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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    If we are playing the price game, the the CT6 is an E-class competitor, the CTS is a C-class competitor and the ATS is a CLA competitor. If Cadillac wants to play the 5-series size for 3-series price strategy of the original CTS, then just go all in on that and make that the strategy. But they can't make their mind up what they want to be. And maybe that is what they want to be, the XT7 will probably be GLS size for GLE money. The more size for less money could work if you do it perfectly, but Lincoln is trying that "American sized" with a turbo V6 in a lot of cars and it isn't working. Maybe Cadillac can use the same strategy and execute it better than Lincoln, but Cadillac has to commit to something, they can't even commit to a naming scheme.
  2. smk4565
    Similar set up, but the Accord 1.5T makes 30 more hp than Chevy's and gets better gas mileage. And the Accord has a rather good interior, they really did that well.
  3. smk4565
    But the XT5 is the size of a GLE and the XT4 is the size of a GLC. The Highlander offers more room and more power then an XT4 but they aren't really competitors per se. Size per dollar ratio should be Chevy's game, not Cadillac's. And globally, GLC vs XT5 isn't even close, GLC beats it like 3 or 4 to 1. I don't think RWD has packaging problems, you can stretch the wheelbase on a rwd car, and no one uses a center rear seat in a sedan and on an SUV the floor is higher anyway. Plus on a FWD/AWD car you still have to run a drive axle to the rear anyway. And the Germans have more power/acceleration across the board than Cadillac, every Cadillac SUV has 1 engine choice, most Germans have 3 or 4 even. And as far as price goes, GM has 3 brands to offer square footage per dollar, Cadillac doesn't have to do that. And expensive doesn't mean you can't have volume. Cadillac in the 60s and 70s glory days were expensive and they had volume, Mercedes and BMW have volume, Tesla has pretty good volume for a $100k car, etc. It can be done.
  4. smk4565
    I think the new Traverse looks good (by crossover standards). The Chevy look works there. I read an Accord review with the 2 liter so that was a 9 speed I think, I didn't realize they used a CVT now in the base car, because they used to use a 6 speed auto I think.
  5. smk4565
    Why would Cadillac sell at lesser volumes? I could argue if they had done more rear drive products their sales would be higher. SRX sales didn’t increase because they switched it to fwd, they went up because they cut the price $10,000. Cut the CTS down to $34,995 and the ATS to $28,995 and they would start to sell too. The XT5 sells because it is $12,000 less than an X5 or GLE and because Cadillac has no other crossover in the showroom when most luxury brands have 3 or 4. Waaaay back in 2002 Cadillac said we need to scrap the front wheel drive and the platform sharing with large Buicks and build globally competitive product with ride and handling luxury buyers expect. They seem to have forgotten the mission, and they never really executed it right in the first place. And this is the big challenge Cadillac has, is execution. We can talk about will Escala be a crossover coupe, Panamera competitor, 7 seat SUV, etc. But can they actually get the mechanics, interior, styling, and build quality all spot on? Or will there he corners cut?
  6. smk4565
    I am not a fan of the big mouth bass look front end grille on these, I think the Impala is the only good looking Chevy car and that includes Corvette. 8 inch Nav screen is pretty standard stuff. Why on earth would they use a CVT on the Malibu vs the 9 speed auto? It is like Chevy is begging people to buy the Accord.
  7. smk4565
    KERS system you say... Hmmmm
  8. smk4565
    Chevy needs an Edge sized crossover, hopefully that is what their version of the Acadia/XT5 is.
  9. smk4565
    Sonic, Fiesta and Taurus are as good as dead. I love when these PR types from car companies say they have no knowledge of them getting the axe, which means they are either lying or they are very bad at their job because we all know come 2020 none of those 3 will be around. I could see the Spark going too, that is imported from Korea, unless the manufacturering cost is crazy low on it, I think it will he killed off. GM is stubborn so they may try to keep the Impala alive. I think the Fusion will survive because they can sell it as cop cars, but if the new Focus that is revealed next week is “roomier, larger and better equipped” then o think Fusion is dead too.
  10. smk4565
    The Q50 and Q70 come in all wheel drive now. This sounds like they want to take an Altima and add electric motors to the rear and call it an Infiniti Q70. Good luck with that.
  11. smk4565
    GM doesn’t split car and truck.
  12. smk4565
    The S-class is outselling the A8 at more than a 10 to 1 margin. Audi needs to waive the white flag.
  13. smk4565
    I heard Peter DeLorenzo on Autoline After Hours say how BMW was lost or dead in the water or something, but they outsold Mercedes last month and their cars were up 10% even though 2 of their cars aren't really cars.
