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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    The Bolt just had a price drop. Tesla cut prices too. Battery tech improvements will help get battery cost down. There will be R&D and production cost savings when there is a scalable EV platform that can be used for everything from a Corvette to a Suburban, you just modify the size of the same design. In 2030 EV’s won’t have as bad as a price gap to ICE. And for luxury cars it won’t be noticeable. Jaguars cost Tesla money right now and offer less performance.
  2. smk4565
    Not 50% more, prices will level off and be pretty similar.
  3. smk4565
    But JLR can't spend R&D dollars on ICE and EV at the same time, they don't have the money to do that. I have also seen estimates that EV will be over 50% market share by 2030. I suspect there won't be a gas powered luxury car in 2030, unless it is like an Acura/Lincoln badge job car. The gas engine can't match the NVH and silent operation off an EV. Also on performance take any V12 super car and it can't match a Tesla. And EV technology is only getting better while emissions restrictions and CAFE are killing V12s and V8s.
  4. smk4565
    Moving to EV won't cause a drop in sales, building bad cars will. Electric propulsion is superior to a gasoline drivetrain. Going EV is the right move, but all their competitors will also, so I don't see what changes for Jaguar. The Germans will still build better cars than them.
  5. smk4565
    But a 2020 E-class doesn’t have an engine from a 2010 C-class. The oldest Mercedes engine right now is the 4.7 turbo V8 in the SL550 which it is in its final year. The next oldest is the 2.0 four that is from 2015 model year and they also just revised it for 2020 model year. The mild hybrid I6 in most Mercedes is from 2019 and the 4.0 V8 2016 and that also just got a redo and mild hybrid added.
  6. smk4565
    I don't like when Cadillac uses Chevrolet switchgear or sells a $60k XT6 with basically the same V6 a GMC Acadia had 10 years ago. And same goes for Lincoln or Acura that use Ford/Honda interior parts or an Accord V6 in a $55k MDX.
  7. smk4565
    The naming system and the 400, 500, 600 numbers is all a disaster. For example the Escalade gas and diesel engines have the same torque so they'd have the same number. Also changing naming schemes and throwing model names away every 10 years is not a good idea. That is why stuff like Camry and Corolla sell, those names have been around forever and people are familiar with them. I would guess 60% of the buying public doesn't even know what an XT6 is. They should also go back to word names. If word names are a bad idea then the Escalade name should be dropped immediately and the product changed to XT7. Also no other GM brand does an alpha-numeric naming scheme.
  8. smk4565
    Sales wise I mean. Tesla is #4 in sales for premium brands in the USA. The EQE and EQS aren’t half assed, they even built a new factory just for them and the S-class. EQC was half assed.
  9. smk4565
    EQC, but that was kind of half baked I think anyway. EQS and EQE are made on a Tesla like chassis while EQA EQB and EQC are batteries put in an ICE platform. They have an EQE SUV in the works but these Mercedes Electric vehicles better be good and have 1,000 hp AMG versions, otherwise Tesla will surpass them like they just surpassed Audi last year (in the USA).
  10. smk4565
    Everyone has announced that. They all have to do it because investors want it. And there is probably some fear about being late to the party, because if you miss out on the EV train your company is basically out of business.
  11. smk4565
    Jaguar might as well go all electric because the sales of the gas powered cars stink. Also it would be a waste of money to further develop their gas engines or to spend hundreds of millions on another XF or XJ or whatever. Better to put 100% of their money into EV's and I suspect the gas power Land Rovers still on sale in 2029 will look a lot like the ones they have now, and will be ancient by then. Also investors want to see EV's. Investors are seeing gas cars as a negative. Also why Tesla is worth more than the 7 largest car companies combined. If you don't do EV's you can't sell stock or get your stock price up, and that is what these CEO's care about.
  12. smk4565
    Lexus ES350 and Acura TLX are the same size as the CT5 and from a luxury make. You can say the CT5 is an E-class competitor, but Cadillac is severely outgunned on luxury and technology on that one.
  13. smk4565
    My point was just because the CT5 is E-class size, doesn't, mean it is E-class competition. Because a Camry or Sonata are the same size as a CT5 or E-class too. There are like 20 mid-size sedans out there, it is the most common size. I am sure Hellcat fans are saying how the Charger is cheaper and more powerful than a CT5 and therefore better, and not factoring in the Charger has a garbage interior and garbage handling.
  14. smk4565
    I imagine by 2030 level 2 autonomy will be mandated the way ABS is now. So every new car will have it. The S-class can go to level 4 on a gel-fenced area next year, so by 2032 I bet many cars are capable of that. I said Cadillac has better interiors than Tesla. But Tesla outsells Cadillac anyway. Not just auto pilot but all self driving systems.
