I’m spoiled. My job involves driving new cars pretty regularly. So I’m probably better than most at figuring out how all this new technology works in cars, though even I have trouble as features get more complicated and increasingly buried in touchscreen menus. But I often wonder… if you’re a normal person coming to one of these new cars from, say, a 12-year-old Honda CR-V, how the hell are you supposed to figure this stuff out?
It turns out the answer is “Just get real mad,” per the latest J.D. Power study on owner satisfaction. We have that and some news on the automotive labor front, Audi teams up with an unlikely partner on EVs, and just what is the “right” time for us to move off fossil fuels—if we ever will? Let’s close out the week nice and strong, Autopians.
Car Owners Are Neither Informed, Nor Entertained
Automakers: You can’t do better than Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. You just can’t. I’m not being mean here, I’m telling you the truth—and it’s what your owners think, too.
We learn this from the J.D. Power U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, which says that for the first time in its 28-year history “there is a consecutive year-over-year decline in owner satisfaction.” Now, it’s good to remember J.D. Power does this stuff to collect car company advertising revenue, but that doesn’t mean its data isn’t solid. According to The Verge, which parsed the study, a lot of this is due to tech—especially infotainment systems:
According to JD Power’s Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, overall satisfaction among car owners is 845 (on a 1,000-point scale), a decrease of two points from a year ago and three points lower than in 2021. That’s the first time in the 28-year history of the study that the consumer research firm registered a consecutive year-over-year decline in owner satisfaction.
Unsurprisingly, more people are choosing not to use their car’s native infotainment controls. Only 56 percent of owners prefer to use their vehicle’s built-in system to play audio, down from 70 percent in 2020, JD Power found. Less than half of owners said they like using their car’s native controls for navigation, voice recognition, or to make phone calls.
Remember, General Motors is moving away from Apple CarPlay and Android Auto systems soon, too, for its own native tech. And while that’s going to be a Google Automotive Services system, it seems to come down to how GM can program it—and the car companies are having trouble becoming software companies after 100 years of making engines and bodies and transmissions and what-have-you.
You’d think Tesla would be crushing it on that front, but as that story notes…
Tesla continues to rank above average, but satisfaction is declining. The company earned a score of 878, making it one of the higher-performing brands in the industry. However, Tesla’s score in 2023 is nine points lower than a year ago, when the company was first included in the study. And satisfaction scores for Tesla are trending downward year over year in all 10 factors. The company isn’t eligible for JD Power’s award ranking because it doesn’t give JD Power access to owner information in the states where that permission is required by law.
Personally, I wonder how much of that has to do with Full Self-Driving or automated driving tech. So who were our winners here? Let Mr. Power and his associates fill you in:
Setting a record for the most model-level awards (for models ranking highest in their respective segments) is Hyundai Motor Group (nine awards), followed by BMW AG (five awards) and Toyota Motor Corporation (three awards).
The Porsche 911 is the highest-ranking individual model. Which makes sense. I, too, would be extremely satisfied if I owned a Porsche 911. I’d probably let a lot of shit slide there, in fact.
Audi, SAIC Team Up For EV Platforms
I want to say “How the mighty have fallen,” but I’m not so sure it’s that simple.
Here’s the deal: Despite being an early player in the EV race, the Volkswagen Group’s Audi division has felt a bit rudderless lately. Seriously, when was the last time anything notable or interesting—electric or not—came from that brand? It’s kind of been a minute. But behind the scenes, the whole VW Group has had trouble with its bold “pivot to EVs” plan: quality, software, missed deadlines, delayed cars, cost overruns, you name it.
So now Audi is due to partner with an unlikely teammate to develop electric cars: China’s SAIC Motor Corp., which as Bloomberg says “marks a turning point in China’s automotive industry from learning from foreign manufacturers to innovating its own technology.”
“Chinese carmaking has finally come of age,” said Stephen Dyer, the Shanghai-based managing director at consultancy AlixPartners. “To get a vote of confidence from VW Group on platforms, you can’t underestimate the significance.”
