Edit FTC Declines Extension Request on New Regs, YouTubers Take Straight, EV Adoption Data

SPEAKERS

Kyle Mountsier, Paul Daly

Paul Daly  00:23

think we have a lot of work to do today, Kyle and hit us yesterday afternoon when the FTC regulations in the comments and David Lester sent us some YouTube videos we have a little bit to talk about with you this morning. The people Thursday, they stopped granted.

Kyle Mountsier  00:42

Sometimes on a Thursday, you get that little like breather before the weekend, where you got to be really intentional. Today's that day where we just have to be extremely intentional. Like, I know that I know that things happen yesterday, California went all crazy with you know, battery things and 2035. And, you know, there was stuff happening across across news. But we just we have to have a hard start today with the end of the year.

Paul Daly  01:11

But first, before we have a heart to heart, we're gonna get to the heart to heart. And by the way, if we're going to Allah ice vehicles by 2035, I want to make statements about 2035 that I'll never be around to be accountable for it. That sounds like an awesome job. Tim boy. milestones. Yes. Pull up, pull up. We have a couple of milestones we hit yesterday. Number one, the auto collabs podcast reach 1000 downloads, right? We only launched Oh, two weeks ago, and we're dropping episodes. That's a perfect trigger. We're dropping. It's alright. It's all right. Well, we'll take it we'll take it's Thursday. We're just getting going. Yeah, so we're dropping two episodes a day now because we got it like that. Yesterday's episodes were nuts. i Who's gonna be on today? Isn't you Chad trains. And my friend, Michael Johnson. You probably haven't heard that name before. Yeah, you probably haven't heard that name before new companies.

Kyle Mountsier  02:10

I heard that name that didn't want to sit there guy that ran Michael Johnson and he was fast to Ascot real fast.

Paul Daly  02:18

I mean, I know it's a pretty unique feel like the internet.

02:24

Michael, bother, no auto don't even

Paul Daly  02:26

bother. But Australian company called sales logs coming into the US with lots of fire and lots of experience in what it's like to have to order vehicles because it's been that way for a long time. So they got a little bit, they actually happen to be the collaborator that helped us make sure that you have these really awesome scarves that are somewhere around here. Soccer scars for a soda con, you can have one if you come to a soda con. So check out the auto collabs podcast, get your tickets first. So to count if you haven't yet, we have another 1000 to talk about. Right? So we have 1000 people auto collabs there.

Kyle Mountsier  03:00

We also have over 1000 people now going to be at the Monday night party where 12 Southbend is going to be we're gonna have a DJ and silent disco and karaoke and all of the things that make make parties fun. And we've invited just literally every dealership employee in the Philly area. So it's just gonna be like this convergence of energy on the evening. And and if you know someone in Philly that works in a dealership, make sure they know about this, and they tell our friends, let's talk

Paul Daly  03:32

about Philly. Let's define Philly. Like, if you're within driving range of Philly, which is a lot of places in Philly, Jersey, Delaware, Southern Maryland, right? Get to South Philly Monday night for the soda con Monday night party, if you don't live in Philly, and you work for a dealership and you still want to come and you can make it there. We're gonna let you in. And you're gonna have a great time partying with the rest of the industry. So already, it's gonna be over 1000 people there and like we just started making phone calls like a week ago.

03:59

I know. It's gonna be crazy. Oh, we have

Paul Daly  04:03

a little pitch tech showdown. Tell us how that week

Kyle Mountsier  04:05

it was so good. Yeah, so lucky. Yeah. Because, one, we went rapid fire. And instead of the typical three or four presenters, we went through six in one hour. So everybody in the room got a whole ton of value out of it. We went six in one hour. And then we had two winners, we took the combined average of pitch and product and at automotive and four eyes had the top one and two slot so they will be presenting live out of soda con as well, which will be a full hour of hype with four technology partners and then a bunch of interaction about like how that product works or doesn't work and what's good for the industry. And so I'm really excited about the energy that we're going to be able to bring their

