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Driving the Panamera and Mike's Rant | Autoblog Podcast #487

This week we cover some recent news like the upcoming Land Rover Discovery, updates to FCA's large car platform (including the Challenger), and talk about water injection. Then we go into what we've been driving - David just finished his time in the Porsche Panamera Turbo and Mike tried the GMC Acadia. And then Mike (who is still uncomfortable writing in the third person) goes on a rant about why automakers shouldn't specify which cars are aimed at women. The rundown is below. Remember, if you have a car-related question you'd like us to answer or you want questionable buying advice, send a message or a voice memo to podcast at autoblog dot com. Autoblog Podcast #487 The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. Topics and stories we mention Land Rover is bringing a new Discovery to the Paris Motor Show An AWD Challenger is coming, which means more Hellcat The Jeep Wrangler finally gets modern headlights Water Injection from the BMW M4 GTS is coming to the mass market 2017 GMC Acadia 2017 Porsche Panamera Turbo A rant about sexism in marketing Another take on the $6000 fun car Rundown Intro - 00:00 The news - 00:50 What we've been driving - 11:30 Rant - 30:49 Listener's fun car - 35:56 Total Duration: 42:22 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Feedback Email – Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes

Dealers mobilize to protect their margins from automaker subscription services

Six individual auto brands — Lincoln, Cadillac, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW and Volvo — have established or are trialing a vehicle subscription service in the U.S. Three third-party companies — Flexdrive, Clutch and Carma — run brand-agnostic subscription services. And three automakers — Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and General Motors — have also launched short-term rental services. Dealers, afraid of how these trends might affect their margins, are building political and lawmaking campaigns to protect their revenue streams. So far, three states are investigating automaker subscriptions, and Indiana has banned any such service until next year. It's certain that those three states are the first fronts in a long political and legal battle. Powerful dealer franchise laws mandate the existence of dealers and restrict how automakers are allowed to interact with customers to sell a vehicle. On top of that, Bob Reisner, CEO of Nassau Business Funding & Services, said, "Dealers and their associations are among the strongest political operators in many states. They as a group are difficult for state politicians to vote against." In California earlier this year, the state Assembly debated a bill with wide-ranging provisions to protect against what the California New Car Dealers Association called "inappropriate treatment of dealers by manufacturers." One of those provisions stipulated that subscription services need to go through dealers, but that item got stripped out when dealers and manufacturers agreed to discuss the matter further. In Indiana, Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a moratorium on all subscription programs by dealers or manufacturers until May 1, 2019, to give legislators more time to investigate. Dealers in New Jersey have taken their campaign to the state capitol, asking that the cars in subscription programs get a different classification for registration purposes. Automakers run the current subscription services and own the vehicles. Sign-ups and financial transactions happen online or through apps, leaving dealers to do little more than act as fulfillment centers to various degrees, with little legal recourse as to compensation amounts when they're called on to deliver or service a car. That's a bad base to build on for business owners who've sunk millions of dollars into their operations.

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class leads this month's list of discounts

Like last month, the biggest discounts car buyers will find on new vehicles are all applied to expensive luxury sedans. Unlike last month when there were two, there isn't a single Rolls-Royce to be found anywhere in the top five. Sorry, one-percenters. But just because the pinnacle of European luxury isn't represented doesn't mean there aren't big discounts to be found on lovely luxury sedans. In fact, this month's list is led by the 2020 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, a technological wonder that coddles its driver and passengers with all the bells and whistles the German brand has to offer. The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is offered in many shapes and sizes with several powertrain options. That means there will be a huge variance in prices across the model range, but on average, 2020 S-Class buyers are seeing $11,803 lopped off the car's $109,447 sticker price, leaving an average transaction price of $97,644. That's a savings of nearly 11%. It's worth noting that there's a new S-Class for 2021, but the 2020 edition is still a lovely machine. Up next is the Porsche Taycan, sitting in second place just like it did last month. Buyers are seeing average sticker prices of $125,736 but are paying $113,938. That's a savings of $11,798 — or about 9.4% — off the price on the window sticker. As was the case last month, we're not sure how many of the Taycan's buyers will be able to claim tax rebates due to the Taycan's status as an electric vehicle, but that could potentially represent a further cut off the car's sticker. Rounding out the top three for the month of July is the Maserati Ghibli. With an average discount of $10,161 that represents a whopping 14.3% of the car's sticker price, this Italian luxury sedan actually leads the list of vehicle discounts when ranked by percentage. And if you're a Maserati fan but the Ghibli isn't your cup of espresso, the Levante crossover and larger Quattroporte sedan are also seeing very large discounts. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS Edition One revealed