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The Car Thread ... !
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Deer will train you in vehicle ‘evasive maneuvering’.
Speaking of which: This accident was from earlier in the week. GMC struck a mid-size deer at 45 MPH, totaled, yet the deer ran off allegedly unharmed.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/26/business/gm-cars-dropping-production/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/26/business/general-motors-cutbacks.html
Government Motors making huge changes across their lineup and assembly plants.
No more CT6, LaCrosse, Impala, XTS, Cruze, Impala, and Volt. They're also halting production at five plants!
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/26/business/general-motors-cutbacks.html
Government Motors making huge changes across their lineup and assembly plants.
No more CT6, LaCrosse, Impala, XTS, Cruze, Impala, and Volt. They're also halting production at five plants!
The Impala was Rumored for awhile to be discontinued, just as the Taurus was in the sedan segment. I am surprised to see the Cruze being discontinued (Based off the CNN link, January - September sales: 109,662, down 26.5%), Which is a fairly dramitic decline, as it’s one of the main economy cars for GM, and the Lacrosse has been around forever/is ancient. That’s a major stir for GM, almost as big as Ford’s announcement months back in some ways.
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The latest LaCrosse was introduced in 2015-2016. Its hardly ancient.
Anyway not a surprise. It will be interesting if GM keeps the plants in case they need to increase capacity or convert them to electric/self driving car production or sell them. It would be nice of course to bring some models like the Blazer/Acadia/Envision/Encore that are produced in Mexico, China, and Korea. But it won’t be this generation as GM won’t spend the money on retooling these plants until the next gen in 3-5 years.
The CT6 surprises me considering they spent all that money on the CT6-V and boom dead.
Toyota nailed the new Rav 4 design and the black accents are sharp. Slightly makes me think of the ‘Forerunner’ from the front fascia standpoint, but this trim I would consider with the ‘White on Black’ theme. Aside from the Rav 4, I think Toyota’s design cues are back on par with the Camry, Avalon and now the Rav, all look nice.
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The Lacrosse itself has been around forever, is really what I meant, but I still qualify it as ancient. And it falls in line with all the other four-door sedan’s that are not selling, which evidently Lacrosse sales are on the decline at 14.2%. Albeit, the Encore/Enclave obviously is doing well enough in the mid-crossover sector for GM to continue.
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The Lacrosse itself has been around forever, is really what I meant, but I still qualify it as ancient. And it falls in line with all the other four-door sedan’s that are not selling, which evidently Lacrosse sales are on the decline at 14.2%. Albeit, the Encore/Enclave obviously is doing well enough in the mid-crossover sector for GM to continue.
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Ford and GM are looking into the next two years under these tariffs. Aside from that, the economy may see another downturn and they're being smart versus back in 2005-2007 just before the recession. Other reasons are moving resources towards R&D into more fuel efficient ICE and or battery tech, autonomous driving research, etc. It's a smart move. I'm surprised the Bolt was axed because it's fairly popular with the hippy crowd along with the Prius. The Volt stays, which is telling in regard to my aforementioned theory. I wouldn't be surprised if GM uses the Bolt's engine in a new car or offers it on a non-axed platform or partners with another company to supply engines.
There's also the question of the rumored mid-engine Corvette. That's in limbo, even if it'll sell like hotcakes. Too they may be too far down the rabbit hole to hold off especially because of accumulated costs.
There's also the question of the rumored mid-engine Corvette. That's in limbo, even if it'll sell like hotcakes. Too they may be too far down the rabbit hole to hold off especially because of accumulated costs.
It's a safe bet, but who knows. The Corvette is a halo purchase during recessions. You get a sweet deal regardless of how terrible the economy is. My post was meant to illustrate that if GM suffers worse than a decade ago, they can't quite rely on Corvette sales here or overseas, particularly the ME which they'll gladly exploit, to keep them good on the books.
Current tariffs don't place a huge premium on vehicles, but that's on current data and rates. Plus, a car is a long term purchase. Compare that to constantly purchased items. Then again I and just about any forecaster might very well be wrong. Pulled historic data is only so good before you begin to extrapolate points and apply them to the future. In other words, the world's foremost expert on statistics and economics will be wrong as much or more than they're right without them or others realizing.
Though, and going back to the actual cars, I wonder what this means to the theories of Cadillac making this car their own versus Chevy or having two versions with different body styles and interiors.
I still see new foreign sedans hitting the market like the BMW 3 series, A5 Sportback, Accord, Camry, Avalon, Altima, '20 TLX etc. Why are the US makers giving up?
Can't really compete in that segment. They have ways of delivering a quality car while keeping costs down and efficiency high. In other news, the new 992 and the E-Tron look good. Watched some video for the 992 and only a few awful things stick out, which I'm sure will be remedied in the 992.2 generation.
Though I'd say the new Camry is more popular than the Accord. It comes down to price between the two. The Honda offers more sensible features and openness, however, the high price which someone highlighted pages ago and the long-term reliability of the CVT transmission leaves a lot to be said. For the last few generations, I'd see more Accords than Camrys on the road. This generation around, it's a lot more Camrys than Accords. Both look very good, too. And when I say more on the road, I mean of a specific generation, not all generations.
Not that I'm a behavioral expert, but I usually presume that the typical Accord or Camry buyers intends to run that car into the ground. So the high price and CVT uncertainty comes into play here.
Of course you could always get a Kia, Hyundai or Genesis and manage to get every popular German and Japanese car rolled up into one design abomination.