[…] While VW has used platforms from others in the past, like Ford Motor Co.’s truck platform, it hasn’t considered a Chinese partner before.
The deal comes just weeks after Audi appointed new Chief Executive Officer Gernot Döllner, a 54-year-old VW veteran, to address challenges such as being slow to electrify and coming up with new models. Tesla Inc. outsold Audi globally in the first quarter and its market share in China is shrinking.
It’s not clear from this story if this is a global deal or just centered on China’s cars (at least at first.) But given trade tariffs, American wariness on Chinese tech and Audi’s own decline in China for lack of EVs, I’m guessing it’s more the latter. More:
Audi needs to accelerate its electrification in China to maintain market share, but new EV launches have been constrained by VW’s long development cycle, especially for its new Premium Platform Electric — produced with Porsche. This makes Audi less competitive against rapidly upgrading local competitors, said Jing Yang, the director of China Corporate Research at Fitch Ratings.
[…] Chinese manufacturers are gaining more bargaining power with their global partners, and more international manufacturers may seek deals with Chinese firms, at least to serve the local market as they need to ramp up EV sales, Yang said.
It’s not just batteries and software the Chinese EV makers have gotten good at: it’s speed, too. Their ability to develop new models far outpaces the rest of the world, like where Toyota and the Japanese were at in the 1980s compared to everyone else. Speaking of…
Elon Musk Casts A Long Shadow Over UAW Negotiations
We’ve been telling you for months to keep an eye on the United Auto Workers’ negotiations with the Big Three, which are underway now. In short: the new leadership is militant as hell, the members are worried about their jobs in an era when EV production probably means fewer jobs, and automakers are as thirsty as ever for profits.
And according to Reuters, Tesla is a kind of benchmark for how this could go:
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the automaker’s increasingly profitable and efficient electric-vehicle factories will be shadow participants, just as Japanese automaker Toyota and its lean production system were for much of the past 30 years.
Take a moment to appreciate just how wild that statement is. The Machine That Changed The World is getting wholly disrupted by a startup that people (even me, at times) spent a decade writing off. What interesting times we find ourselves in. Anyway:
Tesla enjoys an operating-profit advantage over General Motors and Ford that ranges from nearly $2,800 per vehicle for GM to $3,970 per vehicle for Ford, based on a Reuters analysis of financial results at each automaker.
Stellantis’ North American operations last year out-earned all three in operating profit per vehicle, earning $8,365 per vehicle to beat Tesla’s latest second-quarter figure by nearly $1,200. That is in part due to Stellantis North America’s focus on combustion pickup trucks and Jeep SUVs that command hefty profit margins.
Looking forward, Detroit Three executives say new contracts with the UAW must allow them to be “competitive” as their U.S. operations shift to building EVs, which are money-losers for the legacy automakers now.
[…] The Detroit manufacturers are expected to bring comparisons with Tesla to the bargaining table, people familiar with the process said.
“Tesla today plays the role of the Japanese and German automakers in the ’80s,” said Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who has followed the U.S. industry.
Good Lord. Anyway, here’s what UAW President Shawn Fain says in a sentence that starts off genially and ends like a roundhouse kick to the face:
“As we embark on this EV journey,” he said, “we are constantly presented with the same tired script from the companies; that we must remain ‘competitive,’ which is nothing more than a continued race to the bottom in a quest to follow the lowest bidder to pay poverty wages.”
That story’s worth a read in full, but it estimates that “at about 30 hours of work to assemble a vehicle, Tesla would have a direct labor cost advantage of as much as $660 per vehicle over one of the Detroit Three.” Now I’m not sure if that’s Tesla in Texas, California or China, but I’m assuming it’s in the U.S. for these purposes and because Tesla’s Chinese-made cars aren’t exported here.
Either way, the EV age of union negotiations is upon us and it’s about to get real ugly.
