#616 - 🇺🇸⛏🌏 Ease, Expand, and Excavate

TOGETHER WITH

It’s been a while, but it’s time for another Tell-Em Tuesday.

Somebody blew your mind with their kindness, patience, skill, or generosity lately. Tell ‘em!

Why save kind words for softening feedback? Pass those good vibes out; they are free, after all.

Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi

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Reading time: 4 mins 39 secs}

BUSINESS

News Around the World

We found a good deal of international moves in today’s news dive.

Nothing exists in a vacuum; material conversations in Africa affect joint ventures in China, which in turn impact the trajectory of competition in the US.

We don’t have the luxury of creating our own world, but we do get to choose our next step.

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The US Regulations and Requests

The White House may ease the EPA regulations it set in place to accelerate EV adoption. If so, it could delay the intended sales increase for EVs until after 2030. Hoping to address concerns about charging infrastructure and vehicle costs, the adjustment would implement more gradual adoption and abandon the previous 67% electric market share by 2032 goal. A drawback will be a loss in momentum against electrically advanced nations like China. 

Labor. The UAW may strike at Ford's largest U.S. plant, Kentucky Truck Plant, by Feb. 23 if local issues, including health and safety and skilled trades concerns, aren't addressed. 

The plant employs nearly 9,000 workers and produces key models like Super Duty pickups and Expedition SUVs. 

Following 2023's strikes and negotiations in Detroit, this new strike underlines tensions between Ford and the UAW amidst broader discussions on labor relations and future vehicle production locations.

 📉At the time of writing, Ford Motor Co is down 0.08% in the market.

In and About China

They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, and we aren't sure we believe that, but we know for a fact that what happens in the Chinese auto market impacts the world. 

• Volkswagen's deliveries rose by 13.3% to 698,200 vehicles, with a significant 43% increase in China, attributed partly to a low base from the previous year due to COVID restrictions. 

• Xpeng, facing intense competition in China's EV market, plans to hire 4,000 people and invest 3.5 billion yuan in artificial intelligence, focusing on intelligent driving. It aims to launch about 30 new or upgraded cars over three years. 

• Stellantis partnered with Leapmotor to potentially build Chinese EVs in Europe, considering producing up to 150,000 BEVs annually at its Mirafiori plant in Italy to serve the European market.

📉📉📉 At the time of writing, Volkswagen AG is down 0.21%, Xpeng Inc. is down 0.32%, and Stellantis NV is down 0.04%

Supplies: Material and Manufacturing

Traditional auto manufacturing never required OEMs to secure their own oil wells, but keeping up with electrification (like money) changes everything. 

CMOC Group became the world's largest cobalt producer, with a 174% increase in production to 55,526 metric tons (Over a quarter of global demand) from the Kisanfu mine in Congo. The production explosion led to a surplus, and cobalt's price dropped from $40 per lb to $13.

The price drop has Western companies re-engaging with African mining opportunities despite Chinese domination in the "Copperbelt." 

These developments could lead many American automakers toward cheaper, smaller EVs as the battery-based bottom line will drop with the price of battery material. 

Meanwhile… Forvia, a key supplier for automakers like Stellantis, Volkswagen, Tesla, and Ford, announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs in Europe within five years to enhance competitiveness and manage overcapacity.  

📈📈At the time of writing, CMOC Group Ltd is up 0.1252%, and Forvia SE is up 3.33%.

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That’s it for today. Many US automakers may have leadership whiplash soon as they back further off their EV goals while China and its pals increase their affordable EV presence worldwide. It was always entertaining to hear about 2030 way over here in 2024, but now it’s kinda laughable.

TOGETHER WITH PAVE

Navigating the Digital Shift: The Evolution of Car Shopping

Consumer behavior is trending towards an all-online car-buying experience, yet many dealers are hesitant to follow.

Over 90% of consumers prefer starting their car shopping and buying journey online, but only roughly 50% say they feel comfortable completing the purchase online. Consumers cite transparency in pricing as their main concern.

The dealerships that can solve this gap between desire and trust will benefit in market share.

Find out how PAVE can easily integrate into your website to increase transparency on the front end of the funnel and increase your lead quality and conversion rate by 3x.

/MTCM

We talk a lot about “Unreasonable Hospitality” around here lately. We are excited to hear more from Will Guidara at ASOTU CON about how we can learn from his experience.

Have you seen any stories of unreasonable hospitality in our industry? We call those More Than Car Moments, and we LOVE telling people about them. Hit reply or the link below and let us help share your story!

DATA & INSIGHT

February is Almost Done

Let's look at some data. 

The first half of February saw a notable shift, with the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index dipping to 202.1, marking a 0.9% decline from January and a significant 13.8% drop from the same time last year. Here's a closer look at the data points that are steering the market.

• Wholesale Used-Vehicle Prices: Witnessed a 0.9% decrease from January, with a year-over-year plunge of 13.8%, indicating a cooling market that could affect dealership pricing strategies.

• Market Segment Performance:

  • Luxury Cars: Down by 13.2%

  • SUVs: Declined by 13.5%

  • Compact Cars: Fell by 16.9%

  • Midsize Cars: Dropped by 15.9%

  • Pickups: Lowered by 14.6%

  • Electric Vehicles (EVs): Took a significant hit with a 16.1% decrease, outpacing the decline in non-EVs at 12.8%.

• Wholesale Supply Tightness: Inventory shrank to 27 days from 28 days at January's end, signaling a tighter market.

• Rental Risk Unit Prices: Saw a 9.4% year-over-year decrease, with a slight 0.2% uptick from January, impacting dealership strategies for supplementing used-car inventories.

• Consumer Sentiment and Economic Indicators: Showed a slight improvement despite rising inflation expectations, hinting at a potential uptick in vehicle purchasing willingness.

AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

Coming Soon

• Tickets for ASOTU CON 2024 in Baltimore this May 14-17th are available and moving quickly! Grab yours now to get in on the most innovative and collaborative conference in automotive.

  • Early Bird Tickets Still Available!  🐣

Quick Hits

• EU is investigating TikTok for possible content breaches. 🕺

• 3D printing is getting more… delicious. The Verge talks about chocolate printing. 🍫

• OpenAI value hits $80B. That’s a lot for a robot that writes such bad poems and can’t stock a shelf. 🤖

• US pledges $1.5B toward domestic chipmaking. 👨‍🏭

History

• 1792: The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by United States President George Washington. 📬

• 1872: The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City. 🖼

• 1933: The U.S. Congress approves the Blaine Act to repeal federal Prohibition in the United States, sending the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution to state ratifying conventions for approval. 🍷

Thank you for reading. Not just “thanks” for giving our content a place to land but for taking action to stay caught up and never settling for reactions. Let’s keep the convo going.