GM Plans to Save Big, Hybrids Give EVs A Smackdown, No Beer at the World Cup

November 18, 2022
We’ve got that Friday feeling as we talk about GMs plans to leverage tech and fulfillment centers to save a pile per car. We also talk about Consumer Reports Brand Reliability results, as well as the last minute decision to keep soccer fans more sober.
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During GM’s Investor Day, President Mark Reuss announced that the company is planning on a $2000 savings per EV sold by using their new digital retailing platform developed by Tekion and shifting their delivery strategy to a regional fulfillment model.

  • Opened 3 new centralized fulfillment centers (2 in CA and 1 in the southeast) to cut fulfillment times to as little as four days
  • Largest savings will come from reducing incentives as unpopular inventory won’t be stuck on dealer lots
  • Dealers will get vehicles for test drives only, inventory stays at GM facilities
  • Reuss says Dealers will be leveraged as a competitive advantage
  • “We'll use cloud data and machine learning to continuously scan the order pipeline and available dealer and factory inventory for the best fulfillment option," Reuss said Thursday. "We know how this works because we know what vehicles move in certain parts of the country and at certain dealerships."

Hybrid cars top the 2022 Consumer Reports Auto Brand Reliability Report as EV’s rank as second to last above pickup trucks

  • Jake Fisher, CR’s Senior Director-Automotive Testing, made comments at a press release which included pointing out EV’s are new tech and he predicts a significant improvement as is common with any new vehicle launch
  • Toyota first released hybrid tech back in 1997
  • Cites Tesla’s Model 3 doing better than the newer Model Y
  • Pickups were at the bottom of the list with only 7 of 17 models being rated avg or above avg
  • CR’s five most reliable auto brands are Toyota (72 points), Lexus (also 72), BMW (65), Mazda (65) and Honda (62)

Qatar bans beer sales at the world cup in a last minute reversal of plans leaving the global community scratching their heads and thirsty

  • "Following discussions between host country authorities and FIFA, a decision has been made to focus the sale of alcoholic beverages on the FIFA Fan Festival, other fan destinations and licensed venues, removing the sales points of beer from Qatar's FIFA World Cup 2022 stadium perimeters."
  • SA, Budweiser’s parent company, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but did tweet, “Well, this is awkward…”
  • “That drives me crazy,” Hassan Al Thawadi, a senior Qatari organizing official, told The Wall Street Journal in an interview before Friday’s decision. “Anybody who wants to come to have a drink will be able to, you know, have a drink.”

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SPEAKERS

Kyle Mountsier, Paul Daly


Paul Daly  00:22

Yo, we got that Friday feeling. Yeah, we do. GM today is talking on how they're gonna save $2,000 of car hybrids give EVs a smackdown and guess what, Kyle sorry to tell you no beer at the World Cup. Go nuts the people really well who really cares?


Kyle Mountsier  00:40

Unless you like have non alcoholic beer at a soccer match


Paul Daly  00:44

or non alcoholic beers. I will tell you about that.


Kyle Mountsier  00:51

I know Buffalo's going through it and everything. I know they're getting slammed. I got five feet of snow coming. Do you really know? It's 27 degrees in Nashville. Yo, it's just wrong.


Paul Daly  01:04

Is it I think it's warmer in Syracuse right now. Right. I think it's warmer in Syracuse. But we do have a little bit of a crusty coating of snow and ice. Not on the roads though. But yeah, Buffalo our friends at Buffalo in Buffalo are getting pummeled right now they say they have as much as three to four feet. So our groups their buddy met last year. You know, at West her they got a couple


Kyle Mountsier  01:27

you know that. Carson take out, you know, they move the game. Yeah, the bills game that they were like, everyone was like, it's gonna be the craziest bills game ever. They just moved it.


