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balthazar

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Everything posted by balthazar

  1. balthazar
    Stick with me Moltie; the point RE the Elky is how the EPA's approach would categorize it, not if it's in production today. That their approach is flawed. Such as (again; the interior) of the Ford Transit Connect being shipped here with seats puts it in one category, then Ford throws the 2nd/3rd/whaatever seats into the dumpster before sale and suddenly -viola- it's a truck/whatever. From the outside, it hasn't changed. Further my point RE downsizing- THAT"S EXACTLY IT- 'full-size' "downsized" to mid-size- there no longer are full-size cars! Hence "downsized". You can't radically change the size of something and have it 'be the same'. But boy howdy; does "full-size" sound betterer to American consumers. Can't drop that juicy term - "But wait- there's more!"
  2. balthazar
    Just looked at a Russian comparison test of the previous gen Escalade, Range Rover & GL500. GL & E have same departure angles (26 & 25 deg)- so the GL doesn't apparently have a great departure angle either. Front was markedly different (28 vs. 17) but the E had a far better side lift stability number (19" vs. 16"). They also had this to report (via Google translate) : Cadillac with the all-wheel drive system through a free, asymmetrical center-to-center differential without a downshift and a low front bumper hardly thought of as a serious "rascal". Imagine our surprise when the "American" showed impressive moves of suspension and clearance, almost like the GL 500 with the top position of the air suspension!
  3. balthazar
    Don't you feel that auto manufacturers and those who's focus is on the industry have a more weighed say over time in what defines a vehicle than a johnny-come-laterly soulless policy-writing bureaucracy that also concerns itself with the methane emissions of sheep? There were "full-size" cars for decades upon decades before there even was an EPA. Again I submit to you, not as a personal opinion but as an application of common sense; the EPA would call an El Camino a sub compact and the 4-dr version on the same 'platform' a "full-size' because they use an arbitrary 'formula' of interior cubic space. How many consumers deliver inflated balloons for a living? ^ These are the people (the EPA) that, as per SOP Big Gov't practice, have so thoroughly fucked up definitions that they are unusable for the only reason they exist: comparison. Might as well go by 'subjective feel' of cargo space. I watched a CT6 / Continetal comparions video where the trunk cargo test was seeing how many bulk Costco packages of paper towels fit inside. Same 'science' the EPA uses. It's junk. I'll stick with exterior dimensions.
  4. balthazar
    A few years back, Mercedes was in the lower 50s; 53-54, but like I said; different sources state different numbers (tho close). over a decades' time, EVERYBODY's numbers are inching up...tho the gap between mercedes & Cadillac is around only 2 years now. The current U.S. ABA is 51 going on 52.
  5. balthazar
    I don't think there's a single model anywhere with an ABA of 30. Maybe the Can Am Spyder. Mustang ABA of a few years ago is around 50- and that's a far 'younger appealing' car than the appliance CLA. Mercedes is an old fart brand, CLA is not going to turn that around; there's nothing about it to do so (especially price). EDIT :: Found this from April '17 RE Ford : >>"While the average age of a new Fiesta buyer is 45 years old, the average age of a Fiesta ST customer is a good 10 years younger. Buyers of Ford Focus follow the same pattern; the average age of a regular Focus buyer is 46, while the Focus RS customer is 41 on average and the Focus ST buyer is 36. Fusion customers are 48 on average, while Fusion Sport buyers are an average 45 years old."<< So the best number there is about 36 for a specific model/trim. Same source also reported that the average income for the Fiesta buyer was $59K, but for the Fiesta ST is was $102K.
  6. balthazar
    According to an automotive marketing blog from April 2017 I just looked at, you're fine; the ABA of the CLA is 46 years old. BTW, the same blog stated the overall average ABA of Mercedes is 57... but different sources report different numbers.
  7. balthazar
    I hear you, but under the traditional descriptors, the Mustang, Camaro & Challenger are actually 2-dr sedans; they have rear quarter windows. "Coupe' is a derivative of 'close-coupled'; a truncated or short greenhouse. It's not that a Mustang may have frameless side glass, it's that it has rear quarter windows (and a back seat). It's not 'close-coupled' at all. But all the terms are bastardized now. Tho the below was called out in marketing, ("2-dr sedan" vs. "hardtop coupe"), how different were they really?
  8. balthazar
    1. In my book, manufacturers and auto-based entities define size classifications, not a Gov't policy body. You are free to subscribe if you choose. 2. You don't think EPA drew "arbitrary" lines for their system? And are you aware a car with a console & without a console is defined as having the same front hip room? You CANNOT have 56" of front seat hip room WITH a console and 55" of rear hip room where 3 are seated. Who overlooks these declarations? The EPA. 3. Why in the world would interior volume tell you what size a car is?? The EPA would call an El Camino a sub-compact and the same chassis'd, same wheelbase 4-dr a full-size. I could not care less above overall interior cubic volume- it's a borderline intangible in the real world. The 'system' needs reform.
  9. balthazar
    ^ Yes, technically; it absolutely is. The only American 2-dr coupes that come quickly to mind are the Corvette & Viper. SMK thinks a "4-dr coupe" is an actual thing, and all 2-doors are 'coupes'.
  10. balthazar
    Pretty sure this isn't a sedan: Neither is this:
  11. balthazar
    201" is mid-size. There are no full-size cars left (210" and up). Unfortunately, the dumbing down marketing mindset has to now call mid-size 'full-size', as if.
  12. balthazar
    They're like $300 apart- or in other words identical. LaCrosse U.S. May sales were 3183 to the CLA's 1310, however.
  13. balthazar
    Did Volvo really need to buy a racing entity to offer a measly 367 HP on their cars??
