1st gear: Color me absolutely shocked that after a few years of operating in China, a foreign company with valuable intellectual property has been sufficiently mined of its knowledge and processes that domestic Chinese companies are slowly supplanting them.

Oh anyone who’s ever been to Disney World knew that already

If I was advising Tesla, I’d recommend they find all of Hoffman Auto Group’s dissatisfied customers and give them a nice social media spotlight. Maybe even invite some of the more compelling tales of dealer avarice to testify at a state house hearing on the matter.

If Tesla accomplishes nothing else, I hope they break the grip of the mega dealers on car sales.

Adding middlemen does not add value, unfortunately they do add political contributions.

Set up a huge party just off the coast - invite you-tubers, tik-tok stars, social influencers. Roaring 20’s excess! Loud music, beaming laser lights to the heavens, helicopters ferrying in guests, jet boats, booze flowing - then torpedo the fucker.  I’d watch. 

Nothing against Rob (I think he’s great writer), but why does every auto writer now refer to parts of a car like they think the are on Wheeler Dealers or something? Using the terms “boot”, “bonnet”, “door cards” etc. It’s cure if you are reviewing a British car, but Brooklyn is not Bedfordshire. No matter how hard it…

If Elon just wanted to be rich, you wouldn’t know his name. 

We have created an asperational american mythology that we all could be rich someday. And we have done so for a very long time well over 100 years. We are raised believing the mertiocracy means the best people are the rich ones otherwise they would not be rich. I disagree but that is the poison of the lie of meritocrac…

such as Ford F-150s...offered for well over the sticker price. Some may have aftermarket add-ons that are not accounted for in the MSRP.

I just popped a few into the toilet.

It’s called the Hyundai Veloster.

Well, it is right next to The Villiages. Not exactly the intellectual or cultural epicenter of anywhere, really.

Chrysler should have pushed out a luxury SUV at least 5 years ago; something positioned from roughly the GC Overland trim to well above the GC Summit in terms of luxury. A Lincoln Aviator competitor, if you will. Sadly, Chrysler sat idle for too long and now Alfa and Maserati are positioned as the “premium” brands…

Is this really a warning to the CEOs of those divisions, or is it a veiled warning to the dealers instead? Like, you have 10 years to milk this cow, then we are shutting it down on you? Because stopping the brand really does not do a lot of damage corporately. Those managers who showed success will move to another…

Cryptocurrency is quite possibly the stupidest thing ever invented by the hand of man.

Calling him out for... discussing a video that is about a Tesla. Which is an accurate discussion of what occurs in the video.

First Gear: May 11, 2021. Toyota in horrible shape, doesn’t have EVs.
First Gear: May 12, 2021. Toyota in great shape making money like mad.

Here’s a crazy idea, how about silent. All of those crazy noises are just stupidly annoying. If I wanted a big rowdy v8 then I would get a rowdy v8. I’m getting an electric because I want it to be quiet enough to hear exactly what each tire is doing, thus allowing quicker lap times.

I’m from Austin and actually went through all 12 years of public school with several members of the Covert family. And if those 20 year old experiences are illustrative of the family as a whole (which is a dumb assumption I know), both stupid and complicit are equally very likely.

“Capitalism makes a better case for socialism than socialism ever could.”