  14. smk4565
    I think doing the dealer bonuses based on quarterly performance rather than monthly makes more sense so there isn't that short term drive to dump cars to hit a number. How often you report them I don't think matters as much as how often you put incentives to dealers for sales.
  15. smk4565
    They either hit up the fleets or had some crazy lease deals on Encore, Equinox and Terrain, those three exploded. If the new Regal is on sale, they have a problem. The Cadillac sedans seems to have stabilized at their current level.
  16. smk4565
    Huge month for Buick, Mazda, Jeep and VW, they must all be doing the happy dance Let’s see what Alfa does when they aren’t coming off a sales base of 900 units.
  17. smk4565
    I saw a Nissan Titan today (the new one) and it made me think of the XT4. Because Nissan didn't really do anything ground breaking to steal sales off the established Silverado and F150, and I see the XT4 as the same, way. It can easily get lost in the shuffle of all these other entry lux crossovers. The Germans are the establishment, Lexus has that core buyer base, the new Volvos have the looks and the powertrain, I don't see Cadillac's big advantage.
  18. smk4565
    I think automakers could hit the standard with more electrification, which would make cars more expensive, but they can price war it out and cut profits if they wanted, none of these car makers are hurting. That being said I could see keeping the 54 mpg standard but pushing it back to 2030 to give carmakers more time. I also think adding a 25 cent per gallon federal gas tax would promote fuel efficiency better than CAFE, and we need tax revenue to pay roads since the Gov't has such a ridiculous deficit. And that being said, what the EPA wants to do doesn't matter because California doesn't want to play this game. California will win any legal battle because CARB was there first, and there is ZERO PERCENT chance that car companies make a car they can't sell in California (or states with it's emission laws) because 1/3rd of all new cars are under California rule, no one is throwing away 1/3 of their volume.
  19. smk4565
    I don't get why they went with that DCT, vs doing a transverse 7G-Tronic. Older A-classes had a CVT, no doubt that sucked. Perhaps they will refine the DCT for the next generation A-class/GLA/GLB/CLA, but like I said I never drove a CLA to know what it is like. The 7G-Tronic is near telepathic, and I am sure the new 9 is even better.
  20. smk4565
    I don't know why they can't just use "R" for the high performance. SVR is the same thing with more letters.
  21. smk4565
    I always figured they used the DCT for fuel economy as the CLA gets 38 mpg highway and doing some digging I found Mercedes said the DCT had a 9% fuel economy gain of the previous A-class. But the 7G-Tronic torque converter automatic is a better transmission even if it is heavier and not as good on gas, it has driveability. XT4 is 9 inches longer than a GLA, 1 inch shorter than a GLC. And you can get 503 hp in a GLC for plenty of scoot.
  22. smk4565
    The CLA/GLA problem sounds more from the DCT transmission which I don’t know why they use in the first place rather than the fried and true 7-speed auto that they used from 2003 - 2018, and the 9-speed has replaced it in most cars now. The GLC and C-class don’t have the lag and acceleration problems, a GLC300 can out accelerate a Terrain, not like it matters in that segment.
  23. smk4565
    I know you can tune an engine to any power level (within reason) but reliability and NVH go out the window if you extract more power than you should from an engine. I have never driven a CLA, so I don't know what the turbo lag is like, but the M270 has a twin scroll turbo and makes 258 lb-ft @ 1,200 rpm so I can't imagine it is that bad. And the M274 which is the sister engine to the CLA used in the C-class and GLC has very little lag and you don't really notice the turbo at all plus it won a Ward's 10 best engine award in 2017. 375 hp/350 lb-ft now. And that is probably going up in 2019 with the new A-class line. Although I think it pointless to increase it. If you want more power buy an AMG C-class. Interesting thing is they are planning an A35 with like 300 hp which could be a sweet spot for that car.
  24. smk4565
    True, good thing someone is the BEST at doing that.
  25. smk4565
    Plastic on the rear bumper yeah, not all over the place. The Q5 has way less plastic on it than an XT4. And if Cadillac has an exclusive 4 cylinder (which is sort of a waste of R&D dollars unless it runs super quiet or something) why does it make less power than an Chevy 4-cylinder? Cadillac has 258 lb-ft at 1,500 rpm? Mercedes GLC makes 273 lb-ft at 1,300 - 4,000 rpm BMW X3 makes 258 lb- ft at 1,450 - 4,800 rpm Audi Q5 273 lb-ft at 1,600 - 4,500 rpm Not surprised by who has the most torque at the lowest RPM
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