VenSeattle

I think the only thing making people see Enclave is the color the Venza debuted in.

It's called old perceptions die hard... Magazines have gotten into the habit of comparing Toyota to Buick or saying that Toyota does everything Buick does but better. The exterior execution is no where near as cohesive as the Enclave's and just one look at the interior tells you this is no Enclave.

I wonder how close the coupe's pricing will be to the former Eldorado ESC/ETC pricing when it was phased out in 2002... ($42k-$45k.) This certainly looks like an appropriate successor. Good job Cadillac!

I really see this stealing sales from the Camry sedan itself, or possibly Prius if there's a hybrid version (for those who need more room.)

I don't know if this was answered or not... The pic Ted used in this post is a different vehicle than the one in the NAIAS pics.

Anyone think this will be marketed as the Camry-Venza like the Solara was? It would allow Toyota to continue combining sales under the Camry name.

You can definitely tell that the Cerberus-owned Chrysler is allowing quality and consumer demand to drive their resurging product portfolio! How many customers wrote in on the Demon concept and said "It's perfect! but..." and caused Chrysler to come to this conclusion for the Demon??? Yes, I read the article and acknowledge the emissions issue. Chrysler should have developed a separate concept/production car for the B-segment instead of bastardizing the original concept of the Demon with a production car that doesn't come close to meeting the target market's expectations. They could have done both, or left the Demon DOA. They've reduced a concept Demon to a production Pixie...

Well, I think it has more potential than the Mitsubishi-Hyundai-DCX set-up had.

One step in the direction of a new owner?

If the CTS keeps this up, I may have to test-drive one. LOL

Just remember there can be different sources for irritation with other brands and/or manufacturers. Not all of it is bias or blindness. I've given credit to Chrysler for what I've agreed with. I blast them for things that I don't agree with. Considering we're in a topic discussing "emergency overhauls" for two recently released Chrysler products (for a rather crucial segment), my implication that Ford and GM currently have better styling must have some merit.

Consider it earned perspective... I've dealt with two Chrysler products over the past 10-12 years and used Chrysler Corp more than once for research papers in college. I'm not a naive child who's too young to have owned a new car, let alone several. Just because I don't like a product or brand doesn't mean I shouldn't post... because everyone else her spews their open hatred for particular GM brands (Pontiac, Buick, Saturn, SAAB, HUMMER, etc.)

It's raining here... still... has been for a while... I think it'll rain for a while more... Thanks for asking.

Can Detroit pull out of its slump? 1/7/2008 11:31 AM ET Sourced from Business Week Link to original article on MSN After a horrendous year, US automakers say they see light at the end of the tunnel. There are valid reasons for optimism, but any turnaround will take time As expected, Detroit ended 2007 on a miserable note, seeing combined light-vehicle sales for domestic automakers slip 7.1%. And, also just as expected, executives from General Motors (GM, news, msgs), Ford Motor (F, news, msgs) and Chrysler are predicting brighter days ahead for 2008. What makes them think that the new year will be any better than the old? In fact, there is a distinct possibility that 2008 could be even worse. For instance, Edmunds.com forecasts U.S. light-vehicle sales of about 15.9 million in 2008, down from 16.1 million for 2007, said Jesse Toprak, executive director of industry analysis. That would make 2008 Detroit's worst year in a decade. So how bad was 2007? GM reported on Jan. 3 that its sales were off 6% from 2006 to 3,822,612, according to Autodata in Woodcliff Lake, N.J. Ford sales fell 8.9% in December to 210,872. For 2007, its sales fell 11.8% to 2,558,553. Chrysler sales were down 3.1% for the year to 2,076,650, even though its December sales were 0.5% ahead of the year-ago month, at 191,423. Meanwhile, Toyota Motor (TM, news, msgs) passed Ford for the full year for the first time in 2007 to become the No. 2 volume seller in the U.S. market. Toyota Motor, including its Toyota and Lexus divisions, had record U.S. sales of 2,620,825 vehicles in 2007, up 3.1%. And yet, while much of their optimism deserves to be taken with a grain of salt, based on the results of the last few years, Detroit's Big Three have some plausible reasons for at least a little genuine hope. Reasons for Optimism For starters, the Detroit automakers were able to offload billions of dollars in liabilities to independent retiree health-care trusts as part of new contracts with the United Auto Workers. The hope is that not only will this help the automakers get their financial houses in order but also, more important, be able to apply many of those billions toward designing more-competitive cars and trucks in terms of styling and quality, as well as developing alternative fuel technology. There are plenty of indicators that Detroit is becoming increasingly capable of going mano a mano with the imports in the critical light-vehicle segments. Several new and retooled models -- most noticeably, the Buick Enclave, Saturn Aura, Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Edge, Lincoln MKX and Jeep Wrangler Unlimited -- have been both critical and commercial successes. In addition, Detroit is better prepared for weaker demand than it has been in previous downturns, with lower costs due to fewer factories and fewer jobs. U.S. automakers also have lower inventories of unsold vehicles and fewer unprofitable sales to daily rental fleets. For instance, Ford said in a review of 2007 that it has cut its U.S. hourly work force by 23,100 positions and salaried work force by 7,600 jobs, and reduced its manufacturing capacity by nearly 1 million units since the end of 2005. Jim Farley, group vice president for marketing and communications, said Ford's year-end inventory was about 533,000 units, down from 570,000 a year ago and 733,000 two years ago. "Very few companies would have been as courageous as we have been, but we have stuck to our guns," he said. Mark LaNeve, North America vice president in charge of vehicle sales, service and marketing for General Motors, said GM cut its sales to daily rental fleets by 108,000 vehicles in 2007 to about 596,000. He said not counting fleet sales, GM's retail sales gained 1.5% in December. If there is one hope shared by Detroit executives and shareholders alike, it is that 2008 will be the bottom of the slide. At this point, January 2009 seems a long way off, but maybe by then their optimism will start sounding a little less like wishful thinking. This article was reported and written by Jim Henry for BusinessWeek.

Amazing how history continues to repeat itself.

I recently had a LaCrosse for a loaner while my Park Avenue was in the dealership for work. It's very comfortable to drive, rides smoothly, very quiet (quieter than my Park Avenue), and the control layout is mostly intuitive (some places you'll just have to know where to look - like the trunk release is shared with the door lock button.) The rear seat is really no smaller than the Century or Regal that preceded it, so if that worked for them, they'll be fine. One point when picking between Lucerne or LaCrosse, LaCrosse is cheaper to maintain. I don't have buyer's remorse. I can afford to keep my car up and I purchased the extended warranty (thankfully), however, G-Platform cars are premium cars and the costs required to maintain them match.

I think it's beautiful. It's really hard to see this as a 3-series fighter in V-Series form. At least in V-Series form, I say it's worthy attracting attention from E-Class & 5-Series owners.

I like it... especially the interior.

Well, that explains why Toyota's fleet sales are increasing... What about Chrysler's?

Last time I checked fleet/consumer sales... they already were...

:rotflmao:

Uhm... no one is buying them... most sold are actually fleeted... why would it stay around?

As a GM fan and former Chrysler product owner (along with a Chrysler product currently in the family... ugh) I have to agree. I'd much rather Chrysler fold.

Very good read! Cheers to Bobo... and for all to have a Merry C&G 2008!