think. The fact is the whole Scion deal is as lame as the Saturn deal. Was there really any need to make Toyota's that need to be called a Scion? The Fiat issue is the styling sells it but will the quality be there for more than 4 years. They are cheap when you really look at one and for what you pay I find it not up to standards. This is a huge problem with a lot of modern cars...Subaru and Toyota for example. While I love the FRS-BRZ, they have horrible quality paint. Easily the worst fit and finish of anything I've test driven this year. And while the Abarth Fiat makes all of the right noises, it still really suffers from being built on such an ungodly cheap platform. I agree. The press falls all over cars like this and 20 years from now the GM cars will still be trucking along. How many Grand Am's and Barrettas do you see round with 300,000 miles. They may not be pretty but they are still on the road. Of these small cars how many will still be around 12 years from now. I bet the Spark will be one of the few still running in the rust belt.

For one this sound like you have not seen the car in person yet so that accounts for a lot. Second there is a hill to climb but it not one they can't climb. Third the ATS may not be a A+ but it is a good solid A with the review. Cadillac just needs A efforts to make their point. The fact is no one can do a A++ in this segment as no one could afford the car. Even BMW and Benz have been B+ at best with many of their new models. How often anymore has Jeremy Clarkson even stated a list of hates on his beloved Benz. In my book A beats B+.

The problem with no leases is that the Luxury segment lives on them. Lets face it if you sold cars to only people who really can afford them it would cut sales in half. Many of these people want to enhance their image with the image of a car that says you made it. The trouble is many of them have not yet made it or ever will. These are the same people who buy the McMansion with only enough furniture to fill hald of it. They also lack curtains or blinds on those custom made widows that they can not afford. But they all have a Leased BMW in the drive and a Large SUV. We have to understand we live in a society where everyone wants to be or look like a Millionaire but they want to all shop at Walmart. Sorry it just does not work that way. So while I too would love to see leases go away they are here to stay as a profit sale is a profit sale and they are too much a part of the luxury segment anymore. Besides they all are expensive to keep on the road anymore.

What has the ATS proved, they haven't even sold one of them yet. BMW over the past 30 years has proved the 3-series is the best car in that class. They did a lot of things right with the ATS, but Lexus also had 2 tries with the IS, and aimed for the correct size, weight, horsepower, etc, and had a shelf full of JD Power awards saying how they build the most reliable car, and they failed. The ATS may be good, I'd like to drive one to find out, but the ATS doesn't have the badge of BMW or Mercedes. If you buy an ATS you still have to justify why you didn't buy a BMW or Benz instead. Ok then lets just shut Cadillac down and just sell Chevy Sonic's! Why bother if GM is doomed to fail as you clearly point out. The first step in this deal is to build a car that is as good or better in all areas. To compete it takes product and great product. So far from what it looks the press has declared Cadillac as being as good or better in most areas with the ATS. Second you need to do a hell of a lot of good marketing. Once you have great product you need to get the message out and Sell, Sell, Sell. Image has to be built and earned as you can not just sit there and wait for it to happen. Third you need to follow it up with more great product that is better in most areas as the cars it needs to compete in. This reinforces that you are real and enhances the image more. Finally you need to keep this up for years as a car companies image is not built in one year on one model. It take time to earn trust and for people to learn that you are the real deal. BMW was not built on the first 5 year of the 318. It took time and marketing that centered on Freude am Fahren, The Ultimate Driving Machine. This was one of the most succsessful marketing campains. Add to that the false image that the Germans build anything better stero type and you have a winning formula that built itself up over the years to what we have now. No one said rebuilding Cadillac would be cheap, easy or happen in just a few years. This battle will be taken one model at a time and then time to repair the damaged history of the many wasted years. It can be done as other have done it. None of them did it overnight and not all of them made it. As of now GM is doing it right and now it is time for them to just stick to this and keep moving the ball forward. As for Lexus that is a whole different story. Most Asian MFG do not have an idea of what many customers want and they have little heritage to draw from. They can build a better V twin but it is still not a Harley. They can build a better mid engine sports car and it is still not a Ferrari. Lexus lost their way as they were a well built car but they had no soul. Then Toyota started to take short cuts and fall to the rebadged habits that hurt Cadillac and Lincoln. They have learned from this and will now also start to build better products. BUt they lack two things Cadillac can sell. Cadillac has many years of glory heritage they can use. Cadillac also has the image of being an American car. While this has hurt in the past there is a growing demand for things to be American again. This is not lost on the automakers as so many Asian comanies are now trying to show that they have as much content as the American MFG cars do. They want to make you think Hyundai is a Georgia car and Honda is an Ohio car. Buy American scares them. If you note even the fast food places are into this now with Wendys promoting they use North American Beef. This movment is growing and Ford and GM will use it to their advantage. Lets face it we only have one true fully American owned luxury car company anymore. So if you think this is a done deal with just the ATS you again need to learn more about what is going on at GM and how things really work in the real world. The ATS is proof that GM can do it and the CTS will confirm it once it is here. The next challange is the marking and the ATS marketing looks good so far. I think as time goes on this will be fun to watch after watching the years of decline.

