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The "imaginary list of reasons" to get rid of my Jeep so soon, which has been an impelling force in the past with my rate of vehicle turnover, just has not manifested itself in any sort of clear and focused way. Still rather content with it. 34k miles and counting on my FIAT-Chrysler product, and no problems to report.

To be able to keep Cadillac on a quality focus growth I think this guy is spreading himself a bit too thin.

In my observations, a primary cog in that degeneration is the ever-increasing refusal of moderation of opinion. People no longer listen or consider other opinions; they run into the room already screaming, convinced the other is evil incarnate. A middle ground is a 1000 miles between 2 opposing opinions anymore. Can it ever get better? I don't expect it to.

i love how GM is taking the profits and not putting them back into products to serve the market now, they are throwing the money for stuff people want to buy out the window at automation and electrification.

Save the CT6, even if the flagship is nowadays the Escalade. The FWD sedans can safely die. We need the CT6 badly.

RAV4 changed models this year. The new hybrid may not be as much in circulation yet.

I think Tesla is east of Reno, in some remote area along I-80. (I-80 interestingly goes from the Bay Bridge (CA) to the George Washington Bridge (NJ-NY).) There have indeed been waves of Northern Californians "going up the hill" and moving there. There are some Southern Californians, but not many. It's not for everybody. It's more akin to a Mountain West sort of place, which looks more like Boise or Salt Lake City, than it is a Pacific Rim sort of place. People also move there because there is no state income tax. Nevada is one of about seven states that offer that perk. That list also includes WA, TX, and FL. For some of these rich equity refugees in top tax brackets in CA, they can live on Lake Tahoe's NV shore, which is nicer than the CA shore, and jet around here and there when they want to get away.

I'd read either one with a critical eye. Dismissing the source is lazy unless it is some extremist website. In this case, the author doesn't even work for CNN, but for Invesco, a major investment firm. CNN is just where the story is published. Again, I read this particular article... and while I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with the overall conclusion, the author does make some good points that really can't be disputed (President of China is president for life, can play the long game. China controls the rare-earth mineral market, can cut off US buyers. Quotes from CEO of Alcoa saying that tariffs are hurting profitability. China can depreciate the yuan to counteract the tariffs. China can manipulate the sale of US debt.) I wonder where you do get your news if you think both CNN and Fox are BS.

Someone pointed this out on Twitter this morning and I doubled checked to see if this was right. The Mazda CX-5 outsold the rest of Mazda's lineup by 919 units (150,622 (CX-5) vs. 149,703 (Lineup minus CX-5)

Those sedan/hatchback numbers are just murderous.... no wonder they are cutting back on production. Pruis down nearly 20%? I guess it doesn't help that its ugly instead of just dull.

RAM, Jeep, and Dodge the only ones up. People still buying lots of Chargers and Journeys... Nearly 100k Journeys moved last year.... I wonder why there isn't a replacement for that one yet?

That isn't what is causing the fall. It is that China's economy is pumping the brakes right now, but it is rapidly falling iPhone sales that are one of the canaries in the coal mine. Auto sales have been falling there for months. The reaction of the stock market has less to do with Apple profits and more to do with fears on the global economy. We're not even into a global recession yet, so expect stocks to fall a lot further... We could be back to the 19,827 that Obama left us within a few months.

Just read a Yahoo finance op-ed. Headline is "Apple just confirmed the stock market's biggest fear". The bottom line?? Instead of making a projected $89 billion in said quarter, Apple 'shockingly' only made $84 billion.

Consolidated Coal Company, Lake Creek Mine, Johnston City, Illinois, Pic taken in 1939 (already abandoned).

