hyperv6
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At Last. Cadillac, has leadership that inspires confidence
hyperv6 replied to Cmicasa the Great's topic in Cadillac
You have to look big picture here. For how long has Cadillac tried to move up with GM trying to do it the cheap, fast easy way? Way too long. Cadillac today was just given new leadership last summer and for the first time from GM full commitment to do what is needed to fix them. We have never seen that in my life time. We have gone how long thinking that one model was going to turn Cadillac around and one that was almost as good or just as good as the others? Then we have the cry oh they cost too much from some who really do not understand where this is all going. These are the folks who love a good fake Rolex while the segment that Cadillac is targeting wears real Rolex's. You can not discount your way to the top, you will not take leadership of the segment on just one or two good cars. You will not take this segment in just a year. Look back at BMW and Audi and neither were transformed on one single model in one year as both took time and various models and variations. BMW was not transformed over night on the first 3 series. It took years and variations to do so. Audi started to change with the 5000 from just a expensive VW rust bucket to a modern luxury performance car. They were stalled out with the Unintended Acceleration hoax that set them back 10 years but even then they worked another 10-15 years with the A series cars to respectability. As of right now I see the right things being done to set the stage for the future. Cars like the present CTS, ATS and CT6 are all good cars but here you have to be great to take the lead. As good here does not apply and you to build a clearly better car to win the image game. You can not build as good then discount it to make people buy it in this segment. You build it clearly better and sell it at the same price. As the joke with 911 owners go the Boxster is the Porsche that tells the world you could not afford a 911. The key here is image and pride in this segment. Anyone could buy an Impala that will take you anywhere these cars will but the impala will never salt the price or image as you pull up to the country club. To be the part you have to play the part. For too long Cadillac has been discounted into too many trailer parks and it is time to stop. As for the name you guys who want to complain on this need to wake up. No matter what you call it if the car is good it will sell. Names do not sell cars quality, Technology content and image. The romantic notion of names no longer applies. Just look around at the best sellers. -
No I do not expect much in drivetrains at this point. Yes I expect the 4 to be offered as the base engine. I Got our SLT2 just a month before they announced the Terrain Denali. Looking at the price difference and the few added trim items it was not worth the cost to me and I would have kept to the SLT2. Now at some point I would love to see them add more and different hardware like a Haldex AWD system to a Terrain and Acadia also some other items that are functional and non trim items I think that would really set them apart. But the reality of pricing comes in. Like the Truck here A Denali loaded will be at least $40K or over in crew cab. It could be close to $45 even. Then if you start to add some expensive toys the cost would even grown more. Just how much would someone pay for one of these trucks becomes the issue. You could easily price one out of the segment and then the sales taper off. The fact is the addition of chrome and some stitching works and they make a heck of a lot of money with it. While not for me more power to em for making easy money here.
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This may be my next vehicle but at this point it would be a SLT2 with all options unless there is something more than just some added trim. I really am not a chrome fan anyways. If Chevy does a Gear like nose I may look to it.
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They can do better. At least it is not as bad as Impact. Never call a car Impact. Dodge and Ram is bad enough if you think about it.
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It's true... and an ATS-V will likely wipe the floor with the first CTS-V. Interior is substantially better than that car too. The greatest disappointment of the first gen was when I ran on a autocross course and pulled in shut it off and went to pull the hand brake and then had to look for a pedal? The first CTSV was just a solid first step into the future. Today the new Alpha is much more than the Sigma ever could be. The advancements in engineering and even just having the Lutz ring at the proving grounds has paid off in some of the best handling and riding GM cars in their history. The second gen addressed many things but it still was dealing with an older platform taken to the highest level they could. At the time it was the finest Cadillac made in decades. Once the new CTSV comes out it will do for sedans what the ZO6 has done for sports cars. People will speak of how it does things cars costing more than what it does but yet it will not just be a great car for a good price but just a great car. The ATSV will surprise many and will shed a positive light on the entire model line. The ATS has suffered greatly from poor marketing and it remains a real unknown. Even in the more basic Turbo 4 trim it is a great car. I have driven the new CTS and ATS and was very impressed in them and can only imagine what the V models will bring to the table. I loved the last model V but I was not real happy with the interior. The coupe I hammered around in last year was a great drive but for the price it just felt lacking for the price. I expect that will be addressed well based on the latest Caddies. The new up trim in the ELR blew me away.
