smk4565

Cargo capacity and number of seats are not the most important thing when it comes to SUVs. The CRV, Rav4 and Escape are the top sellers, Edge, Explorer and even Trailblazer (with the discounts) are still doing well. The 5 seaters and small to midsize do well, and GM has the Vue and a dated Equinox. They need to replace the trailblazer with a midsize SUV and they need a real minivan. I think they are in for a wake up call when they dump the Trailblazer and those that want a 5 seat SUV flee to Ford or Toyota. The SRX is 0-60 in 6.4 seconds, let's see a Lambda do that, or pull .80 g on a skidpad. The SRX is the best SUV GM ever made, shame on them for giving it a wagon look and not marketing it right. The SRX is in it's 5th model year and still better than the Enclave or Acadia.

The old CTS couldn't fit a Northstar, I think this one was made to be able to, plus the Northstar is 15 years old and too big, they should be able to get dimensions down with the Ultra V8. Even the little M3 fits a V8 under the hood, the M5 and RS6 no bigger than a CTS and fit a V10. If they can make it work, Cadillac can too. Mercedes has a 5.5 liter V12, it has 612 lb-ft of torque at 1800-3500 rpm. The Z06 has 470 lb-ft @ 4800 rpm, so where is the pushrod low end advantage? The 6.0 liter's peak torque is 4400 rpm. I picked 5.6 liter, because GM has a 2.8 liter V6, if they doubled that they get 5.6. Turbo charging it might get too expensive, and it probably won't fit in the CTS, but in an STS sized car they should be able to make it fit. I just hope the Ultra V8 is around 4.8 liters and makes 380 hp, then with a twin turbo they can get near 500, and that can be the new V-series engine. Cadillac would be so much better off with an engine like that.

This is a good point. They have to do a DOHC engine for the Escalade and GMC trucks at least, offering it as a top end in Chevy is a good idea. They should still have a pushrod like the 5.3 liter for a mainstream engine for lower cost. A good diesel will give them a big advantage also. 6-speed automatic is needed most on the Silverado though. They can't hold back on what they put into the Silverado and expect buyers to keep buying from loyalty. They laughed at the Camry and Accord 20 years ago, now look at GM's midsize cars. They can't underestimate the Tundra, it will get better, they have to keep the Silverado ahead of it. What will stop Toyota from using the Lexus V10 they are working on in the Tundra? They already use the Lexus LS V8 in it, and have the hybrid V8 planned. GM needs to plan ahead and have stuff ready to go, so they don't get caught behind the 8 ball.

But how many did they sell? And why is BMW still the gold standard of sport sedans? The M3 they claim is 3500 pounds, although I read some estimates closer to 3700, the CTS is in the 4000+ range, if the M3 is really 3500, it has a big advantage. This is the same reason the Corvette has an advantage over Aston Martin and Mercedes SL. Every luxury brand is chasing BMW, every car magazine compares other cars to BMW. The day Lexus and Mercedes are saying, "we need to build a car as good as Cadillac" and buying Cadillacs to take them apart to copy them, is the day Cadillac is where they need to be. Cadillac should do a 5.6 liter V12 and perhaps turbo it for the CTS-V that would get attention. Although it might throw weight balance off, in which case a twin turbo DOHC V8 is the way to go.

I know the Lambda is the size of the Trailblazer EXT, but the canceled the EXT due to poor sales, and what replaces the 190 inch long Trailblazer? Not everyone needs 7 seats, in fact the majority of the top 15 selling SUVs are 5 seaters. There is definitely a place in the market for 1 Lambda, even 2, but 4 is nuts and counting on them to replace all midsize SUVs and minivans, while being the same length as the full size SUV is senseless. The regular length Trailblazer is 4530 pounds with 4wd. The Toyota Highlander 4wd is 4200-4320 pounds, most minivans are 4400 or so. The Lambdas have a weight problem. Even the SRX V8 AWD (the best SUV GM has) is 4442 pounds. Here are an example of the gray plastic trim on the Lambdas.

