balthazar
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Everything posted by balthazar
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balthazar replied to William Maley's topic in North American International Auto Show in Detroit (NAIAS)That's a shame; mercedes should build their concepts- they're far more intriguing than the white bread they do make. That concept would draw all sorts of attention & sales to the brand, even at exorbitant prices. Opportunity lost.
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balthazar replied to William Maley's topic in North American International Auto Show in Detroit (NAIAS)WAIT- this is the 2019 G?? WTF happened to the concept G, the plasticy looking thing? Why doesn't Daimler ever produce any of their concepts? I guess the hideously low sales don't warrant a full redesign. Could had this: Instead you get a VW SUV from the '80s; you're welcome! : And I can see the exposed gaskets FROM HERE. Anybody still think there weren't corners cut? Daimler must have an 80% margin on this.
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balthazar replied to William Maley's topic in North American International Auto Show in Detroit (NAIAS)It's mostly the exposed gaskets, but the screws didn't help. But calling them 'classic' is like calling WalMart uni-fit plastic hubcaps 'classic'.
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Had the woodstove going all day yesterday, furnace got to sleep in til sometime in the early AM hours. Was 78-80 in the living room. Works well enough to heat the whole house, tho the extremities get cool- maybe low 60s. Nothing beats radiant heat. Today it's 17 or therebouts with a stiff wind, that's a tougher hill for the stove to climb. I'd run it anyway cause I'm home but the back porch is empty of wood and I'm not trekking back to the woodpiles with the wheelbarrow in this weather.Obviously it's a beat-up a bit (body below the headlights is overhanging the bumper), but I think it looks fine in general. I like it better than the 'horseshoe' Ram grille on some of the current trucks. Ram has a solid track record over the last 10 years of really cohesive designs (just not in all trims). I would have voted to keep/evolve the crosshair grille, but I would have also voted to keep it a "Dodge" Ram.I assume most mercedes buyers came out of an Oldsmobile. Wait- that doesn't make any sense either. Yes: US market pick-up buyers want domestic brands. They are the best in their field. Remember when the op-eds floated on how the Tundra was going to do to the pick-up segment that the camry did to family transport pods? Never happened. Tundra- even after all the boom years for pickups, sold 10K units last month. It's worse than Dodge before it went 'big rig' in '94. But pick-up owners do not switch to SUVs, they just don't. I'd never buy a Tahoe/Suburban. - - - - - Mercedes flagship is the 40-yr old G-wagon- it has the highest MSRP. What a shame it's been ignored for so long- will be interesting to see how many corners Daimler cuts with the new one.A snapshot for you. My local Mercedes dealer has 20 GLS in stock, starting at $77K. Average price is $84K. My local Cadillac dealer has 7 Escalade in stock, starting at 85K. Average price is $91K. 17 of the 20 GLS's referred to above are priced below the Escalade cheapest price. GLS is the 'value buy' between these two.However, Cadillac does have a VEHICLE to rival or exceed the Germans sedan of similar price. Much more important. My local dealer's current inventory : CT6 averages $68K, Esc averages $89K. That's a 20% price difference, not 33%. But allow me to query: CLA starts @ $32K, or aout 20% of the c-class MSRP of $40K. Why isn't it exceeding the next sedan up the line in volume, instead of being only 1/3rd of that volume?Not too bad in central NJ, blowing a lot, maybe 3" so far. Hate winter now, snow can go F itself.Looking forward to Cadillac's realignment of it's sedans. Most brands need to do this. I have no issue with the XTS as it is, it sells well, but in the grand scheme of things I'd prefer it to be 'rolled into' another and cut it to 3. Add half the XTS volume to the CT6 and it's at what volume- 19K units? Suddenly that's blown past the A6. But Cadillac should not chase volume at the expense of other factors, and volume is not the prime criteria to judge product.balthazar replied to William Maley's topic in North American International Auto Show in Detroit (NAIAS)I strongly suspect we'll see some sort of 'consolidated' proposal in the near future that seeks to merge the sedan with the SUV. There are FAR too many models in the auto industry for long term sustainability. Models AND platforms are going to have to die- the price of profitability keeps going up.Can I give a 'Jeer' to the whole 'upvote/downvote' universe? Or would that be a defacto downvote?Kudos to the Mustang; has remained pure:
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