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Drew Dowdell

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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    The 200 wasn't competitive with value shoppers who were looking for the biggest car for their dollar. Making it a bit more premium with a base 2.0T instead of the Tigershark would have gone a long way towards putting it more like a TLX, Regal, or whatever size equivalent Infiniti. Everybody wants to knock the 200, but it is really not at all a bad car. It's just smaller than the rest of the class it tried to compete in and that put it out of step with the market. But they drive well, in upper trims feel reasonably premium, and for a little while there, they were the only 6-cylinder AWD mid-size you could buy that wasn't a Subaru. The Pentastar just got a major refresh, so you're wrong there. Hemi hasn't needed much in updates, it does as well as the updated V8s from GM. I don't care about the age of a particular design as long as it performs well... and both the V6 and V8 in Chrysler's stable, perform very well. It's their 2.4 liter that needs the updates the most.
  2. Drew Dowdell
    So millenials aren't killing babies.
  3. Drew Dowdell
    Indeed, the future is coming whether you, or anyone, likes it or not. I've adjusted my thinking here as well. When the Pruis and Insight were the only hybrid options, I never would have considered one. But now there are hybrid options that I'm looking into. I'd prefer to go plug-in if possible, right now, the only one(s) that meets our needs are the Volvo XC60 PHEV and XC90 PHEV. The Benz's and BMW's EV only ranges are too short to be worthwhile. The Volvo is bare minimum (20 miles) in the XC60. Here in hilly western PA, using Pure mode which favors EV as much as possible would probably produce some good results by regenerating on the downhills and using gas on the up hills. If Toyota made a plug in Highlander or Honda made a plug in Pilot, that might get us over there.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    Well... that's not a Z71.. the Z71s have the body color grille which completely changes the appeal for me. I don't like the huge chrome grille on the non-Z71 models. The air dam is easy to remove. @ocnblu had his off before it left the dealership.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    All he sees in the US are assets to be sold to the highest bidder so he can put that money into Fiat, Alfa, and Maserati.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    You're already twice the CEO that Sergio is. There should have never been a base model 200. It should have started around $28k, came standard with a 2.0T and an optional 3.6. Leather standard. It could have been right there with the TLX / Regal. Drop all of the 200 models below that. Keep the Dart, make an Avenger that is a rebadge of the 200, but with the base Tigershark and maybe an optional 2.0T. No AWD offered. Start it a little bit cheaper than a base Fusion or Malibu. The 300 with an upgraded interior to the level of the Lacrosse would have done wonders for that car. It has all the hardware needed to more than compete, but the interior is behind the others. Raise the base price a bit to compensate for the better interior and give the newly upgraded 200 described above some breathing room.
  7. Drew Dowdell
    Yes, he gets a giant golden parachute if he sells off FCA US. That, I think, is his underlying motivation for knee-capping the entire organization.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    Corners guys.... corners. Let bygones be bygones.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    Because aside from a few Jeeps, they do well mostly on niche products. The LX cars are decent vehicles, but they should have been replaced first before attempting a new Alfa. The 200 needed to be replaced, marketed, and Dodge needed a copy. The entire FCA plan is severely flawed and favors the italian brands over the US brands..... but in the US, the US brands are what keep the lights on.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    Yes, there were some basics about engine output that he wasn't getting and got angry when it was explained to him.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    All the Chinese companies like "It wasn't me!"
  12. Drew Dowdell
    He left a while ago because he couldn't handle being an adult in the political forum.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    Hmm.. I hadn't realized that either.
  14. Drew Dowdell
    Well, I'm trying to talk Albert into a plug-in for his next vehicle, but so few of them come in AWD. Those that do have pathetic EV only ranges and are extremely expensive. I think we're at a tipping point for Plug-In and we're going to see a whole bunch of them hit the market or be announced in the next 18 months. It was the Pacifica Plug-In that convinced me of the virtues of the technology. The amount of pull the Pacifica has under hard acceleration is joyfully inappropriate for a mini-van. The fact that it can get 84 MPGe is the cherry on top..... it actually has me considering one, but Albert won't allow it. *sigh* No wagons, no minivan, no manual transmission, no coupes as daily drivers, no RWD..... it might be time for a new boyfriend.
  15. Drew Dowdell
    No, they'll shift to where the new markets are. Which reminds me, I need to brush up on my Chinese....
  16. Drew Dowdell
    VelociRaptor. I'm here all night...tip your waitress.
  17. Drew Dowdell
    True, but one has to remember to think globally. Dodge never had much of a market outside of North America. Chrysler has been in Europe, they sell an oddly high number of Town and Country minivans there. It's just about the most common North American built, US branded vehicle I see there. Jeep is in China, neither Chrysler nor Dodge are. They could, and already have plans to send Chrysler to China starting next year. Chrysler will be priced and positioned like Buick. Under Geely, they'd keep the Pacifica. 300 and 200 go on SPA as Lacrosse and Regal competitors. Add a crossover or 3 and the lineup is pretty full for both China and US. SPA was designed from the start to be a plug-in hybrid, so it would go over well with China's electric car goals. No need to bring Dodge as a brand over to China, Geely is already an established brand, so just swap badges on which ever cars get shipped whichever direction. Dodge US could use some lower cost platform shared with Geely for the smaller stuff and the Volvo SPA for the Durango. Charger and Challenger would get axed under this scenario. Replacements for Dart, Avenger, Journey, and Nitro (FWD) could come from Geely. This also gets Geely into the South America market via a reputable brand. RAM and Jeep just keep on keepin on. JGC would probably need to move to SPA, just let the Americans make it trail rated. They'd eventually have to replace the Fiat based Jeeps, but they'd have 5 or 6 years to get that done. It's not impossible to imagine Volvo's new factory spitting out S90s, 300c, Durango and JGCs. *Sorry if I'm rambling, hardly slept this week*
  18. Drew Dowdell
    That still doesn't give it a sustainable business model. Even Rolls Royce moves 4,000 cars a year.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    From my understanding Frankfurt is among the most expensive of all of the shows. I haven't been yet, but there is huge competition to out-do each other with their displays. Mercedes usually has an entire hall to themselves.
  20. Drew Dowdell
    They have to build the hybrid system for the lesser cars anyway. Building a hyper-super-duper car doesn't add any significant economies of scale.
  21. Drew Dowdell
    Only if you take a match to it.
  22. Drew Dowdell
    But the pushrods! They'll sell like 12 of those hypercars.... it's not a business model.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    And a pre-built dealership network.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    So what if there is overlap among brands? For years, my preference in GM truck styling has alternated between GMC and Chevrolet as each generation comes out. If I don't like the looks of the Ford... say if I was in the Super Duty market around 2008....what other Ford product could I buy? The current generation of GM trucks is the only one in the last few generations where I actually like both the Chevy (Only in Z71 trim, I don't like the non-Z71 grille) and GMC. Same goes for Equinox / Terrain / Envision. These three can overlap substantially on price, yet only 1 of them really has any chance with me. Can't do that at Ford, Toyota, or Honda.
  25. Drew Dowdell
    I'm going to have to disagree with you here primarily because the entire industry is heading to a completely hybrid/EV lineup. If your only choices are a Benz hybrid, BMW Hybrid, Volvo Hybrid, and Cadillac Hybrid, you're not going to stop your years of Benz buying just because they now only sell hybrids. Edit: Also Balth, to be fair, the S550E went out of production late last year and is being reintroduced after being refreshed late this year. It's not even currently listed on Benz's website. So first half 2017 sales figures aren't indicative of take rate.
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