hyperv6
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Everything posted by hyperv6
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That is just it. If Ford had thakened the GM route they would not have gained as much of a weight advantage. They really did have a major weight issue. As it is the advantage is not that great and once GM makes a move to their aluminum steel hybrid the will come in less and still hold a stiffer and stronger package. The new welding is a major advantage as well as the elimination of bonding with adheasive. The fact remains that a good bed should not require a liner or mat to prevent holes. You would be saying the same thing if it was Chevy receiving holes with a similar test. No bed no matter the make shoul hole like that. Time to stop believing the advertising illusion of the term military grade like it means it is as thick as it would be on a tank vs being closer to the grade on an airplane. The truth is Ford got caught out with something they could not dispute.
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The problem I surmise may be the dial is different. People tend to use shifters without any thought but the dial at first needs more attention and is more an opperator error. The problem is even as a operator issue the mfg pats the price. My puzzlement is why go to a dial and take the risk? Mfg have gone to buttons and other forms of shifter but they always go back to stick and column. i guess it is hard to change habits from 100 years. The problem I surmise may be the dial is different. People tend to use shifters without any thought but the dial at first needs more attention and is more an opperator error. The problem is even as a operator issue the mfg pats the price. My puzzlement is why go to a dial and take the risk? Mfg have gone to buttons and other forms of shifter but they always go back to stick and column. i guess it is hard to change habits from 100 years. -
I would like to keep this real. Heads up display on all cars. This is safety feature so over looked today an now much more affordible.
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You can not compare a luxury car in low volume to a vehicle sold in great numbers in fleets that operating cost are a major factor. Aluminum was not a right thing it was really the only option. Ford had little choice. Now where you put the aluminum in time will prove to be much more important. Outer panels are fine but bed floors over time will prove to be a problem. Just saying to add a bed liner is not enough. There is no reason a bed should be holed with a drop of a common hand tool box or brick. Dents are expected holes are unacceptable. the mix of material will be ever increasing as one material is not one fits all.
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If you look around many high end cars are not exactly near repair shops of any kind for their brands mechanical of body. The reason for the issues is not only the Aluminum but the added Aluminum and Steel welding that is new on this car. It is a technology that will spread to most GM cars and even some other brands due to the ability to increase strength in areas and also help control cost. I expect most GM dealers with in house body shops will be set up for this soon and this will be non issues. Look for this technology to be common like in the GM trucks where they will have Aluminum quarter panels and steel beds so they do not have holes in them like another brand should you drop say a tool box or bricks. One has to consider this technology is a hybrid of the best of two metals and a better solution than just going all aluminum. GM has the rights to it and and already has talked to other MFG to share the rights. In 5 years this will be a very common technology.
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Folks are just looking for discounts in general. They have no clue why they happen but they know that in the late winter early spring there are incentives [generally show discounts and offers] They also know June to August they discount cars [often end of year clearances] Tuck sales in October and November. Most of this has been like clock work and if you can wait they will save a couple thousand dollars so they will wait. The higher prices GM now has gives them room for these incentives but still make the profits they want and need. Other brands that do not have the higher ATP built in are taking in hard as they have to discount but they have little margin to work with.
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I would assume it would be easy to do right as others have done so. But with so many things anymore you have to idiot proof things as people can today find ways of getting hurt on a Band Aide
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The line up GM is new and moving in the right direction where it needs to. The amazing thing is few people realize how much they got done in just the 7 years since the bail out. they are mostly one and two models updates and working on more now. The ATP being up was key. Getting out of fleets also helped. They have many tools and time to work this out. The one key to business is it is ok to be a little over inventory when you have options but it is a sin to be short inventory and lose sales. Even with some incentives they will still make money but if they were short on product there would be no money made. Also the public anymore are trained like my dog is on treats. They wait for incentives and many wait for the show season coming up. As for the politics it has been hostile but it is even worse this round. I tire of the branding and BS that has been going on. The funny part those who cry fake news are often generating the fake news. Just as we saw the cries of Racist Trump Supporters burning a black Church in Mississippi the truth has about that it was one of their own members that did it and he was not white and not a Trump supporter. We will see the same with GM yet as there are many in the media that have a anti American or Capitalism streak in them. They will make a crisis out of anything they can about GM. The days of Cronkite where people just report the news are long over and it is just going to be agenda driven be it if you are in politics or even business. It is quite sad.