Paul Daly  01:38

And they're like, yeah, it's gonna be so crazy. It's gonna be in Detroit. Which So was it? Was it Cleveland? The Browns. The Browns in the bills will now be Stadium in Detroit. How bummed are you if you live close to the stadium and you can't get to Detroit for the game. And that was like a game. Awesome. Thanksgiving Day weekend is gonna be awesome. But, you know, best of luck to our friends out in Buffalo. We have some Oh, we met some people from the basil group too. When we were at MRC. So, listen, I feel you. I've I've dug out feet and feet off cars. So it's no, it's so weird. It's so weird in upstate New York because we didn't really have a fall this year. It was just really nice. It was like Nashville. Nice Summer, winter. And then I go to Palm Beach with you.


Kyle Mountsier  02:23

What happened and what the heck. You know, it's fall next week. We went winter this week. We come back to fall next week here in Nashville. All right, but enough of that.


Paul Daly  02:32

Nashville, speaking in Nashville. We are going to be having a little bit of a shindig in Nashville on the 28th of December. Stay tuned, we're gonna be releasing website details information, but on the 20th December 20 To be exact, it's a Tuesday. Got some folks coming in, we're gonna do a little thing. So just keep your eyes out for that. Alright, let's talk about some news. Get into it. Here we go. During GMs investor day, that sounds like a lot of fun. President Mark Reuss announced that the company is planning on a $2,000 savings per evey unit sold by using their new digital retailing platform developed by Tachyon and shifting their delivery strategy to a regional fulfillment model to which a lot of people say whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what are we what are we talking about here? Yet, right? Because they will afford to do it. Now GM just says, Hey, we're doing this and everyone's like skirt. But basically, they opened three new centralized fulfillment centers to in California one in the southeast somewhere else to cut fulfillment time to as little as four days they think they're going to save a lot of money by reducing incentives basically is where the savings is going to come from, we're not going to stack the dealer's with a bunch of inventory that people may not want, and then have to incentivize those to move them. We're not going to do that dealers are going to get vehicles for test drive EVs for test drives only. And then they say they can fulfill an order. In as little as four days. I still have questions, but we're going to read this quote first. I love the fact that they did say they said we're going to leverage our dealer network as a competitive advantage against direct retailers, which yes, you're getting it. Here's a quote, we'll use cloud data and machine learning to continuously scan the order pipeline and available dealer and factory inventory for the best fulfillment options. We know that this works because we know what vehicles move in certain parts of the country. And at certain dealerships. There's one scene from a cartoon that popped into my mind. The second I read that call, just giving you a little window into my world. Have you ever seen Monsters vs Aliens? No, I haven't. Okay, there's this general and Kiefer Sutherland does the voice of the general and he goes like this. He goes, You know how we're gonna beat these aliens. We built a scientific machine. I feel like this is the equivalent of building a scientific machine.


Kyle Mountsier  04:40

Look, look. The irony. The irony here is sublime, sublime. So what you're telling me is you can use cloud data and machine learning to continually scan the order pipeline to get the right cars in the right places out of fulfillment center,


Paul Daly  04:59

but He can't do it on a dealer.


Kyle Mountsier  05:02

I know a lot. There be one thing I know you're seeing the time to.


Paul Daly  05:12

But are you really saying that? Do you really? I know, we're starting Friday off with a little bit of snark and sarcasm, General Motors, we love you. But we got to call it like we see it. And there's more holes in Swiss cheese, because everybody also knows how you're going to fulfill an order in four days, if you don't have the right car. And if you can have the right car, why would you not hold


Kyle Mountsier  05:36

when you put it closer to the customer? Put it closer to them, which is so dealer?


Paul Daly  05:42

I know. I know, because you still gotta wait for as well it says as fast as four days. And we all know what that means, right? Everyone's like, well, in the ideal, perfect situation, perfect


Kyle Mountsier  05:50

situation.


Paul Daly  05:51

How's the vehicle thing?