GM’s U.S. Crossover Sales Topped 1 million in 2018 CHEVROLET AND GMC TOGETHER LEAD U.S. INDUSTRY PICKUP SALES FOR THE FIFTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR DOUBLE-DIGIT GAIN IN COMMERCIAL DELIVERIES VS. 2017 RECORD FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL-YEAR AVERAGE TRANSACTION PRICES DETROIT – General Motors (NYSE: GM) announced today that it delivered 2,954,037 vehicles in 2018, including more than 1 million crossovers, almost 974,000 pickup trucks and more than 280,000 large SUVs. “We have built the most successful pickup, SUV and crossover business in the industry and we gained considerable momentum in the fourth quarter of 2018 as dealers began delivering the all-new Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra and Cadillac XT4,” said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president, Sales Operations. GM’s fourth quarter deliveries totaled 785,229 units and the company’s share of the industry’s retail sales grew every month from October through December. “We feel confident heading into 2019 because we have more major truck and crossover launches coming during the year and the U.S. economy is strong,” McNeil added. GM delivers more than 1 million crossovers in the U.S. in 2018 GM crossover deliveries totaled 1,034,808 in 2018, up 7 percent versus 2017, and the following five nameplates had record calendar year sales: GMC Terrain up 34 percent Chevrolet Traverse up 19 percent Chevrolet Equinox up 15 percent Chevrolet Trax up 13 percent Buick Encore up 6 percent The first-ever Cadillac XT4 became the best-selling vehicle in its segment just two months after launch. Cadillac will be introducing all-new models every six months, on average, through the end of 2021. Total sales of all utility vehicles, including large SUVs, totaled 1,295,700, up 7 percent. The Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban were up 5 percent and 7 percent, respectively, and the Cadillac Escalade ended the year with a retail segment share twice that of its closest domestic competitor. Chevrolet and GMC pickup sales leadership continues The Chevrolet Colorado had its best year ever, with 134,842 pickups sold, up 19 percent versus 2017. Combined sales of the Chevrolet Silverado and Colorado, and the GMC Sierra and Canyon, rose 3 percent versus 2017 to a total of 973,463 pickups. GM has now sold more pickups in the United States than any other competitor for five consecutive years. Through November, the next closest competitor had sold 821,558 pickups. A fast start for new Chevrolet and GMC pickups GM’s all-new light-duty pickups, the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500, have invigorated the segment and helped the company pass its domestic competitors in key areas: GM’s retail share of the light-duty pickup segment has increased every month since August, according to J.D. Power PIN estimates, and GM led the segment every month during the fourth quarter. GM has had the highest ATPs in the segment since October, according to J.D. Power PIN, driven by incentive discipline and a strong mix. More than 90 percent of the all-new 2019 model-year sales in the quarter were crew cab models, and at GMC, more than 70 percent of deliveries were premium Denali and AT4 models. GM’s incentives as a percent of ATP were the lowest among domestic competitors during the fourth quarter. These results reflect the successful sell-down of the previous generation Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500s, and strong demand for the all-new models. During the fourth quarter, the all-new models accounted for 17 percent of GM light-duty deliveries, as planned. By the end of January, the new models are expected to be the majority of light-duty sales. “We are very bullish on pickups heading into 2019,” McNeil said. “The light-duty launch has been one of the best in our history, with a very smooth production ramp-up of the new models and a faster than expected sell-down of the old models. We are following that up with all-new HD trucks, and the first-ever Chevrolet Silverado medium-duty chassis cab trucks for commercial customers.” In December, Chevrolet confirmed that its next-generation Silverado 2500HD and 3500HD will be on sale in the second half of 2019. The medium-duty Silverados are now shipping to dealers. Double-digit Commercial delivery increase GM posted an 11 percent year-over-year increase in Commercial deliveries in 2018, following average annual growth of 7 percent from 2012-2017. Fleet sales for the year were up 9 percent versus 2017, and were down 4 percent for the fourth quarter. Commercial and government deliveries in 2018 were more than half of fleet sales, as planned. Chevrolet Bolt EV sales GM increased production of the Chevrolet Bolt EV during the fourth quarter to meet strong global demand, including higher than expected demand in South Korea and Canada, and to begin rebuilding U.S. dealer inventories. GM expects higher year-over-year sales in Bolt EV’s major markets in 2019. GM operating highlights GM estimates that the light vehicle SAAR in the fourth quarter was 17.7 million units. Light vehicle sales for the calendar year are estimated at 17.3 million units. GM’s retail mix was 80 percent for the fourth quarter and 79 percent for the year. ATPs were a record $36,974 in the fourth quarter and a record $35,839 for the year, according to J.D. Power PIN estimates. GM’s incentives as a percent of ATP for the fourth quarter were 12.7 percent, down 1.0 percentage point year over year, according to J.D. Power PIN estimates. For the year, incentives were 13.0 percent of ATP, down 0.3 percentage points. Year-end 2018 inventory was 755,000 units, essentially equal to a year ago.

