#521 - 🛠️ Some Assembly Required

TOGETHER WITH

They say, “Practice makes perfect.” But in that pursuit of perfection, let's not forget the beauty of imperfect progress. Let each stumble and every setback be a stepping stone toward achieving your goals.

It's not about becoming flawless — it's about being relentlessly determined to rise after every fall, wiser and stronger.

Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi

TODAY’S LOT WALK

• DATA & INSIGHT: The latest industry trends from The Automotive Advisor Team. 📊

• BUSINESS: Mack Truck employees join the UAW strike, VW picks Poland for a new battery plant, and Helixx announces a new delivery EV (some assembly required). 🧱

• CULTURE: Adobe announces an advanced photo-editing tool called "Project Stardust” that has designers and creatives pumped. 🌟

Reading time: 4 min and 38 secs

DATA & INSIGHT

Diving Deep Into Trends

🖼️ Economic Landscape —

• September witnessed impressive job growth, with 336K jobs created, surpassing the expected 170K.

• The unemployment rate held steady at 3.8%.

• Consumer spending spiked in September, up 17% YOY. Buyers are still keeping their sights set on lower-priced vehicles, with a significant 18.5% surge in new-light-vehicle sales compared to last year.

👎 Consumer Confidence Dips —

• Despite the increase in spending, the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index fell by 5.2% in September. Consumer confidence was down 4.5% YOY following two back-to-back months of decline.

• Consumer plans to purchase a vehicle in the next six months also declined (but still remains up from 2022).

📈 New: Sale & Supply —

• New vehicle sales in the third quarter are projected to reach 3.9M units, an increase of 15.5% YOY.

• Final September sales numbers are expected to be up 13.9% YOY.

• Supply is healthy overall but that is not the case for every OEM. Stay on top of your specific day supply to future-proof your retail strategy in Q4 and Q1 of 2024.

📉 Used: Sales & Supply —

• Certified Pre-owned sales stood out, marking a 14% increase compared to 2022.

• The sales rate is expected to stay strong for used cars in the remainder of 2023.

• The used day supply, however, is down 10% YOY with supply levels trending below the last four years.

🪧 Strike Impacts —

• The ongoing UAW strike is still causing ripples in the economy (more on that below👇).

• GM’s strategic move to extend a $6B line of credit indicates a prolonged strike.

• If it continues, dealerships must brace for potential price hikes — new vehicle prices may see a rise of nearly 2%.

TOGETHER WITH VINCUE

✌️ Coming Soon: More Than Cars, Episode 2

Join us for the premiere of More Than Cars Episode 2 on Wednesday, October 18th at 1:00 PM EST! 🎥

At Beaver Toyota of Cumming, words like family and support aren’t just idealistic posters on a wall. They’re lived out every day. They’re seen in one-on-one relationships, in the mentorship groups, and in the way the entire store rallies around each other during a crisis. 💞

Our very own Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier experience this family atmosphere as they get up close and personal learning how everything Beaver Toyota does is about people. 🫶

Together in collaboration with our friends at VINCUE, we are excited to share how Beaver Toyota is setting an example of how a modern dealership culture loves people more than cars.

If you haven’t already, check out the pilot episode at MoreThanCars.tv. 👀

BUSINESS

Mack Truck Union Members Join the Strike

Unionized employees at Mack Trucks, owned by Volvo, have initiated a strike alongside the UAW after a proposed five-year contract was overwhelmingly rejected. About 73% of the workers across Pennsylvania, Florida, and Maryland opposed the deal, demanding larger raises to help cope with inflation.

Not great for the already rising toll the strike is taking on the economy. Anderson Economic Group has estimated a total economic loss of $5.5B through the third full week of the strike — including $579M in lost wages, $2.68B in automaker losses, $1.6B for suppliers, and $1.26B in dealer and customer losses.

Deutsche Bank calculated vehicle production losses for the Detroit Three since the UAW strike began:

🔽 Stellantis: 18,893 vehicles

🔽 Ford: 21,296 vehicles

🔽 GM: 34,176 vehicles

Despite the strike's impact on production, the UAW is withholding further strikes against the Big Three, citing General Motors' unexpected willingness to allow workers at joint-venture battery plants to be covered by union contracts. GM's concession could be critical if rivals Ford and Stellantis follow suit.

VW Sets Its Sights on Poland

Volkswagen's PowerCo and Belgian firm Umicore have selected Poland as the site for their cutting-edge car battery parts plant in a $2.9B venture.

Poland's strategic advantages, including skilled labor and renewable energy sources, heavily influenced the location decision.

The plant will generate approximately 900 jobs and produce 160 gigawatt hours per year — enough for 2.2M electric vehicles.

Helixx’s XL Bricks

In a time of cutting-edge innovation, Helixx is rolling out a pretty rad new concept — the Helixx Cargo: a pint-sized electric delivery van that assembles like a giant, eco-friendly LEGO set that you can’t accidentally step on.

This adorable van is crafted from just five recyclable polymer panels that click together, simplifying the manufacturing process by up to 50%.

The petite but powerful EV will offer 1,102 lbs of hauling power and 55 inches of load space. Helixx says their removable Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries are designed to provide users with 24 hours of uninterrupted usage.

Hope you weren’t looking to buy one. Once built, Helixx plans to only offer them to users on a subscription basis at $0.25 per hour.

CULTURE

Stoked for Stardust

Adobe's “Project Stardust” has the creative community buzzing as the software giant teased its highly advanced new photo editing tool in a recent YouTube video. ✨

This "object-aware editing engine" aims to revolutionize photo manipulation, automatically identifying and capturing specific objects within an image.

While Photoshop already offers similar features, Stardust promises a more streamlined and powerful experience with effortless object removal and seamless rearrangement.

Creatives are fired up to learn more during the Adobe MAX 2023 conference kicking off today. 🔥🔥🔥

Quick Hits

• Leading cruise lines are investing in green technology ahead of new climate rules. 🚢

• Stock up while you can! California will officially ban candies and foods containing four food additives commonly found in products like Skittles, PEZ, and Hot Tamales by 2027. 🌈

• Tom Brady's final game-worn Buccaneers jersey is headed to auction and expected to fetch upwards of $2.5M. 🏈

History

• 1845: The US Naval Academy was established in Annapolis, Maryland. ⚓️

• 1962: President John F. Kennedy signed an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requiring pharmaceutical companies to prove that their products are safe and effective prior to marketing. ✍️

• 1966: The Beach Boys’ single “Good Vibrations” was released by Capitol Records. 😎