Parts Makers Beware, F150 With Earplugs, Too Early For Pumpkin Spice?

Unknown: 0:34I like challenges 123 Well the one session that we had it really helped me all technicians have pride in their work but to have them actually care about how the customer feels. That's a whole nother laugh when a customer comes into our store to sell the cars and now I 10 minutes on they come in sign paperwork get a smile get a nice for and they're gone 30 days in a coma you lose all of your muscle mass

‍Paul Daly: 1:21

All right, already fired up for a Friday after watching that we have a first time guest host in the studio. Glen Lundy is with me. We're talking about 150 strikes. Pumpkin spice. We're just gonna get an all in to one show today. All right, Glenn's ready to bounce, isn't it? They stopped this day when they see the Friday bounce always goes a little bit longer. The week especially. Glenn, welcome to the show. It's been way too long. A long time coming. Thanks for joining me filling in for Kyle, today's guest host

Glenn Lundy: 1:54

dude honored to be here. It's about time you got rid of that guy. So I could get in here, man. I mean,

Paul Daly: 2:01

next time next time, you're gonna you're gonna be saying the same thing when you're guest hosting with him about maybe?

Unknown: 2:08

I very likely will that will

Glenn Lundy: 2:10

very likely be the case. But no, do that song always hits I listened to the podcast all the time in the morning. So I'm always like,

Paul Daly: 2:17

gotta get the drop in the morning. Hey, you just saw if you're watching the live stream, you heard it if you're listening on the podcast, the trailer for episode two of more than cars. We filmed it at Beaver Toyota. Glen Lenny's great friends with Patrick a bad does a lot of work 300% club in Beaver Toyota as well. So more than cars Episode Two is going to drop in just a few. Two to three weeks. I don't know to have the official date. We're going to do a premiere down there. You can see episode one for free the pilot episode at more than cars.tv. And then that's episode one. It was in Arlington, Texas. Episode Two is going to be beaver Episode Three was shot a couple of weeks ago at the West her group in Buffalo, New York. And we're on our way to shoot Episode Four coming up here in a week or two. So if you haven't seen it yet, please go watch it and share it with the other people because Glenn, you're somebody that definitely agrees that there are inspiring stories happening in retail and car dealers all across the country. And we need to tell more of those stories if we're going to elevate the perception of this industry.

Glenn Lundy: 3:18

Unbelievable stuff that this industry has done for people the things I've seen incredible man, I'm actually at Beaver Toyota today, bro. I love that story. incredible organization. So I'm gonna ask them about their experience with you.

Paul Daly: 3:30

Oh, go ahead. I dare you. I double dare you. Yeah, there's definitely definitely are people. Also you you all know asoto con 2023 is coming in hot. We're almost to the one month countdown not quite there yet, but you can still get tickets $100 off until September one we have now the rooftop count is almost 1200 We have almost 1200 rooftops being represented at asoto con 2023. Go check it out of soda con.com Look at the speaker list. Just click all speakers. And you see how many dealers and practitioners are going to be in there sharing what they're doing that's working, what didn't work. Also, a lot of people like nada President Mike Stanton is going to be there. Jimmy butters editor of automotive news is going to be there. All types of industry partners, co presented by cars and stream companies alike. We're gonna have all the hotness there. We're going to have some really great swag. And I've been getting like pictures from the manufacturers of like the swag that's done in about to be sent. Like we're talking great swag, like not good swag, but great sway. So we really hope

Glenn Lundy: 4:32

to get to move his wedding. He's getting married in Italy that week, trying to get him to move the wedding. I couldn't be at the

Paul Daly: 4:40

I know that was a sad day. I'm still a sad day when I called you and you were like, Oh no. Well, hopefully we'll have some of your people. I'll certainly be some overlap with the dealers there and given people some more of that Eglin. What do you say we talked about some news, bro.

Glenn Lundy: 4:59

I think We should dive right in.

