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Uncle Joe's Makeover Diary 2.0

AML has nearly 100k build sheets in our archive.
I pulled a list of safety features and the counts of how many different varieties there are for that feature.
  • ---Feature Name: # of varieties---
  • Automatic Emergency Braking: 201*
  • Parking Sensors: 106
  • Blind Spot Monitor: 83
  • Adaptive Cruise Control: 77 (+ 33 dual-mapped with Autopilot)
  • Backup Camera: 72
  • Pedestrian Detection: 66 (+ 37 from AEB dual-map)
  • Automatic Parking: 66
  • Lane Keep Assist: 63
  • Traffic Sign Recognition: 52
  • Electronic Stability Control: 40
  • 360-Degree Camera: 35
  • Rear Cross-Traffic Alert: 25 (+ 38 from AEB dual-map)
  • Park Assist: 32
  • Collision Detection: 23
  • Premium Brakes / ABS: 19
  • Lane Departure Warning: 19
  • Side View Cameras: 16
  • Safe Exit Assist: 12
  • Autopilot: 7 (+ 33 from ACC dual-map)
  • Digital Rearview Mirror: 6
  • Front View Camera: 5
  • LED Daytime Running Lights: 3
  • Night Vision: 1
Shoppers have questions, and sales reps are expected to have the answers. NOT.
How in the hell does a rep confidently deliver the car with all of this ADAS stuff installed?


*(+ 37 dual-mapped with Pedestrian Detection, + 38 dual-mapped with RCTA)
 
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✨ AI Highlights

Joe Pistell, former Cars.com head of marketplace, returns to automotive digital retail strategy work and shares experimental ideas on vehicle merchandising, including AI-generated detailer imagery, richer safety feature data from build sheets (revealing hundreds of naming variants per feature), and mobile-first VDP design. The thread draws comparisons to Carvana and CarMax, with Pistell arguing their tightly integrated ops-and-engineering feedback loops allow them to iterate far faster than fragmented dealer website vendors, making sales productivity — not lead volume — the true measure of a great dealership website.

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