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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565

    Flops?

    smk4565 replied to Drew Dowdell's topic in The Lounge

    Volkswagen Phaeton! I'd say Pontiac Aztek, but they got the Rendezvous out of it and it was built off an existing platform, so the investment was probably low for the number of crossovers and minivans sold. The entire Hummer brand I think was a flop, because while Toyota pumped money into the Prius, GM put their dollars behind the Hummer. They may have made big margins on the trucks they sold, but the PR damage was big and when gas prices skyrocketed, Hummer tanked, GM went bankrupt, and there was Toyota with the Prius as the darling of the media. And perception is reality in the mind of the consumer.
  2. smk4565
    Reliability does hurt VW here, maybe in Europe they get away with it because they have a lot of 50-60 mpg diesels and there might just not be enough competitors in the small car space, other than Fiat who has worse reliability and Hyundai/Kia/Honda aren't powerhouses in Europe, so it leaves Ford to compete with. Skoda and Seat seems like overlap though with the lower end of VW. VW at least keeps their luxury brands unique.
  3. smk4565
    Ding, Ding Ding! Not enough body style or engine choices, not enough crossovers, and 2003 was the original quest to take on the Germans, it has been 12 years now. C-class coupe comes out December 2015, convertible in March 2016, so they will have done, sedan, wagon, AMG, coupe and convertible in an 18 month time frame. Cadillac probably doesn't need a wagon since that is a European body style, so all they have to do is 3 body styles in 18 months, that should be doable.
  4. smk4565
    The groupings are insane, if a DB9 or Phantom Coupe is a compact they shouldn't have gas guzzler tax. And the Mulsanne is like 214 inches long. Size class should not be interior volume but exterior footprint. Try fitting a Phantom Coupe into a compact space at a parking garage. It might not even fit in a regular space.
  5. smk4565
    VW has profit centers like Lamborghini, Bentley and Porsche. Low volume but those cars have $20,000+ profit per unit, Audi runs at a 10% net margin too. VW brand just has to break even. Instead of these new entrants they should just buy Fiat-Chrysler and reorganize the whole thing cutting overlap, then they would have every segment imaginable covered.
  6. smk4565
    Group one meets European pedestrian impact standards, while group two does not meet American crash standards anymore.
  7. smk4565
    Same number of airbags
  8. smk4565
    First group all have DOHC engines and automatic transmission and ABS.
  9. smk4565
    The first group are all built on a platform shared with another vehicle, Fiesta/Mazda2, Camaro/Holden Commodore, Q50/G37, CLS/E-class, Phantom Coupe/Phantom sedan and 7-series, Yaris/Vitz. The Aston Martin name and grill was used on a Scion iQ to make the Cygnet, so they don't share a platform, but share a badge.
  10. smk4565
    That crowd will be dead by the time they get a car in that segment. Taurus and Maxima sales are terrible, even the Avalon and Impala combined sell about 15,000 cars a month, how much can vW get in that segment, 2,000 cars a month maybe? And that could decline.
  11. smk4565
    My guess is all have satellite radio and they probably all have a Nav system, even the Yaris probably offers those. The 3rd group has increasing buyer age, Regal buyers are older than Sonic buyers, Ls460 buyers are even older and Mulsanne buyers are were alive when King Edward was in power.
  12. smk4565
    They all offer Bluetooth
  13. smk4565
    The first group of cars are all made outside of the USA. The second group are 2+2 seating layouts. The 3rd group are all sedans.
  14. smk4565
    Besides all having 4 wheels and a steering wheel, I was going to guess electric power steering. But I had to look up the DB9 and that has hydraulic power steering.
  15. smk4565
    I have seen 2011 Regals for around $13,000 before, but those would be the base 2.4. I just looked on auto trader and there are 2012 certified regals with low miles for $16-17k. Most GM sedans have poor resale value, especially ones like the Malibu, Regal and Impala that have higher fleet rates. A CXL or premium trim Regal for mid teens is a pretty good deal. Lincoln MKZ's are great used car deals too, they lose like 50% of their value in 3 years.
  16. smk4565
    VW already makes the Audi A6 to take on the E-class and 5-series. And with how similar VWs and Audis look, a VW based on the A6 would look like an A6, but have to sell at a $10,000 discount, which is neither good for Audi or VW. The Phaeton will fail again if it comes back, no one wants a luxury VW when they can buy an Audi and at least have a trendy badge. VW needs to focus on the Jetta and Passat and selling a mid-size crossover that isn't $50k like the Toureg is.
  17. smk4565
    This looks boring, and sort of like the Passat and Jetta, when they restyled them they got boring and squared off looking. As if they wanted to see how safe and forgettable they could make it look.
  18. smk4565
    For crossovers in general, but not for coupe-like crossovers with no utility. Americans love crap like the Rouge or Rav4 and will pay $28,000 for it, but at the same time think a $18,000 Sentra or Corolla sucks, and not realize it the same product, but one is a wagon on stilts. BMW and Mercedes buyers prefer sedans though because they actually enjoy good handling, that is why their sedan sales kill their SUV sales. That is why I don't think Mercedes needs a GLE coupe, it too small a market and their customer base doesn't buy that sort of product.
  19. smk4565
    I don't think it is a failure, but I don't think they need this product. Limited market here, more limited than the 4-door coupe segment and to make business sense you have to charge more than an ML, which means charging closer to GL money. Wouldn't surprise me if this is a one and done product but Americans have a thirist for crossovers so who knows.
  20. smk4565
    I wish they left the AMG Sport name off, I don't think it is needed (neither is M Sport or F-sport). For years they offered an "AMG appearance package" on most of their cars and you get the AMG wheels, the front fascia or body moldings, the AMG engraved chrome exhaust pipes, etc. I thought the sport or appearance package was enough. And if they are going to tune the V6 to 360 hp, why not just make that the C400, CLS400, GL400, etc. But I guess they feel like if they make a 450 they can charge more for it, and it does give buyers more options. At least though Mercedes ups the power from the C400's 329 hp, if you buy a Lexus RX350 F Sport it has the same horsepower as the base model.
  21. smk4565
    That is actually a really good list. The 7-series is bad for it's class, but I don't know if it is the worst car to buy. The S-class is overwhelmingly better than any of its competitors, why anyone shopping in that class would buy anything else is beyond me. Is the Dodge Avenger still made? That should be top 5 if it still is. The Jeeps and Nissans are on there because those are products that are about 10 years on market and weren't even good when they were knew. The MKS and XTS are overpriced Taurus and Imapala.
  22. smk4565
    They can make it look like a 4-door coupe, since that is all the rage.
  23. smk4565
    I like the powertrain, it isn't an AMG engine is just more turbo boost on the current 3 liter V6. I'd like this powertrain more on a C or E-class though. Although the next generation E-class is getting an inline six that will replace the 3.0 V6. The interior looks like the M-class interior of the last 5 years, so I guess this GLE coupe will get a new interior when the M-class is redone in a couple years. This interior is a let down if they plan on charging a premium on the ML for it. To me these coupe SUVs make no sense, if you want a sporty vehicle, buy a car. This might cost as much as a CLS and why would you buy this over a CLS that looks better, drives better, handles better, is faster, gets better gas mileage, etc.
  24. smk4565
    I don't think people under 60 even buy a used LS460. Used ones are probably hard to come by, the LS460 is like the last car you buy before you die. People buy them at age 70, drive it 15 years then go to the nursing home or grave.
  25. smk4565
    Cadillac needs to put a rush on coupe and convertible versions of the ATS and CTS for that very reason. Or on future models co-develop the coupe and sedan side by side and release both at the same time.
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