Paul Daly: 5:01

Let's do it. Okay,

Glenn Lundy: 5:02

I've been waiting for this. I know I

Paul Daly: 5:03

wait with that color commentaries like I got them ready Put me in coach. Or there's one group that we mentioned on this show a few weeks ago who may end up being the most affected by a potential UAW strike. And that's US auto parts. Manufacturers are already grappling with pandemic related strains, semiconductor shortages, and they face potential cash shortages. If there is a strike. So concerns, basically, there could be a strike next month, as most of us know. And, you know, with the aggressive negotiating tactics in 2019, it was a 42 day strike. And the fact that automakers have such the the big three actually have inventory supply, especially the Lantis is like over 100 days. So it seems like there is a strike looming, many smaller parts, manufacturers might face a cash crunch. But it really is because they're still trying to catch up and get back on their feet after a lot of these are small businesses. Many of them actually employ a total of around 4.8 million people across the country. So some suppliers like Twin City die castings company, they are already anticipating revenue hits of 10 to 20%, with some reporting, almost 30%. And according to a company's report called harbor results, they study financing and finance ability. They say about 30% of the 400 companies studied are considered literally and bankable due to high debt levels and unprofitability of the last few years. So that's what's going on, Glenn, what do you think about the strike in general? And like, you know, what do you see on the ground and dealerships where this really tripped them up?

Glenn Lundy: 6:39

Yeah, you know, it's always the smaller players that get hurt the most when, when when these big things happen, right? We're talking about union workers, we're talking about 150,000 people, as far as the union workers themselves, that if they go on strike are going to be missing out on income, it's going to impact their families, so on and so forth. And so we see these big conglomerates that are jacking and you know, doing all these things for position, but it really affects the little guys the most. And that always concerns me, in this particular strike, I find it really interesting or potential strike, I should say, I find it interesting. I was more fearful. And obviously we ended up in a strike back in 2019. This one did with Joe Biden getting in there and being like, Hey, you two need to kind of cool things off and then just coming off of COVID and this guy being brand new as the as the union president like something true, right? Like the last thing I think that I would want to do if I was the new guy on the block is have 150,000 people I'm supposed to represent sitting on the sidewalk nap, cashing a check, like, I'm gonna come in big and buff and tell him I'm there to protect them. Right? I I don't think this one goes through that way. I think that they're going to solve this ahead of time, which usually, bro, I'm a doomsday like, oh, yeah, yeah, but you think it's gonna be alright, I assume they're gonna come to an agreement in time. But again, if they don't, it is definitely the lowest people on the totem pole that end up getting hurt the most by these kinds of but that's

Paul Daly: 8:11

the truth. That's the truth. You know, it's been really interesting over the last several weeks, as the rhetoric on the strike had been ramping up to hear some very different opinions on what they think is going to happen. And it really ranges from like, there's no way they're going on strike to they're absolutely going to go on strike. So I think what that says is there's just a lot of uncertainty based on things you mentioned. Right? Shawn fain coming in and being very with a lot of bravado, you know, Joe Biden coming and stepping in say, hey, we all need to work this out, actually, of everybody. I think the OEMs have maintained the most poised position in the strike and are handling in kind of a really measured way out front. I don't know what they're doing behind but it does seem to me that they are preparing and they are prepared to go on strike if that's what happens. But you know, we'll see you can never really be prepared and speaking of not being prepared segue All right here. Brian Ortega actually made that force here. We have another one. Let me give you the Halloween segue. I still have my trigger. Ready. That's a good segue. We're getting close. I think it's close to breaking that segue. So here's a unique issue for f 150. Owners numerous reports have detailed an ear piercing static sound coming from the trucks audio system. Alright, listen if you're listening on the podcast, or gonna play the sound, so you might want to turn your system down just for a second. But this is a video of F 150 user that sent it in so go ahead and a throw the clip. A go. All right, that's enough for that clip. So basically, the video is of an f1 50 user just with their phone in their truck. So last fall here's a story from The Wall Street Journal article last fall are driving his 2022 model year f150 Fill Florida experienced a jarring noise from his trucks audio system akin to glass breaking followed by an intensive static days later he said his ears were still ringing. He says, quote, my first thought was one of the neighbors must have hit a golf ball that went through a window because that's what it sounded like. So there have been over 100 complaints that have been filed with federal regulators. So 100 got to federal regulators meaning that way more than that actually happened. And you know, saying like, hey, when this happens, the vehicle is very unsafe to drive, we got to pull over. So Ford has since identified the issue, linked it to the amplifier in the sound system and released a tech service bulletin said we're gonna try to fix it with a software update. You know, something using the amp as a filter to make sure it doesn't happen. But here's here's the interesting thing as well, like like things happens the cars but some people don't even have to go to the dealership to get this thing fixed. So your truck driver, you have a ram, right?

