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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    It looks like a Volvo XC40 or that little Hyundai, I am over the "floating roof" already. Otherwise it looks fine, looks like a Blazer/Camaro for less money, looks much better than a Traxx. To me "Trailblazer" is better than "Blazer" so I don't know why they wasted the Trailblazer name here. Probably should have called this the Tracker.
  2. smk4565
    Buick could easily do an Envision GX between Envision and Enclave.
  3. smk4565
    Why didn’t they give it it’s own name rather than name it off the smallest car. That is worse than calling it Envision Sport. I imagine Buick will have no sedans post 2021 and will be all Chinese and Korean crossovers plus the Enclave.
  4. smk4565
    We all know you can’t kill a Toyota Hilux, maybe Toyota needs to advertise their durability more.
  5. smk4565
    There is no reason that Toyota couldn't build a chassis for the Tundra as good as F150 or Silverado's and this engine seems to be better than what anyone has now, and Toyota reliability is solid too. Toyota doesn't lack money or resources, they just don't seem to care about the Tundra, if they didn't, the 2019 Tundra wouldn't have the same engine as the 2007 Tundra.
  6. smk4565
    The G-wagon has 3 parts carried over from the old one, everything else is new for 2018.
  7. smk4565
    Tundra powertrains were born in the same day as dirt. They need to do something to to make their truck competitive and this seems like a good first step. What makes no sense to me is Toyota can win any spending battle they want with Ford and yet they let the F150 walk all over them.
  8. smk4565
    Renault has a pretty full line. They won't need Fiat, as Renault has small cars and small SUVs and commercial vans that they can co-develop the next generation Ram vans with Renault and sell those with different badges. Jeeps lets Renault strengthen their SUV line up if they need it. Dodge could be come the American version of Renault. Lot of possibilities here to merge the lineups and stream line it all.
  9. smk4565
    More and more auto companies will merge. I’d say this is a done deal and others will follow.
  10. smk4565
    Not a mistake the the best 2 are from Stuttgart. ? And the answer to this question is Toyota Corolla. Because if you don't care about cars you might as well get a cheap one and the Corolla will get you from point A to B in the most boring way possible.
  11. smk4565
    Boxter/Cayman/718. Mercedes SL, although that will likely become a 2+2 like the 911, only with the engine in front, as a way to replace the loss of other coupe/convertible Mercedes. I think Audi will go electric in a pretty big way, they like to push themselves as being tech focused where as Bentley and Lamborghini are old school big gas engine focused. Obviously they will need gas Audi's in the A4, Q5 level stuff, but the A8 might as well go EV now, they don't sell a lot and the S-class has been out powering and out performing that car forever so they might as well try something new.
  12. smk4565
    Kill Fiat in the USA for sure. If they want to move their Miata clone to Alfa Romeo with a 280 hp turbo 4 that could work. And they have to do something like that if they contracted with Mazda to build the 124 for a certain number of years. I think they can kill Chrysler also and move the Pacifica to Dodge.
  13. smk4565
    Diesel is going to be a rough go, and emissions will keep getting stricter and stricter so I wonder how long they can keep it going anyway.
  14. smk4565
    Apple should buy them but Elon isn’t going anywhere. He has too much stock, unless they way over pay him for his shares. Their brand equity is soo good they can ship a car with different color door trim and get away with it. If GM or Ford have a hood that is 2 mm off they get roasted. Side note, Doug Demuro says MBUX is better infotainment than Tesla’s.
  15. smk4565
    Tesla would be a great buy for Apple if they want into cars. And Tesla’s electronics are far ahead of the rest. And the real value would be in the data. Apple would be able to take all that driving data, how often people stop at Starbucks, when they charge, what restaurants they go to etc. Just like Google is tracking Internet traffic, Apple could do that with a car because Tesla owns the data on the car. I am sure there are restrictions on how it can be used but insurance companies would love that data for writing premiums and in claims handling.
  16. smk4565
    Time for Apple to buy them up.
  17. smk4565
    Just make more crossovers, problem solved,
  18. smk4565
    I am seeing those crossover coupes more and more, I could see cutting GLC coupe that seems to sell worse than the GLE. SLC is dead, And some of the coupes and convertibles will die because people don’t buy those anymore. They sold 2200 S-class coupe and convertible last year, that is a lot for a $150k vehicle so cutting that is curious but the new SL can replace those. They are also adding GLB, EQC, EQA, EQS and more so they don’t seem to be shrinking just rearranging the lineup.