Kyle Mountsier  05:52

It's talking to some people here at MRC. And we were just talking through the Tesla Model. And there was this really like undergirding conversation that like, you know, I don't know if GM and Ford and these other manufacturers recognize that Tesla has dealerships where they keep inventory that can deliver when the times are right. Like I remember down in Franklin, we got a Tesla dealership here in Nashville, they literally took over half of the parking lot at the Galleria Mall, which is inventory on in Franklin with inventory. So like it's


Paul Daly  06:25

granted, and for them fulfillment centers make more sense. Tesla, if you call it a fulfillment center, because you don't have a dealer on every freaking corner. Right, right, you got one in the city, you can move inventory, right? I know, like, look, there's I understand the centralization of it. And if you can pinpoint if you can pinpoint the right model that the consumer wants, I can see how you could be a lot more efficient with your inventory. Right? The customer does have to wait a little bit. But if the customer can get exactly what they want, in four days, right, meaning they're not compromising on color, or trim, or the type of wheels that they want on the vehicle. If that is truly the case, I do see some benefit in that. I just think there's a lot of skepticism and whether or not that's really the case. Because if we could figure that out with the mid machine learning in the algorithms, why wouldn't that be happening already?


Kyle Mountsier  07:12

Yeah, I also think they're not really recognizing the fact that like over 70% of consumers actually don't walk out with the vehicle that they originally intended purchasing because of some difference in the way that they test drove or interacted with the vehicle or an opportunity to buy a car that was available now as opposed to four days from now. It's just a thing that consumer behavior demands. And when you're


Paul Daly  07:34

on the ground in the store, you understand, because you see it more granted. This is a press conference that if you think about it, this is not a Prescott we talked about this and the true data for stockholders, and it's not our consumers origin story, right? When you say the stockholders and shareholders and you don't really understand what goes on the backside of it. It makes complete sense. And nothing makes us feel more comfortable than some machine learning. Speaking of machines, has segway was really the best I could do. I tried to get it but hybrid cars topped the 2022. Consumer Reports auto brand reliability report as EVs rank second to last, we get hybrids at the tippy top, EVS at the bottom. This is the ranking of the types of vehicles that are the most reliability the categories Jake Fisher's Consumer Reports, Senior Director of automotive testing, made comments and press release, our press conference, which included pointing out EVs are new tech, right? He's like, Hey, new tech are always needs to be figured out. And he's like, they're going to substantially improve. They're just new. And reminding people that Toyota first release hybrid technology 1997 Which, by the way, was good year to graduated from high school. I remember I was like, I remember 1997 very vividly. He cites even like the Tesla's model three ranks better than the Tesla Model y because of the new technology pickups. Yep. Were at the bottom of the list with only seven of 17 models rating average or above average. That surprised me. He was like, hey, just because it's tough, doesn't mean it's reliable. Five most reliable brands be prepared to be surprised Kyle, I don't know why you're gonna know. Points tied for that is Lexus No. And then followed by a BMW and masa tied for second place and Honda a close third.


Kyle Mountsier  09:24

It's like we've been doing this for a couple years. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. Hybrids top of the list, Toyota and Lexus been rolling hybrids, the strongest there is hybrid primarily, they are not leaning in on electric vehicles that cert researching, like hydrogen. If if I'm you know, Consumer Reports, Top Picks ih to IHS type safety pics of Mazda, if I'm all these other brands that are trying to make plays based on shareholders, I'm going to look at these rands, Toyota Lexus BMW Mazda and Honda I'm gonna go Why did they do it? Because my abilities highest their retention is the highest. Their ability to hit Consumer Reports stuff is the highest their share prices are the most steady and stable. It's pretty good. Sounds like a winning business model to me but


Paul Daly  10:16

do they have fulfillment centers? Kyle? Yeah, they used called Teen learning they're called dealerships


Kyle Mountsier  10:21

like it's a whole new thing. It's a whole new world how


Paul Daly  10:29

do we get this is the cold weather what's got us like this today?


10:32

I don't know man. Just get a little sideways.


Paul Daly  10:35

It's got the blood flow and probably 27 definitely gets the blood. Week Yep. Hey, Nina things to get the blood flow and


Kyle Mountsier  10:43

segue. I'm so excited. World Cup is coming. Life's good. We got four weeks of heaven and miles of start starts on Sunday, right? Monday, Sunday. Yeah, Sunday.


