[GearheadSS]

Originally Posted by Evergreen6

I feel like the lower (LT) Equinox trims could easily be fixed.

It's the plastic upper dash that just screams CHEAP, and the use of urethane steering wheels. The seats are also too narrow or need less pronounced bolsters, but that's highly subjective - I'm a big tall dude.

The new Equinox will be here this summer and we'll soon find out if they've improved the quality inside and out. It certainly looks better, imo.

[GearheadSS]

Originally Posted by 90503

Attachment 1151316

Ahhhh, Sedans, one of my favorite topics. I always thought they were under rated and ignored intentionally by the makers and others to promote EVs and SUVs.

"It's a dying segment", even though, for instance, last quarter the Malibu nearly outsold the entire Cadillac line-up. Sure sedans from gm will die off. Every time one is cancelled even though sales weren't that bad, like the Cruz (well you can get an Impala or a Malibu!), then the Impala (well you can get a Malibu, its almost the same now as the Impala), now the Malibu itself is gone. No wonder sedans are touted as un-popular. Hard to buy one if they don't make one and the manufacturer (gm) portrays it as a turkey for many years that needs to go. A big reason gm and chevy brand loyalty is a waste of time and brain-power. Prior customers are just saps who kept buying cars they want to get rid of.

Oh well. I don't buy the sales excuse or any of the other so-called rationale for ending cars like the Malibu. GM used to be able to have the most models and types of cars for sale, now they could care less, even though its sales are decent, the trend card and "we made plans to use the plant for something else" doesn't always pass the smell test. Build another plant for Pete's sake, and stop eliminating others like Lordstown.

My Chevy and gm brand loyalty days are over and done. Nothing they do surprises me anymore or gets my interest.

But, I love my '17 Impala! Last of the Tried and true 6speed auto and V-6 as well as no start-stop or cylinder de-activation. Runs like a top, trouble free for over six years now. I love it. Too bad they are all gone now.

The last gen Impala is a great car. I was very sad to see that car go away.

[lbls1]

Ashame. While the market has shifted away from sedans, once again, GM needs to look in the mirror for the reason why the company continues to have failures.

Realize that the Malibu was a tepid competitor right up to 2008. It was barely noticed at all in the market, and Honda and Toyota almost had a free rein of the midsized market. GM finally put in a credible malibu generation in '07, almost completely re-designing the model. The following generation brought great strides in quality, style and fit and finish, but also faced very stiff competition.

The last generation kind of went quiet for a while, but showed renewed sales energy two years ago. The problem was that it was the only Chevrolet sedan entry into the market, and it kind of looked outdated and out of place. It was very predictable albeit shameful that Chevrolet would cancel it.

I am afraid that Chevrolet is in for difficult times, because almost all of their competitors have sedans, with some of them that are still popular.

[90503]

Originally Posted by GearheadSS

The last gen Impala is a great car. I was very sad to see that car go away.

I took a look at the Chevrolet.com website, clicked on the menu tab for "Cars".

A lone Malibu appears in the middle of an otherwise blank canvas.

Sad state of affairs that in all its existence Chevrolet no longer has the will or ability to produce a "Car".

They can talk about all these cloned SUVs that have zero styling appeal all you want as a replacement, but they are not sedans or cars.

After blaming consumer demand for a downward trend and end of production for the Malibu, the reality now claimed is that its some shadow formula.

This is the type of disparaging of sedan customers that have many fed-up with then entire PR of gm and its products and the entire auto industry.
Its assumed that prior sedan customers will embrace these SUVs as a replacement. They could have chosen an SUV for many years over sedans, but have yet to do so. So the answer is just don't make them anymore. Yet anytime its stated that we will at some point will be forced to buy something we don't want (See EV arguments) its dismissed as nonsense, when in fact its the reality once choices are eliminated.

Oh well. Long live Sedans!...lol

[SomeGeoffGuy]

Originally Posted by Martinjlm

I see what you are saying here, but there’s quite a bit of nuance to this. Cybertruck is a completely new platform with a lot of groundbreaking tech (48V electrical architecture, totally new formulation of stainless steel [not DeLorean] steer-by-wire with no physical backup) so it would have been a miracle if it had been delivered on time. But Musk does have a tendency to over-promise and under-deliver and CyberTruck is a shining example of both.

EV platforms are harder to develop and take longer for the first application. But variants can and should come quicker. Once Tesla developed the skateboard for Model 3, Model Y followed relatively quickly and went on to become the high volume application, produced in (4) plants globally.

GM’s Ultium BEV3 platform was late coming to market (Lyriq) but expect to see variant after variant pop over the next year (Blazer EV and Equinox EV out now. Cadillac Optiq and Vistiq to follow soon, then a Buick model or models).

Hyundai is doing the same thing. Now that they have their basic platform, they have introduced Ionic 5, Kia EV6, Genesis GV60, Kia EV9 and have several more products positioned for release in 2024 and 2025.

Part of the draw of moving to high volume EV for legacy automakers is that they can do multiple vehicles of different sizes and values using the same basic platform instead of multiple billion dollar plus architectures. Then variations can be launched with different tophats in relatively short order.