  14. balthazar
    But it did win the battle. Re-read my post above yours. It was done right, it bettered the competition in a number of areas, and it created enormous good will toward Cadillac in the press and with consumers. Go ahead; call it a 'failure' again. RE CTS : "now they want it to be the middle"... if by "now" you mean 'for nearly 5 years', then yes.
  15. balthazar
    But "no one is going to buy it".
  16. balthazar
    "We've forgotten how the Seville burst into our consciousness in 1992, when it redefined everything we expected from an American luxury car. We take it's goodness for granted now." "When you drive a Seville SLS, it's just what you'd expect, a quiet and thoroughly competent car, the kind of car that Audi and Mercedes Benz have worked so hard to become in recent years. The Seville STS is not what you expect, however, because it delivers the same quietness and composure at a far greater speed." "The new Cadillac Seville is an extremely fine piece. Like a Jaguar, it strikes a balance between luxury and performance. Like an Audi, it rarely looses it's composure on the road. And like a Mercedes, it rides the leading edge of automotive technology. It's so refined, in fact, that it doesn't exactly grab your assumptions about big sedans [201"] and shake them, as the previous Seville did. The effect here is more subtle, because the new Seville is a legitimate wholehearted attempt to build the best luxury car in the world, and it arrives at a time when other luxury-car manufacturers are cutting back on content. There's courage in this car and that's what makes us believe in it." ~ Automobile magazine, October 1997.
  17. balthazar
    • If Cadillac sells 300K to Mercedes' 2,000,000, then Cadillac would -via math again- have 2 EVs. • Products are judged at particular moments, but seldom by longevity. Far too extrapolated and ethereal a metric. Think of -for example- a dishwasher. Once you own/operate one for 15 years with no reliability issues and are ready to proclaim it a "success", the company has completely changed their product lines & suppliers & tech & factories & management & even ownership a few times. Thusly the 15-yr old dishwasher evaluation has zero bearing on the brand new model (which may be a piece of cheap crap). Only thing you see is the name, an intangible.
  18. balthazar
    I'm not positive I've ever heard the name 'Polestar' before this thread. Althought at least it's a name, it doesn't seem very graceful. Perhaps 'Polecat' is a bit snazzier.
  19. balthazar
    STS of the '90s when it came out & subsequently was absolutely not 'deemed a failure'- nice try. It got a lot of positive press and first PUT Cadillac into consideration with the German equivalents. Making that jump perceptionally was by itself a success. Now Cadillacs are automatically mentioned with other sports sedans. And yes- "people buy them", just not in numbers you arbitrarily set. "5 EVs by 2020?" Why didn't Mercedes have 10 EVs in 2010? That's YOUR mindset. Unfortunately for YOU (a non-Cadillac buyer, BTW) Cadillac is not following your tweets. Higher sales to a degree is fine. 2 million?? No thanks- they're not interested. Why doesn't any small brand suddenly snap their fingers and build 70 models and shoot for 2 million units? Go muddle on that one for a week, see if you can possibly develop any theoretical answers to your own question.
  20. balthazar
    Cadillac was completely in a different demographic in 1999- they had just started the slow morph to change their cars up, but the Devilles, Seville, Eldorado were still sedate cushmobiles that never got mentioned in the same articles with Mercedes or BMW (STS occasionally excepted). Now they build cars which exceed both brands in numerous circles and are now readily compared by both reviewers and consumers- that's a huge perceptional change no one thought was a remote possibility in 1999. Recall the incredulous response to a 'Caddy truck' in '99? Now it's reputation is set in stone. These are massive moves forward. Can more be done? Of course (same can be said for ANY brand today). Look at Mercedes, it took then FORTY YEARS to bring the s-class coupe back, and when it finally shows up, the coupe market is lower than it's EVER been- wasted opportunity over decades of time. And the flagship SUV has been allowed to rot on the vine for DECADES- it could have been a legitimate contender to Range Rover but that ship has sailed and "no one buys them". Cadillac needs to get their 4.2TT V8 out, and keep working upmarket with nothing below the ATS and XT4 level size-wise. Keep in mind Cadillac has no aspirations to be a mainstream, everything to everyone brand, because Cadillac has no pressure to do so. It's in 7th place because the other brands have 4 and 5 and 10 times the number of models- it's called math. When you have 10 apples and Johnny has 50, of course Johnny sells more apples. Duh.
  21. balthazar
    Mmmmmmmmmm!
  22. balthazar
    The last number I saw for MB was 54 years old- solidly over the average of 51-52. CLA isn't appealing to buyers like Daimler thought, so whatever it's ABA may be, it's not shifting the overall much, if any.
  23. balthazar
    MB's largest market by far is China, and China is still has the largest potential for growth, I believe. Remember- 1 out of 2 S-classes are sold in China- it's why the model is stylistically bland & stoic. The sales-focused MB wants to be at toyota-level sales numbers, and 'carpet bombing' every segment helps them get there. The A has been out in other markets prior to the U.S., but globally; if they have it they're going to stuff it in every market's catalog to boost numbers. So while there's absolutely no 'need' OR call for either the CLA or the A here, here they come. I don't know off hand what the low-end Chinese market does in numbers, but obviously Mercedes knows.
  24. balthazar
    maybe it's a FL thing? Just checked my local NJ dealer's site: 14 XTSs in stock, 7 are FWD, 7 are AWD.
  25. balthazar
    It may BE those things, but it doesn't "represent" them as it stands at the curb. What it 'represents' is a large comfortable, well equipped sedan. I don't believe people shopping in this tier 'care' about the backstory in the least as they whisper down the highway in an XTS. I would not be surprised if the majority of XTS's are AWD- they are on my local lot.
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