I think a 5.5 liter DOHC with a lot of technology in it would make far more power than a pushrod 6.2 liter. They could reduce to 5.5, which is still big, and have the power they need. Switching to DOHC is a good idea, because people are going to demand it in trucks, just like they do with cars. The Tundra has a DOHC V8 with 380 hp, everyone else is going to have to do a similar engine. Just like the Camry and Accord's DOHC V6s made all the pushrod American sedans almost no factor, the Tundra is going to promote DOHC in trucks, and the F150 has OHC too, so GM might as well jump on board.

You don't have to, you can keep it the same and make more, or be like BMW and go from a 360 hp 4.8 liter V8 to a 410+ hp 4.4 liter V8 like they are about to do for the 555i. They are going smaller with better fuel economy and adding 50 horsepower. Honda's 3.5 liter V6 used to make 215 hp, they are at 244 hp now. Going from pushrod to DOHC should allow a huge gain, look at the 3.8 liter in the Lucerne making 197 hp and the smaller 3.6 liter in the CTS making 304. 107 more hp from a smaller engine. Makes sense to do everything DI and DOHC. Never hurts to add a turbo if needed.

I really like the exterior, I love it with the metal mesh grille, the plastic makes the car look cheaper. I don't like the monotone gray interior, they needed to do better there, the Accord is way better than that. From the outside it is the best car in the class, inside looks like a rental car still.

4 rebadges is a horrible mistake too, they flood the market and drive down resale value. They just recreated the Envoy/Trailblazer/Bravada problem, and look at where they are now. 5 years from now the Lambdas will be the same, low resale, too big, too slow and thirsty and dated looking because of the plastic body moldings on the sides of them all, including the Enclave. The Lambdas have a smaller, less powerful engine than the GMT360s had, but the Lambdas are 400-500 pounds heavier. While they spend 2-3 years getting these out, stuff like the Impala and Cobalt get put on the back burner, and those are the vehicles that need help, as well as the Cadillac line.

250k units a year is a little ambitious I think. It is much bigger than the Trailblazer, so Trailblazer seekers may go to Jeep or Highlander or Explorer, and it isn't a minivan. Minivans are lower and easier to get into than the lambdas, moms with kids are going to still like a minivan for that reason. I am sure it will steal some sales from the minivan segment, but it doesn't make up for not having a van at all. Being 10 inches longer and 500 pounds heavier than a Trailblazer could hurt it, or it might sell at 250k a year by eating into sales of Tahoes and Acadias. I bet they price it around $25,000 base, a Honda Odyssey is that much base, and that allows them to have a smaller SUV around 23k. Chevy needs product badly though, the Impala, Cobalt and Equinox are all dated and in need of replacement. GM needs to cut the models, they can't update them fast enough, by the time they get the new impala, Equinox and Cobalt out, they will need an all new Malibu again.

DOHC is good news, the more DOHC engines the better. 6.2 liters is rather big though, that could use up a lot of gas. It seems like the only way GM knows how to make power is increase engine size, the Corvette was 5.7 liter 4 years ago, then 6.0, now 6.2, 7.0 in the ZO6. At some point they need real technological breakthroughs, hopefully more direct injection and these gas engines that act like diesel are it. I'm curious to see what they do with the Ultra V8.

How loud and unrefined will a supercharged pushrod be? This is like a 3800 Series III Supercharged on steroids. BMW is working on a twin turbo V10 and 8 speed transmission, the M5 will still beat this car, the M3 could probably beat it on a race track due to the massive weight advantage. Can't compete with BMW with a pushrod. Or with the Mercedes AMG cars or Audi V10s.

