Show Notes with links:
Lithia’s grand plan of reaching $50 billion in revenue by 2025 seems to be well on its way as acquisitions and adjacent businesses pave the way to growth.
- CEO Brian DeBoer said that its acquisition target is now $25 billion in acquired revenue, up from $20 billion. Driveway, Lithia's online platform, has a $3 billion revenue target, down from $8 billion, due to a high cash burn rate caused by shipping costs.
- In addition to acquiring US stores, Lithia is looking internationally, expanding into Canada in 2021, and the UK this March.
- Other ventures to boost revenue might include new verticals like power sports, RVs, agriculture and heavy trucks. Plus Lithia is looking at horizontal opportunities such as fleet management, charging networks, internal IT and consumer insurance. Last October, Deboer dropped hints that the retailer is looking at buying or building a CRM or DMS.
- Lithia’s past 5 years of revenue: 2018: $11.8B, 2019: $12.67B, 2020: $13.1B, 2021: $22.8B, 2022: $28.2B. Revenue projections for 2023 are $31.2B.
- David Whiston, an analyst at Morningstar in Chicago said “"It's certainly possible the street is not modeling them at $50 billion in 2025. Personally, I believe them. They tend to do what they say they're going to do. And then usually overdeliver, in fact."
In an unexpected twist, Gen-Z is taking to their phones to vote on a survey to send themselves back to shopping malls.
- A recent study by IPX found that: “Nearly 2 in 3 (61%) Americans want to see a revival of traditional shopping malls. Gen Z and Gen X are the most hopeful, followed by Millennials and Baby Boomers.”
- Another survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers’ found that “Nearly the same share of 16- to 26-year-olds who shop at brick-and-mortar stores (97%) also shop online (95%).
- 94% of Americans have a mall within an hour’s drive, but 40% wish they had one closer.
Handmade is taking a 50% cut at Chipotle as their new Autocado robot replaces the tedious task of peeling and coring avocados in some restaurants.
- The fast casual chain is working with robotics company Vebu to create the device, after analyzing the company's preparation process and identifying tasks that are time consuming and less favorable among crew members.
- An employee will still mash the avocados with other ingredients such as salt, lime juice and jalapenos to create the guacamole’s creamy consistency.
- On average, it takes a human 50 minutes to create a batch of guacamole. Autocado hopes to bring those times down.
- Chipotle is also testing Chippy, an “"autonomous kitchen assistant that integrates culinary traditions with artificial intelligence to make tortilla chips.”
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