balthazar

Ideally, an EV powertrain should be an option on a regular production vehicle. IE; engineer a model/body to fit over either- the GM skateboard concept seems to make the most sense. The ROI of 1. a true EV vehicle coupled with 2. a unique design inside & out is putting these vehicles automatically in the red going out the door. I see no reason that the -say- honda accord isn't available with the clarity's EV powertrain with 90% of the same look.

Whoa- advocating death for a difference of opinion is a bit unhinged. Not sure you want to come off as a wing-nut, Dave. WHOA. We've all read other predictions (not necessarily from industry analysts) that EVs would gobble up 50% of the market by 2030. But who has been saying EVs won't see 25% by 2050? And actually; 2018 sales will be at 2.0%- the article has the figure wrong. Huffpost tends to garble their facts on a regular basis. But it still took 20 years to get to just a wee 2%.

Where? Where are they for sale- I have money waiting right now! What? Oh, they only said they intend to build them, at some point. Well, that's disappointing. Know what else is disappointing? Tesla has been building EVs for a decade, and MB is JUST supposedly getting ready to bring out theirs. After [Benz] invented the [Benz tiller-steered tricycle], I would've expected more leading edge stuff.

This just in: Less is never 'More'. - - - - -

Saw a very clean, of course beige, VW 'Rabbit' pick-up. Larger aftermarket 'BBS' rims, but otherwise stock. Haven't seen one in decades.

'60 Bonneville. SO fabulous! - - - - -

Jest hanging out in a dirt/weed lot with my (future) $4.5 million dollar, 165 MPH '35 Duesenberg 'Mormon Meteor' speed record setting race car.

Every 'journalistic' musing on GM is ALWAYS put thru the filter of 'volume'. It's like people expecting a Ford to only be available in black.

Overstated; 120 years, give or take, puts "1/3rd" at the year 1938. The primary restriction was roads, not fueling.

1. They can spray penetrant on the plugs if they're really tight in there. Kroil is among the best on the market. 3. I don't see a garage willing to wait 24 hrs min for an Amazon package when their business model is 'turn & burn' as far as getting vehicles in & out the door. The longer a vehicle sits in a service bay the less invoices they write. But you need to ask them your question.

https://www.onallcylinders.com/2018/12/21/ubers-self-driving-program-is-back-behind-the-wheel-after-fatal-crash-last-spring/?fbclid=IwAR015BqIXKKQxRVK1g0Zn10OK-9XxAaNzXd2tpf9wJ6v3B1WcsCm0nFTKKQ "Uber’s latest foray into autonomous vehicle testing will be more limited from a standpoint of scope and speed. The car will be held to a speed limit of 25 mph and is restricted to a one-mile loop in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. Additionally, the test vehicles are required to have two drivers (i.e. “mission specialists”) at all times during operation."

CT6 sold 7,270 units thru Sept. In the same period, the bmw 7 sold 6,126 units and the audi a8 sold a mere 656 units. Is it a 'perception that exists therefore it's reality' that the CT6 "doesn't sell well", or merely an erroneous judgement that exists, instead? Where should the CT6 sales level be at, or is it a matter of 'the CT6 doesn't sell well, the 7-series sells even worse and the a8 sells abysmally poorly'? Because I read these judgemental calls on the CT6 sales performance frequently and I am always left wondering- where is the poster's opinion of other large luxury sedan sales? Have you read a single comment on the A8/S8's dismal sales in any review? Ever? Why are these foreign brands somehow rendered immune to the same mainstream volume template? - - - - - Plug in EVs will be about 350K units in the US for 2018 (313K thru November). US total vehicle sales thru Nov are at 15,646,xxx. 313K out of 15,646K is 2.0%. Yes, sales are growing, but people HAVE to be cognisant of the fact that despite the recent growth, the SHARE is still really really really tiny. And again I am brought back around to the CT6 sales performance. The same template applied to EVs would constantly bemoan how they 'don't sell well' and 'are unprofitable', but that's barely an uncommon whisper. I for one am not willing to sit here and ignore the facts like so many others. EVs may one day eclipse IC vehicles in this country. The chances are quite real, I believe. Will they ever put the IC totally out of the picture? I strongly doubt it. Will they exceed 50% of the market? They have a decent chance, but it absolutely won't be in 10 years. If you follow the plot line, that event is a good 30 years in the future, minimum, and despite all the water cooler / podcast buzz. It takes time to see consumer product growth, esp when the bulk of the segment is priced so much higher than the average vehicle price. People who believe 'EV dominance' is a 10-year event are being totally unrealistic at this point.

