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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    I agree, it looks like something out of a Hot Wheels set that you'd slingshot down a plastic track through a loop. But it is just a patent drawing which could mean almost nothing, and who know if they will even build something like this. Although I do think they need a halo product coupe, something that attracts people to the brand.
  2. smk4565
    Excellent point. They should offer to the EU to get rid of the chicken tax and the USA drop the 2.5% tariff on imports in exchange for the EU dropping their 10% tariff. Include the UK in that since they backed out of the EU, but then everyone is on the same playing field. And if you are Germany, what are you worried about, no one in Germany is buying an American car anyway. And it would help American businesses get cheaper work trucks, because if Ford has to throw away $500 in seats, it is the customer that pays that $500, not Ford. And there are small pick ups and vans in Europe that we don't even get here because of the chicken tax. Correct, and again, good for the consumer. If the only mid-size trucks to choose from are Nissan, Toyota and GM, you get situations where the Frontier and Tacoma sit on the market untouched for 12 years because there is no other choice. If VW and Hyundai enter in with branch new trucks that are $1,000 cheaper than a Tacoma, you'll see Toyota put out an all new better Tacoma that is cheaper than the current one. And we know this is true because for 25 years if you wanted a luxury car it was Lincoln or Cadillac, and they got lazy as hell and build crap. Now Cadillac tries like crazy and undercuts their competition in price and Lincoln is finally waking up because there are 10+ luxury brands now to pick from.
  3. smk4565
    Likewise with the current and Future GLE and GLS which have a platform made specifically for SUV and couldn’t be used for a car or pickup. Unless it was a Subaru’s Baja or Holden Ute style pick up I suppose.
  4. smk4565
    Still #1 selling luxury brand in 2018. June 2017 was an all time record high sales month. And the GLE and GLS are dated and probably nearing the end of production. They have new GLE, GLS coming in 2019, plus a new 2019 GLA and a GLB which will probably be a 2020 model. People want the SUVs.
  5. smk4565
    I think initial hype of the Bolt is over, people want a crossover most, and a small-mid size sedan 2nd if they are shopping more on a budget. Build an electric SUV is you want EV sales. I do think the Blazer will add to the SUV sales, I am shocked that GM doesn't have a Wrangler (and Bronco) competitor yet. Seems logical that they could do a GMC Hummer in the style of the Maybach S-class, I imagine GM owns that name still, unless it was lost in bankruptcy. Either way, a pure off roader at GMC makes sense, something smaller than a Canyon or Acadia.
  6. smk4565
    Fiat and Chrysler brand are dead. They might as well close up shop with those. Dodge is a rental car brand, which is fine, they probably make money doing it so there is a business case there. What happened at Genesis? Other than they need SUVs and a small car bad, because if you only sell big sedans, I guess you see a 50% drop as that market is tanking. As far as Buick goes, you have Encore and Envision have been around a little while, and Buick has a large sedan with LaCrosse that is tanking also. Case in point, Land Rover up 20%, Jaguar down 20% and that is with Jaguar now having 2 SUVs for sale, people just want these SUVs, not cars sadly.
  7. smk4565
    You can lease a C43 or CLA45 and buy a lot of gas and insurance and still be cheaper than this S60. Or you could get a Tesla Model S for that kind of money. Plus there are only 20 of these Volvos available for the whole year which makes it about 10 times more rare than an Audi R8. More rare than an AMG hyper car. Plus I believe the subscriber ida does not work unless it is done as a ride share on autonomous cars.
  8. smk4565
    When Toyota ran that plant it they could make 500,000 cars a year easily, 10,000 per week was no sweat. So the capacity and size is there. This was a nice little accomplishment for Tesla, but can they do it every week and with quality. Toyota produced more than this and at quality with no problem, and that was 10+ years ago, with better technology today, Tesla should be able to do that. And hopefully they do.
  9. smk4565
    I see this making sense for Hyundai if Sergio can shut down at least Chrysler and maybe Dodge also. The Pacifica as a product would be a good fit to rebadge to Hyundai and Kia. Chrysler/Dodge have nothing else that Hyundai needs, they already have the Genesis cars for rear drive luxury, they have the Stinger as a performance sedan, which is way better than any Dodge. Maybe you could argue a Challenger/Charger are full size rear drivers, but that is a dying market. Ram trucks and Jeep make perfect sense for Hyundai, they have no overlap as it is with those brands. Hyundai can pick and chose between the 4, 6 and 8 cylinder engines they have and FCA has to power such products. Alfa Romeo and Maserati give them that high end luxury car, that Genesis will never be. They can try as much as they want with Genesis, but it will always come across as a fancy Hyundai just like Acura comes across as a fancy Honda. But the other option could be for Hyundai to buy all of FCA, and then sell Alfa and Maserati to the Chinese and get a quick $5-10 billion in cash.
  10. smk4565
    They don't need another SUV, I wonder how long before they do a Phantom convertible though. I am sure they have some Phantom Drophead customers that don't want to be slumming in the $350,000 Dawn. Unless they have found convertible sales to be so low, that they won't make more than one. A Phantom 4-door convertible with suicide doors would be epic though.
  11. smk4565
    June would make more sense to preview upcoming model years cars. This show as it sits is dying on the vine in January. Plus there are so many big auto shows around the world now and Detroit isn't the center of the car world.