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You had good gear in the past models but you are getting much better gear here and when you see the numbers and the way they handle you will see where the extra money went. Also the interiors will be much better than the past. Sorry cars are just expensive anymore and in an age where you have Camaros in the $40K range you will have even more expensive Cadillac's. The trick will be to earn the customers trust at the higher prices. To do so you need to get the message out what you really have to offer and only good marketing can do that.
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I think you will see a ZR2 like package for the GMC and Chevy first. It is much easier to do and much more profitable. Now add a Raptor killing turbo to that it may be interesting. I would just be happy with the V6 in a ZQ8 suspension in standard and Crew cab. That too was an easy and profitable platform.
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Yes the reports came out after my post and China is not going well and I believe they are hiding a lot more issue than they are reporting with their quarterly reports. Things will only get tougher as time goes on as other enter the segment and the need for increased volumes will be tougher to come buy. Tesla's future is like a car going fast. the first 100 MPH takes only so much power but the next 100 MPH comes at much greater needs of power and not being the only one in a market is not going to help. Their future us going to be tough.
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If GM can really deliver the Bolt on price with 200 mile real world range they may have really taken a hit at Tesla. Next BMW has an even better car to challenge the S model coming too. As it is the news this week has not been good for Elon and he will have more issues to deal with as we go. He will not be able to live forever on the S model and they must start to show a profit at some point. Even the added sales of the X model are only going to go so far. If things like the novelty doors wear off like they did on the Delorean it will be tough. As it is now I wonder how much delay the 3 will have since we have yet to see any real sign of life of a car that should be out in 18 months as a 2017 model. Stock prices down, Sales down in China. Profits lower than expected, Rock was not attempted to land on barge. Not a good week or quarter. Time for Musk to talk about expensive house batteries and transportation tubes again. He deflect every time we get weeks like this and we have another one.
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Well we already know about the CT6 The Terrain was also mentioned to me and it has to be shown soon as the Nox is being shown now but it too will be a mild upgrade at best. The Envision may be later on for the US model as I have not hear it being released soon. Anyone have intro dates for release? I expect the Camaro to make the show in NYC just as the Z/28 did last year as well as the light refresh of the SS. I also expect a big deal at Woodward as the customer cars are close to release.
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I can just tell you what I was told and what I have read. It could have changed but that was the last I heard. Lets face it there are few large show before the 2016 year to intro a 2016 car, Where else would they do it unless they wait for Detroit next year and by then they would have to make it a 2017 model.
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That is what I have heard and read from several places. GM plans to have a number of new cars set for NYC. As for the production well it is a 2016model and the normal expectation Is a fall release and they will do a slow start up as is the norm.
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How many weeks??? The NYC show in less than 60 days. That is when they reported they would unveil the car. We should see it next fail in production with a slow start up.
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There are some things GM needs to do here. #1 Keep this between $30K-35K. #2 Keep to the 200 mile range. #3 Make sure the sales staffs are trained to the highest level and the service department is at maximum knowledge and effort. Customer experience needs to be at the highest level here. #4 No defects! #5 Make a profit. This car needs to deliver on the promises of GM and what others have promised for years but have yet to bring to market {Tesla 3}. This car could do very well for this segment but it must be affordable and deliver while generating a profit or it is just another exercise is technology. I would not worry too much about AWD right now lets get the car out and hit the established bench marks it needs to maker first and then you can expand it from there. If you do not hit 200 miles range in FWD then AWD is not going to help. If anything it may lower the range and only add to the cost. GM keeps all their programs secret pretty much up to 18-24 moths before release. To be honest this is the kind of car we all knew they were working on but we just has little info on specifics. It is not a real secret we will see a more expensive larger EV sedan at Cadillac too at some point. GM when the Volt was announced had to make big splashes on future product 5-7 years out to support stock prices but today that is not an issue. They now keep things pretty dark and release info nearer production to keep an competitive advantage. Example the Gen 5 Camaro was shown 5 years plus out to keep stock up and to get those inside to approve a new program with positive public response. Today we have the 6th gen that is weeks from into and months from production and we know so little about it.
