“The orders are for 45 different models and are valued at $1.2 billion per an Autonomy press release 

Will take delivery of all 23,000 vehicles within 18 months, Founder and CEO, Scott Painter told Automotive News.

Until now the company only had Tesla Model 3s, and is moving to including the Model Y, several GM models including the Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq. Also about 1000 vehicles each from Volkswagen, Ford, Hyundai, Kia and Rivian and fewer than 500 each from Polestar, Volvo and Canoo

Painter founded TrueCar and Fair

Take away: We don’t know if the business model will work or not, but it definitely will promote overall EV adoption

Were sitting on 95k assembled vehicles waiting on chips at the end o f Q2 and have cleared more than 20K of them in July

Plan  to reduce the number of chip families by 95% in future designs, to prevent future shortage 

CFO Paul Jacobson said the number of chip families used will drop by 95% down to 3 total. He also noted increased involvement throughout the manufacturing chain

Take away: These aren’t flashy announcements, but most nuts and bolts improvements aren’t. That’s a good thing. 

Wanda Pogue, Chief Strategy Officer at VaynerMedia cites a new study that shows 40% of Gen Z users prefer TikTok and Instagram over Google when it comes to search

“...my Gen Z daughter had a group of friends over. I asked them about their behavior on TikTok, and they agreed: It’s the platform they go to now when searching for anything, from the highest-rated beauty products and clothing trends to the best restaurants in the area or recipes to try”

Gen Z prioritizes authenticity and utility which is one of the reasons why they like the visual representation with more real-world application 

“Social channels have become brands’ digital storefronts, and the content shared on them is the cornerstone of building a modern brand. It’s an always-on game of relevance, where brand channels need to be “alive” to engage existing communities’

Take away: What was that you were saying  about “organic content”?

Owner Gregg Ciocca Sr grew up near the “Flemington Car and Truck Country” founded by the late Steve Kalafer and knew him personally

Steve Kalafer, a prominent dealer known for speaking out against stair-step incentive and other automaker programs that he thought disadvantaged retailers, also founded a minor league baseball team and attained national acclaim for producing short films.

The stores have been run by Kaalafer’s two sons since his death in 2021

"It was really two family businesses that just shook hands very quickly," Ciocca said. "They wanted a good family to take over their great family business. So I felt very privileged and fortunate they chose me and my Ciocca family, my three sons, to be the stewards of that business, which is a high-performing dealer group."

Ciocca ranks #83 on the most recent AN top 150 list

Take away: What other industry is like this? Come meet Gregg in person at ASOTU CON! 

Revenue is up to a higher than expected 26% which caused the stock price to jump 7% in after hours trading

Subscribers to Disney + were up however the company slightly lowered future expectations 

When combining all streaming properties (D+, Hulu, ESPN+) Disney now has over 221M subs,  surpassing than Netflix

Disney also outlined new pricing to make room for the ad supported tier of Disney+

Shifting from ‘proof of work’ to ‘proof of stake’, once the transition is complete, the currency will become far more efficient and inexpensive to transact on while using 99.95% less energy

Unlike Bitcoin which is just an asset to hold and trade, ETH is a utility which can be used to carry and deploy smart contracts

The price of ETH reached over $1900 overnight w

Stock for stock transaction to be traded as SFT on Nasdaq 

Shift is an ecomm platform has primarily a west coast presence, while CarLots has a  mid-atlantic presence and is primarily a brick and mortar consignment model

Shift will be cutting of its workforce (about 60%) through end of year

Shifts current President, Jeff Clementz will become the company’s CEO

They are expected to have a position of  $125m in cash

Take away: Consolidation is moving beyond franchised dealers, but can it hold

Price included in separate section of the sticker and is included in the MSRP of all ordered Buicks and GMCs June 2 and Escalades ordered starting July 18

Customer pays even if the service is never activated

Rack rate is $49.99, the baked in pricing comes to 41.67 with an auto renew at full price

GM’s research resorts that customers subscribe to 25 products and services and will spend $135 per month on them on avg

GMs goal is to have $20-25B in sub revenue by 2030

Take away: Forcing customers to buy something they weren’t buying before doesn’t seem like a winning strategy

Former Mazda N/A CMO Dino Bernacchi started working at EchoPark in October and said that’s “when the company really decided to shift gears on the trajectory of growth and start building more than just an infrastructure of locations.”