  12. smk4565
    Daimler lost $27 billion on Chrysler, Chrysler screwed them, not the other way around. Cerebus lost money on Chrysler, although not much since they were able to sell Chrysler finance to TD Bank, otherwise they would have taken a bath. The US government took a $1.3 billion loss on Chrysler after the bailout and sale to Fiat. And that was the 2nd government bailout, at least Chrysler paid the money back the first time. But this company bleeds money, and the only way FCA will get their money out is to sell off pieces to get quick cash inflows. Sergio knows it, whoever takes Sergio's place knows it, so don't be surprised when it happens.
  13. smk4565
    You can run a Terrain or Equinox over $40k and those have a 250 hp turbo 4, and they are a whole size segment smaller than the Santa Fe. All these crossovers are expensive. You can spend $50k on a loaded Edge I think.
  14. smk4565
    You wonder how this company survives with CAFE rapidly increasing over the next 5 years. Their penalties must be huge.
  15. smk4565
    True, there is no lack of power here. But this chassis is 14 years old now, and it was old when they got it, LOL.
  16. smk4565
    This is also the same press release they will use for the 2029 Charger, except the Pentastar V6 will make 305 hp and 268 lb-ft of torque by then. Remember when the Cadillac CTS had a 304 hp V6... in 2008.
  17. smk4565
    The SRX/XT5 have been on sale since 2010 and no engine option has showed up yet, the 3.6 V6 has gone it alone for 8 years. So I wouldn't hold my breath for options on the XT4. The ATS was also developed to go against the C-class and 3-series. The CLA wasn't even on sale when the ATS went on sale. So direct all those ATS comparisons to what the C-class brings to the table, which is as you say a fantastic car. The CLA/GLA are "below the line" or "below the bar" as Mike Tomlin would say. That seems to be being addressed as all the FWD model Mercedes will be all in 2019 and the A-class interior looks good, has new infotainment, and revised powertrains. Right now the XC40, and A3/Q3 are probably better products, but if Mercedes figured out how to make the C-E-S classes top of segment, I am sure they can do it one more time.
  18. smk4565
    The GLB is a year away, it will size and price head on with the XT4, have similar hp in the base model. But the GLB will have 300+ hp and 400+ hp AMG versions too. And ccap is right about the Jeep GC having a turbo. Hell Turbo the Hemi for an SRT model, and still sell it, but selling a 360 hp V8 is lame.
  19. smk4565
    I don't think they will sell the crap out of it, I think the low price leases will move some metal, but there is little profit to be made on stuff that that, this thing leases cheaper than the CLA which everyone here said was a drain on Mercedes. And the GLA has a 375 hp option, I think getting bumped to 400 hp, that is more than enough in a vehicle that size. I think the XT4's size is a plus, there are times I see a Rav4 or Audi Q5 and think they look pretty big, even these small SUVs are getting big, and not everyone wants more size if they do 95% of their driving alone. I see the XT4 selling more in the 2500 per month range, similar to what the MKC does, I don't know if it is stand out enough to move 5,000 units a month like some of the strong sellers. There is a GLB coming in 2019 that will line up nicely with this XT4.
  20. smk4565
    I like the look, it has an intimidating, trucky look to it and it doesn't just look like a clone of everyone else. This stands out a bit more. Seems like good pricing, compared to what others charge, it is right in line. I wonder what this weighs, it looks big for a 174 lb-ft 4 cylinder to haul around, the Turbo should move it fine.
  21. smk4565
    Yeah I would agree with all. The southern states voted Trump in, I don't see what he has got them, or what Republicans in general have got them as they are the poorest states for the most part. And the rich are getting richer at their expense. Money never trickles down.
  22. smk4565
    I still feel like Cadillac dropped the ball with the XT4 because they will never get big money for what is basically a glorified Equinox. They will just have an Acura RDX/Lincoln MKC type competitor that sells a couple thousand a month because of $309 lease specials, but that isn't a big profit driver. And on size, XT4's dimensions are 181 L x 77 W x 64 H Car and Driver had 3 SUVs this month with dimensions and price of: 185 L x 77 W x 66 H $85,340 186 L x 77 W x 62 H $104,910 185 L x 76 W x 63 H $96,295
  23. smk4565
    Thats even cheaper than a front drive GLA lease that comes in at $36,87 down and $339 a month.
  24. smk4565
    Jeep also isn't a luxury brand, so I would hope they outsell the Audi Q's in the USA. And as I said Jeep's brand image and styling and off road reputation and American image all work really well for it. FCA is the weak part, they don't have any new powertrains or hybrids outside of the Pacifica. Look at the lower end Jeeps with that awful 2.4 liter engine from the Dodge Dart for example. And the fact is, the Alfa Romeo V6 has 505 hp, the 5.7 liter Hemi has 360 hp and the 6.4 liter SRT Hemi has 475 hp. So the V6 out powers both and gets better gas mileage than both. FCA gives the good powertrains to Alfa, Jeep and Chrysler are still using Daimler-Chrysler era stuff. Where is the update?
  25. smk4565
    Hahaha! 20 cars and you have to pay $1,100 a month to subscribe to it? PASS. You can get an M3 for less money and blow this thing away. Or an Alfa Romeo Guilia, or a C43, or C63, etc.
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