Though I'd say the new Camry is more popular than the Accord. It comes down to price between the two. The Honda offers more sensible features and openness, however, the high price which someone highlighted pages ago and the long-term reliability of the CVT transmission leaves a lot to be said. For the last few generations, I'd see more Accords than Camrys on the road. This generation around, it's a lot more Camrys than Accords. Both look very good, too. And when I say more on the road, I mean of a specific generation, not all generations.
Not that I'm a behavioral expert, but I usually presume that the typical Accord or Camry buyers intends to run that car into the ground. So the high price and CVT uncertainty comes into play here.
Of course you could always get a Kia, Hyundai or Genesis and manage to get every popular German and Japanese car rolled up into one design abomination.
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The new Jeep Gladiator looks....interesting? I mean, it’s a Wrangler with a truck bed, but I guess I see the functionality for those who want the added cargo option:
In other news, confirmed the GT500 will debut at the Detroit Auto Show on January 14, 2019. (Given the major leak last month.)
https://www.motorauthority.com/news...stang-shelby-gt500-for-2019-detroit-auto-show
In other news, confirmed the GT500 will debut at the Detroit Auto Show on January 14, 2019. (Given the major leak last month.)
https://www.motorauthority.com/news...stang-shelby-gt500-for-2019-detroit-auto-show
Because they try to cut corners.
Example? Chevy Cruze. It even comes in a diesel with a manual transmission. No one is buying them because the interior is pure garbage.
Another one? Cadillac ATS. Great chassis. Garbage interior. Poor engines.
I opened up a new tab for this today but lost track of it and didn't see what it looked like until your post. Admittedly, I breezed past it and thought a new Hummer came out. It looks like a Hummer. I'd love to see who they're targeting with this. From what I understand, the 4 door isn't the best for mobility.
Don't forget the Chevy commercials and the parodies to go with it. I remember the latest iteration of the CTS-V having a good engine that was compared to the E63 S's engine, but it fell short in its antiquated robotic design and poor interior choice. Though I've heard the leather is good.
New safety regulations cause bloat. In any case, you should clean out your garage. As engines and transmissions have become more efficient, cars have been designed to be larger because of those regulations and because people want bigger cars.
bottom line the old peeps want the land boats. good for them, not cleaning out the garage toys for a junk suv (my dad's vehicle).
daily driver = swift, functional handling, tidy format and low curb weight, exceptional gas mileage and range, lots of cargo room, confidant performance to parallel park & city narrows. disposable.
weed end = not the fastest but feels like teh knee down in a canyon road. garage queen.
There is a practical upper limit to that trend, one that I think we are beginning to approach.
Many people have a valid case for having a larger car or truck. But many simply buy one for convenience or as a status symbol. The benefits of owning a smaller vehicle are seriously under-appreciated these days.
Also, the flip side of the development of more efficient powertrains is that while it makes larger cars closer in efficiency to yesterdays' small cars, today's small cars are that much more efficient still.
I have zero interest in any big car. SUV’s don’t hold the road like a smaller lighter car. The lower the centre of gravity, the better it handles.
Just like I’d rather never own an automatic car. I like to choose my own thanks.
We are a rapidly shrinking demographic. The trend is definitely bigger vehicles - especially trucks and SUVS - and within a generation nobody outside car collectors and racing drivers may even know how a manual transmission works. "Oh, a manual is when you flip the levers on the steering wheel, right?"
Of course, the advent of the electric car is also a factor in the death of the manual gearbox. A manual (or any geared transmission really) could still be useful for an electric car in certain circumstances, but is far less necessary.
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Apart from reiterating past complaint posts in this thread, do either of you have an actual post to offer other than frantic opinion? No one is forcing you to buy an SUV, crossover or god forbid a minivan. Plenty of sedans on sale aren't enormously large or heavy. The industry has shifted towards bigger and heavier cars for a very long time.
The death of the manual has been brought up ad nauseum since the late 1970s. It won't totally go away. If you want something light and nimble, buy an older sports vehicle and put a crate engine in it. Use that as your daily. Laws in the US (not sure about the UK, but I can't imagine it being more difficult) allow you to do just about anything to a car within the guidelines of the law and within reason.
I love a manual. I drove several for years. It isn't feasible to own a manual these days during the weekday. Weekend, sure. At the same time, I won't blow off a multiclutch that's faster than the fastest gear changer in the world because of nostalgia and ego.
And in the case of AFanboy, the manual won't go anywhere in Europe since it's a cheaper unit to put in the majority of cars sold there versus big luxury and sports vehicles. In 30 years you'll still have manuals here in Civics, Accords and similar vehicles. Provided we don't die in a nuclear fireball.
I've been grumpy here lately, I'll admit it....but I don't come here for facts - I come here to discuss, comment, complain, opine. New cars are becoming too big and expensive on average, and that trend can't continue forever - there is an upper limit. Assuming we all last that long, the trend will eventually reverse.
Nonsense, I've been driving a manual daily for decades, I don't see how it can be more or less "feasible" during the week.
Driving a manual is a little bit about ego , but it's also fun! And, as you've pointed out, it's cheaper to boot. As for 'nostalgia and ego' - isn't that the essence of performance motoring? It's certainly not about humility or piety!
We've got 30 year at most...but by then Civics and Accords will surely be all-electric or serial hybrids and any discussion of transmissions will be moot.
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