balthazar

Detailing.

We’re not going to go ‘round this mulberry bush again, right? To recap- I built a Lightning as close AS POSSIBLE to my truck (no, it’s impossible to get them exact), which I paid $48K for, and it was $72K. That’s $24K of fuel. To get it close in price, I would have to downgrade significantly from my truck.

Diesel by me up to 4.99/gal, but at the price premium for a comparable EV truck (EX: Rivian: $79K), I can drive on fuel for over 15 years. If the fuel averages 3.50/gal, that jumps to 23 years!! Saves me big time.

I've not been a fan of the Chevy HDs, but the GMC HDs are pretty cool (tho not as cool as the 1500s : MCE '22 GMC 1500s are showing up in inventory, too. I also like the '19-21s better here :

We all see what you did there. Panamera Turbo logged a 2.47.8 lap. CT5-V BW did a 2.49.4. CT4-V BW did a 2.55.6. Gulia Quadrafoglio did a 2.57.2. CLA45 did a 2.58.2.

I get along with everyone! - - - - - '22 MCEs are hitting the lots :

That's what I said- J/LR co-existing as premium brands is inconsequential because the volume is so very low. But it was the only example currently of such. To my point- why would folk think there's a business case for a 'kia premium' when hyundai already has a premium? 'One's sharp and one's rounded' isn't going to make a business case for the investment. Not that they'd be straight rebadges, but still. The premium tier is well-rounded, and more & more players are attempting to get into it (for the margins). You have the established brands, you have mainstream brands creeping into premium, yo have mainstream brands also splintering off with sub-brands, and you have a bunch of startups going right into the heart of it. Almost all the battery electrics are plopping right into the premium price bracket. Rivian thinks they're going to sell 300K/yr - where's that volume coming from? Or should I say; 'who'? There hasn't been this many new brands (counting some of the potential startups who haven't started up yet, also) in I don't know how long. On one hand- maybe it's indicative of there being demand for it... however; the last 2 years have been anything but normal to judge that. On the other, there may well be a guarantee of some quick & early deaths due to over-supply.

Jag/LR are no where near the volume of H-K-G-+. There will always be a handful of buyers for given premium item, but with the existing premium players, the upcoming newbies… is there any room left for any worthwhile volume? I don’t see Hyun being content with Jag-volume. AFA cross-shopping : the OEMs set the stage with configuration & pricing, it’s the consumer who decides what to cross-shop. In other words; buyers aren’t cross shopping a Sierra Denali and a Ford Maverick. But a Denali / Platinum F-150? That’s gonna happen, yes.

I strongly doubt it. Anyone have a real world example?

^ 'Today' was 3/2. Today (3/7), the stock closed at $42.43. Of course, today was a big sell-off (Dow down 800), but Rivian's 10% drop today is on top of a 29% drop last week.

Shockingly, I didn't take auto shop in HS. But there were way more hours in 'shade tree class' auto mechanics in those years.

'Different styles' still compete in many of the same segments/price tiers. They'll have to.

The current IC look is fine, if unremarkable / dated. Sure; it's here in '22, but it's not going to be around once MB goes all-in on batteries. You know; eventually.

But isn’t this where folk ‘look up’ the parent corporation and proclaim “there’s too much overlap/ internal competition/ duplication”? You see it all. The. Time. with Chevy trucks/SUVs and GMC…

This would be a great 'next life' living situation for me: tiny ex-gas station house, 2-car 'finished car' garage, big shop.

Well; duh. Unfortunately, they're following the path toyoter laid down- making a wildly different looking sedan just because it's electric. What that says is mercedes' is dumping their existing design language for... this. Unfortunately, it's crap. What that also says, were you to say it; that the existing design language "failed" because it's getting dumped.

The stock market has stopped being kind to electric vehicle companies that show much more promise than results. https://www.thestreet.com/investing/the-stock-market-has-no-mercy-for-tesla-ambitious-rivals?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO The love at first sight between investors and young manufacturers of electric vehicles seems to have died. As often in every relationship, the beginnings are marked by great promises. Everything seems beautiful, everything seems light. Few important questions are asked because there is hope that we have drawn the right number so that we close our eyes to things that would normally have alerted us to slow down. We look forward to better tomorrows until something happens that derails the whole beautiful mechanism. We then open our eyes and we begin to ask questions we should have asked from the beginning. This is somewhat the situation in which investors and Tesla's rivals currently find themselves. The time to ask the uncomfortable questions seems to have arrived. With the exception of Lucid Group and Fisker, the shares of most of these firms -- Rivian, Nikola, Lordstown Motors, and Hyliion Holdings -- have crashed after surging. The prices of these stocks are now below their IPO price. And it is not certain that they will recover in the short term. Most of these firms entered the market through a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Typically, SPACs command an initial offering price of $10 — comprised of an equity unit and a warrant — with shares having the potential to move dramatically higher once sponsors reveal the merger target. Rivian's stock is currently trading at $47.37, down 39.2% from its November 10 IPO price of $78. In full euphoria, the action of the manufacturer of SUVs and electric pickups had risen to $172.01 on November 16, a week after its first stock market debut. As for electric and hydrogen truck maker Nikola, its stock has lost at least 33.6% of its market value compared to its IPO price of $10. Things are even worse for Lordstown Motors and Hyliion. The Lordstown stock simply fell apart. From $10 when it debuted in October 2020, it is currently trading at $2.18, a drop of 78.2%. The stock market valuation has declined from $1.6 billion to $428.3 million last Friday at the close of trading. Basically, nearly $1.1 billion in market capitalization is gone in 17 months. Lordstown Motors still hasn't produced a single electric vehicle but the company continues to burn cash and needs it to solve its production problems. Shares of hybrid and electric heavy-duty commercial truck firm Hyliion are currently trading at $3.77, down 62.3% from their IPO price. [ More article at link ]

They're literally not doing that tho. Who ever heard of a 'eqs'? Isn't is going to remind (the eight) people who remember the failed Equus?? On top of that, if MB really were the engineering company the ad men try to portray it as being, AND the brand was arguably at the zenith of it's popularity with the IC lineup.... wouldn't they find a way to take the existing bodies and drop them over a BE platform?? Tesla has a wonderfully low-slung Model S (despite being ancient now), but MB hands off a hastily-built pregnant slug you can't see out of going forward. AND changes the name. It's very weak..

Colonial Motors in Somerville NJ, but no longer a new GMC dealer : 2010 :

Stand-alone GMC dealer, still in business : Now... I bought replacement factory fuel lines for my '04 2500HD from a different stand-alone GMC dealer in NJ maybe 10 years ago... will see if I can pull the receipt and ID - see if it's still there. It wasn't this place (I went there in person).