Latest / CBT Live / What's Keeping Dealers Up at Night? NYC Sues CarGurus, Tesla vs. Porsche (10.19.26)

Transcript

What's Keeping Dealers Up at Night? NYC Sues CarGurus, Tesla vs. Porsche (10.19.26) · CBT Live

0:00
SPEAKER_07: What's happening with Colorado dealers and the Colorado Dealers Association?
0:05
SPEAKER_01: Plus, Templet's flying roadster and Horses new super car.
0:09
SPEAKER_01: What's next for high performance cars?
0:11
SPEAKER_01: All that and more coming up next on CBT Live.
0:24
SPEAKER_01: Hello, everyone, and welcome to CBT Live.
0:26
SPEAKER_01: Today is Monday, October 19th.
0:28
SPEAKER_01: I'm Bridget Fitzpatrick.
0:30
SPEAKER_07: And I'm Jim Fitzpatrick.
0:31
SPEAKER_07: So good to be back here in the studio.
0:34
SPEAKER_01: I know.
0:34
SPEAKER_01: We had a great few days off, and Jason held it down for us and the team.
0:39
SPEAKER_07: And thank you, Justin Becknell, for doing that.
0:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was a good one.
0:42
SPEAKER_07: It was awesome.
0:42
SPEAKER_01: Right.
0:43
SPEAKER_07: He did a great job.
0:44
SPEAKER_01: He did, he did.
0:44
SPEAKER_01: And we've got a great show coming up, coming up on today's show.
0:47
SPEAKER_01: Matthew Groves, president and CEO of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, joins us to talk about some of the initiatives that he's working on for dealers in his state.
0:56
SPEAKER_01: Plus, Carl Brouwer, executive analyst at IC Cars, breaks down Tesla's viral flying roadster and Porsche's new supercar.
1:04
SPEAKER_07: So now we're now reporting on uh the flying cars.
1:07
SPEAKER_01: Flying cars.
1:08
SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah.
1:08
SPEAKER_07: Tim Jackson will be proud of us because he's been just a little bit different.
1:12
SPEAKER_07: It's not the not the same.
1:15
SPEAKER_07: That's exactly right.
1:15
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
1:16
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
1:16
SPEAKER_07: But uh let's talk a little bit about headlines.
1:18
SPEAKER_01: We have a few headlines here.
1:19
SPEAKER_01: So uh we'll start with car gurus, which is facing a lawsuit in New York City over how vehicle prices are advertised on its platform.
1:27
SPEAKER_01: The city alleges that some vehicles were labeled as good or great deals, even though the advertised prices did not include certain mandatory fees.
1:36
SPEAKER_01: And those fees actually could add up to a lot more than what the shoppers were led to believe.
1:41
SPEAKER_01: Now, car gurus disputes the allegations and says that it intends to defend defend itself.
1:46
SPEAKER_01: So that is important to um to note.
1:49
SPEAKER_01: But seems like it will be black and white.
1:51
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
1:52
SPEAKER_07: Well, we said early on when we had the conference in DC, you know, a few months back to cover this very important issue of the FTC and pricing transparency and what have you.
2:02
SPEAKER_07: And uh and it was it was really a great conference and um a lot of interest.
2:06
SPEAKER_07: And uh there's a lot of interest right now.
2:08
SPEAKER_07: But we we said then, and I say now that these platforms, these third party uh lead providers and these third-party platforms, they really do lie at the intersection here.
2:18
SPEAKER_07: They they they are uh 100% uh in the middle of all of this.
2:23
SPEAKER_07: And uh and they they they do put these types of things out there that say, well, this deal is better than that deal, and that deal is better than this deal, and where do you want to lie as a dealer?
2:31
SPEAKER_07: And then they I think have the responsibility of really policing those advertisers, those dealers that come on their platform to say, hey, are all the fees included in this?
2:40
SPEAKER_07: Right.
2:40
SPEAKER_07: You know?
2:41
SPEAKER_07: And if they're not, if they're not gonna do that, well then the then you know they're gonna be under the scrutiny of the F of the FTC and also other states to say, hey guys, you're not you're not helping this cause at all.
2:51
SPEAKER_07: Right.
2:51
SPEAKER_07: In fact, you're encouraging the dealers to not uh be compliant with the FTC's rulings on this.
2:58
SPEAKER_07: Right.
2:59
SPEAKER_01: And these rulings are very important.
3:00
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna keep a la level playing field.
3:02
SPEAKER_01: I think it's good for the industry.
3:03
SPEAKER_01: So that's right.
3:04
SPEAKER_07: Everybody that we talk to says that, that you know, this is a good thing for the industry.
3:08
SPEAKER_02: Right.
3:09
SPEAKER_07: But these platforms have got to adhere to this.
3:11
SPEAKER_07: You know, we talked about it then, and it's it's you know all of them, whether cars.com or or you know, uh Auto Trader or Car Gurus or any of the ones that are advertising in these cars.
3:21
SPEAKER_07: Absolutely.
3:22
SPEAKER_07: They're responsible.
3:23
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
3:23
SPEAKER_07: As well.
3:24
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
3:24
SPEAKER_01: So moving on to used electric vehicle market, where sales continue to gain momentum.
3:30
SPEAKER_01: According to Cox Automotive September report, the Used EV sales increased 12 percent compared with August and 21 percent compared with September of last year.
3:41
SPEAKER_01: So nearly 48,000 used vehicles were sold in September, accounting for a record 3.3 percent um of the used vehicle market.
3:50
SPEAKER_01: So that's interesting.
3:51
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, everybody has said that the uh one of the best deals out there is on a used EV.
3:56
SPEAKER_07: You know?
3:57
SPEAKER_01: Right.
3:57
SPEAKER_01: And while they grew, um new EV sales declined, more than 40 percent compared with September of last year.
4:04
SPEAKER_01: But that's also keeping in mind that was just ahead of the incentives that were going away.
4:08
SPEAKER_01: So it's not really an apples to apples there.
4:11
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, that's that's true.
4:12
SPEAKER_07: Right.
4:12
SPEAKER_07: That's true.
4:12
SPEAKER_07: That was a huge jump, huge spike in EV sales.
4:16
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
4:17
SPEAKER_07: And uh that's something that we want to talk to our first guest about, EV sales in Colorado.
4:22
SPEAKER_07: So yeah.
4:23
SPEAKER_01: So Jason covered Slate Auto's first showroom opening last week that happened on Friday.
4:28
SPEAKER_01: But there's another interesting side to the story.
4:30
SPEAKER_01: Slate has some very deep pocketed investors, including Jeff Bezos from Amazon, whose um Family Office is among the company's backers.
4:38
SPEAKER_08: Yep.
4:39
SPEAKER_01: Um the privately held automaker has raised approximately$1.4 billion, including a$650 million funding round this past April by TWG Global.
4:50
SPEAKER_01: So strong Amazon connection there with Jeff Bezos, but also the CEO is Peter Ferrissy, who's the former Amazon executive, and then there are several other leaders that have worked at Amazon as well.
5:01
SPEAKER_07: So a$24,000 pickup is pretty uh enticing.
5:05
SPEAKER_07: And uh very uh you think we'll they'll be able to buy the the consumers will be able to buy those cars on Amazon?
5:11
SPEAKER_01: Of course.
5:12
SPEAKER_07: Of course.
5:13
SPEAKER_07: Of course I do.
5:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
5:14
SPEAKER_07: I mean that's Why not?
5:16
SPEAKER_07: But more and more we see Jeff Bezos getting into the auto sector.
5:20
SPEAKER_07: And uh it's concerning, you know.
5:22
SPEAKER_07: Who know who knows what's where this is gonna go.
5:24
SPEAKER_02: Right.
5:24
SPEAKER_07: But he's got a platform now that dealers can advertise their vehicles, and Hyundai jumped in that early on.
5:30
SPEAKER_07: And but uh but I say keep your eye on this whole slate thing to be.
