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riviera74

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Everything posted by riviera74

  1. riviera74
    Solving the Johan question..... I have no idea how to solve the marketing issues with Cadillac, or GM more generally. The concept that "the product sells itself" does NOT apply to automobiles at all, unless they are truly special. Cadillac does NOT Quite have something truly special. And I mean special to the point where MB and BMW and Lexus are losing a lot of sales to Cadillac. If anybody has any real solutions for the Cadillac sales/marketing issues, they need to hear those and execute good ideas now.
  2. riviera74
    Sorry. How MANY Maseratis are selling now (2017)?
  3. riviera74
    Seventh?! How did that happen? How do they fix THAT problem?
  4. riviera74
    how is Maserati selling now?
  5. riviera74
    OK now this makes sense. Expanding the Bolt to a Buick crossover is a great idea. Just make sure it is Envision sized rather than Encore sized.
  6. riviera74
    While it is true that you might find a Maserati in North Jersey or Beverly Hills/Bel Air, an all-electric Maserati is rather pathetic (unless it is one model!). Now, if FCA were smart, they would build one all electric model for each of their brands, starting with Chrysler/Dodge. As for Jeep, perhaps a Grand Cherokee EV might work.
  7. riviera74
    Maybe the B-Class is just Mercedes Benz EV version 1.0; of course that assumes MB leans anything from this debacle.
  8. riviera74
    If only Alfa Romeo had the profit margins of Maserati, Sergio would not look so bad in terms of sacrificing Chrysler to the Italian sales boat anchors.
  9. riviera74
    dfelt, while I agree that Cadillac should have names rather than alphanumeric designations, all other luxury marques have them so that they can sell their wares worldwide. Unfortunately, the era where GM can only sell Cadillac in North America and ignore the rest of the world is long gone. It is a competitiveness thing, nothing more.
  10. riviera74
    A question: does anyone know when there will be a Cadillac version of the Bolt/Volt? Or better still, an Enclave-sized EV? Seems to me that while Cadillac rationalizes their sedan output and (hopefully) adds an XT3 and an XT7 STAT, the EV market needs to be addressed soon. Tesla cannot produce enough of them because of their lack of experience. Cadillac should be leading the way in EVs, not Chevrolet. Unless it is a crossover or an SUV, most people will not buy a Chevy north of $30K. All Cadillacs are already north of that price point.
  11. riviera74
    The VW Passat especially is rather expensive given what you get in the car. Jettas have the same value questions.
  12. riviera74
    Whatever the sedan that replaces the ATS and CTS and XTS better be at least as good as the 5 series and/or the E-Class (and ideally better) at the same price point. The CT6 and the XT5 and the Escalade cannot carry Cadillac alone. No other luxury marque with any heritage is that small. The fact that the XT5 will be joined by an XT4 next year is good news, but there needs to be one above the XT5 pronto. I suspect another reason the V-series may be extinct is not just CAFE, but also the sales of the V-series. Those cars are so rare I wonder if it is actually worth continuing.
  13. riviera74
    Even though the Vortec V6 is still in pickup trucks, is there any idea of where the LGX 3.6 V6 is in cars now?
  14. riviera74
    The more I look at that 3.6L DOHC V6, the more I miss the 3800/3900 series V6. Flat torque curve for days and more torque than horsepower. Too bad GM will not derive a V6 from the Vortec V8s they still have since those V6 engines may not do as well from an MPG standpoint as the European-derived 3.6L. I have my doubts a turbo 4cyl will power the Lambdas forward as well since the Lambdas are comparatively heavy.
  15. riviera74
    Maybe it was not intended to be a global product initially. Perhaps the next-gen Camaro will be meant for both LHD and RHD.
  16. riviera74
    Wow. The S-Class is that much of a powerhouse in its segment? By that logic, why should Audi, Jaguar and BMW even try?
