#591 - 🎧🚗🤖 Cool New Tech

TOGETHER WITH

Today, we take a look at Gen Z’s car shopping preferences, cold batteries, and all the coolest things from the CES show.

Be sure to check out our WANADA’s Washington Auto Show coverage, too. When we talk about automaker news, we often dip into policymaker territory.

That’s just the nature of business, it seems. So, let’s stay one step ahead of the information tidal wave and find some high ground.

Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi

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BUSINESS

Let’s Learn

Gen Z and Liquidity

Based on the properties of linear time, eventually, selling cars to Gen Z will be among the main games in town. A recent CARS report shows about 80% of Gen Z prefer in-person car buying despite their comfort with shopping online. 

• 4,000 Gen Z adults (ages 18 - 28) were surveyed.

• Affordability is their primary concern as they deal with student loan debt and the high costs of housing/living. 

• Test Drives and negotiating better deals were the top reasons for the in-person preference. 

• Only 25% of Gen Z said they would use dealer financing, while many are urged to seek direct lending options so they are pre-approved before they shop. 

And everybody else? Data shows auto credit access continued to decline in December, dropping by 0.9%.

• Improvements over the summer and fall of 2023 are reversed, and currently, access is at its lowest since May.  

• All loan-type access decreased, with Certified Pre-Owned dropping the most. 

• However, Consumer Confidence and intent to buy within six months increased.

So, folks with a bit more liquidity are getting ready to buy, but financing options are slowing others down. Have any of you hosted Financial Fluency classes in your showroom before? 

Batteries and Bird’s Eye Views

Some Tesla owners in Chicago are having 0 problems with charging in the horrible cold. By "0 problems," we mean their battery won't charge past 0, which is a big problem. 

How did Tesla not think of this?! Well, actually, they did! Unfortunately, charging a Tesla in the cold isn't as plug-and-play as in summer. Drivers need only press the "precondition" button to warm the battery to a more hospitable charging temperature, says Mark Bilek of the Chicago Auto Trade Association. 

Tesla's biggest competitor and the 2023 EV sales champion, BYD, has some other ideas for power (even when it is cold). 

• Due to leaking concerns, the Chinese carmaker is abandoning pouch batteries in favor of prismatic batteries.

• The phaseout will see all the brand's hybrids converted by 2025. 

• Such leaks could cause battery fires or even explosions and were the cause of a 60K unit recall in 2022. 

• Of BYD's 3M sales in 2023, 48% were hybrids.

Fewer fires, more drones? The company also announced a partnership to slap aerial drones on their YangWang U8 e-SUVs. Looking to stay ahead as a tech company that also makes cars, BYD wants to give adventurous drivers an extra dimension to their exploration options.

Renault’s Return

France's Renault Group is celebrating a good 2023 and ending 4 years of decline. The core Renault brand sold 1,548,748 vehicles in 2023, a 9.4% year-over-year increase. Meanwhile, the Alpine and Dacia brands charted 22.1% and 17.4% growth, respectively.

• 40% of Renault's sales were electric, with 11% fully electric. 

• The Alpine brand will bring its first fully electric vehicle to the global market later this year. 

Get Out Of The Vay

Finally, we have a worthwhile reason to hope what happens in Vegas stays there. Vay, a European teledrive service, has started commercial operations of its remotely operated EVs in Las Vegas. 

• Customers call, and a remote drive pilots the car to where the renter takes over. 

• When the customer is done, the remote operator takes the car home. 

Germany and Beyond. The company started operating in Hamburg, Germany, a year ago and announced its plan for Vegas in May 2023. 

• Customers use a Vay app to pay $0.30 a minute while driving and $0.03 per minute while stopped. 

• The company's goal is to reduce the need for parking in cities to enhance urban liveability and, we assume, make money. 

We are far from Luddites, but why do they keep trying to make cars drive themselves when all we really want are driveways that shovel themselves?  

. . .

If test drives are bringing people into the store as opposed to shopping online and affordability is a key decider when the time comes to buy, maybe the test drive is the best time to tell them about the incentives we know y’all are cooking up.

