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kieran
@kk@pennytucker.social
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
 
2013-08-21, 13:58

Ordering a car is definitely the way to go.

I ordered my Mustang a few years ago and went through each and every option. it was awesome.

Showed up 6 months later because I ordered in between new model years. Had to get that new 5.0L V8.

No more Twitter. It's Mastodon now.
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Eugene
careful with axes
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Hillsborough, CA
 
2013-12-25, 05:38

While randomly watching some YouTube car reviews and I couldn't help but notice Cadillac managed to build a 5-Series / E-Class sized car with no rear-seat legroom.
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Matsu
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2013-12-25, 10:58

I think the Nissan IDX concept could make a cool 70s Datsun inspired vehicle in a reasonable size/cost/efficiency package.
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Quagmire
meh
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2013-12-25, 12:59

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eugene View Post
While randomly watching some YouTube car reviews and I couldn't help but notice Cadillac managed to build a 5-Series / E-Class sized car with no rear-seat legroom.
Guy mentioned himself that the 5/E Class isn't better either.
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Eugene
careful with axes
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Hillsborough, CA
 
2013-12-25, 18:43

I know the 5-series can accommodate 6' passengers in back with decent legroom. Even my 2014 328d has more rear legroom, though the seats themselves might be more upright and thinner.

Last edited by Eugene : 2013-12-25 at 19:05.
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Quagmire
meh
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2014-01-13, 12:18

Big news today.

First the 2014 Stingray and Silverado took home the awards.

Then you have the new Z06. 625 HP and 635 lb.ft. of torque. Big nasty.....

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/13/2...-detroit-2014/

Then a preview into the next Supra hopefully.

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/13/t...-detroit-2014/

Think Ford didn't eat GM's lunch with the 2015 F-150 losing 700 lb.....

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/13/2...-2-7-ecoboost/

Got the has multiple design cues from other vehicles Chrysler 200.....

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/13/2...led-deep-dive/

The new C Class looks very flashy with that red interior.....

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/12/2...-detroit-2014/

And you have the GMC Mini Me, sorry Canyon.

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/12/2015-gmc-canyon/

giggity
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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2014-01-14, 02:49

I hate, hate, HATE the new Cadillac logo.

If you haven't seen it, they removed the wreath and widened the crest. I think that's a terrible move. If you ask someone what the Cadillac logo is, I bet they'd say (if they say anything) it's a crest with a wreath or ring or crescent about it. THAT's what makes the logo recognizable. If you ask them what's ON the crest, I bet almost nobody would be able to tell you. (It's just an abstract geometric pattern, too intricate to be iconic by itself.)

I know someone with a Cadillac logo tattoo. You shouldn't change your logo lightly, especially not if you're an automaker with a century of history, and especially especially not if you're a luxury automaker where your brand is what you want people to aspire to and why you can charge a premium. I think they lose a ton of equity by ditching the Wreath and Crest.

That and the timing is just odd. If they wanted to signal change, why wouldn't they have done so when they introduced the ATS? It just seems random to do it now, like change for the sake of change.

I also liked the contrast, the tension between the round wreath and their angular Art & Science styling. You don't want your logo to blend in too seamlessly, for the same reason you don't just want your logo to be your name set in your copy typeface.

Anyway, I don't like the ATS coupe styling as much as the CTS coupe's styling. Whenever I saw a CTS coupe, I *felt* something—it has such an aggressive stance. It had attitude. The ATS coupe is like, meh, an ATS with two fewer doors.

Hugely disappointed in Cadillac. Their new logo is so ugly and blah to me that I think I would actually reconsider buying one because of it. It would bother me every time I looked at it.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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Eugene
careful with axes
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Hillsborough, CA
 
2014-01-14, 03:32

The new F-150's styling is a bit off, but shedding 700lbs and a 2.7L turbo V6 is great. I'm not sure GM/Chevy have the balls to do that, what with their latest ad claiming they can convert your pussy computer game playing son into a real man. I also laughed a lot when Bob Lutz remarked how the Volt should have been a truck...yeah if you wanted it to be a colossal failure.

The Toyota FT-1 concept? Bold looking, but ugly.

I think the Chrysler 200 looks nice for what it is, though it is a massive departure from the current design language. I like the fastback rear pillar/decklid. It reminds me of a porpoise overall, but hey, they are very sleek looking animals. The interior looks like a big step up from previous lower-tier Chryslers. It will be interesting to see if they decide to update the Avenger on the same Dart platform.

