smk4565
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Everything posted by smk4565
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Then there's your problem right there. You should care where the profits are going because profits kept here means profits that are spent here. It's a real simple concept actually and how you fail to see that is beyond me.Oh and thanks for proving your hypocrisy on the countries of origin remark. That literally makes no damn sense. Who says they have to spend the profits here? Companies outsource and move things overseas all the time to save money, and thus make higher profits. Ford has made good profits lately, what did they do? They spent $1.6 Billion to build a factory in Mexico and create 2,800 jobs in Mexico. So those F150 profits are going straight to Mexico. They could have invested those dollars in a new factory in Michigan or Indiana, but they didn't. FCA has turned profit the last couple years, did they invest it in the USA? No, they discontinued the 200 and Dart, laid off workers in those factories, and the Compass/Patriot are to be replaced by a single model, built in a new factory in Mexico. I also found a story form December 2014 stating that GM would invest $3.6 billion to double their production capacity in Mexico and create 5,600 new jobs in Mexico. This idea that you buy an American brand car and the money gets invested back into America is a joke. Buying a Buick Envision is supporting job growth in China and Mexico, they are stealing our jobs, they are stealing our money, and I am not voting for Trump either. I do support free trade between all these countries, because the consumer always has the choice to buy what they want to buy. And I wouldn't buy a car from China, and I won't buy one from Mexico.
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Porsche News: Revealed: 2017 Porsche Panamera
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Volkswagen
There is a rumor that the 918 hybrid powertrain will go into the Panamera to make 700+ hp and 800+ lb-ft of torque. That could be pretty sweet if they do that, still will look ugly though. -
Car sales every where are dropping, and the E-class was up. This was their best June sales ever, compared to June 2015 which was a record setting month for them. No one mentioned that all 4 SUVs were up 27% or better. People want crossovers/SUVs, and Mercedes has lots of them to offer. Lexus is asleep at the switch with hopelessly dated GX and LX, Cadillac and Acura only have 2 each, Audi has 2 tiny ones and a Q7 that isn't mid-size or full size.
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Impressive side stepping but 100% unrelated to what I was saying. Good grief man. Pay attention.Now that you bring it up though, shall we talk about the German auto makers and how they treat their US employees? The average wage of a German auto worker is $67/hr. It's not even a third of that here and no, it does not have squat do with Germany being a more costly place in which to live. That is what I am talking about here. They pay a shot wage here and all the rest of the money goes to Germany. Now I realize that GM, Ford, and FCA do the same in other countries but you cannot sit on that high horse of yours and complain about their practices while ignoring German makes. Simply baffling how you can't get that concept. And please explain this bit of hypocrisy. You said it doesn't matter about the country of origin but not even two months ago you said you'd never buy a Chinese made S Class. Because I don't care where the profits go to. All these corporations have a lot of stock bought by the investment companies, whether it be Ford, GM, Toyota, or Daimler. And they all build cars in multiple countries around the world. And I would not buy a made in China Mercedes, luckily for me they build many of them in Germarny (despite the high labor costs) and they build them in the USA too. But buying a car made in China, is not supporting America. That is like saying buying Donald Trump's made in China ties is good for the American worker. It is ridiculous. If you want to say buying a made in Kentucky Corvette is good for America, I am all in on that one. Interestingly enough, 34.8% of Daimler stock is owned by Germans, 31.2% by other European countries, and 23.7% is owned by Americans. So it isn't like 100% of the money goes back to Germany, only 1/3 does.
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How Mercedes prices the S-class shouldn't really matter as even the A8 and 7-series are priced about $20k under it, unless you take a fully loaded 750i to an S550, but then as soon as you get to an Maybach or S65 Audi and BMW have nothing. If you look at the C-class the plug-in hybrid is cheaper than the V6, and I bet the same thing happens with the E-class. The car companies need to hit a 54 mpg CAFE in 2025, they need people buying the plug-ins to get there. For what it is worth, the S-class plug-in is going to a 13.4 kWh battery pack next year, up from 8.7 kWh, so range will improve to an estimated 30 miles. Mercedes has 10 plug-ins coming, they are spending $8 billion in 2 years on green powertrains. I also hope they sell the inline six S-class with the 48 volt electric system here next year, instead of holding it for Europe only, they could price it around $86,000 and crush whatever sales the A8 and XJ still have.
