Jump to content
News
Reviews
Discussons
Activity
Create New...
Close

smk4565

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    13,776

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    13

 Content Type 

Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    CT4’s problem is that the starting price is only $3-4K less than the CT5. With the 84 month financing GM is doing there isn’t going to be much difference in payment between the two.
  2. smk4565
    Mercedes E450 sedan 4matic starts at $61,550, the G80 3.5 AWD starts at. $62,250. Mercedes has a longer options list that can push the price higher but that is pretty close pricing. That G80 better be on point if they want E450 money for it.
  3. smk4565
    OCN is correct on that prior post and CT4 and CT5 still ride on Alpha. I think Cadillac knew they had to cut price to survive. They made the right move pricing CT5 where they did. CTS was dying in sales, a $10k price cut was needed or there was no point in continuing. 5-series size for 3-series money is the only strategy that worked for Cadillac in the past 25 years.
  4. smk4565
    @oldshurst442 That was a long post so I didn’t quote it, but I see a theme Cadillac Catera (Opel Omega), STS, DTS, CTS, XLR, ATS are all gone or failed. Throw SRX that was rear drive and now a front drive XT5. XTS too, 8 dead name plates in 20 years. Also CT5 is what gen 1 CTS was, 5-series size for 3-series money. Gen 1 CTS was the best selling (best looking too) so that is a correct strategy.
  5. smk4565
    All true in this post. And to answer the question, the E-class has 4 body styles (5 if you count CLS) and G80 has 1. E-class has 4 engines in the US, all of which will be electrified for 2021 and the G80 has 2 engines with no electrification. The E-class has up to 603 hp, the G80 has up to 375. Also pretty much anything offered on the G80 was on the E-class 3 years ago. The G80 has to share a chassis with the GV80, E-class and GLE use different architectures so to optimize one for cars and the other for SUV. And lastly Mercedes has a loyal buyer pool, Genesis has to conquest from another brand. G80 has the deck stacked against it. And we have seen everyone else make runs at the E-class and 5-series in the past, Lexus even failed and finally quit the segment. I don’t see how Genesis wins where Lexus failed.
  6. smk4565
    The 340i is priced near the CT5-V and G70 V6 and the BMW spanks both in performance, better interior too although not as nice as the C43 which is slower than the 340i but faster than the other 2. As far as G80 goes, the BMW 550i is faster than a Lexus LFA, CTS-V or CT6 Blackwing. So I’d expect a G80 to have that level of performance. I am not even saying Genesis needs M5 or E63 performance, that won’t happen, but they should be able to get to 550i level especially since they hired a guy from BMW to run their R&D.
  7. smk4565
    2 good posts in a row and I think Genesis is aggressive and will have a 6 vehicle line that is pretty strong within a couple years. The SUVs will be key. The GV80 and G80 interiors seem very nice, new chassis, new engine, that is all good stuff. But they are also going against the German big 3 pretty much head on. You have to be on your A game and be relentless. Keep in mind Audi has an SUV that does the Nurburgring 12 seconds slower than a C8 Corvette Z51. Can Genesis get a GV80 near Corvette level performance? Lincoln Aviatior is a good case study for Genesis, they came in with standard 400 hp turbo V6, optional 500 hp hybrid. GV80 turbo 4 is priced against the 400 hp Aviator, the GV80 V6 is less powerful than the Aviator and probably with the right options mix the 2 could cost the same in V6 guise. But Aviator is getting smoked in sales by others in the segment. I’m not sure GV80 is an all out Aviator killer and it needs to be.
  8. smk4565
    They make an M3. Europeans beating America on fuel efficiency again?
  9. smk4565
    Right but CT4 is a 1-series, A-class, A3 competitor. As Johan previously stated while there, Cadillac was going to go to that segment with rear drive when everyone else did front drive. And you can throw the Acura TLX in there, which is bigger than a CT4, but same price point.
  10. smk4565
    Cadillac states the CT5 is a C-class, A4, 3-series, G70 competitor. On price the CT5 and G70 match up very closely, but the CT5 is the size of a G80. I think the G80 is nicer than a CT5, CT5 and G70 are about equal I think, depends on how big a car you want. I think the Cadillac will sell better as it is 1 car covering 2 segments basically and has more recognizable brand name and dealer network. On a side note a BMW M340i has a 3.8 second 0-60 time, that's not only a full second faster than a CT5-V, it is faster than a Camaro SS or Mustang GT. This is the big separator with the Germans and these other guys, the performance isn't there. Genesis isn't going to make a sedan that fast, let alone an M3 competitor. Cadillac at least has tried with the V-series to make some fast cars, but they could still do more, like V-series SUVs, etc.
  11. smk4565
    Bringing it back to the G80, a good comparison would be to the Cadillac CT5. They are both the same size roughly. A CT5-V starts at $49k, Genesis has said the G80 will start just under $50k, so I'll assume that means $49k. So we have similar size and price with the Cadillac you get a turbo V6 for the price of the turbo 4 in the Genesis. CT5 tops out around $65k, G80 is supposed to go to $70k, so pretty close. So which car is better, CT5 or G80? Which car will sell better?
