GM’s ICE Commitment, Stellantis Pulls ICE Allocation, Student Debt Hits Back

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‍Paul Daly: 0:26

hey, it is Monday and it's not only Monday it's Monday during the first week of summer we have Jordan Cox as the guest host talking about GMs ice vehicles to Lantus ice vehicles and students.

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The people really want to know we're gonna wrap those three together. They stopped short and good morning. It's good to have you here.

Jordan Cox: 0:45

Thanks for having me. This is awesome.

Paul Daly: 0:47

So do you wear a suit every single day?

Jordan Cox: 0:51

Not on like Sunday and Saturday. work we're doing

Paul Daly: 0:55

right now what I'm mowing the lawn. All the other times he suits up in shows.

Jordan Cox: 1:00

Actually, what I should have said was hey, I got a text from you this morning. I should have said I went back home and got a suit just for this.

Paul Daly: 1:08

person to the dry cleaners isn't pleased. I need this press immediately. Good morning. A good morning. Welcome to everybody on the livestream that gets to watch the show live every day. If not, you know, you can always catch it on the podcast, Apple Music Spotify,whatever, just search automotive troublemaker. How was your weekend? Did you do something good.

Jordan Cox: 1:28

It was great man like Father's Day that is like the epitome of the great weekend. Weather was awesome here. We took a trip down to India, which is about three hours from us. How was your weekend? What'd you guys do?

Paul Daly: 1:37

Oh, man, Father's Day, all about Father's Day. And my family. We tend to celebrate things for weekends. So it's like if it's if it's your birthday, it's your weekend and starts Friday night and Sunday night. Father's Day. Father's Day is the same thing. And my wife, very appropriately, she was like, What do you want? Like she doesn't plan anything. For fathers. She's like, What do you want to do for Father's Day, but she did say that she's like,remember, it's not like your birthday. Were like, huge because I usually want to do things by myself. I don't know,you can judge me if you want.But I'm an introvert at heart as contrary to pop. So like I recharged by being alone. It's very odd in my life that I have time to be alone, right? I'm always broadcasting or I'm with my team, or with the family as she goes. So it's Father's Day.So remember, it's about celebrating being a father. I was like, right check. So so she pulled out, she pulled out the remarkable tablet, you know that little thing. It was mine. I never used it. So she's become like the master my wife who's not good with technology in general, literally every corner of this thing. And she makes a list. I was like, let's make a list. And I just listed all these things that I wanted to get done around the house. And I was like if we get these done,I've really feel like I can relax on Sunday. And we just had a great time outside and moving around like just fixing little things We refinished outdoor table went to church and went out. I ate way too much because it was like dead. Where do you want to eat all the wrong places.

Jordan Cox: 2:59

to places you can't eat normally you eat there today, all the

Paul Daly: 3:01

raw, I got a full on pass that like I'm just gonna,I'm just gonna do it. So we had an awesome, awesome time. We're coming off an amazing week. Last week, we spent a lot of time in Atlanta, Georgia having a soda live tonight, you can go see that on our YouTube channel or LinkedIn. Just go to the soda channel or a so two x.com. And you can click through right and see the show. It was amazing. We wrote custom music. We had tons of guests, we had a technician and the crowd was literally yelling Jerry, Jerry, like the Jerry Springer show, you have to check it out. It was amazing.

Jordan Cox: 3:34

My favorite part was the dealer went down to Georgia.We did

Paul Daly: 3:37

we did a rendition with the band from Nashville and they pulled in a surprise fiddle player at the end. And we played a rendition of the Devil Went down to Georgia but rewritten for automotive. It was it was a lot of fun. You know all of the things that we do sometimes there's a lot of questions like What do you actually do, right?Because you're gonna watch the trailer and we're like, what are they actually doing? The bottom line is this, the automotive industry is we believe in its Renaissance. Here's the dealer network in their Renaissance,here's not on the decline. And we need to show the rest of the world that we're here for them that we're showing up and that there's a lot of inspiring things happening inside stores every single day. So whether we're talking about automotive news, whether we are having events like live tonight,whether we are filming the TV show more than cars, which we just filmed Episode Two boy, we could we get we got to tell you about that. But whether whether or not all of that, if you're in the retail auto industry, we want to be a beacon that everybody gathers around. So then the like minded people can start really understanding what we can do together to show the rest of the world, the real heart of the industry, Jordan,you're part of the heart of the industry, man. That's how we found each other.

Jordan Cox: 4:45

That's, well, you know, it's cool that you guys are able to create something like that because obviously we believe that the best days and automotive are in front of us,and we're experiencing right now and we only get to create it and make it better every time so I'm just looking forward to the future. It's bright.