Prius sales are awful because it is ugly, and not a good car. The Tesla Model 3 outsold the Corolla last month. That has to be concerning, they aren't even up to full capacity yet, the Model 3 could be the number 1 selling sedan in the USA in 2019, while all these other guys can't figure out how to sell a sedan.

I'd take a 300s or Charger over the SHO every time. Both dated platforms but the FCA one is so much better.

I really love Jeep. Were I to be buying an SUV...Jeep it would be. Explorer and Escape are decent products also in their segment. We really do.

I feel pretty good taking delivery of the very first new-design Compass from my workplace, seeing how sales for the model have sploded. Sad to see FCA starve the Chrysler brand. I adore the 300 and see no feasible replacement... unless it were a classy, RWD/AWD sedan... that's the only way to replace an icon. That new Ram truck is kicking buttocks and taking names. Sort of shocking for purists to see the Cherokee outsell the Grand Cherokee. That pullback from weirdness paid off in beaucoup Benjamins for FCA. What can be said about the Dodge Challenger? Perpetual SCHWING...

Serious? You know there is currently a Taurus SHO, right?

Exactly. Why should I help GM ruin what I like about them... by buying something from them? I feel like I've been duped, and I do not like that atall. They think they have us by the balls. Ram makes a sweet truck. Jeep makes a great CUV/SUV. Screw GM with their electric/autonomous BS.

Well...that is great!!! Still does not change the fact that counting chickens before they hatch and the powers that be that regulate stock market prices is just that...speculation on nothing and the price goes up or down...yet Apple as of now is of no danger in folding....not with an 84 billion dollar year that they had. Correction in the stock price you say? What correction? Are we supposed to forget that Apple has been making tons of billions of dollars the past decade? How many billions did Apple make so far in the last 5 years (never you mind the last decade) that a mere 5 billion less for one year shock anybody? That 5 billion is pocket change... and keep in mind that it is not even a loss. Its just that they made 5 billion less than what the powers that be PREDICTED that they would make...and the stock prices go up and down just like that... Like I said, CEOs and top tier share holders counted 5 billion chickens too many for whatever King Midas reason they saw that many chickes and now they have to make do with only 84 rather than 89... Anyhoo...like I said...greed. And yeah, the most given by any other company...Ill just say, not nearly enough. For all of these corporations. They should be contributing more to our society with all those billions they make year after year after year.... Ill be careful as to not make myself look like a commie... How much? 5 billion? The check is in the mail....

Per Road n Track: A Ford spokesperson confirmed to us that the current Taurus will endproduction in March 2019, while North American-market Fiesta productionwill cease in May 2019. There isn't a specific timeline for the end of Fusion production.

this would be great news if gm still sold cars, especially performance ones...

Only 150k and not a CUV or luxury car? Better discontinue it.

They stopped producing the Focus last year, so there's whatever sales the Focus will have over the next months will be what's left of the Focus that were made when the Wayne line was still running.

I am surprised by the 33% down for Rav4 hybrid when the rest of the CUV hybrids are doing well and the Rav4 ICE is up almost 12%.

Excellent...I really like the Jeep lineup and am ecstatic that you have had a positive experience.

Porsche is basically an SUV brand now with a couple of sports cars thrown in just for history sake.

It's an Op Ed. Argue why the opinion is wrong instead of just dismissing it because it is an opinion. She makes some good points in the article.

I was bringing that up here a decade ago.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/03/perspectives/us-china-trade-war/ This is so spot on for an Editorial about the Chinese / American Trade war.

I am positive He has found other auto's he would love to own, but as he has stated in other threads, price is not gonna happen. Crazy Price Inflation on auto's is just out of control along with some OEMs offering terrible feature packaging like GM.

GM will be showcasing a bunch of crossovers. If one of those crossovers is an EV, that is completely incidental.

I suspect GM will be showcasing their new EV's that will fill in that void of 20 to 40K priced rides.

