⏲️ Rates and Lates

TOGETHER WITH

Welcome to “Why Wait Wednesday," a day we have decided to ask you: why wait?

Why wait to honor a teammate for the excellent work they do?
Why wait to do later what can be done well now?
Why wait to share your honest and encouraging thoughts with those around you?

When we ask ourselves, we don't find any answers we would be proud to share.

Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, & Chris

DEALERS

Group 1 Digs In

Group 1 Automotive partnered with Trees For Houston to plant roots in their community! 🌳

Condit Elementary School in Houston now has 19 more young and mighty trees on its campus for students, local wildlife, and the environment to enjoy.

Volunteers from Sterling McCall Honda, Sterling McCall Lexus, Sterling McCall Ford, the group's CDC team, and the Group 1 Automotive corporate office pitched in sweat and grit to get the job done under the guidance of Trees for Houston's team.

Some Greek Guy Once Said - “A society grows great when people plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.”

AUTOMOTIVE

Incentives Vs. Rate Hikes

The problem. Turns out that when the Fed increases rates, rates go up. Who could have guessed?

The average new car monthly payment in the US is over $700, and people, especially those in their 20s and 30s, are falling behind more frequently.

Auto lenders are worried the trend of loan defaults and even fraud will increase in the coming months.

A solution? Automakers try incentivizing buyers back into the market with cash-back offers or discounts. Some dealerships offer deferred payments, higher trade-in values, or purchase prices under MSRP.

Despite the rate hikes, the incentivizing efforts and improving inventory levels may be enough to attract more customers.

Application. For automotive dealers in the United States, the key lies in adapting to these market changes and strategically using incentives and flexible payment options to attract and retain customers. In addition, educating customers about the current financial landscape and offering transparent, competitive loan options is also critical. This way, dealers can thrive in this fluctuating economic environment and maintain healthy sales numbers.

Telling it like it is - Things are starting to balance out. Dealers have cars, and people want to buy them. It seems the dealer who is able to connect a few extra dots for the customer will win sales that people operating with last year’s playbook will miss.

TOGETHER WITH AUTOMOTIVE TITLING COMPANY (ATC)

When Speed Meets Reliability

Speed and quality.

Never let em’ tell you you can’t have both.

“Automotive Titling Company has helped with all of my deals. They are professional, accessible, and prompt, and their deal entry site is so easy to use. I recommend ATC on a regular basis. The convenience and value they afford are unparalleled.” - Mercedes-Benz of Indianapolis.

Your time is precious, and Automotive Titling Company is a full-service white-glove solution for all your title and registration processing. Including guaranteed out-of-state registrations, which we don’t need to tell you is a state-by-state labyrinth that few escape with their vibes intact!

Contact ATC now and find out how they are helping dealers like you close more deals with less hassle!

AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

The average one-way commute for Americans is about 28 minutes, which is plenty of time to listen to The Automotive Troublemaker AND your daily hype song so you hit your day informed, entertained, and pumped up beyond belief.

Check out what Paul and Kyle have on their minds this morning, and let us know what you think!

AUTOMOTIVE

Motor Morsels: Nikola, Lucid, Volvo, Fisker

✌️🚛💧

Hydrogen truck maker Nikola says it is exiting its joint venture in Europe and will focus on the North American market. The company reported Q1 losses of around $169M.

🤕📉🔭

Lucid's problems are mounting as the company cannot compete meaningfully in Tesla's "price war." Shares were down 7% following reports of more considerable losses than expected while the company still seeks a financial backer to replace Foxconn continues.

🎣🚙🇺🇸

Sweden's Volvo wants to capture the hip young crowd with smaller electric SUVs. Little sister to the three-row EX90, the EX30 will debut globally on June 7th and open reservations to the US market the same day.

🚫📀👍

Fisker delayed its Ocean EV but wants everybody to know it isn't because of the software. The company denied reports that the EVs only work at low speeds but added an over-the-air update will go out sometime this year.

TL; DR - Nikola is refocusing its hydrogen ambition on the US, Lucid is having some trouble, Volvo says “smaller is their biggest idea,” and Fisker has delivered single-digit Ocean EVs and they are all having undisclosed issues that the company is denying are real.

CULTURE

Cursed Food Collabs

Burger King is back at it with the off-putting bun colors again, this time in a bright red with black sesame seeds, to help promote the June release of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”

The hyper-saturated buns will be used for their “Spider-Verse” Whopper, which is pretty much just like a regular Whopper except with Swiss cheese and the aforementioned offensive red bread. Very inspired. 🙄

In an unlikely collaboration, Kellogg and Microsoft have joined forces to bring the virtual world of Minecraft into reality with a limited-edition flavor of Pringles called "Suspicious Stew."

While eating these chips won't grant you any special powers like in the game, Kelloggs does promise a “burst of rich, hearty, and savory flavor” from the crisps.

Fans who purchase can also send their receipts to Kellogg to receive Minecoins and participate in the "Build for Better" Minecraft contest for a chance to see their play space idea turned into a real-life playground. 🛝

In an even more unlikely (and frankly abominable) collaboration, Velveeta and Compartés Chocolatier have partnered to create "TruffVels” — a cursed truffle that combines the creamy cheese recipe of Velveeta with handmade white chocolate shells.

This isn’t the first time the cheesy company has tried taking Velveeta into uncharted territory. It’s previously served up an actual Velveeta Martini and even offered cheese-scented nail polish.

No one asked for any of this, Velveeta. For the love of all things good and sacred, stay in your lane! 🙅

Telling it like it is - Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Quick Hits

• China’s imports are shrinking, and exports are slowing. 🐢

• Nintendo says its next console development is progressing well. 🎮

• Joe Biden will become the first sitting president to travel to Papua New Guinea. ✈️

• Scientists say there is a 5 trillion lb “structure” under the surface of the moon. This is a crazy thing to hear until you read that in this case “structure” could just mean a magma ocean, which is a cool name for a band, but not a hint toward Lunar Architects (which is also a good name for a band). 🎸🥁👽

History

• 1872: Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States.

• 1904: The Horch & Cir. Motorwagenwerke AG is founded. It would eventually become the Audi company.

• 1908: Mother's Day is observed for the first time in the United States, in Grafton, West Virginia.

• 1975: Sony introduces the Betamax videocassette recorder.