Jamie Butters, Executive Editor, Automotive News

Kyle Mountsier: 0:00This is in the dirt with a soda.

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‍Paul Daly: 0:04

We're here at the Kain friends and family digital success conference. I'm with Jamie Butters, you know him, the editor of automotive news, Jamie, thanks for taking a few minutes. Glad to do it, Paul. So you gave a little talk this morning. And it was kind of the view from Detroit. So we're in the room with a lot of retailers. And you're saying like, this is what I think you should be paying attention to, from your view, which is kind of above kind of the whole landscape, both nationally and internationally. So what did you talk about?

Jamie Butters: 0:31

Yeah, I really wanted to focus on I mean, my thing is, dealers know more about auto retail, they've forgotten more than I'm ever going to know, right? So I'm not trying to tell them how to run their business. So I've tried to talk about, I tried to really focus on the things they're probably not thinking about, that might impact their business indirectly. So I spent about half the time talking about Tesla, you know, they've just grown so big under facing some pressures. But they put a lot of pressure on the dealers and the traditional automakers. So they need to really take some I wanted to give the two of them take some time to understand Tesla's situation a little better. I also talked about the UAW kind of the risk of a strike.

Paul Daly: 1:09

That one specifically, you covered a few things, but that one was the one that kind of rang a bell in my head. And you said something really interesting. You said, I know, this isn't really the time everyone doesn't want to talk about like, how can we build our inventory? But you actually suggested that dealers specifically for the domestics might want to think about that. And why is that?

Jamie Butters: 1:28

Well, because there's such a risk of a strike in the fall, you know, the last time around, there was a 40 day strike at General Motors that really, at the time, right, we always remember 2019 ancient history right before the pandemic, right. And so they lost a lot of production. And at the time, the Detroit three tended to carry too much inventory. Anyway, everyone's been really low, and now just starting to come back, especially at a lot of the Stellantis stores and some GM stores. So you don't want to carry that all year, you don't wanna carry 100 day supply. But, but maybe come July, August, September, ramping up toward you know, toward 100, again, might be a good safety of having a mother who's having a month or two in the hopper, especially the most popular vehicle, just

Paul Daly: 2:13

what everybody wants to hear. But I understand your job is to deliver the truth,

Jamie Butters: 2:17

I'm trying or at least help people look ahead and be prepared for what might be happening.

Paul Daly: 2:21

We often say around Automotive State of the Union that like we can't do what we do, unless you're doing what you're doing. I'm providing so much value every day, day in day out. Media is a grind. Right? The news is a grind, right? There's always something new. What is kind of like your approach every morning when you come in, like give us a little insight into like, what, what what the morning of Jamie Butters looks like, you know, I have undertaken notes really. Now. This is personal consulting.

Jamie Butters: 2:47

I have a lot of quiet time at home before I started my day, I get up and I meditate. I listen to the news and just kind of keep things chill.

Paul Daly: 2:56

Things seem like an oxymoron. I meditate and then I listen to

Jamie Butters: 3:00

clear mind to take it all in. You know, it's it's such a fascinating industry. And there's so much going on. And I you know, I have a big team, several teams within automotive news. So, you know, I come in, I read everything I can I do the call with Canada at 930. We have our US call at 10 o'clock. Then we put together the list of what stories we're going to talk about on the podcast, I try to answer some emails or put out fires.

Paul Daly: 3:27

Sounds like the day of a leader yet.

Jamie Butters: 3:29

So and then yeah, that's that's how I kind of get get going each day. And so you know, just take a deep breath. And

Paul Daly: 3:36

I totally get that I totally get that last question. What are you most excited for in the auto industry? For the next 12 months, we've been through a lot of challenges. There are a lot of things kind of emerging. And I'm bubbling to the top, what do you think represents the biggest point of growth for our industry as a whole?

Unknown: 3:54

Well, I think what's really fascinating is watching the EV space, you know, just this week, we finally got really clarity. It feels a little more permanent, at least for the next several months. And now for a permanent dish on what vehicles get $7,500 which ones get 3750 I think for the brands that got boxed out because of where they make their vehicles or where their batteries come from, you know, they can still get $7,500 to put toward leases, which can make them very competitive and leasing overall is something that's we're not seeing as much as we used to. There's trade offs involved. But one of the one of the winds of leasing is getting back to use vehicles that you can starting that cycle again, right. It's super competitive, supply constrained. Oh, great.

Paul Daly: 4:39

Jamie, thank you again for taking a few minutes. It's always good to spend anytime weekend with you. And thanks again for the meaningful work you do every day. Oh, thank you.

Kyle Mountsier: 4:47

Thank you for listening to in the dirt with a soda. We love the automotive industry and the people who make it run day in and day out. We would love to connect with you more through our daily dose of fun, a free email that you can sign up for at US sodas.com That's a s o t u.com We put our heart and soul into it every day thanks again for listening join us next time for more Conversations in the dirt with a soda

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