smk4565
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Everything posted by smk4565
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There is a GLE version of this powertrain too, I think this is a euro only thing, maybe China, where having that plug-in hybrid deal beats congestion charges and probably gets some tax benefit. Government regulations are why a powertrain like this exists. Good performance though, but I feel like this is a stop gap to full electric vehicles. But at least they give customer choice of 48 volt mild hybrid gas, hybrid diesel and EV. They have all bases covered.
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I think weak brands that build lousy product should be discontinued. If GM and Ford put out class leading product then there is no problem. But their crossovers are no more competitive than the Cruze, Focus, Fusion, Impala, etc that all got discontinued. Lincoln seems to be trying, we’ll see how they do.
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I mean Ford is going all in on SUVs and GM is going pretty hard there too, but I could see Ford and GM cutting stuff like Escape, Ecosport, Traxx and Equinox when they can't compete with the Asians, same way they cut minivans and sedans when they couldn't compete with the Asians. Ford and GM can "focus" on SUVs, doesn't mean they will build good ones. They didn't build good sedans, they don't build good crossovers now with the exception of the Explorer/Aviator seem to be on point. And the body on frame trucks don't have any outside competition.
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Ford, Chevy and FCA are giving up on sedans to focus just on crossovers, and yet the RAV4 is dominating them all. I think they are in dangerous territory when you pull out of a lot of segments to focus on SUV and pickups and it is only a matter of time before the Asians take all the SUV market too just like they did cars.
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But that's GM for you. It should have been a sedan or crossover, but GM had to make a dumb decision somewhere, maybe they thought Prius-like hatchbacks were the way to go, but the Nissan Leaf doesn't sell well either, the Model 3 rakes in sales. Although I don't think GM really has many well styled cars right now, even if it was an SUV they probably would have screwed up the styling.
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The RAV4 is better than most small crossovers, they also market it a fair amount, have Toyota reputation and I bet they have awesome lease deals due to the Toyota resale value. If there was better competition they might take some sales from it. I don't like the RAV4, but it is better value than the others in the segment. Corolla, Camry and Avalon all up, so cars aren't dead yet, at least not at Toyota who is probably capitalizing on Ford and Chevy not making sedans.
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Good write up. We already know that Audi and Mercedes will have electric sedans out in the next year or so, but these are going to be Model S, Taycan type competitors and probably cost $100k. BMW is pretty deep in development on the i4. I think we are 3-5 years out form there being more EV's in the $35-50k range that are desirable cars and not a compliance car like a Kona EV basically is.
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The battle is on now, Porsche build quality is top notch, Tesla not so much. The multiple touch screens is cool, this interior is way better than a Tesla. Mercedes EQ S debut next week so then there will be 3 and more will follow. Will be interesting to see how Tesla responds to the competition.
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Well Toyota doesn't own FCA, at least not yet. Maybe in the next recession if FCA stock gets cheap they'll buy it out.
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Well it makes sense to sell cars in a place with 1.2 billion people, even if it isn't a wealthy nation.
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Fiat is done in the USA, small cars don't do well here, and Fiat doesn't build good small cars either. They are probably tied to the 124 Spider for a number of years in the deal with Mazda. They could always pull the Fiat brand out of the USA and put a Dodge grille or emblem on a 500X or the Spider. I think FCA overall has too many brands and too many models.
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I am not praising it but the GLB looks good and even in 35 trim will be faster than the competition even more so in 45 trim. I have also said in the past that under $50k you can get away with front drive and in small cars you can also. No one does rear drive in this segment, even in the segment above only half of them use rear drive. XTS was full size and over $50k, that doesn’t work with front drive.
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XT6 will be dead on arrival. I see XT5 sales hitting a slump and that isn't that old a product so it will be a while before GM replaces it. The Lexus RX is the only SUV they have that sells, the rest a sales dogs because they are either a glorified RAV4, 4Runner or Tundra, and they aren't getting it done.
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Hot crossover is already upon us. AMG, M, Audi SQ, Alfa Stelvio, Jeep GC Trackhawk, Porsche has 2 SUV, Lamborghini has one, Ferrari and Aston Martin will have one next year, Tesla will have a 2nd. There are probably 20 crossovers on sale now with what was deemed sports car performance just a few years ago.
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The XTS was never a very competitive car to begin with, and compare it to an E-Class or 5-series or a full size luxury car. XTS was front drive in a rear drive segment, which is why it is dead and the Continental will be dead. The GLB is competing with the NX, XT4, X1, XC40, etc. There is no performance benchmark in that segment and no one has rear drive. Really is it what the hot hatch segment is going to turn into as most of the hot hatches aside from the Golf are dead and those fwd/awd hot hatch crowd will probably trade into compact “hot” crossover.
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