balthazar

Of course, because MB follows revenue above all else! March 2016 ~ cla-class : DOWN 28% c-class : DOWN 13% e-class : DOWN 19% s-class : DOWN 36% VANS :: UP 29% Expect to see increasing emphasis / dealer stock on from the etherial "van division" of Daimler in the coming year as the rest of the brand is entering a sales 'slide'.

If an e-class convert doesn't sell any more sedans, what other models are MB buyers buying because there's an e-class convert? You contradict yourself at whiplash speed. All 250 of them? Are you sure?? Chevrolet is a full-line brand. They also have volume as their guiding mantra. That is not true on either count for Cadillac, and -as you admitted- a convert isn't going to change sales at all. I'm still looking for your factual reason for wanting 2 Cadillac converts. Like I said, it could be cool to see, but it doesn't fit your criteria (SALESSALESSALES) at all. CLA in above pics had dreadfully bland gauges, vs. the Cruze. Dated, also.

Olds- you are talking about a DRIVER, which this truck has yet to reach the status of. Not remotely 'apples to apples' and thusly, no shame is involved. To put it another way; I don't remember if I've waxed my daily driver any more than maybe twice in 10 years. Of course, I'd rather wrench in rust & grease than wax a 20-foot truck. Or; pick up a project car that needs more than cosmetics, and re-stamp your man card!

Cadillac is not following the German siblings (who follow EACH OTHER much more urgently). What it is doing is fitting into particular segments, segments not invented by nor owned by the Germans siblings. BMW's 3/4-series has a more cramped FRONT compartment than the ATS….

Is the CLA a luxury car?? Not seeing much to differentiate mercedes playing in Chevrolet's sandbox.

I would disagree, the ATS while having the needed variants, is not competitive as it could be. GM bench-marked the last true good BMW to build it, which allowed BMW to throw the curve-ball of a more livable back seat in the F30, and Mercedes with the C-Class upped the ante with the best interior in its class. But Cadillac made a "more livable" FRONT seat than the 3/4-series. Will BMW 'respond'? Will BMW up the ante WRT mercedes & the 3/4's lackluster interior?

The "small segment" is a couple hundred buyers. Yes, it 'can' be ignored. And if having a convertible doesn't sell any more sedans/coupes, and almost no convertibles themselves sell, how does it "help" in any measurable way? General Motors has rebuked the 'Cruze-based future Cadillac', so Cadillac has decided they DON'T need a competitor.

Leaky master cylinder is back out & apart. Dirty inside- not sure if some rubber bits were shedding or what. Piston seems to not be as snug as perhaps it should- so ordered a rebuild kit. Tired tonight; tomm I will cross off 'chassis/suspension lubrication' from my list. Hope also to gat a look at the parking brake assembly & see if it holds.

Again, you are stuck on the same, tired, singular point, of course : toyota-level sales of luxury cars. ATS is absolutely competitive, PRODUCT-WISE. There is a sedan, a coupe, a V-Sport and a V- that's a solid line-up. And reality-check :: NO ONE buys a sedan because there is ALSO a convertible model available. That's as ridiculous as saying people buy sprinters because there is an s-class. And for YOU, convertibles are a non-entity, because THEY DON'T SELL. I think it'd be cool to have a ATS and CT6 convertible, but the volume is excruciatingly low. Again; to your mindset; they aren't going to change the SALES NEEDLE @ Cadillac, no matter how often you claim that's why Cadillac's volume is where it is.

In the U.S., mercedes has like EIGHTEEN TIMES the sales volume. Thanks, Cap't Obvious.

Because nobody buys jaguars, they sell like lamborghini's in the U.S.

They why is Cadillac commonly pointed out as having "uncompetitive" (read; not as screamingly cheap) lease rates?

Daimler's 'managing of it's (MB) brand' is to poke into every segment out there, in nothing other than a high speed pursuit of volume. Cadillac is NOT chasing volume. 'GM' of course is chasing volume, but 'Cadillac' is not 'GM'. Frankly, some of the upcoming Cadillac expansion I am NOT welcoming warmly, as it represents exactly my criticism of mercedes. RE 'brands as equals', they are not on numerous levels, but both are primarily associated with luxury products (well, a number of mercedes' are not), and therefore comparisons can , have and will be made. But I can still leave Cadillac out of it other than to set a context of subjective commentary.

I showed it to my mother yesterday. She walked thru the shop door and immediately said something like "Good gracious!!" when she saw it. My buddy's wife stopped over recently, and her comment upon seeing it was "You've got to be kidding!" Gonna be all sorts of fun fielding commentary out in public with it! After this is operable, it's time to start back on the B-59. Any further major steps on the COE are only going to delay that car, and that car is every bit as intriguing as the COE (but for different reasons).