Paul Daly: 4:59

That's right. That's right. All right, let's get into some news. So we got a couple of few stories man I had like stories I wanted to include this morning. I have to drop them out over the next few days because they were so good. We had a limited to three. No move.Anticipating labor negotiations,General Motors commits over 2billion be for the manufacturing of its next generation gasoline powered pickups and SUVs,assuring that they will keep being produced through well into the 2030s. The announcement came over the course of a seven day period last month and next generation silver Silverados car production, so revamp during the next gen is expected to begin in2027. With overhauled SUVs coming through 2028 Mary Barra said we want to find a solution that's good for our employees good for the company, because we need to continue to reinvest.And right now we've made some important announcements about reinvesting in these plants.Because I think job security is very important to do that company has to be successful so it can continue to develop new products customers want to buy so there's a big part of this move. Obviously there's a pending strike the UAW is talking about wanting to guarantee their place in the Evie future and Mary Barra General Motors said hey, like it's not going to be like an immediate shift. Paul Wati,manager of industry analysts at auto Pacific said with all the headlines and focus on EVs, it's easy to think the transition is around the corner. But the reality is, it is a decade's long transaction. Not a years long transaction with pickups and SUVs being the last to go fully.

Jordan Cox: 6:34

Evie Jordan wouldn't be right man. So like with Eevee people, we're always talking about EVs, but with so we have a Chevy store. And in fact, we're opening up a new one here in just a few weeks, they'll be ready. So we'll have to at that point, and I had a chance to sit down with our district sales manager last week to kind of talk about what their plans are for the future. And he just said the exact same thing was that,hey, we're not going to go all in on EVs, we're still going to have those ice vehicles available. And that's a very big thing, not only for like union employees like the automotive news articles about but also for the industry for consumers.Consumers want to know that they can come back and get that new vehicle and not have to go to either a partial Evie vehicle,or it's a plug in, or even just the hybrid component or the pure Evie, where you plug it in. And that's it. So he's very excited that they're going to continue that with all their truck lineup or their SUV lineup and some other small suvs to

Paul Daly: 7:27

belt. Speaking of hybrids, EVs and all that jazz,big way to try to get a segue or you go kind of on the opposite side of the trends to Lantus is no longer allocating gasoline,only Jeep Wranglers to its dealerships in at least 14states that are following California's emissions guidelines, unless it's been ordered by a consumer. So basically, if it's not, if you're in one of these 14states, it's like California,Connecticut, Delaware, Maine,Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York,Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington state. If you're in one of those still, Anta says we will not sell you any ice inventory,stock inventory at all, for Jeep Wranglers only if a customer orders it. So basically, it's the Lance's got in late on an agreement. It's called the carb agreement. And it dictates you know, emissions guidelines and rules. So it's the Lantus has to be within the certain guidelines, state by state when the other people in it are actually allowed to take their average over the nation. So,gotta got a couple of quotes here. So, you know, Brian, mass president of the California New Deere Dealers Association comment and he said, Well, if this is the case, and now that it is the case, which is a big surprise, because the rules actually don't go into effect until 2026. So it kind of was a surprise. He says, people are just going to go to Reno or Vegas or Phoenix to get ice wranglers if that's what they want. David Keller, owner of David Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram dealership near Philly, reported a significant increase in plug in hybrid Jeep Wranglers. It's the four by e 4x. E. He says basically, they're selling them successfully. People. He said people do like the fuel efficiency. And it's actually an increase in power. He said, so we're able to sell them, which is good. But he did say like there are customers who just want gas. And if that's the case, and they don't want to wait, they're just going to skip to a different state that actually has inventory available because nobody wants to wait for anything these days.

Jordan Cox: 9:32

That's right. Well,you know, the hard part too is they might not even go to another state, they might just go to a different brand. Because if they can't get that specific vehicle they're looking for now I also understand that the Jeep Wrangler is a very specific vehicle. So yeah, people are probably willing to drive for that. But if they continue that trend within sta Lantis, where they're not going to offer that,then I think that people are going to go somewhere else, not only across state lines, but also maybe even to a different brand. And they might be experiencing things that they he haven't done before. And I would also say that on some of those,they might also be concerned about going to like a plug in hybrid vehicle, because they also might be concerned to cost more and their loan payment might be higher.

Paul Daly: 10:13

Speaking of loan payments, he said I want to bump sent you some segways. Today,because I want to bump them up,it's your job to get them over the net. As the US government ends the suspension of student loan payments in late August, so just 60 days from now, close to26 million Americans will start making their student loan payments again. So these have been in forbearance for probably close to three years now the shift is anticipated to collectively cost up to $10billion of American spending power per month, causing a likely contraction in discretionary spending.Retailers, especially in the apparel sector, are going to feel the brunt of the financial charge. So when you look and dig down into the data, basically30, almost 33% of the people that have to start these payments, again, are between the ages of 30 and 39. So like a real prime car buying demographic. And when you look at where these folks shop, so they they shop at places like Old Navy, Victoria's Secret,Nike Lululemon Wayfair Dick's Sporting Goods Ulta Beauty target, Best Buy, right? So high exposure to millennials and Gen X. Mostly millennials, though,and we've been talking about and you've experienced this in the stores, a credit crunch,discretionary spending, going down, vehicle prices going up?What how do you feel about that,that storm?

