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balthazar

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Everything posted by balthazar

  1. balthazar
  2. balthazar
    Bumpers on the W/T are painted, but the rest of the front is not.
  3. balthazar
    There's not a lot of difference between off-shelf (solid wood) cabinets and custom-line cabs. You can pay triple and still get particle board boxes.
  4. balthazar
    I definitely prefer a ranch, but I'd pass on that house. Entire approach to house is asphalt- not liking that. Deck ( re-seal every 2-3 years) & windows are nice but I'd gut out the kitchen. Would be nice to rip those numerous soffitts out, but they must be there for some reason. One of my customers bought their house in '16, she gutted the kitchen- white cabinets, pickled hardwood flooring, predominately white marble countertops. Looks fantastic. She has a great eye, did something I'd not seen before but I really liked : the entire first floor is one color- grey walls w/ white trim. It made me realize there's arguably an element of the schizophrenic to paint every room a different color.
  5. balthazar
    SEOUL/DETROIT/CHONGQING, China (Reuters) - At a near-empty Hyundai Motor showroom in the Chinese mega city of Chongqing, the store manager is grumbling about his shortage of customers and a lack of bigger, cheaper SUV models popular in the world's largest auto market. Even with discounting of as much as 25 percent, his dealership was selling barely a hundred vehicles a month, said the manager surnamed Li. A nearby Nissan dealership was selling about 400 vehicles a month, a store manager there said. "The sales are simply poor," Li told Reuters. "Look at the Nissan store next door, they have tens of customers while we just have two." An hour's drive away is Hyundai's massive $1 billion manufacturing plant, which opened last year with a target to produce 300,000 vehicles per year. But with sales weak and the Chinese auto market slowing sharply, the factory is running at roughly 30 percent of capacity, two people with knowledge of the matter said. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/insight-hyundai-motor-once-rising-star-lost-shine-042534355--finance.html
  6. balthazar
    Is it worth the design, manufacturing, parts, certification, advertising, etc etc to build maybe 500 cars/yr tho? Or is BMW banking on taking a bath with the convert ( and perhaps the 8-series as a whole)?
  7. balthazar
    Trying --and failing-- to make a silk purse out of a (relative) sow's ear. The 1956 (Chevy-based) El Morocco ~
  8. balthazar
    The 8-series convertible is highly questionable- the 6-series was a flop: it dropped from 10K to 2K units, and this was before the drain was pulled on the car segment. The entire 8-series is the same concept as the 6 with a 50% higher price tag in an imploding segment. I predict a settled sales rate in the 2-digit range, monthly.
  9. balthazar
    "E-clat" or is it "EK-lat"? As soon as you have to ponder pronunciation, I think there's a better choice out there- no offense. EDIT :: it's "aye-CLA". Ugh.
  10. balthazar
    It'll be interesting to see if anyone remotely cares about this car.
  11. balthazar
    Correction : "Tesla has reported an unexpected profitable quarter." - - - - - I have a suspicion that support of an 'EV sales mandate' is simply to push volume and help OEMs achieve economies of scale. Many of the OEMs have invested hugely in the tech and the returns, after the order of a decade, is usually nothing. After all, a single profitable quarter from Tesla does not make a successful or viable company- they have 10s of billions in losses behind that one quarter (I believe they actually have posted 3 profitable quarters, tho never in close proximity to each other). But the question looms huge : mandating a sales volume number does nothing to mandate a vehicle SALE. This is the very same issue facing municipalities/countries talking about an ICE ban. Talk and standards are one thing, but to date you cannot force people to buy something.
  12. balthazar
    Model 3 would have to be moving 100s of thousands of units monthly, plus it's not getting cross shopped with upper tier lux models. Yeah- that's not the explanation.
  13. balthazar
  14. balthazar
    • To be clear, there's 3 beds at Chevy (Ford also??) : 5.5', 6.5' and 8'. I can work with a 6.5' bed, but a 5.5' is a deal breaker for me. Frankly, the RC/5.5' always looks awkward to me. I don't find them 'sporty', they aren't built as 'sport trucks' (since the two SS versions anyway- the later of which I think wasn't available in a 5.5' bed), and they have that much less capacity. Bill- despite both of these choices being vapor, would you be down with a RC/6.5'er or do you only want a RC/5.5'er? • Yeah; there's a reason Ford is #1 in pickups for 50 years, they offer the most.
  15. balthazar
    ^ Right; I recall the white WT RC/LB. Reading comments elsewhere still wondering/hoping a RC/SB will also appear. I assume the RC/LB is limited to the W/T / Custom lines, and not available in the upper series Silverados.
  16. balthazar
    My local MB dealer has 257 2019s on the lot and 112 2018s. There's a glut over here. They even have 16 2017s (mostly unwanted sprinters/metris', but there is one leftover S550 too).
  17. balthazar
    • Fabricated a mounting plate; the trans crossmember is not quite aligned with the trans, so fashioned a 5/16-in steel plate to be able to bolt the 2 together. Unconventional for sure, but I see no reason it won't have excellent longevity/be no problem. • More planning on the header surgery, coming soon.
  18. balthazar
    Let's review, month over month performance :: June : down 10% July : down 23% Aug : down 20% Sep : down 10% Oct : down 5% No demand issue?? You said you'd worry if it was 3 months in a row of declines, I count 5 above.
  19. balthazar
    Seen any updates on a RC/SB style? Just checked local GMC dealer inventory- all crew cab/short box except 1 double cab/standard box.
  20. balthazar
    Ram looks almost mid-sized between the two. Silverado still coming out #1 in visual appeal, IMO...
  21. balthazar
    Significant declines in June, July, August, September and October. Running 4K units under the last 3 Octobers. December is usually MB's best sales month; have to see if they car turn the ship around by year's end. I smell more incentives than usual coming...
  22. balthazar
    I've seen this one, and its awesome ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR_mGhT2iLM
  23. balthazar
    • Firstly, GM has done this 'dual generation production' procedure numerous times in the past- predating any 'FCA playbook'. Malibu Classic comes to mind. • Secondly, the 'classic' '18/'19s aren't moving at MSRP; GM has advertised a nice discount for numerous months now. Add in the price increases for the Nu '19s and the price difference is considerable. • Thirdly, the vast bulk of Nu '19s being built so far seem to be Double Cab or Crew Cab/short beds; may well be a much wider body style selection on Ye Old '19s.
  24. balthazar
    MARKET SHARE. They owned the Euro van market in the USDM outright but have conceded the majority to their competition since they've come online.
  25. balthazar
    Another month in the books, another 5% decline. That's the least amount of decline over the last 4 months, but it's still slipping.
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