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Suaviloquent

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Everything posted by Suaviloquent

  1. Suaviloquent
    It's hard to find automotive white space in design especially these days, but really it's always been hard to identify distinct design that is palatable. I think part of the reason we seen so many design elements reminiscent of other automakers is because of ICTs. Honestly, if we still lived in the age of dead-tree media, we'd be less likely to say cars look alike. But yes, I see a lot that is similar, but nothing that is a blantant riff from someone else. It's also a fact that there's only so many ways to make a box on four wheels with stringent safety standards and the required aero trickery.
  2. Suaviloquent
    NGO's???????? Not sure what it stands for but I thought this came out by the universities that were trying to figure out how VW diesels did not need to use the same emission controls that everyone else is using? NGOs - non government organizations. It was Universities in the U.S. and I believe some industry-affiliated organizations in Germany that first discovered this. The latter part I may be wrong, but alas, yes NGOs continue to show how slow our paid-for regulators are.
  3. Suaviloquent
    And to think, it wasn't our regulatory agencies that actually caught wind of this. VW was brought to the light by NGOs. And their restructuring in progress would actually make it simpler to spin off separate business units... with the 4 distinct holding companies each representing 2 or 3 of the VW Group's brands. Who'd have have figured? And because they're going to utilize more product/sales discounts and other goodwill shoring activities that hurt the bottom-line, it's going to definitely hurt their recovery. This story is going to continue to unfold. I hope this burns a lesson into their organizational culture. And Winterkorn, he must be sweating bullets, as he's indirectly implicated, some of the people in the 'know' said that his outlandish targets forced the engineers to cheat. He LIED to shareholders first, even before the power-train engineers decided to use the cheat.
  4. Suaviloquent
    An exceptionally weak argument. Terrible. Count 3 out of the last 5 COTY winners. Fusion, Passat and Golf. All 3 did very evolutionary changes to design. The Passat can even be considered a downgrade. The Golf was the same 2-box it's even been. The Fusion just added one more razor blade to the grille to make it a Mach 3 instead of a Mach 2. The Camaro does the design advancement fine. They could have improved visibility. But that's about it. Again sales numbers are misleading. Go search through here to find my post that you yourself agreed with that explained this. What matters most is contribution to profit. And the Camaro is certainly doing that. And it's going to really put a damper on Mustang sales growth. The product is there, the price is spectacular for what you get and best of all it's the car that every performance car division of every automaker will take note of. It's worthy of COTY.
  5. Suaviloquent
    Eh, It'll do fine. It looks like a Buick. By that I mean it looks really like nothing else. If anything, being original atleast means that Buick is solidifying its identity. Has anyone seen the teasers for the new Lacrosse to be shown on the 18th? It's the first time I've ever been excited for a Buick. That's a lot to say about folks of my generation.
  6. Suaviloquent
    I think the only solution would require some kind of whac-a-mole 'shoot to kill'... 'anything moves it dies' in some situations. Any attempts of getting cooperation with locals to fight against terror always seem to inevitably backfire, for a myriad of reasons.
  7. Suaviloquent
    Yes, this event has bothered me a lot. I think I'm going to stop posting in most car threads for the time being. I don't even care, global affairs just seem more important than what car does what, which automaker wins an award. This hits close to home. I live in a neighborhood, basically known for having a lot of um, well... the same demographic (general terms from Middle East/ Afghanistan/Pakistan/West Africa) and such that the terrorists claim their origin thereof. They've gotta be squirming at how prejudice will only increase. Fortunately I'm not from that demographic so I don't have to deal with any of it. I know a few people who wear very conservative wear and long traditional Middle Eastern beards. People of similar likeness, they better be ready for backlash, if not in calm Canada (maybe Quebec though), certainly some in America, oh and France for sure. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail, but damn, how many years has some kind of military force outside of the flaming region in question been at war there? Better not to get an answer...
  8. Suaviloquent
    Here's the thing. Sergio talks a lot about automaker consolidation and restructuring. Other than the Ferrari sale, we have yet to see something of this nature at FCA itself.
