GMC Acadia Cruises to the top...

[bec5150]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/review...21-acadia_x.htm

 

Nice to see a new GM product set the standard.

Edited December 22, 2006 by bec5150

[Bluecon]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/review...21-acadia_x.htm

 

Nice to see a new GM product set the standard.

This is trouble for the Edge.

"I hate to say it, but she's gonna bomb. Go ahead, flame me, but we can revisit this in six months.

- bec5150 on the Ford Edge, Nov 2 2006, 06:40 PM"

[BORG]

The Acadia/Outlook/Enclave are one of those "Just Right" cars that Ford use to create. GM has a blockbuster on its hands and I hope Ford knows what it's doing with the Frairlane and Freestyle, neither vehicle seem as well targeted at this segment. The Freestyle is a good example of Ford failing to understand the market and I don't see any evidence that Ford 'gets' it as well as GM.

 

The Edge is a fad car, these Lamdas are not. I think the Edge will do well for a short period, but it's clear that the Edge is not the product to establish the segment. It's a much pricier and stylish verison of what has already been on the market. The Escape was a better example of Ford establishing a market...and then neglecting it of course!

Edited December 23, 2006 by BORG

[Roadrunner]

BORG: yes.

[2005Explorer]

The Acadia/Outlook/Enclave are one of those "Just Right" cars that Ford use to create. GM has a blockbuster on its hands and I hope Ford knows what it's doing with the Frairlane and Freestyle, neither vehicle seem as well targeted at this segment. The Freestyle is a good example of Ford failing to understand the market and I don't see any evidence that Ford 'gets' it as well as GM.

 

The Edge is a fad car, these Lamdas are not. I think the Edge will do well for a short period, but it's clear that the Edge is not the product to establish the segment. It's a much pricier and stylish verison of what has already been on the market. The Escape was a better example of Ford establishing a market...and then neglecting it of course!

 

I think you will see a response to this vehicle quicker then you think and it's not the Edge, Freestyle or Fairlane. In fact, I don't really see any of those vehicles as a perfect market match for this vehicle. They are all targeted towards different markets. Edge (smaller sportier CUV), Freestyle (bet it's history by 2010), and the Fairlane (Going after the Caravan crew).

 

So what does that leave you with? Explorer.

 

It will be interesting to see what direction Ford takes with the next Explorer, but my guess is it will be marketed directly at these vehicles. Some will say that Ford will be too slow to this market to make an impact. Well the same thing was said when Ford built the first Explorer. The Jeep Cherokee preceeded it with a 4 door model by many years. I don't think I have to explain how that turned out.

 

Maybe Ford should have canned the Fairlane project and the Edge and put everything they had into a new crossover based Explorer and got it on the ground sooner. I think at the time though Ford felt like there was still a market for a midsized BOF SUV so they did not do that. It can be hard as hell to forcast 2 or 3 years out what will be the hottest trend at that time.

[danglin]

The Acadia/Outlook/Enclave are one of those "Just Right" cars that Ford use to create. GM has a blockbuster on its hands and I hope Ford knows what it's doing with the Frairlane and Freestyle, neither vehicle seem as well targeted at this segment. The Freestyle is a good example of Ford failing to understand the market and I don't see any evidence that Ford 'gets' it as well as GM.

 

The Edge is a fad car, these Lamdas are not. I think the Edge will do well for a short period, but it's clear that the Edge is not the product to establish the segment. It's a much pricier and stylish verison of what has already been on the market. The Escape was a better example of Ford establishing a market...and then neglecting it of course!

:blah:

 

A Blockbuster!!! This is a pricey (30,000- 47,000) Full Size SUV/CUV !! These vehicles appear to be nice, but I do not see how these are going to generate large sales numbers. I imagine they will be profitable though.

 

The edge is not pricier than the Murano, its main competiion!!

 

These GM SUV/CUVs are not competing for the same customer as the Edge.

Edited December 23, 2006 by danglin

[Surgen]

Edge and Acadia aren't really competitors. Edge starts at 26k, Acadia at 30k.

 

To me, the Acadia styling looks like it will get dated quickly. It's resemblance to a Freestyle is uncanny - which to my eyes resembles alot of SUVs made during the last 10 years.

 

The Acadia is essentially a 'Mini-Van Alternative'. In my eyes, the only two functional differences between many Mini-Vans and 3-Row CUVs are the height of the load floor and sliding doors. From everything I've read, this appears to be a direct competitor to the forthcoming production version of the Fairlane concept. Only large difference between Acadia and Fairlane appears to be styling direction.

 

Given that we know next to nothing about final packaging/content/size of the production Fairlane - it's hard to declare victory isn't it?

[Michael Reynolds]

These vehicles will no doubt sell without any problems. I mean after all look at what they will eventually replace (GM Midsize SUVs). Having said that, the Edge is more of a niche vehicle (sharing the same class with basically the Murano) whereas the Acadia/Outlook appear to be more mainstream.

[bravestar]

All Ford needs to do is have an extended Edge to accomodate a third row seat and it is a slam dunk for Ford. The Acadia looks too much like a traditional SUV.

[2005Explorer]

All Ford needs to do is have an extended Edge to accomodate a third row seat and it is a slam dunk for Ford. The Acadia looks too much like a traditional SUV.

 

Wouldn't that pretty much be a new Explorer? Granted I would expect the new Explorer to have more traditional SUV styling, but a 3rd row Edge would be pretty much an Explorer with a car chassis.

Edited December 23, 2006 by 2005Explorer

[swenson88]

These vehicles will no doubt sell without any problems. I mean after all look at what they will eventually replace (GM Midsize SUVs). Having said that, the Edge is more of a niche vehicle (sharing the same class with basically the Murano) whereas the Acadia/Outlook appear to be more mainstream.