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I was not sure on the dial but I do know the 300 does take some adaption if you are not used to it and the old dogs don't learn new tricks well. They got a recall on it but I do not believe they have had it addressed yet. I am interested in what they do to change it. I assume a new less sensitive switch? I have driven some others that were electronic but they were much less sensitive. The first couple times I drove it I missed the gear the first try and had to give it a second try. I was holding it too long. I did stress to my mother in law to make sure to pay attention to what gear she was in as details in a car are not often her first concern. Shopping yes gear no.
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Having used the shifter in the 300 my first comment is some old person in Florida is going to put one of these through a garage wall. The shifter is a little on the sensitive side and if you are younger with good joy stick skills it is not an issue. But those who are older and like have had decades of clunky shifter detents it is a point of adaption. Some do and some don't. Be that as it may any MFG will be faced with the problem is people can't handle it. On the other hand they could claim they warned people if you should have one coming at you in a parking lot. It does say Dodge or Ram on the car does it not? LOL! They really needed to add to the sensitivity of the shifter. I have not used the knob but would think the detent for part would be one even a blind man could feel. Feel in a shifter is something many have adopted too. Even in my car I never look I just count the detents.
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Actually this was a long time coming. They all did know it was coming but the exact date. The Election did not bring this on and while GM has more inventory they had prepared for this this higher ATP and less incentives leading up to it. As stated in one story they have a lot of wiggle room to work in that some MFG with already high incentives do not have. Now that we are post election I would not be surprised that many in the media will try to misrepresent things to push for more economic turmoil as they are not happy with the results. Just look at what they have done to try to diminish the new president elect before he even is in office. To be fair the other side did their things too but in their case the bias of the media was not with them accept for one network. GM will weather this storm well and better than some MFG. The key is that we do not need a economic storm to hit while this is going on. The American auto market has limits to growth and it will only come in spurts now as people keep cars longer and many just can no afford new cars anymore. With the youth many are not even getting drivers license till later if at all. Changes are coming in how the auto market works and everyone is watching and adjusting. We will see incentives come as we do every auto show season starting in Jan and it will clean up some of the extras inventory. If you are in the market for a new car the next few months may be a great time to get a good buy on a Camaro or Cadillac etc. Dave I agree with you the sky is not falling and I believe many people are waiting for some money on the hood as they have been trained to wait. I know anymore I never buy unless they are making some decent offers and it is always a matter of not if but when,. We also need to remember this is not the GM of 2008 and it is the GM of 2016 that does not have the limits and issues of the past GM that would prohibit profits and difficulty in making move to clear lots and still make a buck doing it.
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Stew and I have had this conversation. We both want to see Chrysler/Dodge to survive but he is half full and I am half empty on the survival here. I agree they are in major trouble as they really need volume to survive and dumping money into Alfa with hopes of 300K in sales by 2016 was a foolish dream. I see one of Three outcomes here. One is they get a partner that also needs help. Neither side will be happy in the merger but a company like Mitsubishi is in dire need of help too. The second outcome is a Chinese firm buys out FCA and takes over. This would give them a path to America and Europe with names we know like they did with Volvo. Or in the end they are broken up and only Ram and Jeep would hold much interest for any buyer. With a market turn down it is going to be tough to find a buyer for any of it. But Jeep and Ram are the best ones to find a buyer. What really needed done was the money from Jeep needed to be plowed into the Dodge and Chrysler models. This would have increased volume and made them stronger so they all could support FCA as it is failing with the present Sergio plan. I do not want to see any more losses of American name plates and we are well on the way now. God forbid China buys Jeep or someone else outside America. That would be just wrong as it is an American Icon that is globally seen as American but welcomed any where in the world.
