🚙 Used Cars Bounce

TOGETHER WITH

Yup, we are only 1 week away from the very first ASOTUx event and Live Tonight with ASOTU in Arlington, TX!

We would love nothing more than to see you there, but we will certainly be happy if you catch the livestream as well. Just know, you wont get the cool swag we are bringing for the live guests...

Keep Pushing Back-Paul, Kyle, & Chris

DEALERS

CAG’s Employees Raise Big Money for United Way

Capitol Auto Group has raised a record-breaking $385K for the United Way of the Mid-Willamette Valley through its employee-driven campaign. 

The 28 Days of Love campaign for the United Way happens each February at the Oregon dealership, and the group has raised a whopping $2.1M for the charity over the last decade. This year’s campaign theme was "Year of the Rabbit" and included boat races, a silent auction, and weekly barbecue luncheons. 

Every year, each department in the company participates either through participation in fundraising activities, or personal donations via payroll deductions. This year, 98% of the contributions came directly from the generosity of the dealership’s staff. 

Telling it like it is - The rabbit is a sign of longevity, peace, and prosperity in Chinese culture, making it a spot-on theme for this inspiring campaign.

AUTOMOTIVE

Tesla’s Seat Belts, Nissan’s Electric Concept, Hyundai’s Human-Free Charging

A 0.004% chance of failure is almost negligible; unless you are one of the unlucky two in 50,000, then it is impossible to ignore.

Two Tesla owners reported faulty front seat belts, and now the NHTSA is investigating 50K 2022-2023 Model X EVs. The agency has not issued a recall, but if more faults are found, Tesla may have another big "service opportunity" on its hands.

That won't do resell value any favors. Due to price cuts across the brand, second-hand Tesla prices are suffering. One forecast suggests a new Model 3 bought in January 2023 will lose 54% of its value by January 2024. The price cuts have had a positive effect across markets, with Chinese buyers almost abandoning other brands.

Nissan revealed a concept for an electric version of their iconic sports car, the Nissan Skyline GT-R. One engineer with a passion for the legendary Skyline sports car asked the age-old question, "What if I put a battery in it?" and ta-da, the concept was born.

The announcement follows the Japanese automaker's attempts to revitalize their EV production with the introduction of 19 new models by 2030.

From the reasonable Leaf to the audacious Skyline, the company is making good on its electrified catch-up plans. These plans include deals with Nikola and Kenworth to provide electric delivery trucks. So eventually the most environmentally impactful part of your EV will be the strip mine and factory every single piece of it came from.

Hyundai/Kia has an idea for anybody missing the days of full service fill up stations or those who are simply not interested in learning how to operate EV chargers (like, seriously, we spent all this time learning how long to leave our card in the pump and you want to change it on us?!).

The South Korean automakers are experimenting with a "human-free" charging solution. The Automatic Charging Robot uses built-in lasers, cameras, and AI to handle charging at the push of a button on the driver's key FOB.

In addition to showing off new charging tech, the company has committed to pumping up production of its Ioniq 5s and Ioniq 6 EVs. They have sold about 1000 Ioniq 5s to date but plan to increase that number to 3K in 2023 and 6K in 2024. It seems "make more to sell more" is the name of the game, which isn't as snappy as "Uno," but we understand. 

TL: DR - Tesla may have to recall 50K cars, Nissan gets electric (big and small), and Hyundai thinks EV charging is missing robots. 

TOGETHER WITH CALLREVU

Happy Customers = Loyal Customers

Loyalty is valuable, but it doesn't have to be expensive.

CallRevu knows you can't beat the dependable, lifelong revenue and impactful advocacy a loyal customer offers, so they've partnered with us to explore the powerful connection between service and loyalty. 

Join ASOTU's Paul and Kyle for a webinar on March 29th from 2:00 - 3:00 pm EST to learn three ways better phone management can make your customers feel cared for. They will be joined by CallRevu's VP of Product Scott Bleasdell and Andrew Spitzer, the COO of Spritzer Auto Group.

AROUD THE ASOTU-VERSE

Pitch Tank by Auto Genius

Join us today for Pitch Tank live on LinkedIn Audio! This week our March finalists go head-to-head (to head) to see who will win the bragging rights of being our Pitch Tank champion! 

AUTOMOTIVE

Used Car Prices Bounce

👇👇☝️

Used car prices are back up from a drop late in 2022. 

🔭🗓️⏰

Cox Automotive estimates total used car sales will not reach pre-pandemic levels until 2026. 

📈🚗📉

Through mid-March, prices of used cars at auction increased by 8.8%. Used inventory levels are down 21% from a year ago and 26% from 2019. 

🏷️🚙💰

Another interesting datum is a 20% jump in leaseholders deciding to buy their vehicle at the end of their lease period. From 2019-2022, the residual value of vehicles compared to increasing prices and interest rates made buying the vehicles significantly cheaper than leasing a new one. 

🙋‍♀️❓🤨

In December 2022, Cox forecasted used car prices ending 2023 4.3% lower than 2022 and has not adjusted that forecast. Yet. 

Telling it like it is - *GIF Relates* The adult is used car inventory coming down, the child is used car prices going up. Ain’t data fun?

TECHNOLOGY

The Booming Battery Business

The US and Japan have struck a deal on EV battery minerals to strengthen both their battery supply chains and grant Japanese automakers wider access to the US’s $7,500 EV tax credit. 

The agreement prohibits the two countries from enacting bilateral export restrictions on the minerals most critical for EV batteries (lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese), and aims to reduce US-Japanese dependence on China for such materials. 

The US Treasury is expected to formally define what the sourcing requirements will be for the EV tax subsidies by the end of this week.

South Korean battery manufacturer, LG Energy Solution, has announced that it will invest $5.5B in building a factory complex in Arizona to supply batteries for EVs. The funding represents the largest single investment for a stand-alone battery manufacturing facility in the US.

The complex will consist of two facilities: one for cylindrical batteries used in EVs, and the other for lithium-iron-phosphate pouch-type batteries for energy storage systems. 

The project is scheduled to break ground later this year.

Winnebago is soaring into the future with a move to expand its commitment to electric RVs by acquiring lithium-ion solutions provider, Lithionics Battery. 

Lithionics Battery has been a supplier to the RV manufacturer since its inception in 2010, providing sustainable lithium-ion battery energy to its RVs. Now, the company is taking things one step further and is looking to secure the critical technology for its supply chain moving forward.

The acquisition is set to close in Q3 of this year and will likely be a game-changer for the company’s REV offerings.

Telling it like it is - The US and Japan make a pact on battery minerals, LG invests in the Grand Canyon State, and Winnebago buys its long time battery supplier.

Quick Hits

•  Twitter moves paid verification from perk to requirement… if you’d like your tweets seen by nonfollowers.

• Apple launches buy now, pay later service in US. You know, in case your taste says Apple, but your budget says grape. 

• People are loving John Wick 4, which must be why they made 4 of them. 

• Research finds possible link between light therapy and slowing cardiovascular aging.

History

• 1927: Henry Segrave, using the Sunbeam 1000hp, becomes the first person to go 200 MPH on land.

• 1973: The last United States combat soldiers leave South Vietnam

• 1999: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10,000 mark (10,006.78) for the first time, during the height of the dot-com bubble.