🏡 Is Your Acquisition House In Order?

TOGETHER WITH

We have a wild dream. A dream that one day the culture and perception of retail automotive will be so incredible that people will be banging down the doors of the industry to begin their new career. This is why we create content, host events, and ask you to be a part of the ASOTU community. 

You have found the 'others.' Welcome to the fam.

Keep Pushing Back-Paul, Kyle, & Chris

DEALERS

ATUC: Is Your House In Order?

Last week’s All Things Used Cars gave us plenty to consider when buidling a successful acquisition stragey. Here are just some of the thoughtful questions that were posed:

Trade Process Perfection:

❓What is your trade process and have you perfected it? 

❓Are you measuring by person, by manager, and by department how many site-unseen appraisals actually make it to the dealership? 

❓Do you have a follow-up process if a customer decides that they want to purchase a car from your dealership, but keep their old car? What are other opportunities like this that you may be missing in you acquisition strategy?

Owner-based Acquisition:

❓How are you measuring it?

❓Do you have way to outreach to your customers that lets them know on a constant basis that you’re the best end-user for this vehicle?

❓How are you innovativing ways to entice car owners to trade with you?

Optimize Service Drives/Collision Centers:

❓Do you have a next-day service appointment process that lets a customer know before they drop off their car that you want to give them a valuation when they arrive?

❓Do you have a partnership with your local collision centers? Do you have a process with them to offer customers evaluations prior to work being done?

Snack on more acquisition food-for-thought by checking out the full replay here.

Telling it like it is - The only wrong approach to acquisition is not asking enough questions.  Specifically the question, “Hey, can I buy your car?”

AUTOMOTIVE

EV Price Cuts and Q1

Used US electric vehicle sales have increased following price cuts. In Q1 of 2023, EV sales jumped 32% as average prices came down around 4% from the previous quarter and about $16K from the previous year.

🤑 Tax credits. We've not talked about the Used EV Tax Credits much. Single buyers earning between $75K and joint fliers up to $150K can receive credit for 30% of the value of a used EV priced $25K or less. The credit is capped at $4K.

📈 New EVs are doing ok too. In the same period, new EV sales rose over 225K, accounting for about 7% of all new-vehicle sales in the US.

✄ Prices are still getting snipped. Tesla just announced a new round of discounts. Most of the brand's models received cuts between $1,000 and $5,000.

Telling it like it is - We can’t tell it anymore like it is than to say, “when things get cheaper, more people buy them.”

TOGETHER WITH TYPEFORM

Click. Struggle. Stop.

Click. Struggle. Stop. Feel familiar? It does for your customers as well. Stop the bleeding from dropping off in your forms. Create natural flows and layouts to engage your customers as they begin communicating with your business. With Typeform, you can create forms, quizzes, and surveys designed to engage and convert. With built-in photo and video libraries, custom layouts and themes, and powerful integrations, you are just a few steps from setup to implementation. Get started today!

AUTOMOTIVE

Stellantis, VW, Lucid

Jeep's plug-in hybrid Wrangler SUV was popular, so Stellantis is giving the people what they want and upgrading it. With two new trim levels, the updated classic Wrangler 4XE will release a slew of new or upgraded features for the 2024 model year, like more off-road capabilities, better towing, and more advanced in-car tech. 

No time to hold back, huh? Stellantis was among the few with disappointing Q1 reports. Nothing too dramatic, but the company missed sales projections by about 9%. So, in addition to making sense all the time, it makes sense right now for the company to be moving toward what people are asking them for. 

Back-up plan? If that doesn't help, the new Ram 1500 may help. The REV is the first all-electric pickup in the light-duty market. Not everybody needs to tow their house to the lake for the weekend, Mr. Farley, and for those people, there is the 2025 Ram 1500. 

Volkswagen's ID. Buzz was already cute in a "Pixar movie about EVs" kinda way, but now it has its own little camping solar panel roof and has upgraded to adorable like a "Pixar movie about EVs going to summer camp."

ID Ideas. Another of the company's EVs, the ID.4 tripled its sales in Q1. Total sales by VW in the US for Q1 increased 4% YOY, with the ID.4 increasing 254% vs. 2022. 

Things were still lagging behind 2021, but as supply normalization allows production to increase, things return to normal. 

Lucid's Air EV was named the World Luxury Car of the Year for 2023.

The World Car Awards give a vote to 100 international automotive journalists from 32 countries. The jury casts secret votes, and the winner is announced. This year, Lucid won the award at the 2023 New York International Auto Show. 

TL: DR - Stallantis doubles down on electric Jeeps, VW goes camping, and Lucid wins an award! 

MARKETS

Walmart Announced Charging Network

"I dream someday that my stores are operated by robots and help people put electricity in their cars!" -Sam Walton, in a fever dream we had once. 😂

Well, Fever-Sam, the dream you shared in our dream has come true. Walmart is adding thousands of EV chargers to stores by 2030. The retail giant says it is in the process of identifying the supplier to back its ambitious goal.

Combined, there are 5,300 Walmart and Sam's Club stores in the US, placing 90% of the population within 10 miles of a location.

You mentioned robots, Fever-Sam? The company says by 2027, it will have automated service in 65% of its stores. It may sound like the end of a LOT of jobs leaving the biggest US employer, but the folks in Bentonville, AR say it will increase the number of people they employ as it creates new roles.

Telling it like it is - How often have you entered a Walmart for one item and come back with 10? You think that will become a less common occurrence when you need to kill between 30 minutes and 8 hours so your battery charges?

Quick Hits

• High-tech car thieves are at it again. This time, cars are being stolen using a wire in the headlight. 

• Canadian ice storm leaves 100K without power, mostly in Quebec. 

• Jeremy Renner, Marvel’s Hawkeye, is out and about 3 months after being struck by a snowplow. 

• ChatGPT-4 finds a new life saving application: ER assistant. Doctors say it needs supervision as it is “both smarter and dumber than any person you’ve ever met”

New week, new news, and new content on The Automotive Troublemaker podcast. Join Paul and Kyle for a fun look at the day's top stories that is both brief and thorough! 

History

• 1872: The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska.

• 1925: The Great Gatsby, now regarded as an example of the Great American Novel, is published.

• 1970: AMC introduces the Gremlin