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Yes the game has changed and there are doors open that were closed in the past. Before this is over I expect most brands to shutter plants for a while. They all knew it was coming and some prepared. As for the management of this I am not sure how fast they can react to it. Also GM may have waited too long but it is not like it used to be where they would just keep compounding it. In the past all they could do is dump cars on the fleet market two times a year to cut inventories and then add incentives to cars they were making little money on. Even if they have to do incentives today they have more room to work. This may be part of the higher Camaro price as now they have more room. Higher ATP was stated as being there to prepare for the market slow down. The idea is to make more money per car at lower volumes but it will also give them room to work price too.
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I stated other than Ram and Jeep. what does Dodge have? Nothing. If the LX is extremely popular you have an idea of low volume popular. Challenger sales of 22K, 66K and 59K are not spectacular. Charger sales are better at 90K the last three years but with discounts and incentives not much money generated. FCA sales are a drop in the bucket to what Ford, GM, Toyota and VW do in a year. Profits are just not there either. Let make this clear You think FCA is doing great and I say they could and should be doing better. You appear to like Sergio I hate him for killing Chrysler. You admit Chrysler is going down and appear to be fine with it and I say it is wrong and they should fund them to be what they could be for FCA and make a lot of money. My point is Sergio has starved Chrysler and is slowly killing What is left of the Chrysler cooperation. The Money from Jeep is going to Fiat and Alfa should be going to Dodge and Chrysler. Where am I wrong. Is this hate of Chrysler? You can remain in denial but that is not going to change the outcome. Anyone else here think that Sergio and Chrysler is doing a really great job outside of Jeep and Ram?
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I also think what is being missed here is GM can idle plants today where as in the past it was cheaper to keep them open and in production since they had to pay union members nearly full wage no matter if they worked or not. Think about it GM never used to close much down other than the change over in June and July. Now they can do as others have done for years in production. One card that was never permitted to play before the bail out due to poorly structured contracts.
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Well what are most of the new coming vehicles that are coming in the next years. All trucks and SUV/CUV models for the most parts. Just the Equinox and Traverse will major impact the Chevy numbers alone. The future will have to still have cars to meet CAFE so you have to keep them up and GM is not going to be stupid and ax their car lines like Chrysler did as they will be needed in the future. But with that said slow models like the Impala and others could be at risk.
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Well GM has a lot more options this time than back in 09. The union deals that made them pay are gone. Also many of the cars on the list have to be considered. The Enclave and Terrain are going into build out mode where they stock pile them as new models and lines are being made. This number is not suprising and the Terrain will move to classic mode with fleet sales taking care of the volume. The Cruze had to get caught up and GM has worked 2-3 shifts. they will just go back to one and most of the people will just come off over time. The Alpha has suffered mostly due to the changes at Cadillac and the Camaro price increase where people will wait it out for incentives. They have already done some and it helped. The real hurt is the declines in the coupe market. Even the Mustang has suffered greater sales declines. Corvette has several issues. one it is winter and many are waiting to see what the C8 will bring. It is not far off. But here is the real issue. The market is in decline for everyone. The companies that had prepared for it will survive pretty find. GM for the last few years has been working hard on SUV and CUV models as well as two truck lines to keep profits and volume up. They also have worked hard to increase ATP so even at lower volumes and with some incentives they will remain profitable. They need to get the new Buick lines in place and star better marketing the Lacrosse. It is a big unknown out there and a really good car for the money. Cadillac is a write off for the next couple years but they will remain profitable even at lower volumes. The key will be to see how they manage inventories from January to July. If they can work it well they will sell down with the auto shows coming but sales will decline but look for profits to remain in the black. Holding many new products and larger volume products give so much more flexibility to work the market.
