Cmicasa the Great

10 Years ago, GM was operating in a manner that was almost Bankrupt-ish.. before they actually went.. Bankrupt. No offense.. but 10 years ago isn't now. I challenge anyone to put a GM interior up against any other interior, same segment, and say that the GM one isn't equal or better.

And that. Question is.. Is their reputation so damaged that there is no way to recover from that debacle? Full on Chevy with already existing Corvette and Camaro... Cruze, Malibu, Sonic, Volt and Bolt.. Nox, and Traverse with an Omega based Impala could be a very loved lineup I think it has more to do with American tolerance for ride vs European desires. Quite frankly every European I know has always criticized American MARKET mid and compact cars as soft riding. Not always in the negative, but noticeable none the less. That goes for an American Chevy, Ford, Honda or Toyota for that matter

Great post.. and many fail to realize what U say. Sales are a damned if U do, Damned if U don't position in the luxury segment. Sell to many RX350s, CLA/GLAs, SRXs, and A3s your luxo credentials are put on trial. Sell too many Escalades and U are in danger of being called a "truck brand." Its fickle.. Cadillac I once posed is perhaps the only other maker besides Benz to be able to make a real claim to heritage in luxury. Cadillac was luxury before there ever was a BMW or AUDI.. they just didn't become a LUXO/SPORT until 10 years ago... I said this a while ago as well. I don't see Cadillac in the same light as BMW. I see it more on level with Benz, but with a Jaguar-ish air about it. In fact if Cadillac were to do vehicles strictly for the sake of volume I don't kno if I would be as much if a supporter. As to Cadillac falling behind... One must remember that change did occur, and that the idea of luxury that WAS had been altered to accommodate the tastesof the "new" population. That is obvious as in 1970.. no one would have thought that the BMW experience was luxurious. I will add that (from 2015 so sales numbers might be off) Cadillac chief Johann is planning on a CLA rival, but on ALPHA with RWD. The idea is to still be luxury, with enthusiastic performance, and a cheaper price to compete with the Germans entry sedans that have chosen to use economy set-ups. One ride or drive in a Mercedes CLA and GLA and one should, with non-rose colored glasses come to the conclusion that the cars may be on Chevy levels when U get down to it. A Cruze LTZ comes across as a better luxury car than the CLA.. A Verano certainly. That's fact. My view is that Cadillac needs time, without all the constant focus on their sales numbers to pull itself back to where it needs to be. GM has the sales numbers when looking at its premium operations. Between Cadillac and Buick, not even including GMC.. they sold 1.4 Million last year, Buick bringing in 1.1 million+. Cadillac should focus on its CT2 (ATS) CT4 (CTS) CT6, and CT8 and XT3(Alpha based 5door) XT4 (Alpha based 3door), XT5(SRX), XT7(Omega or Lambda based 5door) along with the Escalade and a Super car. 10 cars max. Johnan is succumbing to idiotic public media pressure concerning a drop in sales, . Lack of PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT is the culprit, and it seems as if no one, in the media is seeing it. That being said.. if GM pursued a dual-channel strategy, utilizing Buick as the go-to, would people give Cadillac a pass when it comes to their sales not being as high as a Mercedes Benz which is fluffing sales using cars that are on Buick levels??? So we get from observers who kno.. but choose to ignore: "Cadillac sales are in the dumps. They are selling some of the best cars in the segment, but their sales are down.. Must mean they aren't prestigious enough. Of course let's gloss over and FORGET that they are only selling 6 cars versus Benz who is selling 17. Let's also forget that Benz has a whole new host of entry level luxury vehicles, FWD based, that would otherwise be Buick competitors at best. " So again. Will Cadillac get the pass??? Or if GM combined sales of the Cadillac and Buick brands.. with Buick essentially becoming the "Lasalle" of the day.. would people who care about sales let it slide that they are selling in two different slots like Mercedes is doing, under one name, to garner more sales? I say NO. I say every chance most haters get they will mention the strategy. I say that those very same people will constantly ignore the fact that Benz is selling low end cars that have very little to do with luxury, to shore up their CAFE requirements and aspirations of luxury segment sales supremacy. It calls up the questions: Are sales important in the luxury segment? Are sales the gauge by which success is measured in this segment? GM could take on Benz straight up with this line-up and would pull in as many sales with Cadillac selling a version of the Cruze, a Sonic, a Equinox, etc. Or are we saying that Cadillac must make as many sales with an exclusive, RWD based line-up of over the top performance cars while Benz gets to essentially cheat, and give us warmed over economy cars? I believe that Cadillac should have CT2 CT4 CT6 CT8 and XT equivalents along with an Escalade and a Super car. 10 vehicles, but none of them have to be compromised in such a way as Benz has unleashed with the CLA. I say that GM has an advantage with Buick. They could, for the sake of negative, almost exclusive to them, press releases about sales utilize Buick as their entry level brand. Between the two last year, GM garnered 400,000 sales in the U.S. That would have, under Benz rules (of putting mainstream level cars in the luxo line-up) that would have easily made them the best selling group of the year. I agree that Cadillac still has to prove itself. The biggest problem I have with them having to prove themselves is that they seem to have to jump thru 30 hoops for those 30 years of troubles.. while brands like Audi.. which continues to have quality issues, get a pass. Ironically, in terms of sales, Audi really had a BAD year versus Caddy considering the amount of vehicles it sells. No one mentions it tho.. in fact just the opposite. I will say that a back to back drive with "brand blinders" on would make most come away with a review that the top of the line Chevy, Ford, Honda, or Mazda as being on par or better than the $30K+ CLA. The game has been rigged in such a way that Mercedes is essentially pulling the wool over sheepy eyes and selling them a vehicle, under the guise of luxury, that otherwise would be considered no better than a Chevy.The CLA has no place in a luxury car line-up. It is a sales and compliance vehicle that fluffed up Benzes sales. The GLA is another one. They are getting a pass simply because they are Mercedes. Making a smaller ATS, a world class sport lux, is no different than BMW making a smaller 3series with the 2. I can get behind that, if sales supremacy is a non-issue. In order to compete with Benz tho.. Cadillac will need to do this. Benz took an A-Class, essentially a Sonic competitor, not even a Cruze, and told U it was something else.

