balthazar
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Everything posted by balthazar
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I like the GMC treatment better : but seems to only be available on the double cab. I don't understand limiting an appearance package by body style in trucks- makes NO sense. -
DD: I'm focusing on the specific here; how the Corp. and the Divisions are referred to in media. 'Back in the day" (I have tens of thousands of vintage articles/ads/publications/etc), that NEVER happened. The media default to 'GM" started to occur in the 1980s. Within GM, this was on the heels of a major internal Divisional reorganization and the discontinuance of Divisional engineering & proprietary power trains, further reducing the perceptional autonomy of the marques. More generally, Corporate-level news was prevalent and the auto industry was in the opening salvo of the Great Homogenization. Witness an unexpected backhand from media that had tongues wagging, fingers pointing and the board room buzzing (published in 1983) : - - - - - It's only been in the last 5 years or so where I have been reading a return to acknowledging the Divisions as have ANY autonomy into what they do. It's refreshing, it's a return to a hallmark of Better Days, and it's about time. Now about those Engineering Departments….
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Should a large part of city roads be turned into bicycle lanes?
balthazar replied to JulianWilliams's topic in Industry News
^ I would agree with that; there are tangental benefits that do not show up on the ledger. At the same time, like every single Gov't program out there, there is waste and abuse that needs to be addressed on the allocation side. There IS a middle ground goal to reach for. I also like the idea of street cars, DD. Steel wheels; let 'em roll. -
Should a large part of city roads be turned into bicycle lanes?
balthazar replied to JulianWilliams's topic in Industry News
Undoubtedly the State of PT is a cog, but my question is; to what degree does the U.S. culture/custom play? IE: we have been a 'nation on wheels' for a century, which is counter to other countries. Plunk down a 'dense' PT system in a random city and how many people will jettison their vehicles? -
There are no "OR"s in trivia, Hypes.
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Now I see where that convention came from. With dealer counts very low, invariably the first foreign store in an area was usually tempted to name themselves after the local, and in doing so it becomes 2-pronged; it advertises the name & the location. The GM Divisions were not commonly in that scenario, at least since WWII.
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Should a large part of city roads be turned into bicycle lanes?
balthazar replied to JulianWilliams's topic in Industry News
Not sure how one quantifies "prefers not to drive" vs. 'would own a vehicle anyway'. I've seen plenty of very low income families in smaller inner cities, with access to plenty of PT, still owning beaters. There's a freedom equivalency that the majority are not willing to give up, IMO. What that figure is no one knows. -
^ Of course, Cadillac already greatly reduced it's dealer count. I thought they were around 1300-1500 before the BK, now at 928. I still think a further reduction is warranted. Also like the naming convention change Drew suggests… tho I've seen plenty of foreign lux brands under 'people' names, too. Ray Catena MegaStore mercedes/junkuar/porsche/etc/etc/etc is the one I'm thinking of right off the bat. Took notice of the Porsche dealer not far south of me the other day (and in the greater Princeton area). They're in an un-altered ex-Denny's building on U.S. Rt 1. Horrible.
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The boutique concept is a good one, but there will be teething problems. First off, none of the competitors mentioned above has tiny stores, and while the "experience" can be on par or even much better than those, a "2-car" showroom is not going to be what any other mainstream lux brand does and the consumer is possibly going to associate that with the opposite of a growing brand. Also need to address service. Unquestionably, there will be further lessening of the dealer count. They have an uphill business case scenario… which is why they are so commonly paired with other Divisions/ brands. The most impressive 'dealer' environment I was ever in (and it wasn't a dealership) was seeing Cadillacs parked on tapestry rugs in the the old GM building guilded first-floor halls.
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Should a large part of city roads be turned into bicycle lanes?
balthazar replied to JulianWilliams's topic in Industry News
^ Do they not also cause 'wear and tear' on the roads… and deny Gov't gas tax revenue?? Sounds like a problem looking for a 'solution'. -
Chevrolet News:Like a Boss: Is GM Planning a New Off-Road Pickup?
balthazar replied to Blake Noble's topic in Chevrolet
Agreed- the Reaper, visually, is not pleasant. I do like the 'Trail Boss' name tho. Looking forward to seeing what they come up with. -
Should a large part of city roads be turned into bicycle lanes?
