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GM’s Cruise Self-Driving Car Crash Injures Multiple People by Steven Loveday, InsideEVs
On June 3, in San Francisco, CA, a Cruise self-driving vehicle that was driving autonomously was involved in an accident with a Toyota Prius, injuring people in both cars. According to Automotive News, the crash occurred only one day after regulators in California gave Cruise a critical permit related to its autonomous driving pursuits. The California Public Utilities Commission ruled Cruise can collect fares from passengers taking rides in the car with no human safety driver behind the wheel.
The permit was the first of its kind in the Golden State.
Advisors
After months of speculation about the future of Service King, a blockbuster merger with Crash Champi-
California Voters to Consider New Tax Hike on Wealthy to Subsidize EVs
The Cruise car turned left in front of the oncoming Prius at the intersection of Geary Boulevard and Spruce Street. Officials from Cruise claim the autonomous vehicle stopped before proceeding with the left turn, and the
The initiative, Proposition 30, would increase taxes on personal income over $2 million by 1.75% for wealthy individuals and married couples. The tax revenue would then be split, with 45% for consumer rebates and incentives for zero-emission vehicles, 35% for charging stations and 20% for wildfire prevention. According to the initiative, at least half of the funding earmarked for rebates and charging stations must be directed to low-income communities and households. Clean Air California, the coali-
See Self-Driving Car, Page 16
See New Tax Hike, Page 16
A Deeper Look at Crash Champions’ Merger with Service King by David Roberts, managing director of Focus
Vol. 40 / Issue 8 / August 2022
ons was announced to Service King managers on July 15. The two consolidators will merge and create a 550+ shop operation with upwards of $2 billion in annualized sales.
See Crash Champions to Merge, Page 19
by Madison Hirneisen, The Center Square
This November, California voters will be asked to approve up to $4.5 billion in new taxes on wealthy residents to fund subsidies for zero-emission vehicle purchases and charging stations.
The World Experienced a Pandemic—and Initial Vehicle Quality Got Sick In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, initial vehicle quality notably declined, according to the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Initial Quality Study, released June 28.
Buick was the highest-ranking brand in J.D. Power’s 2022 U.S. Initial Quality Study and the Buick Encore GX, shown here, ranked the highest in its segment.
The disruptions caused by the pandemic—supply chain issues, record-high vehicle prices and personnel dislocations---contributed to vehicle problems reaching a record high in the 36-year history of this benchmark study. Compared with 2021 results, the industry experienced an 11% increase in problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), which is 18 PP100 worse than last year, resulting in an industry average of 180 PP100. A lower score reflects higher vehicle quality.
General Motors bucked the trend with an improvement in initial quality that landed it in the highest rank position among automotive corporations. Among brands, Buick’s quality improved 17 PP100 year over year, vaulting it to ranking highest overall in 2022 from 12th place in 2021, while Genesis ranked highest among premium brands. Just nine of 33 ranked brands improved in vehicle quality year over year. “Given the many challenges automakers and their dealers had to face in the past year, it’s somewhat surprising that initial quality didn’t fall even more dramatically,” said David Amodeo, director of global automotive at J.D. Power. “In general, initial quality has shown steady improvement throughout the history of this study, so the decline this year is disappointing—yet understandable. Automakers continue to launch vehicles that are more and more technologically complex in an era in which there have been many shortages of critical components to support them.” See Initial Vehicle Quality, Page 22
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