The bolded part is a real possible reason why GM is choosing to get out of Opel/Vaux.. not to mention the impact that Brexit may pose and is being forecast to pose

Couple of things with this spending commentary. Could it be possible that GM is simply capable of getting costs down better than Mercedes thus less of a need to spend more due to scale and being able to negotiate with suppliers better due to that scale? I mean GM is obviously the larger company versus Benz... As we've argued before, they have many parts that are spread across divisions. I mean look at the numbers. Last year the K2xx SUVs sold by themselves 290k units. That's only 90k less that all of Benz last year. They all share R&D. That kind of scale alone would save GM a billion here.. a billion there. Gives them a lot of negotiation leeway... especially when one considers that they can also leverage the 950k pick-ups sharing parts and platforms they sold last year. So yeah it would stand to reason that Benz would have to spend more on everything, including R&D. Furthermore, there are a lot of things that GM simply doesn't have to spend on R&D like Benz does because many things they put out are already paid for years ago. They are quite possibly years ahead of Benz in R&D. Yup. In most parts of the world Mercedes is becoming the JC Penny's of Automotive.

U kno what.. U're a Shill. The comparable Lexus to Buick's LaX is the Lacrosse. Anyone looking at a Lax and an ES and coming away buying the Lexus for $5K more is either a U.. "Shill" or an effin idiot. vs Yet.. outside of slightly better leather in some cars.. on the top end.. literally.. what the hell has that money yielded in better technology overall with Benz versus GM or Cadillac??? Not a God damn thing.. but idiot clowns who buy their used cars and post as if they bought something new on car forums. Yet.. outside of slightly better leather in some cars.. on the top end.. literally.. what the hell has that money yielded in better technology overall with Benz versus GM or Cadillac??? Not a God damn thing.. but idiot clowns who buy their used cars and post as if they bought something new on car forums.

