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balthazar

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Everything posted by balthazar

  1. balthazar
    Yup. Been saying it for years, because they already have a commercial brand going. The U.S. is not Europe, the image here is much different, and it's the image that is selling a lot of MBs here. Past European commercial vehicle history doesn't apply here. It's not at all on the same order as when you used see a single, lonely HD mercedes truck. This is all I ever saw years back and they were ALWAYS a box/moving truck, but you'd see maybe 1 a year. They were a curiosity. Being HD, the natural association is they were relatively costly)compared to the average family sedan). ​NOW, I am more & more commonly seeing banged up & rusty sprinters because they are COMMON and getting long in the tooth. Here comes yet another cargo van that's only going to add to the low-rent image the sprinter is growing… and its cheaper than the average family sedan. ​These are long-term events, but as such, they are akin to the 'rolling snowball'; once they get going they're hard to stop. MB is only looking at the short term money grab. These never should have been badged as an MB. I looked at my local dealer on google street view, and counted 25 sprinters lined up along the road. Looks like a Ryder rental lot.
  2. balthazar
    But Chevrolet isn't a 'sports car brand' now, is it? You cannot be a 'luxury brand' and sell all these tin boxes under the same brand. They are dis-associating themselves from that label with each new, lower-priced appliance.
  3. balthazar
    Can't believe all they give you credit for is $300! They also need to offer this across the Colorado board. Again, limiting options to a single body style limits sales.
  4. balthazar
    it's a cargo van- there is no "void" to fill. Get a small one or get a large one, done.
  5. balthazar
    lol, yet another lower rung on the MBUSA ladder! 'How low will they go'?
  6. balthazar
    430 CI Super Marauder, 3x2, available on all series :
  7. balthazar
    mercedes has already proven they cannot compete with Rolls.
  8. balthazar
    Not impressed with Bentleys. Overall shape is appropriate, and nicely done, but Bentley too frequently has been very stingy with exterior detailing. The cars are just not distinctive for what you pay out (and I see them semi-regularly around me). I'm going to assume that in person, those 'bentley' plates in the headlights don't look like Dymo-Tape. Either way, I don't care for them. I would really prefer a lot more unique aspects on the exterior. Interior finally is looking like it's price class tho, other recent Bentleys have been hugely disappointing IMO. What are those rims; 24"?
  9. balthazar
    In the last Trivia Tuesday we had a Thunderbird with a giant hole in the side. This week we have Flying Goddesses and Hatchbacks. Can you answer our Trivia Tuesday challenge? What was available on a 1941 Cadillac that you could not get again until 1952? For many years, Cadillac featured various 'Flying Goddess' hood ornaments, especially grandiose in the 1930s. When did the last Flying Goddess appear on a Cadillac (from the factory)? Name the earliest American production hatchback car. Name an American car where the vehicle, it's tires and it's battery all had the same brand name. Name two American vehicles that featured the model year prominently displayed on the exterior of the car. Ford & Chevy have long battled on numerous fronts. Chevy eclipsed Ford in V8 displacement, building a 496 CI unit vs. Ford’s 460 CI. But Ford eclipsed Chevy by building a smaller RPO V8 than Chevy’s 262 CI job. What was the displacement of Ford’s smallest RPO V8? Answers to last week's Trivia Tuesday: Crosley Oldsmobile; 1968 455 CI Fireball 1950s; Mercury 1950: 110 HP, 1958: 400 1958 and 1975 Ford-built gas turbine testing. View full article
  10. balthazar
    More information about "Trivia Tuesday: March 3, 2015"
    In the last Trivia Tuesday we had a Thunderbird with a giant hole in the side. This week we have Flying Goddesses and Hatchbacks. Can you answer our Trivia Tuesday challenge? What was available on a 1941 Cadillac that you could not get again until 1952? For many years, Cadillac featured various 'Flying Goddess' hood ornaments, especially grandiose in the 1930s. When did the last Flying Goddess appear on a Cadillac (from the factory)? Name the earliest American production hatchback car. Name an American car where the vehicle, it's tires and it's battery all had the same brand name. Name two American vehicles that featured the model year prominently displayed on the exterior of the car. Ford & Chevy have long battled on numerous fronts. Chevy eclipsed Ford in V8 displacement, building a 496 CI unit vs. Ford’s 460 CI. But Ford eclipsed Chevy by building a smaller RPO V8 than Chevy’s 262 CI job. What was the displacement of Ford’s smallest RPO V8? Answers to last week's Trivia Tuesday: Crosley Oldsmobile; 1968 455 CI Fireball 1950s; Mercury 1950: 110 HP, 1958: 400 1958 and 1975 Ford-built gas turbine testing.
  11. balthazar
    Tho I never inspected one in person, the Phaeton at least seemed to be a nice, fitting product. It was just insanely badged (model name, but most significantly; BRAND name). '80s s-classes & SLs are very cheaply built 'luxury' cars.
  12. balthazar
    CLS has a notably higher beltline, and it appears to have a slightly lower roofline, giving obviously shorter side glass. This is where hopeful marketers are focusing on to give a boost to yet another sedan by trying to make the '4-dr coupe' moniker stick. There's a difference in it vs. the Aurora, but it's in no way a new body designation. Olds could use a 2" drop, also. I LIKE the CLS profile, design-wise. I have always said it should have been the s-class because it was far more fresh than the ultra-conservative S, but the livery market would never take to it; the s-class leans very heavily on that for fleet sales. CLS is still a 4-dr sedan, nothing more.
  13. balthazar
    Pics don't lie, smk. I spent a good half hour looking over a mid-80s SL about 2 years ago. Interior construction & features and body hardware were on the same level as a Ford Maverick. Car is a poser, a joke. Cost is irrelevant, product is everything.
  14. balthazar
    Which is this specific Olds you're referencing, DD?
  15. balthazar
    There's only a single example of a 4-dr coupe, but mercedes and audi don't make it. Actually, it's only found in the coach built segment.
  16. balthazar
    So in reality, the many people critiquing Cadillac's European showing are really lamenting the loss of fleet / taxi sales there ...
  17. balthazar

