Why did Cadillac need to offer the buyout? Could Cadillac just tell dealers that the chargers are a requirement to keep being a dealer? Could a dealer that doesn’t want to install the chargers reject the buyout and keep operating?
The contracts between GM and the dealership for carrying the brand don't allow either side to make sudden requirements (like installing $200k worth of chargers) without changing the contract - these contracts usually last a long time, so the time for them to renew and require these chargers could be years in the future.
Since GM doesn't want to stagnate on electric cars, they're offering the buyout since they have new electric Cadillacs coming soon and you don't want a dealership to not carry certain cars just because they declined to install chargers.
I wonder if there is some kind of collective bargaining among dealers in the negotiations with GM, that binds all the dealers. Or if the buyouts are just too good to refuse.
Based on other HN comments it sounds like GM wants to reduce the number of Cadillac dealers because it's GM's luxury brand. Basically they want to imitate Tesla's business model.
These dealers just do Cadillacs as a side gig anyway. They mostly sell other GM brands.
Firing for cause would be something of a “nuclear option” here and IMO would significantly increase the risk of a court battle. The peanuts Google would save in severance costs would not be worth the PR damage.
I've been waiting for Apple to update the AppleTV (I gave mine to a deserving friend), so I replaced my aging Roku with a FireTV (for HBO Max). Works great.
It has been a long time since the Apple TV was updated, but it performs well for 4k content so I’m not sure what the average user would want from an upgrade. Personally the only item on my wish list is very niche - allow it to concurrently connect to more than 3 Bluetooth devices, so I can use more sensors with Zwift.
> I’m not sure what the average user would want from an upgrade
I'd like to see a new revision with an HDMI 2.1 port -- support for 8K60 game streaming (the nVidia 3090s support running at that resolution) and 4K120 support.
Except for the bonkers remote control I agree. I have a few Roku's and one Apple TV HD. I love the picture quality on the AppleTV but the remote is too weird for my wife's liking.
Companies have bought a lot of seats for software that employees didn’t actually adopt. Those customers are more likely to churn. Reporting DAU helps account for that possibility.
