I was looking at replacing the ML63s ballistic sofa (on stilts) this week and went in to a JLR showroom. Thinking of the usual "£50k two year old depreciated like a stone" option. Roughly the price of a basic BEV quality hatchback today?
Velar V8 500hp, interior was naff. Rotten plastics and cheap leather-a-like.
RRS V8 - warranty list was seven pages deep but the car was four years old.
F-Pace R nicer handling, more space than the LR's and better price/package but again try and find one with no warranty claims a foot thick.
None of them felt like they had a luxury element alongside the grunt of the ML63. All failed the first pass. None of them held a candle to the CL600, I eve started to look at S-Coupe 63/65 on Autotrader!
In the showroom next to the F-TypeR was an XF-R estate PHEV - best of the lot of them. Sadly nothing like the quality of the MB lump I live in now. 10-15k cheaper than the other stuff on the lot. Looked really good.
On the Alfa front it is interesting to watch the Stellantis petri dish in action. As much as each brand makes noises they will all be feeding from the same engineering trough but competing for the central investment pool to take it to market. Each brand needs to put forward a case for a model based on prospective volume and profits so the volume is going to increase. Same toolkit being used to put multiple brands into direct competition to the benefit of the overall brand. So Alfa will need to make as much PR noise as possible to attract the interest and investment that follows. Only the strongest will survive which is smart but harsh?
As much as I look at the general fashion process in the car market (BEV< PHEV< SUV) I want an ICE, estate, beast. I respect your comment around what you should (should) be able to use on any given day but do like to have more to allow greater choice. I may only use it once in every 1000 miles but choice is good?
I figure I will be looking at a late, low mileage CLS63s shooting brake or E63s 4WD estate. The only other option is an Alpina estate?
I do understand your lack of "desire" around something special that springs directly to mind.
