smk4565

The Lucid Air is also sized like an EQE or Taycan. The Celestiq is like 18 feet long, way bigger than a Lucid. I couldn't find the actual length, but I imagine it is longer than an Escalade. The Lucid might become like the next Fisher Karma, a lot of flash and hype, then they don't sell any and the company is gone.

I have only sat in an EQS, but I think the S-class is nicer and roomier on the inside. The EQE is as big as an E-class, I think 1-2 inches longer actually, being electric they should be able to make it roomier. But from what I have seen or read it isn't like the Taycan or Audi e-tron GT are big cars inside either. But looking at an EQE or an E-class, I'd pick the E-class and I'd prefer an EV if I were buying a car today. I think what a lot of these car companies will find is people don't want mega screens, they will want buttons, volume knobs and conventional stuff. I heard the hyper screen equipped cars have like a 1 year back log, so there are some techies out there that want that, but I suspect the bulk of the market is not that, and I suspect Mercedes will get customer feedback wanting "traditional" Mercedes that are EV.

I'd rather have $50-75 billion than $28-29 billion. And I get what GM is saying, I think their strategy is spot on, take existing models and make them EV, make them look conventional, and at a price that makes sense. But the Silverado, Sierra, Equinox, Blazer are all almost a year away from production still, and won't really see full production until 2024. They could easily pull a bait and switch like the F150 Lightning that "starts under $40,000" but they only made top trims in 2022, then the 2023 base price is $51,974. Just like the $35,000 Tesla Model 3 that never happened. I agree with the strategy, I am waiting to see if they can deliver on the prices they are promising and the scale they say. Like will they have a dozen Equinox EV's on dealer lots in the end of 2023 so you can go in and buy one, or will it be the place an order and get it in 5 months BS.

Ford is worth $53 billion, GM is worth $54 billion, Toyota is worth $225 billion, Tesla is worth $716 billion. I'd say Elon is the best CEO if the CEO's job is to build shareholder value. Toyota historically has kept about $50-60 billion in cash, google says it is over $70 billion this year. But my point is Toyota has plenty of cash and manufacturing know how that they can scale up an operation. I wouldn't count them out because they are still in a position of strength, still the largest car company in the world, they operate in every market. I think the bz4x is a flop, but eventually they'll do electric Tundra, Tacoma, Hilux, Rav4, Prius EV, etc, and they'll be fine. Unless they don't do any of that, but they aren't that stupid.

Toyota has more cash on hand than the value of GM as a company, they have the money to get supply chains, battery production, factory upgrades, etc all in place and launch a massive EV production within 5 years. It might take Ford and GM 5 more years to get to that volume anyway. We are still almost 1 year away from Blaze and Equinox EV going on sale, 9 months or so for Silverado EV and all those GM might only build 5-10,000 each next year. So not until 2024 will they really be up and running and who knows what that pace is. If GM or Ford sell over a million EV's in the calendar year 2024 in the USA I'd be surprised. There is still a price problem when the typical small crossover starts at $27k and $33k is the average sale price for that segment. But a Mach-E, Ariya, id4, bz4x, etc are low $40s starting and like $50k average. Tax credit (if you qualify) fuel and maintenance savings, yes I get all that. But the majority of the car buying market can't afford an EV, or if you can, you are comparing a Genesis GV70 or maybe even a GV80 to a Hyundai Ioniq 5 for similar money. You can buy a Lexus RX for the same price as a smaller, bz4x. A Kia EV6 awd starts at $51,400, a Cadillac XT5 with awd is larger and about $5k cheaper, and it's a Cadillac not a Kia. Prices have to get in line for the consumer demand to be there. Tesla has the best CEO in the auto industry. Most legacy OEM's are flat in revenue over the past 10 years, GM actually had less revenue in 2021 than they did 10 years ago. If you factor in inflation a lot of these companies aren't growing, Tesla is growing every year.

