Jump to content
News
Reviews
Discussons
Activity
Create New...
Close

Drew Dowdell

Editor-in-Chief
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    56,001

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    547

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    It seems like each iteration of the Dart platform gets a bit better. Dart with 1.4T is terrible, Jeep Cherokee does mostly better, and Chrysler 200 seems to be performing satisfactorily.
  2. Drew Dowdell
    That's an unusual price... my area is $10k more than that.
  3. Drew Dowdell
    Yes, I love the Encore, tight for me but doable as a daily commuter auto. Still not able to have someone sit behind me unless they are a very small adult or kid, but unlike other CUV's out there, the trax and encore I can actually sit in upright and comfy with head room and it would be fine for a 1-2hr drive. GM has really done an outstanding job with these auto's I am very excited and expect solid sales for the Trax just like the Encore. One thing I will have to say is that I love the dash in the Trax, I actually think it is better than the Encore. That is what I think Buick needs to do, update and improve the Encore dash. It's amazing that you fit in it and say that it would be okay as a commuter for you given your previous comments about other cars. The Trax is shorter in length than a Sonic Sedan!
  4. Drew Dowdell
    Did you sit in the driver's seat? Did you fit? I was noting the other day how our Encore seems to have more legroom than you'd expect from a car this size.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    I still want to try a Cruze diesel. I think they would suit my driving habits. Ideally though, a Verano diesel AWD.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    I think they'll sell just fine right out of the gate. Buick has already been selling every Encore they can build. Trax has no similarly priced competition yet.
  7. Drew Dowdell
    omg, still another year for an MKS replacement? The XTS will be up by then and it's been out less time.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    I have to point out that the Chevy division is a full-line mainstream entity. Like other full-line mainstream entities, coupes have all but been eradicated . Honda has the Accord coupe.. Toyota the Tc and FRS, both which are utter dogs on the market and sell at about 1/3 combined of what the Camaro does monthly. Ford and Dodge are identical in this regard as Chevy. No one really has wagons in the U.S. mainstream, but the rest I will agree with in regards to Buick's line-up. The GMC example is spot on, but the Granite comment remains to be seen. I'm not completely sold on the Renegade, and it is still possible that it, like the Dart, will fail to connect with the buying public. Subaru has wagons... lots of 'em... and they're kicking ass. Mazda has a great hatchback... it's basically turned them around from totally sinking. The manufacturers like to use the excuse that "Americans won't buy wagons or hatchbacks" as a reason to not sell them here. Europe does buy a lot of wagons, but you can't tell me that Opel is selling a huge amount of Astra Wagons there. Both Western Europe and the US are around 13 million vehicles SAAR each year give or take a million. Why take the time to design and build multiple body styles of a model (lets say the Astra/Cascada for example) and then sell all 4 body-styles in one market and only 1 body style in the other market... while throwing up their hands exasperated that Americans don't buy sedans/hatchbacks/convertibles??? We don't because we can't! I'd be in an Regal Sports Tourer AWD in a Frankfurt minute if I could buy one here. The Impreza WRX had a 50% take rate on the hatchback, yet Subaru canceled the WRX hatch. The mind boggles! Toyota sold 24k of the ugly as sin Venza this year... it's essentially a Camry wagon. Honda has moved 12k YTD of the even worse looking Accord Crosstour The Jetta Sport Wagon is now out of production, but they still have sold 15k of them YTD Ford has even managed 18k of the overpriced Flex. All of them piss poor attempts at selling wagons, but close to 70k new mainstream brand, mid-size wagons have found homes this year even before we get to Subaru or Audi or any of the hatchbacks available.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    It's a good direction for GM, but imagine if they'd stop being so conservative with their model line-ups. Chevy has one attainable coupe.... ONE. They have no wagons, two economy hatch backs. Their mid-size is back of the pack... the advertising slogan should be "Hey, at least it's not an Avenger!" Buick has no coupes, No wagons, No hatchbacks, no convertibles... in spite of all of those being available in other markets on the platforms Buick uses. GMC has no off-road vehicle like the Wrangler or heck, even the Grand Cherokee. Jeep is about to school GMC on why the Granite should have been put into production. The Equinox and Terrain re-dos are now officially late even though they are selling okay. Sit in one and "Suddenly it's 2011" Cadillac is on the right track just going too slowly.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    What brings it home is that in the same dealership the Acadia has sold over 64K. GM did that much differentiation in the vehicles to elicit the additional sales selling at an almost identical price point. That's over 110K sold of this platform in the same showroom. Add in the Traverse's 80K.. and WOW But Buick is not GMC....a new SUV will eat into it's sales....... There is a substantial size difference between the Envision and the Enclave. I don't think there will be any cannibalization between these two models. If it will hurt any model right now it will be the Terrain. The Terrain is in the same size class as the Envision and is getting rather dated at this point. I know a refresh is coming, but I think the Envision will be here sooner than the new Terrain. While true, GMC can have a fuller lineup of SUVs....because trucks are what they do. Buick still does cars too, and it might turn into more models needed. If this is what Buick really wants to do, that's fine. Then GMC is going to need some new stuff...... GMC is getting a refresh Terrain. They're getting the Canyon back. The big trucks and SUVs are pretty much brand new. GMC is doing ok. After the Envision, I don't see any further room for Buick crossovers.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    yeah, not at all the same as the BMW concept.
