#621 -🤝🍪🎥 Deals, Dips, and Decisions

TOGETHER WITH

Monday again, friends.

As always, we’ve got some news from around automotive and the culture we’re living in.

What do you think about AI videos? Are we even going to have actors in 50 years?

Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi

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BUSINESS

You Hear the News?

American efforts to secure material, manufacturing, and semiconductor chip security could be on the outnumbered side of the table soon. With Europe and China working to collaborate over their efforts in Africa and other mineral-rich regions, it could soon be impossible to get non-Chinese material if you don’t dig it out of your backyard.

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Europe and China Material Deals

America is working to break ties and dependencies on China, favoring North American neighbors and long-standing European connections. Europe, on the other hand, is thinking about getting closer to China. 

Possible automotive and raw material cooperation between the regions would benefit the automotive and technology sectors, possibly making up for the setbacks resulting from US. 

China's BYD released a more affordable version of its Dolphin hatchback. The new version is 14.6% cheaper than previous models. In USD the price starts at just $13,865.35. The model is not available in the US, but if it were to come over it is hard to imagine it not connecting with many people whose dream car is "one without a car note." 

Tesla: Discounts and Pies?

Tesla cuts prices all the time lately, so much so that EV values across the market are in flux. Leasing firms are actually receiving compensation from EV makers to counter the decline in EV prices. 

Some leasing companies demand concessions like buyback agreements to protect their investments from further erosion in the pre-owned market. The pricing shifts have even impacted the 2035 ICE phase-out plans for Europe. 

Cybertrucks aren't getting discounts, but they are getting pumped out at an increased pace. A large fleet of kitchen knife-looking "trucks" was seen at the Texas Gigafactory as the company worked toward its 250K per year goal in mid-2025. 

One more thing about Tesla: did you see this story about the bakery? A baker in San Jose got an order for 4,000 pies from the EV maker. Since the order was for this week, the baker's team worked overtime, and extra supplies were brought in to meet the need, but two days after the order came in, a text message canceled the order. Now the baker is out thousands and will almost definitely be getting non-refundable deposits on massive orders in the future. 

GM's Hybrids and Robots

GM is canceling its compact EV pickup plan and contemplating a Plug-in Hybrid full-size pickup. With the whole world deciding they found the boundary of EV adoption for now, many are looking to plunge into the depths of hybrids and find how deep that market share goes. 

Meanwhile, GM's Cruise robo-taxis will resume testing on public roads. They will have safety drivers and hopefully repair lost trust with the people of San Francisco and beyond. 

Hyundai and Kia

Hyundai accelerates its Georgia-based EV plant to open by October 2024, aiming for the EV tax credit. The $7.6 billion Metaplant America can produce up to 300,000 EVs yearly.

Kia pushes ahead with the U.S.-made EV9, a three-row electric SUV, aiming for spring production. Uncertainty lingers over full tax credit qualification due to stringent battery component rules.

Both Hyundai and Kia exemplify aggressive expansion in the competitive EV market, showcasing a commitment to electrification and navigating regulatory hurdles for innovative electric solutions. 

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What did we learn today? Well. We learned automakers are going to go where they think the money is: China, robo-taxis, three-row EVs, etc.

Lucky for dealers, we don’t have to guess, hope, or force anything; just listen to our customers and do what they like more than what they don’t like.

It all seems so simple without the pesky details, huh?

TOGETHER WITH FULLPATH

Streaming Everywhere!

Everything you know about building and marketing to audiences is about to change. Real-time audience APIs are coming to Fullpath’s CDP. This means you can now stream your data-driven custom audiences directly to every marketing channel in play at your dealership -  including Google ads, Facebook ads, email platforms, and more. Here’s how it works:

1. Build an audience using the hyper-specific filtering capabilities included in Fullpath’s CDP.

2. Click to copy the audience API link.

3. Implement the audience API link on your marketing platform and watch your audiences update in real-time.

Register here for the Fullpath Q1 live launch on March 5 at 12 PM EST to get a behind-the-scenes look at our powerful new audience APIs and to learn how this data integration changes the face of marketing for the automotive industry.

AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

Coming Soon

• MADA Annual Meeting at ASOTU CON 2024

  ASOTU is partnering with the Maryland Auto Dealers Association to host their annual meeting. MADA member tickets are covered, just contact your association to get one. Then come ready to be where the future of innovation, collaboration, and dedication begins — ASOTU CON!

CULTURE

The Real Cost of AI

As you know by now, OpenAI is making video footage WAY better than those awful Will Smith Vs Pasta clips we had last year.

Has anybody stopped to ask, “What are we going to lose?” Or, at least, “What will happen to Tyler Perry?!”

The filmmaker has put his $800M studio expansion on hold, saying, "I was in the middle of, and have been planning for the last four years...an $800 million expansion at the studio, which would’ve increased the backlot a tremendous size—we were adding 12 more soundstages. All of that is currently and indefinitely on hold because of Sora and what I’m seeing. I had gotten word over the last year or so that this was coming, but I had no idea until I saw recently the demonstrations of what it’s able to do. It’s shocking to me."

It’s shocking to us too, Tyler. Shocking and, depending on your opinion of the ten thousand-ish Madea movies and plays, exciting!

Quick Hits

• Part two of the Final Fantasy 7 remake is scratching the nostalgic itch while delivering a modern gaming experience. 🎮

• Reddit’s IPO lost about $90M last year but grew revenue by 21%. 📉

• AT&T says sorry for the outage, and it was NOT a cyber attack. 📵

History

• 1616: Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun. 🌎

• 1725: The inventor of the automobile, Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, is born. 🧠

• 1909: Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London. 🌈

Thanks for reading, friend! We have more for you today and all week on LinkedIn and our podcast adventures. Don’t let us do all the talking. Hit reply, leave a comment, or tag us in a post.