I think it depends on what Toyota’s production capacity is in 5 years. I think we need another upgrade in battery life and cost for EV to really take over. It might not be until 2030 that EV market share hits 50%. So Toyota has time if they scale huge and have everything in place then. We can say GM has products coming but it’s all low volume. 5,000 Sierra electric trucks at $105,000 isn’t a business model for them. GM needs to be making 500,000 electric pick ups, 500,000 electric Equinox globally, maybe more. Only Tesla has the scale in place, they will sell over a million Model Y next year, Ford will be lucky to hit 50,000 Mach-E’s. If Toyota shows up in 3-5 years with 3-5 million EV per year capacity they could stop Ford and GM just as they have the past 30 years.

The Toyota Corolla is the #1 selling vehicle in the world and the Toyota RAV4 is #2. Each do over 1 million sales per year. All Toyota has to do is build cars that look the same with the same interior as the Corolla and RAV4 on an EV platform. That shouldn’t be too hard, they already know what buyers want. You don’t need to experiment with funky designs and gloss black body cladding. And Toyota knows manufacturing probably better than anyone, they can figure out EVs and ICE running on the same line, others do it.

I work as an estimator for a car insurance company and I think for sure any of these mega cast cars will be totaled if wrecked and the cast is damaged. Although that isn’t too different from if frame rails, subframe or inner quarter panels are damaged now most of the time the car is totaled because any of those jobs gets into 50+ hour repairs plus the cost of the parts and materials and headlights are really expensive now. On the salvage side, Mercedes get the best salvage return, the newer stuff easily over 50% their value and even at 10+ years old over 40%. Toyotas usually get over 40% unless they are old and EV’s are usually in the 40% range while an average car is like 20%.

I like this look better than the Flying Buttress Silverado EV. Looks more futuristic than the Lightning with a better interior too. Question is how long before they scale it up and have the $50k version because we have another $100,000+ EV that few will be able to afford.

As far as Celestiq goes, a lot of the tech and features in it should be in other Cadillacs next year. Most of that stuff is in the luxury market already. Question is what does Celestiq do for the rest of the lineup? I don’t think people will see Celestiq and think that’s cool but can’t afford it and then buy a CT5. The Lyriq actually matters the most to get right.

I didn’t realize the AMG EQS was at dealers already but I think the regular and AMG trims of the EQE sedan and suv are all supposed to be out at about the same time. They might be able to differentiate the battery, I read the EQG will have an optional lithium silicone anode battery that is 20-40% more power dense.

My car does not have heated and cooled rear seats only front, and no neck scarf.

EQB is on dealer lots already, the other 2 aren't yet, so maybe pre-production or just early production. EQE 500 I find interesting, because the EQS is a big blob, the EQE being smaller should be a lot better drive and it has the same interior basically for less money. I do wonder not just for AMG but all car companies, how you start to differentiate from the base car, because it isn't like you are replacing a 4 cylinder with a V8 anymore, a lot of the performance EV's are the same car with different software. Unless we get to a point where an AMG, M, Shelby, SRT or whatever is like a $10,000 add on and not a $30,000 add on like in the ICE days. I am not sold on Sony, Apple, Google or any other tech or electronics company building cars. Just because the car is an EV, doesn't mean you make the same way as an iPhone or a TV. You still need the manufacturing, metal stamping, paint booth, crash testing and all the stuff ICE cars have now, and Sony and Apple don't know the first thing about building a car.

Right, and my car is 15 years old and has 4 zone climate control. The Celestiq offers what is par for the course among the A8/S-class/7-series crowd, sort of par for the course on EV power and range. So if you like what the big car segment has to offer but are a Cadillac fan, here's your car. I don't think they are contesting Bentley and Rolls owners with this thing though.

Others have 800 volt platforms too, and these cars can claim as fast a charging time as they want, but you also need a charger capable of it and the charge network isn't great outside of Tesla's. Which is an EV in general issue, plus if you charge at home it is like 11 kilowatt hours on most EV's. 3D printing doesn't do anything for me. The Celestiq is a lot of screens, and I get that every car is doing that, but I am not a big fan of that either, have tactile buttons, knobs, switches and materials I find more luxurious than screens. Which again, I prefer the S-class interior to the EQS with hyper screen. The Celestiq interior could be in the next Escalade and fitting for that segment, I don't see it as a Rolls-Royce or Bentley level interior.

