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Drew Dowdell

Editor-in-Chief
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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    The strangest possible part of the whole deal is that Jeep alone is supposed to be valued more than all 4 brands combined.... which means that investors see Chrysler, Dodge, and possibly Ram as negative value. Whatever company buys them is not going to be able to ax the other brands and rebuild the new network, but they will have to fill those brands with new product. Sadly, at this point, any leadership would be better than the leadership FCA currently has. China may be Dodge and Chrysler's only hope. If one needs an example of it actually working out well, all one needs to do is look at Volvo. This is why I was surprised by Geely saying they weren't interested in FCA at this time. A brand lineup of Volvo at the top, Chrysler as mid-premium like Buick, Dodge as the family car, Ram, and Jeep could actually work. Volvo has a fantastic, flexible new platform (One of the best on the market at the moment IMHO) in SPA that could conceivably be used for Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep. Chrysler could go to China as a Buick competitor, Jeep is already there, ProMasters and City could be rebadged into Geely or Jeep for China. When you start looking across the lineups, picturing the replacements using SPA and filling in some of the current gaps, a Geely - Chrysler Group merger actually makes sense.
  2. Drew Dowdell
    Well that's already the case. FCA is reportedly working on a twin-turbo version of the pentastar V6 and even a hybrid 4-cylinder for the Ram and possibly Wrangler.
  3. Drew Dowdell
    Until FCA US gets sold...then all that is thrown out.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    Electrified does not mean EV. Electrified does not mean EV. Electrified does not mean EV. Electrified does not mean EV.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    Irrelevant. People don't accelerate at full throttle. The V6 will feel less labored than the 2.0t
  6. Drew Dowdell
    Makes me wonder what was still in the Opel pipeline far enough along that it will still be GM related. Also: Insignia platform + Edge sized = GMC Acadia. The C platform (Acadia) is the crossover variant of the E platform (Insignia).
  7. Drew Dowdell
    Again, JDN was very careful to use the word sedan.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    Bronco will be smaller than this.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    Correct.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    GM as a whole has been terrible on pricing lately. They just aren't competitive on price. The Traverse is a fine piece, but families shop on cost. Dip your toe just slightly out of the base model and the price shoots up drastically. Just adding leather forces you into the LT at $42k. Ford gets you there for $38k in an Explorer. Hyundai for $35k, Honda for $36k. I see Acadias over $40k with cloth seats. That said, GM will really punish you if you want more power, when it's even available. A 2.0T in a Malibu forces you into an option package priced at $31k. At Ford, the 2.0T is a $1,750 option on the SE model. You can already see above about the Camaro. Want an Envision with the 2.0T instead of the dog 2.5? Base price jumps from $34k to $43k. How about a nice CTS with a 3.6 instead of a 2.0T? That'll be an extra $8k please. $9,400 if you try the same jump in an ATS. Now a lot of those jumps involve multiple trim level climbs, forcing you into high option vehicles just to get a higher powered engine. I realize that poverty spec trims shouldn't have the higher power engine available, but being forced to jump from the base model to the Premium Luxury trim just to get a V6 is asinine.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    Interesting with the 3rd row delete.
  12. Drew Dowdell
    It's funny that you used that particular concept for the article picture @William Maley since it looks like a bunch of Hyundai designers snuck into the Peugeot / Citroen design studios after a party one night.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    You coulda just gone to the Nissan dealership.. Apparently "The Best or Nissan" works for both Chevy and Benz.
  14. Drew Dowdell
    Have we met? I'll make a sporty/sports car list for another 5, in no particular order 1. 1998 Eagle Talon TSi AWD 2.0T 2. 1999 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 3. 2017 Mustang Convertible Ecoboost 4. 2017 Mercedes SLC AMG 5. Porsche 911 Targa 4S
  15. Drew Dowdell
    This is true even in an EV with a regenerator. Eventually, the regenerators are going to get smaller and of different configuration. It will just be something that sits on the skateboard.
  16. Drew Dowdell
    Don't restrict cylinder counts on that one, I've got a lot of good ones up my sleeve.
  17. Drew Dowdell
    GM has been particularly terrible with advertising and pricing lately. I bet no one out there in the general public knows the diesel Cruze exists.
  18. Drew Dowdell
    They need to poach designers from Honda. Apparently they have the process down to the shortest in the business.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    1. V90 Cross Country T6 - Daily Driver 2. 1998 Buick Riviera 3. 1985 Buick Riviera T-Type 4. Cadillac CT6 Platinum 3.0 AWD - Other Daily 5. Ram 1500 Limited EcoDiesel - muh truck
  20. Drew Dowdell
    Well, they already have an A, B, and C-class... how do you go smaller than that? No-Class?
  21. Drew Dowdell
    22 points
  22. Drew Dowdell
    The prior one was a terrible car for the class with no name recognition. Putting X at the end of everything does not a great seller make (See Also: ILX).
  23. Drew Dowdell
    I was going to say, what about oddball configurations like W engines or VR engines? Granted, those are practically limited to VAG vehicles.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    You get what you pay for. The Bolt can make it from Pittsburgh to Lancaster on a single charge. SMART can't even make it to Wheeling. Well they could, but with 2/3rd of all dealers opting out of the SMART brand, it's not going to happen.
  25. Drew Dowdell
    MB totally screwed up here. *Sits in his CEO Armchair* The SMART brand should have been expanded. It has virtually no name brand recognition or baggage in the US. It should have become MB's family car brand. Co-develop some cars with Renault for US consumption and sell them here. Just name them Smart 1, Smart 2, Smart 3, etc. There was a ready-made network of dealers ready to go, no need to build it up from scratch. I expect the SMART brand will close in the US in a few years.
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