  17. riviera74
    From a US point of view, it does seem rather strange that Europe would actually OWN pieces of industries in their countries. Then again, Europe is more socialist than the USA ever was. At the same time, each can learn from the other on certain things if both are willing to learn. I have never bought into the idea that governments should actually OWN parts of industries or companies for their own sake. A lot of Europe could seriously privatize their stakes of multiple companies. If you want to know how bad it can get, just look at most countries that own their oil industries and the problems with inflation and worse created by government ownership. (Think Venezuela.) OPEC is the biggest reason oil prices are where they are and where they have been. Without OPEC, oil prices would have been consistently lower since 1973. Ironically, the only reason fuel economy standards and pollution standards truly exist is because of the oil cartel propping up oil prices for so long. I am all for EVs but who will buy them? It is not as if Tesla is setting the world on fire. The Nissan Leaf, two of which I saw yesterday, is not all that popular either.
  18. riviera74
    So Britain and France are banning Gas and Diesel cars by 2040. OK. How are they going to generate enough electricity for the hybrids and EVs that they do want? I know that France is still using nuclear energy; Britain I am not so sure. VW did ruin the diesel party by cheating; then again Piech created that problem in the first place by not accepting NO for an answer. Europe does have an acid rain problem because of all of the pollution generated mostly by factories but also contributed by diesel emissions. Sometimes it is simply better to just say, "here is what we want, you figure out how."
  19. riviera74
    VW drivers switch to a GM car, even a diesel Cruze? Call me when there actual numbers to those conquest sales.
  20. riviera74
    MCE stands for mid-cycle enhancement. Instead of an all-new model, the carmaker upgrades a lot of what is there and sometimes even tweaks the exterior and maybe trim prices.
  21. riviera74
    In my experience, I would prefer a large car over a minivan, especially in the 80s. Why? My family bought an 87 Ford Aerostar, and I was required to learn how to drive in that minivan. I never liked that minivan and I have had the occasional issue with them since. As far as I am concerned, I am a little jealous of you guys who drove the old pre-1985 B-bodies since those seemed to be better. When I lived in northern NJ back in the late 90s, there were SO MANY OF THEM, even those from about 1977 and earlier. Back then I had an 84 Cutlass Supreme and there are a few occasions I miss that car (or at least what it offered). What really saddens me is that there are so FEW large cars generally, and even fewer large RWD sedans anymore. Cadillac has the CT6 but needs to resolve the poor sales of the CTS and ATS. The Epsilon FWD cars will almost certainly disappear because of this crossover madness the USA is suffering through. The Chevy SS was too limited in sales and production; the Charger/300 twins require an upgrade; Ford has the Mustang and the trucks (and I do not like trucks!); Lexus has the GS and LS that may not sell like they used to; BMW and MB are the same as they ever were, but they are increasingly crossover-mad; the Jaguar XJ may become endangered; and Hyundai/Kia makes the only semi-affordable RWD large sedans left other than Chrysler. If only Congress simply raised the gas tax in 1975 rather than pursue this CAFE madness, we could have avoided a lot of this mess. Now we are stuck. Help.
  22. riviera74
    IOW, where is the XJ MCE?
  23. riviera74
    Tell that to your state legislature. They are the ones who wrote all those agency shop laws that protect dealers from manufacturers.
  24. riviera74
    No, Elon Musk needs to sell Tesla to an existing auto concern because Tesla is not delivering anywhere near what he promised.
  25. riviera74
    GM has had an advertising/marketing problem ever since the BK, and it probably goes back as far as the '90s. Cadillac should be getting MORE ad/mktg value than everyone else, but they have not put in the effort. Personally I am not sure whether the CTS or ATS should survive, but they need to choose one and make that the CT4. As for the XT5, Cadillac needs the XT3 and XT7 STAT! A Russian-esque degree of choice for a worthy vehicle in each segment. Yuck. They call that a monopoly. Monopolies of ANY KIND are completely awful for everyone (excluding the monopolist).
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