Now that infrastructure has been laid, it's time to “actually build the brand” said Bernacchi

Vayner CEO, Gary Vaynerchuk said the agency will handle creative, strategy, analytics, and more with a focus on social

Take away: We’ve been waiting for someone to do this at scale, the good news is, everyone can take this approach today

Trying to push adoption of the RCS, universal messaging format

One tweet from Android reads “iMessage should not benefit from bullying. Texting should bring us together, and the solution exists. Let’s fix this as one industry”

Take away: Where do we start on this one? 

Research firm Growth from Knowledge (GFK) AutoMobility shows loyalty toward brands and dealerships is continuing to decline as MSRP and more is the norm

80% of car buyers paid at or above the sticker price in May and June

31% of buyers who did said they would tell others not to go to the dealership they used, and 27 percent said they wouldn’t return to the dealership for service

27% of respondents said they would not buy from the same brand if charged over MSRP, and 23 percent said it negatively impacted their opinion of the brand

Julie Kenar, senior vice president at GFK AutoMobility said, "It's not that brands aren't doing anything; a lot of brands have communicated with their dealers that 'You're potentially damaging the equity that you've built up in your dealership and we've built up in our brand,'  "But from a legal perspective, there's not a whole lot that brands can do. We're hoping that with releasing this research, this will provide brands and dealers with some data points to say that this is not anecdotal."

Take away: Whether you are charging over MSRP or not, it’s time to be proactive about over-delivering on experience

Consumer confidence in the housing market dropped to the lowest level since 2011, as both prospective buyers and sellers have become more pessimistic

Just 17% of those surveyed in July said now is a good time to buy a home, down from 20% in June, according to a monthly survey by Fannie Mae

the share of sellers who think it’s a good time to list their homes dropped to 67% in July from 76% two months prior

The index consists of six components: buying conditions, selling conditions, home price outlook, mortgage rate outlook, job loss concern and change in household income

Currently at 62%, down 13% from last year, down from 93.7% in 2019

Prices aren’t dropping yet, however both supply and time-on-market are going up

Take away: People are feeling uncertain about houses and cars, therefore providing even small amounts of certainty, peace of mind, and a smile can go a long way

Through a collab with APL (Athletic Propulsion Labs), the company is unveiling a new pair of athletic shoes

World-class materials: midsole made out of Future Foam connected to a carbon fiber plate that runs the length of the shoe. A separate midsole gets infused with nitrogen

The 2 color selections are inspire

Lifts the cap on $7500 EV tax credit across manufacturers

Significant requirements for EV battery assembly to happen in the US and sourcing also heavily regulated

60% made/assembled in US by 2024 ramping to 100% by 2029

Also includes an MSRP Cap (80k trucks, 55k passenger)

Income cap 300k married 150k single

Doubles the size of the IRS

Will be voted on in the house on Friday and is likely to pass

A 2020 report from US News and World Report is making the rounds as consumers are looking for any tips and tricks to steer them in the current environment

Avoid buying cars in the spring — that’s when most folks want a new car for the summer.

August is the best time to buy a non-luxury “leftover” model.

December is the time to buy a luxury vehicle.

The week between Christmas and New Year’s is the time for great deals

Consumers are receiving “there is no silver bullet” advice more than ever

“This whole concept of hitting the dealer at the “right time” isn’t really applicable today, when dealers have little motivation to bargain and the likelihood of them having the car you really want could be low.”

Take away: This is a big opportunity to educate and empathize. Get ahead of the visit w your marketing and outreach

CVS was the first to break the plane from pharmacy to patient care when it acquired MinuteClinic in 2006 and grew it from 83 to 1,100in-store clinics staffed by nurse practitioners

CVS has plans to enter primary care and acquire its way into 1,000 units across the country

Competitors WalGreens acquired Village MD, WalMart acquired MeMd to add virtual medical and mental health to in-person clinics, Amazon acquired One Medical 

Take away: Automotive isn’t the only brick and mortar retail being challenged by new entrants

Less than $506M Q1 loss but way less than $45M profit YoY

Revenue up 16%, Units up 9% to 117,564

Profit per unit down 34%  $5120 to $3368

In May, the company said it would dismiss 2,500 employees (12% of team) and top executives would forgo their salaries through end of 2022

First half loss this year $945M vs $37M last year

Realized first returns from ADESA integration and CEO Ernie Garcia is “extremely happy with [its] integration progress so far."

