💻 Taking The Conversation Online

TOGETHER WITH

If you know, you know.

In case you don’t: Digital Dealer starts today in Tampa. People from all over the nation and auto industry will gather to trade ideas and vibes, catch up on life, and look into the future.

Of course, where the industry gathers, you’ll find ASOTU. So be on the look out for the crew at the show, and join us for the premiere of our first and retail automotive’s only docu-series, “More Than Cars” tonight!

Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, & Chris

DEALERS

Gary Rome’s Committment to Community

Gary Rome was named the 2023 TIME Dealer of the Year at this year’s NADA Convention, and deservedly so — it seems the man never stops seeking ways to give back to his community.

Washing your pup and truck will soon become a one-stop errand with Gary Rome Hyundai’s new Car and Dog Wash Center. Rome and his team hired a company with over 40 years of experience in the whip-wash industry to install the latest equipment, design a water recycling system, and select the best biodegradable detergents, ensuring your pooch and your coupe get the royal treatment every time.

Rome intends to offer local schools, nonprofits, and charities engaging opportunities with the sudsy center. For example, if the local high school wants to fundraise for their baseball team, customers could present a special coupon code, and a percentage of the sale would be donated to the team.

Gary recently partnered with the Holyoke Community College for their third annual fundraising campaign to support student programs and scholarships. “I am happy to be partnering with HCC for a third consecutive year because I am so passionate about making sure a college education is accessible to everyone,” said Rome of the event. “Together HCC: The Drive to Change Lives is one day where we really can make a difference.”

When Gary isn’t running an auto group, building a five-thousand-square-foot wash center, fundraising for community college students, or sleeping (for what we assume is less than an hour a night), you can find him donating books and reading to 4th graders at the Peck School in Holyoke with his own furry friend, Daisy. 🐶

We’re thrilled that Gary’s contributions are not going unnoticed. He was recently named the 2023 Business Person of the Year by the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce and the 2023 Difference Maker by BusinessWest (a local business journal in Western Massachusetts).

Telling it like it is - Recognition means a job well done to some people and a job well started to others. Gary seems to be the latter.

AUTOMOTIVE

Facebook: The Final Frontier?

Meta updated marketplace rules starting January 30th, 2023, making it harder for business pages to list items for sale. Last we checked, dealerships are businesses, and vehicles are items. 🏎️

🤑 Dealers can still use the marketplace platform, but not for free, like Joe Schmo selling his old leaf blower. For a business to effectively use FB marketplace, they need to buy ad space OR post from a personal page named for the dealership.

🤷🤷‍♂️🤷‍♀️ 3 months later. Data and word from dealers is divided, with those businesses who have had success eating the cost of continued use and the ones who have never cared for FBMP maintaining their course of apathetic disregard.

😶📖 Not the only game in town. Facebook is certainly not the only spot for dealers to do business online, but finding an effective way to get their cars in front of online shoppers becomes more important each day.

📈One set of data by Straits Research projects online car buying to reach $722B by 2030. For reference, in 2021 US vehicles and parts industry generated $1.5T.

Telling it like it is - Loopholes or changed laws - something is going to make it possible for automakers to sell directly to consumers at some point. Shouldn’t WE be selling “directly” to them first?

AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

So Much More Than Cars

Tonight is the night! 🍿🎥

If you're attending Digital Dealer or happen to be within an hour of Tampa, join us for the premiere of "More Than Cars."

ASOTU knows automotive is an industry worth a closer look, so we took a closer look and recorded what we found! Stories of triumph, humility, collaboration, community, and much more than display how the dealership world is about so much more than cars.

Join us!

Word-Ro-Nymns

SEO
Search Engine Optimization
An unpaid digital marketing strategy that aims to increase organic traffic to a website by making the website more visible on search engine results pages.

AUTOMOTIVE

Quick Bites: Lordstown’s, Kia Boyz, Toyota

🚙💰📉

US-based electric truck maker, Lordstown Motors, said yesterday they just-may-but-hopefully-won't be filing bankruptcy. Shares dropped 48% following word that Foxconn may pull their $170M investment in the automaker following a delisting notice from Nasdaq due to Lordstown's stock value failing to maintain a trade value over $1. Foxconn says the delisting breaches their agreement with Lordstown. Lordstown says if Foxconn bails, things may be over for its electric dream.

🥷🚗🍎

"Kia Boyz" ride again, but maybe not for long? The NYPD and Mayor Eric Adams announced a new plan to combat the wave of TikTok trend-related car thefts plaguing Hyundai and Kia owners for a while now.

The Mayor's plan? Apple Air Tags. 500 Apple Air Tags, to be specific. Enough for 500 of the city's residents to track their car if it wanders from where it should be. Owners can give police permission to use the tracking data to retrieve the vehicle if they are iPhone users, of course.

🦋🚁👯

Toyota and Joby Aviation’s partnership has reached new heights after signing a long-term supply agreement to mass-produce passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The California-based start-up first garnered attention in 2018 after raising $100M in funding from big players like JetBlue and Intel. In 2020, Toyota invested $394M of its $590M pledge, and the recent supply agreement will further assist in the development and scaling of production.

TL; DR - Lordstown needs a hero, the law is closing in on the Kia Boyz, and Toyota just wants to fly.

WHAT THE KIDS ARE INTO

Art For Breakfast

Art is in the eye of the beholders. As are snacks, we guess? 🍌

🍌🍌🍌One Italian artist has peeled back our understanding of what "fine art" can mean with his installations. Maurizio Cattelan recently used duct tape to attach a banana to a wall. Previous versions of the piece, entitled "Comedian," sold for $120K. 🍌🍌

🍌🍌🍌While on display in South Korea's Leeum Museum, a student by the name of Noh Huyn-soo removed the banana from the wall, ate it, and taped the empty peel back on the wall. When asked why, he said he was hungry but suggested his actions may be considered art also, which at this point, totally tracks. 🍌🍌🍌🍌

🍌The museum and artist say they won't pursue any actions against Noh and also stated they had the banana replaced within 30 minutes of the tragic offense. 🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌

Telling it like it is - Let’s agree to never tell the grocery store about this $120K banana. Never ever. 🍌

Quick Hits

• The Godfather of AI leaves Google with a word of caution regarding tech. 🤖

• Mario movie tops $1B in global revenue. 🍄

• Toronto Maple Leafs break 19-year dry spell with a win taking them to 2nd round of the playoffs. 🏒

History

• 1611: The King James Version of the Bible is published for the first time in London, England, by printer Robert Barker.

• 1918: General Motors buys Chevrolet.

• 1952: The first commercial jet airliner, De Havilland Comet, takes off.