#454 - 🛠 The Tools For The Job

TOGETHER WITH

ASOTU has a lot to celebrate lately.

Work anniversaries, new teammates, new homes, and new adventures.

We are sure there is plenty to celebrate around your team too. Don’t save the good vibes for later; they are best served fresh.

Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, & Chris

DEALERS

Toolkits for Techs

Seven local automotive groups in the Greater Chattanooga area recently teamed up to address the growing need for talented and prepared technicians in their community by creating the Automotive Toolkit Initiative. 🧰

In a combined effort, the group donated $81K towards the purchase of 15 fully stocked toolkits for automotive technician training students at Chattanooga State's Tennessee College of Applied Technology. 🦾⚙️

These gear-loaded kits are a mechanic's dream, complete with all the essential tools of the trade in a sleek seven-drawer cabinet. 🛠️

In addition to the toolkits, the auto groups have each committed to fostering a continued collaborative environment with the college. In the future, they intend to organize job fairs and meet-and-greets with industry professionals and establish work-study programs to provide students with practical experience. 🧑‍🔧

The seven key automotive partners involved in the initiative include Bowers Automotive Group, Mountain View Auto Group, Crown Automotive, Integrity Motors, Sonic Automotive, Acura of Chattanooga, and Lexus of Chattanooga/Capital Toyota. 🔑

Their commitment to technical education has even earned them the prestigious Silver Star of Excellence Award, proving they're not just skilled at their dealerships, but also champions of the next generation. ⭐

Telling it like it is – A worker is only as good as their tools, and these groups are ensuring that a lack of quality tools will never hinder the ambitions of their future auto techs.

AUTOMOTIVE

New FTC Ad and Endorsement Rules

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently released its updated Endorsement Guides. The revised guidelines, which seek to protect the truthfulness of endorsements, were last modified in 2009, with proposed updates made in May 2022 to accommodate changes in social media use and online reviews.

As with any FTC guidelines, simply following them isn't enough; you could be asked to prove you are following them, so here is a breakdown of what is expected.

🤥 Truthfulness and Non-Misleading Endorsements: Ensure that all endorsements represent the honest opinions of the endorser.

🪟 Disclosure of Connections: If there's a connection between the endorser and marketer, make sure it is clearly disclosed.

👍 Handling Exceptional Results: If an endorsement claims above-average results, clarify the generally expected results.

⭐️ Avoid Manipulation of Reviews: Do not manipulate consumer reviews to distort public perception of a product.

😉 Manage Incentivized and Employee Reviews: Have clear and disclosed guidelines on incentivized reviews and reviews by employees.

🪖 Combat Fake Reviews: Do not create fake negative reviews of competitors.

📖 Understand the Definition of 'Endorsements': Be aware that endorsements now include fake reviews, virtual influencers, and social media tags.

📱Proper Disclosures on All Platforms: Ensure influencers disclose material connections across different platforms according to the FTC guidelines.

⏳ Continuous Updating of Endorsement Practices: Regularly update your endorsement practices based on the FTC's evolving guidelines and ensure your team and endorsers are trained in these changes.

🧑‍🍳 Cater to All Media: Ensure your advertising complies with the FTC guidelines across all forms of media, traditional and digital.

🎥 Engage in Regular Monitoring: Regularly monitor brand endorsements to ensure they align with the FTC's guidelines.

📋 Be Prepared for FTC Evaluation: Remember that the FTC evaluates potential violations of the FTC Act on a case-by-case basis. The primary focus is on advertisers and their ad agencies and PR firms.

Telling it like it is – Leave it to the FTC to say “Keep Not Lying” with a 10K word document.

TOGETHER WITH AUTOMOTIVE VENTURES

Upgrade Your Knowledge

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AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

As we roll into July, we’re checking in with our friends over at David Long’s All Things Used Cars to learn all about how to crush the second half of the year. We promise, you won’t want to miss it.

👉 Tune in at 9 am EST / 6 am PST for your weekly fix of ATUC here! 👈

AUTOMOTIVE

Motor Morsels: GM, NACS, and Price Truce

📈👩‍🏭💰

A Good Quarter Is Hard To Find. GM saw an 18.8% YoY increase in U.S. vehicle sales in Q2 2023, selling 691,978 units, including 15,652 EVs. It maintains its position as the country's largest automaker, with sales up 18.3% to nearly 1.3 million vehicles in H1 2023. Despite stabilizing supply chain issues, GM's EV production faces criticism for slow progress.

🤝🤔🙅‍♂️

And Then There Were Four-ish. VW is discussing with Tesla about adopting Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) for its EVs. This follows news that VW's EV charging station operator, Electrify America, will add Tesla charging plugs. Adoption by VW could prompt other European brands to follow suit. Toyota, however, has yet to respond to the industry's shift towards Tesla's standard. Hyundai, Nissan, and Stellantis are also evaluating the adoption of NACS.

🏳️✌️🕊️

I Will Price No More Forever. Over a dozen EV automakers, including Tesla, NIO, XPeng, and BYD, have pledged to regulate their marketing and avoid further price wars in China. The voluntary commitment is facilitated by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). It seeks to uphold fair market competition and stabilize the booming Chinese EV market. However, it's not legally binding and is viewed as self-regulatory.

TL; DR – GM is having a great year, Fewer companies by the day are holding out on adopting Tesla’s charging standard, and EV makers made a truce in the China price war.

CULTURE/TECHNOLOGY

New Threads

According to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's new social media app, Threads, which rivals Twitter, has attracted over 10 million users in just seven hours.

The Threads app requires an Instagram account for sign-up, which makes profile deletion only possible through Instagram account deletion (bye-bye vacation pictures from 2017).

Launch day blues? While the app has received significant support from major brands, some user complaints around features and verification processes have been noted.

Challenges include the need for a chronological feed and a web-based posting capability. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri addressed these issues, suggesting enhancements are planned.

Telling it like it is – Another app where we can read copy/pasted Tweets we missed when they were posted as screenshots on Facebook. yay…

Quick Hits

• Earth breaks record for the hottest day ever recorded for the third day in a row. 🥵🌎

• American workers voluntarily leaving jobs are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels. 🧑‍🚀✌️

• The Eagles announce a farewell tour. 🦅🎶

History

• 1928: Sliced bread is sold for the first time (on the inventor's 48th birthday) by the Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri. 🍞

• 1953: Subaru is established. 🦘

• 1981: Arizona Judge, Sandra Day O'Connor, is nominated to become the first female US Supreme Court justice. 👩‍⚖️

Too