Glenn Lundy: 11:03

I have a ram truck that does that about every two weeks. Are you kidding me? I'm not kidding at all, when you just showed it right there. I've been dealing with this for probably the last or five months, about every two weeks, my Bluetooth will be hooked up to the to the to the so we call it it'll be hooked up. And it might be like if I'm using nav and then I get a phone call while I'm listening to like Bluetooth, it'll do that. It'll make that sound. It's loud. It's crazy. It isn't very scary sound. And then it'll go like, and the whole thing just powers down and reboots. Now I did an on air up like I saw on air update. This was the week of July 4. I know it because my buddy James is the technician and he'll be walked me through the On Air update. We thought that would fix it. It didn't fix it, bro. So I thought this was maybe a rare anomaly in my truck. But apparently

Paul Daly: 11:59

interest saying, well, there's a little bit so you had the over the air opportunity did not fix it. And you're like, when's this thing gonna happen?

Glenn Lundy: 12:08

Yeah, man, this is like, I'm like, Okay, I'm not alone. This is really interesting. I still had to have my buddy who's the technician? Like, helped me through it, you know?

Paul Daly: 12:19

Yeah, for sure. Not for sure. Push the button easy. No. And you know, so as there's always quirky problems happen with cars, right. And now the internet doesn't let you get away with anything. Not getting put. But the fact that you have the same problem is is just obviously different make different model. I wonder if there's something just about the way they're linking systems together. That is just more akin to to running into this before we'll see what the fix is, I mean, they've moved to fix it. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Like whether or not the in store experience or the over the air experience are what fixes that because you know, everyone's looking at the over the air update as like the Holy Grail, being able to just push an update fix the system. And we know that happens in a lot of a lot of times, but I guess it's not quite happening this time. We'll see.

Glenn Lundy: 13:07

Apparently, humans are still required all for life on trader proper. Contrary to popular belief, I think humans are still going to be required for a little while.

Paul Daly: 13:16

That's true for a little while. Speaking of a little while. We're using this was a good

Unknown: 13:21

segue give us the

Paul Daly: 13:22

Halloween one. All right, the Halloween one is so appropriate for this story because we all know what pumpkin spice is right? I don't know. Is it good? Is it too early to talk about pumpkin spice?

Glenn Lundy: 13:35

Bro? I mean, is that ever too early?

Paul Daly: 13:40

So if you didn't know pumpkin spice, you know it's a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, all spice. However, you know, it's been a part of baking for a really, really long time that cookie. However, the really meteoric rise of pumpkin spice happened in the early 2000s when Starbucks introduced the pumpkin spice latte in 2003 is a good year as the year actually started my business. This drink tapped into nostalgic sentiments, and you know, incited this whole nationwide craze and now we're talking about it in the summertime still. And it's not even here yet. So Starbucks as they marked two decades of pumpkin spice lattes. They're actually releasing a cold a new Cold version of a chai pumpkin spice latte and this is in response to Gen Z consumers preferences. Basically, cold drinks cold beverages from Starbucks represent 75% of last fall's beverage sales. While us old folks are like I want a hot Pumpkin Spice Latte because I'm cold. They're like not ice drinks. So they're even like transitioning this into their upscale locations are called Starbucks Reserve. There have been several locations around the country with pumpkin spice espresso martinis, whiskey barrel aged pumpkin spice, and all the things that kids are into these days. So you know, this is Tim Tiktok influencers all this stuff is happening so I don't know Glen, what are you? Here's where we usually go like Are you a Pumpkin Spice guy you said it's never too early

