#638 -🪞🔧📄 Reflect, Repair, and Report

I just got a sneak peek at More Than Cars Episode 3, and I think it is the best one yet.

But isn’t that to be somewhat expected? A bunch of non-docu-series creators decided to create a docu-series with their hearts and by picking up the necessary skills along the way. Episodes 1 and 2 were great, but 3 feels special.

Join us for the premiere on March 27th and remember that every frame, every sound, and every moment has been selected to help the experience the full story of retail auto.

See you there, and…

Keep Pushing Back
-Chris

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ICYMI

Keep up, Don’t Catch Up

The Daily Pushback Email

• Monday, we looked at Kia’s high performance and theft settlements, Rivian paused its Georgia factory plans, and a small pile of trailers for upcoming entertainment (and our throughs on them).

• Tuesday, we dove into VW’s global moves, GM’s Blazer EV return, and examined the Microlino before sharing the story of the Longo Toyota team’s recent $150,000 fundraiser auction in support of their local students.

• Wednesday, we got a look at the EV Economy and the effect Tesla’s price cuts have had on it, BYD’s ever-expanding plans, and the absolute sci-fi dystopia of having your car tell your insurance company you’ve been hard-braking. Then we dropped in another installment of our “Unreasonable Hospitality” write-ups.

• Thursday, Polestar dropped prices on unreleased vehicles, Hyundai skipped 7 and 8, and Toyota agreed to its largest wage increase in 25 years. We also released a DIVE article about the ups and downs of Electrification

• Friday, we saw Ford become a software company, Nissan and Honda partner up, and the British military embrace some solar EV charging tech. We also dropped the week’s economic recap for those of you playing along at home.

Auto Collabs Podcast

In The Dirt w/ ASOTU

One week, two new episodes? It must be Christmas. Check out the new episodes of In The Dirt w/ ASOTU, and let us know your favorite takeaways.

AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

Webinar this Week!

Everybody can tell you how to “fix” your problems. It’s one of the benefits of being outside the problem. However, it takes the spirit of community to share with others how one fixes their own problems.

Our friend Ron Bouchard is joining us for another Webinar to discuss how he and his team are bridging the digital divide in their dealership. Come hear how they are serving their community better every day this week on LinkedIn.

On March 27th, it is finally time for More Than Cars episode three to be released into the world. Let’s watch the premiere together on LinkedIn and chat along with the insightful, fun, and totally human stories from West Herr Auto Group.

RSVP now so we know how many party hats to make.

SOMETHING FUN

Experimenting With the EV Adoption Problem

Across the industry, consumers, dealers, lawmakers, and OEMs are walking around the question of electrification. Consumers say they need affordable, reliable, and easy-to-charge options is they are going to jump in, but every week we see plans set in motion that seem to miss the point and march on toward some other feature that nobody is asking for. Here are some we saw this week.

Office Frunk

Ford filed a patent for an alternative “front trunk” setup that would make your Mach-E a mobile office space.

• This solves the affordable question by allowing owners to rent out their home office space for spare income and the easy-to-charge issue by giving you a place to work even if you break down halfway to work.

• Unfortunately, it offers no upgrade on the reliability front so we don’t see it entering production

Which Winch?

Rivian is working on an integrated winch that will hide neatly in the front bumper of their vehicles.

• This is a pretty great idea since you could make side money by towing people (as long as you tow them in reverse),

• Or hitch up to a passing bestie to get to the next charger, which counts as an upgrade to reliability since you can “rely” on your winch if your battery craps.

• I'm not giving them a point for easy-to-charge on this one, though, but as a truck company, it would be a great factory feature to include, so we hope it makes it to production.

Junk Drawer

Too much junk in the trunk? No fear. Honda’s new design adds a pull-out drawer to the rear end of possible future designs. You may think this will replace the trunk/hatch, but no, it is in addition to it.

• Since you could technically moonlight as a delivery driver/smuggler with this, we say it addresses the affordability question.

• Also, you can fill it with tools and supplies, so it aids in reliability efforts.

• Finally, you technically could put a larger device in there so that easy-to-charge is also checked. (Of course, they could have just used that space for more batteries, but that would cost more so +1 affordability, -1 reliability)

Ultimately, these patents show automakers are looking for ways to deliver the most bang for consumer bucks, but they may also not be interested in delivering bangs in proportion to smaller bucks anytime soon.

Quick Hits

• TikTok’s Chinese owner company, ByteDance reported about $16B in revenue for last year. A possible ban on the app will go to the Senate soon. 💰

• Doctor Who season 14 will hit Disney Plus on May 10th. 🥼

• A tick-killing pill is showing positive results in small human trials. 💀

• McDonald's had a global tech outage that was quickly found and fixed, but still, a computer hiccup stopped people from London to Vegas from buying french fries, and that is kinda bonkers. 🍟

• Texas braces for the Eclipse. No, not because of some sci-fi prophecy, but just because people are flooding into the viewing areas and expected to overload the infrastructure. 😎

History

• 1872: The Wanderers F.C. win the first FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world. ⚽️

• 1926: The US professor and scientist Robert Hutchings Goddard, Ph.D. launches the world's first liquid-fueled rocket. 🚀

• 1958: The 50,000,000th Ford 🍾

Thanks for reading, friend. Wherever you are today, we are grateful you’re part of this community.