Mercedes C-Class... The current MB platforms are so old, it's embarrassing. I guess it's good that the CLA and C-Class have gotten their updates. Having recently driven a 2014 E-Class though, man it badly needs an update. Right now BMW makes a much better compact and midsize car.
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Kickaha
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2014-01-14, 04:49

I'm on the other end Robo. Love the new Caddy logo. The wreath didn't become part of the logo in any appreciable way until the 80s, and has become dated.

The new logo is the best bits of the old (except for the duckies - I love the duckies), and loses the thing that makes it feel old.

And honestly... It looks like a Transformer logo. Love it hard.
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Eugene
careful with axes
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Hillsborough, CA
 
2014-01-14, 05:47

I think the new badge looks better in person than it does on the ATS coupe featured on Cadillac's website. The color balance seems off there. It looks great on the mesh grille of the Elmiraj concept as another example.

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Dorian Gray
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Paris, France
 
2014-01-14, 05:51

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eugene View Post
The current MB platforms are so old, it's embarrassing.
What’s wrong with old? The question should be whether they’re any good, surely?

I think Mercedes-Benz should get back to making beautiful cars, not badly trying to make drivers’ cars. There may yet be a market for beautiful cars: how can anyone know if no-one’s making them?

For no reason other than I took this picture, here’s my Citroën C1 in its underground abode. Not quite a Cadillac, but 800 kg of chuckable fun and carefree ownership.


… engrossed in such factional acts as dreaming different dreams.
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Eugene
careful with axes
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Hillsborough, CA
 
2014-01-14, 06:44

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dorian Gray View Post
What’s wrong with old? The question should be whether they’re any good, surely?

I think Mercedes-Benz should get back to making beautiful cars, not badly trying to make drivers’ cars. There may yet be a market for beautiful cars: how can anyone know if no-one’s making them?
s/old/inferior. Right now the only real Mercedes-Benz selling points are styling and heritage. At least for me a practical interior design and comfort are a bigger priority. Style does count for something, but mainly as a tiebreaker.

The outgoing C-Class is less fuel efficient, has less legroom, handles worse, has inferior tech options than the current 3-Series. COMAND is simply horrible. All of this also applies to the E-Class vs comparable luxury competitors. One specific example is how the back-up camera in the 2013 model doesn't even have steering guidelines. Nothing prevents Mercedes-Benz from making beautiful driver's cars, especially now that every aspect of ride quality can be adjusted on the fly. I'd wager those looking to buy new luxury cars are interested in at least some of these things.

When's the last time Mercedes has made a beautiful car? I'd probably consider the old, boxy W126 S-Class the last Benz I really noticed (for its interior,) but really it's the W116 and W123 before it that looked the part from the outside.

EDIT: The current E platform isn't even that old, but it feels old.

Last edited by Eugene : 2014-01-14 at 07:08.
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Dorian Gray
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Paris, France
 
2014-02-05, 06:17

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eugene View Post
Right now the only real Mercedes-Benz selling points are styling and heritage. At least for me a practical interior design and comfort are a bigger priority. Style does count for something, but mainly as a tiebreaker.
I somewhat agree, though I think Mercedes-Benz’s current styling is just tragic. It’s so bad I would probably be unable to buy a Merc for this reason alone. A typical Merc today looks like one of those awful Korean cars styled by a shipped-in Italian. An overall melted look, but wildly complicated, with immature aggression standing in for sophistication. There are so many creases and sculpted details you can stare at it for ten minutes, close your eyes, and be utterly unable to recall the general shapes.

For me, Volkswagen is the best expression of German car design today. Volkswagens look strong and high-quality, and they’ll still look good in ten years. The exteriors, that is. The interiors are beautifully built but otherwise fussy, dingy, and terrible – and weirdly at odds with the exteriors.

But anyone who appreciates industrial design is badly served by today’s car industry. And as Europeans buy a smaller and smaller portion of global car production, their tastes will be increasingly ignored. Not that Europeans in general chose good design, but it seems a detectable minority did, which is more than can be said about the Chinese, Japanese, or you Americans.

At least the dire state of car design has allowed a handful of design-led cars to exist. But they tend to be a bit too retro for my complete comfort.

