DEALERS
A Torch Red Ciocca Corvette
Like any of us, Curt Dawicki had dreams. The depths of which only he could have known completely. One dream he did share with the world was a post-retirement plan to own a Torch Red Corvette.
Last week, Curt's daughter called Ciocca Corvette and left a difficult message. Her father had been given just weeks to live, and she wanted to make at least this one dream come true while she could, and Ciocca invited them to Atlantic City.
By Wednesday, Curt and his family made the trip to the dealership to sit in and cruise down the highway in the C8 Corvette, care of Ciocca's team.
Curt passed away two days later. He left behind his loving family and a lasting imprint on the people who brought his torch-red dream close enough to briefly embrace.
Ciocca pledged money toward Curt's hospital bills and shared the GoFundMe link with the Corvette community in the faith they, too, will want to help support Curt's family.
Telling it like it is - The difference between selling cars and changing lives is often listening. Outstanding job, Ciocca crew!
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AUTOMOTIVE
Leases Losing Allure?
![options gif](https://media.giphy.com/media/yRAz4GVFLI64kvozN3/giphy.gif)
Just like most of us between high school and now, the popularity of vehicle leasing has changed.
- As of July 2022, vehicle leasing had dropped 40% below January 2020.
- Of leaseholders between July 2021 and June 2022, only about 25% leased again.
- In the same period, 26% of leases were terminated at least 6 months earlier than the set end date. A 63% increase in early bailers compared to 2019.
Why?
- The average monthly lease payment hit $661 in December 2022, which is 33% higher than in March 2020.
- Recent inventory issues have more customers looking for long-term ownership to avoid a 2-3 year lease cycle.
- Finally, the increased value of used cars makes people more willing to spend money on maintaining a car into the 12+ year average ownership we've seen lately.
The shift has led to higher prices and less inventory in the used market.
Telling it like it is - Two roads diverged in a yellow wood… and almost everybody chooses the one with more bang for their buck according to current market and macroeconomic data.
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TOGETHER WITH QUANTUM5
Practice Makes Perfect
People get better at everything they practice.
- Skateboarding
- Sitting on the couch
- Speaking Italian
They all get easier the more you practice.
So, if you want to improve at creating today's lifelong customers, you can't practice the same technique that captured last year's one-time sales.
Quantum5's new Performance Suite empowers your team through engagement-style training. Ditch the VHS training videos and practice maximizing the effect of each team member's skills to capture and keep more lifelong customer relationships.
Schedule a time to demo with Quantum5 at NADA booth #6845 now!
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AUTOMOTIVE
GM And LG Shelve 4th US Battery Plant
Like a personal ad from the most expensive dating service imaginable, General Motors is seeking a new partner after LG canceled plans to co-build a 4th battery plant in the US. 🔋
The $2.3B Ohio plant was announced in 2019. LG Energy execs in Korea got cold feet due to the project's rapid pace and uncertain macroeconomic outlooks.💔
GM says the relationship with LG and the other 3 plants is crucial to the company's future plans - including beating Tesla and producing 1M EVs a year by 2025.👩🏭
Telling it like it is - “Hi, my name is GM. I like going fast and building stuff. Give me a call”
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AUTOMOTIVE
Geely Takes Taxis To Electric Avenue
The London Taxi Company, maker of iconic London Black Cabs, is a subsidiary of China's EV maker, Geely. Not to be confused with yellow cabs which look like bananas, black cabs look like much older bananas… glad we cleared that up.
🚕🚕🚕
Geely announced plans to transform the taxi brand into a high-volume, all-electric behemoth through investments in production, tech, and a broader suite of services.
🚕🚕🚕
Since taking control of what is now called London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) in 2013, Geely has invested over $600M in the brand. This new investment plan has yet to be specified financially.
Telling it like it is - Every time a big fleet company switches to electric there is more gas for the rest of us... or in this case more petrol for the rest of us.
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MARKETING/TECH/CRYPTO/TECH/MARKETS
Tech Company Layoffs And The Job Market
Tech Troubles. Amid rising economic uncertainty, "Big Tech" and the like have been feeling the pressure and cutting jobs in droves. Here are just a few of the latest layoff figures:
- Spotify - 600 employees
- Twitter - 3,700 employees
- SalesForce - 7,000 employees
- Microsoft - 10,000 employees
- Meta - 11,000 employees
- Google - 12,000 employees
- Amazon - 18,000 employees
The Job Market. While these numbers may seem grim, the overall health of the American labor force is doing ok. The US unemployment rate dropped .4% to 3.5% in December 2022. While not all jobs are equal, there are currently 10.7M open jobs (1.2M more than in 2020), which equals about 1.7 jobs per unemployed American.
Telling it like it is - Layoffs and jokes don’t belong together so we will just say that a bunch of bright, technically adept, people just re-entered the workforce and automotive is only getting more technical by the day. Ya dig?
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