#531 - ☀️ Practice Makes Perfect

TOGETHER WITH

On our best days, we control one thing in the world.

It isn’t the traffic. 🚦
It isn’t the weather. 🌪
It isn’t your teammate’s mood. 🤬

It’s how you choose to act, react, and be proactive around those things. 💪

Turns out, most days, that’s plenty of responsibility to keep up with.

Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi

TODAY’S LOT WALK

• Business: Used EVs, Muddy Rivians, and Real Battery Ranges. 🔋

• Data & Insight: Market Ups & Downs. 🎢

• Culture: Cybertruck vs Analog Ammo. 🔫

Reading time: 5 mins 9 secs

UAW UPDATE BY ASOTU

• UAW turned down a 23% wage increase from Ford and GM. Analysts say a deal is close.

• 6,800 workers joined the strike at a Ram plant in Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in suburban Detroit.

BUSINESS

ReUSED EVs

In the first half of 2023, "Used" was among the most popular EVs sold in the US.

• With 140K sales, used EVs outpaced even the popular Tesla Model 3.

• Used EV prices have dropped 32% year-over-year and are not averaging just under $28K.

• Rising inventory levels, tax credits, and a shifting balance between charging access and fuel prices all contribute to the swell.

Winning Dirty: Rivian

Rivian's R1T is the first EV to win the Rebelle Rally, the longest off-road rally in the US.

Not just the EV winner. You may be tempted to guess the Rivian won some sort of EV division of the contest, but no, it won the context, beating traditional ICE models.

Not just one Rivian. Two Rivian teams competed and took the top two spots. Rivian employees drove the truck that took first place.

The company has been in the news a good deal since it launched in 2021 and doesn't seem interested in slowing its roll now.

TOGETHER WITH FOUREYES

Data Blind?

Murky data tarnishes the customer experience. 😤

Tomorrow, October 25th at 2:00PM EST, hear Ourisman Auto Group’s Jeff Ramsey detail how Foureyes simplifies data decisions — even on-the-go for his 17 stores!

You’ll discover how to:

⭐️ Sift the river of automotive data to find gold.
⭐️ Deliver a customer experience unencumbered by what an incomplete view of data suggests.
⭐️ Escape the old “collect and connect” trap that keeps so many spinning their wheels.

PLUS, all attendees will receive a complimentary 60-day trial with Foureyes. It’s a win-win! 🙌

Time to get those blinders off! Register now, revolutionize your data approach, and drive success with clarity. 💪

BUSINESS

Toyota’s SOLID Restart

Toyota recently announced it is just about ready to begin mass production of solid-state batteries. Intending a 2027-2028 launch, the batteries charge faster and offer double the range.

Will they be cheaper, safer, or easier on the supply chain? Anybody's guess.

The company also announced that all plants shut down by a recent accident at a supplier will begin restarting today. By October 26th, the final lines will be back up and running.

BMW’s Map App

Following their announcement to adopt Tesla's NACS tech, BMW says it will streamline EV drivers' find and pay process. With MINI and Rolls Royce, BMW will adopt the new app and tech in 2025 so drivers can locate a charging station and pay for their charging all in one app.

BMW's ChargeScape is a joint venture with Ford and Honda to build another 30K charging stations by 2030 focused on renewable energy sources and cost-effective charging.

So, while the hardware conforms to a single standard, some automakers hope to keep people using branded apps.

Tesla’s Exaggeration Situation

Most people exaggerate a billion times a day, but when your exaggerations shape the stock market, it's a crime all of a sudden.

Tesla is under the microscope again. Following customer complaints, the DOJ is investigating inflated claims regarding Tesla battery ranges. The company has been canceling service appointments from customers coming to get their underperforming batteries checked out.

• The claims follow documented tests finding Tesla's estimates often surpass real-world numbers.

• Tesla range estimations are often higher than similar models by other brands.

• Tesla has already faced disputes over range and charge speeds.

At this point, we don't know what, if anything, the DOJ's probe will discover, but whatever it is, we will let you know in a future email. 

DATA & INSIGHT

Market Ups and Downs

🔼 Ups:

• Retail Sales: Six consecutive months of growth, with September up by 0.7%. So far, October is continuing the trend.

• Sector Leaders: Miscellaneous retailers, non-store retailers, and automotive and parts dealers show positive growth.

• Annual High-Performers: Food services, digital retailers, and automotive and parts dealers are leading the year-over-year growth.

• Inventory Rise: Supply of unsold new vehicles hits 2.21M units, a peak since spring 2021.

• CPO Bump: Certified Pre-Owned sales in September increased by nearly 14% YOY. CPO is outperforming the used vehicle market so far in 2023.

• Daunting Debts: Loan defaults are up versus 2022 overall.

🔽 Downs:

• Housing Dives: In September, existing home sales fell to their slowest pace since October 2010 (post-recession).

• Sector Stragglers: In September, clothing, electronics, and building materials stores declined.

• Used-Vehicle Sales: A 10% month-over-month drop in sales for September and a 4% dip YOY.

• Wholesale Dynamics: A 1.6% decrease in wholesale used-vehicle prices in the first half of October.

• New Slumps: The average price Americans paid for a new vehicle in September was down 3.4% YOY as higher inventory levels and increased incentives put downward pressure on pricing.

AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

Coming Soon

• TOMORROW, 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

Tesla vs. Tommy Gun

With the clock ticking down to the long-awaited delivery of the Cybertruck on November 30th, Tesla has been running some unconventional last-minute testing ahead of its official release. 🧪🤖

A prototype was recently spotted on the highway with a little more texture than usual after apparently being used for target practice.

Elon confirmed on X that the Tesla successfully repelled an entire round from a Tommy gun:

Shots fired. Critics are already calling this out as just another one of Musk’s publicity stunts, quickly noting that the car's windows were conspicuously lacking any testing damage (reminding us of this teensy demonstration snafu), and questioning if the Cybertruck could withstand higher caliber weaponry and ammunition. 🔫

We’re willing to test this out. Raise your hand if you’re willing to sacrifice your new Cybertruck to some (potentially damaging) third-party testing. Thanks in advance! 🎯

Quick Hits

• Spider-Man 2 breaks Sony’s 24-hour videogame sales record with 2.5M copies. 🕷

• McDonald’s is giving away free fries in a way so convoluted you may choose to just pay for the fries. 🤷‍♀️

• NASA tests a 3D-printed rocket at 6K degrees Fahrenheit. 🌡

History

• 79: Mt. Vesuvius erupts, burying the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, and Stabiae. 🌋

• 1901: Anna Taylor becomes the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel. 🤕

• 1926: Harry Houdini has his last performance at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit. 🪄

• 1975: American automotive executive John Z. DeLorean launches the DeLorean Motor Company. 🪽