That's NOT the point. In THIS market (the U.S.- 2nd in importance to Daimler after China), there has been a very specific image of 'luxury vehicle' for the MB badge. Cadillac is frequently addressed as 'lacking focus' when it is mercedes benz that has products shooting in all sorts of different directions, more and more recently which don't come close to the 'the best or nothing' tagline. Oh they absolutely do. Right up the road from me the MB dealer loves to have anywhere from 6-14 Sprinters on the front row- looks like a Hertz lot.

'Grille crossmember' on my truck was mangled- with the missing original grille & the bent bumper, seems obvious it was in some sort of minor head-on impact. Issue was; the grille latches to that crossmember. I had a spare I bought with my replacement grille. Cut out the old one, which was completely detached on the passenger side. I didn't weld the replacement in because there is nothing to weld to on the pass side anymore- the replacement was a few inches short due to being torched out of another truck. Luckily this piece lines up with 2 outriggers on the frame and instead got bolted down with 1/2-in bolts. Grille latches cleanly now, so I don't have to worry about it popping off & me running it over.

Regardless of internal, legalese declarations, the consumer at large knows ZERO about this. The point here is that there is no separate branding for all the vans. There are 3 brands; Smart, MB and Freightliner. All the vans are "mercedes benz" vans, not Freightliner. Any so-called 'van division' is irrelevant WRT the market.

Cadillac is not a full-line manufacturer, never was. It's more expansive now than ever, however, and a slew of new models is in the pipeline. You will, accordingly, be thrilled.

Of course, you meant "sales volume", like ANYONE (outside of respective accounting departments) remotely cares. As far as product, there has been very real 'avail' from Cadillac.

There is no other, so-called "Vans Division". The nameplate you are searching for is "mercedes-benz".

AGAIN with the same old 'but Car X outsells Car Y' argument, like mass mainstream sales volume are what's supposed to define luxury. Mass mainstream sales volume is what defines CHEVROLET & TOYOTA & FORD & NISSAN. - - - - - Yet, even tho they are always neck & neck in volume, I so far have missed the endless ragging on Audi for poor marketing & their inability to convince people to buy them, despite having DOUBLE the number of models that Cadillac does, including the oft-demanded convertibles & hatches & wagons & halo sports cars and 3 SUVs. Howz dat happen??? The entire cyclical 'this outsells that so it's automatically better' argument is completely 1-dimensional & beyond tired.

I don't know these cars from experience, so just going on exterior pics, but this gen Turbo-Birds were fairly attractive :

Agree w surreal; the alfa convert is awkward at best, not at all appealing. I get a VERY strong vibe when I look at it. T-Bird isn't all that; I wanted to like them and here's a modern car with some 'back' for a change, but they just don't stir me. Even performance versions, like Saleen's. I look at one and my mind tries to superimposed a '55 over what my eyes are seeing, and my brain gets depressed. T-Bird without hesitation between these 2.

• Got the "Cyclops Eye" roof headlight wired to an ancient toggle switch that came in the truck; done. • Reinstalled rebuilt carb & found a excellent throttle return spring; done. • Finished dimmer switch wiring. High beam indicator wouldn't light- so took that assembly all apart, cleaned everything (socket, bulb, housing, spring, etc) & reinstalled. On the dash its a tiny 'peephole' which used to have a colored lens in it (about 1/8th inch in diameter), so I used a leather punch and a peanut butter lid to make a perfect red 'lens' which snapped into the 'peephole'. Works great. • Test-fitted the doghouse to make sure it cleared the aftermarket air cleaner. It does; you can still slip a pice of paper between it & the doghouse. • Made an aluminum plate to work with the battery hold down. My battery is an Optima Red Top, but their 6V batteries are half the width of a 12V, so the plate was needed to clamp the battery down under the full-width hold-down. Done. • Flipped the front license plate holder upside-down & mounted my other 1940 plate. I like how it peeks out, not sure how cops will feel (Year of Manufacture plates are NOT legal in NJ, so double the pain). Roof spot light & front plate : Also note (vs. post #113) that the wiring is greatly tidied up. Looking for some period cloth wrap to hide the blue wiring under the hood.

You are STILL stuck on 'SALES = EVERYTHING', despite being told a thousand times that's not Cadillac's goal. Who cares how many of what sold, and vs. others sold? You just don't get it. Sure; an XT5 V-Sport would be neat, it may happen, but it's no 'make or break' model.