5:33
SPEAKER_07: Absolutely.
5:33
SPEAKER_07: This could be the the beginning of something really big.
5:36
SPEAKER_01: Right.
5:36
SPEAKER_01: We focus so much on you know the Chinese manufacturers coming in, but then this this could be even more of a concern for us or equally or maybe shorter term.
5:48
SPEAKER_07: That's right.
5:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
5:49
SPEAKER_01: What's interesting about this though, they will be selling through they won't be selling through franchise dealerships, but they are going to be partnering with RepairPow to provide access to thousands of independent repair shops.
5:59
SPEAKER_07: There you go.
6:00
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
6:01
SPEAKER_07: That's it's a whole new way of vehicles being sold in the U.S., not through franchise uh dealers.
6:07
SPEAKER_07: And also, like you just pointed out, you wouldn't bring your vehicle back to this the the dealership, so to speak, you know, in uh in the service drive.
6:15
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
6:16
SPEAKER_07: You know, now they're saying no, we'll we'll hook up with this other national company and go get your vehicle service there.
6:21
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
6:21
SPEAKER_07: You know, but twenty-five thousand dollars for a brand new vehicle when the average price of a car is fifty grand.
6:26
SPEAKER_08: I know.
6:27
SPEAKER_07: You know, and it's kind of a cute vehicle.
6:28
SPEAKER_07: We're just showing it on there uh a second ago.
6:30
SPEAKER_07: It's you know, it's it's gonna get some attention.
6:32
SPEAKER_01: It will, you know.
6:33
SPEAKER_01: Right, especially with all these affordability concerns that we have right now.
6:36
SPEAKER_01: I mean, people are having such a hard time, you know, with everything that they're they're buying.
6:40
SPEAKER_01: So if you see a car that you can buy for that kind of price, it's gonna be, you know what, we might not have a choice.
6:46
SPEAKER_01: I know some of the time.
6:47
SPEAKER_07: This affordability word that the Democrats came up with, I hadn't heard it before.
6:51
SPEAKER_01: The affordability word.
6:53
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
6:54
SPEAKER_01: Anyway, so you know, um you had a great conversation last week with the uh group VP and GM of Lexus.
7:02
SPEAKER_01: So I wanted to mention that because if you haven't seen it, please take a look.
7:05
SPEAKER_01: Go to cbtnews.com and take a look.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: He talks about what's coming for 2027 with Lexus, what they're doing to help their dealers, and um and you guys have just had a great conversation.
7:14
SPEAKER_01: I thought it was worth noting to make sure that um everybody look.
7:17
SPEAKER_07: And they've got their uh big uh event that they just held uh for dealers nationwide.
7:22
SPEAKER_07: And um it's it's you know, Duane is a great guy.
7:25
SPEAKER_07: He runs uh all of the sales and marketing for Lexus, and uh I was kind of t teasing him.
7:30
SPEAKER_07: I said, Who wouldn't want to be in your shoes?
7:32
SPEAKER_07: You know, I mean Lexus is having a great year, they're doing phenomenal, you know, and uh he's just a great guy.
7:38
SPEAKER_07: But yeah, check that interview out.
7:39
SPEAKER_07: I think you'll I think you'll like uh what you see.
7:41
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I do too.
7:43
SPEAKER_01: So before we get to our first guest, I would like to thank our sponsor of the day, which is the Joe Verdi Group.
7:48
SPEAKER_01: For 40 years, the Joe Verdi Group has made dealers more profitable.
7:52
SPEAKER_01: They help salespeople improve the skills they need to sell more with live workshops, in-house events, and world-renowned online sales training.
8:01
SPEAKER_01: Um take your team to the next level with Joe's eight-step selling process that includes specialized sales training on critical skills plus handling price, managing internet and phone leads, overcoming objections, closing and negotiating, customer attention, and much more.
8:16
SPEAKER_01: Now, they've been a partner for many, many years since the beginning.
8:21
SPEAKER_01: And I can't say enough, the team at the Joe Verde group may be the nicest team in automotive.
8:27
SPEAKER_07: They're I they're just great, great people.
8:30
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, they're so nice.
8:32
SPEAKER_07: And uh the the uh I was taught by Joe Verdi, the Joe Verde group.
8:36
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, and uh I, you know, early in my career in the 80s and the mid-80s, and of course I would train so many of my salespeople, you know, using the Joe Verdi tapes.
8:45
SPEAKER_07: That's right, I said the tapes, because you're all like tapes, what the hell?
8:49
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, for you younger folks out there under the age of 40, we did have video cassette tapes that we would put in and uh a VHS recorder.
8:56
SPEAKER_07: They these people don't even know what I'm talking about right now, right?
8:58
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I do.
8:59
SPEAKER_07: But uh for those for those older group out there, you know what I'm talking about in the Joe Verdi uh group, and Joe Verdi was an incredible sales trainer, still is just just uh he nailed it.
9:07
SPEAKER_07: And what's amazing about um his teachings is that you look at it now, you know, and you go, Oh my god, all of this stuff still applies.
9:14
SPEAKER_07: Everything that he's talking about, we were doing back then, you know, we're still doing it today, and it's the block and tackle of the industry.
9:21
SPEAKER_07: This is what we need, you know.
9:22
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, so it's anyway.
9:24
SPEAKER_01: It's the truth.
9:24
SPEAKER_07: It's my right talk on.
9:26
SPEAKER_01: So with affordability, regulatory pressures, and manufacturer relationships all in focus.
9:31
SPEAKER_01: Matthew Grove, CEO of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, is here to discuss that with us live.
9:38
SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much for joining us today.
9:41
SPEAKER_05: Thank you guys for having me.
9:42
SPEAKER_05: I appreciate it.
9:43
SPEAKER_07: Absolutely good to see you, Matthew.
9:45
SPEAKER_07: Uh, hope all is well out there in Colorado.
9:48
SPEAKER_05: You know, we're doing well.
9:49
SPEAKER_05: We're coming into election season.
9:51
SPEAKER_05: There's going to be a lot of change at the state level, so I think everybody is just trying to stay ahead of the curve.
9:55
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, for sure.
9:56
SPEAKER_01: So let's get let's jump right in.
9:58
SPEAKER_01: In January of this year, 10 dealers from Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche sued Volkswagen and Scout Motors to prevent them from selling direct to consumers.
10:08
SPEAKER_01: Can you give us an update on what's going on there?
10:11
SPEAKER_05: Right.
10:11
SPEAKER_05: Uh you know, it has been almost over almost a year now.
10:15
SPEAKER_05: Uh, we are almost through all of the motions.
10:18
SPEAKER_05: We have uh faced a motion to dismiss both from our attorney general as we were assuming the Colorado Department of Revenue for issuing a license, uh, and then Scout proceeded to intervene.
10:27
SPEAKER_05: So there are two motions to dismiss against us.
10:29
SPEAKER_05: We have briefed those motions, and now we are in uh a waiting period for the court to rule on them.
10:34
SPEAKER_07: Okay, okay, great.
10:35
SPEAKER_07: Colorado was one of the first states, though, to grant a dealer license to Scout Motors.
10:40
SPEAKER_07: Has there been any news or updates about when they plan to actually open a showroom or start selling in your state?
10:47
SPEAKER_05: Uh, you know, they have leased some office space.
10:50
SPEAKER_05: I do not know that that is necessarily zoned for commercial.
10:55
SPEAKER_05: I could be mistaken on that.
10:56
SPEAKER_05: But to the best of my knowledge, as soon as the car works, it'll come to market and then they'll attempt to start to start selling cars.
11:02
SPEAKER_07: Interesting.
11:03
SPEAKER_07: That's uh that's gonna be a big moment there in Colorado when when they start selling cars, right?
11:08
SPEAKER_07: Dealers are probably gonna be a little up in arm, especially the Volkswagen and Audi stores.
