balthazar

I just spent some time tooling around youtube, helping me ID the screech owls that have been hanging around the house at night, trilling to each other. They'd undoubtedly enjoy some bunny....

^ Sales numbers = superiority. Which is exactly why smk thinks the 1st 5 generations of S-class were inferior to the Fleetwood / Brougham / 60Special.

If anyone took note of Dwight's blue text, the proposed ATS advertising did NOT mention valvetrain configuration anywhere. The whole idea here is to pitch the whole package, and not rest on the laurels of a half-handful of specs. That would start the re-education of the consumer..... that tiny percentage who are interested in internal engine specs. In fact, DOHC is hardly a selling point; as mentioned- just about everything has it, rendering it mass-production mainstream generica. >>"The public as a whole are fools but you need to cater to them. Give them what they want or they will go else where"<< So where are the 80% of 1-series buyers going to go once they find out BMW sold them a RWD car instead of the FWD car they paid for ??? Where are the 30-40% of 3-series buyers going to go ?? Lamar nailed it- lux cars are sold on reputation/badge 90% of the time. Specs are irrelevant. -- -- -- >>"There is no generalities here better is better"<< Define "better". Your 'better' is not everyone else's 'better' and it never will be.

A far greater percentage of general consumers understand piston count better than IBC vs OHC. Really, these swirling generalities help nothing. 'Better styling' is always subjective, so is 'better interiors'. These, stated thusly, are meaningless. Unfortunately, when puddle-jumpers offer NAV & the same roster of tech options/features the lux cars do, it's the gimmicky crap that's left to quickly differentiate the lux segment from the rest. This has been the problem over time with the contraction of differentiation between what was the much larger, much better equipped lux sedans, to a MUCH smaller dimension & equipment differentiation we struggle to sort thru today. When you factor in that all the basics and then some have been around for years, stoic design hampered by so many outside rules, and very very little truly new appearing, it's the unnecessary that's left to spur any conversation. I wish it were otherwise.

My brother had a small German Shepard- it killed everything that moved, esp ground hogs. He has a pit bull/boxer mix now, strong as anything, this one likes to gnaw on turtles; gnaws on them until all the color is blanched out of their shells and they're basically white. I don't think she kills them all; what a terrifying ordeal that must be, eh?

Good attitude/approach, but not overly different from a lot of other brands. Real functionality, above & beyond the segment is what would really propel GMC forward. I'd love to see some specific 'tailgate workbench' features.... I have a few ideas born from need/experience- is there a way to contact GMC directly, Rog?

Really?? Bob come up with that all by himself ? That describes selling products since the beginning of retail- it applies to all cars ("want, expect, need').

^ smk's point was one of innovation, not 'commitment' ("10 years ahead of everyone else").

Camino- I'll send you a nickel- howzat?

80% of BMW 1-series owners believe their car is FWD, and that after experiencing how it drives. Has to be at least 30% of 3-series believe their car is FWD, too- they are that similar in appearance/size unless right next to each other. FWD BMWs are coming to market as soon as their ready. FWD / RWD as a criteria for purchase is completely overrated, overall. XTS offering a FWD model vs. the AWD model is irrelevant beyond message board quarterbacks. Nope- I don't want to see a FWD only XTS, but I'm just another message board hack.

