Drew Dowdell
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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell
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Chevy Cruze - Honestly one of the best cars in the segment, certainly the ability to option up to the nicest interior in the class. The Civic stole the show and people just buy Corollas automatically without considering alternatives. Lacks the visual distinctiveness of "little car that looks like a big car" that the previous generation had. Chevy would rather sell you a Trax. Jeep Cherokee - It's going far better than the Liberty did, but it still lags way behind the CR-V, Escape, and RAV4. More engine choices and some true off-road ability options make it a compelling offering. The interior is one of the better ones FCA does. Still, the early transmission problems and unconventional looks have held it back. The update may help significantly. Cadillac CT6 - A car as big as the DTS that weighs as little as a 335xDrive. It handles great, has 4 great powertrain options, optional 4-wheel steering, one of the best interiors in the GM lineup, starting price equal to the next size class and engine class down over at the makes from Deutschland. Super Cruise. Styling grew stale rather quickly and Cadillac does virtually nothing to advertise it, the advertising dollars are for Super Cruise, not CT6. The striking new look may help, but not if Cadillac doesn't get the word out.
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Also, the assertion that Audi's handling isn't bad relative to the segment is wrong. They are consistently rated lower than BMW, MB, RWD Infinitis, Cadillac, RWD Lexus. The last SRX actually handled excellently. The XT5 is just "eh", but the point is that FWD and handling are not mutually exclusive. Audi's have just as much, if not more weight in front of the front axle than any transverse mounted setup. They plow hard in turns and it is only through Quattro doing its computer assisted magic that the cars don't end up in the trees. The entirety of Audi's engines sit ahead of the axle centerline... even the old FWD northstars move the weight further back than that.
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If your argument is that Cadillac needs a RWD crossover, I'm there with you. Where I disagree with you is the assertion that the XT5 must be that vehicle. I see no reason why both cannot exist in the Cadillac lineup. It's not a one-or-other issue. Cadillac can sell a baby Escalade in RWD form right alongside the current XT5. There is absolutely no reason that Cadillac should abandon a segment they are one of the best sellers in.
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I don't see the business model for all the variants that BMW and Mercedes are producing. I think they are throwing spitballs at the wall and seeing what sticks. They'll have to cut them back eventually. Cadillac is not "daring greatly" lately..... nor is GM as a whole.
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I could totally daily an ATS V6 coupe if I lived a different life.
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I hope (and expect) that the rest of the CT6 lineup will be updated to the new look.... minus the V-Sport flourishes of course.
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This would be a fantastic addition to the Cadillac lineup in addition to the XT5... but not instead of. Dropping the XT5 would be dropping customers for no reason.
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I think that RWD really is important for sedans, coupes, convertibles, etc. While I don't believe that for my personal purchases, I do see why it matters in the market. Crossovers are a totally different beast. People simply don't buy them for performance. Furthermore, in crossovers, if people care about anything it is that they are AWD rather then FWD or RWD. Once they hear that the vehicle has AWD, they go deaf to which way the engine faces... it just doesn't matter. They'll care more about if it has Apple Carplay or not (I know that is certainly a higher factor for me than a transverse mounted engine). If there is anything holding back the XT5, it isn't the powertrain. The 3.6 + 9-speed is more than up to the task of moving the XT5 along briskly. Could there be a more powerful option? Sure, but the percentage of takers is likely to be small.... it would exist purely to keep loud enthusiasts who won't buy a Cadillac anyway from flapping their gums. There are a number of interior issues that I see in the XT5 that aren't related to its platform. The plastics on the lower doors where the map pockets are is horrible. Anything lower than the dashboard is pretty bad. The switchgear doesn't feel premium. The leather isn't as nice feeling. These are all reasons to pick a GLC over an XT5... and the exact reasons I would myself.... the powertrain is fine though.
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Yes... this. Dark Blue is the color I'd pick also. It's been a long time since a Japanese car has caught my eye. It was probably the original Infiniti G-coupe too.
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That is probably true that the XT5 has more room than the GLC.... that's probably the reason the XT5 sells better. The GLC starts at $40,050 / The XT5 starts at $40,595.
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Unfortunately, idiots buy cars. You can go on the comments section of some of the larger automotive websites and see people who think the ATS is a rebadged Cruze.... so... fair warning... they're everywhere... even on enthusiast websites.