Climate, Labor Or U.S. Competitiveness: Pick (Maybe) Two
For now, the usually reliably Democratic UAW’s withholding an endorsement of President Joe Biden as it seeks labor guarantees from the White House. You get why the Democrats are in a tough spot.
What do you go for most? American-made EVs and supply chains? Okay, that could mean fewer U.S. auto industry jobs. Labor? Great, as you should, but see the points on either side about “competitiveness.” The climate? Well, you could let a bunch of dirt-cheap Chinese EV brands into this country with no tariffs for buyers to flock to… and that would probably trash a bunch of our car companies.
These are some of the risks facing the government, workers and the auto industry as this transition takes place, leading Automotive News to wonder what a “Goldilocks”—you know, just right—shift to EVs looks like:
In a too-fast scenario, in which U.S. regulators and policymakers push EV mandates without sufficient supply chain, infrastructure and market conditions, Bozzella said China could gain a stronger foothold in America’s battery supply chain and auto market — an outcome he likened to that of the European Union, which plans to ban new combustion-engine cars by 2035 and faces a threat of cost-competitive Chinese EVs flooding the market.
But move too slowly on electrification, he warned, and there’s a risk of the U.S. failing to scale up in time, allowing China to lock up global EV supply chains and expand into other markets.
Other EV stakeholders and climate advocates aren’t so convinced by Bozzella’s framing of the dilemma, as federal policy actions under the Biden administration aim to address many of his concerns.
Broadly (and you’re welcome to disagree with me here, as is your right) I tend to think fixing climate change isn’t compatible with the hard realities of shareholder capitalism. But these are U.S. jobs we’re talking about, not to mention legitimate, practical considerations for people moving to EVs, like affordability and charging.
Anyway, I’m glad I’m just writing about this stuff and not in charge of figuring it out. I’m busy enough as-is.
Your Turn
Let’s end this week on a positive note, shall we? What new car technology do you actually like? What doesn’t drive you insane?
It’s Apple CarPlay, isn’t it?
I recently bought a 1996 Mustang GT convertible as a hobby car. To turn the headlights on you pull a knob out. The same knob you twist to the left to turn the interior lights on. The stereo turns on when you push the volume button and you make it louder by turning same button to the right. My desire to toggle through five different screens to turn music up was dashed.
Most loved modern technology? I am going all in on manual sunroofs.
Agreed.
I am all for banning any chinese built or car containing chinese parts on the whole slavery and wholesale slaughter on a genocide scale. Also dont allow shipping agents who ship chinese goods to dock at US Ports. But if you are only worried about UAW Humanoids require China to follow all the same rules our companies had to follow. You need to partner with a US auto manufacturer, share every bit of data, you can only be a minor ownership, you must build in the US using US citizens for employees.
Did you just post this on your Chinese built Apple or Samsung phone?
While wearing clothes made in an LA sweatshop and sitting in a cubicle made by Prison Industries.
Does he have a choice? Without some serious legislation, there are no non-slave labor options for consumers for many articles.
I like cameras, both wide angle backup with lines that curve with steering angle and 360 views, the newer 8 and 10 speed autos, Bluetooth especially with Android Auto, ventilated memory drivers seat, instant full wheel torque from electric propulsion, crash safety, brighter headlights, improving economy/range. Contrarily I miss nimble engaging wheel specific road feel, visual and aural character and self repairability.
Backup cameras, because they have a wider field of vision than my mirrors that’s unhindered by pillars and rear passengers. Why people don’t trust them defies logic.
I used to refuse to use them, because “real drivers don’t need no stinkin’ cameras!”
After hooking up many tag-along trailers with work trucks that have these cameras, I’m sold. I use them in the mix along with the mirrors, because they are great at covering the blind spots. It just took my wgo a while to accept it.
Bluetooth and backup cameras are both great.
Irrelevant for me in my preference for manual transmissions, but something that bothers me are factory remote starters that turn the car off when you open the door, so you have to restart. That used to happen frequently on vehicles where remote start was an accessory rather than a factory feature, but Toyota is still like this (unless the latest version of their connected services change it), and to my knowledge Mazda too, maybe still others.
