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riviera74

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Everything posted by riviera74

  1. riviera74
    Why would anyone buy an Accord when they can buy a CR-V or a Pilot instead these days? Then again, GM wants us to buy more Chevy CUVs for one reason: the search for more money.
  2. riviera74
    I suspect that the real reason has to do with the cost of a V12 vs. that of a turbo V8. MPG can also be a factor. I remember a car salesman asking me years ago whether I wanted cylinders or horsepower. Almost no one would go for more cylinders when HP and torque are what you really need in an engine. The real tragedy is the near disappearance of the V6 in anything other than trucks, luxury cars and some (luxury and common) CUVs, with few found elsewhere.
  3. riviera74
    Agreed.
  4. riviera74
    Maybe GM wants all of us to buy the crossovers rather than the sedans, since the firm makes more profits that way. I would rather have an Envision or an XT5, but if I were to go Chevy, the Impala is the best choice (for me). As for the smaller cars, it is obvious why Chevy is using the same front-end look: $$$$$.
  5. riviera74
    Since the 1980s and 90s are long over, who said it could NOT be the next SUV/CUV as the halo car for Cadillac? Think about this: the halo car concept as a top of the line sedan is obsolete. Of course, that does NOT mean that the CT6 should disappear. Indeed it needs to continue. The real question is whether an XT7 or an Escalade will be Cadillac's halo vehicle for the next decade or two. That sounds weird in the face of the S-Class, the 7 series and the Lexus LS, but there is no guarantee that those large luxury RWD sedans will stay as the halo cars of their respective car marques.
  6. riviera74
    Why should they if the Sonic does not sell? Maybe the Orion assembly plant should be used for better selling cars and pull production out of Mexico or Canada. That will go very well with the current administration.
  7. riviera74
    Infiniti is not going to replace Buick when it has already replaced Pontiac (from a performance standpoint, especially given Nissan's lack of performance -- 350Z aside). Remember, Toyota said in 1990 that the Avalon was Toyota's Buick. After nearly three decades, that prophecy may have been fully borne out, especially since the death of the Buick Lucerne in 2011 and the shift (for Buick) from sedans to CUVs here in the USA, not to mention the shift in gravity to China.
  8. riviera74
    The Taurus is the police car, not the Fusion. As for the Sonic, I suspect that the real reason is lack of sales and very tough competition from the Yaris and Fit and Rio and Accent and the Mazda 3 more than anything else.
  9. riviera74
    Personally, I have never been a fan of CAFE. I do think the last administration's EPA went too far. The problem with CAFE is that it tells automakers to do what consumers should do instead: buy the right vehicle for their needs. If gas prices rise above $4 again, then consumers (when they can) will dump the gas-guzzling SUVs for fuel-sipping hybrids or even electric vehicles. The gas tax (or better still, a VAT on crude oil and its distillates) is a far superior way to improve fuel economy through markets and consumer response rather than through federal mandates. Auto safety, on the other hand, does not have a pricing mechanism. Hence the need for (most of) those regulations to stand as is. I doubt that this administration's EPA will end CAFE altogether since that would require a new law to replace the one from 1975. But I will welcome the end of CAFE, since it is heavily biased towards trucks and against large sedans from the get-go. One last thing: CARB exists for good reason (LA smog is a real health issue), but they can also buy (and do) cars that currently meet tougher European standards since many automakers already in many respects meet them overseas.
  10. riviera74
    I know why Saturn was created in 1985, and GM ultimately learned enough so that Saturn could disappear in the wake of BK in 2009. Why did Toyota create Scion? It was not as if they needed Scion at all. (Lexus in 1990 was a nuclear missile aimed directly at Mercedes-Benz, particularly the S-Class. Lexus still does that and probably exceeds MB these days.) Other than the original xB, why Scion? I am glad Toyota ditched Scion only because it seemed unnecessary in my book. As for the car itself, I am sure the Yaris will do fine without the iA designation. But that leaves me with a question. In the era of the crossover, who will actually buy a Yaris?
