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Elon Musk is ‘almost unethical,’ says outgoing AutoNation CEO

Musk is over-promising on autonomous vehicles, says AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson
10:45 AM ET Fri, 22 Feb 2019 | 00:57

Tesla CEO Elon Musk acts in an “almost unethical” way, the outgoing CEO of the largest U.S. auto dealer chain told CNBC on Friday.

Musk recently said he expects Tesla to have all the features needed for fully self-driving cars by the end of the year. That seems like an almost impossible goal, Cox Automotive executive publisher Karl Brauer said Wednesday on CNBC's “The Exchange.” Other companies working on autonomous driving technology, such as Waymo, are not making such bold predictions.

“I think he is overpromising on autonomous vehicles in an almost unethical way,” AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson said on “Squawk Box,” referring to Musk.

Jackson has long been a Tesla critic and has accused Musk of using “bait-and-switch” tactics on consumers, making commitments he cannot keep, and has said the electric car maker's business will not be sustainable over the long term.

In the interview Friday, Jackson once again criticized Tesla's practice of taking orders on the midsize Tesla Model 3 sedan, saying the cars Tesla has been building are different from the ones the company had said it planned to build. Tesla initially advertised its Model 3 at a price of $35,000 but has so far sold only more expensive versions.

“There's not another retailer in America that could get away with that bait and switch,” Jackson said. Currently the cheapest Model 3 starts at $42,900. Musk has said that despite the originally advertised price, Tesla has had to prioritize the production of more expensive versions to keep margins high. At one point, Tesla had more than 400,000 reservations for the the Model 3.

Tesla has faced political and legal battles in several states over its decision to eschew the traditional dealership model in favor of a direct model that sells to customers.

AutoNation reported earnings of $1.10 on Friday, missing a consensus estimate by 4 cents. The dealership chain also said Jackson will end his long tenure in the top job in March, and Carl Liebert will succeed him on March 11. Liebert was formerly chief operating officer at financial services company USAA. He was also executive vice president of stores at home improvement retailer Home Depot.

AutoNation shares sank 6 percent in early trading Friday. Tesla's stock was up 1.2 percent.

“It was a challenging quarter, no question,” Jackson said. New vehicle sales across the industry were down 10 percent in California, and environments in Texas and Florida were also problems.

“But even beyond those two explanations, I think retail automotive is getting more difficult,” he said, attributing the challenges in part to the cyclical nature of the business.

Jackson said he expects a gradual downturn across the industry. He expects sales in 2019 to be about 16.8 million vehicles, down from 17.2 million in 2018.

Tesla did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment about Jackson's remarks.

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Piech brand to launch with electric sports car at Geneva

Piech Automotive will announce itself to the world with an electric sports car, named the Mark Zero, at next month's Geneva motor show.

The company was co-founded in 2016 by Anton Piëch, who is the son of Ferdinand Piech – the hugely successful former chairman of the Volkswagen Group – and the great-grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, the designer of the original Volkswagen Beetle and founder of the Porsche brand. His business partner is industrial designer Rea Stark Rajcic.

Piëch is a public company based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has no affiliation with the Volkswagen Group.

The two-door, two-seat Mark Zero is unusual among the myriad EVs from start-up brands in that it doesn't use a skateboard-type chassis, as popularised by Tesla. Instead, it's based on a modular platform that Piëch developed with the help of 200 'exterior staff'.

In the Mark Zero, the batteries are positioned along the central tunnel and on the rear axle, rather than packaged into the floor. It is therefore expected that the car is rear-wheel drive, although Piëch hasn't confirmed the location of the motor (or motors).

The Piëch platform is claimed to be accommodating of internal combustion engine, hybrid, battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell powertrains, and some of the hardware, such as the battery, can apparently be swapped out.

The Mark Zero's battery comes from an unnamed Sino-German joint venture “previously not active in the automotive industry”. It uses cells that are said to be highly thermoefficient, allowing them to be cooled by air, rather than water, and capable of rapid charging.

A goal of 500km (311 miles) range on the new WLTP testing cycle has been set for the coupé, which weighs “less than 1800kg”. For comparison, the Rimac C_Two electric hypercar weighs 1950kg. No performance figures have yet been suggested by Piech.

It's unclear who has engineered the Mark Zero, although design sketches appear to be signed by Porsche's Peter Varga. It also hasn't been stated where Piëch's funding originates.

Following the retro-modern coupe, Piëch would apparently like to add a saloon and an SUV to its portfolio.

More details are set to be revealed in a press conference at Geneva on 7 March.

Volvo batteries, California superhighways, more efficient motors: Today’s Car News

Teaser for Piech Mark Zero electric sports car concept debuting at 2019 Geneva auto show
Falling reliability costs the Tesla Model 3 its Consumer Reports recommendation. Could high-speed rail be replaced with high-speed highways? Volvo is pulling depleted batteries out of electric buses to use as energy storage for solar in a large apartment complex in Sweden. Argonne National Lab has developed a smaller, lighter, more efficient electric motor. All this and more on Green Car Reports.

In its latest survey, Consumer Reports found that the Tesla Model 3, while very satisfying, isn't very reliable.

As California's high-speed rail project devolves from budget and time-line overruns into political name-calling between Washington and Sacramento, a state senator has introduced a bill to replace the project with autobahn-like high-speed highway lanes through the state's central valley from San Francisco to LA. The lanes would have no speed limits, but they're unlikely to reduce global-warming emissions as the senator suggests.

Volvo is reusing batteries from its electric buses in Sweden to buffer power on a large new apartment complex with solar panels in Gothenberg.

Scientists at Argonne National Labs in Illinois have developed a new type of permanent-magnet electric motor that's lighter, cheaper, and more powerful, proving that it's not just battery technology that's improving for electric cars.

Mercedes-Benz plans a new electric SUV called the EQV to debut at the Geneva auto show next month. It is expected to be a follow-on to the company's EQC, which is scheduled to arrive later this year.

Finally, Anton Piech, the son of the famed Audi engineer and Porsche scion Ferdinand Piech, also plans to launch a new electric sports-car company with a stylish concept at the show.

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