Jordan Cox: 11:44

It's a lot of things happen all at once. Because I think that people are concerned about interest rates, obviously,just like you said, and when someone is already peaked out on something, and then they're also told a step up in price. And then they have to step on an interest rate, your payment is a lot bigger than what other people would expect us walking into it. So I think we're going to miss out on a lot of the discretionary purchases in the auto industry. Just with this coming in. And I think it's an August, I think, is what you said, Yeah, end of August, end of August. Yeah. So that's going to really affect q q4. For the entire year, whether it's new vehicles or used vehicles,what's your take on it?

Paul Daly: 12:22

So you're a marketer.And so you spend a lot of your time making marketing content for the group, thinking about how we're going to talk about things, what we're going to talk about, what is your approach to the marketing strategy going into a time that's already credit crunch? Like, what are the types of things you're talking about? How are you positioning your products to consumers? You know, like, I think sharing some insights like that might help some of the other marketers or even you know, gyms, dealer principals,think about how to approach this from a communication standpoint.

Jordan Cox: 12:49

Sure, yeah. And there's a lot of different things that we do. So we always try and push whatever. So it's twofold. We've got the one side of it, where we focus on our monthly sale that we have going on. And when we do that we always try to pay, we always try to feature whatever that new interest rate is. Because there are certain vehicles right now where you can still get 2.99% on for interest rates for new vehicles.

Paul Daly: 13:12

But what vehicles are those? So you're in the subprime ecosystem, civil Silverados,2.99.

Jordan Cox: 13:18

Exactly. And then right now, if you get Toyota's the sedans, and then also the smaller SUVs, those are 4.9. So a lot of people are thinking that they're going to be 678percent if they go to their credit union. But if they come to us, we can actually get it cheaper for them. So that was like a question. This doesn't happen very often. But on Friday, I took a sales call. And that was all she wanted to talk about was interest rate. And with Toyota, so for her that was so important, and being able to change my communication on the phone to her and saying, Hey,what you're looking for is actually an incentive through the end of this month. So if this is something you're looking to do, we need to move forward now. And it's not pressure. It's not lying to them about stuff.It's just about telling them exactly what they what they're looking for. And that's really important. And then Paul, the other side of it is, we're really focusing on branding and a very high level. So it's about the stories of our employees,the stories of local community leaders. That's really something that we're working on right now.So there's a big release that we're working on. I'm not going to take a second to plug it here, but I'm really excited about it.

Paul Daly: 14:22

What is it and plug it here? Okay, sure. Yes,

Jordan Cox: 14:26

please. All right,let's do it. So we we wanted to go through and do something there that they're doing on YouTube. So if you look at something called hot ones on YouTube, we're doing something very similar to that. We call it hot takes by gates. You can check it out by going to gates hot takes.com. We're sitting down with local community leaders. We're going through and doing the anti interview.They're eating on camera, and we just eat spicier and spicier as we go through spicier and spicier questions. So that's something that I had dreamed about doing for a while and we finally had time to do it and we wouldn't pull the trigger. So just create it first. So last week Week and then this week we've got, we've actually got a doubleheader on two days in a row. So we're doing four more episodes this week.

Paul Daly: 15:06

That's a that's a beautiful thing. And what? So to go back to your first point,what vehicle or what price range was that customer that was concerned about the interest rate? What what price range?Were they buying? In?

Jordan Cox: 15:18

Great question,because that was also really important to her, she wanted to be under 30 grand. So we have Toyota, we have Chevy. So that's something we kind of talked about on the phone, too, was,hey, if you go with Toyota, you get a better interest rate. But you could also go to a Chevy Trailblazer to go to the smaller SUV that you're looking for size was important to her, she wanted something a little bit bigger,but she didn't want to spend a lot of money doing that. So again, it's about finding what they're what they want, and really letting them talk more and understand what they're looking for. So that was just a good reminder of what I think the industry is doing is, and I I'm not complaining that took a sales call, but I'm excited that I did because that was just a reminder that hey, this is what's happening out there. And this is what people are looking for. And they're asking about.So that's

Paul Daly: 16:00

that that's great. I mean, like and I think that's real conventional wisdom for anyone in the dealership, if you're caretaking a sales call.Obviously, you don't want people taking sales calls. But you surely can easily share them in most since depending on what your system is. Most people have recorded and can share sales calls, sharing a sales call once a week with the rest of the team that kind of highlights the general sentiment of what you're hearing. I can't think of a better way to get everyone I don't care if it's the receptionist, the detailer, a janitor, an IT person in the accounting office share a sales call because that gets you in the consumer mindset. And I don't think anyone else can lose with that. Jordan, thank you so much for spending a little time with us today and call us today.I can't wait till the next time already. Until then. Go get it.First week of summer coming in hot

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