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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    The ones I see on the road usually have an older driver, in their 70s usually. So I think there is a buyer there that likes a big softer riding car. The Lincoln or Cadillac buyer that likes full size and rear drive and either can't afford or just won't spend $80-90k on a big car will like the Equus I think. And if you had a Town Car or Fleetwood way back and like the big rwd feel, I can see them buying this instead of an XTS or MKS.
  2. smk4565
    The next GM engine to die will probably be the 3.6 V6. By 2020 I would think everything will be turbo except for your base 3 or 4 cylinder in entry level cars. Probably no one thought full size cars or Cadillacs would lose V8s, but they did. I bet the next-gen Lambdas have a turbo four under the hood, maybe a V6 option for the 2010s, but around 2020, the V6 might be as rare as a V8 is now.
  3. smk4565
    But only on the V-sport and optional on the 3.6. And not available on the turbo 4, or ATS or Escalade. Most of the luxury segment has 7 or 8 speeds, and Mercedes will have 9 on the 2015 models. Even Chrysler, Dodge and Hyundai have 8-speeds. It seems that Cadillac should have 8-speed standard across the line, if brands below can offer it.
  4. smk4565
    GTO was on sale for 3 years, and 40,800 units. G8 was on sale for 2 years and sold 38,000 units, the last 5,000 or so of those on big discounts once Pontiac was killed. The SS may last more than 2 years, but it looks like 3 is it and they won't sell 30,000 of them. This import from Australia idea isn't working.
  5. smk4565
    Why don't they make a car with good styling, instead of making their "F Sport" cars just uglier versions of their already ugly cars. Adding big smoked chrome wheels, big exhaust pipes, a rear spoiler, and big wheel arches doesn't make a sports car. It doesn't work when college kids do that to their 1997 Civic and it doesn't work on a Lexus IS either. Their performance cars aren't even fast, they have 1 car with 1 body style with over 400 hp (the LFA already sold out), compared to Mercedes where every car except CLA and GLK have a 400+ hp model, 10 cars, most of those have a 500+ hp option.
  6. smk4565
    No surprise, the GTO was short lived and not successful, the G8 was even shorter lived, and they keep going back the the same well expecting a different result? It was pretty much doomed from the start. Had they put the Impala on a rear drive platform and priced it like a Charger/300 or Genesis sedan they would have had a shot. This SS idea wasn't going to work.
  7. smk4565
    I like the Eagle Vision spot, you almost never see a Chrysler product older than 15 years on the road.
  8. smk4565
    I am sure they picked the best person for the job. Hopefully she is there for a while, as she is the 5th CEO since 2008, they could use some stability.
  9. smk4565
    Isn't there rumor that the ZR-1 was a one and done? If so I could see them making a 600 hp Z06 to fill that void. Looks like an 8-speed is finally coming too, only 8 years behind Toyota/Lexus but better late than never.
  10. smk4565
    When your rebuilding a brand and their image, I can understand the desire to have a halo car like a 2 door convertible, but I think that is a waste of money at this time and there are better options to sink R&D into for expanding models that will have a greater impact on the Cadillac line. The coupes and diesels / Hybrid power trains will be better for Cadillac than the convertible. That can be done down the road when profits are deeper. It doesn't have to be a halo convertible, but the A5, 3-series Lexus IS and Infiniti G37 have convertibles, I assume the Infiniti Q50 will spawn a convertible once the G is totally gone. Then you have the TT, SLK and Z4, and none of those are halo products. An ATS coupe and convertible makes sense. Cadillac needs and 8-speed, since the Corvette is getting one, I assume all Cadillacs will too. They need a hybrid SRX to battle Lexus, and some diesel power in the sedans. If Audi, BMW and Mercedes have 40-45 mpg sedans and Cadillac comes back with a 29 mpg CTS, that doesn't look too competitive, and they will lose the green buyer. If they don't have the R&D budget to do it all, they are in trouble because Mercedes has a big R&D budget, BMW seems to also with their green movement push, and Toyota isn't running out of money anytime soon.
  11. smk4565
    Percentages can be deceiving, Lincoln may have been up 17% but does anyone see them as a threat? When your sales are in the gutter, going up 17% isn't too hard. It is hard to see Volvo lasting much longer, that brand seems ready to die. Cadillac needs more models, they need ATS and CTS coupes, they need at least 1 convertible if not 2. The product line just isn't as diverse as the German brands. Cadillac doesn't have hybrid or diesel powertrains like Lexus or the Germans do. I think those areas need addressed to see the sales gains, because some people will buy solely on MPG, or want a coupe or convertible and Cadillac doesn't have that product yet.
  12. smk4565
    I could see Saturn or Pontiac owners going to Kia. Kia has a bit more of a sporty line than Hyundai and the Soul has that fun, quirky look to it, so they deviate from the boring mainstream cars. The Optima I am surprised doesn't sell a little more, it is a good car. The Soul shows how people love crossover type vehicles. The Cadenza doesn't sell too well, you wonder what the K900 will do.