  12. Drew Dowdell
    I think that is a different type of system than what BMW did with the Turbo Steamer.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    It's closed loop
  14. Drew Dowdell
    What about the BMW Turbo-Steamer that boiled water off the exhaust heat to run.... something?
  15. Drew Dowdell
    Ram has my attention lately... their lease deals are amazing right now.
  16. Drew Dowdell
    And 20% - 25% of those Acadias are apparently Denalis (I don't remember the exact number, but no GMC model with a Denali version sells less than that percentage of Denalis) GM states quite clearly that there is a strong like/dislike between the GMC and the Buick cousin. People who like one are rarely amiable to buying the other. Thus, canceling one or the other would be a net loss for GM as those customers would not likely stay in the showroom. What brings it home is that in the same dealership the Acadia has sold over 64K. GM did that much differentiation in the vehicles to elicit the additional sales selling at an almost identical price point. That's over 110K sold of this platform in the same showroom. Add in the Traverse's 80K.. and WOW But Buick is not GMC....a new SUV will eat into it's sales....... There is a substantial size difference between the Envision and the Enclave. I don't think there will be any cannibalization between these two models. If it will hurt any model right now it will be the Terrain. The Terrain is in the same size class as the Envision and is getting rather dated at this point. I know a refresh is coming, but I think the Envision will be here sooner than the new Terrain.
  17. Drew Dowdell
    The Enclave sells really well in its segment and at very high average transaction prices... rarely do they sell as base models. When you consider that the Enclave has a base price of $38,890, that means that most of them are moving for around close to $50k or better. It's main competition is the Lexus RX and the Acura MDX. The Germans do overlap a bit at the higher end of the price scale. Buick uses the offer of being a 3-row to a sales advantage. YTD the Enclave has sold 46k, the RX has sold 76k, the MDX (which is the newest vehicle in the class) has sold 48k. The M-Class has sold 32k. The X5 has sold 33k. It's not getting lost anywhere.
  18. Drew Dowdell
    For what it is, they aren't penalty boxes. I would only ask for an option for a bit more power and another gear in the gearbox.... literally my only change requests. Everything else is fine as is. If Chevy could do a 1.0T like the Ford Fiesta, that would be bomb.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    it literally does take days sometimes to get around it. Lots going on, kids interrupt, all sorts of things. Its too bad but thats the way it goes. Believe me, I understand that... but I mean, why not wait until you write it to create the thread?
  20. Drew Dowdell
    How is AWD a differing factor? 4 out of 5 (soon to be 5 out of 6) Buicks have AWD available. All of the (relevant) Audis have AWD available or standard.* All of the relevant BMWs have AWD available.* All of the relevant Mercedes have AWD available.* All Cadillacs have AWD available. All Lincolns have AWD/4WD available. All Infinitis have AWD available. All relevant Jaguars have AWD available.* *I'm ignoring cars in the lineup like the Z4 and SLK since Acura doesn't make anything close to that.
  21. Drew Dowdell
    Very different buyers. I agree that the Terrain needs to butch up more, but at the same time, Buick needs something between the Encore and Enclave. A little bit bigger than the Lincoln MKC would be just about perfect and would drive a gigantic nail into the sidewalls of the Lexus RX. It would also serve to continue Buick's march upwards in status.
  22. Drew Dowdell
    Wow, that's a long retirement party. There are vehicles that haven't even been released yet that will likely go through a refresh before he steps down.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    There's no way those two vehicles aren't directly related.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    I suppose it depends on if we get the same version China gets or not. If we get the Chinese version shown above, it is indeed a restyled Captiva. If we get something entirely new, then. The current eastern markets Captiva Sport: The coming eastern market Envision:
  25. Drew Dowdell
    One in every 5 GMCs sold is a Denali model. Close to 50% of GMC Yukons sold is a Denali 35% of Sierras sold are Denalis. GMC alone outsells VW, Audi, Chrysler, BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes. Denali trims alone outsell all of Land Rover. GMC and Denali are huge profit centers for GM.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

Hey there, we noticed you're using an ad-blocker. We're a small site that is supported by ads or subscriptions. We rely on these to pay for server costs and vehicle reviews.  Please consider whitelisting us in your ad-blocker, or if you really like what you see, you can pick up one of our subscriptions for just $1.75 a month or $15 a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way to help support real, honest content, that isn't generated by an AI bot.

See you out there.

Drew
Editor-in-Chief

I've whitelisted
Continue without support

Write what you are looking for and press enter or click the search icon to begin your search