balthazar replied to JulianWilliams's topic in Industry News
Rain, cold, lightning, any degree of cargo beyond a coke, passengers, & time demands are among the constraints of widespread bike commuting. Other than that, as a pastime; it's great. "A lot of the infrastructure over to bikes" ? ; that would be a colossal impracticality. My question is, where are the self-driving bicycles?? -
We took a week off from Trivia Tuesday last week as it fell smack in the middle of the Detroit Auto Show. Can you answer the following trivia? The answers the last Trivia Tuesday are below. 1.) What singer needed a "Transfusion" after several musical car crashes? 2.) What make of car received its name from a famous American fighter pilot of World War 1? 3.) What name did Plymouth give to its new 1958 engine? 4.) What British firm was known for both sports cars and motorcycles? 5.) Buick's answer to the 4-passenger Ford Thunderbird was? Bonus to #5 : What was what the GM styling concept that became the answer to number 5 originally dubbed? Answers to the last Trivia Tuesday: 1.) Plymouth Duster 2.) Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Jeep 3.)Massachusetts 4.) 1950 5.) Dodge, Studebaker View full article
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Doesn't sound like what most are associating this with; get in your car, punch in address, and post cat videos to your timeline for the remainder of the ride. There could be 100 levels/conditions of 'self-driving'- until one is clearly defined in both parameters and feature cost in one car, it's tough to address directly. Article from last month states the projected price for just the LIDAR equipment portion of a self-driving car "should" fall below $10,000 two years from now. No one has published a committed price for this technology; we'll have to see if an OEM is willing to take a loss on the vehicle to keep it obtainable, but I haven't seen anything reputable that indicates it will be.
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Wouldn't they first have to GET on the road before anyone could call for them to get off? Cost is still be breezily ignored; like I stated earlier- cost estimate I saw last fall for the technology was $150,000/vehicle. Hope your 'good income' is really really really really good. COST is the 'old man with ribcage-high pants and grumpy demeanor', not the opinions of those who were asked if they would buy one.
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We took a week off from Trivia Tuesday last week as it fell smack in the middle of the Detroit Auto Show. Can you answer the following trivia? The answers the last Trivia Tuesday are below. 1.) What singer needed a "Transfusion" after several musical car crashes? 2.) What make of car received its name from a famous American fighter pilot of World War 1? 3.) What name did Plymouth give to its new 1958 engine? 4.) What British firm was known for both sports cars and motorcycles? 5.) Buick's answer to the 4-passenger Ford Thunderbird was? Bonus to #5 : What was what the GM styling concept that became the answer to number 5 originally dubbed? Answers to the last Trivia Tuesday: 1.) Plymouth Duster 2.) Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Jeep 3.)Massachusetts 4.) 1950 5.) Dodge, Studebaker -
There are millions of truck drivers (about 3.5 million ) in the US getting paid over a hundred billions of dollars / year. That's a gargantuan cost that's just begging to be cut from the trucking companies' perspective. IMO, all those trucks took from the railroad industry, and that load needs to return to the RRs for economic reasons. But I can tell you this; while SD cars are one issue, no way would I like SD 80,000 tractor trailers next to me on the highway.
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Time for lunch… in a cup!
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^ People don't occupy lanes in traffic, cars do. Idiot-proof cars will still plug lanes and the programming merge logarithm will be much more conservative than the typical driver due to lawyer input, so expect collectively longer merge waits, not shorter.
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Wait- why isn't this badged a "C190" again?
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19 miles on electric alone? That's IT??
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There are 'dangers' all around- look up the stats on bathtub injuries. Why not stop working & go on the GOv't dole; stay indoors all the time (and never take a bath). Computers are far from perfect, also. Look up the stats RE GSP-guided drivers turning onto RR tracks or off a pier into the bay. How about bugs/fixes for new platform launches? IMO, self-driving cars are a (hideously expensive) solution looking for a problem.
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1946-ish Dodge pickup, white & rust, long-term parked behind gas station. 1952-ish Ford F-100, mostly rust, on inflated tires at small junkyard, out front, for sale. Early 1970's BMW 633 coupe, a bland beige color, good shape, rolling. The Camry behind it DWARFED the 6-series. Man, have BMWs gotten fat.
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What for??
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MAN are those people who paired double for the nameplate 2 years going to be pissed… esp at trade-in time!! Maybach 1.0s are going to depreciate by 75% to get under the Maybach 2.0 brand new stickers. Also will be interesting to watch the incentives on the 2.0- if the average s-550 takes $13K off, this should be good for at least $25K.
