The order to inflate the driving range displayed on the cars was given by Tesla's CEO Elon Musk around 10 years ago a report by Reuters found Thursday - the latest Tesla feature to face scrutiny. As a result, the company was inundated with complaints and service appointments from drivers who expected a longer driving range, several sources told Reuters.
To suppress the volume of these complaints the automaker created a secret "Diversion Team" in Las Vegas to cancel appointments. The team was tracked by the number of appointments they diverted each day and often closed hundreds of cases a week. In most cases, the cars likely did not need to be repaired; their performance had merely been overstated.
Do you have so much data that you don’t know what to do with it, or even where to start? Utilimarc can connect all those data sources for you, which makes all of your data far more actionable and accessible.
We have a timely story from FLD’s Bill Bishop today, who writes that the fleet industry recovery continues, despite some challenges. According to Bill, “Fleet is likely to experience another 3-4 months of status quo, free of any wild swings either up or down. The good news is that it would appear as we transition to Q3 that vehicle availability is headed in the right direction.” READ MORE
Grey Fleet Management - A Bit of Mythbusting
In today’s Crash-Free Culture column, Ed Dubens notes that grey fleet usage is on the rise, which presents both challenges and opportunities. Ed says that “Management of grey fleet vehicles is rife with misconceptions that can leave organizations and drivers exposed and at risk. Check out some of the more common myths and misconceptions and how to address them effectively.” READ MORE
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Ted Roberts
President
The Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association (AFLA) recently elected new board members and officers to serve on the 2023-2024 Board of Directors.
Suresh Rajapakse was elected to serve as Secretary; Don Wright, was re-elected to the position of Director, Dealers; Erin Gilchrist was elected to serve as Director, Allied Service Providers; Dan Fierro will hold the office of Director, Remarketers.
AFLA’s new leaders will officially begin their terms at the close of the AFLA 2023 Corporate Fleet Conference, Best is Yet to Come, which will be held October 2-5, 2023 in Palm Springs, CA.
NETS 2023 Europe – Middle East – Africa (EMEA) Road Safety Conference represents a valuable opportunity to learn about the variety of road safety initiatives and challenges specific to the region.
Keynote Speakers include Dr. Marcin Nazaruk, Director, Psychology Applied, who will introduce the Learning from Normal Work methodology and how it can be used to get ahead of failure to identify precursors of future accidents and Alejandro Furas, Secretary General, Global NCAP, who will provide the most recent vehicle rating findings and updates on vehicle safety in the EMEA Region.
The conference takes place in Paris, France, September 11-13, 2023.