#455 - 🏆 Winning The Year

TOGETHER WITH

We’re 76 days from ASOTU CON 2023 in Baltimore, MD.

Last year we had a stated mission of reimagining, improving, and pushing back on everything people thought an automotive conference could be.

This year, we’ve set the bar even higher and can’t wait to show each of you the trouble we’re brewing.

Keep Pushing Back,
-Paul, Kyle, & Chris

DEALERS

Winning The Rest Of 2023

Last week on David Long's All Things Used Cars, the community held a free for all discussion about winning the second half of 2023. Together the shared perspectives and tips add up to an optimistic belief that the rest of the year will go the way we want it as long as we are disciplined, consistent, and focused on our goal.

1. 🌱 Prioritize Leadership Development: Leadership effectiveness directly affects the team's performance. Leaders should strive for self-improvement and raise personal standards.

2. 🏋️‍♂️ Focus on Training and Development: Regular, relevant training sessions on real-world situations should be the norm. Leverage external learning opportunities and coaching tools to enhance team capabilities.

3. 👍 Uphold Accountability: Regular check-ins, one-on-ones, and performance reviews should be conducted to track progress and identify areas for improvement.

4. 🙂 Promote a Positive Work Environment: Create an environment where employees feel safe but stretched without fear of job loss.

5. ⚖️ Manage Performance: Don't tolerate poor performance. Address subpar habits directly and turn them into opportunities for growth and improvement.

6. 📈 Maintain High Standards: Avoid resting on past laurels and always aim for growth beyond past accomplishments.

7. 📏 Emphasize Business Development: Improve Business Development Center (BDC) closing ratios and effective follow-ups.

8. 🗺️ Strategically Plan and Prepare: Treat the start of the year's second half as a fresh start. Understand your goals, assess the current landscape, and build on your strengths while improving weaknesses.

9. ☎️ Invest in Effective Communication: Regular feedback and practice are crucial. Encourage the use of video for customer communication and ensure clear, concise instructions are provided to the team.

10. 🧹 Manage Physical and Online Presence: Maintaining and managing stores, websites, and other customer touchpoints are crucial. Make the process quick, fun, and easy for customers, focusing on offering high trade value and addressing affordability issues.

Telling it like it is – Help us bring the rubber to the road. Hit reply and add to the list, challenge an item on it, or tell us how to get them into practice with more efficiency.

/Positivity

Do you have a story showing the positive impact dealerships have on their community? Let us share it!

TOGETHER WITH UPSTART

Time To Level Up

Join us and our friends at Upstart for a half-hour dive into a revolutionary approach to the car-buying experience.

Be where they need you! Combine your online and in-store capabilities to provide an omni-channel solution that is more than a buzzword.

Reclaim your time. Improve CSI, achieve higher PVR, and save time.

Level up. Know when, where, and how to upgrade the experience you provide customers in person or online.

This thirty-minute webinar will send everybody home with something valuable. Register now and join us on July 12th at 2 pm EST.

AUTOMOTIVE

Motor Morsels: Hyundai, Ford, VW, and Tesla

🔋😘❓

EV popularity is growing in the US. According to EY's annual Mobility Consumer Index, interest in EVs is surging in the US, with nearly half of prospective car buyers considering plug-in models over the next two years.

Some people are buying them, mainly from Tesla. Hyundai has nudged past GM for second place in US EV sales. Tesla's dominance persists with a roughly 300K vehicle lead.

Some people are cool with making their own... Ampere EV is pioneering vehicle conversion with its Atom Drive Battery Module. It is an innovative, space-efficient solution for EV transformation, promising longevity and safety.

🪜🛻🪜 

Two steps forward, one step back? In Q2 2023, Ford Motor Company reported a 10% increase in sales to 531,662 units in the US. However, despite this overall growth, the company's EV sales slipped by 2.8% over the same period, a downturn in the otherwise buoyant US electric car market.

Ships in the night... This dip came despite a strong performance from Ford's F-150 Lightning, which saw sales rise by 118.7% to 4,466 units in Q2. Conversely, the Mustang Mach-E experienced a 21.1% YoY sales drop.

A going away party by any other name. Ford recently secured a record $9.2 billion loan from the Department of Energy's Loan Program Office to bolster domestic battery production. Amid these transitions, Ford ended production of the Fiesta as part of its move towards an electric future.

🤖⚡️🚌 

Do androids take the electric bus? This month, Volkswagen plans to test autonomous versions of its ID Buzz electric microbus in Austin, Texas, ahead of a commercial launch in 2026. The self-driving tech is developed in-house with partner Mobileye following Volkswagen's withdrawal of funding for Argo AI.

Coming soon to a street near you? The trial will expand to four more US cities over the next three years. In this pursuit, Volkswagen has formed a new subsidiary, Volkswagen ADMT, which former Argo employees staff.

📢💰👯 

A discount with extra steps. Tesla has launched a global "Refer and Earn" program, incentivizing customer referrals with benefits such as $500 cashback and three months of its Full Self-Driving feature for US customers purchasing Model 3 or Model Y.

New record. The program aims to boost sales in key markets, including the US, China, Germany, and France, amid a more competitive global EV market. This strategy, coupled with price cuts and US federal credits, aided Tesla in achieving a record number of vehicle deliveries in Q2.

TL; DR – US EV interest is growing, and so are people's options for getting one. Different companies are trying different things to claim the new market, but it is still too early to see what plan will ultimately win out. For now, Tesla has a target on its back, and everybody else seems to be packing a water pistol.

CULTURE

The New Toy In Vegas

Vegas's new $2.3B star, Sphere, is now the largest LED screen on Earth, glowing with 1.2M puck lights. A 'living architecture,' Sphere is also the world's biggest spherical structure, comfortably seating 17,600 spectators.

Get ready for a light show, folks—U2's opening concert is in September, and we assume something much cooler will happen sometime after that.

Telling it like it is – Remember when U2 downloaded themselves on all our Apple devices?

Quick Hits

• Twitter is talking litigation over Meta’s new Threads app. 👩‍⚖️

• Thirty-one years after the original, Mortal Kombat 1 reimagines the franchise. 🥷

• The Northern Lights will be visible in 17 US states on July 13th. 🔭

History

• 1938: Aviator Howard Hughes makes a record flight around the world ✈️

• 1962: The three-point seat belt is patented 🥽

• 1965: The Rolling Stones have their first number-one single on the US Billboard charts with "I Can't Get No Satisfaction." 🎸