Some claim “It’s a security feature” – no, it just needs to be programmed to turn the car off when you shift out of park or something without first hitting start with the fob present. Otherwise you would have heard of a rash of vehicle thefts of GM, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Nissan vehicles that have pushbutton start and remote starters over the last 10 years.
Also annoying that they often bury the feature in mobile apps; Hyundai/Kia were doing that, but they have actually added an actual remote start button to the fobs.
That is dumb. So much for Mazda being the human-centered design company.
I have a CompuStar aftermarket remote start system installed on my 2016 Mazda6 and it was a cinch to have “secure takeover” as part of the remote start (i.e. the car stays running when I remote start it and get in). We had the same system put on our former 2019 Toyota Highlander and it would shut off when the door was opened and that feature was undefeatable.
I think when my sister was car shopping ~5 years ago, at least one Mazda dealer near us said they install aftermarket units rather than the Mazda one because of the better functionality. I would have thought they’d have a better factory one by now, but as of the CX-50 it still seems to be the case according to Reddit.
Before they installed it from the factory, Hyundai/Kia used I think Compustar for their accessory/port install remote starters. My 2015 Optima had it, and it was a separate little start fob that looked the same as one of those aftermarket companies, but it was seamless integration and did not shut off opening the door, just get in and hit start. It even had integration on the regular fob, I think hit lock and then click the trunk button twice.
Yes! I can remote start my 6 by hitting the “lock” button three times on my factory fob OR by using my phone and the DroneMobile app. I opted out of the separate CompuStar remote fob but it was an option. I just didn’t want an extra thing on my keychain.
Planning on having the same system put on my wife’s 2016 CX-5 before wintertime since that vehicle stays parked outside.
Don’t use remote start. Damages your car and the environment, all while wasting gas. I wish that parking enforcement could enforce anti-idling laws, mostly for trucks but also for those people who have to idle their car while they have breakfast.
Bluetooth is awesome.
Bluetooth convenience is awesome. But the audio quality usually lets me down. Maybe it’s my phone, but I’ll choose CD/MP3/Sirius/FM/USB-cable before listening to music via Bluetooth.
Tech I dislike: driver assist. Had a rental with it and I can’t stand the steering wheel moving on its own. Let me approach the line a little.
Tech I love: navigation. Different rental, but the huge, stuck-on touchscreen turned out to be useful for checking the map in a new city. I don’t miss it on my own cars at home, but it was a nice tech tool. Don’t need Netflix or crappy games, but the map was great.
I found that the driver assist defaults to be too overbearing. If you can adjust the sensitivity and power to minimal levels, it becomes much nicer.
CAMERAS! Give me awesome 360-degree cameras any day of the week. If I can get a clear view all around the car and forward/backward views with guide lines of where I’m going, frickin’ a, I could park the Goodyear Blimp in Schrödinger’s cat box.
The guide lines that curve exactly where the car is going rule so hard, and even harder so when they add a little outline of where the car’s sticky-outy bits (fenders, mirrors) are likely to go like the new G-wagens do.
SRT Pages is really cool, and every car should have something like it.
Temps, pressures, engine power, etc in real units, not dummy gauges or fake lights.
Android Auto (when it works, but it’s questionable because Google) and Car Play are my favorite. Drop a modern head unit into an old car and it fixes the most glaring thing missing from an older car.
Another favorite is adaptive cruise control. Just set and forget without having to constantly adjust when you hit even the slightest bit of traffic.
Not sure I’m all in on fully autonomous driving systems yet. Call me when I can get drunk or fully check out and play video games during my commute and the system will get me where I’m going.
Is anyone besides auto execs drunk on their own koolaid surprised that no one likes these digital controls? That being said not sure how JD figures their stats but is a 2 point drop really that big on a 1000 point scale?
I wonder if it’s something like the Richter scale where it’s more of an exponential thing. Of course, I could be way off.