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I made a post that I don't think went through, so I'll retype it. Originally I said they should drop the 3.6 V6 from all Cadillacs, and go with an all turbo line up, and plug-in hybrids. The 3.0TT V6 CT6 is $66,000, they could easily offer the plug-in hybrid for the same price, I think they could even offer a hybrid turbo 4 for $60,000 and make that the base CT6. I don't think they really need a $54k CT6, just move the price up to $60k+ where it should have been all along. Right now the CT6 is priced at or below a Genesis G90 or Kia K900. If they are going after traditional DTS buyers over age 70, that crowd would prefer a V6 over a turbo 4, they come from an era where a Cadillac always had a V8, they won't want a 4. But I think making a hybrid CT6 for $60k the base car gets the price up closer to where it should be, it also makes the CT6 a bit of a "green" car and they get some points for that.
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I dunno, I think it seems logical for a 335 HP plug-in hybrid turbo 4 to be base model, a 400 HP turbo v6 middle option and turbo v8 high end. In a CT6 you don't need a base 2.0t any more than the ATS needed that 2.5 liter.
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Makes sense if rear drive has a 10% take rate. Plus with this kind of power you need to send it to all 4 wheels to get traction. The good news is the 9-speed transmission and downsized engine should improve fuel economy.
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So you would have them do it exactly the opposite of the competition? Not really, the plug-in hybrid C-class is cheaper than a V6 C-class. The MKZ Hybrid is cheaper than the turbo V6 MKZ. They could make the plug-in hybrid CT6 the base model easily.
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I absolutely get it. Money going into GM doesn't mean the workers get a raise or GM will hire more employees, it means they can pay the executives a bigger bonus and the stock holders a bigger dividend. What if GM decides to build the Silverado in China, and close down the Flint, MI and Fort Wayne, IN factories, lay off 10,000 people all in the name of "increasing share holder value." Small cars are less profitable, they could move Sonic, Cruze and Malibu production to Mexico or Brazil or China to get cheaper labor, and lay off another 10,000 Americans. But the stock price will go up. So who are the major stock holders in GM, average joes? Nope, Mutual Fund companies. There are the top shareholders in GM: United Auto Workers 9.34% Vanguard Group: 5.53% Harris Partners LP: 5.41% State Street Corp: 3.81% Berkshire Hathaway: 3.33% Fidelity Investments: 3.17: Black Rock Fund: 2.83% JP Morgan Investments: 2.71% That group not counting the UAW owns over 26% of GM and the next 12 after them are all investment/mutual fund companies too. Buying a car to support a country is a false premise, unless you are buying a car built in that country with parts from that country, such as the Camry. The Camry (a car I hate) is the most American car that creates the most American jobs of anything on the market today.
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I personally wouldn't buy a made in China car, but where the Envision (or any car) is made for example doesn't really matter to me. The Regal is made in Germany and the C-class is built in Alabama, but I'd rather drive a C-class because I like the car more. I care about the car not the country of origin. I take issue with people saying it is best to buy American, to support American business/workers, when the Toyota Camry has more American made parts than any car on the market and is made in the USA. We should all buy Camrys then if we want to support American jobs and help the American economy. I personally do not pick a car based on where it is made or where the company headquarters is. I'd rather drive what I feel to be the best car in the segment or best product for the price point I am looking for.
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So if GK built 100% of their cars in China, laid off 100,000 UAW workers and Mary Barra got a $20 million bonus and the stockholders get double the dividend, is that good for America too? We supported an American brand in that scenario.
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Hybrids don't sell because they are the most expensive engine option on most cars. If the CT6 hybrid was $59,900 and the turbo V6 was $64,900, and turbo V8 $74,900 the hybrid would sell.