  12. smk4565
    An E200 bare bones E-class no options starts at 47,000 Euro or $50,800. That is still higher than a Cadillac XTS that had a high fleet %. Every company needs fleet sales to survive too.
  13. smk4565
    So what is the cheapest E-class in Germany? I saw 49,000 Euro. Worldwide number is what matters, that is how Mercedes gets their money for product development. They don’t build a US only E-class paid for only with US sales revenue. Also how VW makes crazy money. Most don’t know the VW Tiguan and Golf both outsold the Chevy Silverado last year on a global number. They sell over 800,000 Golfs per year.
  14. smk4565
    So an E, 5, or A6 start at $54k with zero options, which we know doesn’t exist and every is extra in a German car. Mercedes charges $200 for wireless phone charging which is ridiculous, for $54k that should be included. So what are those 3 transacting at? You get to $70k real quick while still with a 4-cylinder engine on those cars and 4-cylinder sucks for a luxury car so you need the 6, now it is $80k.
  15. smk4565
    The cheapest E-class in Germany 3 years ago was $53k, and that is for an E250 that we don’t even get here. E-class isn’t going anywhere, they sold 351,000 of them last year. Mercedes already paid the fine last year. And all automakers will be hurt by Covid-19.
  16. smk4565
    But the car starts at $36,895, so many will sell at $45-50k and the V’s will mostly sell upper $50’s. New cars often ship first with higher trims before they put lower trims out. But a loaded CLA250 is $53k, $65k for a loaded AMG CLA35. Most CLA250 will sell in the mid 40’s, most CLA35 will sell around $55k. Not far off from CT5 and that is a budget Benz.
  17. smk4565
    It is sold as a taxi because it is probably the longest lasting sedan there is. It also doesn’t change the price. We in the USA choose not to pay $60k for a taxi or police car. Volume is also a good thing, it means you survive. Unlike GS, Q70, RLX, CT6, MKX, Continental soon, etc. No volume, no longer here.
  18. smk4565
    The E-class starts $18k more than a CT5, and a CT5-V maxes around $65k, the E63 goes over $142,000 with all options and even I think the ala carte options list on a Mercedes is nuts, more of that needs packaged or worked in. And sure there will be a CT5 Blackwing, maybe that is $90k, but that is a far cry from $142k. And the G80 is a nice effort but no match for the E-class or 5-series.
  19. smk4565
    Every car has options, the CLA goes over $60k with all options. CT5’s will obviously transact around $45-50k. But options or no options, it is still an entry lux competitor, it isn’t in mid-luxury.
  20. smk4565
    What does CT5 compete with? What is the target market? Acura RL, RLX, Lexus GS, Infiniti Q70 are dead. E-class, A6 and 5-series are still going strong. Germans won that round.
  21. smk4565
    How would you like to compare CT5? Or what does it compare to? Cadillac CT5 is 194 inches long, $36,895. Toyota Avalon is 196 inches long $35,875. Is that the competition at this point? We have Acura TLX at 191 inches long and $33,000. Or 184 inch Mercedes CLA at $36,650?
  22. smk4565
    CT5 is a C-class competitor, the CT5 actually costs less than a C-class. CT6 is out of production. Genesis plans to go into the luxury sedan segment with reliability and low maintenance cost as their sales pitch, but Lexus and Acura tried that and failed. And Genesis has a less than 5 year track record so we don’t really know if their long term reliability is good.
  23. smk4565
    Just announced: Acura RLX is dead after 2020 model year. The so called "more reliable than a German car" Japanese brands have now totally left the mid luxury sedan market, Cadillac left the segment, and Lincoln will soon when the Continental dies.
  24. smk4565
    GV70 is coming soon, the prototype is in testing now, but it is a small, rear drive SUV like a BMW X3. It isn't as big as an RX350, nor is it front drive, which I think is for the better.
  25. smk4565
    Where Genesis is in 50 years doesn’t pay the bills today. The G80 is in a shrinking segment with no performance model and no hybrid and just 2 engine choices. It looks like a nice car but this brand changes styling dramatically every 5 years, G80 will probably look dated shortly after being on market and sales will slump after the first year. GV80 looks like it could be strong because that is a growing segment, Infiniti is dead in the water, the MDX is old, the XT6 is a weak entrant, Lexus GX is ancient. If they steal 500 sales a month from each of those and get 1,000 Hyundai/Kia trade up buyers, now they start getting 3,000 sales a month and have something going there.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

Hey there, we noticed you're using an ad-blocker. We're a small site that is supported by ads or subscriptions. We rely on these to pay for server costs and vehicle reviews.  Please consider whitelisting us in your ad-blocker, or if you really like what you see, you can pick up one of our subscriptions for just $1.75 a month or $15 a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way to help support real, honest content, that isn't generated by an AI bot.

See you out there.

Drew
Editor-in-Chief

I've whitelisted
Continue without support

Write what you are looking for and press enter or click the search icon to begin your search