We are taking a long way to get there, but this is just reinventing playing Gameboy in the back seat while your parents drive.
We don’t talk a lot about Canada, but with the Inflation Reduction Act incentivizing any North American production, this free trade agreement will only become more important in the coming years.
*Please send 25 cents to ASOTU to view this witty opinion of the news that we already wrote*
Fun fact - Adult female turkeys weigh around 10 lbs. meaning this donation is 20,000 lbs of turkey which is about the same as the President’s limo, aka “The Beast.”
J.D. Power division integrates CarNow’s Real-Time Messaging™ capability within its digital retailing platform
EQUITYiQ automatically mines for customers and releases burden from dealers to focus on the sale - not farming through cold calls.
Riddle - A tech company and an automotive company walk into a restaurant and the host says “Table for 1?” How can this be!?
TL; DR - Tesla says their Chinese sales are aok, and you should mind your business. Carvana should mind its business, but, like, in a ‘get things in order’ kinda way, and the used car business is seeing an influx of exotic cars as Crypto investors face a time “between prosperity.”
It would be super sage-like to say, “The longer you wait to accept change, the more expensive it will be,” but we aren’t sure Mazda would have saved any money if they did this last year. It's a weird world.
The list of services dealers provide is already long, but we will make room for “Counter cyber banditry” anytime we get a chance!
Are we going to turn into a daily World Cup update email? Nah. Are we going to let you know how the USA is doing when we can? Absolutely. ⚽
TL; DR - GM fixes Teslas, Ford builds a city, and Domino’s delivers electric pizza.
At least in Europe, a 200-mile battery range can get you through 9 countries before needing a charge.
An excellent reminder that in the retail auto industry, “community” means a lot more than just “past customers.” #HendrickCares
TL; DR - GM sees profits in the electric delivery van game, but based on the President’s aims the electric big rig and bus game may soon be just as lucrative.
Usually, gross is higher than net, but 5 minutes of gross time with Dale Pollack is roughly 14 minutes of net insights. #Math
At times, the dignity and stability of learning a trade doesn’t get enough spotlight in public education. Good on this district and New Country Porsche for helping young people seeing their contribution to the world can take many shapes (most of which have a presence in retail automotive)
So you are telling me out of 7 verticals, auto is the only one that doesn’t have a social media platform that it should stay away from…um, time to hire that content creator, eh?
If the economy was an apple tree, automotive would be in the apples… and the leaves… also the roots and branches…
Long story short: VW may hang on to some cash fluidity but delay the beginning of their electrification journey. Also, somehow the year 2030 STILL managed to find its way into this story.
But, for real, how much dealer merch does Santa wear on December 24th?
This is a real homerun (maybe the wrong sports metaphor, but oh well) for Magic and GM. Great work, team!
TL; DR- Toyota announces new Prius models, Ford announces new in-house production plans, and GM announces (even more) deals to keep battery production profitable.
Carefree+ is a 🥬 great name and all, but have you considered 🍃 calling the program🍂 “Turn a new LEAF?” Maybe it is too late 🍁 to change it, just keep that name for the next 🍀 idea.
Beyond the material needs being met by Findlay’s gift is the wonderful feeling that "somebody has your back." Kids don’t always recognize it at the moment, but when they grow up, they will remember who cared, and folks like Findlay will be on the list. 🌋
A trusted dealer is the only piece of the automotive industry the average consumer ever encounters. The story you tell them about what is happening in the rest of the industry will build or shake confidence in the whole ecosystem. #NoPressure
And the award for song that makes you want to live alone in the wilderness goes to “Carolina” by Taylor Swift - Charity@asotu.com
Eventually, Tesla will not be the dominant name in EVs. Big legacy OEMs, once up to full speed, will overtake them. So the path to continued powerful relevance may be in collaboration (by standardizing charging tech) and control of resources (like the charging infrastructure.)
From the point of view of the participant, this is pretty dope, too - pay $50 for a car OR the satisfaction of helping children escape poverty and housing insecurity. Fantastic work, Veneeca and Integrity!
Goodbye forever r/MildlyInteresting, you were boring the entire time.
Some news and memes, you know the deal!
Feel free to pass our notes to your used car manager.
Some November giveaways are turkey, and some help you get to the turkey. Both are great!