11:13
SPEAKER_05: Well, you know, our lawsuit is challenging the license, so we are hoping that we can get a revocation of that license.
11:18
SPEAKER_05: It is good until this month, actually, and when they would have to seek to renew it.
11:22
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
11:22
SPEAKER_05: Uh, but our our license would strike and say you do not meet the qualifications to hold a dealer license under Colorado law and then seek to revoke it by a matter of law.
11:30
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah, for sure.
11:31
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
11:32
SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about the FTC and its enforcement to get all dealers on the same page with regard to advertised pricing.
11:39
SPEAKER_01: How is that going in your state?
11:41
SPEAKER_01: Do you do you feel that all dealers are compliant in your state, or if not, what what can they do about that?
11:49
SPEAKER_05: You know, I think we had a lot less further to travel than did some of the less regulated states.
11:54
SPEAKER_05: We have always been a very highly regulated state.
11:56
SPEAKER_05: We've always had 19 specific state advertising rules and a uniform consumer credit code that have gone a long way to keep dealers honest.
12:04
SPEAKER_05: Um when we talk about some of the rooftops that receive these letters, uh, none of the letters came directly to Colorado rooftops, something that we've talked about uh in our partnership with our state attorney general and the enforcement of advertising rules.
12:16
SPEAKER_05: Uh, you know, everybody needs to make some changes, uh, but I think there are less changes to be made in Colorado than there are in much of the rest of the country.
12:25
SPEAKER_07: That's pretty good.
12:26
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, wow.
12:26
SPEAKER_07: Was that like a concentrated effort or was that a an initiative by the association, or how did how did that happen?
12:34
SPEAKER_05: You know, we will reach out to the government every few months and just ask, what are you guys seeing in the market that you don't like?
12:38
SPEAKER_05: Is there a chance that we can communicate it and try to fix it at the industry level before we go to a rule or a statute?
12:44
SPEAKER_05: Um, that might be part of it, but I think in large part it's just communications to dealers.
12:48
SPEAKER_05: Uh, there are a lot of requirements specific to the state.
12:51
SPEAKER_05: We want to make sure that our DNH is listed out.
12:53
SPEAKER_05: We want to make sure that everything is proper in terms of new, in terms of not using trigger words like free or name your own price, uh, and just make sure that we are, you know, the preamble of our law says anything that is deceptive or misleading.
13:07
SPEAKER_05: So while we have 19 specific examples of that, we want to go above and beyond that to make sure that nothing that we're doing is deceptive or misleading.
13:13
SPEAKER_07: Okay.
13:14
SPEAKER_07: A number of the dealers that I've spoken to around the country, Matthew, have said that, you know, the laws don't, the the Fed the FTC laws don't necessarily line up with the state uh laws that we're doing business in.
13:25
SPEAKER_07: And it's kind of a, well, if you're in compliance with this one, you're breaking the state law.
13:30
SPEAKER_07: Or if you're compliant with the state law, you're breaking the FTC rule.
13:34
SPEAKER_07: Have you either heard some of that or dealing, or are you dealing, having to deal with some of that with some of your members?
13:40
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, there's a little bit of conflict between the two.
13:42
SPEAKER_05: You know, for instance, our electronic vehicle title end and registration, we have specific state authority, and it's not been programmed, so not everybody pays it.
13:49
SPEAKER_05: So it feels like maybe that's not something that you have to advertise.
13:52
SPEAKER_05: At the same time, it doesn't take much to advertise it, and it's the path of least risk.
13:57
SPEAKER_05: So we have now recently, in in conjunction with a number of regulatory agencies and compliance groups, uh started recommending that we do uh advertise that one.
14:07
SPEAKER_05: Uh it's just about a matter, uh I think I've said before, risk is sort of a sliding scale, and we want to make sure we are as far to the left as possible so that uh we're not accepting unreasonable amounts of risk or putting our shelves at risk for any unnecessary enforcement.
14:20
SPEAKER_07: Okay, gotcha.
14:21
SPEAKER_07: Okay.
14:22
SPEAKER_01: So switching gears here, talk to us about EV sales in Colorado.
14:26
SPEAKER_01: Your state is the second largest state for EV sales per capita, just behind California.
14:31
SPEAKER_01: So talk to us about how that's going.
14:33
SPEAKER_05: We are, you know, EV sales have been declining in the last year by a fairly significant margin.
14:39
SPEAKER_05: I think if you look year to date, we're down about 50% on both battery electric and in plugins.
14:46
SPEAKER_05: Uh, and that you know, the combination would put us about 12.7 percent this year, I think, uh, where at one point we were almost 30.
14:54
SPEAKER_05: Uh I I have told folks that really EV sales are about affordability.
14:59
SPEAKER_05: If EVs are where affordability is, that's what's going to sell.
15:02
SPEAKER_05: And I think you guys just pointed that out with the used EV market.
15:04
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
15:05
SPEAKER_05: Um but I think what we're seeing here is really the emergence of hybrids, right?
15:10
SPEAKER_05: Uh, there is not a dime of incentive on hybrids, and all of a sudden in Colorado, it is now 20% of the market, one in every five cars.
15:18
SPEAKER_05: So uh, you know, in the absence uh or in the confusion of whether or not this California standard continues to exist after it was uh rescinded by the Congressional Review Act, uh it would not surprise me if every manufacturer is looking towards making a regular hybrid variant of just about everything they sell.
15:34
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, seeing that it it is sort of the happy medium between people's desire for clean and efficient vehicles without having that sort of price premium that the battery electrics and plug-in hybrid electrics have.
15:45
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, for sure.
15:46
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, they uh in fact, Toyota has as you know, when when all of that was going on with EVs a few years back and everything everybody's every manufacturer's switching their fleets over to EVs, Toyota was the one that said, nope, we believe that it's really going to be a hybrid that wins the day.
16:00
SPEAKER_07: And um, and I don't know that uh GM got that memo, but because I guess they're not filled in any hybrid, maybe they are now, but uh maybe they're getting back into the business.
16:10
SPEAKER_07: But um, but we I uh the people that I talk to at the industry have felt as though really the hybrid's going to be the one that bridges this from a combustion engine to to an all-ee um uh environment one day.
16:22
SPEAKER_07: Is that would you agree with that?
16:24
SPEAKER_05: You know, I personally have just made the jump over to a full-size SUV that's getting 36 miles a gallon now, and it is uh a pleasant surprise when gas is over$5 a gallon.
16:34
SPEAKER_05: So yeah, I think, yeah, it it definitely meets a lot of needs.
16:36
SPEAKER_05: Uh a lot of car dealers look at price as as a static operation of what is the sale price as opposed to what is the lifetime cost of the vehicle and keeping it operating over the course of five to ten years.
16:47
SPEAKER_05: So that really is where we're talking about the biggest price difference in hybrid, and it it is helping soften the blow of what is a constantly rising sales price.
16:55
SPEAKER_07: Sure.
16:55
SPEAKER_07: Speaking of affordability, that's been a major conversation across the industry as well as uh the political landscape.
17:03
SPEAKER_07: Um, but uh what what are you hearing from your members on this issue?
17:07
SPEAKER_07: I mean, it's it's a real issue.
17:09
SPEAKER_07: Every dealer that I talk to, and in fact, OEM executives as well, have said that this is a major threat to our industry.
17:16
SPEAKER_07: You know, we we've got to be able to provide a car for less than an average price of$50,000.
17:20
SPEAKER_07: And it's really putting the squeeze on so many um average Americans uh that are that are trying to buy cars and drive cars.
17:28
SPEAKER_07: And to your point, there's other fees, you know, outside of your car payment.
17:32
SPEAKER_07: The now the gas is is$4 a gallon or higher.
17:35
SPEAKER_07: And uh, of course, insurance has almost doubled in the last 10 years, and it's there there's a lot of pain points in this.
17:41
SPEAKER_05: There is.
17:42
SPEAKER_05: Colorado is uh acutely has a problem with insurance costs, not only because we're a hail state, but because of our car theft problem.
