#530 - ☀️ Grunge Style

TOGETHER WITH

“Used Cars are like Grunge Music.”

Weirder claims have been made, for sure.

What unique parallels do you see between your day-to-day business and the rest of the world? Hit reply and let us know.

Example: Writing a daily email is like making cats paint a house.

Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi

TODAY’S LOT WALK

• BUSINESS: VW’s Q3, Toyota’s charging plan, and China’s EV impact. ⚡️

• MTCM: All Things Used Cars gets grungy. 🎸

• CULTURE: A student-made solar-powered car drives across Morocco. 🐫

Reading time: 4 mins 52 secs

UAW UPDATES BY ASOTU

• GM matches Ford’s wage hike offer (25%) in a bid to end the strike.

BUSINESS

VW’s Q3 Crystal Ball

VW's Q3 results led to a slight realignment of the brand's plans. The company says factoring raw material hedges has removed their previously anticipated 7.5% return on sales and will instead match last year's $23.8B.

Revenue - Costs = walkin' around money. The company isn't in a bad spot, as Q3 suggests a 12% sales growth. It really is just the cost of material bringing the whole vibe down.

A circumstance that may get worse before it gets better since the world's largest exporter of graphite, China, announced intentions to tighten up on exports. Before you stock up on No. 2 pencils, remember graphite is an essential component in EV batteries.

Bringing Back Weird Doors

Who isn't a sucker for weird doors? The Guangzhou Automobile Corporation's Hypercar brand, Aion, recently debuted its third model, the HT SUV.

The SUV starts at around $30K, and features read gull-wind doors, which checks the "relatively affordable" and "fun to look at" boxes for most shoppers.

Available in 400V and 800V versions, the base model achieves 0-62 mph in 6.8 seconds and has a 373-mile range. The top-end variant boasts a 479-mile range with a 10-minute charge adding 280 miles. Pre-order details remain undisclosed.

Toyota Joins The “Charge”

Toyota and Lexus (really just Toyota with a fancy hat, right?) have adopted Teala's charging standard to use from 2025 on.

The domino that broke the camel's back? At this point, Ford, GM, BMW, and many other automakers have adopted the North American Charging Standard (NACS). With the largest automaker in the world by volume, Toyota, on board, it is hard to imagine any automaker or charging network provider holding out much longer.

Tesla’s Q3 Ripples

Chinese EV stocks took a hit after Tesla reported lower-than-expected Q3 results, missing earnings and revenue targets for the first time since Q2 2019. Hong Kong-listed shares of BYD, XPeng, Li Auto, Nio, and Geely fell significantly.

Elon Musk expressed concerns about high interest rates affecting car purchases. This comes amid an ongoing price war in the EV sector, with major players, including Tesla, slashing prices in China, the world's largest EV market. 

TOGETHER WITH FOUREYES

The Data Made Me Do It!

Ever make an oddball decision because the data told you to?

Like the old "devil made me do it" excuse, bad data can lead you astray -- leading to bad decisions and, worse, destroying your customer's experience. That's a heavy price to pay for letting "the data make you do it."

Foureyes' David Steinberg and Ourisman's Jeff Ramsey will join us for a 30-minute webinar on Wednesday the 25th at 2 pm EST to talk through the impact of bad data and what's being done to bring it all together for faster, more effective decision-making.

In short, it's about comparing apples to apples, not apples to...funky umbrellas.

/Positivity

If we tried to tell all the wonderful, charitable, and creative stories happening in dealerships across our industry, we would need a bigger email. But we have just enough space in this email for YOUR story. Let us help show the community and world what you have going on in your store!

MORE THAN CARS MOMENTS

Grunge Music and Used Cars

Required listening: A grunge mini-playlist by the ASOTU Team.

Last week on David Long's All Things Used Cars, guest George Magda, The Director of Client Strategy, Sales, and Enablement at Cox Automotive, shared an exciting thesis and invited the community to discuss it.

The Used Car business is a lot like Grunge Music.

We know we were a bit skeptical at first, too, but David, George, and the assembled voices had some interesting things to say, and we grabbed a few to share.

People can tell when you're faking it. In grunge music, people want it loud, raw, real, unfiltered. The artist's willingness to be deeply personal and vulnerable first invites listeners to follow suit.

In the same way, your used inventory should reflect your honest awareness of your market's needs. You won't connect with your fans by writing songs for some other artist.

The right songs need the right band and instruments. Setting an authentic tone through your inventory will call into question other aspects of the business that may need adjustments to properly support the relationship between your team and your fans. Nothing is worth doing because it worked last year; likewise, nothing is worth doing just because it is new. A consistent, honest evaluation is how you churn out the hits.

Keep up with what you've created. Many of the big names in grunge are not only hit-makers but the actual pioneers who brought the genre to life. Even they evolved with time.

What was a hit last year may not land this year. The only way to keep up with the taste of fans is to either:

1. Make the taste yourself and trust the audience will come.

2. Check-in with your fans every day between last year and today.

Our unrequested advice as music fans: do both.

Check out the full replay of David Long’s All Things Used Cars on Clubhouse. Be sure to join the room so you don’t miss future conversations.

Also, check out George’s original LinkedIn post that inspired the topic for last week’s discussion.

AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

Coming Soon

• Wednesday, October 25th @ 2:00 pm EST / 1:00 pm CST
  ASOTU EDGE 30-Minute Webinar in Partnership with Foureyes
  The Struggle is REAL, y’all. Find out how data is destroying the customer experience. 

CULTURE

Solar-Powered (Off) Road Trip

🌞 Solar-Powered Off-Road Magic! Students from Eindhoven University unveil Stella Terra, the world's first off-road solar SUV.

After a thrilling test drive across Morocco, covering diverse terrains from mountains to deserts, the vehicle showcased its sun-soaked prowess. No charging stations are needed; Stella Terra's journey is powered entirely by the sun! 🚗☀️🏜️🌄 

Quick Hits

• The sunglasses company Ray-Ban, has its own smart glasses. 😎

• Bob Odenkirk (Saul Goodmen) has a new kid’s book out, “Zilot & Other Important Rhymes. “ 📖

• Ignoring every warning in Sci-Fi history, the US Marines are showing off a robot dog they gave a rocket launcher. 🐩

History

• 1911: The Ford Motor Company began intercontinental production

• 1915: As part of the women's suffrage movement 25,000 women march up Fifth Avenue in New York City demanding the right to vote.

• 1963: “Doctor Who” premieres