 

This isn't really an Edge competitor, it's a Freestyle competitor. The problem is the new GM CUV's are what the Freestyle needed to look like but didn't. I still contend that the Freestyle is far too stationwagon-ish and not nearly enough SUV-ish, and I think these new GM CUV's really have the perfect balance that just makes them look SO much better than the Freestyle. They're probably not any more useful than the Freestyle, or versatile, and won't be anymore powerful once the 3.5L V6 gets into the Freestyle, but no matter what sort of new grille and taillights they put on the Freestyle it's simply way too low to the ground and it looks like a station wagon. GM's going to sell a ton of these things, I don't think the Freestyle has a chance. The Edge is simply going to be a niche CUV, not a mainstream big seller.

[JETSOLVER]

All Ford needs to do is have an extended Edge to accomodate a third row seat and it is a slam dunk for Ford. The Acadia looks too much like a traditional SUV.

 

You have to be carefull with that kind of carpet bombing model proffusion. Thinks about how D-C has muddied the various car like vs. Jeep like versions of its platforms. Killing your your own sales by tripping over/confusing existing customers in the dubious hope of attracting new ones is not an effective way to profitability.

[danglin]

I just really do not see this competing with the Freestyle with the price Difference. They are really going to be competing in what is supposedly a dying segment, the Full Size SUV.

 

Freestyle AWD range is $28500-$37000 for 2 trim levels, the GM range is $32000-$47000 for 3 trim levels

It would be interesting to see how these vehicles will compare when similarly equipped.

 

I imagine when similarly equipped, these GM vehicles are going to be at least $3000 to $5000 more expensive. That is a lot of dough.

 

The Expedition range is $33000-$48000 for 6 trim levels, and It will tow up to 9000 pounds.

 

Simply by Price, I can not see this becoming a Large Volume Seller.

[swenson88]

The only truly dying SUV segments are the traditional BOF segments, if you notice the sales of almost all car-based SUV's continue to grow by leaps and bounds. These new GM SUV's may be large (not really that much larger than the Freestyle) but they're going to get better mpg than any fullsize BOF SUV, probably by a good 5mpg or so. Given that fuel consumption is a primary reason people are abandoning the big SUV's, I don't think their size is going to be a problem.

[bravestar]

You have to be carefull with that kind of carpet bombing model proffusion. Thinks about how D-C has muddied the various car like vs. Jeep like versions of its platforms. Killing your your own sales by tripping over/confusing existing customers in the dubious hope of attracting new ones is not an effective way to profitability.

 

My thought was to eliminate the slow selling Freestyle with a vehicle with fresh styling with a more traditional powertrain and ride height for a crossover.

[swenson88]

My thought was to eliminate the slow selling Freestyle with a vehicle with fresh styling with a more traditional powertrain and ride height for a crossover.

 

I don't think you need to eliminate the Freestyle, just when it gets redesigned fix the problems like you said - better styling, more powerful drivetrain, and bump up the ride height to get it away from station wagon boredom and into taller CUV proportions.

[Bluecon]

Edge and Acadia aren't really competitors. Edge starts at 26k, Acadia at 30k.

 

To me, the Acadia styling looks like it will get dated quickly. It's resemblance to a Freestyle is uncanny - which to my eyes resembles alot of SUVs made during the last 10 years.

 

The Acadia is essentially a 'Mini-Van Alternative'. In my eyes, the only two functional differences between many Mini-Vans and 3-Row CUVs are the height of the load floor and sliding doors. From everything I've read, this appears to be a direct competitor to the forthcoming production version of the Fairlane concept. Only large difference between Acadia and Fairlane appears to be styling direction.

 

Given that we know next to nothing about final packaging/content/size of the production Fairlane - it's hard to declare victory isn't it?

Might be time for an apointment with the eye doctor.

[JETSOLVER]

My thought was to eliminate the slow selling Freestyle with a vehicle with fresh styling with a more traditional powertrain and ride height for a crossover.

 

Perhaps I am missing something, but isn't that what the Fairlane idea was supposed to do? As well as take on any die hard minivanners left that swear by Ford?

 

The Freestyle was perhaps the most stillborn product Ford has foisted on their customers since the turn of the century. Screwed up naming, confused customers and dealers, no marketing AT ALL, and no effort ot even meet let alone exceed the competition, and obviously now, no intent on updateing/fixing the sorry mess. Seems to me like a George Costanza recipe for success. Even as a Ford fan, I remember wandering up to one on the lot(they sure as heck didn't want it in the showroom) and trying to figure out just what it was and why it existed. Not that it matters, but did anyone else see it as a winner?

[NLPRacing]

Perhaps I am missing something, but isn't that what the Fairlane idea was supposed to do? As well as take on any die hard minivanners left that swear by Ford?

 

The Freestyle was perhaps the most stillborn product Ford has foisted on their customers since the turn of the century. Screwed up naming, confused customers and dealers, no marketing AT ALL, and no effort ot even meet let alone exceed the competition, and obviously now, no intent on updating/fixing the sorry mess. Seems to me like a George Costanza recipe for success. Even as a Ford fan, I remember wandering up to one on the lot(they sure as heck didn't want it in the showroom) and trying to figure out just what it was and why it existed. Not that it matters, but did anyone else see it as a winner?

 

I like the Freestyle, but two major factors kept us from purchasing. Despite decent power feel, I couldn't bring myself to purchase a vehicle this size with only 200 HP. Plus, it had basically no towing capacity. Once it gets the 3 bar grille (which should make it look a whole lot better), the Duratec35 (as long as the towing capacity goes up) and the Ford/GM JV tranny, we may get one.