17:49
SPEAKER_05: Oh, okay.
17:49
SPEAKER_05: And so there's a lot of ways we could attack some of those problems that have nothing to do with manufacturers.
17:54
SPEAKER_05: But yeah, at the end of the day, the price is continuing to rise.
17:57
SPEAKER_05: And were it just on cars, I think it'd be survivable, but uh cost of living for all Coloradans is going up, be it healthcare, housing, education, anything.
18:06
SPEAKER_05: Uh and so, you know, it is an individual decision on what am I going to sacrifice and where am I going to invest.
18:12
SPEAKER_05: We hope for people that's going to be in uh transportation, continue to be in transportation, but I will say our overall market is down 15% this year.
18:19
SPEAKER_05: So we're looking at going from about 220 to about 201,000 new new vehicles uh making up the total new vehicle market.
18:27
SPEAKER_05: Um that's concerning for us for sure.
18:28
SPEAKER_05: And I think we'd like to see us at least get back to normal if not experiencing continuing growth.
18:33
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, for sure.
18:34
SPEAKER_07: Has has the as a result, have you seen, because of affordability and maybe other issues, have you seen used car sales increase while new car sales decrease, or is it overall down?
18:44
SPEAKER_05: Uh I I mean increase is relative, right?
18:46
SPEAKER_05: They're stable, and so by extension, that is an increase.
18:49
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
18:49
SPEAKER_05: Uh but yes, I think our our used vehicle market is only up one to two percent as opposed to 15 on new cars.
18:55
SPEAKER_05: Uh and so that's a significant difference.
18:57
SPEAKER_05: Um, I I think right now the question is where can we find the most reliable car at the best price?
19:05
SPEAKER_05: Right, right.
19:06
SPEAKER_05: Right.
19:06
SPEAKER_05: And so if you look sort of at the breakdown of manufacturers, you'll see I think, sorry, I've got my cheat sheet here, Japanese manufacturers make up 42% of our market, where American manufacturers are 36%, and and Europeans are almost down to 10.
19:18
SPEAKER_05: So I think there is this uh this notion, whether it's accurate or not, that Asian cars require less service over the lifetime.
19:25
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and I think you know it that's factoring into the consumer decision until somebody else can can change the common perception that maybe that's not as true as it used to be.
19:35
SPEAKER_07: Okay.
19:35
SPEAKER_07: Um, well, that's a perfect segue into my question of what what do you what's your take on the Chinese threat of vehicles being Chinese vehicles being sold in the US?
19:44
SPEAKER_07: Where do you where do you stand, or maybe your dealers stand on this?
19:48
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I mean, we're worried, right?
19:51
SPEAKER_05: I think some of these cars are known to be unsafe.
19:54
SPEAKER_05: And and the question is, would you trade safety or money?
19:58
SPEAKER_05: And I think in a lot of cases, people are in such hard financial straits that they would.
20:02
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
20:03
SPEAKER_05: And so we don't want to see costs of cars coming down at the risks of number of road deaths going up, right?
20:10
SPEAKER_05: That's the wrong trade to make.
20:12
SPEAKER_05: Uh but when you when you have a confined budget and you only have certain options, then I think that those cars would sell and they would they would pose us a grave risk that cannot be measured in dollars.
20:22
SPEAKER_05: And I think that that's something that policymakers should consider.
20:25
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, that's for that's for sure.
20:26
SPEAKER_07: That's for sure.
20:27
SPEAKER_07: If they got if they became safe, would you feel okay with them being sold here?
20:31
SPEAKER_07: Or is just the safety issue that is your biggest concern?
20:35
SPEAKER_07: Because you hear so many things about security and national security, and it's going to decimate you know the the domestic uh brands here and some of the even some of the Japanese that build their vehicles here and it would wipe them out as it as it has done in other countries.
20:50
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we're talking about the difference between macro and micro policy, right?
20:53
SPEAKER_05: Would I ever let my family drive one?
20:54
SPEAKER_05: No, absolutely not.
20:55
SPEAKER_05: Uh, but my kids also not on TikTok.
20:57
SPEAKER_05: A lot of people have made the decision that I'm willing to trade away all of my information for the convenience of whatever it is they provide.
21:03
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
21:03
SPEAKER_05: That's going to be an individual decision.
21:05
SPEAKER_05: I would hope that the state or the nation would recognize the security risks that exist and say we're going to step in at a national level and prevent something like this from happening because while the risk might not be significant to an individual, it is terribly significant when you talk about 380 million people.
21:21
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, for sure.
21:22
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
21:22
SPEAKER_07: Yep.
21:23
SPEAKER_01: So let's change gears again here.
21:25
SPEAKER_01: What is on the association's list to get things done by the end of the year?
21:30
SPEAKER_05: You know, so not by the end of the year, but when our legislature comes back, we are in from January to May.
21:35
SPEAKER_05: Um, every 10 years, our primary regulator, the auto industry division, has what's called a sunset bill to see whether or not their regulations are still necessary.
21:43
SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, like many states, we have a motor vehicle dealer board that we think is essential to keeping Colorado in a hugely compliant place, and we would like to see them and their regulations renewed.
21:52
SPEAKER_05: I think the one that is garnering the most attention in Colorado is uh our state is looking to rescind their banned on Sunday sales.
21:58
SPEAKER_05: Um, obviously, as a driver.
22:00
SPEAKER_05: Of costs and having to extend more overhead as an employee benefit and as a consumer benefit for people who want to come to the lot and see cars without engaging with dealership staff.
22:12
SPEAKER_05: Every fraction of the market wins by having a band on Sunday sales, and I think we'd like to see that continue.
22:18
SPEAKER_05: To eliminate it now after 72 years, I believe, uh, just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
22:26
SPEAKER_05: But every 10 years, there is some agency or some elected who wants to try to roll that back.
22:30
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
22:31
SPEAKER_07: Why why is that?
22:32
SPEAKER_07: What is what are the what what's the argument for that?
22:35
SPEAKER_05: You know, I think they're looking at the convenience without realizing that the banks are closed and you can't close a loan, without realizing that there's a lot involved in a car.
22:44
SPEAKER_05: It's not a two-party transaction, right?
22:46
SPEAKER_05: If you're buying warranties or service plans or financing, there are other folks involved and we need everybody in the same place at the same time.
22:53
SPEAKER_05: Uh and not considering that if there are increased costs due to increased overhead, those pass are those costs are going to get passed along to consumers.
23:00
SPEAKER_05: Uh, and while we're talking about doing everything we can to bring costs down, that is going to take them starkly the opposite direction.
23:06
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, very, very good point.
23:08
SPEAKER_07: Very good point.
23:08
SPEAKER_07: And I will tell you, as somebody that was in the auto industry on the retail side for 25 years, it's kind of nice to have your Sundays off.
23:14
SPEAKER_07: So I mean, it also helps with the scheduling.
23:18
SPEAKER_07: It helps to get a maybe a uh you know the right team in place and a better quality individual that says, okay, am I gonna be working seven days a week?
23:27
SPEAKER_07: And yeah, it helps all the way around, yeah, right, for the auto industry.
23:30
SPEAKER_07: And if everybody's closed, then nobody has an advantage.
23:32
SPEAKER_07: And I agree with you, there are a number of people that like to shop dealerships when the dealership is closed, as you know, right?
23:38
SPEAKER_05: Right.
23:39
SPEAKER_05: And plus, I mean, so many people are going to artificial intelligence and chat GPT to start shopping cars that they're getting inaccurate information that needs to be sorted out.
23:48
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, no question.
23:49
SPEAKER_07: Hey, we do have a comment that uh let's take a look at the comment that came in.
23:53
SPEAKER_07: It says, uh, are smaller dealerships feeling today's regulatory costs differently from large dealer groups.
24:01
SPEAKER_05: Uh I believe that they are.
