#534 -☀️ Rock Down To Electric Avenue

TOGETHER WITH

The old lesson is true: You write what you know.

This email is a daily dive by the ASOTU team into what interests us and benefits our community.

Fortunately, we also take requests! So hit reply and let us know what has captured your attention, imagination, and time from the worlds of technology, entertainment, business, or culture so we can share it with the whole community!

Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi

TODAY’S LOT WALK

• Business: Stellantis and China and Tesla’s new news. 🤝

• MTCM: Scott Bieler's compassion brings state-of-the-art cancer care to Amherst. 🏥

• Culture: Some games we wish we had time to play. 😅

Reading time: 4 min and 45 secs

BUSINESS

Stellantis “Leaps” Into China

While the strike continues for Stellantis, they are celebrating their own development.

The automaker will acquire a 20% stake in China's Leapmotor Tech for $1.6B, marking its entry into the world's biggest auto market and a strong step toward electrification.

The two companies will also work together in a new joint venture in which Stellantis will hold a 51% stake, allowing them to export and build Leapmotors products outside China.

Why the Y?

Tesla may not be synonymous with "EV" anymore, but what they do still generally translates to what will happen in electric vehicles for the next few years.

They just went live with their V4 Superchargers in Sparks, Nevada, and Wilsonville, Oregon. They feature longer cords and a payment terminal that should make charging non-Tesla EVs a bit easier.

The brand's Model Y set a sales record in Denmark and may be heading for the title of best-selling car in the world for 2023.

Solid Start

Bryan County, Georgie, and Hyundai fans everywhere have something to jump around about, too.

The South Korean automaker says it is 99.9% complete with the foundation work of its $5.5B EV and battery plant. It is Hyundai's first of such plants in the US and broke ground a year ago. It is set to run on 100% renewable energy by the time it starts mass production in 2025.

5.2 megawatts (enough to power 520 homes or 0.0472 days in New York City) of that renewable energy will be produced by its solar parking lot, which we looked into and can confirm is NOT just a fancy word for "parking in the sun."

TOGETHER WITH EPICAR

To The Source

Dealin' may be fun, but it isn't always easy.

Checkout EpiCar! Their journey began with one primary goal: understanding dealers' challenges.

They listened to the dealers' voices, and the overwhelming challenge was clear - sourcing profitable inventory.

Now, they connect dealers directly with private sellers, offering top-tier vehicles ready for immediate bidding and acquisition. So, Acquire Private Party Vehicles is just another enjoyable part of the job!

EpiCar offers solutions:

• Advanced predictive analytics for precise profitability evaluations

• Transparent transactions with no third-party markups

• Easy bidding and secure purchase from any device

Ready to leave your problems behind? Register for FREE now and become the first to receive notifications about new cars within a 10-mile radius for 6 months!

/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

Transforming Cancer Care in Amherst

Our friend Scott Bieler, President and CEO of the West Herr Auto Group, recently celebrated the grand opening of the Roswell Park Scott Bieler Amherst Center — a 30,000-square-foot medical haven filled with top-tier equipment, world-class experts, and an array of services for cancer patients, ensuring that folks in Buffalo's northern suburbs get the best care they can close to home. 🩺🏥🦬

Scott often talks about the countless people from the West Herr family who've faced a cancer diagnosis, emphasizing how that single word can shake any family to its core.

“I am so moved by the Western New York community — they are the driving force behind everything we do,” says Bieler. “We are blessed to have met so many wonderful people through the West Herr family, and we have watched countless customers, neighbors, employees, and family members face a cancer diagnosis. The purpose of this new facility is to bring hope and provide a solution to that diagnosis, it was built to hopefully extend life to all who enter it.”

Understanding Scott’s dedication and compassion, it should come as no surprise that he has also been nominated for the 2024 TIME Dealer of the Year award. 🏆🌟

It is truly a testament to his incredible work with the team at West Herr and his deep-rooted commitment to the community. As Scott himself puts it, West Herr's success lies in their tight-knit family of employees. 🧶💗

Cheers to Scott for the well-deserved recognition! 🎉

AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

Coming Soon

• TODAY, 6:00 am CST / 9:00 am EST
  David Long’s All Things Used Cars on Clubhouse.
  Carvana, Carmax, Dealers, and the Future.
  👉 Join today! 👈

• MAY 14-17, 2024
  ASOTU CON 2024 in Baltimore
  Based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback, we’re heading back to the Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland in May next year for ASOTU CON 2024. Stay tuned — tickets will be released the first week of November!

  📅 Add it to your calendar now! 📅

CULTURE

Video Game Trailers We Dug

"Kept You Waiting, Huh?"

The Metal Gear Series has always been highly regarded in the world of single-player, story-driven video games.

Now, one of the most iconic in the series, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, is getting a complete remake, updating it from 2004 graphics and technology to full and glorious newness in the Unreal Engine 5.

Not a lot is known about the remake's depth yet, but an engine premiere recently showed off how good it looks. Fans are excited to get back in the jungle with Snake (It's me. I'm "fans." -Chris)

"Welcome...to Jurassic ARK."

ARK: Survival Evolved was released in 2015 and combined a few really popular videogame concepts: Open world, survival, online play, and dinosaurs. (what's not to love?)

The sequel, ARK: Survival Ascended, is out on PC and coming to consoles in November. From the trailer, it looks like a major upgrade to the original while maintaining a firm grasp on everything that made it a classic among its community.

Players can:

• Tame and ride dozens of dinosaur and beast types

• Craft equipment and weapons starting with simple sharp stick spears up through laser weapons and robots

• Survive by hunting, farming, building shelter, and evading or fighting off animals or other players.

Strategy games, like war, never change.

Manor Lord is a new real-time strategy game with a historical city-building edge that places the player as a lord over a medieval region. In addition to guiding the development of your people, the game's trailer hints at a story-driven campaign that sees your village become a city, kingdom, or empire through war and peacetime efforts.

Are these culture pieces always about the automotive industry? Nah. But they are always about what people spend their time doing, loving, and making, and that’s kind of the same thing.

Quick Hits

• US GDP expanded at a 4.9% annual rate over the summer. It was a good Q3 for the economy. 📈

• Apple is exploring the Vision Pro’s application for mental illness treatment. 🩺

• One study suggested that crushed volcanic rock spread over farmland could play a key role in removing carbon from the air. 🌋

History

• 312: Constantine is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross, leading to the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity. ✝️

• 1937: Second generation Cadillac V-16 is introduced 💪

• 1940: The World's Fair in New York ended with a final-day attendance record of 537,952. 🎡