Chick-Fil-A’s drive-thru experience is incredibly efficient-until a self-driving car screws it up:  I remember the first time I went to a Chick-Fil-A drive thru.  The line of cars was wrapped around the building and out onto the street.  I really wanted one of the delicious sandwiches but almost left without one.  My stomach won the argument over my head, so I fell in line like a good little soldier.  Then to my amazement, I had my order taken by someone with an iPad, and within five minutes, I was at the window and on my way.  I was stunned at how quickly they moved cars through.  However, even the best systems can be fouled up, as was the case at a Santa Monica Chick-Fil-A last week.  A Waymo self-driving taxi got completely confused and was unable to navigate the drive through lane, blocking all access to it.  It was as if it were frozen in fear.  The robo-taxi was not going to budge, in spite of pleadings and persuasion by the staff at the fast food restaurant.  Waymo had to dispatch a team to the location to get the little Jaguar moving, but not before the restaurant was forced to close early.  Waymo needs to get this figured out ASAP for the good of all late night people who need to curb their munchies!

Keeping Chinese vehicles out of the United States:  That is the idea from Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin.  She introduced a bill to the Senate floor on April 10 aimed at preventing Chinese vehicles from entering the United States. Currently there are no Chinese cars coming into America, and with a 145% tariff rate currently on China, it’s not likely to happen anyway, but I suppose she wants to make sure.  If passed, the Department of Commerce can review and potentially block the sale, importation, or transaction that involves a "connected vehicle or component designed, built, or supplied by anyone controlled by or subject to the jurisdiction of a country of concern, including China." That would include components and connected vehicles manufactured by Chinese companies that operate in countries like Mexico.  She has been active on issues involving Chinese vehicles, saying they "could collect huge amounts of data on America and Americans, which poses a significant national security threat." She states peoples' data, our infrastructure and Michigan's auto industry as a whole are "at stake."  Proponents of the bill say Americans should be able to choose vehicles like BYD electrics.  I disagree.  Chinese products tend to be cheaply made and they build a lot of junk.  I can’t imagine what a car would be like.  Plus, the people have voted with their dollars, and it is clear only a small portion of them want an EV.  So, good luck Senator Slotkin, I am pulling for you!

Can you put a Kia engine in your lunch box?  So far, I have not heard from General Motors about them wanting me to take the job as head of security.  If you recall from this column, I offered to take the job after the thefts of numerous Escalades were taken, followed by the theft of half a dozen new Corvettes.  I was sure they would jump at the chance to get me to fill this clearly needed position.  While I await, I will throw the offer out to Kia, they are clearly in need of my sleuthing talents.  They haven’t lost any whole cars like GM did, but worse, they have had-sit down-over 900 engines stolen over the past five years.  As I asked earlier, it seems unlikely that factory workers put them in their lunch boxes and walked out, or under their shirts, or even in their pants.  So, how did they pull the caper off?  The Kia factory with lax security is actually in India.  The police there have given the following statement: “We have formed three special teams to investigate the case. Our teams are traveling across the country to collect crucial documents, and the investigation is progressing swiftly,” said Sri Sathya Sai district superintendent of police Rathna.  Kia has not added any comment citing the ongoing investigation.  The engines were discovered missing after a year-end audit last year.  I can only presume the Korean-based car company did not do audits the previous four years or they would have discovered the pilfering sooner.  One does have to wonder if the stolen engines still get the 10-year/100,000 mile warranty?  Probably not after further thought. This was clearly an inside job, so Kia:  I am not opposed to traveling to India to solve this crime. You need me more than GM does!  I figure at minimum, 900 engines, even 4-cylinder ones would total up to over 4 million dollars and that is more than the value of the Escalades & Corvettes GM lost combined.  Plus, after spending a lot of time in Detroit when I was the Ford National Dealer Council Chairman, India seems like a more appealing place to work.

The Tesla sales woes continue:  We’ve all heard the stories of Tesla’s being damaged by anti-Elon protesters, spray painting them and running keys down the sides of the electric vehicles.  The Cybertruck seems to be one of the favorite targets, maybe because they are butt-ugly or maybe it is because no matter how hard you try, you can’t be incognito in one.  I saw a picture recently of someone who cleverly painted TOYOTA on the tailgate of a Cybertruck, but I highly doubt even the idiots damaging the trucks were fooled.  In spite of the fact that Tesla claims they had over one million reservations for the truck, apparently 950,000 people backed out since sales so far, according to the company total fewer than 50,000.  Hey, 50,000 of anything is a lot, eh?  So, how do you get sales moving?  Well, the new plan is a stripped-down, rear-wheel drive only version.  The problem is even de-contented, it is still coming across the curb at $71,995.  I can’t help but draw comparison to the beautiful Silverado electric I’ve had all week that can be bought in the same price range with dual-motors, without the fear of it being vandalized.  Reports say there are around 2,400 Cybertrucks already built that haven’t sold.  And God forbid you want to trade your Cybertruck back to Tesla for a different model because that ain’t happening.  Tesla says they will not accept Cybertrucks as trade-ins.  Gives you a lot of confidence in buying one, doesn’t it?  If the maker of this boat anchor refuses to take them on trade, why would a single one of my dealers take one as a trade-in?  Tesla used to trade back from people who had a lot of problems with the truck, but now those folks are forced to use the Lemon Law instead.  It is doubtful the new model at a cheaper price will help the resale of the other people who want to dump their wedged wonders.  Can you imagine how the early adopters feel, the ones that paid north of 200-grand for one of these?  It looks like there is a chance the Cybertruck will go the way of New Coke and the Cue Cat.

Until next week, in the words of Casey Kasem, “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.”

Read more→

Read more→