24:03
SPEAKER_05: And so when you when you have large dealer groups, two things happen.
24:06
SPEAKER_05: One, you're uh you can either centralize operations and have one point of contact for specific vendors, and you tend to get more attention when you bring more business to vendors.
24:15
SPEAKER_05: Uh I I think that's the biggest thing.
24:17
SPEAKER_05: The other thing that can happen as you continue to grow is you might start insourcing some of these functions.
24:21
SPEAKER_05: And so when you control the process, you have a lot more uh control over the outcome.
24:26
SPEAKER_05: And so you know, I think that's going to definitely impact costs.
24:30
SPEAKER_05: If you're just a single rooftop that may not be in a major metro area, it's harder to keep up with all of the things that are happening because it's never one thing at a time, right?
24:39
SPEAKER_05: We're talking about EVs declining at the same time that we're talking about FTC compliance, and the same time that we have all of the state level and economic issues going on.
24:48
SPEAKER_05: Meanwhile, if you turn on the nightly news, all you seem to hear about is tariffs in the war.
24:53
SPEAKER_05: And so there are a lot of economic and non-economic, non-specific auto industry considerations that go into how is my business running.
25:00
SPEAKER_05: Uh, the more people you have to help stay on top of those and deal with the ramifications, probably the more it's going to stabilize your operations.
25:07
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah, agree.
25:08
SPEAKER_07: Yep.
25:09
SPEAKER_01: So, Matthew, you have so much going on on so much on your plate.
25:12
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for taking the time today to join us.
25:14
SPEAKER_01: We really appreciate it.
25:15
SPEAKER_01: So, Matthew Gross.
25:16
unknown: Thank you.
25:17
SPEAKER_05: I appreciate the opportunity to see you guys.
25:18
SPEAKER_07: Thanks.
25:19
SPEAKER_07: You too.
25:19
SPEAKER_07: Stay well.
25:23
SPEAKER_07: Colorado's I mean, Colorado is uh they were selling so many EVs out there, you know, and they were so concerned.
25:32
SPEAKER_07: I think they still are, I shouldn't say they were, but concerned about their air, and they have this huge initiative for their air quality.
25:37
SPEAKER_07: And uh but that that's interesting to hear him talk about uh, you know, from a safety standpoint.
25:42
SPEAKER_07: Not many people want to ask him about Chinese vehicles, brought up the safety aspect of it.
25:46
SPEAKER_07: Right.
25:46
SPEAKER_07: He did, and I think that's interesting.
25:48
SPEAKER_07: You know, right.
25:49
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
25:52
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, great, great, great guy.
25:54
SPEAKER_07: Yep.
25:54
SPEAKER_01: All right.
25:55
SPEAKER_01: Tesla's roaster has taken social media by storm, but Tesla wasn't the only one making headlines.
26:02
SPEAKER_01: Porsche unveiled its new mission S supercar the same day.
26:06
SPEAKER_07: That's right.
26:07
SPEAKER_07: Two very different uh visions for performance.
26:10
SPEAKER_07: But what do these reveal uh the these reveals, I should say I can't talk today, tell us about the future of the automotive industry.
26:17
SPEAKER_07: Carl Brower of IC Cars, and now I see Carl, joins us live with his perspective.
26:23
SPEAKER_07: Thanks so much, Carl, for joining us on the show.
26:24
SPEAKER_07: Did you fly in on your uh new Tesla today to join us and into the studio there?
26:30
SPEAKER_07: No, I I hopped in and very short spurts.
26:33
SPEAKER_08: Exactly.
26:34
SPEAKER_07: But whatever you did, you landed right side up if you're in a Tesla.
26:38
SPEAKER_08: Take it like a cat, right?
26:39
SPEAKER_04: That's right.
26:40
SPEAKER_04: That's right.
26:41
SPEAKER_04: It's a uh it's a it's a different uh take on the bend and snap, right?
26:45
SPEAKER_04: So uh that's right.
26:46
SPEAKER_07: That's right.
26:47
SPEAKER_07: So talk to us about this.
26:48
SPEAKER_07: How practical is any of this outside of a demonstration?
26:53
SPEAKER_04: Not very practical, obviously, right?
26:55
SPEAKER_04: I mean, whether you want to talk about FAA not being happy about people trying to fly cars when they don't have pilot's licenses, to you know, the fact that that my understanding is that it takes, it can, it it only lasts for about as long as it was taking to fly those those short stints, and then it takes something like five hours to recharge the tank, the air tank, or something.
27:16
SPEAKER_04: So to me, it's like it's like you know how people complain about electric cars, they don't have enough range and they take too long to recharge.
27:22
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
27:22
SPEAKER_04: What if your range is 80 feet and it takes five hours to recharge?
27:26
SPEAKER_04: That's a really bad electric car range.
27:28
SPEAKER_04: So there's no question.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: So talk to us about who is the intended buyer for this car, or is this just really uh Tesla trying to accomplish what are they trying to accomplish with this?
27:39
SPEAKER_04: Well, they're trying to accomplish a couple things.
27:41
SPEAKER_04: I mean, I think honestly, the biggest thing they're trying to accomplish is a uh promotion of an integration between SpaceX and Tesla.
27:48
SPEAKER_04: So I think that's really what they're trying to accomplish.
27:50
SPEAKER_04: But if you want to look at the car itself, I think they are making a vehicle that is just taking the electric vehicle's uh advantages in terms of straight line acceleration to an extreme with uh adding jets to it.
28:02
SPEAKER_04: And if you don't get the flying version, I think it could be street legal and it could do crazy performance numbers, not just in a straight line, actually, but around corners because of the downforce that it can create at low speeds.
28:13
SPEAKER_04: So there's potential for a real capable performance car.
28:17
SPEAKER_04: Again, I say potential because there's a lot of technology going on here, and this is like the doors for the Model X times 10, as far as getting everything to work right.
28:26
SPEAKER_04: And we know those doors had their challenges for a while after the production began.
28:31
SPEAKER_04: But if it works, uh you've got a lot of people who are fans of Tesla and fans of performance cars that would probably want to buy one of these.
28:38
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, and again, it just it's these are it's events like this that put Tesla front and center in the press, and it's been covered worldwide in a million different uh gazillions of hits, I should say, on social media.
28:49
SPEAKER_07: And a car like this really helps to strengthen the overall Tesla brand, right?
28:53
SPEAKER_07: And and this and demonstrate this kind of technology.
28:57
SPEAKER_07: Could this eventually influence more uh uh in in the area of mainstream vehicles?
29:01
SPEAKER_04: I guess you got to touch on a couple of things, but well, I think you know the Chinese are great at reverse engineering what they see us doing.
29:09
SPEAKER_04: So tell me there aren't a lot of Chinese engineers this morning digging into how they can add jets to their various cars to keep up with uh Elon.
29:18
SPEAKER_04: So who knows what we could see in the next five to ten years in the terms of um vehicle technology that goes beyond just internal combustion or electric and battery power if we can start to see various forms of compressed air and jet technology on the street.
29:32
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, that's crazy.
29:33
SPEAKER_07: That that's that's yeah, I mean, when you when you think about all of this going on.
29:37
SPEAKER_07: And of course, that you know, I mean he's probably mad that the Chinese automakers have garnered so many of the headlines and people being wowed by what a Chinese vehicle will do.
29:46
SPEAKER_07: And like, well, I'll show you.
29:47
SPEAKER_07: We'll have a flying car that flips upside down.
29:50
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, exactly.
29:51
SPEAKER_07: Yes.
29:52
SPEAKER_01: And then also Porsche.
29:53
SPEAKER_01: So what stands out to you about this concept, the Porsche?
29:58
SPEAKER_04: Well, what stands out is that, first of all, the the the car looked great.
30:02
SPEAKER_04: Um, there wasn't as much detail as I think a lot of people were wanting and waiting for, but the rumors are that it's internal combustion and that it's a flat plane uh crank engine that would be very uh desirable from an enthusiast's point of view.
