High End Luxury Cars

24700 messages, Last post on Dec 01, 2009 at 12:24 PM

You are in the Sedans Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens

What is this discussion about? Audi A8, BMW 7 Series, Jaguar XJ-Series, Lexus LS 460, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Volkswagen Phaeton, Maserati Quattroporte, Mercedes-Benz CL-Class, Sedan

Let's try to define this forum as being limited to luxury performance vehicles where the mainstream version in a typical configuration has an MSRP of at least $60k.

A luxury vehicle with a base price of $59k qualifies because it would typically be bought with some additional equipment, bringing the MSRP over $60k.

Vehicles like the E, 5, A6, M, or GS, even if available in certain versions over $60k, don't qualify because they are cars from companies that have higher end cars in their lineups.

Outline

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#13017 of 24700 A Shift in Gears.......... by merc1 Jan 11, 2006 (11:10 pm)
What are everyone's predictions for 2006 brandwise? What new products does everyone's fav brand have on the way (that we somewhat know about that is)? I'll start with the two most popular first. BMW - 300K+ units for 2006? The 3-Series continues its rollout and will save BMW's overall sales picture from the pending downturn in 7-Series sales. (a new S is in town). E-Class and 5-Series will duke it out again, but the 5 won't win in 2006 with a revised E on the way. New X5 due this fall, important in the sales race for them. M5 and M6 remain sold out for 2006. M6 cabrio on the way by the end of the year. Lexus - Likely to hit 350K sales in 2006 with all the new an relatively new product they have on tap. Yes all you Lexusfans your brand will sail to new sales heights for 2006 for sure. The LS, IS and GS will do this, but I see a big dropoff for their aging SUVs (minues the RX) and the SC430. Since there is a new Camry, I suspect a new ES"350" is due for spring? A GS350 and GS460 will be added late in the year. Mercedes-Benz - Will hit 250-260K or so this year on the back of the ML,S,CLS,E (E facelift by summer), GL. The R-Class (which I like for some reason), has seen a gradual increase in sales every month but I don't think it will ever be a "hit" in its current guise. C-Class will have a bad year due to its own age and the newer competition. New CL is due in the fall, but that isn't a volume seller per. Facelifted SL due by summer also. Audi - lots of new niche models coming for 2006 and a new SUV. The RS4, S8, S6, and Q7 to be exact. I don't see a major spike in sales for them, but the Q7 will be a hit (for them that is). The A6 will likely get the new FSI V8 and the new 280hp V6 from the Passat during 2006. Infiniti - will cool down somewhat in 2006 with the G35 aging the Q45 a non-starter. The next G isn't due until spring 2007 from what I've seen? The M will continue to gain new friends in 2006, but I see Infiniti sales being flat overall for 2006. Jaguar - New XK will be a hit of course, but it alone can't save the company. They'll likely end up selling less units in 2006 compared to 2005 overall because the XJ is falling, the S-Type has fallen the X-Type can't get up. Cadillac - Really impressed with the STS-V and XLR-V models, but the real news for them is the new Escalade. In in pics you can tell this is much better vehicle than before. The interior alone at least looks like it comes from someone other than GM. These will be hits for about the first few months but as summer comes and gas prices spike again (as we know they will do) they might face some sales hurdles. M Replies to this message: lexusguy (Jan 12, 2006 1:15 am) merc1 (Jan 12, 2006 1:23 am) lexusguy (Jan 12, 2006 5:56 am) designman (Jan 12, 2006 5:41 am) scott1256 (Jan 12, 2006 7:55 am) jrock65 (Jan 12, 2006 9:22 am)
#13018 of 24700 Re: A Shift in Gears.......... [merc1] by lexusguy Jan 12, 2006 (1:15 am)
Replying to: merc1 (Jan 11, 2006 11:10 pm) I hope after seeing the recepetion to the R-class, BMW decides the "luxury minivan" is not a hot new segment begging for more entries, and cans the R-class fighter they are working on. I'm not sure that Lexus SUV sales are going to take that much of a hit. The 400h should help boost RX sales, and the GX is really not that old, it was brand new for '03, no older than FX, and much newer than the comparatively ancient Acura MDX. They wont sell many LX470s, but they've never sold many LX470s. '07 will bring brand new versions of both of Lexus' biggest selling cars, and they should have a very good year. For Audi's sake, I hope they are able to save the Q7 from the curse of Toureg that is giving Toureg and Cayenne reliability scores that make Land Rover look great. The A6 isnt getting a new V6 any time soon, and definitely not the Passat's VR6. It faces the wrong way. Infiniti is showing the "concept coupe" which is basically the next G35 coupe, so I dont think that the next G is that far away. I think it will