More positively, Mercedes-Benz will soon replace the current C-class, and it looks set to be a belter (in engineering terms if not design).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eugene View Post
The outgoing C-Class is less fuel efficient, has less legroom, handles worse, has inferior tech options than the current 3-Series. COMAND is simply horrible.
The new C-class is said to greatly improve in these areas. Most impressively, it has vastly better fuel efficiency – going from way worse than the comparable BMWs to actually beating them, which as you know is no small achievement. (But I think three-cylinder BMWs – gasp! – are coming this year, which may give BMW the edge again.)

Most astonishing feature of the upcoming C-class? A drag coefficient of 0.24 on some models! Perhaps that explains the ugliness.

… engrossed in such factional acts as dreaming different dreams.
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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2014-02-05, 09:06

I like your car Dorian

The only Mercedes I've ever liked are the SLK, SLS, and SLR. (I have a flair for the dramatic.) I share Dorian's opinions on their styling. They seem to want to be sporty and progressive-looking, like BMW, but then their conservatism kicks in (gotta keep the old people who actually buy Benzes happy) and the end result is a weird, warmed-over BMW look, neither traditional nor radical. A mess, in other words. (The roadsters only get a pass because there is something quintessentially appealing about a Mercedes roadster that the Z4 hasn't been able to match; the TT is lovely, but more coupe-like to my eyes.) Rather than make yet another melted and warped looking car it would be better if they opted for a cleaner look, like VW at its best; a purer expression of German engineering.

Anyway, the Super Bowl automaker ad blitz was weird this year, especially when you realize the fancy Kia costs about as much as the Maserati.

This crop of Korean "luxury" cars—the Kia K900 and Hyundai Equus and to a lesser extent, the Hyundai Genesis—remind me, perhaps unsurprisingly, of Korean phones. Engineered to look good on a spec sheet but hopelessly derivative and missing anything resembling a soul and then shoved out to a public with the hopes that there's enough of them that care only about specs for the product to be a success—and in both cases, the conglomerates responsible try really really hard to convince the buying public that anyone getting the real thing is stupidly paying more just for the brand, unlike you, Savvy Consumer! "The size of the 7 Series for the price of the 5 Series!" Wow, what a deal! Except, you know, people don't just go to their dealer and ask for sixteen feet of extruded car product.

Or maybe they do, I guess someone's buying these things.

Hyundai will tell you that they're making these for people who are above caring about what brand their car is, but if that was the case they wouldn't be so shy to put the Hyundai logo on these. It's all bullshit. Volvo makes cars for people who don't care about brand. Hyundai makes cars for people who want to feel smug that they saved money because they don't care about the badge, unlike all those sheep overpaying for their BMWs just to impress people. I'm reminded of how my sister once said that she didn't care what fashion label her clothes were, that's why she always shopped at Hot Topic. Hook, line, sinker.

Anyway, Maserati. They're going "downmarket," which is sort of amusing because they're still so expensive, but I think it makes sense. The weird thing is that even with all the brands in the Fiat-Chrysler portfolio they really don't have anything close to a "mainstream" luxury marque, something to go toe-to-toe with the BMWs/Benzes/Audis/Lexuses/Cadillacs of the world. This needs to change—they need their Audi—but none of their options feel that great. It'd be nice if Chrysler and Dodge had less overlap but it'd be hard to convince the public to pay Cadillac money for Chryslers; it's hard to imagine a full line of big Alfa Romeo sports sedans and they probably lean to much on the hard-edged driver's car side of things to appeal to much of the market; and Maserati is too high end and can't go downmarket without becoming much less exclusive. But of their limited options I think they're making the right choice. Existing Maserati owners will look down on the Ghibli but a whole new class of people suddenly have the ability to own a fucking Maserati, the brand seems better suited for the comfortable side of luxury than Alfa Romeo, and for the people who want exclusive supercars Fiat-Chrysler already has Ferrari. Trying to slowly raise the brand image of Chrysler or Lancia seems like swimming upstream in comparison.

It's a poorly kept secret that Ferrari's entry-level (ha!) California was originally intended to be a Maserati. But maybe they made it a Ferrari, not just to help them wring a few extra (tens of thousands of) dollars out of each sale, but because cars like the California are going to be increasingly incompatible with Maserati's image going forward. They're going to have to be Porsche, not Lamborghini.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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Eugene
careful with axes
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Hillsborough, CA
 
2014-02-05, 09:31

*Shrug* Does the current 7-series look like it has any soul on the outside? Lexus, Acura, Audi? Most large luxury sedans are very bland looking... I'm no fan of the Cadillac Art/Science look, but the new flagship they have under development will hopefully stir things up a little more.

