🚗 Honoring 9/11 Heroes

TOGETHER WITH

Friday at last, Friend.

Today, in the dealer world, we saw a story about the folks at Billy Howell Ford Lincoln in Georgia, who were honoring first responders with a meal to commemorate 9/11. The dealership had local high school students and other volunteers join them in serving public servants in the store and sent them home with enough for their co-workers who stayed behind to keep society running.

We love seeing good things happen because dealers are, indeed, about more than cars.

Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi

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Today's Email

• 🚨 GM & EVgo's Charging Expansion, VW’s $5B Bet on …

• 🎥 Miss The Show? Catch the Replay!

• 🔟 Top 10 Factors Holding Back Business

• Coming Soon

• In The Dirt /w Jamie Butters

• Quick Hits

• Today in History: 5mb, Running, and Mario

BUSINESS

🚨 GM & EVgo's Charging Expansion, VW’s $5B Bet on Rivian, Stellantis Fiat EV Halt

GM and EVgo are rolling out 400 flagship EV charging stations across major U.S. cities, offering faster, more convenient charging options. For dealers, this signals a growing demand for EV infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen is investing $5B in Rivian, aiming to boost its EV game while helping Rivian through financial challenges. This partnership could reshape the competitive landscape for electric trucks.

Finally, Stellantis has paused Fiat 500 EV production due to weak demand, a reminder of the delicate balance between EV supply and market readiness.

Read more on these stories and five more of this morning’s headlines here. (Read Time: 4 min 39 sec)

TOGETHER WITH NIVTA

🎥 Miss The Show? Catch the Replay!

Beth Caro, President of NIVTA.org, recently participated in the AAMVA Third Party Working Group, contributing to the development of best practices for the licensing and structure of third-party agencies.

Her involvement brings valuable insights from the independent vehicle title agent industry, ensuring that the standards reflect the needs and challenges of both businesses and regulatory agencies.

Through her expertise, Beth helped shape guidelines that promote consistency, compliance, and efficiency for third-party agencies nationwide, supporting a more streamlined and accountable process for vehicle title and registration services.

Learn more about what Beth and NIVTA.org can do for you today!

DATA & INSIGHT

🔟 Top 10 Factors Holding Back Business

After an impressive rally in the first eight months of the year, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each up around 18%, the market is entering a traditionally weaker stretch. September’s already seen a 4% dip, led by underperformance in tech and communication services sectors.

• Seasonal Weakness — September and October are historically choppy months for markets, and with political uncertainty ahead of the U.S. elections, we could see further volatility or a correction.

• Positive Fundamentals Remain — Inflation is cooling, rate cuts are on the horizon, and economic growth still isn’t recessionary.

The Q3 2024 Cox Automotive Dealer Sentiment Index paints a bleak picture, but it's not all doom and gloom. While challenges remain, dealers are proving resilient, even in a market filled with uncertainty.

• Franchised vs. Independent — Franchised dealers managed a neutral score of 50, but independent dealers hit a low of 37.

• Political Climate Adds to Dealer Headaches — The political climate jumped to the third biggest concern for dealers, with 44% of dealers citing it as a factor holding back business.

👉 For more market insights and updates, check out our weekly newsletter here. 👀

AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

Coming Soon

🍎 September 16th — The Welcome Conference in NYC.

🤠 November 5-8th — Opening presenters at the 2024 ATAE PR & Communications Focus Group Meeting in Austin, Texas.

⚜️ January 23-26th, 2025 — NADA Show in New Orleans.

🦀 May 13-16th, 2025 — ASOTU CON in Baltimore, Maryland.

In The Dirt /w Jamie Butters

Quick Hits

• Two private astronauts, Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis, conducted SpaceX's first spacewalk, marking a significant milestone for the commercial space industry’s future. 🧑‍🚀 

• Praised for its stunning visuals, powerful voice performances, and heartwarming story, Pedro Pascal's new animated film The Wild Robot debuted with a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. 🤖 

• Schools across the U.S. are using Juul settlement funds to install vape detectors. 🚭️ 

Today in History: 5mb, Running, and Mario

• 1956: IBM introduces the worlds first production hard disk the "IBM 305" which stored five megabytes of data. 💾 

• 1970: The First New York Marathon is run attracting 127 competitors runners who paid $1.00 to compete and competed several loops around the Park Drive of Central Park. 🏃‍♀️ 

• 1985: Super Mario Bros. is released in Japan for the NES, which starts the Super Mario series of platforming games. 🕹️ 

Thanks for reading, friend!