Member55

Isn't transmission used in the G8 V6 same as the one in the gen. 1 CTS?

1) 2 2) No

Insurance for my 06 CTS is ~$740 per year, with $1K deductibles. Thats the best of all cars I owned.

One more thing, Ford can't move up the Focus until it has a car smaller than Focus in the lineup.

You put that car in Mercury's showroom and ask ~$30K for it and you'll sell 5 units per year, if you're lucky.

Cadillac deserves almost as much criticism as Lincoln these days. Clearly Lincoln is down because of lack of investment, on the other hand GM made a huge investment in Cadillac just to end up with no 3-series competitor, no 7-series competitor and two cars competing with 5-series of which one is not good enough to do the job and the other one nobody even knows it's competing with 5-series.

Lincoln is getting sales on cheap. Considering the situation that might be a responsible thing to do. If they get lucky MKZ/MKX/MKS combined will sell ~100K units, that's about the same as what CTS/STS/SRX are doing for a while now. I bet that assuming a similar volume Lincolns trio is more profitable.

They should be able to sell ~20K units a year, considering a relatively low investment this vehicle required that might not be a bad number.

The only thing the Impala proved is that fleets don't care what kind of engine is in there. Personally I have nothing against pushrod engines but the standards are set by the market leaders.

The competition is using DOHC engines so you have to use DOHC engine too.

Anyone disappointed with the 3.6 engine fuel economy? 17 MPG in city versus 19 MPG for the Accord, and that's with an extra gear. Does Accord's V6 require premium?

Escape is cheaper by ~$3.5K, IMO Ford is trying to have a crossover for every budget. It might be not a bad idea since the crossover market is the next money making machine in the auto business. Ford and GM used to rule the SUV market and while that level of dominance is probably not possible today I don't see why they can't be major players in the growing crossover market.

People who never considered Ford before will be buying these like there is no tomorrow.

European manufacturers didn't complain a few years ago when they were making a killing in the US due to the strong US dollar.

I honestly think that the Edge and MKX hit the sweet spot size wise. I always thought that if the SRX was shorter and didn't have a third row it would sell much better.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070403/cltu147.html?.v=11

If the fuel economy in a family car is what you really care about just get yourself a 4 cyl. Accord. A few grand cheaper with a slightly inferior mileage but there is no battery to replace down the road and no extra maintenance bills that you are almost guarantied to have with any hybrid car. IMO Over ~10 years of driving a 4 cyl. Accord will end up being cheaper than a hybrid Aura.

Why would anyone want a hybrid? It takes years to start saving money and then just about that time it's time for a new battery. Also, all these hybrid cars will be one day out of the warranty, do you really want to be stuck with paying for all the stuff that can go wrong with a hybrid car?

It was too big of a jump, for years Passat was their premium vehicle and next thing you know here comes the Phaeton. IMO it would make more sense if they came out with the 5-series competitor.

What do you want us to compare? Diesels need that "ivory tower technology" today, not in 30 years.

There is no way the BLUETEC technology cost the same the emissions technology used on the modern gasoline engines.

My guess is that less than 5% of the CTS buyers would go for a Diesel engine, especially if it's $5K premium over the 3.6 DI engine. To be honest I would take the 3.6 DI over a Diesel engine even if it's the same price.

Nice, thanks for the info.

I could be wrong but I think that even the BLUETEC is not good enough for California.

I respect your opinion but none of the points you made would make me spend more on a car than what I'm already spending. The only way I would consider a diesel would be if it's going to save me some money.