definitely be a '07 model, just not sure when its going to show up. I think the XK is going to do well, but as you said, it cant save the company. They basically already need a brand new XJ, even though the current version is just 2 years old. The new Benz S and the LS460 are just going to slaughter it. Whats worse, considering how long the last XJ6\8 and XK ran, the XJ will additionally have to deal with a brand new 7 series, and at least an updated A8 before it even gets a refresh, let alone a redesign. Pushing Jag up into the "new Bentley" space of $150K products seems like the only place to go, as there's just no way they can compete in the volume luxury arena. If\when they get there though, I dont think Ford will be the owner any more. Ford just doesnt have the scratch to fund that kind of a transition, which could take a decade. The interiors for all of the new GM full-size trucks, even the Chevy Tahoe, are really impressive. Not quite as good as the latest Toyota interiors, but better than just about every one else in the segment. I never thought I'd say that about a GM product. Cadillac needs a new CTS though, and quick. Replies to this message: merc1 (Jan 12, 2006 1:23 am) lexusguy (Jan 12, 2006 5:56 am) designman (Jan 12, 2006 5:41 am)
#13019 of 24700 Re: A Shift in Gears.......... [lexusguy] by merc1 Jan 12, 2006 (1:23 am)
Replying to: lexusguy (Jan 12, 2006 1:15 am) You would think BMW would do that, but the rivalry in Germany is way too hot for them to back down now. They'll do a R-Class competitor if it kills them. I suspect they'll make a better one as far as fun to drive and maybe in looks, but I don't see how it will be any bigger and still keep the BMW sport theme intact. The saying was that BMW product planning was carried out in Stuttgart. I forgot about that, they've turned the arrangement around for the Passat for this generation! The Q7 I've seen is supposed to get the Passat V6 though. I gotta look up that info again. Yeah the Jaguar XJ does have a long time to go, but then again maybe not. Automobile is running a story this month about a radical re-skin planned for 2009 which will see the XJ move away from the tough S/LS/7 segment and turns towards the CLS/Quattroporte segment. I keep seeing where everyone says that Jaguar is going to be taken upmarket to face Bentley, but I've never read that anywhere? Such a thing I don't think is possible. M Replies to this message: lexusguy (Jan 12, 2006 5:56 am)
#13020 of 24700 Maybach by syswei Jan 12, 2006 (4:52 am)
What is the talk on what will happen with Maybach? It looks like 2005 unit sales were way, way below the company's original plans. Will they go downmarket a bit, like Bentley? Or fold the division entirely? Replies to this message: merc1 (Jan 12, 2006 5:02 am) syswei (Jan 12, 2006 5:06 am) merc1 (Jan 12, 2006 5:09 am)
#13021 of 24700 Re: Maybach [syswei] by merc1 Jan 12, 2006 (5:02 am)
Replying to: syswei (Jan 12, 2006 4:52 am) I don't see them folding the division as in halting sales/production. They'll ether fold it back into Mercedes and just make it an grander Mercedes or they'll just soldier on until they can redesign the car. If they Maybach 57S doesn't give some life to the sales this year I'm sure we'll see some kind of organizational change. I think the lack of name recognition and dumpy styling hurt the car more than anything else. Rolls got much closer to their sales goal in 2005. M Replies to this message: syswei (Jan 12, 2006 5:06 am) merc1 (Jan 12, 2006 5:09 am)
#13022 of 24700 Re: Maybach [merc1] by syswei Jan 12, 2006 (5:06 am)
Replying to: merc1 (Jan 12, 2006 5:02 am) I wouldn't call the Phantom a styling improvement over Maybach or anything else. But yes I imagine the RR name can help. Replies to this message: merc1 (Jan 12, 2006 5:09 am)
#13023 of 24700 Re: Maybach [syswei] by merc1 Jan 12, 2006 (5:09 am)
Replying to: syswei (Jan 12, 2006 5:06 am) True, neither are beautiful, but between the RR name and the flying-brick-in-your-face styling it does have a road presence the Maybach can't match. M
#13024 of 24700 Re: More on Lexus Intelligent Park Assist system [tagman] by hpowders Jan 12, 2006 (5:38 am)
Replying to: tagman (Jan 11, 2006 8:17 pm) Sorry I missed your post. It had me laughing so much, I was spilling coffee without the cupholder's help!
#13025 of 24700 Re: A Shift in Gears.......... [lexusguy] by designman Jan 12, 2006 (5:41 am)
Replying to: lexusguy (Jan 12, 2006 1:15 am) Infiniti is showing the "concept coupe" which is basically the next G35 coupe, so I dont think that the next G is that far away. I think it will definitely be a '07 model, just not sure when its going to show up. So far it's in my number one slot for styling star of the year. I can't imagine anything beating it on my scorecard with all of the abominations and gropemobiles out there. It is both elegant and sporty-aggressive which is a very hard feat to achieve. And it presents more than a facelift. I hope it's the production version.