What you described is how the industry used to work. But technology is changing too fast to just do a "Top hat" on an EV platform you designed five or ten years ago. Even Tesla - with only five models - has multiple different platforms. The cyber truck was new because the Model 3 was old tech already.

What you are seeing in the market is that they develop a new platform and multiple models at the same time, but it doesn't mean that the next generation of those models is going to be based on the original platform tech - and it is not.

Ultium was engineered in the late 20-teens and will be old tech by the time the transition starts in 2028. That is all I am saying. If all the OEM's - Ford included with the eF150 - aren't working on new stuff for 2028 they are going to be left behind.

-Geoff

[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by SomeGeoffGuy

What you described is how the industry used to work. But technology is changing too fast to just do a "Top hat" on an EV platform you designed five or ten years ago. Even Tesla - with only five models - has multiple different platforms. The cyber truck was new because the Model 3 was old tech already.

What you are seeing in the market is that they develop a new platform and multiple models at the same time, but it doesn't mean that the next generation of those models is going to be based on the original platform tech - and it is not.

Ultium was engineered in the late 20-teens and will be old tech by the time the transition starts in 2028. That is all I am saying. If all the OEM's - Ford included with the eF150 - aren't working on new stuff for 2028 they are going to be left behind.

-Geoff

Things are different, but not in the way you described. CyberTruck’s platform does not replace the Model 3 / Model Y platform. It’s an addition to Tesla’s portfolio. Because they want t build a full size truck, they needed a bigger platform than either the Model S / Model X platform or the Model 3 / Model Y platform.

What’s different is the tophat approach, which Tesla has not yet taken full advantage of, and the over-the-air (OTA) update approach which Tesla does in spades and most other OEMs are also adopting. All the Tesla models except CyberTruck are long in the tooth. Model S and Model X sales reflect that. Plus they’re higher priced, so they are gonna sell slower than Model 3 and Model Y. But Model 3 was new in 2017 and is just now going through the equivalent of a mid-cycle.

Model Y was new in 2020 and the mid-cycle on that is just now about to start rolling out in Australia and China. Probably not coming to the US this year. But yet, both Model 3 and Model Y continue to outsell practically everything in their vehicle classes (ICE and EV). Partly because Tesla continues to upgrade the vehicle content, features, and capability through OTA. They even managed to execute two product recalls via OTA, so owners never had to take their vehicles in to a dealer to clear a recall.

In other OTAs, Tesla added Side Blind Alert to vehicles already on the road. They also upgraded their Adaptive Cruise application (horribly named AutoPilot) to add in-cabin monitoring by simply updating the firmware in a camera already built into the car to follow driver eye movement. Because EVs tend to be more software laden than ICE vehicles, the new trend for staying on top of new tech is through OTA. It also serves to keep the owner in the vehicle longer. When owners get the same capability as new car buyers through the OTA upgrades, there’s less of a sense that the new cars do things the old cars can’t. Like when Camaro got camera mirrors in 2019 and some 2018 owners were trying to figure out how to retrofit.

Hyundai Kia and GM are the current “masters of the tophat” approach.
H-K: Ionic 5, Ioniq 6, Kia EV6, Kia EV9, Genesis GV60, and upcoming Kia EV7 are all off the same skateboard, different tophats.

GM: Lyriq, Blazer EV, Equinox EV, Honda Prologue, Acura ZDX, upcoming Bolt EUV replacement, upcoming Chevy Coupe and/or Sedan, eventual CT4/CT5 replacements are all of the BEV3 skateboard. And Hummer EV, Silverado EV, Sierra EV, and Cadillac Escalade iQ are all of the BT1 skateboard.

The pics below show all there really is to the BT1 skateboard.

[Capricio]

https://www.fastcompany.com/91123174...e-to-regret-it

[Evergreen6]

Originally Posted by GearheadSS

The new Equinox will be here this summer and we'll soon find out if they've improved the quality inside and out. It certainly looks better, imo.

Oh. My goodness. I'm not sure how I missed this. IMO this is a huge improvement over the car-based looks of its predecessor. And I like what looks to be an optional roof color, black, white, or body color, based on other photos.

[paradigm]

What will NASCAR run now that there is no more Camaro, or Malibu?

Corvette?
Cadillac?

[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by paradigm

What will NASCAR run now that there is no more Camaro, or Malibu?

Corvette?
Cadillac?

Mustang?

[paradigm]

Originally Posted by Martinjlm

Mustang?

Yes, GM will run a mustang in NASCAR...

[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by paradigm

Yes, GM will run a mustang in NASCAR...

Your question seemed to be what would NASCAR run. I expect most of the teams will run Mustang. Will GM even continue a presence at NASCAR? That’s another question.

[olrocker]

Originally Posted by Martinjlm

Will GM even continue a presence at NASCAR? That’s another question.

This makes me sad and angry. At a lot of people in this country for a lot of reasons.

[Evergreen6]

Nascar still exists?

GM makes vehicles that also turn right now, maybe they've moved on to a more interesting sport?