G. David Felt

Cool, this will push GM to consider price reductions on the VOLT while maintaining Content. At least they did not follow Nissan who lowered prices and then gutted content just to have a cheaper Leaf.

I think you guys are wrong as just with petrol auto's people wanted big tanks to make sure they did not get stuck some place without fuel, I can see people wanting a 300-400 mile battery pack to make sure they do not run out of a charge and then once the pack is down to 1/3 rd power they recharge it. Especially in Cold climates with heavy snow fall, if they get stuck on the road, having extra charge to keep you warm will come in handly.

Escalades and GL's are always towing here in the Pacific Northwest.

Interesting story, I think the fall in ownership is due to the crazy prices for Gas, Cost of a car, Insurance and people willing to live like a sardine in congested cities. Yet for those that live active life's you will find a car is a necessity. I would be wanting to know where this trend really is, east coast, west coast, mid west? I think some areas are for sure seeing a decline in ownership and yet other areas are not. I think that would play a significant roll in the accuracy of this study.

The next few years will be interesting times to see how GM, Ford and others respond to Tesla. Makes one wonder if GM would bring back their Skateboard concept platform. Think of this for the Suburban where you can slid in a massive battery pack and get 3-400 miles on a charge.

Never seen a mini stand alone dealership, they all seem to be in the same place as a BMW dealership. Same thing I noticed about the SmartCar dealerships are all next door to an MB dealership or at least they are here in the Pacific NW.

Yep...all downhill from here. He should get the new Diesel Colorado when it comes out.

MB does make a full size SUV, the GL is full size and the #1 selling full size luxury SUV. I see GMC Terrain in the front and sides with all those straight lines. Gl might have out sold the Escalade by just 2500 units, but it cannot pull a trailer like the Escalade and does not have as much interior space. Plus the maintenance cost on the MB compared to the Cadillac SUV is huge and I would go with Escalade which has a better reliability record. MB might have cutting edge tech, but the cost of keeping it functional is way higher. Course in this group, most have the disposable cash to pay when things break. M-B buyers also often lease so they are in and out in 3 years or so..they don't hold on to them until they get old and become money pits... True most people dump their MB before it becomes a money pit. I have had friends who bought a 2 or 3 year old MB and cursed it, same with BMW that they become money pits to keep the tech working. In comparison, Since I have owned my Escalade ESV, I have spent a whopping $2195.00 on doing all the maintenance/repairs since I bought it new and with the miles I have put on. I do not see them as a money pit compared to MB & BMW.

Time to trade it in now that it has a rattling buzz sound.

This is good for competition and should drive prices down. Otherwise with a lock on the market, there is no real drive for Nissan to have to compete on price and features.

MB does make a full size SUV, the GL is full size and the #1 selling full size luxury SUV. I see GMC Terrain in the front and sides with all those straight lines. Gl might have out sold the Escalade by just 2500 units, but it cannot pull a trailer like the Escalade and does not have as much interior space. Plus the maintenance cost on the MB compared to the Cadillac SUV is huge and I would go with Escalade which has a better reliability record. MB might have cutting edge tech, but the cost of keeping it functional is way higher. Course in this group, most have the disposable cash to pay when things break.

Excellent write up, nice to see their extensive line up choice and to read what the differences are for the price. I can see this pulling some sales away from Toyota for the Asian car fans. Honda will do well with it I suspect. Personal feeling on the inside dash is Honda still has a sliced and diced mix bag of styling and needs to bring someone in that can develop a coherent design language. Not feeling it for the interior mess or the bland exterior. But then there are many conservatives that will be happy with this car.

I think a larger version of the VOLT power train on a Half ton truck and Suburban would do wonders as you could use the Torque of the electric motors to move the mass and have a decent mileage from the generator. GM is missing the boat here. I agree with Balthazar that it is going to take a long time to convert people over to pure electric.

Yup, One must wonder just what their idea of Break even is, I would love to see the business case and marketing plan for this as I doubt there really is much market for this auto. MB has not had the greatest track record since buying Chyrsler.

A Legendary Boat Builder recevied a special order for a custom built boat in 1968 from Ferruccio Lamborghini. The boat ran a pair of Marin modified V12's and was known for it's special tuned Open Pipe Exhuast. The boat was thought lost for ever after his death till a Dutch Riva boat collector found it sitting under a tarp in a boat yard. Calling upon the retired men who modified the original engines and who modified new 350GT V12 engines, 25 coats of Lacquer and 3 years of loving work at the top Riva Boat restoration company in Holland we now have this beauty back in action. You can read the full story here: http://editorial.autos.msn.com/blogs/post--dual-v12-lamborghini-speedboat-back-on-the-water?icid=autos_4823

I would agree, I remember when Jeep showed off that very cool 2 seat 2 door open buggy and it was radical and very cool. MB could lead rather than follow and create a very new Niche auto. Imagen a Luxury 2door, 2 seat SRX adam version for the beach play.