Glenn Lundy: 15:07

right you drink you know I like a pumpkin spice like cookie or something. I'm not a coffee guy right okay coffee. But I can you don't need and I can appreciate the nostalgia of pumpkin spice. Yeah,

Paul Daly: 15:19

how old you are. How old your oldest.

Glenn Lundy: 15:23

The oldest in the house is 14 So I have a 24 year old lives in Arizona and then 14 in my

Paul Daly: 15:27

house. All right. Do your 14 year old this you drink that she drink Starbucks? Or is she not there is

Glenn Lundy: 15:35

they all of them the 14 year olds the 11 year old seven year old and the six year old they're all addicted to this idea. concept that is Starbucks now no caffeine. No caffeine, but

Paul Daly: 15:50

they just want to see you spend 50 bucks at a coffee place.

Glenn Lundy: 15:53

Well that and we can go down that road if you'd like to. They buy it with their own money thing. But they got it from Mama they see my mama is Cago didn't Starbucks she's got Starbucks machine at home got Starbucks coffee bags, they got it when she goes out she grabs a Starbucks and hers are always iced bro. Except for her first one in the morning. She does a hot coffee in the morning. And then I stole

Paul Daly: 16:15

the way through like that. I like that she's a smart woman. She's a very smart woman. I think about this,

Unknown: 16:22

she's so good at this stuff, bro. Like they're bringing it back they got these influencers, you know, they they're gonna charge $19.80 That thing of people are going to be lined up thank you round of brick and block.

Paul Daly: 16:36

Here's how we can tie this down. So in retail because auto dealers are retailers paying attention to what the new preferences are is the way Definitely to win. And if you layer that, on top of the seasonal cultural momentum, right, we say like you try to like just tell everybody about your sale, it's like dropping a boulder in a river, like people are gonna find a way to rush around it. However, if you build the little boat on top of that river, that is culture that is generational preferences, and go you really have something so thinking about we're going into the fall season, data is telling us pumpkin spice is hot Starbucks is giving us an option to do it. So I'm thinking just thinking here. If you want Gen Zers to come by your cars or pay attention what you're doing. Talk about iced pumpkin spice is what I'm saying.

Glenn Lundy: 17:21

I'm thinking that there should be a lot of content created around a nice pumpkin spice latte sitting in the cup holder of whatever vehicle model is that you want to show you can stay started with the Starbucks logo with the pumpkin spice of aroma and then zoom on out. am saying like yeah, to catch him, but that you're so right. And there's so many opportunities, looking at trends, looking what's going on in pop culture, there's so many opportunities to tie that in your marketing, where attention goes energy power, money flows. Those are great ways to grab attention.

Paul Daly: 18:03

I love that saying I think that anyone who has that like orange vehicle on their lot that they can't sell because it's orange. I think that has just become the pumpkin spice edition. And you're going to sell that sucker faster. No little steaming coffee cup on the back. Little ice at some pumpkin spice edition. Or if it's brown or cream color like hey, let's let's get a pumpkin spice edition going.

Glenn Lundy: 18:25

I like it. You can have pumpkin spice like day at your dealership. I mean, oh man, the

Paul Daly: 18:30

ideas are flowing. Whatever you're doing today, go get a pumpkin spice latte. Make the Friday count. And hey, there's only like seven days left in this month. You gotta go get it

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