  15. smk4565
    The XT5, XT4 interiors are nothing special, a Tesla Model S is as nice as those. Overall as a brand, Cadillac has better interiors than Tesla. But Tesla has more performance, Tesla's XT6 competitor is faster than a Corvette. Technology will play a role too, EV range, and most importantly brand image. Tesla outsells Cadillac now, I don't see why Tesla won't in 5 years.
  16. smk4565
    Humans kill 35,000 people a year in car crashes in just the USA. If semi-autonomous or autonomous drive even cut that in half, that is a substantial amount of lives saved.
  17. smk4565
    Daimler is worth $85 billion today, and GM worth $80 billion. When Daimler splits to Mercedes-Benz and Daimler Truck those valuations will rise. Not sure these companies are really that similar since they serve different markets and customers.
  18. smk4565
    Cadillac's best argument is that they are cheaper than the Germans. I think Cadillac should target Acura, Infiniti and Lincoln and really try to dominate those makers who they can probably almost put out of business if they tried. They aren't going to convert the Tesla faithful nor are they going to beat the Germans, it has been 20 years of seriously trying to compete with the Germans, and 20 more years before that with half-ass attempts like the Cimarron and Allante and Seville. I don't understand why they keep trying the same old stuff. And I watched the Autoline interview with Cadillac's chief engineer, and I sort of got the sense that this is both the last hurrah of their gas performance sedans, and he sort of mentioned they looked at a rear drive SUV, but didn't go that direction. I think GM won't put money into a gas Cadillac after this year, and XT4/XT5/XT6 will probably be around as is for another 4-5 years as they just die on the vine, before they just make this brand all EV.
  19. smk4565
    But they aren't targeting Rolls-Royce anymore. They tried and it didn't work. What they did realize is that there are people that will pay for an upgraded S-class or GLS to be chauffeured in, and they capitalized on that market. Really Cadillac should do the same with the Escalade and Celestiq and maybe Lyric, I don't know how expensive that will be. But China has a lot of chauffeur driven cars.
  20. smk4565
    What goal post, it was stated that Maybach was cheaper than Rolls and that is the same as Cadillac being cheaper than Mercedes. Except the Maybach was NOT CHEAPER than a Rolls, they were priced the same. Cadillac prices their cars below the Germans not the same like Maybach did when they went against Rolls-Royce.
  21. smk4565
    The CLA45 is faster around a racetrack than the Alpha platform ATS-V, the CT4-V and CT5-V. So if the Alpha platform was that good, shouldn't a 464 hp ATS-V be faster around the track than a 382 hp CLA45? Also I don't t think Cadillac owners were asking for an E90 3-series with a cheaper interior. Which is why the ATS tanked, wrong car for the market, and the CT4 sales are tanking and it hasn't even been on sale long.
  22. smk4565
    The 2005 Maybach 62 cost MORE than the 2005 Rolls-Royce Phantom by $46,250. And the base model Maybach 57 had the same price as the Phantom. Then 2 years later Maybach put the 57S and 62S on sale and the 57S was 40k more than a Phantom and the 62S was about $100,000 more than the Phantom. I don't know why you think the Maybach's were cheaper than a Rolls. As far as the CT5 goes, The CTS undercut the 5-series and E-class by $10k, and the CT5 undercuts the CTS by $10k. If Cadillac wanted an E-class competitor why did they price it lower than the CTS? Why not upgrade the vehicle and move it up market. The Maybach name is a trim level. Why is GMC Yukon Denali a good idea and S-class Maybach not a good idea? It is the same thing.
  23. smk4565
    Because the CT5 starts at $36k and the interior is nowhere near what you should get in a $100k car, let alone $125k. If the CT5 had an interior on par with the 2021 Escalade, then it would be a worthy A6/E/5 competitor. They better bring it with Celestiq, and I hope they do. Cadillac needs serious cars, not Chevy/GMC re-engineered products. Celestiq will not be a Rolls-Royce competitor. They couldn't even compete with an A8 on the CT6, now all of a sudden they are going after the Phantom?
  24. smk4565
    I don't think anything competes with Rolls-Royce. The original Maybach did, but the current Maybach does not. Nor does Mercedes claim it to, the point of Maybach is to elevate the brand over BMW and Audi and maybe go after Bentley. Also Cadillac is more than welcome to make a sedan that starts at $140k, no one is stopping them. They can go up market if they want, but instead they killed the CT6 and replaced the CTS with a $10k cheaper CT5. So I think we know what direction Cadillac wants to go. And same goes for Lincoln or Acura, they don't have to build all their products on a Ford/Honda chassis with a turbo 4 or share switchgear, they choose to do that. Which is why most buyers choose not to buy their product. And that's fair both ways.
  25. smk4565
    That is true for everyone, no one really stocks base models, but it is starting point for reference. The Mercedes is BMW options list is probably longer than anyone outside of Porsche. I also don't know how many people are looking at a $60k 5-series or E-class and then decide to spend $48k on a Cadillac. But that is Cadillac's (and Lexus, Acura and Infiniti) best move to undercut on price.
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