Fastest H-Town Realtor
02-03-2006, 09:59 PM
It is going to be a long cold winter for American auto manufacturers. After viewing all the H.A.S had to offer...I conclude the following:
1-GM hates the Camaro. The had the theoretical Camaro on a platform...Thought i saw it before...oh,thats right...MOPAR called it the new Challenger in the previous section. And what a fine job MOPAR did. Not so with GM. Ugly is the best thing I can say...
2-GM is officially out of ideas. So, I spoke with a GM rep about the show. My idea? Go over to Toyota. Buy a Camry. Give it to the GM design team and tell them to COPY it exactly. Sell the result for 5K less than Toyota. When you have a positive bottom line, then go design GM specific units. Or,make a ton more of those Z06 Vettes.Very nice car. In black, I dunno what Jesus would drive, but this is Satin's ride.
3-Cadillac loves the Escalade and has done a wonderful job on it So much so, that the next purchase will be an 07 Escalade.
4-Lincoln needs to go the way of Olds. The MK8 is an abortion of a truck, crossed between a minivan and a SUV. The Navigator, which wrote the book on the luxury SUV in '99, has declined into such a state of mediocracy that the only way to justify a purchase is if you get it for under 39K. There is no new unit on the boards. The F150 Bling edition...er...Mark LT is a tarted up F-150 with more dollars then sence. Some one needs to shut off that light and go home.
5-Japan, on most counts,is boring. Good cars, just no excitement.
6-Jaguar...well...other than a nice 2 door coupe is all last year material.
7-BMW-M5 is hot....M6 a no show...3 series, Z series...nice. The X 5 is long in tooth. Time for more sheetmatal adjustments.
8-M-Benz-To me,still a seniormobile. Nice lines, but nothing that makes me go "Whoa".
9-Land Rover-Damn, where did all the mature, white females with short assed haircuts come from? 70K for a 390HP truck? No thanks...Nice though.
10-Ford-Billy Ford needs to go do anything else but run a major automotive company. SVT Mustang wiht the best motor ever stuffed under the Pony bonnet? Way nice.I want 1. Red please. Shelby 2 door concept? Pass. Billy-Take the design team who did the Mustang, feed them all the caffine it takes, and redo the entire lineup from Ford. Start with the "Boredom is my middle name" 500. How can you get rid of a nameplate that once was the best selling car in the US and put a snoozer of a car into the same spot? Where did the Fusion team go? Call them back in from reccess. And, they plan on killing the Crown Vic? Stupidity abounds at Ford. You never,ever let a nameplate as succesful as the Taurus or Crown Vic leave the sales floor. NEVER.
11-MOPAR-Yes, I know..not American anymore...but they are the Jack-in the Box of auto manufacturers. Never will sell more hamburgers than the other Big 2, but will give enough specialty items to make up for market share. Add in a Hemi program that puts 335HP in everything they make, desk chairs included. Now there is the Super Hemi. 425HP? daaaymn. 300's,Magnums,Cherokees and now the Challenger. A very nice Challenger. Definite pony car war material. GM,stay. Bad dog. Oh,BTW-Fix the Viper. 500HP is not a big deal anymore. Gm has it. BMW has it. M/B has it. Damn, your trucks have it. Unless you have 600HP sitting in the hood, I'm hitting the Chevy Z06 order list.
12-Volvo,Saab,Audi and the likes-Sorry-I am a young 40 year old. Buick included. No fogeyride for me yet. Do these guys do anything but draw circles for design?
13-Ferrari/Porsche-Nice...locked up...thanks for coming. Plus the Z06 will kick around most anything you have to offer. And its less than 1/2 price. And its AMERICAN (most of it)
14-HUMMER-You arrogant bastards. You bring 2 H2s,1 H1 Alpha (locked!) and a few H3s...then have 1 chick handing out posters? Other than a couple of the specialty cars, the H2 had more people in line looking to get inside than any other vehicle there. I watched for 30 minutes and there was always 4-7 people looking to sit inside..anywhere inside.Front/back/tailgate. Anywhere. Someone should have been there to get buyer info and follow up. You might have sold a few more this year. Its called showroom excitement. Take a lesson from....
15-Nissan. People all over giving info,taking info and following up with questions. Not pests, just informative. Maxima, Altima Pathfinder..all good stuff. Also, look to the Titan to steal GM/FORD pick up truck sales. Same for Infinity to Caddy/Lincoln
Short of it. I found no reason to visit any american showroom, less the Caddy. Them boys better invest in coats, cause it will be a long cruel winter on sales. Even giving the vehicles away (GM's price drop) sales are going to be pitifull.