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Tesla Unveils New All-Wheel Drive Model S, Driverless Tech
hyperv6 replied to William Maley's topic in Tesla
But the Tesla Freaks will say we have SuperCharging stations where you drive in and they swap in less than 10min the battery pack, depleted one for fully charged one. Were still waiting on those. Also we are still waiting on the supercharger that is not more than 100 miles way or farther. The reality the EV is a growing segment but it will not replace gasoline cars soon. There are still a lot of things to work out that will take time. All the MFG's are working on EV models and the prices will go down and ranges will go up. But as long as gas remains cheap it will remain number one for vehicles. Contrary to popular myths we are not going to run out soon. In the mean time like Tesla or not we need to pull for them as if they fail as a high profile car it can set back the entire segment. Tesla has a lot of things yet to do and a lot of cars they need to sell that will be a challenge. Tesla is like going faster in a car. The first 100 MPH takes only a set amount of power but the next 50 MPG can take 3 times as much and more the faster you go. Tesla is facing the same thing. The firs sedan at a high price point was easy once they found people willing to pay for it. Lower volumes are not an issue at the higher prices. Now once they get to the 3 series it will be a much tougher deal. Lower profits and much higher volumes. More plants to make the cars as the Fremont plant can handle 300,000 units and with the x model and the other two they will need more production than that to use up the batteries they plan to build in Reno. The Telsa future is calculated and will be a challenge. Add to the this the increased competition from other makes with deeper pockets and more resources. It will be a tougher ride as they go on. The real question will be is how long will the investors stay on board. If the non fans bail it will hurt their growth and even with Musk owning 1/3 I do not see him writing the checks out of his accounts. Add to all this the S model will need styling changes and updates more than just adding AWD and another $15K to the price while they get the late X to market and the 3 that is still several years off. They claim 2017 but will see. You can always tell when Tesla is not having good news as Elon talks the transport tubes, his rockets or some other crazy thing. Just watch and if the stock takes a dip or someone challenges him on his reporting of only quarterly sales he deflects with these other topics. He is the PT Barnum of the internet. -
GMC News: Rumorpile: More On GMC's Wrangler Competitor
hyperv6 replied to William Maley's topic in GMC Trucks
The Hummer name does not mean it has to be bloated only rugged looking. The rock crawler idea they were considering was on a Kappa platform and would have been basic in light, rugged and small enough to take on any trail. GM was thinking out of the make it bigger mode with Hummer and were making them smaller and smaller in their plans -
GMC News: Rumorpile: More On GMC's Wrangler Competitor
hyperv6 replied to William Maley's topic in GMC Trucks
Bob Lutz made it clear in his book that he made a major mistake not making Hummer a model line inside GMC. He said it would have been cheaper and easier to manage. As it was closing down Hummer was expensive. While the eco people hated Hummer there are still many people out there now paying big money for used models. While the H2 and H3 were really just based on a Tahoe and Trailblazer it fooled a lot of people into thinking they were in a real monster of a truck and fooled the eco people into thinking these were worse than any other SUV on the road. The fact was they were a very good use of an existing platform that could be easily done again in the form of a GMC. Now I would not make it a full on Hummer if they wanted to bring this back but hints of the styling like we are getting with more ground clearance and bigger tires would be fine. The price would be in line with GMC's premium status. The real key is to find ways to make smaller and more efficient GMC product that would still be fun and interesting. Real off road rock crawling like vehicles are cool with so many today. Also something missing today is a quality Samurai. These things sold like crazy for Suzuki and could sell well again today. Make it with a lift off top and Ecotec engine. Just make it so it is rust resistant. I think the Samurai were shipped from japan with rust. GMC needs a variety of products all with real world off road ability even if 75% never leave the road. They need models large small and in-between here. There is a lot of money to be made here if done right. I would not get too crazy on the high tech electric stuff here as most truck guys do not go for this stuff. Also till it gets better the large frontal area of a truck would never see the range a Volt gets. It would be nice but between the cost and the lack of battery range would not be great. Lutz is trying it on Chevy trucks. If it works then we can revisit it. But I will be shocked if he sells many. -
GMC News: Rumorpile: More On GMC's Wrangler Competitor
hyperv6 replied to William Maley's topic in GMC Trucks
This has been kicked around for a good while and GM is just now getting into a place where they can afford to take this to the next level. GMC needs a smaller fuel efficient model and this could be it. The fact is Jeep is losing its way and under Fiat I really see them moving away from what made them great. While the 4 door Wrangler is nice and sells well it is getting more expensive and not truly what it originally was. Fuel MPG is not great either. It is becoming a SUV more than a true off road vehicle that you can beat on. The new Renege is not really a jeep and not really inspiring. I feel GM will go back to what they originally looked at and do a real off road vehicle that is powered by a 4 cylinder and can take a real beating. This would be a specialty model and not one that is expected to be a SUV as GMC will add other models that will be a SUV. In other words this one is not the reconstituted H4. GM has looked at doing a smaller lighter Jeep like model but had no platform for it back then. They had been said to have looked at the Kappa but it never went anywhere GM just did not have the