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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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What is this discussion about? Cadillac Escalade, Cadillac XLR, Cadillac STS, Automotive News

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#5914 of 6098 Re: How to do it? [steve_] by bumpy Apr 09, 2009 (7:19 am)
Replying to: steve_ (Apr 08, 2009 4:25 pm) And there's the little matter of who's paying for the power.   It's not a huge deal. A car like the Volt might have as much as 15 kilowatt-hours in the batteries, which works out to maybe a dollar per full recharge. Pop a few quarters in the meter and walk away.   (what do you call miles per kilowatt anyway?).   Watt-hours per mile is the usual term. The lower the number, the farther you can go on a charge. The Volt is probably in the neighborhood of 250.
#5915 of 6098 I maintain the electric car is temporary...... by nvbanker Apr 09, 2009 (12:29 pm)
until the Fuel Cell is perfected, which, no surprise, it looks like Honda has about done. This eliminates the need for plug in parking meters, or employers who will pay to charge their employee's cars (yeah right! Like they pay for their gas now). The Hydrogen Fuel Cell is the answer folks, and until the distribution system for Hydrogen is built - petrol will still rule the day. Hybrids are merely stopgap - enjoy them if you want to, but they are temporary.
#5916 of 6098 that Caddy Volt is one hot lookin' vehicle by morey000 Apr 10, 2009 (8:49 am)
GM has a well thought out solution to the battery range problem. Put a little generator on board.   Plus- the Chevy Volt is pretty good looking and the Caddy version (Converj) is over the top hot. That vehicle will sell- if they can build them.   I know plenty of affluent people who drive Prius's, but if there were a luxury, no compromise choice out there- it would sell.   now- if GM can actually build them and sell them for a reasonable price, they'll be able to make some cash- 10 years from now after they pay off the development investment. Replies to this message: circlew (Apr 10, 2009 10:33 am) aldw (Apr 10, 2009 12:30 pm) circlew (Apr 10, 2009 1:31 pm)
#5917 of 6098 Re: that Caddy Volt is one hot lookin' vehicle [morey000] by circlew Apr 10, 2009 (10:33 am)
Replying to: morey000 (Apr 10, 2009 8:49 am)   I know plenty of affluent people who drive Prius's, but if there were a luxury, no compromise choice out there- it would sell.   There is. GM is playing catch-up with the Volt. Too late.   04/10/2009, 9:21 AM   Tesla Roadster goes 241 miles on single charge in European rally   Electric vehicles are often criticized for their limited range, but Tesla’s Roadster recently proved that even today’s EV’s have enough juice to cover a significant chunk of miles. In the Rallye Monte Carlo d’Energies Alternatives, Tesla’s Roadster covered 241 miles on a single charge.   The annual event –put on by the Automobile Club of Monaco – runs from Valance, France to Monaco, pitting alternative fuel vehicles against one another. The rally covers 241 miles of highways, streets and back roads.   The Tesla Roadster was the only electric vehicle to finish the event on a single charge – a Ruf EV and a few Mitsubishi iMiev’s also competed in the event – and its gauge cluster even indicated its batteries still had enough charge for another 38 miles. That would put the Roadster’s overall range at 279 miles – about 59 miles more than Tesla claims on the Roadster’s spec sheet.   Speeds for the rally ranged from about 60 mph to 20 mph, with the average checking in at a less-than-thrilling 28 mph. However, the fact that the Roadster covered all 241 miles – with some to spare – is still quite the feat   The Sedan is being ordered no (>1,500 on order) and will start production soon.   Regards, OW Replies to this message: aldw (Apr 10, 2009 12:30 pm) circlew (Apr 10, 2009 1:31 pm)
#5918 of 6098 Re: that Caddy Volt is one hot lookin' vehicle [circlew] by aldw Apr 10, 2009 (12:30 pm)
Replying to: circlew (Apr 10, 2009 10:33 am) I'd still go for a Volt or a Fisker over a Prius or a Tesla, at the very least the range and performance aspects are well worth the cost. Replies to this message: circlew (Apr 10, 2009 1:31 pm)
#5919 of 6098 Re: that Caddy Volt is one hot lookin' vehicle [aldw] by circlew Apr 10, 2009 (1:31 pm)
Replying to: aldw (Apr 10, 2009 12:30 pm) Good Choice if you choose the Fisker on looks alone   For me, it's the Tesla all the way.     The Volt is a sad excuse for a $40K EV IMHO, of course. It's not what I would pit against the int'l auto community of future technology from the U.S.A. , afaic.   And the Prius looks like a modified Aztec from my vantage point!   Besides, it's in jeopardy!   At a media preview of the heavily redesigned 2010 Prius hybrid here, Ed La Rocque, Toyota's national car marketing manager, confirms Toyota has a plan to address Honda's new Insight hybrid, the recent U.S. launch of which has whipped analysts and industry watchers into a frenzy because the Insight's base price ($19,800) undercuts the current Prius by thousands.   With those looks and that future, it's CURTAINS!   Regards, OW