TL; DR - The EU bans ICE at home, but play your cards right, and they will sell you some. Germany is still business friends with China. Carvana is still learning how deep a down month goes.
Chips are only becoming more essential as technology advances. Who knows, in ten years chips may be worth more than 100 verified accounts on Twitter. #TopicalJoke
TL; DR- Jaguar Land Rover prepares for them newfangled electronic automobiles, EVs were nearly one-sixth of Porsche’s deliveries last year, and a student design prototype car eats carbon.
Most of the McDonald's employees we've met would love to build cars for $25/hr. What's REALLY going on here, Subaru? You can tell us.
Friends, we need you to know that every single time we write about being moved by the generosity dealers show children, we mean it with our whole hearts. This one, again, totally blown away.
Character development is so important in good storytelling. For instance, want to make a character a dad? Give him a beard and an ax. People will just assume from there.
Google's digital test cars and Rivian's electric Amazon vans (with memes)
The best way to prepare for the future is to embrace your present. New inventory levels will return to “normal” eventually. Let’s not wait till then to thrive.
We love how often these dealer stories include charity AND compassion. Each are wonderful, but together they seem to multiply.
Reminder - Data isn't good or bad. It's just data. How we adapt to it is what counts. 💪
Always good to see recognition going around!
Think long enough, and everything leads to robots.
AutoLeadStar announced today a $40 million growth round of financing led by Riverwood Capital with the participation of existing investors.
Stephen King got pretty annoyed by the $8 thing, and he has tons of money, so we don’t think it was actually about the fee. 📚
TL; DR - BMW eyes the agency model, Audi puts video games in eye-wear, and Stellantis dries its eyes and says things are getting better.
Unrelated Question- Y’all ever worked somewhere where the manager couldn’t fire somebody so they just kept trying to make them quit?
And, just in time for Thanksgiving, CMA and UVA will host a Turkey Trot to raise even more money for the hospital! What a great way to build community partnership into the calendar!
All these features and nowhere to hitch up our wagon? #MissedOpportunity
Anybody can share an optimistic hunch at any time. Adjusting profit projections without really meaning it is called misleading shareholders, which means Subaru is placing its money (and reputation) firmly where its optimistic mouth is on this one.
Good call - if we drove that fast, we would make sure the world had more mechanics too, Mr. Larson.
Joke idea- Investors, dealers, and Michigan’s legal team walk into a bar... Carvana sneaks out the back before anything else get added to this piece of news.
Don’t freak out. We still have story after story of growth last month in the hopper. Find the market share that is out there for the taking, even in market shifts like this.
What are the odds this new review panel of Musk’s will decide to reverse Trump’s Twitter ban just in time for the 2024 Presidential campaigning season?
Somewhere along the way we were hopeful every OEM on the planet wasn’t preparing their 2030 EV strategy…our hopes are quickly waning.
Cue the music for “Oh yeah, well our Christmas sweater party is going ALL OVER social media!”
Here at ASOTU, we like to curate music playlists for each other throughout the day to keep things moving. Suffice to say, none of these artists have made the lists to this date.
There was a time when all birds were free. There was also a time when tweets were 140 characters long. There was also a time when Tesla was just a car company. Ah, sweet memories.
In our day, we sat around campfires on cool fall evenings in the mountains singing Disney songs at the top of our lungs and everything felt better. This is our best proposal for the next Ford dealer meeting. 😂
Will someone please tally the charitable contributions from Kia/Hyundai dealers across the US since 2014? We have a sneaking suspicion it would be a BIG number...
Whether it is government or dealer responsibility to clearly communicate and execute the used vehicle EV tax credits, rest assured that consumers will look to dealers to educate and inform them of their options and opportunities when purchasing used EVs.
Telling it like it is - This history lesson brought to you by the touch screen at the hotel gym that still to this day can’t figure out how to work when you need it most.
We asked Germany how they felt about this news and they answered in German so we are sorry to say we still do not know how they felt about this news.
Every time we write about metaverse auto retail we double and triple check to be sure they mean vehicles people drive in the real world. This time they do. Tune in next week for another episode of “Ok, but can I touch it?” with Chris and ASOTU.
