atomcat68

Every time I get my 2012 Mustang serviced, the dealer has 1-3 Mustangs and they're always 50-60 thousand dollars often with markups. They don't want to stock base models, so they are content to have them sit on the lots with icicles dangling off them. Maybe they pay rent or something.

I'd remove the silver strip above the windows. The roof rack carries the theme of silver from the back pillar just fine.

Well, I guess the one I posted last week was the wrong one... But I wish it was it now after seeing this. This is the most awful thing with wheels that I have ever seen! It is a freight train air conditioner inspired lump that makes the Pontiac Aztec look like a Ferrari in comparison. This looks like something that the Caesar Romero Joker from the 1960's Batman series would drive and fart a pink cloud smoke screen to get away from a crime scene. Jaguar will tank. This is the end of the brand. Ta-ta!

It would probably be too risky for Honda to pour perfectly good money into a bad company that would take too long to turn around. The only thing they could get as far as new market segments would be a truck based pickups and SUVs, but Nissan is canceling the Titian. If I were Honda, I'd probably not answer any phone calls when Nissan's exec's phone numbers show up on my caller ID. Of course a Nissan liquidation would probably spell the end of Mitsubishi in North America as well as their Japan lineup would have little appeal to Americans and the cars we do get are based on Nissan platforms which would probably die at the end of their lifecycle. Honda may want to buy out Nissan's share of the joint ventures they were both developing, or I could see maybe Honda (or even Hyundai/Kia) buying Nissan's USA plants to build product here to avoid the new tariffs if Nissan hangs it up in the USA. Nissan may want to consider chapter 11 of its Nissan of North America to maybe cull dealerships and dump Infiniti as a part of reorganizing if they choose to stay here. Nissan is just going to have to reorganize through bankruptcy. I don't know what Japanese laws offer, but maybe the can negotiate their way out with creditors in return for shares in a future healthy Nissan. They do have new product planned, but need a bit more time than 12-14 months to see if it will be enough.

By now, pretty much everyone has seen or knows about that new Jaguar ad which they show every new Jaguar car on sale today, which is nothing, because they're taking a year off to develop the new Jaguars which will compete with Bentley and other such expensive product. The ad was strange, but clever in the way that people started talking about Jaguar. I pretty much decided to give them the benefit of the doubt until the product was shown and maybe it would knock me out. Well, it did, but not in a good way. My god, WTF is up with that? A ultra luxury car should ooze passion and not be a soulless blob like this. It looks like ironed out tin foil, with no character on a generic coupe design. This does nothing for me and the design would have a hard time competing with the $30,000 bracket. If they had the same performance would anyone pick this over a Subaru BRZ? This totally doesn't work in the Bentley segment.

And Bentley, Lamborghini... Bugatti, but they kind of gave that one away to Rimac. VW is kind of a luxury conglomerate stuck with VW along with Skoda and Seat.

My argument against Explorer is that when it was changed to a FWD based Volvo platform, there were no letter writing campaigns or hoards of angry people like when the Mustang was almost replaced like the Probe. Look at the passion Mustang awakens in people. There are strong opinions when customers feel the Mustang isn't being honored like Mustang II or Mach E. When Explorer changed, it was a collective "meh", and the FWD one sold well. Bronco was absent from Ford's lineup for a long time. Thunderbirds, Galaxies, Taurus and Fairlanes are instantly recognizable as Fords and are gone. All good cars, but no one really raged at that as much as when Ford almost made the Probe the Mustang. The most powerful emotional responses are usually to F-150 and Mustang and the others do not have the same degree of fanaticism.

I love the interior, but the exterior looks like a typical CUV. I'm not sure if Acura at this point can be considered a real luxury brand as their "sweet spot" seems to be entry level cars with not enough to distinguish them from Honda counterparts. I feel they could put a premium trim in Hondas and get better results.

I like the way the interior color reverses the color combo of the outside. It looks good. But, as mentioned above the engine issue may be a huge problem. The Ford and Toyota problems were bad enough and those involved around 100,000 cars each. Honda's problem may involve 1.2 million cars, making engine replacements impossible.