Buick's average car buyer age is 67, which has risen from 63 in 2004. The Lucerne and LaCrosse are not reversing the trend they are making it worse. You should trade your Lucerne in on an 03 Aurora, the Aurora is a far better car in every way (which is sad, it was designed 8 years ago). The Camry's average buyer is about 54, Lexus is up in the 50s too. I agree that is becoming the baby boomer car and will be the car of choice for 60+ crowd in a couple years, but Buick still gets older buyers, oldest of any brand still, even with the Enclave. If they are going to keep Buick and want to make them good, it is simple, and stuff they should have done 10 years ago. W-body and G-body have to go. They need smaller cars! People that are in their 50s with no kids don't need a 200 inch long vehicle, this is why the Camry and ES350 sell so well, midsize sells! Full size is declining fast. 6 speed tranny and DOHC engine standard in every vehicle, hybrid option on every model, no pushrods ever in a Buick. All real wood, no fake, leather standard on all models, no plastic body cladding like the Enclave has, 17 inch alloy wheels standard on all models, no wheel covers. 0% fleet sale. Zero rebates, the Enclave has a $1000 rebate, I thought it was a hot item, why give money away. Every Buick should be 68 dB or less at 70 mph and have a 5/60,000 bumper to bumper warranty. Also abandon all base models, base models flood the market and kill resale values and base model Buicks look horrible. There should be 2 trims per model, both looking the same on the outside. The only change would be a wheel upgrade on the CXS vs the CXL. To have any chance at a future they have to throw away the past and build stuff unlike anything form the last 25 years. It could take 8 years to get their image just to where Lincoln is today, I don't know if GM can pump money in that long on a brand that sells 200k units a year. If they do it right, they have a chance to save Buick and win back some of those Toyota buying boomers but, GM hasn't shown the commitment yet and given them the products to do so. Toyota outspends GM on new product development and has far fewer brands and model lines to worry about. GM is in a perpetual catchup mode, they have to break that cycle.

Will the CTC be 192 inches long with 5 foot long doors to pay homage to the defunct Monte Carlo?

Buick will not attract younger buyers because they are Buick. It has a bad image, people under 40 associate Buick with the car their grandparents drove. I agree that they have to go all out or they might as well just close up shop now. I don't see them making it as nice as the worst Lexus, because they'd have to charge $35,000 for it or more. Lexus can build a car for less than it costs Buick to make one. If they are projecting 60,000 CTS sales and that is priced in the $30s, how will they sell 65,000 Buicks if they price it in the $30s? Regardless of how much horsepower they put in the Regal/LaCrosse, it won't have the image or resale value of Lexus. Cadillac doesn't even have that image yet, how will Buick? This car will be a step below the Lincoln MKZ, and cost in the high $20s to about $32k. Nothing wrong with that, they'll sell some, but no one should be comparing it to Lexus.

XLR is in dire need of a refresh, the shape is good, but needs a new grille, better interior and more power, I hope they address that before 2012. DTS and Lucerne until 2010? They are really letting those drag out, although the G6 is worse, that car is cheap and dated now, I can't wait to see how bad it is in 2012. It'll be sad to see the SRX go, a CTS wagon is a bad idea, no one will miss the STS. I am curious to see the execution of the Alpha and Zeta cars, it is a shame they are so far away, BMW will be on their next generation 5 and 7 series by then.

And all those cars torque steer like crazy, and have 63% of their weight up front. I have an Aurora which isn't as bad as the more powerful V8s in torque steer, but the car is too front heavy and V8s should drive the rear wheels. It is easy to do 300 hp in a front drive car, it just makes no sense. I am buying rear drive next time, it is better.

290 hp in a front drive car is a disaster waiting to happen, they'll be stuck around 260-268 like the Camry, Accord, MKZ, Taurus, etc. My guess would be the same 263 in the base CTS. But I am not convinced Buick will make that the entry level engine, they love cheap pushrods that make 200 hp. I don't think they need to out power the cars I just mentioned, but they should beat them in quietness/smoothness and fuel economy. Real wood trim is a must, Buick's fake wood is bad and always looks glued on. I have doubts whether Buick will do what they really need to do to make it nice, because I think GM knows people aren't going to spend $30,000 base for a Buick sedan and they are afraid of risk. That is why the LaCrosse and Lucerne sell so many units in the $22-28,000 price range. Same reason no Cadillac sedan has a base price over $47,000, they are afraid.

