Suaviloquent

The segment is still too young. People want choices. And not everyone will automatically consider the Bolt. The only electric vehicle company that is automatically considered is Tesla. Whether that leads to purchase or delivery is another matter of its own.

HERE IS MY RANDOM THOUGHT AS OF NOW READING SOME RECENT COMMENTS HERE: (LOOK AT THE EYES) Ye that's right, it's so fiery and filled with juiciness that I can only help myself by serving everyone a heaping cut of the finest there ever was.

I think the only issue with Cadillac interiors is now is fine details. People like the gimmicky low gloss chrome accents on their gauges, window switches, that kind of deal. I did some surfing yesterday, looked at the Cadillac Fleetwood interior versus Lexus LS400 (way back when). At that time, it was the Lexus that was fresher, better engineered but everyone (Motorweek) said the interior lacked quality in some parts and details - but was screwed together as tight as it can be. The Fleetwood, Lincoln Conti at the time had metal stalks, metal switches and tufted velour or leather, and vinyl roof options. The Lexus was kind of like today's Genesis G90. But since the Lexus was the first derivative one to come out, it lives on today with pedigree. Also, C&D did a test on the Jag XJL blown V6. It weighed like 23 pounds more than the CT6 3.0T. Not bad, not bad at all for what is a 8 year old design now.

Great read, except Motortrend completely missed the mark how Ford has other strategies too on light-weighting. Aluminum bodies was for trucks. Google Ford Fusion Hybrid concept or Fusion Lightweight Concept. Very similar mixed material strategy, not the same as welding two metals....but anyways, according to Ford those techniques are production ready right now, they just need to bring the costs down. That same Fusion concept weighed as much as a Fiesta, and they had their 1.0L EB as the powertrain.

Me thinks along the same lines.

Economies of scale? I would think the Pacifica platform is the one they would want to have a lot of vehicles based off of. I don't think the Alfa Romeo Platform is a good fit for a large American sized sedan. Unless the 300 is going on a major diet and price class increase. Because essentially Alfa-based 300 could be a very different vehicle than what we're used to right now. If they get the right AWD system, they get the look right, a FWD 300 may not be ideal from an ehtusiast's appeal, but I think MOPAR fans can, and will warm over to it. Unless they've got something else in the works - say a future common RWD for all of FCA US, so Jeep would get their version, which they would modify for their RWD SUV use, and Chrysler would get it for their 300 and other CUV planned, and then we have the underpinnings for Challenger and all of SRT.

This has been up for a while on their site. I'm sure many people have read it. Interesting results. They also had a post script about the new XT5 and how it might have fared against these 3 cars, though one of them, the GLC seems out of place. The Lexus has poor interior packaging or form over function issues (gasp!), given the Lincoln has a good chunk more cargo space, but is shorter in length. I did not expect the Lincoln to be an equal in ride sophistication to any Mercedes, given no air suspension, but it was. The interior comments are fair, but I disagree on the comfort of the seats, which again is preference more than anything. Also, the Sync 3 issue is rendered moot. The Lincoln MKX early build vehicles were Sync 2 (MFT), but later 2016 builds were quietly changed to Sync 3. Since the new setup has new hardware, the press vehicle could not be updated to Sync 3. I think the Lincoln did well, the Mercedes has the edge in terms of interior quality in almost every price and size class. But the RX is pretty good still. I mean, there's a lot to like there, expect the mouse control setup. We can speculate why the XT5 was not there, but it would've finished mid-pack.

We gathered three likely 2016 midsize candidates: the redesigned Lexus RX 350 F Sport, the very originator of the segment itself and the first winner of MT’s SUV of the Year; the Lincoln MKX, a finalist in our 2016 SUV of the Year contest; and an all-new Mercedes-Benz GLC300 that replaces the boxy (and smaller) GLK-Class with handsome styling and a generous helping of the celebrated C-Class sedan’s hardware, interior treatment, and tech. READ MORE AT: http://www.motortrend.com/news/2016-lexus-rx-mercedes-benz-glc-lincoln-mkx-comparison/

Not in the same way. I mean an Escalade can function as an airport shuttle just like a airport shuttle Ford transit. But that kind of commercial presence is then also covered be MB by say an E-Class taxi or S-Class or whatever. A commercial Cadillac pickup would fail miserably because if it's based off of say a Chevy Colorado, and if it has no luxury intentions. - READ ME - COMPLETE FAIL. And again, no one has said this Mercedes contraption will be a slam-dunk. if anything, I think it will be of no consequence, and certainly it may not be the kind of truck we expect. It may not have any regular gas engines, just diesel. It may only be extended or single cab. A limited configuration.

The story is more than just the numbers. This truck is already priced below the competition (half-tons) when equipped comparably. And every review of the truck - when they had the chance to tow or haul found that this is a serious truck if it fits your needs. And I think the frame is capable of probably towing and hauling a lot more. I think it's just that they don't have the big rig gas or diesel engines like the HD's.

I see recall numbers all the time, and for some of them the numbers provided such as "X" amount are so many times are just spun around as useless drivel. A better way would be follow-up when the recall campaign has been out for a while and find the % of vehicles that actually needed the repairs or parts replaced due to the error. The majority of vehicles in a recall are just recalled for precautionary reasons....