You should know me by now- I'm a facts-based guy. I read 'perceived' all the time- it's vapor. 'People' think toyootas are great, they're not; I dismiss the perception. 'People' think GM's are garbage, they're not; I dismiss the perception as a waste of time. People think all sorts of things all the time ---Oh no; a black cat!!--- people can (and should) do better. I don't care how many CT6s Cadillac sells, it's not the point of the brand. If it's an excellent car befitting of it's position and it's profitable, they can sell 100/yr. Eldorados of the Golden Age sold in perilously low numbers. So far, and in constricted language, the assembly plants in question are "unallocated" beyond 2019. I have read this is due to UAW agreement terms. But recall that the CTS jumped assembly plants (IIRC)- all the articles I saw were assuming the CT6 was being cancelled; what if it is getting moved instead? LGR is getting heavily retooled as we speak. We'll see what happens...

If you use absolute, over-the-top terms, expect to see them challenged now & again. You cannot support your contention factually, and your sample size precludes you from objectively supporting it even anecdotally. Why bother to chose those terms, then? GM (and Ford) have publicly recognized the very real decline of passenger sedan volume. But people seem to think it's ONLY happening at GM & FoMoCo. Look at the numbers; EVERYONE is down in sedans, a great portion in double digits. Some established nameplates have dropped so low it's amazing their plugs weren't pulled a few years back (vs. these GM implications a year or more in the future). Is it some great laudable accomplishment their sedans have dwindled to the point of building what amounts to 4 cars per DAY but they're still here anyway? How so? I can certainly accept the market share plot line over time, but General Motors is still neck & neck with hyundai for 3rd largest OEM worldwide, and miles ahead of such competitors as honda, nissan, daimler, BMW, Chrysler/fiat, renault, among others, despite losing over a half dozen brands. How is anyone supposed to agree with your portrayal based on such sales volume- it's certainly not price-driven given GM's ATP rise over the last decade (in fact, a charting of production volume coupled with ATP might be quite illuminating). Further, the 1970s was a long long time ago, and recent quality assessments refute any 'garbage' claims as an outmoded holdover from that period (when everything was equally 'garbage'). We've gone from wildly different engineering, MPG, quality, amenities & tech differences, to screaming about grades of plastics.

What is your source for an all-encompassing 'world opinion', please.

Yeah, sorry; no way are we in agreement with that impossible statement.

I, for one, ABSOLUTELY can deny that a civi-rolla is "built like a tank"- they're cheap, plasticy, disposable appliances. And there's no myth about toyota recalling 50 million plus vehicles over the last 15 years for horrendously bad engineering. The frame rot fiasco is a personal fave I can't get past- that was a 1910-level mistake... but in 2010. We could examine how shitty japanese cars from the '70s ALSO were if the tin worm hadn't eat them all into rust flakes.

IMO, appearance packages definitely have their place/appeal. If they didn't, every single performance package wouldn't ALSO include an appearance pack. But you'd need a min of 40 HP to ever feel it for sure.

We're still assuming the supposed cancelled vehicles were all unprofitable. And that other brand's vehicles in production are profitable. GM's pre-tax income in 2017 was just under $12 billion, but 'extraodinaries' resulted in a 3.8B loss last year. The 2 years before that GM's net income was in the $9-10B range.

I priced a piece of red oak a few weeks ago locally- got hired to make a free-standing 'bar countertop'. Not live edge but dimensionally rough cut; 6/4 x 11"-8' : $90. Place has stupendously beautiful raw material, plus makes select pieces of furniture. The exotic slabs, depending on species and visual interest, can be over $900 ea. One of their tables:

^ Look at all the German & Japanese plants here- those jobs could've gone to citizens where the respective HQs are. They couldn't care less about the workers; only the profits for the shareholders and bonuses for incompetent, corrupt executives.

See, that would disqualify it from my consideration right there.

I do not believe nature/natural can ever wear out its welcome. The live edge stiff I see is still fabulously expensive, when it comes down to WalMart-level pricing and is mass produced (which really isn't possible), then maybe.