#458 - 👨‍🌾 Farming In Style

TOGETHER WITH

Just because what you are doing right now is working, doesn’t mean it is what will be best tomorrow. Constantly challenge the status quo.

Employees change. Customers change. Maybe your business needs to adjust too…

Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, & Chris

DEALERS

Cars and Farms

🐓 From the rooster's morning crowing to the barn owl's evening hoot, farm life ain't easy. 🐷

🐮The Smail Auto Group visited Heal Animal Rescue in Youngwood, PA, for a bit of the country life. The rescue group takes in abused or surrendered farm animals to give them a happy, well-fed, and socialized life.🐐

🐏 The Smail team takes trips like these as part of their Smail Cars in the Community series. Each video highlights a sweet ride and a sweeter cause in the community as the Smail team lends their money, time, energy, and platform to these worthy causes. 🐴

/Positivity

Do you have a story showing the positive impact dealerships have on their community? Let us share it!

AUTOMOTIVE

Diving Into Digital Retail

Yesterday we chatted about revolutionizing the car buying experience with Upstart's Director of Dealer Success, Danielle Mills Walden, and Lou Tilahun, GM of Orange Park Mitsubishi.

They shared a lot in our 30 minutes together, and we encourage watching the full replay when it goes live on our Webinar page. We grabbed a few notes while we listened.

🤿 Let's Get Digital: Like a pool on a summer day, there is only one real way into the digital future, and it ain't on your tiptoes.

🚂 Buy the ticket, catch the 'train': Cs get degrees, but a commitment to a solid training routine (while less catchy) gets you further.

🤵 Who's the boss?: All this new tech isn't replacing the customer relationship but enhancing it. A quicker and more efficient process means a stronger relationship and a higher chance of a sale.

😎 Stay trendy: Knowing the trends in the industry is like reading the future. The earlier you identify them, the more time you'll have to benefit from them.

☎️ Phone a friend: Communities are powerful and come in many forms. Often the only cost of learning from your peer's success is letting them learn from yours.

Did you catch the Webinar live? Hit reply and let us know your favorite takeaways.

TOGETHER WITH TYPEFORM

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AUTOMOTIVE

Motor Morsels: Audi, Detroit, Used EVs

🤝🤷‍♀️

Rumor has it. Audi is in talks with Chinese automaker SAIC to acquire its EV platform. The move to increase market share follows lagging Audi EV sales compared to competitors. Audi uses Volkswagen's MEB platform and is developing a new EV platform with Porsche, so it is unclear what impact this acquisition would have on the company's plans.

👎👍

Deal or no Deal? UAW President Shawn Fain launched aggressive negotiations with Detroit automakers over new worker contracts. Strikes could cost billions with potential weekly earning losses per automaker:

• Stellantis — $470M

• Ford — $620M

• GM — $770M

Key issues include reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments, increased wages, a platinum healthcare package retention, ending the tiered pay system, and setting guidance for electrification's impact on jobs.

📉🔋 

Ripples in the electric pond. Tesla's Model 3 saw a 30% drop in used car value over the past year, driving a significant fall in used EV prices in the US. This comes after price surges in 2022. Analysts attribute the dip to Tesla's new model price cuts, which have affected the entire used EV market. Tesla is 1st, 2nd, and 4th on ISeeCars' list of EVs with the most significant value drops.

CULTURE

Colorful Cruisers

Make your rooms pop with a touch of Porche. The German carmaker is working with premium interior-paint brand Backdrop to color-match some of their iconic hues so you can bring their vibrant palette inside. The limited-edition partnership offers four heritage-inspired colors – Ruby Star, Irish Green, Riviera Blue, and Speed Yellow – each representing a significant chapter in Porsche's history.

At $75/gallon, we may stick with the color-matching department at Home Depot. 

Rattan sedan. Okay, maybe it’s not technically a sedan, but it’s fun to say. In the spirit of the iconic FIAT 500, Bonacina and Garage Italia Customs have teamed up to create the FIAT 500 Spiaggina, a resto-mod masterpiece that harkens back to classic 50’s design. This electric-powered cutie features Bonacina signature rattan seats that are customized to match the paintwork.

Design your own 500 Spiaggina here! 🎨

Back to the future. Mercedes-Benz's C-111 supercar was intended to rival Lamborghini and Ferrari models in the late 1960s and early '70s but never reached production…until now. Mercedes has introduced the Vision One-Eleven, an electric reinterpretation of the classic car with a futuristic twist and zesty orange paint job to match its “look at me!” vibes.

Best friends: Straight roads, lead footers, fans of pumpkins, carrots, or construction cones. Nemeses: Speed bumps, railroad tracks, XL gravel.

Quick Hits

• South Korea’s Giant Panda, Ai Bao, gave birth to healthy twin girls. 🐼

• Silent Hill, a horror video game and film series, has a new streaming service that crowd-sources the story. 👻

• Burger King releases a meatless “cheeseburger” in Thailand. It’s 20 slices of cheese on a bun, yall. 🧀

History

• 1805: The first self-propelled amphibious vehicle is tested. 🐸

• 1930: The inaugural FIFA World Cup begins in Uruguay. ⚽

• 1956: Dartmouth hosts the first conference on artificial intelligence. 🤖