smk4565

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.

Cater to sub $50k, how so? Here is their sales chart, the S-class is outselling A-class and CLA combined this year. The GLS is outselling the GLB. Their 2 best sellers are GLC and GLE. And a GLC300 4Matic starts at $46k before destination, so with 1 option package those are basically all $50k or more.

I don’t know how “accessible” the S-class is when the base model is over $110,000 and the Maybach is $200,000+. I would guess that 95% of Americans can’t afford a $140,000 car. Which sort of goes to my original point, Mercedes has a customer base that will spend $140k on a sedan or $200k on a G-wagon. So they can make these expensive EV’s and not have a problem. Their challenge will be can they make an A class level EV that isn’t E-class pricing. I brought up the Hyundai/Kia because their small crossover EV’s are like $50k and the Sportage and Tucson are like $30k. If Hyundai kills off their ICE cars that’s a big leap for their customer base to take.

I said full size luxury car, of which the EQS is the #2 seller. It does tremendous volume for the segment it is in. And I am comparing ICE and EV because a sale is a sale. If Toyota sells 10 million cars a year and Rivian sells 50,000, I don’t want to hear about how Rivian is beating Toyota because they sold more EV’s this year. The EQE is about 1-2 inches shorter than a Model S, the EQS is like 10 inches longer. The EQE is Mercedes’ Model S competitor, the EQC sedan will be the Model 3 competitor when it gets here.

Q3 Mercedes sales are out for YTD: S-class 11,376 EQS sedan 5,749 BMW 7-Series 3,905 Lexus LS 1,989 Audi A8 1,025 Genesis G90 786 I’d say the EQS is doing just fine, it’s beating Lexus, Genesis and Audi combined.

Full size luxury car I said. That would be the S-class, EQS, 7-series, A8, Lexus LS, Jaguar XJ (which I think is discontinued now), Genesis G90, maybe you could throw the Panamera in there, but that isn't really a full size car. The Taycan and Model S are not full size cars. Bentley Flying Spur and Rolls Royces obviously are full size too.

You are trying to compare a mass market company vs a luxury brand that does less volume. The EQS outsold the Genesis G90, the BMW 7-Series, Audi A8, Lexus LS in the first half the of the year, their Q3 numbers aren't released yet, as I just checked. The EQS is doing well if it is beating its gasoline counterparts. Also I am looking more 5 years out. In 5 years time if an Ioniq 5 is $10k more than an Equinox EV how does that work for Hyundai? The bulk of Hyundai's customers buy Elantras and Tucsons that are sub $30,000.

I doesn’t matter how good the Ioniq 5 is if they can’t produce them. Same goes for Rivian and Lucid, if you can’t build the cars you can’t make money. The EQS is the #2 selling large luxury car ICE or gas, only because Mercedes also makes the #1 selling large luxury sedan. The Ioniq 5 is not the #2 selling small crossover. Mercedes, Porsche, Audi and GM are marketing EVs to current prices in their brands. I think this group has it right and the others we’ll see where they are in 2030.