If I were a reporter.. and I got out of bed.. even at 9am.. for that.. I'd slit my editor's throat and shit down his throat. No worries tho.. Americans will buy it. Bland is their game. Truthfully.. what changed? I'd swear this same car was being sold over at Toyota waaaaaaaay back in the early 2000s as the Corolla

Interesting.. it is, at this point, evident and decided by most that Buick is on level with both Acura and Lincoln.. and to a degree Lexus.. especially within certain niches. CUVs being the one. That being the case... was it just because it fucks up your theory or U just forgot,.. to add their almost 10K sales of CUVs last month to your list? I didn't even add the 20,298 GMC CUV/SUV customer... or even just the 5K that were Denali buyers of those vehicles. If I did.. that would mean that Cadillac/Lincoln/Buick/GMC sold 42K CUV/SUVs in the Luxo-Premium segment. I kno.. I kno.. it makes America.. the country U hate and hope explodes in Atomic fashion.. look too good. OH.. and FUCK Germany.. FUCK Europe.. and Urethra FUCK ...with a rusty nail.. Mercedes

I think we have to wait and see how the sale/merger plans work out. I still see this as a possible advantage to GM.. getting rid of Opel in NAME.. and then ceasing control of FCA... which is possibly worth less in a deal than GM might get for Opel.. and basically infusing that company with its kno-how.. The real deal is if GM even needs FCA anymore.. as again the profit it made last year after a $1 Billion loss detracts from the fact that while they would lose market share.. they may have, if not for Opel dragging on profits made $2 Billion more last year... as there was a cost of even getting to the break-even line before the extra $1B loss even occured. Could that money have been better spent investing in profitable GM products? The efficiencies of scale have done zero to null the high EURO production costs. This is the landscape right now...

In the last decade.. Someone please let me kno what GM vehicle, fwd, rwd, or, awd... has been a dog in handling? Cause seem to think even my brontasaur sized Yukon was dialed in on the Nur. Ring the way it handles. The XT3 needs to be fwd/awd if it means its gonna get here faster. If it's rwd/awd then that's a bonus for the bunch out there who like to Marvel at wheel position and still sit on the side lines instead of show up to buy. And seriously.. Show me one real advantage of Rwd CUVs in a time of advanced wheel vectoring awd. Cadillac is right to cater to the masses in this area instead of enthusiasts. Y'all are a bunch of talkers who fail to show up when they produce what U asked for with every excuse in the book. The ATS, for instance, at the end of its life cycle is still called the best handling and performing small lux in the world, but the kill of its sales are a mainstream want.. More backseat room . Bottom line is that as long as Cadillac comes to the market with the same new line of awd that is being touted in its lower rung sisters, the XT3 will be primo to drive and the target buyer will love it to death while Cadillac adds another instant 60k sales

I knu thet were working on it and it looks to be ready for prime-time already. Rendering over at GMAuthority suggests that it will look like the Escala Concept. Anyway.. a much needed addition to the brand that really only houses one CUV + one SUV while Benz has 7. Perhaps once JDN and co release this one... ONE.. CUV.. they will see that their sales woes of the past were directly related to the simple glaring fact.. the one that every other make knows.. even their sister car brands Chevy and Buick... that they need more entries in the fastest growing segment in the universe Imagine... the stupidity of people saying that people don't want Cadillacs by sighting their sales.. but completely ignoring the fact that they are sporting one CUV and have no convertibles, and one damn coupe.

Chevrolet Europe only "failed" because Chevrolet was competing directly with Opel in its home atmosphere. Ironically its the same reason why Opel failed in the United States basically competing with Chevy outta Buick dealerships

Its not tacky... why is it tacky??? What does that even mean? One Ford is irrelevant in this situation as GM is already ONE GM, just with a few extra names. ONE FORD is not effective when Ford is also Lincoln and Vignale(which is essentially Mercury). The point of the "ONE" is that platform sharing, engines and tech be synergized

I agree with all except the "impress Admin." I see no relevant reason why GM would give up its European ops to impress "the Orange" as he himself has global ops as well.. that are subject to the ins and outs of doing business in said countries. I look at it as 1) Pressure Unions 2) Pressure German and UK gov to give more subsidies and back them in pressuring unions 3) possibly just getting rid of headache of Brexit and its impact on EU 4) There is talk of GM possibly doing this to open the door to buying FCA.

So. What's the reason for this U think? Bluff for a different end game? Help from German Gov? Give Backs from Unions???