Embedding market hubs in 18 ADESSA locations and shifting some recon into ADESA locations, closed one recon center in Ohio and opening one in Richmond, VA

Stock up 13% in pre-market trading

According to the largest Mall Operator in the country Simon Property Group (SPG) retailers are not backing out of deals to open up stores

tenant occupancy rate is even up year-over-year, currently at 93.9 percent over 2021’s 91.8 percent.

Better than usual lease terms in cost and term flexibility

Online stores moving into Brick and Mortar, lux brands moving into suburbs with smaller versions of flagship stores as luxury buyers remain strong

Foot traffic is up 1.7 over last year but still below pre-pandemic highs

This year there has been a net increase of 2,478 stores in the U.S., with 4,432 openings and only 1,945 closings, according to Coresight Research as reported by CNBC.

New autonomous driving tech can see around corners

Neural Propulsion Systems

Human error causes 95% of car accidents 

The theory is if a system can see and process object from far enough away, they can be eliminated

This requires a data acquisition and processing rate of 100 terabits per second—that's 10 million times the estimated sensory data rate flowing from your eyes to your brain when you're not drunk or distracted.

combo of multiband radar, MIMO lidar, cameras, and "atomic-norm" computing

Combines solid-state array consisting of multiple laser emitters and receivers, each focused on a small area able to identify small objects at 540 yards

A bicycle was identified at 1,285 feet

Production anticipated for 2023

Currently: $7500 credit for the first 200k units per OEM

50 percent of the critical minerals used in EV batteries to be extracted or processed in the U.S. or a country with a free trade agreement in effect, or from materials that were recycled in North America. In 2024 and 2025, 60 percent of the battery components must be made or assembled in North America.

Increase to 80 percent after 2026 for critical minerals, and by 2029 would require 100 percent of the battery components to be made or assembled in North America. 

Final assembly of the vehicle also must occur within North America — a provision that would apply immediately after the bill is enacted.

Credit Caps - Sticker: MSRP cap at $80k for new pickups, SUVs and vans, and $55k for other vehicles such as sedans

Credit Caps - Income: Adjusted gross incomes cap at $300,000 for joint filers, $225,000 for a head of household and $150,000 for single filers.

$4,000 tax credit for consumers buying certain used EVs and a credit for certain commercial vehicles

Based on results from roughly two-thirds of the companies in the index, capital expenditures have risen 20% from a year earlier to $149.8 billion

GM CFO Paul Jacobson talked about expanding its electric-vehicle fleet. “The investments we have made in these vehicles over the last couple of years…provide a strong bridge to our all-electric future as spending rose from 1.5 to 2.1B YoY

Alphabet investing in servers and tech infrastructure: “With an uncertain global economic outlook, our strategy to invest in deep technology and computer science to build helpful products for the long term is the right one,” Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said on the company’s earnings call

PepsiCo finance chief Hugh Johnston pointed to digital investments to ensure stores are stocked with appropriate inventory 

President Pete Nordstrom recently hosted an episode of “The Nordy Pod” interviewed with Craig Trounce, the sales associate behind the stor

Mr. Trounce called a local Firestone dealer to try and gauge the value ($25) of the tires that Sam was returning without a receipt. Sam got his refund.

Mr Trounce is currently Manager of the Phoenix con

Toyota and Honda down for 12th straight month, Hyundai and Kia down 5 months

Toyota ended July with 104,790 vehicles in stock — 14,258 at dealers and 90,532 in port or transit — or a 16-day supply.

Hybrids and plug-in hybrids rose 12 percent at Hyundai and 86 percent at Kia

American Honda said the Honda and Acura brands continue to see "unprecedented high turn rates," reflecting "strong retail demand" despite supply chain and logistics constraints

"There are plenty of headwinds pushing against a notable recovery in sales volumes," Cox Automotive Senior Economist Charlie Chesbrough said. "Rising interest rates and low consumer sentiment are keeping many potential buyers out of the market. At the same time, higher prices for both gasoline and vehicles are making affordability an even greater challenge. Tight supply, however, continues to be the biggest obstacle over the near term, and there is little evidence of supply returning to normal."

Avg interest rate was 5.5%, avg loan term 71 mos

Mark Begor, Equifax’s chief executive, publicly acknowledged the flub at a June investor conference, calling it a coding issue that affected “legacy applications that resulted in some scores going out that had incorrect data” “The impact is going to be quite small,” Mr. Begor said, “not something that’s meaningful to Equifax.