  19. smk4565
    My statement what you have in bold states my belief that Cadillac is currently losing sales to Mercedes and others that have high performance SUVs. They easily lose 500 units just by not offering the product and I think Cadillac can get 500 people that were going to buy an Escalade anyway to pay an extra $60,000 for a V-series. They could sell 1,000 Escalde-V a year I think, 100 a month on average for a vehicle that has about 2,000 units a month volume I think is doable.
  20. smk4565
    Mercedes could lose sales if there was a 700 hp Escalade. That could eat into GLS63 or G63 sales. The performance SUV market is growing thankfully, I am sure Mercedes has lost sales the the Bentayga and Urus because the AMG SUVs, Cayenne Turbo and X5 M weren't the only game in town anymore. But there is more and more demand for this sort of thing. My point before was Cadillac is losing out on sales opportunity by not offering an Escalade-V or a CT6-V based crossover because all these other guys have ultra SUVs now. For some odd reason there is demand for sub 4 second 0-60 SUVs that can do 190 mph and get around the Nurburgring in under 8 minutes all while offering top end luxury.
  21. smk4565
    500 a year which at a $60k premium for an engine swap, and beefed up brakes and suspension seems like a way to get an extra $40k profit per unit which is $20 million in extra profit. And they might be able to move 1,000 per year. But also the 500 they sell are not 500 sales lost to Mercedes or Bentley or someone else.
  22. smk4565
    Right, Cadillac doesn't really have any unique attribute or clear mission and that has been going on for 25-30 years. Even with the CT6 they talked about how shedding weight in every way possible was the focus, and yet their most successful product is a an overweight, 6,000 lb truck with a big V8. Then they did this big push how CTS and ATS are going to beat the 5-series and 3-series in performance and no one cared, because Cadillac buyers wants space and comfort, like in an Escalade. No focus, no clear mission.
  23. smk4565
    Corvette should be Chevy's ultimate sports car, not GM's. But sports cars are a dying breed so I get GM not wanting to pump R&D money into a Cadillac sports car when they can sell re-worked Acadias and Equinoxes instead. The 911 has never been in any danger of going anywhere, and there is rumor that the 928 is coming back as a front engine V8 coupe. Agreed on needing all wheel driver over 500 hp, otherwise you are just spinning tire and 800 hp does nothing different that 500 hp does at that point. Or you need mid-engine and loads of downforce when you get into big power numbers. I think Corvette should stay true to its roots. Like you won't ever see a mid-engine Mercedes SL or Porsche 911 because they are sticking with what they are. They did other models for mid-engine when that was called upon (AMG One, Carrera GT, 918) Agreed Cadillac needs a convertible, I don't know how a luxury brand doesn't have a convertible. If Cadillac clientele are not asking for a Tesla competitor, it is because their customers already left for Tesla. Tesla is the hot brand, Cadillac should be looking at going after them.
  24. smk4565
    A Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley or Rolls-Royce doesn't have the cache of an Escalade? Oh Please. Believe me, if Cadillac could sell the Escalade at $300,000 they would price it that way. Bentley is now selling a book about their 100 year history for $255,000. A freaking Bentley book is over a quarter million and some rich bastard will buy that just to say they own it and to rub it in the face of their neighbor who doesn't have the Bentley history book on his private jet. I do think Mercedes is smart to try use Maybach to fill the space in between where Lexus and Audi stop and Rolls and Bentley begin, there is like $100k of gap there. If Cadillac wants to build big luxo barges and be the American Rolls-Royce that is fine with me. But they have to pick a mission and stick to it. XT4 isn't moving the needle, CT5 is a down-market CTS, so I expect CT4 to be a down-market ATS. Americans are getting bigger and older, maybe going back to luxe barges in sedan and SUV form is a play for them. Problem is they never execute these plans well.
  25. smk4565
    I am a believer that the Corvette should be turbo v6 base and V8 optional and live in a $50-90k price range like a Boxster or base Corvette vs a Supra because it is a Chevy and should have value sports car as the equation somewhere. Which it what it was from 1953 to 2006 before they starting to get into high dollar ZR-1's and now going mid-engine. But even if Corvette is to stay how it is, and their numbers show the current car is profitable and doing what they want I am fine with that. But what if someone wants more performance than the Corvette offers? Or what if they want Corvette performance and Escalade Platinum luxury and Super Cruise? I know Cadillac can't build all things for all people, but they need some sort of sports car. The sports car isn't just for it's own volume it is to build image for the brand. And what if Cadillac engineers want to build a rival to the Tesla Roadster, do they just get told no, because they aren't allowed to make something faster than a CHEVROLET? That makes no sense. 100%. Drop a ZR1 engine in an Escalade and charge $160,000 for it. It would be pointless but people would buy it anyway. There are idiots with money out there.
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