The iq is seriously lame... Scion has shot themselves in the foot with every car they have brought out since the original xB, which still isn't that fantastic of a car. Trust me, my wife wanted one so we bought it...she now drives a Cooper S and my son droves the crap box to his job. The fiat has good handling, not as good as the Chevy, but the interior ergonomics suck big-time, I think. The fact is the whole Scion deal is as lame as the Saturn deal. Was there really any need to make Toyota's that need to be called a Scion? The Fiat issue is the styling sells it but will the quality be there for more than 4 years. They are cheap when you really look at one and for what you pay I find it not up to standards.

Malibu Eco is not cheap, some of the hybrids are similar in price, and the base Altima has better mileage anyway if you want to live with that CVT, which most of these buyers won't know what that is anyway, they will just read the mpg label. The Malibu LTZ with a 2.0T may solve some problems of the Malibu Eco, but the LTZ will likely top $30k and will not be a lot of volume. The base Malibu and Eco are the trims that produce volume. I really like the new Fusion, still like the Optima and Sonata, and the new Altima has a rather nice interior. Plus the Accord gets redone soon too, and despite them being boring or maybe not even that good, people still buy Camrys and Accords on name alone. GM undershot on the Malibu. Back to the ATS, I don't think they undershot on it, from early reports it seems they at least took most of the necessary steps. But this is Mercedes engineering and safety, Audi interiors, and BMW braking/steering/handling they are going after. Not to mention the reputation of those 3 brands. I think Cadillac can get in the game, but I don't know if they have the big guns to prevail here. The average price of a car is $30K now and most midsized cars today of any value will all top $30K it top trim. Hence that is why we have a Cruze and Sonic etc. They did not uder shoot as the ATS has proven to have best inclass in most areas. For once GM did not try to match BMW or Benz. Again you need to do a little homework on just what is really going on inside GM today and understand the changes that are now in place. Lutz changed many things in GM and how many of the engineers and designers are no longer restricted to do as they are told. In other words if it need done then do it and don't wait to be told to do it. The ATS is the first full car to show this openess to enabled engineering. .

The RS just needs some real power to set it appart. It has all the other parts but just not enough power to make it that interesting to the real performance crowd. As of now it is a poser in the eyes of too many, I hope they pony up a little more and make this interesting. As light as it is it would not take too much more. This way Chevy can pass out little Mini and Fiat stickers for kills. The Spark is for people who hate cars in general and just want something to get from point a to b. Or it is for someone with enough time and money to put a 2.0 Turbo in just for fun and to tow behind the RV.

Anyone take note of the statment from Cadillac that they will work to be number one in the USA. This is smart and show confidence and with the ATS now out it also shows they really mean what they say. First I would want all my divisions goals to be number one as that is the only way to do buisness. Who goes in wanting to be #2 or 2? Second it is a attainable goal with the new products they have coming and their comitment to building class leading cars as shown my the ATS. To me the ATS is the first fully post Chapter 11 car and it shows that the changes have taken within GM. Third I like how they stated there is no time table. This is an honest statment as who could predict that? The keys are product accpetance, Proper marketing and the market. The market is always fluid and who knows what will happen to what product or MFG. One false unintended acceleration case and it can hurt a MFG for years as Audi already knows. To me the market is like racing and if you run in the top 4 every week in time you will start winning and once you win you keep moving up. Right now I see Cadillac now starting to run in the top 5 and with all the new products that will be coming they will be taking some wins finally. As for others like Lincoln they have yet to really make a move to even be in the race. You can't keep rebading Fords and then expect to be taken as a winner. Cadillac may share the Alpha with the Camaro but it was engineered as a Cadillac first. I see this as a winning way as it is best to build it right and pass it down not up.

We are speaking cars not Crossovers. Hard to compare something that was not around back then. I am far from writing the Malibu off yet as we have yet to see anything but the Eco yet tested. I did read a review on the LTZ and they seem to like the many changes it brings in performance and trim inside and out. Bigger wheels, more power, better interior and no battery to lug around with an under powered 4. I also expect Chevy to be fast with changes if needed to make the car right.

