riviera74

I wonder if ocnblu would like or loathe this. . . .

Cadillac COULD put in an air suspension in the CUVs and the Escalade while Magna Steer can stay in the sedans. Why they don't is beyond me.

I just read this on the Hyundai Palisade, which is KIA's more upscale twin. http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2019/07/first-drive-2020-hyundai-palisade-2/ I have one question: What is GM's answer to the challenge posed by these vehicles?

The domestics LOST the mainstream market (despite their best efforts) somewhere between 1985-1995. The only thing that keeps Ford and GM running well (and FCA from suffering the fate of Hudson and Nash) are the trucks and BOF SUVs.

I hope so. Those harsh lessons of too little differentiation and too many brands must never be forgotten.

The exact same reason neither Ford nor GM ever took small cars seriously: not in their DNA. For Ford or GM to take on the Toyota Corolla/Yaris and/or the Honda Civic/Fit is almost an economic suicide mission at this point. If Detroit wanted to take down Civic/Corolla, then the Detroit three would have had to dedicate everything and their children to take them down back in the early 1970s. Instead the public gets the Chevy Vega and the Ford Pinto, neither of which were good enough.

Why is a mid-engine Corvette bad/wrong?

Now if only GM would do the same with its crossovers. . . . .

Badge engineering is still bad. GM still needs to better differentiate between a Chevrolet from a GMC from a Buick from a Cadillac. That should be easier than it was pre-BK when GM had EIGHT BRANDS!

The layoffs are sad. I wonder who will buy SF motors and integrate them into their products in the near future.

Too bad that the Germans refuse to ditch those coupe-style crossovers. Those completely suck.

VW's message: buy our CUV and pay us more money for it.

There are few coupe buyers at all these days, hence the lack of variety.

What were the sales of the Lincoln Mark LT compared to the Cadillac Escalade EXT? Also, I am not sure if Cadillac CAN make a true luxury pickup given the predominance of the GMC Sierra Denali, which already fetch Cadillac prices.

Possibly. I would go the other way and make the new Blazer an Alpha-based CUV and count that money. GM had one in the first-generation Cadillac SRX. A new RWD CUV, given the erstwhile success of BMW's SAVs, would be more viable now than fifteen years ago.

The Vega and the attitude behind the first "GM car" rather than a "Chevrolet car" is why GM started its fall from grace. There is a reason Baby Boomers essentially went for Japanese (and German) as early as the mid-1970s. And its reasons are Vega and Pinto.

That would explain Buick's sales numbers in the last five years.

Good idea. What a missed opportunity. Typical GM marketing--missing opportunities, even when one is staring at them in the face. Mary Barra needs to fire those losers and hire some real imaginative types who can sell ice to Eskimoes.

Chances are that VW is simply not going to sell these variants here because the USA is all about that SUV/CUV. They could probably still sell their successors in Europe since SUV/CUV fever has not gotten to them yet.

Maybe, maybe not. The Buick 231 V6 was already spreading throughout GM's car lines by 1978 with fewer pollution issues than any diesel engine at that time. Properly engineering a diesel V8 would have more likely found its way into pickup trucks and that engine would have done much better in an S-10 than a 98 Regency. A turbocharger added to the diesel would have been the next big thing.

True, but does anyone want a unibody FWD crossover with a diesel engine? Look at those who buy those vehicles: those buyers do NOT want diesel. The diesel engine in question belongs in a midsize truck, not a unibody FWD crossover.

The fact that the Navara is BOF is actually worse because MB would have tried to sell its truck to the toughest market here: the BOF midsize truck market. Not a lot of room when the Japanese have made some inroads but have failed to overthrow the domestics like they did with cars and crossovers. Moreover, even if the X-Class were class-leading there is no guarantee that they would even dent the dominance of the F-series, especially at the price range that Mercedes-Benz usually has their vehicles. The Ridgeline is still a relative poor seller compared to the competition, regardless of whether it is one of the best (unibody) pickups or not. Having said that, if the X-Class were built on the same platform as the GLK/GLS, maybe then MB will have a chance without having to spend too much extra money in development. But it does look like Daimler is doing some rethinking on a lot of things here.

Oh well. I doubt the X-Class would have made a dent in sales here, regardless of where it was built. Chicken Tax or no, few people here are willing to pay for a Honda Ridgeline, let alone a Nissan-based Mercedes-Benz unibody "truck".

QFT. The Average Vehicle Price on new vehicles is almost $40K. Full-sized trucks are even higher. When will this stop?

No more One Ford to get in Lincoln's way these days.