#473 - 🍔 Virtual Kitchen, Real Lawsuit

TOGETHER WITH

Between “Sorry, the ice cream machine is broken” and “You’re our one-millionth customer” are a multitude of customer moments that can go either way.

Every customer will be different, but smiling, offering cold water, and walking people where they are trying to get is a great start.

Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, & Chris

LOT WALK

• CMA serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner! 🥫

• Dale Pollak shares acquisition wisdom. 👨‍🏫

• Subaru eyes EVs, Toyota brings a new hybrid, and Ford restarts producing Lightings. 📰

• Mr. Beast takes his burger cook to court. 🍔
  
  Reading time: 4 min 11 sec

DEALERS

Cars and Cans

Liza Borches and the Carter Myer's Automotive team brought the community together for good at their annual Cars and Cans food drive!

Liza notes that summer makes already food-insecure homes more challenging as children are home from school and food bank donations plummet.

The CMA associates, who are owners of the business, partnered with customers and local non-profits to bring in a staggering 9,770 meals.

In a LinkedIn post, Liza commented that through this sort of collaboration, "The word 'care' becomes a verb."

/Positivity

Do you have a story highlighting the positive impact dealerships are having on their community? 🕊️

AUTOMOTIVE

A Word From Mr. Pollak

In a recent blog post, Dale Pollak spoke about rapidly changing inventory sources. He offered three essential practices to make them work.

📈 Measure Channel Performance: It's not about guessing. It is vital to know exactly where, what type, and how profitable the vehicles you acquire from each channel are. Tracking individual channel performance helps to map out a strategic stocking plan that aligns with your goals.

Guessin’ leads to stressin’; so get out your measuring cup and count these cars!

🔍 Appraiser Performance Analysis: Different appraisers may have varying methods for assessing a vehicle's value, causing disparities in inventory cost. Understanding these differences allows for better-informed decisions, coaching, and sometimes reassigning responsibilities.

Everybody’s different, and that’s beautiful, but the value of a car should not be left in the eye of the beholder.

🚗 Universal Appraisal Process: Create a standardized process for assessing a vehicle's condition and value across all channels. This uniformity reduces variance and helps grab cars that align with the business strategy.

If you can’t explain what you want your appraisers to do, how do you expect them to do it?

Recent stats highlight this shift — In 2022, 66% of used cars were sourced from trade-ins, up from 63% in 2019, and street purchases nearly tripled from 4.8% to 13.5%. Even giants like CarMax now acquire 94% of vehicles directly from customers.

These practices can give dealers an edge in a market that requires proficiency across multiple sourcing channels. Measuring and managing are the keys to thriving in today's complex sourcing environment.

AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

ASOTU CON Is Upon Us!

Less than two months away! Are you ready for ASOTU CON 2023 in Baltimore from Sep 25-27?? 🎉

Participants > Attendees. Come to innovate, collaborate, and engage with experts from automotive and beyond.

Keep it real with the best of the best. Experience real talk panels, solve real problems together, and take your place as part of the new retail automotive era.

Don't miss out — get your tickets now! 🎟️

AUTOMOTIVE

In Summary

⚡️🔪⛽️

Chop in half! Subaru plans to hit 600,000 annual BEV sales by 2030, making up 50% of its global sales. The Japanese automaker will invest $10.51 billion in electrification and expand its EV lineup.

🤺🙅‍♀️🤝 

Can't beat em'? Buy em'! Volkswagen is reportedly in talks with Chinese EV startup Leapmotor for a tech collaboration concerning the Jetta brand. This potential cooperation may involve purchasing Leapmotor's new EV platform.

📼🪄💿

Old but new. Toyota has unveiled the first hybrid version of its iconic Land Cruiser, targeting North America and other key markets. The new model aims to offer a cleaner option for SUV enthusiasts.

🛻🚛🚚 

Truuuuucks! After upgrades, Ford has reopened its F-150 Lightning production factory, tripling its output to 150,000 vehicles annually. Recent price cuts led to a sixfold increase in orders for the electric pickup.

👩‍🎤🧑‍🎤👨‍🎤 

There can be only one. Chinese EV maker Xpeng delivered 11,008 vehicles in July, its highest this year, but was outshined by rivals Nio and Li Auto, who delivered 20,462 and 34,134 vehicles, respectively, indicating intense competition.

CULTURE

Mr. Beast Bites Back

The renowned YouTuber and philanthropist Mr. Beast has one of the most recognizable brands on the planet. Recently, however, his flawless image has been tainted. Not by a salacious scandal, but by something far worse — crappy burgers. 🍔

James Donaldson (aka Mr. Beast) is suing Virtual Dining Concepts, the company behind his branded fast food line, MrBeast Burger, citing "revolting,” “inedible” food and subpar standards. Donaldson's lawsuit claims that his ghost-kitchen partner prioritized expansion over quality control and failed to address concerns raised by his team. 😠

Brand integrity is vital for every business, and Jimmy’s story reinforces the significance of safeguarding your brand identity in delivering exceptional products/services. Companies thrive by holding all associated entities accountable and prioritizing a brand’s reputation. 💪

Highlighting the importance of unwavering quality standards, Kyle reminded us on this week’s Troublemaker podcast that “every single micro-interaction directly reflects your brand and your brand’s ability to create customer lifetime value. If you’re not paying attention to every single step and dissecting whether or not your brand is experienced through your people, it’ll drive you into the ground.” 🔎

🎙️🎧 Check out the full podcast segment here. 🎧🎙️

Quick Hits

• NASA is set to launch a subscription-free streaming service (predictably) named NASA+. 🚀

• Concrete could someday power EVs and homes. 🗿

• AI and body scans could replace extras in Hollywood. 🤖

• Look at this biograph. The world’s most hated band filmed a documentary. 🖼️

History

• 1492: Christopher Columbus sets sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain. ⛵️

• 1900: Firestone Tire & Rubber is founded. 🚜

• 1914: Germany and France each declare war on the other, signaling the beginning of World War I. 🇫🇷🇩🇪