I'm talking about now. This isn't as simple as making a blanket statement. The reasons are are written all over the wall. GM already has 2 different brands selling commercial vehicles. They have partnerships all over the world as well with others to have a commercial presence. Like cubical said, Mercedes is one brand for one world kinda vision. And yes, Cadillac selling commercial vehicles in the near future, when you already have Chevy and GMC and their global partners elsewhere lined up.... would be just a blatant waste of money from the corporate coffers.

HD's are not mandated by regulations to provide FE ratings. If that changes, then you might....might just see downsizing or a big focus on FE there.

Market cap is a meaningless number. If Tesla had to be liquidated, you could bet the stock price would tumble...probably way closer to the book value of like what...$14 a share?

Basically do yourselves a favour Hyundai err.... Genesis and just use the Tesla IP already available.

Tesla has a short time period to actually get to cash flow positive and full cost recovery, The projected light vehicle sales taper off in the early 2020s.... for good reasons and bad, but mostly because the demographics simply don't work out that well...as in vehicle sales will most definitely go down, and may not recover for a long time. America actually produces a lot of its own oil now... The infrastructure will need a huge investment though. Eventually with so many electric vehicles, charging at night may have higher rates than charging during the day. I think the one thing Tesla is doing right aside from their vehicles is their battery factory being built with their partners. It's could be potentially a window into the future of battery factories. And apparently some Lithium will come from the California mines. The next big commodities will be anything related to batteries/capacitors and water.

1. Mercedes is probably not doing a luxury truck. Maybe they are, but ultimately this is less of them trying to milk some opportunity. A truck, especially in North America might be a poor fit for the brand. Look at how Hyundai or Kia try to sell luxury sedans. They have their merits...but since there is barely any awareness of those models, they are definitely not upsetting the status quo. 2. The EXT's were not commercial vehicles or intended to be of any kind of commercial vehicles. They were instead marketed to niche truck enthusiasts who wanted slightly more flexibility of the bed/cab access and paid for it elsewhere in terms of overall capability, with the Cadillac offering the luxury brand equivalent . And GMC sells pickup trucks under the luxury banner for GM now, and does it really well. The Denali line itself is probably more profitable than Cadillac given what they sell. 3. The Blackwood was the precursor to the luxury pickups of today. It was NOT half-assed as many would believe. It was ultimately just a poor fit for the Lincoln brand. The EXT fell under the same premise. POOR fit for a floundering luxury brands at the time. People did not associate the Lincoln brand with a pickup truck. 4, The Nissan truck is actually a thoughtful truck, but it only succeeds in one way. It's numbers don't wow you, but it's one vehicle which you can actually tow or haul the rated numbers and actually feel confident. And fully loaded, it often costs equal or lower to the Detroit 3. It doesn't have the polish, exactly, but it is a serious machine if you use it as a truck a LOT. 5. I don't think anyone really cares that much about the Mercedes truck to truly feel like they are desperate. If any case, whatever brand image Mercedes loses with their stupid or "undesirables" they do make up for by marketing their upper echelon vehicles, where the American brands only fail because of a lack of want/trying/hunger to get to that higher level.

WTF? Why do I see a Lincoln star on the front?

Their distribution channel strategy definitely does employ the same dealers. But it's not like you get inside a REAL luxury MB product, like the C-Class and end up saying ,"Wow, I'm amazed, it drives like a Sprinter." It defies a lot of reasons, but the big thing is that Mercedes has figured out a way, perhaps, that makes it so that their commercial vehicles are completely disregarded when someone is considering buying a passenger car from their dealers The thing is, a lot of Mercedes cars are damn good, especially in terms of what you can get interior-wise, as long as you're willing to pay for it. They're not overtly sporty in the tamer models, but AMG is AMG. I don't look down upon Mercedes selling commercial vehicles, I really don't because now it's their heritage. If it were Cadillac or Lincoln selling commercial vans, that's where it'd just be stupid and comical.

I don't think Mercedes builds vehicles out of desperation. The commercial and passenger vehicle divisions are well differentiated and separated. The way they manage to share dealer floor space and yet still not adversely affect their brand says to me that Mercedes has a history of building commercial vehicles. It is a part of their heritage now, unless that part of the business completely tanks there is no reason to get out of it.

I'm not so bullish on the new GM/Ford transmission. Given that the 8L90 wasn't as crisp as the PDK in almost every comparison. The problem isn't that the transmission will shift faster or not. The PDK has the telepathic ability to always be in the right gear at the right time. Then again...a slick shifting transmission in a the Ford/GM pickup trucks will give them some epic gusto.

This. Man....true LUXO. D'eligants...

They way it happened apparently is that Nissan wanted to either provide more input or take over some of the design burden of the new vehicles that Mitsu built for them under the previous partnership. They could not get the same FE numbers....and then everything happened...

Is there any chance the vehicle in question is perhaps a mule for some kind of Camaro racing program? Thoughts?

Would it mean no V8 for the future? Perhaps they will have a plug-in if they use the same underpinnings as the Pacifica. That's gonna be a huge turnaround. Then again, a lot of SUVs became mall finders just recently, and their sales went through the roof. But I think FCA can certainly do really well with the interior. It might be an epic Buick Lacrosse competitor.