The only new technology that I’m actually excited about is photochromic glass. It’s on a few cars and is just starting to break into mass production but I can’t wait until ten or fifteen years from now when I can retrofit photochromic glass windows or sunroofs into my old cars.
All the new tech in cars seems really unnecessary and from my perspective, it’s all just stuff that is likely to break and cause expensive repairs. For instance, I don’t need door handles that electronically pop open, or a touch screen to adjust the a/c. To me there’s no value add from having all that.
The whole point of touchscreen controls is to have less value, as in, it’s cheaper.
I’ve got cars with touchscreens, voice activation, and the like, but when I jump in my 21-year-old Ranger with its super basic controls, I don’t miss the newer tech. I can easily see what the truck is doing with the full instrumentation behind the steering wheel, I can glance over to the radio and quickly make any necessary changes to volume, station, or (and I’m bragging now) play a CD or cassette. And if I really want to stream something from my phone, I’ve got a simple adapter (using the cassette player, natch). And making the cab comfortable is as easy a twisting one of three big knobs.
I’m no Luddite, but some of these “advancements” are just to satisfy our lizard brain need for newer/bigger/faster.
I feel like the sweet spot (for me) is pre-2015 car tech. I’ve got a 2014 Sportwagen and it has everything I need. Bluetooth, heated seats, power windows, backup camera, cruise control…and that’s about it. I’ve driven cars with blind spot monitoring which is nice, but I prefer a convex mirror stuck to each of the side mirrors for that. It’s never wrong. It even has hill hold, but I turned that off permanently. I’ve got an air-cooled Beetle and I need my hill start skills sharp for when I drive it. My folks both own newer, luxury cars (2019 X5, 2020 911 Carrera S, 2022 Macan GTS) and they’re great to drive, but the amount of tech is frustrating. I guess if you drive it every day you learn to use it more. But I work at a computer all day, and the last thing I want to do is get in my car and be greeted by yet another large swatch of screens.
The best new technology to make it into cars in decades is Bluetooth. Even without Android Auto and Apple Carplay (which rely on it) it’s a game changer. No more shuffling for tapes and cds or fighting Aux cables.
My only gripe is if the car you just bought is used and somebody actually decided to put their own BT paring code into the unit. and then told no one or failed to note this in the glove box.
I had no idea this was possible, that would be infuriating
Only on very early bluetooth cars. Bluetooth PIN has been automatic for a decade or so
That is why factory resets exist.
Maybe it’s just Uconnect but the Bluetooth in one of my vehicles is extremely unreliable, something like a 35% chance to connect on the first try. And it’s slow.
Aux on the other hand works the first time every time.
For me, it’s not so much the tech that’s provided in cars. It’s the failure of the manufacturers (Apple and Google included) to appreciate the long lifespan of a vehicle and risk, and cost, of failure during that time.
Put it this way: when MY2024 cars head to the scrapyard, it’ll be 2044.
Do you know of any tech device you own that was designed in 1999, that you could still use next year? If you were buying a refurbished tablet or home entertainment system, would you buy designed in say 2005, produced in 2010, that you plan to use for another five years?
Cars need to go back to being platforms, a bit like guitars and amps. Use all the multi-effects you want, and you can still play a 60s Fender through a 70s Marshall amp.
I’m not the target answerer of this question, with my vintage video game consoles and laserdisc collection.
I have hunted down vintage projector bulbs before that cost more than cheap new projectors simply because native 4:3 looks awful on new equipment.
The problem is not that things are anachronistic, it’s that they’re poorly designed. Old interfaces had decades to work things out, only to have designers get cute for “innovation” sake now and throw what was learned away.
I have a ’92 Sega Genesis and a flatbed scanner from ’05 that still work perfectly, no need to trash or replace them when their capabilities are still adequate decades later.
The main problem I see is that these software apps and such going into the car rely on all kinds of 3rd party cloud services and even connectivity (RIP 3G functions) that do break or die off over time outside of the manufacturer’s control. At the same time, how are they to know what’s coming and what’s going to last? 3G cars only really became commonplace a decade ago, and now they’re all useless. 4G in cars came in the last 5 years, but who knows how long that’ll stick around?