Paul Daly  04:52

dots amazing, you know, like everyone always says like pitches are too long. I don't get the information I need. We're trying to solve that with our regular their pitch tank show, but we're trying to solve that at the socon making a pitch interactive, and also surrounding the pitch with other experts in the industry that can ask questions, you know, maybe shoot some holes in some of the thinking right to give them a chance to justify why they're doing it and hopefully through that everybody learns. So that's the goal, what the industry partners to be able to communicate more clearly, we want our dealer friends to be able to understand what's the best fit for them fast, not make bad decisions, but make right decisions the first time because we all need to grow faster, because I don't know if you've noticed, but the walls are closing in a little bit. Speaking of the last closing in a good way. All right, just buckle up for a minute. I'm going to need everybody to just turn on the empathy. Right, and turn on the attention. Yesterday, it was announced that the FTC declined all requests in a unanimous five to zero vote for extending the time for public comments on the proposed regulations for auto dealers, leaving the end date for public comments at September 12 are going to be a substitute what happens to be the day won't be at a soda con man. So

Kyle Mountsier  06:07

live? What? One when you're at a soda con, we're gonna throw the QR code up and everybody there? Yeah, we are at morning, I can tell you that we're going to come in. And but no. So essentially, what happened is some of the organizing bodies around franchise dealer network and even independent dealer networks. So the NADA name ad and Nia da requested extensions. Due to this. The nature if you haven't read it, there's a very like sweeping, broad, broad stroke on a lot of different elements of oddity. So it's not just, you know, markups or pricing, it dives into communing communications and technology. And the fact that there were no prior discussions when all of these were announced. And also the amount of data that's going to have to be reviewed, understood the type of personnel that's going to have to be put in place it they, they, they push back and just ask, Hey, look, we just need a little bit more time to be able to present the data and the findings that we have from a like actual, like putting this in into into place if it's actually going to be something that comes to pass. And so that was like chi bashed, can't do it.

Paul Daly  07:23

You know, we're gonna get into some some sensitive topics. But you know, so far the NADH response, has been writing a letter to FTC try to explain the situation. I'm going to read this. It's just about a short paragraph from Mike CEO Mike Stan, I said the FTC is refusal to grant a routine extension of public comment period, particularly for proposed rule of such sweeping magnitude that involves no advance notice, further displays and unnecessary misguided rush are an unnecessary misguided rush to judgment. In this matter. The pros proposed rule will cause great harm to consumers by extending transaction times making the customer experience more complex and inefficient, and increasing prices. And the na da again urges the FTC to go back to the drawing board before forcing a series of unstudied and untested mandates lacking evidence that will have such significant negative impacts on customers. So that's the NAB is position.

Kyle Mountsier  08:15

Right? Right. And, and it's not none of that position is from the dealer perspective, it's from a consumer perspective. And it's absolutely true, like just having worked in a dealership and knowing some of the regulations that are going to be put in place here. The amount of task work or the amount of due diligence that's going to have to happen both outside and inside a transaction is is pretty staggering from a time perspective, and not something that any dealer is set up to do. And that's going to put a amount of first it's going to further negatively impact the customer experience, which is what they're trying to solve with regulation. It's crazy.

Paul Daly  08:57

So we have a few things. Yesterday, our friend Damon Lester is Soto, investor, president of nomad, owner of Nissan a buoy, right. He's a dealer. He's a president of nomad. He's in Soto investor, he's in the game, he sent us some YouTube links, and we started talking about this. We link them up in the show notes. And I was I was actually in in the car driving, driving home when the links came through. And I hit play, so I got to watch or listen to at least the entire clip, and my 16 year old son Miles, who does some of our editing here at asoto. He was straight up offended. And it was really interesting to watch a 16 year old get offended, especially so the first video linked up. It's a very kind of sarcastic but not entirely untrue. Look at what dealers doing and kind of consumer advocacy, but there was the harsh language and they they you know, literally, they put a picture of Mike Stanton up who we just quoted, and if you know Mike Stanton we had an opportunity to spend some time with him at Virginia Auto Dealers Association. Unbelievable. Servant Leader or write someone who cares about people. And they're like, here's a slime ball from nada, Mike Stanton and Miles almost lost it.