  13. smk4565
    Audi is the German Lincoln. They will take any VW and put 4 rings on the front and give it a new interior and Quattro and call it a luxury car. I don't get why people would buy an Audi over the rival BMW or Mercedes, or even the ATS and CTS now should give competition to the A4 and A6. Maybe the Q1 will have one door and carry 1 passenger.
  14. smk4565
    The new CTS is sized and priced exactly like the STS was, CTS is 195.5 inches long, STS was 196. STS started at $46,995, as does the CTS now. The difference is they executed the CTS better, have a better chassis, etc. The ATS and CTS are a good start but Cadillac is on pace for 180,000 sales this year and they had 235,000 in 2005. The new lineup isn't doing any better than the CTS-STS-DTS lineup with the same 2 SUVs but the SRX is cheaper now. One thing that always amazes me is Americans thirst for big SUVs. GM is fortunate for this because look at the sales of pickups and 7+ passenger SUVs on that chart, compared to their car sales. I think gas could be $6 a gallon and people would still buy trucks and crossovers like there is no tomorrow.
  15. smk4565
    I predicted before the XTS ever went on sale that it would do about 2500 a month while new and fade back to around 2000 per month after a couple years. That is 30,000 a year which they are at right now and will probably end at 32-33,000. It is a fleet sale car, so assume at least 500 XTS are fleet, to get 2000 retail isn't too hard when Lincoln is on it's knees and "traditional" Cadillac buyers are still alive. Probably once the CTS is in full swing and the XTS ages a bit you'll see 20-25k annual units, sort of what the DTS was doing. The E-class crushed CTS and XTS combined. I don't think Cadillac can crack open the champagne yet. I mean the C-class in its 7th model year, with the CLA potentially stealing sales out, still beat the ATS by 2 to 1. The 3-series outsold the ATS by over 4 to 1. Cadillac is on the right track with the CTS and ATS product wise, but the armor surrounding BMW and Benz is tough to crack.
  16. smk4565
    I don't like the look of the ProMaster, but the City version looks pretty good. I think Ford wins in van styling, the new big Transit and the Transit Connect both look good, and I'd say are the styling leaders for full size and small vans. The Savana/Express I think will look like dinosaurs once these new Euro vans hit, these new vans might be 5-10 mpg better than the old Econolines and Savanas running around. Although the Sprinter is the best looking van of course, and it comes with the same 7 speed transmission you get in an S-class!
  17. smk4565
    What an epic name, the small van market is heating up. I still like the new Transit more I think, but the Promaster City has the best name and almost looks like an Alfa Romeo. I wonder if it will have a diesel option. Or maybe they can do an SRT version with a Pentastar V6!
  18. smk4565
    Maybe if it goes up for sale in Fantasy Land. I can't see it being cross shopped with anything except another car in a Cadillac showroom. Maybe if you walk in to look at a CTS, you take a look at the ELR, or if you do go in to look at an ELR, you'll realize a CTS is $20,000 cheaper and has the same dash, same features, is faster and handles better. And $20,000 buys a lot of gas. We are talking $75k for 2011 Volt technology, I think the ELR will flop harder than the Allante.
  19. smk4565
    I agree with Dwight on luxury packages. The other path to go is hybrid or diesel options. Look at the success Toyota has had with Prius and the Lexus hybrids do okay, the older demographic and female buyers that buy Buicks, Toyotas, Lexus, etc, are more likely to buy soft suspensions and gas mileage over GS performance. People that want performance are going to buy a Mustang/Camaro at the cheap end, or an Infiniti/3-series type of car if they spend a bit more. I think the number of people that would buy a 290 hp Buick Verano is the same number that would buy a 290 hp V6 Dodge Dart.
  20. smk4565
    Verano Turbo is already 250 hp, that is a lot for a smallish front driver. They don't need GS models, although they would probably just be sport styling packages that they charge more money for. They could use a coupe and convertible though. GM is really short on convertibles, Camaro and Corvette are all they have.
  21. smk4565
    A standard length Phantom is 8 inches longer than a Chevy Suburban, that is really big 4 door sedan, let alone the extended length which adds another 10 inches.
  22. smk4565
    What about a Nissan GT-R?
  23. smk4565
    Is there really any point to a Verano or LaCrosse GS? That is like a Lexus ES350 sport model, it just isn't a sporty car. The Regal is the sporty Buick and is the worst seller, so sport Buicks aren't what are winning, it is comfort and quiet that people buy. Plus what can you do with front wheel drive? The LaCrosse already has 300 hp, you can't really go more than that, unless you do an AWD turbo V6 like the XTS and Taurus SHO, but the Taurus SHO isn't really lighting up the sales charts either.
  24. smk4565
    I don't think they will go away from the V8, but there could be an argument made for a turbo 4. The CLA45 AMG makes similar power to a Corvette of 10-12 years ago, match that to a 7 or 8 speed transmission and vet weight to about 3,000 lbs and it would DBE fast and get pretty good mileage. I don't think they ever do that though, I think other vehicles will be sacrificed for CAFE instead. But CAFE is going from 35 to 54 in 10 years, something has to give, unless they go diesel crazy on their sedans.
  25. smk4565
    They could at least make it unique, I am a Genesis fan but the one complaint from many was always the derivative styling. And I don't think they fixed that.
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