  9. Suaviloquent
    Yeah I'm kind of a dumba$$ where it comes to Canadian GM facilities. Must be that Markham plant subliminal messaging trying to subvert any knowledge of GM and Ford. Well, the Encore and Traxx are built in South Korea, and they sell surprisingly well. GM still builds its compacts here. But yeah, I'd say it's fair to say that for the most part, more vehicles from America are exported to China than the other way around. I do know that the previous gen Honda Fit was made in China for Canadian consumption. It was an utterly well built tin can that destroyed people's ear drums while they were driving it. Also, Mexico is the new automotive assembly jurisdiction of choice. Can't avoid that NAFTA. *Grumble (but uor jerbs!!!)*
  10. Suaviloquent
    That's really not fair on the Camaro. Case-in-point: The new Golf isn't a shocker in exterior styling either. And the CR-V last year. Not much advancement in design either. And there's others that have also won with less: the 2012 Fusion, which I think is one of the few examples of a minor refresh that totally changed the whole car. If the Civic wins, then I think I'm going to be disappointed with MT. We've had four straight sedans as winners. It's time a performance car that changes the whole breed win.
  11. Suaviloquent
    Maybe that's why Oshawa is getting the Delta Platform Equinox?
  12. Suaviloquent
    Actually, I think Jag is on the same boat as Cadillac. They both have BMW 3 Series beating vehicles. Both have very lightweight flagships. Both are doing aggressive pricing. Both have had strained sales for their cars. Both are catching up in the luxury CUV department. Jaguar probably has the lead in near exotic sports-car image...almost like, well since we're talking about boats, and water... Corvette, while Cadillac has the unsinkable dreadnought of the Escalade, the pride of the fleet I say.
  13. Suaviloquent
    Oh yeah, Lincoln and Acura right now at this current moment in a wheel barrel heading towards the Niagara falls. For Lincoln, if they can basically replicate the Conti Concept at 95% execution level, and price it well south of the CT6 and Genesis G90, then it might just be the miracle they need. If they don't get saved... Me to Lincoln and Acura after the Waterfall: "Enjoy the climb back up! B!tch!"
  14. Suaviloquent
    There's really no compact luxury SUV that really has an interior to match that of its larger siblings. Maybe the GLC. Maybe the ambitiously priced MKC Black Label (in terms of materials only)... It really does look like Corolla Interior with more vinyl. If I were to get a Lexus, it'd probably be the GS. It's the only one that I think the new grille works well with.
  15. Suaviloquent
    It's going to do a lot of things right, at a price that will be irresistible, as long as one can look past heritage or pedigree. Cadillac and Genesis. One is among the oldest, reborn; and another than has just been birthed. IIIIInnntereeestting.
  16. Suaviloquent
    Now if only they can get more of that tan/latte/coffee leather with that wood in the CT6...
  17. Suaviloquent
    I like the way it looks. Again, there's only so many ways to slice an onion, and I think this looks quite stately, and derivative...yes...quite. But we can also realize that perhaps not even one element at all is a blatant copy of anything. There's a lot of inspiration, but I think Hyundai -err I mean the Genesis brand has done quite a lot in differentiation. So the Genesis brand can now be catapulted for being in the hunt for being top of the second-tier mainstream luxury brands. Not that they weren't like this before as Hyundai. Yes...quite.
  18. Suaviloquent
    Slick. Wow. 4200 lbs with AWD. And it's a V6 to boot. I like this a lot. It's got everything to crush anything in its path. RX, MKX, RDX, Q5 better watch out, this car is going to be a sleeper. Excellent interior too. M'mmm m'mm tasty. I expect not only usual performance stats like 0-60 and mileage improve, but with that weight and some good rubber, I expect massively improved braking distances, and that's really beneficial for crossovers like this.
  19. Suaviloquent
    Wow. I wish continued failure for the Fiat brand of FCA. Because it's the only one that isn't contributing anything. Someone ougt to raise the flag of wasted effort on escalation of commitment. I can see the worth in Alfa Romeo, and then Maserati. But man is it going to be ardous to build them up. All this while FCA US is getting shafted, and being taken advantage of by the strong American Auto Industry Recovery. I have never seen so much product potential wasted by terrible mismanagement.