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Well after this year they will have only two cars and a hand full of SUV models that are selling better than cars but still far from world class or in volumes that will save FCA. They will need smaller vehicles even Cross overs yet they have none in the Dodge brand. What new products to they have that will show profits and volume needed to sustain a large corporation today. Show me where it is outside of Jeep and Ram? They really have nothing that sells well at the volumes needed from 150K-250K outside of the trucks and jeep. Alfa has missed the 360,000 goal of this year by a long shot. Maserati has not grown as predicted. Fiat has under-performed and has proven to be a sore spot with dealers that bought in. Dodge and Chrysler are killing the 200 and Dart you told me that were doing so well. The Viper is going away as it lost that special touch it had when Dodge called the shots. There is no Omni to save them. The Minivans are a slight help but a shadow of their past volumes as people have moved on to the CUV. The 300 is now a shadow of it's past glory of profits with steep discounts. The SUV models are there but not the volume of the others out on the market. That segment is fast changing and they had better be ready for updates as they will grow stale fast as others move on. Same for the trucks as they can not afford to delay here. They also need a sold mid size truck as they will be left behind. It is clear to all here how Sergio has Fd up The Chrysler operation. If you are so optimistic then present the models that are coming in the next 5 years that will save Dodge? The AWD or wide body Challenger I don't think so. What models will restore their volume and their profits with no large incentives at higher ATPs as the market is going into a slump? You have always puzzled me as you have never been upset or spoke out on how Sergio is killing Chrysler and Dodge. I am a GM fan and I hate the man for what he has done here. When he said he wanted GM to join in That was something I knew would not happen but it pissed me off. Just what does the Chrysler have going for it in the next 5 years that is a sure thing? The LX models are 2021 if you believe that one. What is going to help Chrysler meet CAFE increases in 2025 even if Trump lowers the standards? Just what is going to improve their return buyers. They have been at 25% second to last in return buyers. What is going to improve their quality as 6 of ten on the list of highest problem cars are FCA products. Not trying to beat you down I just want you to wake up and get mad and really understand you are going to lose your company if things do not change. This is a time all Chrysler fans should stop hyper ventilating over the Hell Cat and demand Sergio save the company you love. A expensive low volume 700 HP car will not do it alone. My fear is it may be too late now. There really are no partners interested and there is a lot of problems looming ahead. When it happens I will not rub it in but you have been warned.
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I find it sad how you appear reserved in accepting the fate of Chrysler and the Dodge cars. Odds are good 2021 will never come to Dodge and Chrysler cars.
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My got is that this is just a LWB Chevy version of the Acadia. I would not be surprised if GMC also gets the LWB version too.
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As you should know any wheel drive is pointless on ice. I am waiting to drive the new terrain 2.0 and if we do not like we will go for the Acadia V6. If you want mpg the diesel is you best choice. To be honest if the 2.0 is anything like my SS the mpg and power make my Terrain v6 feel like a pig.
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Well the V8 while both desirable are not necessary. The ways some people go on about awd in some parts of the country you would think the we never got around with out it? Most people here get around just fine and we have no large number of AWD cars. In same areas here the snow gets so deep they mark the road sides so the plows know where to go so so it is not like we just get a dusting here. We can go from an inch to 20 inches in 40 miles here in the same day due to Lake Erie. My Inlaws get around just fine in theirs with out both. They live in the Snow Belt of eastern Ohio 2 weeks and the Mountains of WV 2 weeks at a time with the V6 and RWD with limited slip. They paid just over $30K for their 300. Other than some quality issues and recalls they have liked it. They just had to replace the batteries in the Key fobs and I am not sure if that is normal for key less operation or not after just over a year? You may want to wait for the Terrain to see price and what it is like as it will be bigger than the Encore but nearly as efficient and should be at least to the GMC upgrade levels. I also expect a decrease in the price similar to the Acadia. Might get more for the money? We should know for sure soon.
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Actually it is much worse already than the town car was at the end. They have discounted them in the states to the point they can be had for $30K which is a great price for the buyers but horrible for resale and image. FCA was handed a dream and killed it with the lack of attention.
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The segment I'd a declining one down under hence Ford and GMs departcher so tFCA will just be picking bones till the car is replaced or is killed off. FCA is just looking for volume with out much investment.
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Yet most departments are now buying Explorers.