My generic 2006 flat screen LED TV.
I’ve often thought about upgrading but when I put it side by side against a contemporary Panasonic plasma TV (which was suppose to be THE benchmark for picture quality) I couldn’t discern any appreciable difference in picture quality. 720p looks just fine on it and much of what I watch on it is 480p DVD. From what I understand anything above 480p on a screen of its size won’t make a real difference anyway. Unless you’re using it as a monitor and are sitting real close.
The only downside is it’s a bit of a power hog thanks to the CFL backlight but much less so than that plasma was and I don’t use it THAT much. If I upgrade it will be because I want something bigger, need a giant higher res computer screen or my old TV finally died.
I’ve been shocked at how good the infotainment is in our BMW 330e. They did things that I didn’t even know were possible, like taking the directions from Waze in Android Auto and putting them into both the center of the instrument display and the HUD. It’s also the one car where I actually use the factory NAV sometimes, because that shows a simplified map in the HUD and also determines the best place to drive on electric and gas to maximize efficiency, while making sure you use all the electric range during the trip. It works really well.
The other tech I’m sold on is blind spot monitors, adaptive cruise control,and the surround view camera system (it’s so helpful in my truck to make sure I’m in the lines). As a parent, I try to get all the advanced safety stuff to help the teen drivers in my household. I just wish all this safety tech would help insurance rates go down, but it seems to have the opposite effect because of all the extra complexity, cameras, and sensors to fix when the car is damaged. I want to drive myself, but don’t mind if the car makes that easier and lets me know when I missed something.
I got a Mazda last year with a lot of the features you’re lauding. As much as I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal for me, I have come to love a few of them. It drives me crazy, however, that I can’t get my phone’s nav info displayed on the HUD. It’s only the clunky, aged built-in nav that gets that feature. I don’t even need the map display, but having turn-by-turn there would be clutch!
My best friend had to figure out a car for his daughter in the last year, as she’s now got her temps and should be driving herself by the end of the year. Although he understands how useful the safety tech can be, he wants to make sure she knows how to get along without it, just in case. Long story short, she ended up with a mid-00’s Sebring convertible. I had to laugh, because if she can get used to the blind-spots with that top up, she’ll have no problem with a modern car if the safety systems go out!
One of my neighbours was telling me how she got in a collision with her brother’s car while backing out of a parking spot. It didn’t have cross traffic alert, which she had gotten so used to in her car. She was really pissed at herself for having forgotten such a simple driving skill.
The era we are entering really concerns me. This is like not having bladder control just because you could wear a diaper. Diapers are useful for those that need them, but we are now starting to create a need. Sad.
+1 on the adaptive cruise control and blind spot monitors, those and AEB are the only things I actually want in new tech. A phone mount on the dashboard takes care of my navigation needs, that plus bluetooth gets all my entertainment/music, allowing me to largely ignore the horripilating user interface on the car.
Michigan just made it illegal to touch your phone more than once while driving, even if it’s in a mount. It’s crazy, but if you read the new law, it’s fine to use android auto or CarPlay but not nav on a phone in a dock.
I got the PCCM+ put in my 996 and can confirm you plug in phone and boom, carplay.
You don’t need anything more in a car imo, I have one of those android carplay boxes and while it certainly is cool in theory it’s also so unnecessary and potentially dangerous.
My other two cars have carplay AND backup cameras, why Porsche didn’t include a backup camera input in the PCCM though is beyond me.
“ The Porsche 911 is the highest-ranking individual model. Which makes sense. I, too, would be extremely satisfied if I owned a Porsche 911. I’d probably let a lot of shit slide there, in fact.”
The tech in both my Carrera T & Cayman GTS 4.0 flat out WORKS – never a hiccup in either.