Interesting, I wonder just how much demand there really is and how long the model will last before they cut it loose as being a drag on profits.

If they did this, I think it should only be AWD CUV for an Escalade Touring or Escalade Sport model. There was talk at one time in the first generation of Escalade about a V edition. You could use Escalade Sport for an AWD CUV with a HO Twin Turbo V6.

Valid point Drew as while I drive about 100 miles on the light side a day, I average about 30K miles a year on my escalade as I love road trips and going to explore places. So I know I drive much more than most. With that said, for me, I tend to not stop for meals when I drive, I tend to drink and use a bio break but otherwise love to drive. One Reason I love that with the conversion to CNG on my Suburban, I will have a average range of 900 Miles on a CNG Fill up.

But then it would not be an SUV, but a true CUV if it has the title of Sedan in it. Interesting, wish we could get enough talented people to draw what they think a CUV Escalade Sport or Escalade Touring Sedan.

Intersting is that while there have been CNG auto's and buses that caught fire, not a single auto here in the US was caused by a puncture to the CNG Tank. The fires have all been attributed to electrical issues or in the case of the CNG bus here in Seattle the rear brakes froze up on a cold frozen morning last year and caught the bus on fire. CNG gives one long distance driving with the right size tank. Electric, while good has a long way to go as the Nissan leaf really is an 80 mile auto but they all have the same issue. A level 3 still take 30 min to charge. So in the low priced Electric auto's you cannot really get out of washignton in one day due to the amount of time sitting at a recharge station compared to petrol or CNG. So to go 500 - 750 miles in a Tesla, you will spend at least 1 1/2hrs charging after your 250 miles run which makes it harder to go on through the night drives. Course I know not many do 18hr drives to go places, but some of us do and trying to get some place special is much harder in electric than it is in Petrol or CNG. Back on Tesla, I do find it interesting that they have a modular battery pack and I wonder if in the future they will make the front of the car into a quick clip for fire departments to disconnect from the rest of the car so they can save the back 2/3rds and you just get a new front clip? Nice Sarcasim!

You crack me up with all the permutations. Course I could see an Escalade Sport. I just hope they do not kill off the traditional Escalade ESV Platinum as that is my ride! I do not think you can replace a proper built BOF SUV.

Why not buy the electric switch over the web and install the replacement window switch yourself. Not that hard to pop the panel and replace it.

Agree'd Worse yet, these stand alone dealerships must have not looked at the terrible history this company has had in the US. Hate to say it but Italy is one of the laziest counteries around. I know some will take me to task for this comment, but Fiat left america as a terrible company with terrible service, terrible quality, in essence JUNK Auto's. The dealership here in Seattle has over 200 Fiats in stock and you rarely see them on the road. Lucky they are tied into a Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Jeep dealership. Otherwise I suspect they would have filed bankruptcy and closed already. Funnier yet is after building this fancy show room and having all these Fiats out in front from last year to this summer, they now have put all the Fiats in the back and parks the other family rides in front where they actually make money. If the story is true and they are going to sell the Alfa Romeo via the Maserati stores, you might as well just put a stick in many of these stand alone Fiat dealers as they will not survive to 2015. Interesting is looking at the dealership reviews and yelp, FIAT is not winning any fans or quality. Here was one of the nicer reviews I read this morning. QUOTE My Review Of FIAT of Kirkland: The internet sales manager, Don, was the only person at this dealership who cared about my experience. I paid $5k over MSRP for an Abarth, had the finance guy put GAP coverage on the sale I told him I did NOT want (who would pay $800 for something they can get for $20/year from their insurance), and it took 2 weeks and 7 calls (the last to Don) to get a return call from the service department in order to get the sideskirts fixed (which were coming off the brand new car). When I returned to have the GAP coverage removed and refunded and also cancel my extended warranty the finance manager, Larry, was downright rude. When I emailed in scans of the paperwork asking for confirmation of receipt, I still (1 week later) have not received any confirmation. This dealership does not care about you, they just want to take your money and treat you like dirt afterwards. AVOID THIS DEALERSHIP LIKE THE PLAGUE. My experience has been so poor, I am trading in my 3 month old Abarth at a loss and purchasing another car so I don't have to deal with this dealership ever again. I have not even put 3000 miles on the Abarth. This has been the WORST dealer experience I have ever had. This person rated them 1.8 out of 5 stars. Fiat will not last with service like this. Seems they still have not learned how to build quality or sell quality and service. Sad state of the Chrysler/Fiat delerships but this is also my own experiance as to why I now stay away from them.

Agree Ocnblu, the over all fit and finish along with the stamping process has really taken a giant step forward. I think GM has really stepped up the quality game with their latest series of trucks and SUV's and anyone that says American build junk needs to pull their head out of the Asian tailpipes.