Frankly, most people go to one dealer before they choose a new car...and in the luxury market it's never been Kia or Hyundai. They have to start somewhere if they are going to try. I think the K900 and Equus are great and hope they do well enough to bring the rest of the market down a bit. I definitely don't think most Hyundai owners are overly smug about the money they save on the badge.

For Chrysler it's the JC Penney situation where if you change the brand image, you lose your loyal customer base. If you stay the course, you eventually waste away into irrelevance anyway. I think Dodge can be a catch-all for mass-segment and near-luxury vehicles. Chrysler needs to compete with Cadillac and the Germans.

I don't think I've ever seen Maseratis driven by anything other than affluent shriveled-up, blue-haired grandmothers. I feel bad for the dealer networks who have to start ordering these cars.
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Dorian Gray
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Paris, France
 
2014-02-05, 12:58

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robo View Post
I like your car Dorian
Heh. We chose a red one, on the basis red works well for toy cars. It’s surprising how few cars in Paris are red, even though there are plenty of toys on the road. The French, or at least Parisians, seem to be afraid of bright colours.

I love the little thing, with one notable exception: cabin noise. There’s next to no sound isolation. That makes it hard to enjoy music at motorway speeds, and it makes long trips tiring.

If I had my druthers I might well get a Volkswagen Golf (the lightened but stiffened VII is seriously quiet) and keep it for fifteen years, but my girlfriend says a Golf would represent an unforgivable failure of imagination. And she has a point.

But that’s the odd thing. Even though I am not a conservative person, I cannot stand pointless design or ornamentation. Mies said it’s better to be good than to be original, and he’s still right. Contemporary cars are unbearably arbitrary. If you don’t have a clear reason for deviating from a straight line, adding a swoop, or ultimately using any shape but a circle – and I don’t deny good reasons exist – then stop messing with it!

I think BMWs are just about the only cars with “surface entertainment” that work well, and I doubt it’s a coincidence that Chris Bangle had a very clear and articulate vision of where he wanted to go. Bangle was just better than his countless imitators. And though he’s no longer at BMW the current 7 Series still bears his signature, and I think it looks better – more appropriate – than its competitors.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robo View Post
"The size of the 7 Series for the price of the 5 Series!" Wow, what a deal! Except, you know, people don't just go to their dealer and ask for sixteen feet of extruded car product.


In fairness to the Korean conglomerates, it’s impressive how well they’re copying other people’s designs these days, and the engines and drivetrains are by most accounts pretty decent. Would I buy one? Not on your nelly. I have fundamental qualms about supporting such enterprise. And I do care about brands, in that I’m loyal. It takes more than a flash in the pan to earn my respect, and it also takes more than a failure or two to put me off a brand. That’s why I still have a soft spot for Mercedes-Benz, inventor of the car.

… engrossed in such factional acts as dreaming different dreams.
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Quagmire
meh
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2014-02-05, 13:18

I'm not a fan of the F01 7 series design. Much preferred the E65. I like the F10 5 series design though. The F30 3 series is decent looking as well, but still not sure on the headlight meet grille look.

As for the Caddy badge, it looks much better in real life shots. I had the same reaction as robo and not liking it in GM's CG shots, but warmed up to it in real life photo's.




giggity
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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2014-02-05, 15:19

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eugene View Post
Frankly, most people go to one dealer before they choose a new car...and in the luxury market it's never been Kia or Hyundai. They have to start somewhere if they are going to try.
I'm not opposed to them trying, but they need to go the distance. You don't get points just for showing up.

They need to do what Toyota did, and spend a few years and a few billion dollars developing a luxury vehicle for the times, not just copy what's worked for BMW and Mercedes. They need to build a luxury brand they can be proud of, not just hide the Hyundai logo. They need to figure out what future luxury vehicle buyers are going to want, and deliver that.