Seems like there may not be a Maybach EQS sedan, but a Maybach EQS SUV has already been confirmed. Not sure why they wouldn't just do both. They are doing a Maybach SL, which makes less sense. And I don't know why there isn't a Maybach G-wagen, which makes more sense than an AMG version.

Adaptive Air Suspension: Active Rear Steering: Magnetic Ride Control 4.0: Advanced AWD: Active Roll Control: Active Rear Spoiler: Ride-focused tires: Electric Power Steering: 5-link front and rear suspension: All of this stuff already exists on other cars and most of it has been around a while. They basically took Rolls-Royce's starry night headliner idea and put the lights into the glass which is a neat party piece, but the ability to block out sun or let light in Maybach did in 2004, Mercedes still has it today. Mercedes rear wheel steer is 10 degrees, not 3.5. And you can't open the roof, why is it fixed glass and not a sunroof? 600 hp is nothing new, pretty standard for this segment, which again, I think is fine, people buying these massive sedans aren't drag racing them or taking them to a track, so as long as they have smooth acceleration that is all that matters. The range is fine too, they won't lose a single buyer because the range is 300 not 350. Their whole presentation was based on the "hand built" "custom design" "world class craftsmanship" "luxurious textures and finishes" "Standard of the World" and they filled up the buzzword bingo card but Cadillac hasn't been about any of those things in 60-70 years. Cadillac themselves referenced what they were 100 years ago is what they are shooting for. Why should we believe if you haven't done it in 70 years, all of a sudden you got it right? But if Cadillac can find 400 people a year that want to spend $350k on this car, more power to them.

The engird business could be huge, and America could be an exporter of energy. If you think of the money made by oil companies now, the money made by the Middle East and Russia on oil, all of that money could go to electricity production. Aside from petroleum is still used in other products, I get that, but if you start powering 10, 20, 50, 500 million cars a year on electricity around the globe it is huge money.

The problem with your comparison is the C-class and GLC size Toyotas are the Corolla and Rav4, which neither of have a base price of $44,000. By your logic, Cadillac, Acura, Lincoln, Acura, Volvo, Genesis, Lexus, BMW, Infiniti are all mass market brands, because they all sell cars under $40,000. And the GLE is #2 seller, more than doubling the C-class this year, but the C-class also just had a new model out, I think early in the year not many were available as the ran out the old model inventory and waited for the new one. Mercedes has 6 model lines with base price over $100,000 (not counting AMG One), all of the Asian and American car companies have a combined 1, the Acura NSX. If you want to talk about who makes high end cars and who doesn't.

I forgot the Lyriq so 5 of 7. I posted Mercedes sales chart, they aren’t relying on A and B class level cars for volume, as the chart shows the S-class, SL, GT, GLS, G-class and EQS all of which start over $100k except GLS, outsell the GLA/B and A/CLA. They are literally making 4 times more revenue on the range toppers than they are on the entry level.

C-class starts at $43,550 before destination. Every luxury brand sells cars under $50k. Not sure how the CLA can be a total failure and at the same time “the bulk of their sales” and “how Mercedes makes all their money”

I think the switch to EV will be more like a tidal wave rather than a slow transition. Come 2025 when batteries and infrastructure are better, and there are more options I think EV sales go up fast. I also think GM is position to capitalize big time because they will have product variety in segments and price points people know. If Equinox EV starts at $33k that is the average small crossover price, the VW iD4 is $43k, swing and a miss. If GM gets it right they could be a force.

5 of 6 Cadillacs and every Acura but the NSX start under $50k. The GLC starts at about $45k. Mercedes themselves sees their brand in 3 segments, I forgot the names but entry are the front drive platform A-B classes, Core is the C and E classes and top group is anything with a S, G-Class, GT. Obviously the bulk of the sales come from the middle. The notion that Mercedes relies on low end cars to make money is false when the S-class outsells the A-class and CLA and costs 4 times more. The S makes 4 times more revenue than the front drive cars.

Full size crossover/SUV is $72,000. Compact crossover is $33,000 and that is the #1 selling segment by far.

And who is a dedicated luxury brand? Bentley and Rolls-Royce? Also Mercedes having a full line is smart business, they can compete with Acura and Volvo at one end and Bentley and Porsche at the other.