I hate to see GM sell off Opel/Vaux, but not making profit since 1999 still has to burn their ass no matter the tax benefits here in the US. GM.. may be gearing up for new negotiations with IG Metall. Also the loss of Opel at this point will have little effect on Buick or Holden simply because the engineering on those products are GM's.. they are not property of Opel. Furthermore I'd put American engineering up against the European any day of the week.. especially now. The only real loss will be that of 1.1 Million cars. This will effectively put them behind Renault/Nissan, or make them #4... but even with that.. GM made $12 Billion last year AFTER a loss of almost $1B in Europe

Yeah. If I wanted to better Sergio.. and make more money for the FCA shareholders.. I'd simply Sell off Maserati (Truly one of the biggest let downs in the history of autos IMO. Get in one and U will swear U are in a Mazda at best) and Jeep. Jeep would make a nice addition to GM since they refuse to bring back Hummer. Maserati to Ford for a actual premium name at least. I bet good money I'd bring in more black than they did all year with those two sales, in particular Jeep. Maserati could probably be bought for what I have in my pocket tho

And that was part of my point. FCA is carrying Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Ram, and Maserati. & brands and nothing that is really appealing to the mainstream of today, nor anything that can truly deal with the perceived value of fuel efficiency. They almost remind me of GM pre-2009. Waittaminute.. Didn't Chrysler also go BK??? SMDH. I remember people saying that because of Sergio's push for the SRTs and HC.. that FCA was doing more with their "second life" than GM, because GM had no dedicated performance division.

Surreal I was thinking the same thing. It looks like it could be the 4th iteration of the K2xx triplets, but the boring and older one. That 375 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque possibility is a signal to GM that its time to bump it up on the 5.3L or make the 6.2L an Option across the board, with the Escalade and Denali getting themselves some more power

Yup. Sick and easy thing for those is that as always.. GM V8s are easy as shit to add power to. Take a 6.2L and tune it, put a CAI on it and a nice exhaust and U are easily at about the same HP. Shit.. if U get the same parts that Hennessy uses and do it yourself.. U could get that 557 bhp and 542 lb-ft of torque for about $8K.. or the 665 bhp @ 5,500 rpm 658 lb-ft Torque @ 4,200 rpm for about $10K. Hell the TVS 1900 Magnuson Supercharger kit is only $6K

Yes. I bet good money that Jeep.. is the real responsible one for those profits... and of course what I mentioned before. Toyota is now getting hit with low profits because they FINALLY started updating some things. Before that.. they were riding on cars that were literally designed and engineered 10+ years ago. (See Corolla, Camry, Avalon, ES, RX..) That being said.. bravo. GM should do something similar with the Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade. With them.. it wouldn't be a "band-aid" because these lines already sell in droves and are a part of defined line-ups

Its not just Dodge.. but FCA. They are the literal epitome of the One-Trick Pony. The made a $1.9 billion net profit for 2016, while Ford recorded a Net Income of $7.4B and GM pulled in $9.5B. To be clear.. FCA pulled in one year $100M less than what GM made in Q1 and exactly what Ford made in Q2. They simply have no mix outside of the Muscle car strategy, constantly putting a big engine band-aid on their real cuts. No Mid-size, no compact, no hybrid (well except the minivan). They literally made profits from simply not reeeeeeeeeeally updating shit else but engines since 2006

LOL... U disrespected Bitch Benz and Bastard BMW by calling them mainstream. I love it. PERSONALLY, I feel the same thing about every vehicle either has that didn't exist before 2010

Why would Cadillac yank down or vie sales away from the almost brand new, extremely profitable K2x Escalade for a same size vehicle.. on a platform with singular service, not even in production for a whole year? Even more importantly, the Escalade is BOF and BOF buyers in US and Canada, as the Navigator proves, has buyers who love V8s.. particularly Big ones

It was a base car with a few upgrades. It wasn't a Platinum or a Premium.. which is in my opinion the only way to go. I explained why the CT6 isn't 100%. If it were the S550 would be consistently put on the truck. Screw Benz. And Screw it's fans. And what is your idiotic obsession with 0-60 times as a measure of luxury? It's stupid. U act as if we are talking about Camaros and Mustangs.