Drew Dowdell

I'm interested in what they're going to do about production capacity for these critters. The Holden Trax has been doing very well with 50% y/o/y growth rates and it is actually a newcomer to an existing market in the AU.... Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Ford, and Suzuki all have existing models there that are direct competition. The Opel Mokka is showing some rather ridiculous growth numbers as well. Opel sold 70,768 Mokkas in 2013 and in the 11 months reporting for 2014, they sold 114,638... so over 120,000 for 2014 is a possibility. Here in the US, 2013 was a short year for the Encore with low inventories until at least August, still Buick sold 30,956 Encores in 2013 (one of those is mine!). In 2014 so far Buick has sold 45,790 Encores with one month left to report... they'll get pretty close to 50,000 Encores sold this year. Then they also have to feed China. Right now, all of these are being built out of the one plant in Korea. Eventually, they're going to need another production line for these vehicles and it will need to be sooner rather than later.

The Lacrosse started at around $25k when it was introduced years ago... it is The Jeffersons of the GM lineup right now just like the CTS on a steady march up-market. If you think the Lacrosse doesn't count as a premium car, you really need your head examined. The Impala has moved up-market too, but it changed platforms, markets, and capabilities drastically, so that is to be expected where as the Lacrosse has largely stayed the same in platform and purpose. Most retail Lacrosses sell at a fairly high transaction price, with customers opting for the V6, AWD, and leather. Keep in mind that Chevy has one extra car in the lineup compared to competing brands. Ford has the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, Taurus. Toyota has the Yaris, Corolla, Camry, Avalon. Nissan has the Versa, Sentra, Altima, Maxima. Hyundai has the Accent, Elantra, Sonata, Azera, (Genesis is Hyundai's rump lux brand). VW has the Golf, Jetta, Passat. Chevy has the Spark, Sonic, Cruze, Malibu, and Impala. Each of Chevy's cars straddle the segments of the competition due to pricing. A Sonic can be competition to both a Fiesta and Focus, a Cruze can be competition for a Focus and a Fusion, an Impala can be competition for a Fusion or Taurus. It all depends on a customer's value judgement regarding size.

well no... preventing the spread of rust or the further deterioration of the seat is not just aesthetic.

I don't see how it looks feminine...

I dunno.. a truck that dependable deserves to be taken care of at least on basic things. He didn't buy a new muffler? I can see not painting it... but at least bondo up the holes in the body so it doesn't spread more. Get a seat cover for the seat, etc...

Doll

I think there is video around of it

You think he would have noticed..

Minor updates after some suggestions from Dodgefan.

I've been hacking at this for a couple weeks and I think I am pretty close to done. Let me know what you think of it.

anyone want to spot me $8500? It didn't sell the first time and is relisted.

No need to photoshop. The Fiat Doblo already exists as a pickup and a chassis cab.

Assuming Cummins gets their small diesels right on the first try. There were some stumbles by them years ago with the Ram trucks.

fixed

I may have quite similar news this year on top of two other big news items!

GM needs to get over the 90 - 95% complete product is a good product mentality. Guess what it is that 5 - 10% that magazines pick on and harp on the biggest. I want the engineers, accountants, managers to give 100% just like they gave for the Corvette. That's why I don't want to see rear drum brakes on a Malibu... on a Cruze... maybe.

...I have no idea why I thought you were in Canada..... Wonder if you can negotiate a new Cruze diesel as part of a buy-back. My grandmother did that with her first 7-series, got out of a 4 year lease when only about 2 years in and walked into another 7-series for the same payment. .... you seem to enjoy the Cruze otherwise

Do you subscribe to TrueDelta.com? It's free. It's like consumer reports. What are lemon laws like up there in Canada?

The refresh of the LX cars should hold things together for now... yes, weight is an issue when compared to the Mustang (not so much the Camaro yet, but we'll see if and when that changes) but compared to segment sedans, the LX cars do really well.... enough so that I don't think weight is the biggest concern at the moment. The 300 in V6 form is only a little bit heavier than a V6 Lacrosse (120lbs), Impala (220lbs), or Taurus (100lbs), and about 500lbs heavier than the category lightweight, the Avalon, and yet I'd put a V6 300 up against the V6 versions of all of them in a MPG run and the only one I think it would be a competitor is the Avalon. That's not to say that weight isn't a concern... it's just that Chrysler has the hardware under the hood so good that it isn't much of a concern right now. If they could figure out a hybrid or diesel for the LX cars while keeping the 8-speed, they really could have a killer app for the segment. The concern right now is that Chrysler is supposed to be their mainstream family brand and they only have 3 models.

I loved the old Mitsubishi Eclipse. It was also sold as the Eagle Talon in the US and I actually preferred that version a little more. It had a different spoiler, tail lights, and nose than the Eclipse.. Years ago I almost sold my first Toronado for one and as you get to know me, you'll understand how serious a decision that was for me. v. v.

Hope you have a great 2015. My 2015 is looking to get very interesting and exciting.

Lol!

I still want an ATS wagon with a 2.0t and AWD. I could probably sell that at home

The Accord inline-4 was SOHC for years... people have no idea what DOHC or SOHC means. True but they know what the Camry and Accord have is what they want. 10 years ago Chevy tried the we'll give you a pushrod V6 for the price of a CamCord 4-cylinder, no one cared, they bought the CamCords still.Your cause and effect meter is still out of wack. The pushrod v6 was the best part of a terrible car. It wasn't the engine that pushed people away from those cars.

I don't doubt you are correct.... I wouldn't be surprised at GM screwing up it's own platform naming convention.The other thing I've read is that the second position in the code indicates the version of the car on the platform rather than the version of the platform.... which also would be incorrect for Malibu as the next one would be E4SC in that case..... any way you slice it, if the next malibu is on an all new version of the epsilon platform, it's either the 4 version on the Epsilon platform or it's the 3rd version on the Epsilon-II platform or it's the first version on an Epsilon 3 platform... so E2 doesn't make sense. But as I said above... Delta-II cars in NA are called D1 which can't possibly fit the 3 cars currently sold on it.