30:16
SPEAKER_04: And um I think Porsche, like a lot of car companies, has learned painfully how much they should or should not be investing in the pure EV side of things.
30:26
SPEAKER_04: And if uh they can come out with a new supercar that has what many Porsche files would consider the proper motivation uh drivetrain design, then um they can hopefully revive the brand.
30:37
SPEAKER_04: And don't forget that now they're very much just stated the new CEO is basically stating that we're going for lower production and higher profit per model.
30:44
SPEAKER_04: They're seeing a lot of other brands with less heritage making a lot of money on on per car uh profit.
30:50
SPEAKER_04: And they're like, we're Porsche, why can't we do that?
30:52
SPEAKER_07: That's right.
30:53
SPEAKER_07: And he came out of Lamborghini or Ferrari, he came out of one of the other two, the CEO.
30:57
SPEAKER_04: Came Yeah, he was from one of the other ones.
31:00
SPEAKER_04: I can't remember, but he was from was it McLaren?
31:02
SPEAKER_04: He was from another one of the high-end uh brands.
31:04
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah.
31:05
SPEAKER_07: That's great.
31:05
SPEAKER_07: All of us news people, I can't, I can't go through.
31:08
SPEAKER_07: Well, well, we're gonna hear probably from a from a viewer.
31:11
SPEAKER_07: Uh they'll tell us here in a minute.
31:12
SPEAKER_07: But uh what what does all of this, Carl, tell us about the high performance market and where it's heading?
31:20
SPEAKER_04: That there's probably uh kind of a almost limitless appetite, you know, that that for as much as we hear about affordability from mainstream consumers, as we should, because it's very tough on them right now, there is uh a core group of uh people in this country and globally who more is better and uh higher price is not a problem.
31:39
SPEAKER_04: And these car companies have been slowly but surely just moving further and further in that direction, you know, whether it's luxury uh Silverados and Rams and F-150s that cost a lot of money but have the biggest profit because there's just all these kind of fat cat uh uh uh items and and uh accessories and features on them, yeah, to high-end supercars that are hundreds of thousands or even a million plus.
32:03
SPEAKER_04: You know, I mean, Bugatti's got multi-million dollar cars, so do Bugani and Koenigsig, and there's no indication those guys should produce fewer.
32:12
SPEAKER_04: It seems like as many as they produce, they're selling.
32:14
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, right, right.
32:16
SPEAKER_07: We're on the waiting list for that Bugatti.
32:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
32:18
SPEAKER_01: Good deal.
32:19
SPEAKER_01: Two of them.
32:20
SPEAKER_01: One for people's family, one for people.
32:22
SPEAKER_07: That's a good thing to tell your neighbors, you know.
32:24
SPEAKER_07: Oh, we're on the waiting list.
32:26
SPEAKER_07: It's taking so long to get here.
32:28
SPEAKER_07: I don't know where to get here.
32:29
SPEAKER_01: We'll let you know.
32:32
SPEAKER_01: So is all of this a sign that automakers are responding to consumers who want a more engaging driving experience?
32:41
SPEAKER_04: That that's another good one, Bridget.
32:42
SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
32:43
SPEAKER_04: Is that we're watching like the values of used vehicles, used performance cars like used 9-11s that have three.
32:51
SPEAKER_04: We have absolutely hit a kind of zenith of kind of electric, uh technologically advanced cars, and we're moving back toward engaging, you know, uh human machine interface inspired cars that that engage you as you sit behind the wheel.
33:07
SPEAKER_04: Uh and even Tesla was saying, you know, the roadstool will be their only car going forward that isn't self-driving, you know, they're expected to actually be engaged in driving that car.
33:15
SPEAKER_04: So yes, I want to see more manual transmissions and more internal combustion engines.
33:20
SPEAKER_04: I'd love to go back to hydraulic assisted steering because I can still tell when it's electric assist.
33:24
SPEAKER_04: But yes, let's get back to having cars that are about driving and not about how many circuit boards uh they're that they had in them.
33:30
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
33:31
SPEAKER_07: Let me ask you a question.
33:32
SPEAKER_07: When your neighbors uh corner you at a cocktail party and say, All right, you're just the guy I've been waiting to talk to here, Carl.
33:38
SPEAKER_07: I want to spend$50,000 or in that area for a vehicle for an SUV.
33:43
SPEAKER_07: What what do you tell them?
33:44
SPEAKER_07: What you know, what what's the best car or some of the best cars they should take a look at?
33:49
SPEAKER_04: You know, uh I think I think honestly, uh sadly, it almost costs$50,000 now, but uh, but it's in potentially in your range of what you're talking about.
33:58
SPEAKER_04: I think something like the Toyota RAV 4, which was just redesigned for 26, it's a hybrid from top to bottom.
34:03
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and everything about that car, from the fuel efficiency to the range that it gets in the plug-in version, if you want, to the space efficiency on what a small footprint it has and yet how much space it has inside.
34:14
SPEAKER_04: Now, sadly, you're paying almost 50 grand now for the top line RAV 4.
34:19
SPEAKER_04: So that's unfortunately at your uh at your price point, Jim.
34:22
SPEAKER_04: I would I would have first was thinking, well, what kind of luxury cars at 50 grand?
34:25
SPEAKER_04: It's like, ooh, I don't know how many choices you got left.
34:28
SPEAKER_04: But uh, I also think the Palisade and the Um Helluride from Hyundai and Kia are two fabulous vehicles.
34:35
SPEAKER_04: And uh, of course, you've got the standbys.
34:37
SPEAKER_04: I mean Toyota and Honda, they still know how to make very, very effective vehicles.
34:40
SPEAKER_04: So any of their SUVs, I'm a big fan of.
34:43
SPEAKER_04: And according to IC car's longest lasting data, they're some of the longest lasting ones too.
34:46
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, that's great.
34:47
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, that's great.
34:48
SPEAKER_07: You know, it's funny.
34:48
SPEAKER_07: Um somebody very, very close to me every time I say, you know, we should really take a look at some of these beautiful Kias or or Hyundai's.
34:57
SPEAKER_01: Close improximity and I can't drive a Kia Carl.
35:01
SPEAKER_07: No, it's true.
35:01
SPEAKER_07: That's the one.
35:01
SPEAKER_07: I can't drive a Kia.
35:02
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
35:03
SPEAKER_01: What are the neighbor?
35:04
SPEAKER_01: You make me sound like a snob.
35:05
SPEAKER_07: I didn't say it was you.
35:08
SPEAKER_07: What are the neighbors gonna think if we drive?
35:13
SPEAKER_07: Looks just like a Range Rover.
35:15
SPEAKER_07: Uh, you know what I'm talking about.
35:16
SPEAKER_07: You pull up at a stoplight, you're like, my God, yeah, this Kia is just looks beautiful.
35:20
SPEAKER_07: Why don't we take a look at that?
35:22
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, Kia's biggest uh biggest challenge is perception and exactly what you're talking about.
35:28
SPEAKER_04: Because if you actually get near the cars and take one for a drive, you realize, okay, take the badge away and you could sell this as a British luxury car.
35:36
SPEAKER_07: I'm so glad you said that.
35:37
SPEAKER_07: Yes, I agree.
35:38
SPEAKER_01: We are going to test drive one.
35:40
SPEAKER_07: Our son drives one, and every time we go to lunch with him, we're like, oh my God, this car's got more in this car than we had in the Range Rover.
35:47
SPEAKER_07: I know.
35:47
SPEAKER_07: Just beautiful, beautiful cars.
35:50
SPEAKER_07: Maybe we can get up to change the badge or something.
35:52
SPEAKER_01: I don't, I don't mind the badge.
35:53
SPEAKER_01: I think it's a they're I love the badge.
35:56
SPEAKER_04: I do.
35:57
SPEAKER_04: It'd be interesting to see if they offered a debadging option.