Re: UAW and the Dems, the way I see it is the Dems shot themselves in the foot (as is their habit) by giving carmakers any and all the subsidies to build battery plants, while at the same time not attaching the strings of unionized workforce in those same plants.
The battery plants are as much a part of car-making as engine plants, but of course the Big Three would call them some sort of separate joint-ventures, otherwise there wouldn’t be much of a decline of labor needs in the EV transition from ICE.
In the end I’m sure the UAW will endorse Biden, since the alternative is a GOP intent of dismantling whatever’s left of worker protections and labor laws, maybe re-introducing 21st century serfdom if they have their way.
lol sure, blame the Dems. Those things were undoubtedly amended out by the anti-worker party. ffs think one level deeper will you?
I don’t have to look across the isle, there are plenty of Dems (even beyond Manchin) who are ‘pro-business’ (read ‘fully owned by their masters’). Ask yourself why we haven’t gotten campaign funding reform, even though it’s been proposed a few times.
Biden passed this without GOP support, so the only regressive amendments were made by Dems.
Because the Roberts SCOTUS overturned all meaningful campaign funding reform. We would have to be able to build a coalition broad enough to amend the US Constitution to beat back Citizens United now.
While they’re certainly not going to endorse whatever pile of garbage the republicans choose, they don’t HAVE to endorse Biden. They can remain neutral. As I’ve said before, if you rely on an endorsement from ANYONE as opposed to making your own decision based on facts and research you probably shouldn’t be voting. In fact, if you don’t already know who you’re voting for I have some questions for you. (This is all in regards to the presidential election, state and local elections are a different story.)
Backup cameras and Android Auto / Apple Carplay integration are two pieces of tech which I have fully embraced.
I just bought a 2015 Mazda 3 which has a backup camera and I wouldn’t think I’d really need a camera in a car that small, but every time I’m parked next to a truck in the supermarket parking lot that I can’t see past when trying to back up, I’m thankful for the camera.
Apple Carplay wasn’t an option in ’15, but it was in later years and can be installed in earlier cars back to ’14, so I just bought a $75 retrofit kit which should greatly modernize the feel of the car.
No brainer here: you favor American built EVs and supply chains. This should written in stone. Let the damn UAW negotiate early retirements, I’m certain there will be plenty of takers depending what incentives are offered.
Screw China.
Even though JD Power has a for profit model historically they have been pretty spot on for a damn long time now.
BTW, have no experience with Apple Car. But not concerned. Apple over Google everyday.
This JD Power report is stupid, and anyone trying to draw conclusions from it is… misinformed.
845 points dropping 2 points from last year = -0.24%
and dropping 3 points the year before = -0.35%
What is the margin of error on these survey’s? Are these numbers statistically significant? Do they even have someone who understands statistics and surveys contributing to the reports?
Tesla scores an 878, nice, above average! But only 1% above average. Uhhh… is that good? What’s the margin of error again??
Does the actual JD report have this info? I don’t know and I’m not going to try to find it.
Don’t worry the Verge doesn’t report it either, so I’m assuming it’s not there.
However, I do agree. Car electronics are terrible and getting worse. My anecdotal evidence supports that belief.
Yeah. I would hope the manufacture’s take note, but I am sure they are looking at how they can monetize the infotainment, and if they have full control then they can do more subscriptions.
Except, what’s the lowest satisfaction score? Your floor isn’t 0, but you’re treating it like it is. Trends and satisfaction scores are not absolutes.
That’s a great point; we don’t know. But why wouldn’t the floor be 0? It seems a safe assumption that a scoring system is normally 0-10 or 0-100 or whatever, but there are weird scenarios like Amazon, where a lowest is a 1, or the CollegeBoard SAT test, where the lowest possible is like a 400.
But this unknown is another factor that makes 845/1000 with a 2 point change pretty meaningless and impossible to draw significant conclusions from. Despite the fact that they sound quantitative, as presented, they are qualitative.
And there are established quantitative methods to calculate margin of error on these types of surveys. Those should always be reported along with the numbers.