1-GM hates the Camaro. The had the theoretical Camaro on a platform...Thought i saw it before...oh,thats right...MOPAR called it the new Challenger in the previous section. And what a fine job MOPAR did. Not so with GM. Ugly is the best thing I can say...
2-GM is officially out of ideas. So, I spoke with a GM rep about the show. My idea? Go over to Toyota. Buy a Camry. Give it to the GM design team and tell them to COPY it exactly. Sell the result for 5K less than Toyota. When you have a positive bottom line, then go design GM specific units. Or,make a ton more of those Z06 Vettes.Very nice car. In black, I dunno what Jesus would drive, but this is Satin's ride.
3-Cadillac loves the Escalade and has done a wonderful job on it So much so, that the next purchase will be an 07 Escalade.
4-Lincoln needs to go the way of Olds. The MK8 is an abortion of a truck, crossed between a minivan and a SUV. The Navigator, which wrote the book on the luxury SUV in '99, has declined into such a state of mediocracy that the only way to justify a purchase is if you get it for under 39K. There is no new unit on the boards. The F150 Bling edition...er...Mark LT is a tarted up F-150 with more dollars then sence. Some one needs to shut off that light and go home.
5-Japan, on most counts,is boring. Good cars, just no excitement.
6-Jaguar...well...other than a nice 2 door coupe is all last year material.
7-BMW-M5 is hot....M6 a no show...3 series, Z series...nice. The X 5 is long in tooth. Time for more sheetmatal adjustments.
8-M-Benz-To me,still a seniormobile. Nice lines, but nothing that makes me go "Whoa".
9-Land Rover-Damn, where did all the mature, white females with short assed haircuts come from? 70K for a 390HP truck? No thanks...Nice though.
10-Ford-Billy Ford needs to go do anything else but run a major automotive company. SVT Mustang wiht the best motor ever stuffed under the Pony bonnet? Way nice.I want 1. Red please. Shelby 2 door concept? Pass. Billy-Take the design team who did the Mustang, feed them all the caffine it takes, and redo the entire lineup from Ford. Start with the "Boredom is my middle name" 500. How can you get rid of a nameplate that once was the best selling car in the US and put a snoozer of a car into the same spot? Where did the Fusion team go? Call them back in from reccess. And, they plan on killing the Crown Vic? Stupidity abounds at Ford. You never,ever let a nameplate as succesful as the Taurus or Crown Vic leave the sales floor. NEVER.
11-MOPAR-Yes, I know..not American anymore...but they are the Jack-in the Box of auto manufacturers. Never will sell more hamburgers than the other Big 2, but will give enough specialty items to make up for market share. Add in a Hemi program that puts 335HP in everything they make, desk chairs included. Now there is the Super Hemi. 425HP? daaaymn. 300's,Magnums,Cherokees and now the Challenger. A very nice Challenger. Definite pony car war material. GM,stay. Bad dog. Oh,BTW-Fix the Viper. 500HP is not a big deal anymore. Gm has it. BMW has it. M/B has it. Damn, your trucks have it. Unless you have 600HP sitting in the hood, I'm hitting the Chevy Z06 order list.
12-Volvo,Saab,Audi and the likes-Sorry-I am a young 40 year old. Buick included. No fogeyride for me yet. Do these guys do anything but draw circles for design?
13-Ferrari/Porsche-Nice...locked up...thanks for coming. Plus the Z06 will kick around most anything you have to offer. And its less than 1/2 price. And its AMERICAN (most of it)
14-HUMMER-You arrogant bastards. You bring 2 H2s,1 H1 Alpha (locked!) and a few H3s...then have 1 chick handing out posters? Other than a couple of the specialty cars, the H2 had more people in line looking to get inside than any other vehicle there. I watched for 30 minutes and there was always 4-7 people looking to sit inside..anywhere inside.Front/back/tailgate. Anywhere. Someone should have been there to get buyer info and follow up. You might have sold a few more this year. Its called showroom excitement. Take a lesson from....
15-Nissan. People all over giving info,taking info and following up with questions. Not pests, just informative. Maxima, Altima Pathfinder..all good stuff. Also, look to the Titan to steal GM/FORD pick up truck sales. Same for Infinity to Caddy/Lincoln
Short of it. I found no reason to visit any american showroom, less the Caddy. Them boys better invest in coats, cause it will be a long cruel winter on sales. Even giving the vehicles away (GM's price drop) sales are going to be pitifull.