#5920 of 6098 Re: How to do it? [nvbanker] by questiongeek Jul 30, 2009 (10:58 pm)
Replying to: nvbanker (Apr 08, 2009 9:35 am) The XLR is not supposed to sell in huge numbers. It's for the rich, like the Ferrari Testarossa is. If it sold in huge numbers, there would be no sense of exclusiveness to it. The XLR supposedly has a Corvette chassis but is no where near as fun to drive as a Corvette, and at the price point they ask $80,000, there are things about the XLR that scream ---> lacking refinement.   I found it quite surprising that in your post you claim the STS is not big enough. How big does a car have to be? By the way, the STS replaced the beloved Seville. The DTS replaced the Devilles, Fleetwoods, and Eldorados, the CTS replaced the Cimarron and Catera
#5921 of 6098 Re: [nvbanker] by questiongeek Jul 30, 2009 (11:24 pm)
Replying to: nvbanker (Feb 16, 2009 7:07 pm) Dude.. Bravo! I couldn't have said it better myself! In the 1980s Cadillac caused massive defections from their brand and GM cars in general with the junk they foisted upon the public. Then they had the nerve to turn around and complain that people weren't buying their junk, and refused to pay top dollar for it. LOL! It's laughable. An top brand luxury car whose engine destructs at 20,000 miles is inexcusable no matter how someone trys to explain it. Oh and I just love the "brilliant" V-8-6-4 engine. Jeeez what was GM smoking when they developed heap of an engine   I remember in 1988 when my boss told me, "Well the reason I bought a Honda Accord instead of a Cadillac, is because the pieces fit."   Cadillac really didn't become decent again till the late 1990's with the exception of the fiasco called the Catera
#5922 of 6098 Re: [dieselone] by questiongeek Jul 30, 2009 (11:28 pm)
Replying to: dieselone (Feb 16, 2009 5:08 pm) dieselone that's why people that buy the 3 series BMWs buy them, BECAUSE OF THE WAY THEY DRIVE, not because of snob appeal. Snob appeal is an unfortunate stereotype that BMW developed, because rich yuppies like them, and it's a European car (where all the people with the stuck up accents live)
#5923 of 6098 Re: Quality [cooterbfd] by questiongeek Jul 30, 2009 (11:49 pm)
Replying to: cooterbfd (Nov 11, 2008 6:26 pm) It had very much to do with lack of vision on GMs part. That's a major part of their problem. The Hummer was one of their biggest mistakes to date - Very poor timing They should have been the ones that developed that Pepsi throwback commercial and aired it with the Hummer commercials, cause that's what it was, a setback. The Hummer reminded me of when they introduced the Buick Roadmaster; another monumental flop. Here it was the mid 1980's and they introduce a car that looks like it was from a 1972 time warp.    Most people dont realize that the EV1 had nothing to do with GM wanting to get into the LEV market or Hybrid market. At the time, California had a law that required 2 percent of vehicles sold in the state to be ZEV. GM developed and sold the EV1 to comply and compete with this law. Once the law was scrapped, the EV1s were scrapped and crushed too. They were very expensive to build and market, some became safety hazards, and there was no service infrastructure for them. However despite the EV1s problems, they were a huge success because people were willing to support the idea ,actually liked the car and got used to not having to fill up the car with petro fuel. Almost every EV1 leasee offered to buy the car or continue leasing it. GM didn't care, and didn't want to hear it.    If GM had vision, they would have found a way to stick with the EV1 project to compete with the successful Asian hybrids, but no what did they do? ; they offered FLEXFUEL. "Come on everyone, come get our FlexFuel vehicles, that have very limited fuel availability, costs more than petro fuel, exploits another commodity-->corn, when we could be using those vast lands to grow food to feed people instead of cars and gargantuan SUVs and trucks". Jeeez. give me a break...   Then almost ten years too late, they introduce the Chevy Volt to effectively compete with Asian hybrids. I dont even think it's available yet, but almost. The Chevy Volts expensive price point has already turned many buyers off. And based on GMs past behavior many don't have confidence in the car or trust it.    It's this kind of behavior and marketing that makes many think of GM as backwards, scatterbrained, behind the times, terribly mismanaged, and yeah, having lack of vision ___________________________________ cooterbfd wrote: Selling the Hummer wasn't a lack of vision, not expanding the EV-1 to a Prius like car, or offering a Duramax in the Hummer WAS.

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