[Cmicasa the Great XvX]

Originally Posted by syr74

Nothing could be further from the truth. I have not disparaged the new SRX yet in this thread and don't intend to now. That said, I also cannot agree with the notion that this truck competes in any meaningful way with the X5 or ML class trucks. The new SRX competes directly with vehicles like the Lexus RX, not the X5 and ML.

The RX350 competes directly with the X5 and Benz ML... Hell I can provide evidence that most consumer revies.. well here U go:

2008 BMW X5 is available in 3.0si (MSRP $45,900) and 4.8i (MSRP $54,500) trim levels, and competes with the Audi Q7, Cadillac SRX, Infiniti FX35 and FX45, Acura RDX, Mazda CX-9, Lincoln MKX, Lexus GX, Mercedes-Benz M-Class, Porsche Cayenne, Volkswagen Touareg, Land Rover LR2 and Volvo XC90.

http://newcarbuyingguide.com/index.p...t=viewCat/1502

Wow.. that's a pretty broad spectrum of vehicles... and fortunately I don't many consumers who give a damn, let alone differentiate between the BMW's dynamics or any of the aforementioned competitors.

I disagree completely here. In simplest terms Theta Premium appears to be an update of the basic Theta platform tweaked to accommodate slightly larger vehicles and fortified with a lot of the better pieces of Epsilon II to allow the platform to underpin premium offerings. That formula undoubtedly was used because it allowed for the hardpoints necessary to create a proper crossover suv to be carried over from the original Theta platform which would make the whole process much simpler and a great deal less expensive.

Dude.. U can disagree all U want.. but truth of the matter is Cadillac's own GM says the platforms are different.. I'm inclined to agree with him and call what U are saying a load of crap. Even more to the point... even if the platform was DELTA (Cobalt).. hell GAMMA (Aveo)... as long as it drove and handled as well.. if not better than the X5... I would be damn pleased.

I am not a PLATFORM SNOB... and most of the buying public, when they here Epsilon, Sigma, Theta, etc.. think of their college years and nothing else.Personally I think GM should stop naming their platforms in such recognizable (amongst internet forum goers) names... and be like the rest of the industry.. who have platforms that cause U to go to WIKIPEDIA to find out the names.

Sigma would be an entirely different story. First, as I stated earlier, the original SRX wasn't really a crossover, it was a wagon with a lot of ground clearance. That means that the hardpoints necessary to build a proper crossover, and most importantly the hardpoints that lead to the higher cowl and window line needed to build a crossover, simply don't exist on any version of the Sigma platform. Fixing those hardpoints, assuming that they can even be fixed as you cannot manipulate things like cowl height at will, would be extraordinarily expensive.

Dude what U just described is what we call a CUV.. or better yet.. a crossover.

Crossover describes a vehicle that derives from a car platform while borrowing features from a traditional Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV).
While body on frame construction and light truck platforms are used to build traditional SUVs, crossovers use a car's monocoque/unibody platform construction. The crossover combines, in highly variable degrees, the design features such as tall interior packaging, high H-point seating, high ground-clearance, or all-wheel-drive capability of the SUV—with design features from an automobile such as independent rear suspension, car-like handling, interior roominess and fuel economy. WIKI

YUP!!! Sounds like an SRX to me.. both SIGMA and THET-EPSILON based Thanks for playin'

I never argued that there isn't more volume in this entry level, suv segment than exists in the segment vehicles like the X5 and ML play in. Still, volume isn't everything.

Actually it is.. and the lack of volume is what almost got the name SRX killed for 2010.

20,787 BMW X5 sales versus 73,641 RX350 sales certainly shows me where a company in GM's situation needs to be with it's luxury cuv

My argument here was then and remains now that Cadillac has long claimed to be chasing the Germans and leaving Lexus for Buick. The new SRX creates a small problem here since we obviously now have a Cadillac SRX chasing Lexus instead of BMW and Mercedes.

My questions would then be
1: Has Cadillac/GM changed their mind about who is chasing whom?
2: If Caddy is chasing Lexus here then where does this leave Buick?

Sorry.. but truth of the matter is that Lexus is all over the place. The LS460 certainly competes with the 7series and S-Class... the LX570 certainly competes with the Escalade, Range Rover, and GL450. The IS certainly competes with the 3 series and C-Class.

The fundemental differences that GM was talking about in relation to the Cadillac and Buick brands pretty much boils down to PRICE and PERFORMANCE. Even if Buick were to get a smaller CUV like the Saab 9-4X.. I'm pretty sure that it can be tuned to be softer and less sporty than than the SRX. which is damn sure a Sport tuned Luxo CUV. With a lil more juice... I guarantee would run with the X5 and even Cayenne. It damn sure handles as well.. at least in AWD config.