Paul Daly  10:56

All right, Kyle, you got to talk about this story because Okay, here's the thing this applies to you and doesn't all at the same time. I don't know


Kyle Mountsier  11:01

if you've ever been to a sporting event, Paul, ever in your life once or twice. Not a soccer match though. But the sporting event people you know, let's just say the majority of the world. They enjoy beer,


Paul Daly  11:13

enjoy a drink with their sports. But you know,


Kyle Mountsier  11:17

or three or five. The the wonderful people in Qatar and FIFA have decided this year, two days before the festivities begin that the stadiums will not be serving alcoholic beverages. Now they will have beer, they're gonna have Budweiser, but 001 Hold on, hold


Paul Daly  11:34

on. Is that there? Is that beer?


Kyle Mountsier  11:37

I mean, it tastes like beer. It's like Heineken. 00. Right. Okay. non alcoholic beer. I don't know. Let me


Paul Daly  11:44

ask you. That Brown. That brown stuff that you get at the gas station? Is that coffee? If you got decaf coffee from the gas station, does that really coffee? Why bother? Keep going Keep going?


Kyle Mountsier  11:59

Well, this is what's interesting is they they've noted that the decision has been made to focus the sale of alcoholic beverages on the FIFA fan festival, other fan destinations and licensed venues so they will be outside of the stadium bound so they'll still be places where you can grab a beer, but it won't be at the match. What they're trying to do is basically limit the interaction with alcoholic beverages and the the excitement of soccer fans and the way that they typically start to act with other soccer fans and if you know soccer, you know it gets a little intense. So I see the point there's been some weird things going on in the Qatar region. Just with like hotels and stays and the fan interaction so I you know, I know it's still gonna be a crazy event. They're still gonna be crazy soccer fans, they'll probably be drunk when they walk into it anyway, so it won't even matter.


Paul Daly  12:48

Well, now they will be but oh, well, they will be this is like


Kyle Mountsier  12:51

it's well, okay, I won't go there. We'll just just remember prohibition every little


Paul Daly  12:59

people drink more or less or less, every Qatar for a little cultural context. Qatar Muslim country, not a lot of alcohol going around and they're even definitely is this level of experience in preparation, right? They're just not even used to dealing with let's call it mass inebriation. Now right, you're in Philly Eagles Dallas game they know what to do they got a jail right in the stadium right talk about customer service right drop them off you pick them up on your way out right get your citation go see the judge right they got it down Qatar not quite the case. So you know they this was a reversal there was going to be there was going to be alcohol in the stadium. I don't know man if your Budweiser how many like I don't even know how they measure that how many gallons and gallons are there over in Qatar through measuring and liters, pints, how many how much alcohol was ready to go because it's just like two days from now. Oh, that is now ready to go like sitting somewhere. Just this is the this is my favorite part of this whole story. Budweiser. You know and Heiser Bush Budweiser parent company didn't immediately respond for a request to comment to his Wall Street Journal article. But they did tweet this. Well. This is awkward. That's got beautiful. I think they got all the yardage out of that right there. All they did right, exactly. Right. So hey, there you go. I can always get your last word on Twitter. Hassan Swati, the senior Qatari organize official told The Wall Street Journal in an interview he said, this drives me crazy. Anyone who wants to come have a drink will be able to you know, have a drink. So


Kyle Mountsier  14:30

I'm gonna be there it's a Brady, you know, it's a thing. It's not the end of the World Soccer will happen and it'll be a crazy few weeks, you're gonna want to pay attention because hey, look, if if I'm if I'm you and I'm creating content, I'm probably creating content around the world cup over the next few weeks because you're gonna stream in the stream of the river and people are going to be paying attention. That's a great word


Paul Daly  14:50

on Friday. So whether it's cold or whether it's warm, wherever you're at, you have an opportunity to go out there, have some fun and serve some people because all this other stuff will figure itself out if you just pick certain people

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