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It’s a busy week around the ASOTU halls as we’re in Florida for MRC and then Virginia for MTC. Today we’re covering how Carvana is scaling its capacity through the ADESA auction network, how Teslas topped a study on the most fatal cars on the road and the tech hiring slowdown.

Show Notes with links:

• Carvana is reimagining its operations through strategic integrations of the ADESA auction network, emphasizing vertical integration and expansion.
  • The used car retailer has converted 3 ADESA sites into multifunctional hubs in 2024, with plans for a 6th site by year-end and introduced Carli, a vehicle tracking system optimizing reconditioning and inventory management.
  • Carvana has increased retail gross profit per vehicle to $3,497 in Q3 2024, up 30% year over year.
  • CEO Ernie Garcia highlights the company’s capacity for processing 3 million vehicles annually with minimal capital expenditure.
  • "Adding capacity without significant time or expense — that’s the key to efficient growth," says Christina Keiser, Carvana EVP of Strategy.

• A recent iSeeCars study revealed that Tesla vehicles had the highest fatal crash rates among automakers in the U.S., raising questions about how they were driven and their design.
  • Teslas led with 5.6 deaths per billion miles driven, double the industry average of 2.8. Kia (5.5) and Buick (4.8) followed as other high-fatality automakers.
  • The Tesla Model Y recorded a 10.6 fatal crash rate, nearly five times the SUV average, while the Model S rate was twice the average at 5.8.
  • Despite these figures, Teslas scored highly in IIHS and NHTSA crash tests.
  • Analyst Karl Brauer linked the high rates to driver behavior: “The biggest contributor to occupant safety is avoiding a crash...and the biggest factor in crash avoidance is driver behavior.”

• The post-pandemic hiring landscape reveals a sharp slowdown in tech roles, with oversupply, automation, and changing priorities leaving many professionals facing a white-collar recession.
  • White-collar roles like IT, engineering, and marketing fell 20%-32% from 2018-2024
  • AI tools, like ChatGPT, have enhanced productivity, reducing the need for new hires in roles such as coding, where efficiency has skyrocketed.
  • Sectors like healthcare bucked the trend, increasing hiring by 10% to address burnout and staffing shortages, while social services remained stable.
  • Job openings now receive an average of 222 applications—nearly three times as many as at the end of 2021, overwhelming companies and making it harder for candidates to stand out.
  • Job searches are taking longer, averaging 66 days “There’s so much angst, [among job seekers]” noted Jon Stross of Greenhouse, 

Join Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier every morning for the Automotive State of the Union podcast as they connect the dots across car dealerships, retail trends, emerging tech like AI, and cultural shifts—bringing clarity, speed, and people-first insight to automotive leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry.

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