At least offer a free drone with every purchase, apparently.

TOGETHER WITH WANADA

Bringing the Policy to the Public

We’re on the ground today at the Washington Auto Show, grabbing all the details and highlights we can from Public Policy Day with our friends from WANADA and sponsors Mosaic. We’ll be interviewing reps from Capitol Hill, Senators, and leading policymakers.

So, keep an eye on our LinkedIn feed for content all week that will set the tone and educate our community for the year.

Follow us on LinkedIn to catch it all!

MORE THAN CARS MOMENTS

Ourisman Auto Group’s Holiday Help

The holiday season is over, but More than Cars Moments are a year-round reality. 🥰

Our friends at Ourisman Automotive Group partnered with the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless to ensure their holiday needs and meals were well cared for.

The team gave 40 gift cards to Coalition clients, totaling $1,000. That's 40 families with a little more to go around at Christmas, 40 hearts with a little more to hope for in 2024, and 40 moments that prove retail auto and her community are about more than cars.

Thanks, Ourisman!

TIE CUTTERS

2024 TIME Dealer of the Year Nominee: Scott Bieler

Scott Bieler, nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year, is a true auto industry gem from New York State. Starting in sales at West Herr Ford in '75, Scott's now the big boss at West Herr Automotive Group. It's not just about cars for him; Scott's all about building a company that's like family, earning the trust of both employees and customers.

Scott's heart is as big as his business. He's a major player in community service, especially proud of his work with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Whether it's sponsoring the Ride for Roswell or supporting various local charities, Scott's all in.

Big up to Scott! We are wowed by your commitment to your team and your tireless efforts in giving back to the community. 👏

AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

Coming Soon

• TODAY, THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2024
  Public Policy Day at WANADA
  At this year’s Washington Auto Show, we're mixing serious auto insights with serious fun. With our friends at Mosaic, we’re talking with big names about big topics in the industry, and we want YOU to be part of the conversation.
  ✨ Get in on our exclusive coverage ✨
   

• FEBRUARY 1 - 4, 2024

  NADA 2024 in Las Vegas

  Are you going to NADA and itching for some eye-catching media coverage? We're your dream team for content creation.

  🎥 Let’s link up 🎥

DATA & INSIGHT

Automotive State of CES 2024

This year’s exciting Consumer Electronics Show made one thing clear — cars are becoming so much more than cars. They are soon-to-be mobile entertainment hubs, digital assistants, traveling workspaces, and everything in between.

Here are some of the major automotive themes and concepts to emerge from the event:

Advancements in Artificial Intelligence: Vehicles are increasingly integrating AI for features like voice control and driver aid, with partnerships between car manufacturers and tech companies bringing sophisticated AI systems to car dashboards.

In-Car Entertainment: Cars are transforming into high-tech entertainment hubs, featuring augmented reality for navigation and immersive experiences, alongside the emergence of in-car gaming platforms from major players (ha, get it?) like Steam and Microsoft.

EV Development: A major focus in EV tech is finding solutions to some of the existing EV complaints, like extending battery life, reducing charging times, and making electric vehicles more affordable and customizable.

Flying Cars: The advancement of electric vertical take-off and landing aircrafts (eVTOLs) and the development of flying car models are bringing the long-awaited concept of flying cars closer to reality than ever before.

Hydrogen Progress: Despite infrastructure challenges, there are notable advancements in hydrogen-fueled vehicles, with major automakers committing to hydrogen as a crucial part of their future energy strategy.

👉 Click here for more of the dopest things we found from this year’s show! 👀

Quick Hits

• The new Taco Bell cereal isn’t what you might think. 🌮

• Electronic signs on highways with obscure meanings, references to pop culture, or those intended to be funny will be banned in 2026. 😞

• “Godzilla Minus One” will be re-released in theaters in black and white. 🎞

History

• 1733: The first polar bear exhibited in America in Boston. 🐻‍❄️

• 1778: Captain James Cook stumbles across the Sandwich Islands. 🥪

• 1919: Bentley Motors Limited is founded. 🎩

• 1993: Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed in all fifty States for the first time. 👑