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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Let's hope. We can go on about horsepower and engines all day, but you need the chassis and AWD system for it. The Omega platform seems able to do all that. But they have to use it more and get away from the FWD Chi, Lambda stuff.
  2. smk4565
    I suppose GM could get 600 hp out of a 3 liter TT V6 but what will warranty costs and reliability of that be like? And what do you put that in? You can't put that in a front drive crossover and I imagine the AWD system in the Acadia or Enclave can't handle 400 lb-ft of torque let alone 600. And that would cost a lot. Which goes back to needing a rear drive Cadillac platform with an AWD system and transmission that can handle that much power.
  3. smk4565
    I would say 310 hp is enough for a Blazer/Acadia mainstream SUV. But not enough for a Cadillac or a performance inspired SUV, to which they need REAR WHEEL DRIVE!!!!!!!!!! Ford figured that out and Ford is mostly clueless. Cadillac should have a mid-size SUV with the Blackwing V8, I'd argue the 3.0TT V6 isn't enough. I agree, people aren't going to pay $80,000 for a 500 hp Acadia, and there probably aren't many that would pay $60k for a 400 hp Acadia. I bet Hyundai doesn't sell many N performance cars and Kia won't sell many Stingers because people aren't going to spend a lot of money on an average joe sedan or crossover with a big engine. You need to use Cadillac for the big engines, where price shouldn't matter.
  4. smk4565
    I think Buick go all SUVs, they aren't going to keep the Regal past this life cycle, they aren't going to bring the Excelle over from China as a $19,999 price leader. So I think it is becomes a 3 crossover brand until the day all these crossovers are just cannibalizing each other.
  5. smk4565
    True facts. And brand ATP is meaningless because brands are in different segments. Comparing model vs model (direct competitors) ATP has some validity.
  6. smk4565
    I bet all those XT4 sales skew that, because they will sell more of those than they do Escalades. Cadillac has a high ATP now because the ATS is a sales failure and doesn't drag their average down. Where as the C-class and 3-series sell well. ATP is also pretty meaningless. If Mercedes killed every car but the S-class and G-wagen they would have a $135,000 ATP and they would also go out of business the next day. Land Rover probably has a nice ATP also with all SUVs and lots of high dollar ones at that, yet JLR lost over $4 billion last year and is in dire need of financing.
  7. smk4565
    They sold more than anyone else. Most Cadillacs are not $60,000, even a CT6 starts at $50,000, so with options that is above $60k but they sell like 25,000 of those worldwide per year. Escalade sales are almost only in the USA, that is probably 30,000 or so a year. Just the E-class and S-class alone outsold the whole Cadillac line, and the E-class costs more than any Cadillac except Escalade, the S-class costs more than an Escalade. You can't bet better infotainment in a BMW 7-series let alone anything else under $40k. You can get more horsepower or interior space sure, probably won't get better interior materials or build quality at that price. So it is a trade off, depends on what you prioritize.
  8. smk4565
    If we are going to use price as a measure of luxury, then a Sprinter is Cadillac level luxury. Price does not equal luxury. I never said Mercedes are 1% vehicles either, they have pretty high bandwidth going from $33,000 to $273,000, and that was my point, they have something for everyone. (assuming you have the means to afford a new car, and I am aware that 7 million auto loans in the USA are 90 days past due because cars in general are too expensive) Mercedes global sales for 2018 were All A/B-class variants 609,000 (25% of their total volume) C-class 397,000 E-class 355,000 S-class 78,000 GLC/GLE/GLS/G 820,000 (all SUV was lumped together in their annual report summary) AMG vehicles 118,000 And keep in mind that Mercedes sold over 650,000 cars in China, which is going to favor smaller cars due to the taxes and costs and congestion there. The majority of that A/B segment sales in where that is in high demand due to fuel prices, displacement taxes, etc. And they are serving that need, not ignoring it.
  9. smk4565
    The A-class has a higher base price than all Chevy's except Volt, Bolt, Tahoe, Suburban, Corvette, Silverado HD and some commercial vehicles. And A-class is more expensive than all Buicks except Enclave and the soon to be dead Cascada. I sat in an A-class today, that car is a bargain. The Infotainment system that lives there and in the new GLE is years ahead of what anyone else has.
