I imagine their thought process was Hot Wheels likely isn't a very expensive license or difficult licensor, "cars" is a very safe bet* with a lot of freedom to make a game around the theme, and Mattel gave them a ton of art and video as part of the license which has been one of AP's most glaring weaknesses.
They should be swinging for the fences, and this feels more like bunt. But I understand the logic of wanting to play it safe. I don't think they'll have much issue outselling their other games, but it'll be tough for them to crack the 1,000 unit mark in the next two or three years. They cut the BOM, but they probably should have gotten it to below Stern Pro pricing. Maybe a few less RGB LEDs and toss the silly car on a stick.
* People can point out that there have been bad car games like Mustang, but there's also been High Speed and Getaway which are two of the most popular and mass produced games of all time.