Remember When People CARED About German LUXO Sedans? But Even Modernized With ELECTRIFICATION, WHO Wants One Any More?

With the exception of the Mercedes S Class, possibly the E Class, and 3 Series, German luxury sedans are dead.

While I am no fan of Tesla, they have very easily and quickly gotten money that would have bought German metal to buy a Tesla.

Electrifying the 7 Series or the A8 will fail in the marketplace because that will be seen as a bandaid move even if those cars are purposefully redesigned as EVs.

The Mercedes EQS will be a bellwether for the German industry and Mercedes gets that an electric S Class is the wrong first move, but BMW and Audi don't.

The Cadillac Celestina--if it were a $100K job--could have been a game changer if done right, but at $200K price point it will be laughed at--no matter how good it is--because a person can have a Mercedes EQS.

Tesla's most pressing challenge is to replace the Model S with something that does not look like a bloated Fusion or a Model 3/Y. It needs distinctive styling and a $100K price point. They need to create a Tesla "S Class" benchmark vehicle.

Then hot on its heels, the Model X needs to become a very conventional, boxy, comfortable, 3-row crossover that is opulent and devoid of sparrow doors and farting noises.

Once again, Matt nails it...

Vote this up! Spot on commentary.

@MD- 100%

I have both a German SUV and Sedan. While the SUV is quite good, when given the choice, I’ll take my sedan every day of the week. Lower to the ground, handles better, accelerates faster. While I need to have one SUV in the fleet for family duty and hauling stuff from Home Depot / to the recycling center, I don’t need one to commute to work or for a a weekend getaway with the wife. What am I missing against the broader population.

The broader population can't afford two new cars at the same time, so what you're seeing with SUVs is herd mentality and its ripple effect.

And I get it. If a family can only afford one car, an SUV is the most utilitarian. But in upper middle class suburbia where I live, there are still plenty of families with 2 SUVs. I guess if both parents work, and share kid duties, it kinda makes sense. But I’ll forgo utility in one car for better driving.

Other than VW, all German brands have priced themselves out of my consideration. The upcoming smaller version of the e-Tron will likely continue the trend. I will give the VW ID.4 strong consideration when my Niro lease is up in two years, but it needs to be spectacular to overcome the Niro EV or the Mustang Mach-E for my money. And perhaps something else will be available by then. The Fisker Ocean looks good on paper. Now they need to execute.

Give VW time. They will price themselves out of the market too. But why anyone would give up superior Kia reliability for a VW is beyond me.

I had no significant issues with any VW since my '02 Jetta with the bad packs and the passenger window falling into the door. Had an 03 Passat for over 10 years, an 06 Jetta, 11 Tiguan, 14 Passat TDI. Other an an issue with the RNS-510 radio in the Tiguan, they were all just fine.

But yeah, I've had my Niro for just about a year and it's been flawless. Enough so that the Niro EV is absolutely one of my considerations when my lease is up. Hopefully by then Kia will address the only two issues I have with the EV: no memory driver seat and only a single zone HVAC. But I'm in love with the cooled seats.

Quite some time ago there was a tipping point where tall vehicles took over. Its no fun being in traffic looking directly at bumpers, even though as most of us know, lower is better vehicle design.

I keep hoping for a reversal but its 20 years in and it would be another 20 years to rotate the current SUV/giant-scale hatchbacks/CUV stock off the road. By then there will be something else the masses love and I hate, like self-driving boxes.

I like the VW Aerteon. I like its styling and I think it performs 90% of an Audi A7 for a whole lot less money. I own a CX5 but I don't really care for it. I would much prefer a good decent sports sedan but I just don't see spending 50K plus for one. In fact I don't think you need to spend more than 40K for one. But then again I don't think you should really spend more than 35K for a decent SUV/CUV either. Look I get the market is for SUV's and CUV's but I still think sedans in general handle better. I think a Kia Stinger AWD if it can be had under 40K would be preferable to any SUV/CUV. Considering that other than Jeep or Land Rover's no SUV's are really driven off payment. From a driving perspective I fail to see their appeal and never will over a decent sports sedan.

But it's a VW and does not carry prestige commensurate with its ridiculously high price.