So far the reviews have been good. The 3 I have read all said it is at the top of the class. They said the only two cars to consider in this group were the Fiat or Spark. They said the Fiat has the styling but the Spark was a little better in handling. No one likes the IQ.

The new passage has been handed to the Malibu as GM has raised the price and lowered volume expectations of the Impala. Sorry to say but the rite of passage has been handed to the mid size group.

It looks like they finally have the hardware and now it is just up to marketing to sell it. The next punch to the market will be the new improved CTS. I expect no less from the CTS. GM is on a roll as the press so far likes nearly every new car they have built including the Spark, XTS and Metro. The only tepid reviews were the Eco Malibu and that will change once the LT and LTZ hit the market. I want to see what they think of the new Impala. The preview from Motor Trend was promising.

It would make a good headline post for April 1. How about "GM will rehashed the HHR tooling to take on the Smart Car". I bet you could have some fun on some web sites.

We all need to keep in mind that we are talking in terms of the volume luxury market. This is where people often buy at the low end and work their way up as they progress in life. Now this used to apply to other classes of cars but no longer. Say in the value brands like Chevy people tend to buy for several reason. The type of car that fits them the best and the one they can best afford. At Chevy you don't expect all buyers to start at a Sonic and move to a Camaro. Now in the Luxury class some start off at the low end say at BMW like a 3 Series and they move up as they increase income. The 3-5-7 are all sedans with an odd mix of coupes and generally offer just more of the same as you move up and increases in power and luxury. So the build from the bottom up is what works in this class but I would not ever expect or want to see Chevy do similar. Chevy needs to be all things to all people and present it at a good value. This is where Buick is stuck. The room between Chevy and Cadillac is not great and it leaves Buick little room to operate. As Cadillac moves up the scale with their new models it will give Buick more room to operate. But It concerns me that cars like the Impala LTZ will be $40,000. This steps on the toes of the Lacrosse that is not ready to move up. almost think Buick needs to look to create a new nich for themselves and offer cars that sets them better appart from a high end Chevy and a lower Cadillac. If their price is similar they need to make things available you can not get on any Chevy. Until there is a bigger gap for Buick it will be difficult for them. This is why vehicles like the Enclave do so well as they are not like anything Cadillac offers and it is much nicer than anything Chevy sells. Times and markets are just much more complex than the Sloan era. Either way Cadillac is doing it right.

You can explain around it but the modern BMW line was built on the back of the 3 Series and as the owner get older and more money they moved to the 5 and 7 Series. The history from the 70's up shows the path of growth. BMW must have retains a good number of people as they are not selling less cars each year and have been keeping profitiable. When you are poor you buy a 3 series and when you finally make it you buy a 5, 7 or even something better. We also have seen Cadillac try to sell the big dollar car with no love for the line and we know where that went. You have to earn the public trust and then you can enhance your image. Once you do that then it opens the door for a flagship. If you can make a $40,000 car worth a damn then why should someone trust you with $80-100L? Either way GM is doing it the right way and has the cart behind the horse for once.

So, that's 2 coupes: ATS and NG-CTS? Interesting! I said the ATS coupe may appear once the CTS goes away for a while. Who knows if it will return or even when. None have been seen in testing yet. The first Alpha coupe I expect will be the Camaro. I expect the ATS V6 may dip into the low 14's high 13's in the 1/4 mile and the Turbo will be very similar. To compare the much heavier Camaro with the same 3.6 will do 14.3 with the manual. I would assume the ATS should better that even with the Auto.

The coupe from what I heard never really was canceled. From what little GM has said the coupe will just come later and the timing looks to take place when the CTS coupe may leave for awhile. The marketing guy from Cadillac stated that Cadillac was really hurting in this segment. He also stated what I have said for a long time when many pissed and moaned for a flagship. He stated that all these luxury lines were built from the bottom up and in the case of BMW the 3 series built todays BMW to be what it is. You have to earn new and younger owners with the the entry level cars and let them move up. This has been what I have said for as long time. People may give you a try at $40K but not at $100K.

I forgot the best line in the story. Page 36 first paragraph. "Measured by "light, Nimble, fun" and balance and inherent goodness, the ATS belongs in the same sentence as the BMW 3 series.

That is nothing! Here is the new second Gen High Mileage 2015 HHR based on the new Opel Adam. Note they are working on the gen 6 Magnetic levitation suspension. . This is really an HHR that LKQ auto recyclers made for Safelite glass to train new techs on how to install glass.