Photo: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)
Used car sales broke records in 2021, we should soon find out more about the whereabouts of the Cybertruck and Lamborghini is doing fine. All of that and more in The morning shift for Thursday, January 13, 2022.
1st gear: It’s not just about used car prices
the Average price of a used car $ 27,500 in November, up 27 percent from the same month in 2020. Unsurprisingly, last year also marked a record for used car sales in the US, with 40.9 million vehicles moving to new homes, according to Cox Automotive via Automotive news:
Cox Automotive estimates that total used vehicle sales for 2021 were 40.9 million, an increase of about 10 percent from 2020. Of those, an estimated 22.2 million were retail sales – vehicles sold to consumers by dealers and other retailers like Carvana. That was also an all-time record, said Cox, and reflected an increase of almost 13 percent over the previous year.
The ironic thing about this particular record amid a production shortage is that the market will not be able to beat it until the supply chain relaxes and used batches can be replenished. But when that happens – and it will be years – new cars will be available so people won’t have to look for used cars anymore. This is a record that you only break every now and then.
The used car market will remain strong in the spring of 2022, but “tired of seeing any changes in volume compared to the record volumes last spring,” Cox Automotive chief economist Jonathan Smoke said last week.
In a preliminary forecast, Cox Automotive said the volume will total 39.3 million used car sales and 22.1 million retail used car sales in 2022.
If the forecast is correct, those numbers will be below the 2021 volume but still slightly higher than the total used car sales of 37.3 million in 2020 and the used car retail sales of 19.8 million.
The way things went, everyone is curious about what their cars are worth. We were too. It doesn’t matter how much the value of your current vehicle has risen if you have yet to buy a new one in this market. Only if you are selling your car because you are moving to a place where you don’t need one can you get out of it only in a positive way.
2nd gear: That would mean that FSD is classified as autonomous
Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” technology is High-gloss driver assistance level 2, and California knows. Because of this, the state has not closely monitored its tests in the past. But people use FSD as it says on the can, so the Golden State is now rethinking its approach. Per Automotive news:
The California Department of Motor Vehicles had said that Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” – or FSD beta – required human intervention and was therefore not subject to its autonomous vehicle regulations.
But the agency “is reviewing this decision following recent software updates, videos showing dangerous use of the technology, open investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the opinions of other experts,” the department said in a letter to Lena Gonzalez on Friday, Chairman of the Senate Transport Committee.
We actually I covered that to some extent yesterdaybut less about what such regulation would actually mean if Tesla were treated like a Waymo or GM Cruise. In short, it’s a lot of red tape that one would reasonably assume would not want to get entangled in Tesla.
“If the capabilities of the functions meet the definition of an autonomous vehicle under California laws and regulations, DMV will take steps to ensure that Tesla operates under the appropriate autonomous vehicle permits,” the agency said in a statement.
The ordinance would require Tesla to report accidents and traffic tickets specifically for the FSD, said Phil Koopman, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania.
This would also “trigger a review of the driver’s background to ensure (a) good driving record,” he said.
The double speaking is amusing. If it’s up to Tesla to market the feature as fully autonomous to drive sales and excitement, it will. But when faced with the ramifications of that message, it is shields himself with a quiet admission what the service is actually capable of.
3rd gear: The fate of the cybertruck will be revealed on January 26th
Teslas Cybertruck page It used to say, “You can complete your configuration when production gets closer in 2022.” Recently it dropped the “in 2022” part, so Edmunds. This omission appears to have occurred within the last month, Mashable reported.
The 2022 deletion appears to have occurred just before Christmas, based on a search using the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine tool. The Cybertruck is to be built in Tesla’s newest Gigafactory in Austin, Texas. But the factory is still preparing for auto production, tools and equipment will be shipped this week.
You can still leave a $ 100 security deposit for the electric truck. You just can’t choose the vehicle the way you want. Tesla’s next call to win is scheduled for January 26th, and CEO Elon Musk has announced that the company will offer an update on its product roadmap then especially with regard to the cybertruck.
4th gear: Lamborghini is doing fine
What is a “good year” for a small series manufacturer of exotic super sports cars like Lamborghini? It turned out that the magic number is around 8,000 deliveries, at the latest since Automotive news.
Automobili Lamborghini said it delivered 8,405 vehicles worldwide last year, up 13 percent, including an 11 percent increase in the US, where 2,472 vehicles were delivered.
A nameplate breakdown of U.S. sales was not available. On a global basis, however, the Urus SUV accounted for 60 percent of the brand’s sales last year, the Huracan for 31 percent and the Aventador for the remainder.
Europe, the Middle East and Africa remain at the forefront of Lamborghini’s largest market, but the brand saw the greatest growth in the Asia-Pacific region.
The brand, which is part of the Volkswagen Group, described Europe, the Middle East and Africa as the largest region in terms of percentage of total sales. The region grew by a total of 12 percent, followed by North and South America and the Asia-Pacific region, both of which grew by 14 percent.
Sure, a lot of this has to do with the Urus, but it’s encouraging to see that the Huracan is still a huge sales driver. There are reportedly four new products from the brand this year, and a replacement for the Aventador is expected in 2023.
5th gear: Alfa Romeo F1 boss says Andretti negotiations have not failed preparations for 2022
Not that Alfa Romeo F1 team principal Frederic Vasseur would ever admit that much, but I have long wondered if the team was plagued by the doomed deal last year to sell to Andretti Autosport. It seemed frighteningly close, but it all fell apart in the last possible minute. Vasseur crashed in a chat with Motorsport.com.
“We haven’t stopped the technical side and development hasn’t slowed it down, that’s for sure,” Vasseur told Motorsport.com.
“In some discussions, about sponsors, drivers, etc. we had to be a bit present.
“But in the end it won’t change the situation. It had no effect other than postponing some decisions. ”
The “driver discussions”, as he gently puts it, would have caused a headache. Mainly because if Andretti and Sauber had trembled at the deal, the new owners would have tried everything in their power to install this Colton Herta next to Valtteri Bottas. Instead of this, Guanyu Zhou was selected to partner with experienced Finn after talks failed and the dust settled.
However, don’t let Vasseur’s calm fool you.
Asked if he felt [the negoitiation] was a distraction for the team, Vasseur replied, “No – it was a distraction for me!”
Irritated team bosses are 25 percent of the reasons Formula 1 is so much fun, if you ask me.
Back: 1997 was a great year for the Detroit Auto Show
The 1997 North American International Auto Show opened to the public 25 years ago today. The revelations happened earlier this week during the press days, of course, but this was the first opportunity for show visitors to familiarize themselves with the C5 Corvette, Dodge Durango and Mercedes-Benz CLK.
The 1997 Dodge Copperhead Concept Photo: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)
The event also brought a lot of hip concepts with it, like the Dodge Copperhead – or “Concept Car” as Gran Turismo gamers will remember – and the Chrysler Phaeton among others. After all, this was in the middle of the productive 1990s era of Chrysler’s prototypes.
Neutral: The concepts that we loved
I went to the New York Auto Show every year and I clearly remember being impressed by the yellow and black 2002 Ford GT40 concept as a kid before going into production as a GT two years later. I have a hard time remembering other examples from the past, although I can remember spending a lot of time circling the Toyota FT-1 in 2014. I even have a 3D printed keyring of this car from the Toyota booth which unfortunately broke so I don’t wear it anymore.
What concept did you personally see that you immediately fell in love with?