money. Today that is different. I think will see something that can out Jeep a Jeep. The fact is GM has access to more engines than Fiat. Also they have no ties like Jeep has that say it has to look like a Jeep. This means they can go places Jeep can not go. I just see this as being rugged, light and fuel effect. It is not going to be a Luxury car but it will be something people will take out and beat on and get dirty. But I do see room for an H4 like model too as that could be the new Jimmy or what ever they want to call it. The Wrangler 4 door now is a much more efficient Jeep but it also is not what Jeep used to be. It also is not as efficient in space as a SUV based model and also has issue with Stone chips up the sides even if it never goes off road. My buddies is all chipped up just from the roads. The wheels sticking out and the special edition larger tires fling it all up the side. 1 year old and It is not looking new anymore. Lutz said Hummer should have been a GMC. I see them going back to this from the small size vehicles up. You already see hints of Hummer in the square off styling and the fender flairs. My Terrain looks like a Civilianized smaller Hummer with nose squared of and the fender bulges. GMC is much like Hummer just subdued. I find it a winning formula and one that will make GMC even more profitable and more different than Chevy. -
1 International Race of Champions 2 1967 Lincoln Convertible 3 Pacer, Ranger and Citation 4 1949 Buick 5 1969 Cougar 6 Aw Boon Haw the creator of Tiger Balm Cream customized his car. I knew the car in 6 was in Hong Kong as my great uncle had photos of it from his many trips to there. I was unsure of the name but he did make many trips to Tiger Balm Gardens and that is what I figured out.
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I really don't see this getting too much traction as long as I am driving. We do have flying cars but we really have no way to really intergrade them into our normal lives. I like driving and really don't want to give it up. As for the law suits like Drew posted it is a real issue as these system too will fail and will too kill people one way or another and that is a killer to the system as a whole. As of now you can blame on car or one person not a total system . Second The fact remains that once you turn over control of your car to someone else they can tell you when you go, where you go, how fast you go etc. Be it total control that prevents you from traveling to another state or city or as simple as if they space people out to the point you now have to work till 6 PM as your slot on the freeway is an hour later and you have to come in later and go home later. Also that stop at the store it is on Thursday as you can not travel to that part of town as traffic is too heavy and you do not have the clearance to go there. Expect travel clearances much like airplanes use today as that is how they will control volume and flow. Sure they may get the cars closer if they are all self controlled but even then they will place limits and space out travel times. In other words you may be forced to use their times or reserve a slot at best. But for the most part I would not get too worried about it as this will be years off. While we have the technology we just don't have the will yet and the infrastructure and even the change over would be difficult as mixing the self driving with non self driving would be difficult. Add to this just look at how many GMP units out there are wrong. Until they can get a better GPS for public consumption at a lower price that is just another thing to be worked out. Until then I will just enjoy the drive!
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Tesla has been way over values for a long time. The issues are many. #1 they need to continue to expand production at a great rate and as of now things are slowing down with the X model late and the 3 model that is not going to be ready till 2017 if even then. #2 to meet the numbers they want to build they will need more plant. The Fremont plant was free and the next plant they will have to pay for it. Lower stocks will hurt this plan. #3 They need the cars to increase in production to help take the capacity of the Reno battery plant. There are several other deltas that they will face and it get tougher from here on out. Even things like the S model will need refreshed as you can not leave it styling wise and interior wise rot like GM has so many models in the past. At its price point the added electric motors and AWD will fade fast as the car will still look the same. Also you can tell when Elon has issues as he goes public and talks about tube transportation and other wacko ideas to distract his zealot followers and investors from disturbing news. I hope Tesla makes it as if they do collapse they could do a lot of damage to the EV market if the other MFG's have not gotten their new product out that they are working on now. While this market is not going to replace gas it is needed to supplement the market so we can still have fun gas cars. Elon is playing big odds here and if things do go bad it will go fast and in a chain reaction. He will walk away as he has his assets protected but many people could lose out and it will hurt future investment. While he has things built on large and fast growth it makes me uncomfortable as this is a slow growth segment. Building the 3 model will be the greatest challenge he will ever face. Even more than trying to land rocket on a barge and that did not go well either. His wife left him the same week too. Not a good week. The thing we all must do is watch the company and not Elon. He is the master of control with the web marketing and had done a damn good job. But at some point the talk stops and the show me comes do. His time is coming in the next couple years. If he can keep spinning this he may make it but if not the market will crush the company if they walk away fast. Then the Battery company may be at odds unless they can find a place for the batteries they do not use. Then there is the matter with the dealers. That one will be a hot potato for a good while longer. knowing now it is easy to sell a car at the higher price point it is easy but the 3 at the much lower price point will leave little wiggle room for anything to go wrong. If it were easy we would not have the Prius or Volt now.
