TPT January 2016

Global Marketplace

automotive retail expert who downplayed the likelihood of a lasting negative impact. Mr Zanan noted the rising fortunes of Korean automakers Kia and Hyundai, early laggards in the Consumer Reports reliability survey. “In the 1990s, Kia and Hyundai had poor ratings, too,” he reminded Ms Loizos. “With time they improved their processes and are now able to build very reliable cars with which consumers are very happy.” Mr Zanan said something else that should buoy Tesla: “Purchasing decisions aren’t guided by Consumer Reports . They’re guided by feel of the car, marketing, and word of mouth.” › That may be, but initial reaction to the Model S news would scarcely have rejoiced management in Palo Alto. The Los Angeles Times began covering the story early. Shares in 12-year-old Tesla, which has a $26.5 billion market cap, took a nosedive, falling 10.3 per cent by midday. Oil and gas In natural gas country, combative presidential hopeful Marco Rubio champions drilling, fracking, and the Keystone XL pipeline Only those with a strong tolerance for boredom and exasperation will pay much attention to the run-up to the US presidential election before, say, midyear. But very early in the cycle one of the aspirants – Senator Marco Rubio, of Florida – made a speech that warrants attention for its almost total repudiation of President Barack Obama’s environmental agenda. In eastern Ohio, with its extensive underground natural gas deposits, Mr Rubio on 16 October declared an intention to roll back Mr Obama’s most consequential achievements and laid out his own energy policy. As reported in the New York Times , he declared that, if elected, he would: immediately authorise construction of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline that would traverse the western US from Alberta, Canada, to Illinois, Texas, and Oklahoma; permit more offshore oil and gas drilling, already expanded by the president; and effectively nullify an international climate change accord the administration is pursuing. Not least, the Republican senator would move promptly to reverse Environmental Protection Agency regulations on greenhouse gas emissions and hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) to allow the extraction of gas buried deep in the ground near places like Salem, where he addressed an audience of some 300 people. (“Marco Rubio’s Energy Policy Centers on Drilling and Reversing Obama Rules,” 16 October) Taking issue with what he described as a Democratic “fear campaign” against fracking, Mr Rubio said that the hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of natural gas and oil underneath the ground “are doing the people of Ohio no good pent-up in shale rock.”

Automotive The Tesla Model S hits a quite jarring speed bump In late August, Consumer Reports said that Tesla’s Model S P85D, the most expensive of the company’s “S”-series all- wheel-drive electric sedans, performed “better in our tests than any other car ever has, earning a perfect road-test score.” Connie Loizos, the Silicon Valley editor of TechCrunch , noted at the time that this was “something you don’t see every day.” The Model S P85D was awarded 103 points, a total so high that it broke the Consumer Reports road-test ratings system. But something even more remarkable would be seen two months later: Consumer Reports’ dilution of the earlier high praise with its assignment of a “worse-than-average” rating to the Model S in the category of predicted reliability of new vehicles. As reported by Ms Loizos, in interviews with more than 14,000 Model S owners “an array of detailed and complicated maladies” came to the attention of the respected testing and survey organisation. The main problems, it said, involve the drivetrain; power equipment; charging equipment; the giant iPad-like centre console; and body and sunroof squeaks, rattles and leaks. Systems that scored worse on the 2015 model, compared with 2014, are steering, suspension and climate control. (“Consumer Reports Withdraws Its Tesla Model S Recommendation,” 20 October) The issues were enough to knock the car out of its “average” predicted reliability slot, wrote Ms Loizos. Worse, for Tesla, the Model S lost its chance at the coveted Consumer Reports “recommended” designation. For this, a vehicle must meet “stringent testing, reliability, and safety standards, including having average or better predicted reliability.” Asked for comment, a spokesperson for California-based Tesla e-mailed TechCrunch : “ Consumer Reports also found that customers rate Tesla service and loyalty as the best in the world. Close communication with our customers enables Tesla to receive input, proactively address issues, and quickly fix problems. Over-the-air software updates allow Tesla to diagnose and fix most bugs without the need to come in for service. In instances when hardware needs to be fixed, we strive to make it painless.” If the response was a little to the side of the issues, Consumer Reports did in fact largely endorse Tesla’s self-praise, noting that according to its data 97 per cent of Tesla owners would buy the car again. It commented, “Despite the problems it appears that Tesla has been responsive to replacing faulty motors, differentials, brakes, and infotainment systems, all with a minimum of fuss to owners . . . For its early adopters, Tesla has made a practice of overdelivering on service problems under the factory warranty.” › For an outside opinion on Tesla’s fall from grace TechCrunch turned to Max Zanan, a New York-based

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