balthazar
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Everything posted by balthazar
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Absolutely not! - - - - - Also, I would take VW/audi's profit statements with a small pail of salt in light of their emissions compliance claims. -
I've already conceived of the idea to MAKE the tailgate out of letters. Sort of like a steel cargo net. It could be done…
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I believe that's also the one with the Automotive World's Largest Lettering across the tailgate. Saw one the other day, that alone would be a deal breaker for me. Too obnoxious.
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It do sell.
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All right. Did some 'Sunday Lot Recon' today in the snow, and $8K buys total crap. I alluded to it above; I could go higher if the value is there. After today's trip, I think to be realistic I have to be in the $12K range. I'm not spending $8K for 25K miles of usage; as at that price level - everything is solidly over 100K miles. • Looked at the Escape, Edge, Equinox ('09, 125K, $11K), and a Volvo XC70 ('08, 82K, $13.7K) • Focus hatch is a bit small, Transit Connect is ridiculously utilitarian for the money, Flex is pretty big (I do have some driveway constraints). Those are all out. What's missing on the market is a Fusion-sized wagon. • Not up on the Grand Cherokee or Jeeps in general (my buddy swears against them), what's the reliability on those? • Trying to stay away from a minivan. I'm not at 100%, maybe 75% against, I dunno what my reasons are. I think I'm at least gelling on the budget and the vehicle size/type… will keep looking this week.
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2016 Toyota Tacoma, Butt Ugly or just my take on their design style?
balthazar replied to G. David Felt's topic in Toyota
it's alright visually, nothing special. How's the rust/rot protection, hope toyoto has been working in that. -
Not to draw out the far more interesting Buick discussion in a dull Honduh thread, but the Avista is very much so in the '63-65 Riviera position, a very distinctive, powerful upscale 'image' coupe. Wildcat was a trim variant on the full-size models but the Riv was completely unique. They are completely comparable.
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Granted.. and as I said.. 20 years.. meaning at this point.,. the 90s.. not the 60s. In 1996 we had Cadillac, Lincoln, Benz, BMW, Lexus, Infiniti, Acura, Saab, and Jag. Also... I am not saying that Cadillac should be in every segment. Quite the contrary. I am saying that within the segments it is in currently.. it should have variants. For instance.. CTS should have a wagon, convertible, coupe. They can have their own designation or name, but the choice should be available. Same for the ATS. Add Diesels across the board. The only real addition I think they need, outside of a larger and smaller than XT5 CUV, is small sports car, and a super-car.. Make an electric or hybrid version of all. 500K sales JUST LIKE THAT. Mercedes has 16 models.. BMW, 12. They should be outselling Cadillac's 6 models I agree with the 'model plan', but I see your plan doesn't include a sub-ATS. That plan looks fine, should be good for 350K. Again- I don;t want nor care to see 500K from Cadillac.
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Cmicasa >>They can't stay at 250K sales as that was proportional to a population.. or market 20 years ago.. I personally do not see a need for them to hit the 1 million mark.. but globally they should at the very least be on par with Lexus, a luxury brand with a mainstream mother.<< But the luxury market has FAR many more players now, also. in the mid 60s, for example, it was only Cad, Lincoln & Imperial. More players, so the pie is divided up farther. Cadillac's circa 378K U.S. sales in 1978 may never be eclipsed because of that very reason. But I still believe 500K globally is too high, and it's certainly no criteria/wish of mine. My prime point is, too many people / op-eds are trying to hold Cadillac up to the 'business model' of MB & BMW, when those are 90% of their parent corporation's business. Cadillac is NOT anywhere within shooting distance of that percentage within General Motors, thusly the concept that Cadillac "needs" to compete at every rung is vastly flawed.
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First off, the i8 is a certainly a good example of something that doesn't sell. It's "arrogant" to the point that no one wants to be seen in one. Same with the R8 : VW sold (15) R8s in December, whereas Cadillac's 'emotional, stylish, doesn't have to sell, arrogant' ELR sold NINE TIMES that many in Dec. That is NOT Cadillac's "biggest weakness"- those uber niche cars don't sell ANY more audis/BMWs. But we NEVER read how the R8 is a 'failure' that 'no body buys', but that's ALL we read about WRT the ELR. - - - - - People need to get it thru their heads; Cadillac is not General Motors (nor BMW, nor Daimler, nor VW), it's NOT about sales volume with Cadillac…. but because it's connected with what was once, 60 years ago, nearly 1 out of every 2 sales in the U.S., that's the filter every op-ed is (erroneously) written thru. It's a flawed metric that is decades out of date BESIDES the fact that it was never pertinent WRT Cadillac. Cadilac's traditional, historical sales level is in the 200K-250K, and that served them with the utmost excellence. With the right mix of product & marketing, it would do so again. Cadillac must STOP trying to match the catalogs of the mega mainstream German so-called luxury brands. They are not a million plus unit marque. Let mercedes compete with toyota in the $29K range- they HAVE to.