Holy crap. It was.. exactly... 148.75 A nickel musta snuck in there... >:[

>>"Yet for all their faults they are the #1 selling luxury car in the world, selling over 1 million cars a year and they make billions in profit every year."<< Sure they do- by catering to every vehicle segment going with whatever they can stuff into that segment, doing staggering fleet sales and including commercial vehicles. I've said it before, but the sprinter badged as a MB is a mind boggler and perfectly indicative of the problem. Now mercedes is daring to seriously dilute it's image here with the FWD compacts- the same road Cadillac took in 1982. Build the image, then tear it down. >>" The next S-class is said to get over 70 mpg"<< Sure it will, esp when the current hybrid 6-banger gets 17/25. It's 4500 lbs now, the next one will likely gain another 250 lbs. If this were remotely likely, they wouldn't need FWD cars to bolster CAFE, the E would get 85 and the C would get 110 MPG. Dream on. mercedees build gas guzzlers across the board- it's their 'thing'. >>"You can keep thinking what Cadillac is doing and has done for the past 10-20 years is the path to success"<< Where did I state that, ever? Stick to addressing the actual posts. Cadillac has had some hits without doubt, but many more misses. The point was how the 2 are following the same path and their focus is wandering. mercedees real approach problem is that they have this unique shiny bubble image in the U.S. and make a mountain of profit from it, yet by introducing all these misdirected products, they risk that fat cash cow.... but they will risk that chasing a dollar.

^ Yet one looks at mercedees, for example, and you see an even worse lack of focus. Tiny, 4-banger, FWD puddlejumpers are coming, there's a 40-yr old SUV, a minivan and a stripper cargo van alongside the mass-produced mainstreamers. You also have multiple design languages (the sleek CLS vs. the blocky, angular, knock-off A&S look of the GLK and E-class). Most of the lineup are monstrous gas guzzlers (26 models at 17 or less city, 11 under 15). They have exactly 1 car that gets over 30 highway right now- many are in the low 20s. Awful. Design-wise they're recycling 1980s grilles on most of the models. They've lost a ton of their class-leading margin and are mired in useless tech for tech's sake. mercedees is in an all-out volume grab, and the lack of direction shows.

Ahh, but rolls would create dead space between them, where dimes would not slither... Just back from cashing the jar out- any one else care to guess? Nope- there's no prize for getting closest.

This is my 'Save The Buick' jar. All the money I've put toward my '59 to date (and it's a lot) has been side money, or non paycheck money.... except for dimes. 2nd largest coin denomination (who regularly sees half- or whole dollar coins?), and not as 'in demand' around here as quarters. I found this Ball mason jar in the woods behind my house, and it had character (chipped mouth, what looks like a BB hole in one side). I've emptied it numerous times, so I know about how much it holds.... but anyone wanna make a guess how much is in here?

>>"Damaging another persons vehicle during the operation of yours is a property-damage accident."<< ^ Not sure how tandem/tri-axle dumps can get away with signage 'not responsible for debris from road' were this to be unilateral. -- -- -- What's quite amusing in this thread is how the person advising one make a discreet right turn and avoid confrontation were he in the same scenario, reacts to the relating of a story with belittlement & shouted obscenities. A bit oxymoronic...

Yep: '76 Chevy pick-up, unknown year Dodge van and a '53 Merc. May have also been (another) '66 Rambler in there...

MSRP is irrelevant. In the image of a luxury car maker, badging an empty metal box on wheels, one that was previously & appropriately badged under mercedees's commercial division, Freightliner, perceptionally alongside s-classes... only drags the image of the cars down. There is nothing remotely 'luxury' or 'mercedees' about a sprinter, except a badge. But yes; including the sprinter among mercedes passenger vehicles totals is a clear grab for volume, but it shouldn't be. Wonder who overturned that executive decision.

^ However, it's frequently being advertised at the dealer level in the same print ads. Mercedees' commercial truck division is Freightliner, which is what this vehicle needs to finally settle down and be renamed (again) as being.

Nice machine- saw a red jobber today.... but the usually thorny issue for too many rises up here : is a 2-spd auto/283 "worthy" of 'SS' badges ?

s-class is way down, but that was to be expected. wonder which has a higher profit margin- the s-class or sprinter? VERY detrimental to include a stripped cargo van readily into the portfolio mix, but mercedees is all about volume & coasting on their image anymore. The minivan is dead- the chart shows it as +59%, but it's MINUS 59%. Just dump it already.

hollywood, much like most of autodom, is out of ideas.

interesting; 1010 was the advertised HP for the Argonaut.

ehhh- you'll be dragging the CRX to the scrap yard before you know it.

Ford claims the 'E' in their E-350 also means 'executive'.