Huge Tesla Recall, Dealer Valuation Dance, GM Declares CarPlay Unsafe

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It’s a beautiful December Thursday to be in the car biz. Today we’re talking about a big Tesla recall, the ebb and flow of dealership valuations and how GM continues to stand behind its decision to remove Carplay from vehicles.

• Tesla is initiating a recall of over 2M vehicles amid concerns raised by the NHTSA that drivers may misuse its Autopilot system. This action comes as part of a 2 year extensive investigation by the regulator into accidents linked to the driver-assistance technology
  • Tesla's proposed software update will differ based on vehicle hardware, aiming to increase visual alerts and interaction with the Autopilot system.
  • In one notable instance, Tesla's Autopilot system failed to recognize stopped emergency vehicles in a Texas crash, as shown in a WSJ analysis of dashcam footage and data. Another significant incident involved a fatal collision in Virginia, where a Tesla on Autopilot crashed into a tractor-trailer while traveling at 70 mph in a 45 mph zone.
  • Despite concerns, Tesla maintains that Autopilot use is safer than manual driving, citing internal data to support this claim.
    
    
• Alan Haig's Q3 2023 Haig Report reveals a significant shift in automotive retail: dealership profits are declining, yet the demand for dealerships remains robust.
  • After peaking at $6.5M in 2022, are now seeing a 17% drop per dealership from the previous year.
  • 2023 looking to close around 5.4M
  • The market's strength is evident, with 2023 on track to be the third most active year in dealership buy-sells.
  • Buyers show a marked preference for top franchises in sought-after markets, while showing less interest in smaller market domestic franchises.
  • Negotiations between buyers and sellers are increasingly challenging due to differing valuation expectations in a market with declining profits.
  • Alan Haig remarks, "One fact that buyers and sellers can agree on, is that life remains pretty sweet in auto retail."
    
    
• GM's decision to discontinue support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in their vehicles has faced continuous criticism. Despite obvious business motivations behind this move, recent remarks by Tim Babbitt, GM’s Head of Infotainment Product, in an interview with Motor Trend have only intensified the conversation
  • The problems are particularly pronounced with Android Auto due to the challenge of validating the wide variety of Android devices and their updates, making system compatibility and performance inconsistent.
  • After the MotorTrend article released, GM issued a clarifying statement: 
  • “GM’s embedded infotainment strategy is driven by the benefits of having a system that allows for greater integration with the larger GM ecosystem and vehicles.”

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