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AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE
PitchTank and All Things Used Cars
ASOTU’s Pitch Tank by Auto Genius had three great contestants pitch three innovative products yesterday. Terry Torline pulled out a win by just 0.1 points for ExoGloss! Join us next week for a peek at the products, services, and people working to make retail automotive a smoother place for dealers and consumers!
Have a product to pitch? We would love to have you! Apply now.
Join David Long and the All Things Used Cars community tomorrow morning for a talk on building your unstoppable sales team. With guest speaker Andy Elliot, the community will hear and share about the art of hiring and inspiring a team that makes the company's vision a reality! |
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AUTOMOTIVE
Used Car Market on the Rise
The used car market is seeing higher-than-expected demand, leading to a 2.5% rise in wholesale values in January (the largest increase since 2021), according to data from Cox Automotive. Many consumers kept from purchasing a used car during the initial elevated prices era when chip shortages began. Those consumers are now returning since costs have decreased and availability has begun to recover.
Trend setter. The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, which tracks prices of used vehicles sold at US wholesale auctions, demonstrates how used vehicle prices act as a barometer for inflation. Thankfully, it's trending toward normal as the used vehicle market begins to stabilize. It’s finally beginning to resemble its pre-pandemic state, with inventory holding steady and prices dipping from their record highs. Studies forecast the upward trend in used car sales will continue through Q1 and into Q2.
Telling it like it is - Used car prices ⬇️. Used car demand ⬆️.
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TOGETHER WITH SPRIG
Don’t Guess, Ask!
There are really only two ways to know what a customer wants. Since genies only exist in fantasies, our options narrow to one: asking customers what customers want.
Sprig gives you a direct line to your customers, so you know your data is backed up by living, breathing, and maybe most importantly, buying people! Sprig's platform offers real-time researchable data you can use to test consumer reactions to concepts even BEFORE they launch.
Check out Sprig today to take the guessing out of offering the best customer experience possible!
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AUTOMOTIVE
Canoo, Nissan, Google News
Canoo's weird bubble-shaped truck is back in the news. This time just trying to keep the lights on. The company had back-to-back down quarters in early 2022, even though they landed deals with Walmart, NASA, and The US Army. The deals may have been too little, too late as the company just sold off $52.5M in discounted stock. The stock sale drove the company's market value further down (down over 80% in the last year).
We aren't sure how playing the ponies goes, but we know it's never a bad idea to bet on the horse with 200 patents the US Army or NASA may want to pay big money for.
Nissan will be the first OEM to crack the solid-state battery mystery. The company says it is on track for its solid-state battery plant to begin production by 2025, with vehicles to follow in 2028. The planned liquid-free, cobalt-free batteries will reduce the cost per unit by as much as 65%. This development is projected to eventually make EVs lighter, have longer ranges, charge more quickly, and cost less.
Based on the last year's powertrain development and conversation, we expect batteries to be replaced by big sand hourglass-powered vehicles well before 2028.
Google Maps is becoming a standard built-in feature for some EVs. The app will make finding charging stops easier based on the speed of charging (fast, slow, indifferent) a driver needs. The feature is only in a select set of EVs for now, which shouldn't be a problem since Google Maps is also on our phones, but the feature does not exist on the mobile app version. Weird, right?
Instead of teaching the car how to find the charging station, teach the charging station how to project a beacon into the sky for people looking. A light signal for battery charging. A Bat-Signal, if you will.
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AUTOMOTIVE
Tesla Has a Plan
Tesla increased the price of its Model Y by $2,000 following the US Treasury's reclassification of the EV as an SUV. A mere three weeks after a ~$13K price cut, the vehicle is priced at $54,990, just under the $55K price cap for regular-sized EVs.
All part of the plan? Elon Musk says the company will host an Investor Day Summit on March 1 to reveal its "Master Plan Part 3." The event differs from Tesla’s annual shareholder event and will allow investors to either visit the Giga Texas plant in person or watch the live stream from home like the rest of us normies.
Telling it like it is - March 1 is only weeks away. That’s about 21 days for Musk to get bored and just Tweet the Master Plan ahead of schedule.
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