Kyle Mountsier  10:08

Right? Because he likes, right, because he's incredible person. And he met a lot of dealers and he and he's met a ton of dealers. Yeah, right. Yeah. And yeah. And your son's met a ton of dealers? He's like, No, these are amazing people,

Paul Daly  10:19

some of the best people I know. And so here's a couple things. Number one, we need everyone who is in the asoto, community dealers, industry partners, to get their voice into the mix right now, as of this morning, when I checked 2.2 4000 comments, that's not that many, right? Like, there are more people than that in this ecosystem. And if we start leaving comments, we're going to start to equalize the playing field. Secondly, I think I'm kinda you and I were just talking about this, we think at a so do Kyle. And I think individually, we need to step into this with a lot of empathy and understanding, because it's easy to get your feathers ruffled, and get defensive of all the good people, you know, but the comments people are making are very justified in so many areas, because there are a lot of dealers, honestly, who take advantage of customers or have in the past. And so there's just like this slew of bad experiences, that from a consumer advocacy standpoint, you're like I? Yeah, like you shouldn't be screwing customers over like that.

Kyle Mountsier  11:21

Absolutely. And we know this is a reality. You know, one of the things that we're that we're wanting to do with a soda in this community is saying, hey, look, we not just have to change the perception of automotive exteriorly and change the quote unquote, brand of automotive, we actually have to shift the culture because there is a leading culture, there's a, there's a more present culture now that says, hey, look, that way of doing business is not the right way that we treat employees well, that we care for our communities that we care for customers that we have good business practices, when it comes to transaction, but there are still enough enough dealers that are presenting in a way that doesn't that supports the narrative that these YouTube videos and seriously there, many times people do not check the show notes, I get it, it's a podcast, you're listening to it, you're watching the live stream, please go check the show notes, watch these videos, because it will give you the consumer perspective that you need to take the measured and empathetic approach to your comments, both on the FTC guidelines and even on YouTube videos or social posts across the internet. But remember, measured and empathetic is the only way that people will begin to bring that don't be a social social justice warrior with your comments in any of these places.

Paul Daly  12:33

So that's no way the way to respond to any of this isn't with equal sarcasm and equal venom. It is not. We have to as an industry absorb that. Take the knocks, and say, we understand why you feel that way. And hear all the good things we're doing to make sure that never happens to you again. Right. And that's the story. And that's a narrative. If you spend 10 minutes watching some of these videos, I promise, it will it will move you to action. Yeah, it moves us to action. We're not done. This is just like, we're like we have to talk about this this morning. Because all of us need to solve this problem. Because the truth is, we can't make our own YouTube video and have it have an equal impact. We just can't, we can write because just like anything, every bad review, you need three to five good reviews to wash it out. Right. And also you if you know if someone's used to getting slapped by you right when you walk up to them it's gonna take a really really long time before they stop cringing walk up look. And you

Kyle Mountsier  13:30

know, people thought if people in the industry a year and a half ago thought the room commercial was bad for the industry. Oh my goodness, they had this. It's not even on a close parallel, like the FTC. And all of the comments and everything happening out there on YouTube and social media is seriously like hold my beer to room right to the room,

