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Sedans Luxury Lounge
21399 messages, Last post on Nov 26, 2009 at 11:02 PM
You are in the Sedans Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: louiswei (Jan 02, 2009 9:15 am)  I dont expect VW to dethrone Toyota at all, just expecting them to be a major player particularly in clean diesel technology. Audi is the one I expect to soar, but its recent trend in raising price is giving me doubts.... Havent heard from you for a while... enjoying holidays?
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Predictions? Nobody knows the future. Nobody would have predicted that Prius sales were among the hardest hit among Toyotas during recent months. Nobody would have predicted that BMW's most devoted spokesmen (me, myself and I) would lose interest in BMWs. Because BMW lost me as their spokeman I think the company will be doomed very soon.  Luxury cars? Sales are doomed to get far worse than any other segment. Why? Because President elect Obama and on my side of the border PM Harper have one mandate: Kill Free markets. Bail out the losers. Regulate, regulate and even regulate more . Taxes for the rich will be hiked on both sides of our border and the sock it to the rich mentality will be back in vogue. Such an environment will strangle luxury car sales. Regarding bail outs. There is no such thing as the Government picking winners because it's always the losers that picks the Governement for bailouts. So the private sector is blamed for this financial crisis? That is very unfortunate. Since the key source of this problem was due to the US Government. Please refer to my link below: post 16164 And who is going to solve our problems--the government again ofcourse with more incentives to borrow and lend to parties that are already having difficulties serving their debts. Here's the reality: consistently borrowing more than you produce is unsustainable. During the Great Depression debts were a fraction of what they are now. Today that is not the case. Today with so much US debts owed to foreigners the situation resembles Weimar Germany during the 1920s. So how did Germany solve their debt problems. Quantitative easing as advocated by Bernanke/Paulson which basically means diminishing the value of your debts with high future inflation That is a very ominous and sad choice in my opinion because the consequences of such choice can be uncontrolloably dire. |
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Replying to: m4d_cow (Jan 02, 2009 10:47 am) Yeah, I was busy playing tour guide for the last week and half, my sister and cousin came visit me during Christmas. Have been catching up with the unread posts this morning and yours have been just like the way they are, very enjoyable. Audi is the one I expect to soar, but its recent trend in raising price is giving me doubts. I had great expectations for the new A4 because it is quite a looker and the new 2.0T looks like a monster based on the spec sheet. However, after an extensive test drive (on a track, with the 3.2 Quattro) and back to back test drive comparo with few of its competitors (328xi, C300 4matic and IS250 AWD) I came away disappointed. After finding out the pricing of the new A4 the disappointment grew even stronger. Personally I just don't see how this car will make Audi soar here in the US, especially when coupled with its ridiculous pricing strategy.
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Replying to: cyclone4 (Jan 02, 2009 10:38 am) |
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Replying to: tayl0rd (Jan 02, 2009 10:33 am) Cyclone, you might be right that it is temporary. I sure hope so. Here is the day's news from AAA. AAA Fuel Gauge Report Overview By Geoff Sundstrom Director, AAA Public Relations Monday, Dec. 29, 2008 Although the nationwide average price of self-serve regular gasoline resumed its decline over the weekend – falling to $1.619 per gallon, a third day of air strikes by Israeli forces against Palestinian targets in the Gaza strip rattled oil traders enough to push the price of oil back up to $40 per barrel by the end of Monday’s NYMEX session. Wholesale gasoline futures also moved a bit higher with reformulated fuel trading near 92 cents per gallon. The upward price moves for oil and wholesale gasoline came on a day of light trading volume, however and regardless of their one-day increase they still leave room for the average price of retail gasoline to move lower in coming days and weeks; perhaps as low as $1.50 per gallon between now and the end of February. It also has to be recognized that although the markets will be watching and reacting to events in the Middle East, there are no globally significant energy assets at risk in this fighting and demand for oil and gasoline remain extraordinarily weak worldwide. The other two ongoing events worth noting this week are: 1) continuing claims from OPEC members that more oil production cuts are on the way, and; 2) a resumption of dollar weakness against the Euro, the Japanese Yen and the Swiss Franc following the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank’s decision to lower the discount rate. Typically, a weak dollar pushes up the prices of commodities to U.S. consumers, so this could take on more significance to energy prices if the trend worsens. Threats of lower oil output are probably less of an immediate problem because demand is still low and inventories are plentiful. Overall, AAA remains reasonably confident the future trend for retail gasoline prices will be lower and not higher in coming weeks. Regards, OW
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Replying to: tayl0rd (Jan 02, 2009 10:33 am) As the saying goes, mal de muchos, consuelo de tontos. Over here is unfortunately the same thing. (Dewey, because of that and other badly unbalanced things akin to, I am not exactly a true believer regarding the market as the only right force to drive the world.) Regards Jose |
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Replying to: louiswei (Jan 02, 2009 11:20 am) Too bad the A4 didn't impress you. I will still keep the G in the list for future consideration vs. BMW. Still have not tried the IS. Regards, OW |
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Replying to: circlew (Jan 02, 2009 12:16 pm) The dollar index has actually held its own since early in the week and has actually strengthened somewhat. I may be in the minority, but I am not as pessimistic about the dollar as many so called experts. Let's face it. The entire world is dependent on the U.S. economy. About a month ago, I painted a rather gloomy picture about our economy, but I am starting to feel I bit more optimistic. Yes, there will be some very difficult times ahead over the next year or two, but I do not believe some of these doom and gloom guys that say that gold is headed to $2,000 or $3,000 and the dollar is going to zero. I REFUSE to believe that this nation will "die". If the gold reaches these sort of levels than we are all in the same boat anyway and everybody will be suffering terribly. I doubt that gold will do you much good. There would be anarchy. This article, however, does remind us all that the situation in the Middle East can explode at any moment and BINGO. Everything changes. |
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Replying to: louiswei (Jan 02, 2009 11:20 am) An A4 2.0T Sport /w ADS IMO is a much better car than the C300 with its el-cheapo materials and bland driving experience, and the IS250 which can get its doors blown off by a V6 Camry. The AWD version in particular is so underpowered it could be considered dangerous. While Audis aren't as cheap as they used to be, a loaded up A4 2.0T still undercuts a loaded 328xi by around $3,000. As with every version that came before, the V6 A4 doesn't have enough power and can't compete with BMW. If Audi offered an A4 3.0T S-line, it would be an easy choice over a 335xi and G37x. With the 3.2 though, I'd probably end up with the BMW or Infiniti.
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Replying to: lexusguy (Jan 02, 2009 1:29 pm) Audi 2.0 TSFI Prestige: $40k(base) / $47.3k(loaded) BMW 328xi: $35.6k(base) / $47.3k(loaded w/ automatic) / $45.9k(loaded w/o automatic) If Audi offered an A4 3.0T S-line That's call the new S4 as it'll come with the SC 3.0 V6.
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