  11. riviera74
    There is NO WAY that GM or Ford will allow the Mustang or the Corvette to become crossovers. For one thing, both of them sell as is; the same is true of the Camaro. Secondly, the typical Corvette/Mustang/Camaro buyer IS NOT looking for a crossover at all. Thirdly, why would anyone buy a car name that is NOT authentic to what people expect out of said vehicle? Lastly, the crossover reminds me a lot of the SUV craze of 1991-2008. Once gas prices spiked to $4-$5 a gallon, SUVs almost disappeared and CUVs filled in the gap (more efficiently). What could happen is that the hot sports sedan (think 300/Charger twins) or the hot sports coupe (see above) make a partial comeback because there will always be customers who do not want to be caught dead driving a crossover. Now, FWD sedans and coupes are having a hard time selling because a lot of people want crossovers as a substitute for the bog standard FWD sedans. These FWD sedans have been with us since at least 1972 and they ultimately replaced RWD sedans by 1992 with few exceptions. The CUV might evolve a little more to meet different needs, just like Cubical said. Nobody truly knows what will happen in 2030, in terms of auto trends or buying habits. Either way, we should still keep watching.
  12. riviera74
    TEN? A maximum of FIVE per car marque will do.
  13. riviera74
    That interior says one thing: Ready for Anything. CR-V is officially on notice.
  14. riviera74
    Sounds like a good RWD CUV, but why a three-row CUV? I thought the Navigator was supposed to have that niche. Doesn't Lincoln need a five-passenger CUV underneath the Navigator?
  15. riviera74
    That dash needs to be on every Cadillac NOW.
  16. riviera74
    I think the glut storm is already here. China will make it worse not better.
  17. riviera74
    Q: What can Peugeot bring to a saturated US car market that has already reached peak sales in the last two years?
  18. riviera74
    Save the suicide doors for other Lincoln models. They may have a chance at survival.
  19. riviera74
    That is the problem with brands: it was a British choice to go Mini rather than Cooper. Makes no sense here but perfect sense in Europe. Then again, the USA is the home of BOF pickups and SUVs and the last vestiges of large sedans (soon to be replaced by large crossovers). Unless you live in NYC or SF or any compact large city, the Mini makes zero sense almost anywhere else. No wonder BMW is not investing in Mini like it used to: low gas prices will do that.
  20. riviera74
    Nice idea but too expensive to actually produce.
  21. riviera74
    Only issue I have is the tailights. I do not like them. LOVE the Cocoa seats and really like just about everything else. I wonder how soon the new CT6 interiors will spread to a new XT7 and MCE XT5. The CT6 new cruise control is a really sweet feature.
  22. riviera74
    It makes you wonder if the real plan was that the One Ford Plan ultimately kills Lincoln since there is no true brand creator and advocate for the nearly 100 year-old marque. Dearborn apparently has no vision for this marque, so the best thing to do I guess is to bury it like they Mercury a few years back. The moral of this story is: GO BIG (Cadillac) or go home. Stand for something or fall for anything (and eventually just fall).
  23. riviera74
    OK. I may not be for this idea, but I will say that MB is the best brand to try this out. Badge snobs will LOVE THIS once it is implemented in the USA. If MB leads on this, then Audi/BMW/Lexus will be sure to follow.
  24. riviera74
    Maybe Ford does not know what to do with Lincoln so they are giving up on the Continental now and perhaps may give up on Lincoln entirely in the future. As for the K900, it reminds me of an MB S-class a little too much. It needs to have a real unique selling point; otherwise it will perish like the Continental just did.
  25. riviera74
    1) What Nissan is that? 2) Why would ANY potential Z buyer choose this hybrid over another Z? 3) That is not a Nissan Leaf. What is the case for this car over a Leaf?
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