Paul Daly  13:51

right? Because the room commercial was like it was like Illinois's Hollywood eyes, right? Right. It was over the top. But this is real you know how it is when you hear reviews from real people and real people sharing was shared experiences that maybe you felt or you've actually experienced, it's 1000 times more effective than a Superbowl produced through commercial which everyone says Well, it's kind of made for entertainment purposes only. And so then look and no one talks about the tough things for the dealers. Listen, we can't look for any sympathy because no one's ready to give it to us ever. No, ever. But they tell stories of they're focusing on price they're focusing on some of the language in the FTC regulations was honestly is unfair, right, like FTC saying dealers can't sell products that have no value. Right? And I'm supposed to Yeah, and people people are mentioning things like like Vin etching and what somebody else nitrogen and tires and

Kyle Mountsier  14:44

like we bring in like surface songtrust and GAAP and they're looping that stuff in with this that's the crazy part. Yeah. Now granted

Paul Daly  14:51

double gap if you know the car has GAP insurance provided by somebody else and you sell it anyway knowing that right that's that's not great, right? It's not not good. You shouldn't do it. But even things like nitrogen in the tires. Like to me, I live in upstate New York, it's cold. I actually think nitrous in nitrogen in the tires has some value, right? Because it doesn't leak when it gets cold up here tires lose air, it doesn't when you have nitrogen, right? I don't know if it's really going to prove fuel mileage is saving that 111 1,000th of a pound and the tire air pressure thing, but either way, the FTC so all of that to say, we can't get upset about this, like want to push the venom back, we have to take the knocks, we have to listen, we have to understand that there's a lot of bad experiences out there. And we have to show people this is the heart of the actual auto industry. This is the heart of auto dealers. This is the good that dealers do. This is a long commitment. But for now, watch these videos. Go make a comment on the website and the link below. And we're gonna we're gonna continue this fight. Hit us up with comments if you can think of other ways we can organize around this and really push back in a way that isn't violent pushback in a way that's like an army of service. Right? How can we empathetically serve people in the midst of taking these knocks? I think that's the ticket

Kyle Mountsier  16:01

to a woman need that shirt. I'm gonna need that army of service shirt real quick, don't you? Don't you forget about your stickers episode of your order, check our

Paul Daly  16:11

service. By now just roll into it roll

Kyle Mountsier  16:16

into it. You got some great data that yeah, they're on EVs on EVs. How about that? So Electric is a company that talks a lot about EVs and they've just come out with some data on year over a year. battery electric vehicle transaction. So we shot thought we'd share some of the the top three the bottom three in the top growers. Just looking at Hey, what is the Evie market doing right now this year as compared to year over year. So California, Florida, and Texas, our Period End of story, the top Eevee markets go figure, right? They also have the most people, they also have the most people for the bottom three now. This is kind of crazy. You go from California of 563,000 registrations to the bottom three of North Dakota, Wyoming and South Dakota, who average about 400 Evie registrations each per state 400 in the whole state, the whole stinking state, you got one person per city got an Eevee

Paul Daly  17:18

they probably actually have like 200 in one city and like 100 and like two other cities and then zero everywhere else everywhere else. Yes, because there's six chargers for the top growth. Oklahoma at 111%. growth year over year. So I'm talking oh, let's talk about the Oklahoma weed. Let me look at the data number again, because I read the top growth Oklahoma and the Oklahoma they added they went from point 34% of percent of total EVs to point 49%. So I mean, they only went up about 1000 Now a few 1000 EVs, but you know, either way, they're catching up. There's a lot a lot a long driving to do in Oklahoma. Yes,

Kyle Mountsier  18:04

there is. Yeah, yeah. You see the like you see North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Montana, all of these places where like Evie infrastructure is a inhibitor to growth of the Evie market. And so it's, you know, obviously, like there's some expectations there. There's some there's some cool findings. So if you want to click Like look at a little bit more of what's happening in bad battery electric vehicle registrations and you we got that linked up to, but that's all we have time for today. Paul, get them out.

Paul Daly  18:36

That's it. Look, I know we dropped the heavy one on you this morning. But it couldn't be more aligned with what we're trying to do as a community. So meaning the community, pick up, shoulder up, and let's help out together

‍