Robo-taxis and Amazon

The ASOTU Daily Pushback email is a one-stop digest of the day's big automotive, economic, and cultural news aimed at keeping our community equipped with knowledge, connected to the industry, and encouraged to keep on moving the needle forward on remaining the best method for meeting consumer mobility needs.?

As we cover the stories, we keep our finger on the pulse of retail auto by asking our readers their thoughts, opinions, or predictions regarding today's news and its impact on tomorrow.?

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RECAP WEEK: Nov 27-Dec 2, 2023

Some big stories:?

• Ford announced a 43% capacity decrease in its new battery plant following lower demand and higher costs.?
• Mystery shopping finds friendly service and easy transactions can make or break a new dealer/consumer relationship.
• Toyota is increasing electrification and working with giga-casting to recapture some lost market share.?
• GM added a $10B stock buyback to the growing list of things on its plate.?
• The White House is considering temporary exemptions for EV tax credit rules.?

Last week, we tackled some big topics: Robo-Taxis, Unions, Amazon, and what customers REALLY want.?

Monday, we asked if you're comfortable with the idea of driverless taxis in your city, and "No" kinda won twice.?

22.2% of people responded with "No, the data isn't comforting." In comparison, another 38.8% of respondents picked my personal favorite choice, "No, and I never have been."

Seriously though, test these things around the property and families of lawmakers, and let's see how the permitting process changes.?

Tuesday, we asked if Tesla will ever unionize, and to our surprise, "?? Nope" and "?Any day now" tied for the most popular answer.?

We tried to call Elon to cast the tie-breaking vote, but he was too busy challenging pro-union employees at each of his companies to duels to answer.?

Wednesday, we asked if the Amazon-Hyundai partnership will impact traditional dealerships. Over half of respondents say it will create substantial new competition and threaten traditional dealerships.?

The other half of you answered somewhere between "No threat, this will be an opportunity for dealers" and "It's a threat, but not a serious one."

Amazon: We got everything but care. (Please don’t tell Bezos we said that the last thing we need is for him to throw a few billion dollars into a heartless rival automotive community-based media publishing company to steal all our friends and then abandon them the moment we get jobs at Costco….. ?? )

Finally, on Friday, We asked you, the ones who actually know, what new customers are asking about when picking their new cars. Answers were as diverse as the markets represented by the ASOTU community.

• ??? Affordability and overall value for money was the clear winner with 31% of the votes
• ??? Latest tech features and connectivity options took second place with 27%
• ?? Environmental impact and fuel efficiency was 16%
• ?? Performance and horsepower grabbed 14%
• ?? Durability and low maintenance over time was last with about 11%

We left a few items off the list: Existing relationship with the dealer, Christmas tree hauling capability, and, of course, romantic appeal because we knew any of the three would skew the results too dramatically.?

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