  10. smk4565
    They are to Cadillac if you take away Vans and the pick up. Mercedes isn’t selling Chevy priced product which is the vast majority of GM sales. They wisely set up their luxury brand to have a car for all needs, while GM set up their luxury brand for people that want mid size sedans and midsize crossovers. Mercedes owners have no reason to look at another brand because Mercedes has a car for every need. Cadillac owners if they want a convertible or coupe after this year or a performance SUV or sports car, etc have to go look at another brand. Then if they find that brand better, when they neee a new sedan they probably aren’t going back to Cadillac. This is also why most niche brands don’t make it l, outside of novelty stuff like Ferrari or Lamborghini.
  11. smk4565
    Owning a car makes more sense now. But one day when cars and Uber can function with no driver it will be cheaper to have a robot pod shuttle you around.
  12. smk4565
    When the autonomous pods arrive that get you from point A to point B while you can sleep or play on your $1,000 phone for a price of a $300 a month subscription then the masses won’t buy cars. The majority of people buy a car to get from point A to point B (school, work, grocery store, etc). They don’t want to pay $400 for a payment, $200 in gas, $100 in maintenance, $100 in insurance, yadda yadda yadda. Most will take the autonomous pod. The enthusiast and the wealthy that have too much disposable income will still buy a car, which is where Cadillac makes sense.
  13. smk4565
    They couldn’t build a more reliable or more fuel efficient taxi than Mercedes. The E-class is the best mid size sedan in the world, regardless of intended use.
  14. smk4565
    Cadillac is dying now too?!?! I actually think in a world of self driving pods and mass transit, a car becomes a luxury item. Thus Cadillac is the brand that makes the most sense if mainstream car ownership disappears.
  15. smk4565
    Worldwide they sold that. Mercedes sold 2,310,185. They got some catching up to do.
  16. smk4565
    The imports didn’t really hit the market big until the 70s, mainly due to gas crisis. Cadillac sold 350,000 cars in 1978 and 150,000 last year. Mad far as the brands go, GMC has the most consistent and focused marketing and brand image, they have been constant with it for a long time. GMC is their best managed brand, Cadillac is probably their most mismanaged but Buick has a lot of baggage and a small line that was mostly made up of stuff from other brands. I would say Buick is the weakest brand so if they had to kill one that would be it. I don’t think GM will kill Buick in the USA though.
  17. smk4565
    It worked in the 50s and 60s because the Germans and Japanese cars weren’t here. When competition arrived GM crapped the bed. How? Bad management and laziness and arrogance.
  18. smk4565
    Correct and GM has too many transverse engine products. If they made the Traverse/Enclave/XT6 on a rear drive platform you could put an in-line 6 in all of them plus all the current rear drive cars and trucks they have. A Turbo 4 is enough for any mid-size crossover or sedan from Chevy or Buick. I could make a strong case to kill the 3.6 V6 and that is for the USA, not even getting into It being over China’s 3 liter displacement tax which makes it useless there. Answered in response to Drew’s post.
  19. smk4565
    Envision and Terrain are the same size but Encore is smaller than both and Acadia is smaller than Enclave and Yukon is biggest. So they have enough size spacing. Cadillac is about to overlap all those vehicles too, I am sure dealers want an XT3. I don’t hink GM cares, SUVs equal profit. Chevy and GMC overlapped for decades and they don’t care.
  20. smk4565
    This is JLR’s own engine not from anyone else. It is based off their 2 liter 4 cylinder engine family. That is where the cost savings is, a V6 and an in-line 4 have different parts, in-line 4 and in-line 6 can share almost all the parts so it is cheaper to manufacture. Electric probably has 10 years before it replaces ICE, at least. And an engine program should only last 10 years anyway, unless you are Toyota. And some engine programs are like 5 years before they go to a new one.
  21. smk4565
    I can see Buick as an all crossover brand (at least in the US) come 2021 model year. Without Opel to source cars why bother selling a fancy Malibu when sedans aren’t big sellers anyway.
  22. smk4565
    Riding Mercedes coat tails on this one. But a good move for them.
  23. smk4565
    Probably the German built ones will come to USA as anything Mercedes builds in China is sold in that region. They are currently expanding the Alabama plant and building a battery factory next to it so I would expect once that is done these EQC’s and others will be sourced from there. A slow ramp up in 2019 is fine to get quality right, after that they need to get it rolling. As I said they aren’t Tesla with one factory. The new S-class factory will open in 2020, they will make EV’s there also freeing up Sindelfingen for E-classes and the like.
  24. smk4565
    They better ramp up production big time in 2020, this is Mercedes-Benz not Tesla.
  25. smk4565
    GM has money now, they could build anything they want. It is a matter of choice now not limited resources.
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