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Porsche News: Revealed: 2017 Porsche Panamera
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Volkswagen
This is the fastest sedan ever around the Nurburgring at 7:38. A very impressive time. Looks better than the old Panamera but still isn't good looking, interior is boring. -
I wish the CT6 had the V8 at launch, I'd be all for them dropping the gas only 2.0T in the CT6, and making the 2.0T plug-in hybrid the base engine, and go to the turbo v6 and v8 from there.
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I am not blaming Americans for poor quality, I happen to think the C-class and GLC have the best made interiors, and best build quality in their respective segments. And if we want to ride the Support America and Buy American train, then buying a car that says "Made in China" on it is not the way to do that.
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I didn't forget the 4.2 V8, but it isn't available right now. My lineup they could do right now. When the 4.2 V8 arrives for sure that goes to CT6, I'd put it in the Escalade and ATS-V also.
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Well to be fair, the GLC is assembled in the USA, so it can't be poorly assembled German junk. I haven't driven a GLC, only a C300, but I had no complaints about it and thought it was pretty nice. The GLC did just win a comparison test over Lincoln, Lexus, and some other forgettable crossover, and it has gotten good reviews overall. GLC might not be for everyone, but it isn't junk or at the bottom of the class.
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I'd like to see... ATS: 2.0T, 3.0 TT V6, 3.6TT V6 CTS: 2.0T, 3.0TT, 3.6 TT (ATS-V 460 hp version), 6.2 sc V8 CT6: 2.0T, 3.0TT V6 That is what I'd do for gas engines, until they have a turbo DOHC V8 then that would go to CT6 and replace the CTS-V 6.2 liter. Of course there would be plug-in hybrids options on all 3 cars with the 2.0T, that would work in the XT5 also. I'd like to see a 3.0TT V6 plug-in on the CT6 and Escalade.
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Mercedes and BMW aren't selling on a value proposition, the GLC has the best interior of any small SUV, both the X3 and GLC have the rear drive handling advantage also. You could compare an Escape or Hyundai Santa Fe and load one of those up and be under $40k and have great value proposition too. Buick is still not a luxury brand in my mind. They are a step above Ford or Hyundai, but not on par with BMW or Mercedes. Cadillac isn't even on par with BMW or Mercedes yet. The XT5 is sized like a GLE, but priced like a GLC. For $40k I bet one could find a well equipped certified M-class and they have a 2 year unlimited mile warranty.
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Jaguar F-Pace is in this price range and has a 340 hp V6.
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I was thinking all Cadillac V6s should have at least 340 lb-ft, but I didn't really state that well. My main point was the ATS and CTS mid-level engine should be the twin turbo V6. If they want to let the CT6 have some seperation they could detune the ATS and CTS 3.0TT's down to 375 hp or so. The 400 hp TT V6 isn't doing Cadillac any good only being offered in one car though.
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You could get a pretty well optioned GLC for $50k, you can't get everything, but you can still get $10k worth of options, if you avoid the $2900 sport package and $1900 air suspension you can get all the driver nannies and interior upgrades without getting too high in price. Oddly enough the GLC300 has a better 0-60 time than the Envision or the 310 hp Cadillac XT5. And it won't depreciate like those two.
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Cadillac's OTHER V6 makes 404 HP & 400 TRQ. Right, that is why I said the 3.0 twin turbo should be the step up engine from the 2.0T. The Turbo V6 has already been criticized for refinement though, so they might have to work on that part of it. The Infiniti Q50 has a 400 hp V6 for under $50k, the ATS should have the 3.0TT for $47,900, throw it in the CTS for $55,000.
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The Cadillac 3.6 V6 is about 60 lb-ft of torque and 3,500 rpm away from where it needs to be. A Cadillac V6 should make 340 lb-ft at 2,000 rpm. Jaguar has 340 and 380 hp V6s that are in the 330-340 lb-ft range, BMW's engine is under rated at 320 or 330 lb-ft, whatever they claim, the Mercedes V6 is 350ish hp and torque, Audi is in that range too now. You want a V6 with mid to high 300s in horsepower and torque now. I'd like to see Cadillac pair that turbo V6 with a hybrid system.