  20. Suaviloquent
    There's not going to be many production inefficiencies from having so many different engine options. Flexible manufacturing and the fact that the facility that will the build the CT6 already has the tooling and expertise to build vehicles with the LTG, LGX and Voltec drivetrains is a big bonus.
  21. Suaviloquent
    E-class "ain't world class" compared to the S-class, either. But neither the E or the CT6 are going up against the s-class, are they. Is the CT6 being priced like an E-Class a compliment to Cadillac or detrimental in the luxury realm? That's the question I'm asking. And the answer is pretty clear.
  22. Suaviloquent
    That's a very heavy handed and a stark insinuation. Everyone who has posted reservations has posted elsewhere where they like Cadillac. So I don't think you're going to get anywhere with making a comment like that.
  23. Suaviloquent
    The CT6 is not a stop gap. It may not be a stop gap, but Johan did say the CT6 is NOT the halo car that Cadillac needs it to be either, something the previous brass said that the CT6 WAS the halo car that the world was waiting for... Bankruptcy had a play in that and Johan being brought in to really make Cadillac top tier aside...the way SMK describes the situation over at Cadillac is eerily accurate. The thing is, none of that is new. We knew that the CT6 was not going to be the top Caddy before any of us here even saw it. Johan said as much before it was revealed. Why is any of this news to anyone here? It's the reality of the car actually arriving setting in. Hey, it re-kindled the debate for me too. There were 4 events that continuously shaped this vehicle and its reception,I feel. 1 - Some rumors about cost-cutting when the first spy shots came out 2 - Johan naming it the CT6 and not the top Cadillac 3 - The car's debut in New York and its reception there 4 - The on sale date and the confusion by this price structure as to Cadillac's intended purpose of the vehicle, its market positioning. The last event is the press reviews and initial market positioning. Cadillac is certainly doing something very different. I like it, but see it as carving an onion. It's possible, but it's going to make many people cry (foul, not tears). Hey, I'm one of them!
  24. Suaviloquent
    Arrgh... I think we need some thread consolidation. We have 3 threads about the CT6, all with very similar topics. Oh believe me, I'm not plastering my opinion as much as regurgitating what many posters and especially what MT's senior features editor had to say about the CT6 interior. Underwhelming for the intended purpose at best. Requiring the firing of Cadillac's employees that chose the interior material combinations and suppliers at worst. It's a fine interior. Great, especially for the price. It's already the best amongst the lesser annoyances - the Hyundai and Kia, those already defying expectations. But when will Cadillac square up against its main bogeys? The interior ain't world class, when the world class is the S-Class. In terms of infotainment and overall gadgets and gizmos; technology, I'm just going to hand it to Tesla and Mercedes. SuperCruise isn't even here yet. So we have driving dynamics. That matters really only in North America. You won't see anyone crowing how well the car drives in China. It's totally irrelevant. Will this car resonate with buyers? Absolutely! I think it will meet or exceed expectation. But we're waiting another few years for the real killer. By that time, I suspect the recent S-Class and 7 Series will have been updated. Not that they are insanely hard to beat either. Cadillac just picked apart everyone in the large SUV segment. I don't understand their hesitation here. Be bold and dare greatly, don't waver needlessly.
  25. Suaviloquent
    I'm sticking to MT. They love the car, and that's fine by me. We can crunch numbers all we want. The price delta argument falls on itself quite a bit. The GT350 will hold its value really well. Not that the SS won't, but one is already an instant classic. One won't be. Even one with hard track miles will hold its value really well. And the intangibles of the exotic soundtrack, and specific styling changes over the regular Mustang, though not nearly worthy of $10,000 or more, sure are worth a few. Between that and the residuals, it's no wonder Ford will sell as many as they can possibly build, even with the high reported dealer markups. The SS is a really great car. But still don't think it's the proper car to compare to the GT350, certainly not the GT350R. No complaints from me, no complaints from Motortrend. I'm satisfied with that, as I see this thread wither and die.
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