The Ethics of Autonomous Vehicles and Their Implications are Fascinating and Difficult

Credit: Illustration by Victor Kerlow

Credit: Illustration by Victor Kerlow

Self-driving cars coming. New high-end MBs, Teslas and others have some self-driving logic built in. As the technology matures, and we let the vehicles take over, people like Chris Gerdes and Patrick Lin are thinking about what the ethical implications are for accidents which might happen. 

In a July article in the MIT Technology Review, Gerdes considered what might happen when a vehicle is confronted with a horrible situation:

At a recent industry event, Gerdes gave an example of one such scenario: a child suddenly dashing into the road, forcing the self-driving car to choose between hitting the child or swerving into an oncoming van.

MB, Volvo and Google to Assume Liability for Autonomous Vehicle Accidents

Confidence score of 10 out of 10 by these three manufacturers.  I would expect others to follow. 

At the recent A Future with Self-Driving Cars—Is it Safe? seminar in Washington, D.C., Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson announced that Volvo will accept full liability whenever one if its cars is in autonomous mode. The pledge is particularly important as Volvo in 2017 will be loaning 100 XC90 SUVs designed to drive in full autonomous mode in certain sections of the Swedish city of Gothenburg to local families on a trial basis.
Two additional leaders in the development of autonomous cars, Mercedes-Benz and Google, in an interview with 60 Minutes have also said they’ll accept responsibility and liability for autonomous cars should an accident occur due to the technology.

Source: motorauthority.com

Simple Plan for Boosting Used Car Profitability: Make Them Easier to Buy

Florida dealer Peter Wilson, owner of Orlando Premier Collection

Florida dealer Peter Wilson, owner of Orlando Premier Collection

Seeming simple innovation in making the used inventory easier for customers to buy improves sales  by 60% year over year. 

The secret to selling more used vehicles for Florida luxury dealer Peter Wilson was to make them easier to buy.
He has color-coded them.
Wilson, owner of the Orlando Premier Collection, has launched a used-vehicle practice at his two Infiniti stores that he calls the Market Select Program. The stores now advertise and organize their used inventory in four grades, all clearly differentiated on his sales lots with window stickers in blue, gold, silver or bronze, depending on the degree to which Wilson has reconditioned and warrantied them.
The classifications are spelled out online, in printed material handed out at the dealerships and in presentations by the sales staff.

Source: Automotive News

Auto Industry Retail Incentives Up .5% Since Last Year; GM Throws in Latest Volley

Photo Source: caranddriver.com

Sales are strong, and incentives might be the reason that volumes are good.  In a recent Automotive News article, GM is offering 8% to 10% off for it's dealership employes. Maybe it's time to get a new Cadillac CTS V.

The offer comes amid rising incentive activity industrywide. Incentive spending through September this year equaled 10.5 percent of average transaction prices, up from 10.0 percent a year earlier, according to J.D. Power data cited by GM. The automaker’s spending also rose 0.5 percentage points from a year earlier, to 11.2 percent.
Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book, said GM’s incentive spending has been restrained even as competition heats up.
“In past years, you’d typically expect them to be among the first ones to resort to bad behavior,” he said. “But they’ve stayed relatively disciplined.”

Porsche Says No to Google over Privacy Concerns

Personal information sharing is a hot topic all over, and it's not surprise to see that some manufacturers are pushing back on privacy policies related to infotainment systems. According to the Verge, Google's Android Auto is not favored by Porsche

Both Apple's CarPlay and Google's Android Auto can turn regular vehicles into connected cars, but according to Porsche, one has a distinct advantage over the other. Motor Trend reports that the German car manufacturer went with Apple's infotainment system over Google's in its new 911 Carrera and 911 Carrera S because the Android Auto agreement demanded too much data be sent to the search giant.
The publication says that Android Auto tracks variables including vehicle speed, throttle position, fluid temperatures, and engine revs, information that is collated and then sent back to Google. Apple's CarPlay, on the other hand, only checks with the car's powertrain control module to ensure that the vehicle is moving. 

Tesla Model X Continues to Impress, Though There are Some Skeptics

Skeptics likely fall into the "this cannot be true" category. Very impressive reviews overall. Though there is a bit of "are they over promising?". 

Excerpted from Lawrence Ulrich on The drive:

“Rather than bringing Tesla closer to the goal of the Model III, the Model X may be a 2.5-ton warning sign that the company is either unwilling or unable to pull it off. The Model X’s prohibitively expensive technology, including its low-volume aluminum construction, batteries and propulsion system, is virtually identical to that of the Model S. In other words: The Model X may hold seven passengers, but its technology and price hold no evidence that Tesla has realized critical economies of scale in design, materials and manufacturing. Or, a technical breakthrough that would reduce the enormous cost and mass of its batteries. So Tesla appears no closer to its promise of bringing affordable electric cars to the masses."

Source: Automotive News 

 

Salespeople Rule; Dealers come Second

Interesting reporting in Automotive News today about where customer loyalty lies. 

It's a people business. Dealers who repeat that mantra shouldn't be surprised to learn that when customers happy with their vehicle purchase pass along a good word, they're more likely to recommend the salesperson than the store.
In fact, 70 percent of consumers surveyed said they would recommend the salesperson, while 30 percent would recommend the dealership.
That was the finding of an online survey of consumers who were actively writing dealership reviews on DealerRater. Specifically, the survey question, supplied by Automotive News in a partnership with the rating site, asked: "If you were to recommend this dealership to a friend, are you more likely to recommend them specifically to your salesperson or to the dealership in general?" The question drew 20,359 responses Sept. 4-18.

Auto Auction Automation Continues to Grow and Shift the Retail Dealer Business

Photo source: Santander Consumer USA

Photo source: Santander Consumer USA

The dealer auction business continues to evolve towards more automated and data driven. With this joint venture, kicking the virtual tires likely became that much easier for dealers... 

Carfax and vAuto have joined forces to offer dealers vehicle history information on auction vehicles at a glance and with fewer online clicks.
Dealers that subscribe to both Carfax Advantage, which allows unlimited vehicle history reports, and either vAuto’s Provision or its AuctionGenius used-vehicle inventory management software can see whether a vehicle has experienced significant events such as reported accidents. That information is indicated by icons that show up in the search result without opening the listing.

Source: Automotive News

BMW's DriveNow (think ZipCar) Service Comes to a Halt in San Francisco

Competitors like ZipCar and Car2Go are doing well in other urban centers, and San Francisco is just likely the wrong place to offer the service given parking regulations. 

DriveNow, the car-sharing program owned by BMW that allows drivers to rent electric cars by the minute, is pulling out of San Francisco, the only U.S. city in which it operates, the company said Monday.
Because of problems with “parking permit regulations,” DriveNow said in a post on its website, the company plans to suspend service in San Francisco on Nov. 2 and focus instead on other U.S. cities.
“We fully expect to return once the city reforms its parking policies to allow for one-way car sharing,” DriveNow said. “We will continue to work with the city of San Francisco toward achieving that goal.”
Source: automotivenews.com