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Well I just looked up the Silver Arrow to see what the experts say. So here is the rest of the story as they used to say. The car was drawn as Bill Mitchells idea of a personal luxury sedan. His concept was to bring back the LaSalle name as a lower priced Cadillac. Well that never materialized as it never became a Cadillac and Buick picked up on the design and it became the Riviera. The Show Car got the name Silver Arrow as a Buick. There were two more Silver Arrows built later on In the early 70's The Show car was a production line car that carried many mods like a chopped roof and enclosed headlamps that would not make production till 1965. Nice story at Conceptcarz.com. Also Hemming's. We both are pretty correct on this. The one story relates what I remember reading before that Mitchell wanted to marry the luxury of a Rolls Royce with the lines and low cut styling of a 2+2 Ferrari. Mitchell loved Ferrari's also later putting in a V12 Ferrari in one of his later Firebird show cars. He was not allowed to show it so he took it home and drove it. Today it is in the Historic collection V12 and all. Mitchell was brilliant flawed man. I hope that someday someone does a book on him. He did some great things but still had quirks. I love the story on how they sold him on the Trans AM with the Bird on the hood. Schinella told of how he has the prototype done in the Black with Gold pin stripe was used on his John Player Special Motorcycle Mitchell rode. After he saw the colors he approved the car and bird if I recall the story correctly. Bill was forceful but those around him know how to work him.
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I hate black cars and said I would never buy another 3 black cars ago. Yes I love the look but they do take extra work to remain clean. I have said I will look for a red one or but may end up with cyber grey or I hope the iridium metallic makes its way there from the large truck. The real plus for a solid black or red is I can touch them up and you would never know it was chipped. Metallic's are a lot tougher. I do like the lack of chrome and that is what would really sell me here. I hate cheap plastic chrome on the new trucks.
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The concepts name originally was the Silver Arrow I Better?
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Next Holden Commodore Begins Testing In Australia
hyperv6 replied to William Maley's topic in Heritage Marques
How can they do this? Well there is more to the story than they are telling you I my hunch. While they will do a smaller FWD car we still have one more to arrive in the Holden version of the Avenir. I expect Holden to get a version of this car since for one they did a lot of work on it. Also that it was shown in a Holden commercial along with a smaller FWD like car at is spoken of here. I also expect the Buick to show up as a Vauxhall too. The only mistake I see is putting the Commodore name on a FWD. They should have used a different name. Keep in mind Australia is much like our market was in the 70's - 80's where the Asian cars have come in and forced the local Automakers to change their ways. With such a small market it has made it difficult to do their own thing anymore so they are being force into a global market. In a bad way they will lose jobs but in a good way they will get cars they never would have seen in the past. The key here is the Aussie market is no longer a RWD market anymore. The best selling car is the Mazda 3 and Toyota is dominating the market with their cars and small trucks. ford has already pulled out the RWD car and may only have a Mustang there it that. The Zeta RWD has been a good seller but the numbers have been in decline and it is not where the market is heading. A lower volume Omega would give the market a RWD AWD car that they could support and make money with. Also it would leverage out the Omega more to help GM recover the cost on several lower volume models globally. So the long and short of this is let GM roll out the whole plan as the devil is in the details you yet not know. I see Holden getting the best of the global product GM will have and they will let Holden still do a little tweaking to make thing right for their markets. I see the Corvette may be there and at some point I would not be shocked if the Camaro may show up there some time in the future. We will see also the best of Opel/Buick there too. My next guess is they will get a RHD version of our new Colorado too as second gen model. GM may have stopped building the Zeta there but they have not abandon the market there.