    blogging

    balthazar replied to balthazar's topic in The Lounge

    Ahh crap, I am all thumbs on this one. Will be in touch.
  18. balthazar
    I've seen some of those dealer's sedans! Mostly around the airport or train station. Strange. The stereotype of 'stupid Americans' is only reinforced by the widespread acceptance of european taxi cabs as luxury cars here. Still, if mercedes hadn't benchmarked Cadillac for decades upon decades, they'd still be selling Studebaker-spartan sedans with a top speed of 82 MPH and power nothing.
  19. balthazar
    it again, Tony.
  20. balthazar
    You do, but you know there's plenty of people who are 'part of a greater consciousness', who feel they need to 'step up' and 'do their part' to 'Save The World', and all that. Thusly, electric car buyers. Call 'em, the 3%ers if you like. I don't actually disparage them, but it's certainly not for me. - - - - - What about an electric Edsel? Call it the Electrasel' and turn the 'horse collar' into a giant plug receptacle.
  21. balthazar
    But they have a higher transaction price than a German (BMW), and it's growing at a faster rate. And unlike the Germans, Cadillac does not have a gun to its head to compete for Camry buyers, ala the CLA/ sub-3-series cars. The Germans only WISH they were in a similar position where cheap FWD appliances weren't necessary. BTW- the Escalade is not "based on an existing Tahoe"; these vehicles are developed in the same program @ the same time, they are specific variants off of an engineering/design program. One is not an altered version of the other.
  22. balthazar
    It wasn't a luxury car in the 1970s OR well into the 1980s. Look at the pic above- shameful. SL is even worse in this era. Mercedes had a LOT of catching up to do then and there were many critics then who doubted they could turn things around (which they did). Who cares how many were sold?
  23. balthazar
    • Jaguar doesn't make Land Rovers, Land Rover does. These are supposed to be separate brands- who cares what other brands the corporation has, except the BoD office & the bean counters? This is like saying mercedes shouldn't build the e-class and the CLS since they share power trains & platforms ; why not (profit/losses excepted)? • No one cares about sales volumes except corporate bean counters. • You didn't answer my question about your suggestion for something akin to but different than a TTV8.
  24. balthazar
    Didn't Cadillac sell 208,xxx vehicles in 2014? That's not worthy of turning the factory lights on? 5, 6, & 7 series are old, old, old and lead at nothing. Frankly, stoic & dated design is not pulling any buyers into the showroom there, either- 5 sells OK but the 6/7 is finding it rough going. With the usual turn-over @ BMW, having something new to offer the demographic is sound business. Besides smk, what would YOU propose, a triple-turbo V8? This is the same spitball thrown against the Cadillac wall time & time again; if they don't sell a TTV8, Cadillac is "not competing", if they do, it's "why bother, other cars do". Fascinating how I never read this anywhere RE -say- a Jaguar SUV. So tiresome.
  25. balthazar
    If I had bought into Tesla stock back when it was in the low double digits, I absolutely would have taken my profit by now. I'm not convinced it's dealer allocation; Tesla sales are not allowed in my state yet I see a my-state-plated Tesla every day or 2. More likely; the idea of an electric car probably doesn't carry nearly the same social weight in China as it does in the U.S..
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