They're at a disadvantage when it comes to not having a marque with a storied history, but there's a flip side to that, an advantage. Maybe the idea of luxury that BMW and Mercedes embody is losing relevance with the new generation of buyers? Maybe people care about different things now, and the benefit of being an unknown quantity is that you can shape your brand around what people actually care about. Maybe they should be spending their energies on developing a brand to rival Tesla, not Mercedes. Who knows? That's why you do research, and build your own identity, and not just imitate. Find a hook, a differentiator, that's not just "like a 7er, but cheap!"

That's what Toyota did, with Lexus. They spent years researching what people wanted out of luxury before they started to build the thing. They didn't have the legacy of a Benz or BMW, so they came up with their own hook, and that was precision. They made ads showing ball bearings rolling down the impressively small body panel gaps. They doubled down on pushing the idea that a Lexus would be more finely constructed than anything else, and it worked. And as it turns out, the first LS was significantly cheaper than a 7er, but they didn't build their identity around that. That's a creative dead-end, and sort of anathema to the idea of a luxury car to begin with.

I don't think Benz and BMW are scared of Hyundai. Not yet. But oh, they were scared of Lexus, even going so far as to accuse Toyota of dumping. And I bet they're scared of Tesla now. Because what they secretly know is that when you're not a known quantity, you have the unique ability to make yourself exactly what the future wants, and established brands can't move so quickly. All that history and heritage weighs you down.

If Hyundai is going to copy anything, they should copy what matters—the process that Toyota used to develop their luxury brand. They shouldn't just copy the image of other cars, which is the end result of other people's thinking. They should think (wait for it) differently, and build something new that is true to itself and true to themselves.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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Quagmire
meh
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2014-02-15, 17:53

My dad just picked up a 2014 Cadillac ATS Premium 3.6 AWD to replace his 2007 BMW 335xi. It's an amazing vehicle.


















giggity
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Yontsey
*AD SPACE FOR SALE*
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cleveland-ish, OH
 
2014-02-15, 18:17

That is one sexy beast.
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Dorian Gray
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Paris, France
 
2014-02-17, 14:13

Having thought about it (apparently for two weeks), I completely agree with Robo’s last post.

Here’s an interesting little snippet showing Dieter Zetsche and his luxuriant moustache refusing to deny they lost $30 billion on the Chrysler merger.

The curious thing to note is Mercedes-Benz’s resurgence in the US over the last few months. Is the A-Class selling well over there?

And is Car and Driver a decent website for keeping up with the goings-on in the American car market?

… engrossed in such factional acts as dreaming different dreams.
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billybobsky
BANNED
I am worthless beyond hope.
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Inner Swabia. If you have to ask twice, don't.
 
2014-02-17, 14:30

Car and Driver is decent.

I don't have much to add to this discussion: I haven't owned a car since 2004, and while it makes my life more difficult in Tuebingen without one, I've managed for a year and I do not see buying anytime soon. However, it is telling that when German drivers go to buy a car it is more and more frequently an Asian import than an American (read Ford) or European sourced automobile. My colleagues drive: a Volvo from the Ford era, a Kia, two Hyundais, and an Audi. Only one of these is German. The newest are the Kia and Hyundais. What this suggests is that while Mercedes and BMW/Audi might not have to fear the Asian imports at the luxury side of the purchase curve, their consumer cars, where they probably make most of their money ultimately, are not remaining competitive (Smart car up to 3 series)... But as I said my 2 cents isn't worth the copper it takes for make them...
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Eugene
careful with axes
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Hillsborough, CA
 
2014-02-17, 14:34

The CLA is reportedly a hot seller and never sits on lots long. They are quite striking, so you'd think they'd stand out, but I never see them.

For American car market news, I've found the Cars.com blog to have a decent summary of what's going on. The only time I pay attention to Car and Driver is when Csaba Csere does car reviews. All of the car magazines love the new mass-segment Kias in particular and also the Hyundais to some extent. Hondas still get top marks for refinement, but the Koreans are breathing down the necks of Nissan, Mazda and even Toyota in magazine car round-ups.

Last edited by Eugene : 2014-02-17 at 14:50.
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Dorian Gray
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Paris, France
 
2014-02-17, 14:39

Quote:
Originally Posted by billybobsky View Post
However, it is telling that when German drivers go to buy a car it is more and more frequently an Asian import than an American (read Ford) or European sourced automobile.
And yet GM, Volkswagen, and Toyota are all selling (very roughly) the same number of cars. So someone, somewhere, must be buying those overpriced American and German cars.