36:01
SPEAKER_04: Or a rebrand or a or a rebadging.
36:04
SPEAKER_01: I don't know, it's been a while now.
36:06
SPEAKER_01: I don't know, but maybe 10 years since they did the rebrand of the IKEA thing or the buttons.
36:13
SPEAKER_01: It's working, don't change anything.
36:15
SPEAKER_07: Maybe they could put the Mercedes Star on there, like something.
36:18
SPEAKER_07: I don't need that either.
36:20
SPEAKER_04: Mercedes wouldn't care.
36:21
SPEAKER_04: They'd be fine with that, Jim.
36:22
SPEAKER_04: They wouldn't mind.
36:23
SPEAKER_07: No, but I think that you do speak for a lot of consumers out there that are haven't not that that that feel like, hey, what you know, I want to I want to show everybody that I'm not sure.
36:31
SPEAKER_01: Well, we're in a luxury market, I guess you could say.
36:34
SPEAKER_01: We're looking at luxury vehicles.
36:36
SPEAKER_01: We're looking at we're looking at BMW.
36:38
SPEAKER_01: We're not right we've had a Range Rover, we're not looking at that.
36:41
SPEAKER_07: Um we're looking at The Range Rover is a great car, if you don't mind losing all power while you're going down the highway.
36:49
SPEAKER_04: You know, the I I'm still a big fan of Porsche in any form, including the Macon and the Cayenne.
36:54
SPEAKER_04: So, you know, you're gonna pay.
36:57
SPEAKER_04: They're not cheap, but um there's a reason they're expensive in that they're still selling at that price.
37:01
SPEAKER_04: So they're very good cars.
37:02
SPEAKER_07: Or you could have two kias that are equipped the same way.
37:05
SPEAKER_01: And we may do that.
37:06
SPEAKER_04: It's a hundred percent.
37:08
SPEAKER_01: We may do that.
37:10
SPEAKER_04: How valuable is that badge to you?
37:12
SPEAKER_04: That's really what you've got to ask yourself.
37:14
SPEAKER_07: Right.
37:14
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, well, right now we drive it to work together.
37:16
SPEAKER_07: We maybe handbag.
37:18
SPEAKER_01: How valuable is that he is like airing out the dirty laundry today.
37:24
SPEAKER_07: You know we throw our laundry away.
37:25
SPEAKER_07: We don't we get all new clothes every day.
37:27
SPEAKER_07: Oh my gosh.
37:28
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
37:28
SPEAKER_01: There's no dirty laundry.
37:31
SPEAKER_01: High maintenance.
37:32
SPEAKER_01: I put it.
37:32
SPEAKER_07: No, you're not.
37:35
SPEAKER_07: Absolutely not.
37:36
SPEAKER_01: All right.
37:37
SPEAKER_07: All right.
37:37
SPEAKER_01: So Carl's like this is why you brought me on.
37:41
SPEAKER_01: This is not why we brought you on.
37:43
SPEAKER_04: We crossed over from car talk to like daytime TV and over here.
37:47
SPEAKER_01: We didn't know there was gonna be marriage counseling from Carl Brouwer today.
37:51
SPEAKER_07: Which by the way, Carl Brouwer, man, we love you.
37:53
SPEAKER_07: You've been with us now for 14 years, and thank you so much for all that you bring to CBT News.
37:58
SPEAKER_07: Seriously.
37:59
SPEAKER_07: It's been fun.
38:00
SPEAKER_04: It's been fun watching you guys grow and succeed and become a real you know dominant voice in the industry.
38:04
SPEAKER_04: So congratulations.
38:05
SPEAKER_07: Well, thank you so much.
38:06
SPEAKER_07: Thank you so much.
38:08
SPEAKER_07: So all right, great.
38:09
SPEAKER_07: Thank you so much for all the time you've given us today.
38:11
SPEAKER_07: And uh hopefully we didn't bore you with our marriage problems.
38:14
SPEAKER_01: You know, thank you for the counseling for our marriage.
38:16
SPEAKER_07: See, and maybe this worked.
38:18
SPEAKER_07: Maybe we got to the point where now we'll look at IKEA.
38:21
SPEAKER_07: So thank you so much, Carl.
38:22
SPEAKER_07: You just saved me 50 grand.
38:24
SPEAKER_04: It was a little BTS, except it really wasn't BTS behind the scenes, it was right there in front of everyone.
38:29
SPEAKER_07: You know, a little peep behind the curtain.
38:31
SPEAKER_07: That's that's right.
38:32
SPEAKER_07: That's right.
38:33
SPEAKER_07: It's gonna be a long lunch today.
38:34
SPEAKER_07: So, by the way, let's mention your podcast real quick, um, because you're on there with our other best favorite friend in the world.
38:39
SPEAKER_07: So the the it's called The Drive, and uh with Lauren Fix and Carl Brouwer, and uh, you know, so check that out.
38:46
SPEAKER_07: You're not you're gonna love what you see there.
38:47
SPEAKER_07: It's great.
38:48
SPEAKER_07: You guys just nail it.
38:49
SPEAKER_07: Do a great job.
38:50
SPEAKER_04: Again, it's all the same craziness you heard today from me, just more of it.
38:54
SPEAKER_07: There you go.
38:54
SPEAKER_07: No, we love it, and we love it.
38:55
SPEAKER_07: All right, Carl, thanks so much.
38:57
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
38:57
SPEAKER_01: Appreciate you.
38:59
SPEAKER_04: Take care.
39:01
SPEAKER_07: That's funny.
39:02
SPEAKER_07: So, yeah.
39:02
SPEAKER_07: So now we can go look at IKEA.
39:04
SPEAKER_01: Maybe we could start asking our guests um some marital advice as too.
39:10
SPEAKER_07: I know.
39:10
SPEAKER_07: They're all they're you know, Carl's probably very happily married, and uh he can give us some advice on that.
39:15
SPEAKER_07: I bet I bet he'd his wife wouldn't mind driving a Kihira Hyundai.
39:19
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
39:20
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
39:21
SPEAKER_01: I don't think I'm high maintenance, but you make me sound like I am, so I'm sorry.
39:25
SPEAKER_07: You're not high maintenance, you're really not.
39:27
SPEAKER_01: I'm really not.
39:29
SPEAKER_07: No.
39:31
SPEAKER_01: All right, everyone.
39:32
SPEAKER_07: Um I mean, just look at her.
39:34
SPEAKER_07: She doesn't look high maintenance You know what?
39:38
SPEAKER_01: I think we need some humor here and we need a distraction from this conversation.
39:43
SPEAKER_01: We need a funny clip.
39:44
SPEAKER_01: Do you have one too?
39:45
SPEAKER_07: I happen to have a funny clip.
39:46
SPEAKER_07: That's so funny you should mention that.
39:48
SPEAKER_07: But you all know that I love social media and and and the things and the creativity among our incredible team of automotive professionals out there.
39:58
SPEAKER_07: So um take a look take a look at these because I want to comment on them on the backside.
40:05
SPEAKER_02: That's what's gonna happen to all of us here if we don't sell the rest of our envisions.
40:09
SPEAKER_02: They're offering only 1.9% financing for up to 60 months.
40:12
SPEAKER_02: Come see us at Kelly.
40:15
SPEAKER_06: I know, I agree.
40:16
SPEAKER_06: Welcome in.
40:17
SPEAKER_06: Welcome in.
40:18
SPEAKER_06: Nice to meet you.
40:20
SPEAKER_06: I'm looking at Cloud next.
40:25
SPEAKER_06: So, what can you tell me about the CX70?
40:27
SPEAKER_06: Well, I mean, it's a really great car.
40:39
SPEAKER_06: Cool.
40:39
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, so we're looking at for about uh for about like now we're gonna go.
40:56
SPEAKER_03: As I mentioned, this is for your electrical and mechanical work, and it's gonna be for a total of four months or a hundred thousand a day.
41:02
SPEAKER_03: How the heck are you so?