The new 2.9 liter engine is the way to go, it makes over 410 lb-ft of torque, that is nearly 140 more than the DI 3.6 engine. Of course they also need to make it clean, and 50 state emissions compliant. If it is 0-60 in under 6 seconds and making 30-35 mpg people will buy.

I am guessing it will be similar size and shape to the Malibu, different front and rear. The 08 Malibu looks great on the outside, it will be tough to make a Buick look better than that, and not look like a frumpy geezer mobile like their current lineup appears. I bet they put cloth bench, plastic wheel covers and a pushrod V6 in the base model so they can have a $22,900 MSRP, and sell them to Avis.

I hope GM doesn't cave in this time. They need to level the playing field with Toyota, let them strike all they want, they have a crazy amount of inventory anyway.

The GTC concept interior was really nice, I hope the Aura interior is close to the concept. The original Aura concept had a nice looking interior also, then they cheaped out on some places, like replacing the driver info display with just an airbag warning light. I see they might do that with not putting the navigation system in. The Accord offers a nav system, GM is going to have to make it an option on the Aura and Malibu. Epsilon has plenty of size, Aura is 190 inches long, 08 Malibu is 192, Camry and Accord are 191, Fusion is 190. 190 inches long seems to be the magic number for midsize cars.

Crossover sales are just replacing body on frame. SUVs on a whole are not a rapid growth market. If The CTS selling half of the 3-series is a success because the 3-series is a 15 year leader, then what is Lexus? Cadillac lead the US in luxury sales for 55 years in a row, Lexus started making cars 88 years after Cadillac started, and Lexus is selling about 150% as many units. That sickens me. I don't want to see Cadillac introduce 8 models just for the sake of having volume, total brand sales I don't worry so much about, but I'd like to see 5 products that are world class and sell worldwide.

I think the CTS is a little big for a coupe or convertible, although they chose that size, they chose sedan only, they chose rear drive only in 2003. So it is their own fault that the 3-series has so many variations and the CTS doesn't. It is like Nissan saying that the Titan can't compete because they have 1 engine choice and the Silverado has 5. No Cadillac sold 70,000 units in 2006 or will achieve that in 2007, I doubt an entry level SUV will come in and be the #1 selling Cadillac. Cadillac's image has improved but not nearly enough. The CTS gray plastic is a lot like the Lincoln MKZ's center console. That's fine if you want you want to sell $33,000 vehicles, but I thought Cadillac was aspiring to more than that. GM always relies on SUVs, which is a crowded and shrinking market, they can't just launch a new SUV and think Saab or Cadillac will be fine, they need cars that people want and never have a $5000 off tag on them.

The 3-series outsells the CTS more than 2-1 in the CTS's home market, worldwide is is more like 7 to 1, so I wouldn't say the CTS is successful in getting BMW buyers. The CTS interior could easily be better, I sat in one the other day at the dealership, there is a ton of plastic in there. Anything gray is not metal, it is plastic, the shifter was also plastic, and I sat in 2 different models each with an MSRP over $46,000. The interior is better than many cars, but not the best, and the car's performance is class average. The SRX doesn't sell because it looks like a wagon and had a bad interior at first. The SRX can also get pricey, and Cadillac's image is not strong enough to drop money on one when they can get a BMW or Mercedes, which gives much higher social status amongst the country club types. I just tried to talk someone looking for a used SUV into an SRX, and she liked the vehicle, but didn't like Cadillac's image and worried about reliability of an American car, and bought an older, much higher mileage Lexus instead because she trusted it to last longer. Image is everything with luxury cars. I fully expect the BRX to be better than the 9-4x, and they'll probably sell 40,000 a year because it will be cheap, but that still doesn't fix the image problem. Small SUVs do have a mommy-mobile appeal to them, and women generally don't like Cadillacs that much because they have made land barges and grandpa cars for 20 years and still do with the DTS. Could be tough to get 20 year import buying women to out of the blue go look at a Cadillac, unless the product is ridiculously good, and their image is strong.