The Koreans are selling plenty of cars nowadays. It wouldn’t surprise me if scientists – who in my limited experience care less than most about chattels and worldly things generally, and are richer than artists but poorer than people with normal jobs – are keen Hyundai buyers.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eugene View Post
For American car market news, I've found the Cars.com blog to have a decent summary of what's going on.
Thanks.

Here’s one for you guys: Hooniverse.

… engrossed in such factional acts as dreaming different dreams.
  quote
billybobsky
BANNED
I am worthless beyond hope.
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Inner Swabia. If you have to ask twice, don't.
 
2014-02-17, 16:35

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dorian Gray View Post
And yet GM, Volkswagen, and Toyota are all selling (very roughly) the same number of cars. So someone, somewhere, must be buying those overpriced American and German cars.

The Koreans are selling plenty of cars nowadays. It wouldn’t surprise me if scientists – who in my limited experience care less than most about chattels and worldly things generally, and are richer than artists but poorer than people with normal jobs – are keen Hyundai buyers.
Not so sure about that 'poorer than people with normal jobs' thing... I get paid shit. Truly, truly, shit for a person with a PhD, but I earn more than the average German -- relevant to consider, certainly, is that I would be paid *more* in consultant position but that isn't a normal job anymore than a garbage collector is. The average is not a great measure but it is assuredly higher than the median given a skewed distribution. Now, if you want to say that the average salaried person doesn't have an idealized normal life, I would tend to agree, but let's put this in relevant terms, I could buy a luxury car with my monthly savings if I wanted to, and it cannot be that different for my colleagues who are earning more. Now, yes, we scientists are not so tied to luxury items as we spend much time considering how to optimize the cost of experiments that we cannot help but become sufficientists in our lives in general. Still, you would think the average salary of scientists being higher than the average overall would be balanced by the cultural crossovers from lab and you would end up with a fair reflection of the typical car purchaser.

Meanwhile, it seems true that car ownership in Europe is expanding, which means that any company without sales growth is losing it to some one else...
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torifile
Less than Stellar Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Durham, NC
Send a message via AIM to torifile  
2014-02-19, 00:02

Last year I decided that my 335d, while the most fun car I'll ever have, wasn't the most practical for me and my family. I sold it and got a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee. 4x4. V8. Yeah!

It has been awesome. I can throw my bike on a hitch and go for a ride without thinking about it. I can tow a trailer. I can rescue stuck family members from the snow. I can drive on the beach or go camping. It's great. I never thought I'd be driving an SUV but I have to say, I really like it.

It's big but it reminds me of the last car I truly loved - my 1995 pathfinder. It was the only car I've ever driven into the ground by choice.
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Eugene
careful with axes
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Hillsborough, CA
 
2014-02-19, 04:00

Quote:
Originally Posted by torifile View Post
It has been awesome. I can throw my bike on a hitch and go for a ride without thinking about it. I can tow a trailer. I can rescue stuck family members from the snow. I can drive on the beach or go camping. It's great. I never thought I'd be driving an SUV but I have to say, I really like it.
I'm constantly reminded that minivans/sportwagons barely exist in North America. We only get one AWD van and it's not the Honda Odyssey. <-- the only minivan worth owning in our market. Sportwagons are starting to make a comeback, but still pricey. The Volvo V60 does look promising though.
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Dorian Gray
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Paris, France
 
2014-02-19, 09:14

Quote:
Originally Posted by torifile View Post
I sold it and got a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee. 4x4. V8. Yeah!
Is the V8 needed to haul enough petrol to reach the beach?
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torifile
Less than Stellar Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Durham, NC
Send a message via AIM to torifile  
2014-02-19, 09:58

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dorian Gray View Post
Is the V8 needed to haul enough petrol to reach the beach?
No but it's needed to haul my man sized ego there!

The V8 is because Jeeps with V8 have way better resale value. And if you know anything about me, it's that I tend to, umm, sell things.

If it's not red and showing substantial musculature, you're wearing it wrong.
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addison
Formerly “AWM”
 
Join Date: May 2009
 
2014-02-19, 10:38

Did you try the diesel version? I haven't seen a single one around here. I assume they want a small fortune for the option.

Nice choice on your part. The GC is really a good looking SUV. I'm seeing a lot of the regular Cherokees around but I'm not sure about that one.
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