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Regardless of personal opinion, the hard fact remains that what is familiar has a leg up in marketing. Look, for example, at the candy industry. The popular, volume names have been around forever. Reese's Pieces is a newcomer, and it's 37 years old. Challenger, Mustang, Camaro, Stingray, Ferrari, Lambo (basically building the same silhouette since 1973) wouldn't be all doing excellent if they didn't speak to potential buyers on both a product AND image basis. Look at what "Hemi" has done for Chrysler. The bottom of "NEW!!" is structurally unsound. Auto design as at it's 95th percentile of development right now (it's also why you see the degree of retro we've seen in the last 15-20 years. No major automotive OEMs EVER did 'retro' before the 2000s. The well is nearly dry). Marketing is right there with it (witness the madness of nothingness of alphanumerics, pretty much decoupled from the 'code' it was brought out under). If the product can be well engineered & designed, speak to a targeted segment that will buy at levels to reasonably support a ROI, going with heritage marketing can be the one thing that pushes ROI over into the black. IMO, were Buick to bring out a dedicated, slinky performance coupe with 'high image', and the market folk had it boiled down to "ARX66" and "Grand National", there's one choice that's unquestionably smarter than the other, from a business perspective.
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I hope Cadillac comes to their senses and shelves ANY sub-ATS product. They're still 'loose on the rudder' if they do- it's not where a luxury brand should be competeing. Also vehemently opposed to shooting for 500K sales, Cadillac has never been anywhere close to that level and it doesn't need nor should aspire to that level. To get there other lux brands come up with all sorts of boondoggles like empty shell cargo vans, non-sliding door minivans, and uber cheap FWD appliances. Cadillac should remain above such obvious volume grabs and stay true to a 'luxury core'.
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Not personally connected, just minorly obsessed. Working on a book to finally set the story straight (so much published trash out there), have made excellent progress. Taking a trip north this spring, BTW. It's cool.
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That is some very eerie stuff. The kind of music Id be listening to on that front porch right there I agree. And perhaps it explains something quite personal to me. IE; you don't realize where you are going by posting that pic.
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Still this stuff, esp this artist ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvWDJTtXjrI
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High Mounted Stop Lamps, decades before federally required.
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Oh; it's FWD?? If I had bothered to think about it, that would be obvious, but who bothers to ponder the specs of a Honda truck? This is the Dodge Rampage / VW Rabbit pickup experiment all over again, isn't it? The '4x8 with tailgate down' thing is kind of a non-issue- you lay 4x8 stuff on the top edge of the closed tailgate; you don't drive with the gate down, slipping your load on the road at the first intersection. I only gots a 6.5-ft bed, never stops me. But you can't sell it as a 'full size bed…. with the tailgate down' ; that's ridiculous.
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That's the "XSR" model, correct? Years ago there was one local to me I saw semi-regularly in town, used to always look it over since it was unique. One of the last examples of a minor yet completely unique body styling feature on an existing model, OEMs just don't do non-plastic changes like this within a model / model year. Didn't the '77-79 era Impala coupe have a similar 'folded' backlight - was that another option or did all that year(s) Impys have the same glass?
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Handle is definitely unique, but mostly I love how it's 'cut' from a single piece of the trim, not a typical plastic lift handle. Not the same, but reminds me of the 'blended' '61-63 T-Bird handles.
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That's intriquing, and no doubt will find many Jeep fan buyers. Myself, I apparently "don't get" the Wrangler, having been in one last year and not caring for it in the least.
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Of course, if vastly appealing, one tends to feel 'they can be built'. ANYTHING can be built…. the question remains re the business is ROI (whether (mostly) profit, or image-building). Personally, I had numerous issues with the Elmiraj; needs some refinement in the details, I feel the Ciel was far better executed, design-wise. Avista is excellent, solidly above the ElMiraj, IMO. Video-gamers don't buy mercedes, it does nothing for image there, IMO.
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Unless this is just a matter of truly liking some stunning concepts…. ALL makes do this. Google 'BMW concepts' or 'Mercedes concept' and see 1000s of pics of dozens & dozens of models that have been teased & never built. This is… the auto industry.
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Can't hardly believe a 2003 Grand Prix and a 2004 Silverado use completely different inner fender attachment hardware (sheet metal screws vs. plastic push-in anchors).
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SO FAR, from the pics I've seen & the bits I've read, the Continental is shaping up to be better than I expected. Production exterior looks closer to the concept than the earlier masked shots made it appear to be. Lincoln put some effort into this, will be interesting to read more hands-on reviews.
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