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The badge jobs are the other way around... XTS came out first, Impala came out later, ATS came out first / Camaro came out later. The Escalade is the only one that was released after the Chevy, but it has also gotten more updates in the meantime. The XT5 and Acadia were released simultaneously. Those are a different segment. GLC and XT5 compete in the same price class. Cadillac doesn't really have a true entry to compete with the GLE/X5. Escalade is the answer to GLS and does just fine in the market competing with Benz.
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I'm fine with that. I'm actually not a big fan of the XT5 myself... I would go GLC. However, it has nothing to do with 0-60 or RWD/AWD. I would be interested in a Traverse platform Cadillac that was restyled to look like a baby Escalade.... as long as they fixed the interior quibbles I have with the XT5 and maybe put the 3.0TT in there.
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Lets keep away from the personal.
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He's not wrong and those people aren't necessarily trolls. People just aren't that knowledgeable. Ages ago when I had just gotten my '04 CTS, a neighbor of mine came over to talk about it. He was an owner of an STS. He insisted that my CTS was FWD and Northstar powered and walked away in a huff saying I didn't know anything about cars when I corrected him. A lot of people really just don't know. Since when is a GLC or X3 not a lowly lease appliance? That's pretty much all the vehicles in this segment are. Status Leases.
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A valid hypothesis. How has that helped Jaguar, Genesis, or Infiniti? How has RWD helped Lexus? Their best sellers are still FWD and their worst sellers are RWD and consistently rank (undeservingly I might add) at the bottom of the sales charts for their segments. Infiniti in particular saw big sales increases when they started moving back to FWD platforms. The bulk of Infiniti and Lexus brands sales hang on FWD vehicles. Cadillac saw huge sales increases when they moved the SRX from RWD to FWD, and dropped the V8. I'm thinking from a purely business perspective rather than an enthusiast perspective. How does Cadillac make more dollars by switching to RWD on a vehicle they already make a ton of money on? How does a RWD XT5 translate to more CT5/S/6 sales? If we're going to get into "proper" materials on the XT5, the drivetrain is the least of that vehicle's worries. Once you get away from the nice dashboard, the plastics and other materials are Chevy grade and not at all premium. I much rather Cadillac spend the money there than on an all new RWD platform.
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Has to do with EPA classifications and such. That's why some cars like the FR-S/86 have back seats, but they're basically unusable. Plus, MB already has 2-seater convertibles. You can still put kids in the back seat of a C-Class Cabrio
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Cadillac is in the business of making money. With the XT5, they are probably printing it since it's just an Acadia with different styling. So I ask again, do you see a switch to RWD as something that would push the XT5 to sell better than the RX? Would moving to RWD increase sales enough to make up for the lost profits of a more expensive (due to lower volume) platform? Does a move to RWD satisfy anyone other than enthusiasts who aren't buying in the segment anyway? Explain the business case, in dollars, as to why Cadillac should make such a move. Up until very recently, the XTS was routinely outselling the CTS and still outsells the CT6. The enthusiasts keep pushing Cadillac to do go RWD, but the business case for that isn't clear. Now, while I personally like the XTS, I can certainly see that it isn't the right product for Cadillac these days, but the XTS is probably the most profitable car line for the entire brand.
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The question you have to ask yourself is this: "What advantage does a RWD platform bring to the XT5?" Will it sell better? Probably not, it already sells better than RWD entries from other manufacturers. 99% of People don't by crossovers, RWD or otherwise, for performance. The Explorer outsells the Grand Cherokee. The RX outsells the GLC. The Highlander outsells the 4Runner. The Atlas will vastly outsell the Toureg. The QX60 vastly outsells the QX70. If we were talking about coupe or sedans with a performance interest, the RWD may matter... but most people who buy crossovers just check the AWD box on the order form and go about their day without a second thought. People certainly aren't choosing a GLC over an RX because of RWD.
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I really like this Benz... probably the best looking option in the respective segments, though those segments are rather thin. I would put the Infiniti Q60 as a very close second place for coupes. If Genesis ever does a G70 Coupe, it would also be an interesting entry.
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Which car models do you think should sell better than they do? Why do you think they don't sell better? Limit of three models and must be in production (not just leftovers still on sale but not currently being built).
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Cool! I didn't know the back panel dropped.
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There's no access to that space from the trunk is there?
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Lincoln News: Rumorpile: Lincoln Continental To Be One and Done?
Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in Lincoln
People who bought a 2002 Continental new were likely in their late 60s at the youngest. I don't see the market for 84 year olds with a fondness for Continental being that large.