TL; DR - 80% of EV charging will be at home, but companies, cities, and the president are focusing hard on that other 20%
Flat-bill Hats-off for this act of kindness. (But keep your coats on)
After the automotive industry, baseball, Apple Pie, and Walmart are the big three when it comes to measuring the US economy’s health. (Source: Chris, just making things up)
TL; DR - Toyota is getting serious about EVs, starting with some teamwork in China to compete against Tesla. Tesla is getting competitive in China too by dropping prices. China is also getting competitive but by exporting and potentially nationalizing all its corporate interests. Exciting stuff.
Town motto idea - “Marshfield, Wisconsin: Where you can recharge your car AND yourself”
So to borrow a scientific term, only time will tell, but things currently look kinda sus, y’all.
All this focus on robot delivery, and nobody is asking the real question - when will the robots build my IKEA shelf?!
TL; DR - Hyundai and Kia may have celebrated that powerful Q3 a bit early, Taco Bell opens its first EV charger, and Cadillac squares up against Rolls-Royce for the future of Electric ultra-luxury.
If gas prices keep inching down, it may be time to move the pickups to the front of the showroom. 🛻🛻🛻
Cheaper shipping seems like an effective way to combat inflations. *shoots a weird and confused look at interest rate hikes*
Based on the news lately, it may also be true that Elon Musk is not actually hiring people, but making it look like he is hiring to throw people off the trail of his plans to buy a ski resort in Mongolia. The guy is playing 4D chess (or insane).
Stellantis is just wondering how sure Europe is that it can support forcing all these OEMs to switch to EV.
It turns out people actually don't enjoy being pressured into buying a car. Also, a free idea - hire more women.
The relationship between dealers and OEMs is changing in ways dealers cannot always control. However, the relationship between dealers and private sellers can improve in ways dealers can guide through planning, discipline, and care.
Enterprise tech is slowly, but surely, making it's way into Tier 3 automotive and Salesforce is set to be the most recent new entrant with a unified customer profile as the advantage.
Got pictures and takeaways from your time at Digital Dealer? Send them our way!
Explain it like I'm 5 - Moving energy creates heat. These cables put that heat in water and then put that hot water in colder water until it's not hot anymore. And they do it faster than a rocket. 🚀
A few years ago, Sony started charging PlayStation owners a monthly fee to play online games. Something about turning off advanced safety features when people miss payments feels… different.
Some interesting things are happening in the business tab of Google news. We decided to grab a few, pull a helpful automotive thought👩🎓 and make a joke🤡 for each. Enjoy!
Knowing this happened and is already fixed at the OEM level could ease a lot of… uh… tense calls from customers as the news spreads.
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It is almost winter, and we all know how disagreeing with Russia in the winter goes. Good idea getting out now.
Yesterday they put cars in games. Now they are putting games in cars. Makes ya think.
Dear Stellantis, please teach the car to tell me how frosty the windshield is so I can plan my time accordingly. Love, everybody.
Our favorite definition of compassion is treating somebody's need as if it is your own. Our other favorite definition is this whole story. Which is kinda the same thing.
Despite some of the early rumors of fighting, many OEMs are making moves to stay within the Inflation Reduction Act’s EV tax credit guidelines. How they settled on Ohio is anybody’s guess.
TL; DR - GM is branching into home energy, European auto production is threatened by high energy prices, Israel and Lebanon settled a beef that has opened both nations to more oil and gas extraction and exporting, and Biden says nobody is allowed to export US chips to China any more.
Asking The Experts - When I asked the ASOTU experts, all I heard was crickets. This either means that everyone is apathetic to the Mario movie or they were head down in important work. My bet is both. -Chris@asotu.com
Big fan - Sunshine or rain, the money spent with community-focused dealers still belongs to the community because that is #WhosDealersReallyAre - members of the communities where they operate.
How many strikes does it take to get kicked out of a whole state?
TL; DR: Honda wants part of that bonus back, Rivian wants all of its EVs back (but only for a moment), and Nissan may want some of itself back from Renault.
The voice of staying financially competitive in your market is never silent, but sometimes it is louder than others.
Seeing the reach a consistent content creator can achieve with no network tv contract, movie deal, or record label is evidence that somebody somewhere is out there waiting for your content. So why aren’t you making it?
And that’s just part 1… meet back on Clubhouse for part 2 this Friday.