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Automotive News & Views Can GM make Cadillac the standard of the world Again?
6098 messages, Last post on Aug 14, 2009 at 4:43 PM
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Replying to: bumpy (Jan 07, 2009 3:55 pm) Regards, OW
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Replying to: circlew (Jan 07, 2009 4:57 pm) Nearly double your HP right there. Of course, not legal outside of a race track or off-road. But yes, the cars back then made plenty of power. Mercedes had a 3.0L I-6 in 1964 that made 200HP. Smog equipment and the EPA just eviscerated cars in the U.S. for nearly 20 years. |
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| Thanks for the info...................... | |
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| http://www.autonews.com/article/20090105/VIDEO/301059726/1115 | |
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Replying to: marsha7 (Jan 05, 2009 7:40 pm) They saw it, marsha, they knew it, and they admitted that the Japanese cars were better than ours. And they WANTED to make our cars as good or better. What got in the was was cost. The Beancounters, to keep the company profitable unit by unit, scratched triple door seals, clear headlights, NVH engineering and sound insulation, etc., until our cars sounded like cornbinders and Toyotas sounded like sewing machines...... We WANTED to do it, but could not because of the short term wall street mentality, even build the car they want to build. |
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A bit of messed up Velcro and the blog posters go ballistic. 2008 Cadillac CTS: Shortcuts That Try My Patience  It could be a worse design however. |
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I can understand ignoring it in the 70s and 80s, as the tidal wave of imports had not gained sufficient momentum for Big 3 to literally ring the bells of desperation... But by the 90s, with Acura, Lexus and Infinit, and the increasing sales of the lower level Honda, Toyota and Nissan, the tsunami from the underlying earthquake (shades of Indonesia) was beyond obvious...the elephant was standing on their feet, and they still pretended like nothing was happening... For all the fault of management, if I was a UAW worker, especially on Lincoln and Cadillac luxury cars, I would have been wondering why "my product" was not as good as the brand new competition from Japan... I understand why a little child covers its eyes because of the "monster" that hides in a dark closet...but I expect a little better from adults making Cadillacs, and that is probably my biggest failing, expecting Big 3 workers to act like intelligent adults...
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Replying to: marsha7 (Feb 13, 2009 9:18 am) |
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I pass on the Mercedes not because the Cadillac is cheaper, but that I can depend on the Cadillac and the repair and maintenance costs won't eat me alive! Besides, the Cadillac is much prettier. A Buick is an even more sensible choice. Some people truly do appreciate the Mercedes marque, but many other are just status seeking social climbers. These are the type who will brag about spending the extra $15K just because they can. They simply look foolish to me.
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Replying to: lemko (Feb 16, 2009 2:02 pm) I happen to agree with you, but your remark raises a question that I've asked before & that no one has answered. When I was a kid, status-seeking social climbers bought Cadillacs & helped make the Cadillac franchise into a veritable money machine for GM. Although Lincoln & Chrysler tried to grab some of this business, Cadillac dominated the luxury market & generated enormous profits. Cadillac used to know just how to pull these people into its showrooms. One of my favorite Cadillac ads ran in the mid to late 50s & shows what we would now call a couple of yuppies waiting for the valet to bring them their car. He's wearing a dinner jacket, she has a fur around her shoulders, & it's perfectly obvious that they drive a Cadillac, although no car is pictured. The ad just drips snobbery. It's clearly aimed at status seekers & it's very well done. If you're in the business of building & selling luxury cars, you want these people in your showrooms. They travel in packs & their business is hugely profitable. If you can't get social climbers to buy your luxury car, you have to ask yourself what you're doing wrong. Cadillac used to be the best in the business at separating these people from their money. What went wrong? How did Cadillac lose its mojo?
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