I suspect that number is sum of all their IT support staff, e.g. QA, admins, etc. I would wager the core development was done with at most 5% of that.

It's more than selling cars, I know folks that got hired who are working on their mobile apps or car entertainment system, etc. And selling cars is what they do, how many programmers does google have so they can sell ads online?

Not at all ridiculous. The company I consult with currently has 5K programmers, another 10K information technology staff and 48K sales people in branches. Their site moves more product and brings more profit than the branch network. Actually the sales staff interaction with customer is 99% scripted. Those humans are just another interface, that is not much different from the Web.

It sounds like the ban on direct-to-consumer sales is in part why they need so many developers.

They'd have one group of programmers developing the core products, but then another (maybe much larger) group of programmers who are the tech assets on teams standing up partnerships with dealers. Since most dealers are independent businesses, there's probably a wide diversity of software stacks and levels of tech competence.

I think that is for all internal software and support not just the consumer web part. Still seem high but they are a big company.

Looks like the sale ultimately goes through the dealership.

I don't think upper management knows much about computers, or programming? I sometimes wonder just why they are putting so many computers and sensors in their automobiles? I understand they need they to get their autos past emmission standards, but it's gotten rediculous? When something goes wrong with these autos you can't just plug in and find the fault. It's an art to repair, and all too frequently, the mechanic just replaces a bunch of good sensors--praying he found the lazy one; even at the dealership.(Ask a dealership mechanic--it's a running joke.)

Personally, I wouldn't buy a new automobile until everyone has open access to these propriatiary automotive computer systems? I think that date is around 2018? If interested read this blog:

https://ifixit.org/blog/6305/you-gotta-fight-for-your-right-...

But then again, maybe no one cares? I know Saturn engineers tried to make a repair friendly car(you could get to failed components, but no one seemed to care?) This was before the Internet though? Times must have changed?