Agree that SUVs will be popular. The difference between Jeep and Bronco is that the Jeep has been in continuous production for decades and the Bronco has returned after not being in production. Ford got along fine without a Bronco many of those years. The Bronco, I feel will end up being a "flavor of the month" much like the Camaro and the Thunderbird which competed against icons that were in continuous production. Unlike those other examples, Bronco may stick around, but I don't think it will be a breadwinner for Ford like the F series or an icon like Mustang and Ford should not bet that it is.

Also exciting "it' vehicles are like fashion and can suddenly become uncool in short order like the Thunderbird 2 seater, and like I believe the Bronco will become.

It is a problem is a luxury maker can't field a product in this competitive segment. They should try again in the future.

Polestar is Chinese owned and manufactured (although the next model will be assembled in South Carolina).

I kind of like it. I'd change the fender flares so they don't look like Groucho Marx's eyebrows though.

There is just too much baggage to overcome with Chrysler. The only reason to buy it is to gain entrance to the North American market which FCA then Stellantis did. Between they did it, the main reason was they got Jeep and pickups, which is the profit center and an entire dealer network as well as plants. If a Chinese company buys just the Chrysler name, they may get a plant, but Stellantis probably won't let them sell in their dealer network, so the'll have to start that from the ground up. Most of the NA market likes pickups and Suv/CUVs which Chrysler is weak with product history. So a Chinese company would need to start selling their products under a nameplate which is viewed apathetically by the homeland of the nameplate and wouldn't care one way or another if it disappeared with an untested dealer network. Also why would Stellantis want to aid a competitor which they have every reason to keep out of the marketplace to steal their lunch. The grandson buying the company would be an even worse situation where after buying the company, they have to spend billions developing several new products to sell in a new dealer network to keep alive a nameplate no one even cares about in the first place. Stellantis would just be better off keeping Chrysler with badge engineered Opel, Peugeot or Citroen cars or just letting the brand disappear completely. I'd even consider replacing it with a European brand or even reviving AMC to sell a line of CUV's from Europe at this point.

I like the interior. The exterior is a different story. They are trying to mimic the Mach E's blacked out roof to make it look more sedan/CUV coupe-like. It is easily forgettable five minutes after you look at it. The Aria has better styling.

It would never work. They would spend a fortune just to buy the brands and then they'd have to develop product, and the product would have to be great in order to gain market share. Stellantis would probably keep Jeep and Ram, so the family would have to use Dodge, Chrysler and possibly a revival of Plymouth to work with. Until then, they would only have a minivan and the Durango to make money, because the Hornet isn't going to cut it. Would Stellantis even allow them to use their platforms? Look how long it took Tesla to make five model lines and then realize that Chrysler would have to be able to handle at least 4-5 models in multiple divisions while Stellantis can't even do that with huge resources and overseas car brands to donate platforms.

YES! Another happy Dart owner! Other than that, this report is a total face plant. Carlos Tavares should be replaced and it is galling he wants to be paid the money he is demanding.

Whoops... haha. I guess I had a Dr. Evil moment.

The interior/dashboard is the biggest surprise for me. If all the logos were removed I'd have never guessed it was a Ford product in any way. The steering wheel is really sci-fi looking. My gripe with it is that although I think it is good looking, it does not look like it belongs in a car with a price that will hover near $100,000.

No one has posted this here yet so here it is: https://media.ford.com/content/dam/fordmedia/North America/US/2024/10/02/sales/Q3 2024 Sales.pdf

For the most part, that's been Volvo's M.O. The traditional customers will like it.

I noticed that too. I think they meant that 7 out of every 10 trucks were F series. (70,701 out of 103,011).

As much as I think a lot of the new car tech in unnecessary, I have to think about things we are used to in cars that have been there a long time, that you really don't need: Power windows- How much effort does it take to crank a window open? Power locks - One can't simply push the door lock down? Auto wipers- I've never had this, because I can tell when it rains, and the stalk is right at my fingertips. Auto Lamps - If a driver can't tell when it's dark out, they shouldn't be driving. But you do get used to having these features, and it's good that the auto industry tries new things.

GMC sold 563,000 units in 2023, all trucks and CUVs which are the most profitable things American automakers sell. GM would never end this brand.