It's not about greed, 442. I mean; I guess Apple could, conceivably, lower all their prices and only make a billion/quarter, but what individual or entity ever does that? Would it make anyone 'feel better' if Apple only made a billion/quarter, or would that then spark comment it would be better at 1 million? Some folk would like major corporations to merely break even, I'll bet. A commodity/product company cannot juggle their prices in order to maintain a set profit margin- it just would not work. Consumers need to 'not question' the price- once a commodity is established viably, a sustainable volume of consumers will buy regardless of that price. Once the price is in regular flux, so will sales be. Incentives are a minor market nudge. The issue as I see it is the frothing panic when a company/the economy ticks off by 5%. So much of the market looks thru a 24-hour window instead of long-term. It becomes a self-fufilling prophecy to a large degree- a week or a month down only effects the day traders, but they scream the loudest, and the news cycles pumps up the drama 10-fold because; viewers.

you haven't found something that you'd rather have.

My dad always hated Wallstreet type financial statements... That example of not making 89 billion but 84 billion, well, he was always aware of that type of greed and mocked it endlessly. Thanx Balthy for pointing that out. It sickens me that so many of us do not see the blatant greed...

It’s hard for anything not to be driven into politics anymore, sadly. IT has divided our membership over the years, ands separated us from our common love of cars. It is a battle that has had me retiring from some of my fave car sites over the last few years........who knows-maybe I am just living in the past..... It has been quite the interesting news year for car related stuff though? And of course, thank you again Bobo! And have a great year to all my friends and members here... And for old time’s sake +1

Makes one wonder if the figures on how much Oil everyone has is not overly blown up. Could it be that the reality is maybe 10 to 20% of the stated figures is how much they have? ?

Uh... how was the Z06 penalized for being 7.0L? In the USA, or any country with a sensible policy on fuel economy, engine displacement has no bearing on taxes. The 2008 Z06 7.0L was 15/24MPG -- the 2008 M3 4.0L was 14/20 mpg, the Porsche 911 Turbo 3.6L of the same year was 16/23 MPG and the Audi RS4 4.2L was 14/20 MPG. None of these cars measure up to a Honda Civic; but the 7.0L was actually as good or better on fuel economy than its competitors all of which had less than it's 505hp/470 lb-ft. In stupid countries with displacement rather gas guzzler taxes, you are completely screwed whether it is 6.2L, 6.4L, 6.8L or 7.0L. For such markets, you'll want some souped up LF4 3.6TT engine to get you 460+ hp or better yet some souped up 4-cylinder running 30 psi of boost on as few liters of displacement as possible.

Starting at 4:30 you can see the differences in power management.

#1 Your costs are out of date. Solar costs about $3,100 per KW (before tax credits) these days and it continues to fall at a rapid pace. I'd also want to see a link to your natural gas assertion... NG is cheap, but not that cheap, and you're not figuring in the cost of the equipment and the maintenance to keep it running. #2 I'm fine with a nuclear future, however, a wind future is not outside the realm of possibilities. For what we've spent on the Iraq and Afganistan wars, we could have blanketed the mid-west (the Saudi Arabia of wind power) with enough wind turbines to power the entire US with quintuple redundancy. (Not saying that we would build to 5-times required capacity, just that for that amount of money, we could have). There is more to the cost of fossil fuels than just the number on the pump. While autos have become remarkably cleaner, ships, trains, and factories have lagged behind. There are external costs that never get priced into that gallon you pump into your car. Dynamic fuel management is just a more advanced Active fuel management that can shut down a greater number of cylinders.

Huh. I don't find myself wondering about things that will happen after I am dead, much. ;)

But.... But... Im also equally giddy about AC induction motors. Tesla's version for me as of now, (other manufacturer's automobile AC induction motors to follow I guess) would be like the equivalent Ram Air IV 400, or Pontiac's-Olds'-Buick's respective 455s. Or Mopar's 440 six pack of the good ole days.

That... makes no sense. 65 years, millions upon millions built in all sorts of vehicles, a burgeoning aftermarket, the #1 hobbyist choice, reliable, affordable, powerful.... where did it ever fall short of it's 'potential'?

The future here...electric. Ready for the next generation of electric cars.