Equifax told one large auto lender that about 10% of applicants during the three-week period had inaccurate scores, according to a person familiar with the matter. Of those, several thousand saw a change of 25 points or more on their credit score, the person said. In a small number of cases, applicants went from having no credit score at all to a score in the 700s—or vice versa, the person said.

A report from Bloomberg highlighting Revelio Labs study showed that postings for jobs relating to the “metaverse” dropped by a whopping 81% between April and June 2022

Meta CEO cited “fierce headwinds” in a recent call while Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company was taking a more ‘deliberate’ a

When vehicles are quickly resold, particularly by unauthorized dealers or other resellers that do not adhere to GM's standards, the customer experience suffers and GM's brands are damaged.  As a result, on certain high demand enthusiast products, we are limiting the transferability of certain warranties and barring the seller from placing future sold orders or reservations for certain high demand models (as identified by GM) if the vehicle is resold within the first 12 months of ownership.  

Currently, the products impacted by these changes include the following: 23MY Cadillac Escalade-V, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, and GMC HUMMER EV (SUT and SUV).  Certain warranties will not be transferable if the original owner resells the vehicle within one year of delivery. 

Main issue: Warranty will be voided on sale or transfer of vehicle.

Take Away: As the mediator between OEM and customer, dealers MUST educate and lead with empathy when communicating these new guidelines.

According to digital marketing agency Hedges & Company the average age of cars in the US  will reach 12.3 years in 2023

Houston based Group 1 has seen service and parts sales hit an 14.5% increase over last year on a same-store basis, the largest percentage increase of the publicly traded new-car groups and an 8.4% increase over 2019 pre-pandemic numbers

The group is shifting parts and service schedules back to the 4 day work week model they deployed pre-pandemic citing the ability to add more shifts, increase work per bay, make operating hours more convenient for consumers, and increase employee satisfaction

Take away: Dealers have most control and opportunity in service, a lot of these best practices don’t require capital injections but process and mindset shifts

Proctor and Gamble reported that consumers are using up products they have stockpiled over the recession and not restocking

Dove soap has introduced smaller sizes of its products and is leaning in on popular search terms like “bar soap” adding “More Moisturizing Than Bar Soap” to the name of its “Dove Beauty Bar Sensitive Skin”

In down times, as shoppers make decisions against luxuries like going to the salon, they will often make purcha

In March the company announced plans to build 2M EVs annually by 2026. There have been many skeptics on how this could be achieved

In the July 21st call, Farley said the company has nearly everything it needs to make 600k vehicles in 2023 and 70% of what it needs to hit the 2026 goal

Farly says the company will focus more on upgrading tech and motors and less on body-style upgrade similar to Tesla

When discussing the franchise model, Farley said it puts Ford at a $2k per car disadvantage and will look to made-to-order model, and changing the way they market vehicles, pushing dealers to focus on delivery, education, and service to bridge the gap

Take away: Body style…you mean like BMW. Also, dealers could do well to lean into delivery, education, and service. Is there a revenue model here?

"Post-sale support is a consistent challenge for startup automakers, as it's always more demanding, resource-intense and costly than startup CEOs can conceive," said Karl Brauer, executive analyst for iSeeCars. "This is one of the reasons the franchise dealership model has worked so well for traditional automakers — it allows the automaker to design, engineer and build vehicles, while dealers focus on selling and servicing them," Brauer said.

Rivian’s South San Francisco service center has become more than a service location as customers now show up to see the vehicles and even test drive

Rivian has 21 service centers open in the US, in larger metros such as: Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas and Orlando. 

6 more are planned by the end of the year as recent layoffs have not affected service operations. A second Bay Area service station will open soon in San Jose

Rivian is focusing on delivering 25k vehicles this year which is far less than it’s production backlog of almost 100k vehicles

Spencer Dinwiddie says locker room convos less about cars, girls and more about blockchain, tech, and investment

The NBA has built in collector mindset and lots of tech savvy owners like Steve Ballamer (Golden State Warriors and Mark Cuban, (Dallas Mavericks)

Another major turning point was a partnership between the NBA, its players association, and Vancouver-based Blockchain developer Dapper Labs in 2019. That partnership resulted in NBA Top Shot, an NFT marketplace where fans buy, sell, and trade highlight-worthy digital clips of NBA moments.