41:03
SPEAKER_07: Outside the F and I.
41:04
SPEAKER_07: That is great stuff.
41:05
SPEAKER_07: So on that last one, I just wanted to comment.
41:07
SPEAKER_07: I thought the first one was great with the cow kicking, because you see that.
41:10
SPEAKER_07: And it brings you in, you know, and it's it's so creative the way these people are doing this stuff.
41:15
SPEAKER_07: I know.
41:15
SPEAKER_07: These kids today, well, I'll tell you, and and the the no, but the second one, all right.
41:20
SPEAKER_07: So on the second one, you all it said on a slow day at the car dealership.
41:23
SPEAKER_07: Now, granted, they they went a little further than, you know, because of the exaggerating.
41:27
SPEAKER_07: We're all presenting and we're all presenting.
41:28
SPEAKER_07: That that doesn't necessarily happen.
41:29
SPEAKER_07: But what does happen, and you guys know what I'm talking about, is when you pull up to a dealership and there's you know, there's 10 guys or 10 guys and girls or what you know, I say guys generally, but there's 10 salespeople, 20 salespeople out there waiting for that fresh up or for that that customer that drives on the showroom floor.
41:46
SPEAKER_07: It's such a bad look for that consumer that pulls up to go, oh my god, I just want to back out.
41:51
SPEAKER_07: I don't know.
41:52
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, they're gonna pounce on me, or they're you know, they're just waiting for some raw meat to come into the dealership.
41:57
SPEAKER_07: It's not a good look, guys.
41:58
SPEAKER_07: Don't don't try not to do that.
42:00
SPEAKER_07: Just work out some kind of a system amongst yourselves or whatever to say, okay, you you go ahead and and take them.
42:07
SPEAKER_01: Aren't there systems in place for that?
42:09
SPEAKER_07: So it depends on the house you're in.
42:11
SPEAKER_07: Some uh dealerships go, no, it's every man from self, get out there, get every up you can, you know, we're not gonna put that in place.
42:17
SPEAKER_07: And then others do say we're gonna have an up system that says, okay, it's your turn, you're up.
42:23
SPEAKER_07: That's where the term came from.
42:24
SPEAKER_07: You're up.
42:25
SPEAKER_07: And um, go ahead and and get you know your customer and and uh and then the next one would take the next customer.
42:31
SPEAKER_07: And so there's usually some sort of a an agreement among the team, right?
42:35
SPEAKER_07: You know, so you don't have somebody that's what we used to call a Pac-Man, and they're just eating, you know, they're just eating the ups and they're going through a million of them.
42:42
SPEAKER_07: And um, but uh but that is not a good look when you pull up to a dealership.
42:46
SPEAKER_07: We've we've pulled up to dealerships, and there's you know, seven or eight people out there waiting for that car to come in.
42:51
SPEAKER_07: You're just like, uh I want to I want to back up.
42:53
SPEAKER_07: It's 2026.
42:54
SPEAKER_07: It's it's not cool.
42:56
SPEAKER_07: Right.
42:56
SPEAKER_07: Don't you agree?
42:57
SPEAKER_01: I 100% agree.
42:58
SPEAKER_01: Yes, yeah.
42:59
SPEAKER_07: For those of you at a Kia Hyundai store, you probably won't see us pulling up, but um we're checking it out.
43:05
SPEAKER_01: He's not letting it go.
43:07
SPEAKER_01: So I am gonna have to.
43:08
SPEAKER_07: I'm having fun with it now.
43:09
SPEAKER_07: Oh, we're getting Ikea, so that's good.
43:12
SPEAKER_07: That's right.
43:13
SPEAKER_07: I want to see it in Ikea.
43:14
SPEAKER_01: I love Kia.
43:15
SPEAKER_07: That's right.
43:16
SPEAKER_07: Does anybody know what Kia stands for?
43:18
SPEAKER_07: Do you?
43:19
SPEAKER_07: Keeping it affordable.
43:20
SPEAKER_01: Is that right?
43:21
SPEAKER_07: No, it's not right.
43:22
SPEAKER_07: But we did use that in an ad campaign way back when.
43:25
SPEAKER_07: So that's right.
43:27
SPEAKER_07: Maybe it does, I don't know.
43:28
SPEAKER_07: But who knows?
43:29
SPEAKER_07: Do you know what BYD stands for?
43:32
SPEAKER_07: Anybody?
43:33
SPEAKER_07: Anybody in the comments?
43:34
SPEAKER_07: BYD?
43:34
SPEAKER_07: Come on.
43:35
SPEAKER_07: Somebody.
43:36
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, you do.
43:37
SPEAKER_01: Let's see.
43:38
SPEAKER_07: And why did Jim go to a Chinese automaker?
43:41
SPEAKER_07: Jim wants Chinese cars being sold here.
43:43
SPEAKER_01: We do have someone say that they vote for us to get a Kia.
43:47
SPEAKER_01: See that?
43:48
SPEAKER_07: It may be a Kia salesperson.
43:49
SPEAKER_01: I yeah, that's right.
43:50
SPEAKER_01: They're right.
43:51
SPEAKER_07: All right, does anybody know what what uh BYD stands for?
43:54
SPEAKER_07: Come on.
43:55
SPEAKER_07: Everybody knows, right?
43:56
SPEAKER_07: No.
43:57
SPEAKER_07: Build your dream.
43:58
SPEAKER_07: Build your dreams.
43:59
SPEAKER_01: I like that.
44:00
SPEAKER_07: I know.
44:00
SPEAKER_07: I know.
44:01
SPEAKER_07: Yep.
44:02
SPEAKER_07: Okay.
44:02
SPEAKER_07: Chinese are over there going, Americans will love this, build your dream.
44:06
SPEAKER_01: Build your dream.
44:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
44:08
SPEAKER_07: Uh anyway.
44:10
SPEAKER_01: So be sure to head over to cbtnews.com for more great conversations like you saw today.
44:14
SPEAKER_01: Maybe not the Kia conversation, but the other two were really great.
44:17
SPEAKER_01: So you'll check those out from cbtnews.com.
44:20
SPEAKER_01: And while you're there, sign up for our newsletters.
44:24
SPEAKER_07: Please do.
44:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, all these stories and more.
44:26
SPEAKER_07: We it if you sign up for enough newsletters, then maybe we can get that Mercedes.
44:30
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
44:31
SPEAKER_01: The newsletter's free, by the way.
44:33
SPEAKER_01: So much everyone for joining us today.
44:38
SPEAKER_07: No, let's mention one other thing here.
44:40
SPEAKER_01: Please do.
44:40
SPEAKER_07: Oh, there's a lot to mention.
44:42
SPEAKER_07: But let's we're gonna be at the Used Car Week.
44:44
SPEAKER_07: Yes.
44:44
SPEAKER_07: And uh I oh I really want to mention that only because as you can see us there.
44:48
SPEAKER_07: Used Car Week, um, we're gonna be there.
44:50
SPEAKER_07: We're gonna be recording.
44:51
SPEAKER_07: This is something that you know, it's all about used cars.
44:54
SPEAKER_07: As you just heard from uh Matthew in Colorado, new car sales are down and as they are in many states, uh, but used car sales are plateauing.
45:03
SPEAKER_07: Um it's it's a used car game.
45:06
SPEAKER_07: You know, it could be the 2027, it's a it's a fixed ops and used car game.
45:10
SPEAKER_07: And if that's the case, you're gonna want to know more about used cars, how to buy them right, how to sell them, how to get financing, how to recon them.
45:17
SPEAKER_07: Uh everything you need to know about used cars you can find at the Used Car Week in San Diego.
45:22
SPEAKER_07: Who doesn't want to go to San Diego, by the way?
45:24
SPEAKER_01: Next month, November 16th through the 19th.
45:26
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, 16th through the 19th.
45:28
SPEAKER_07: And we're very excited to be there, and uh, we want to see you there.
45:31
SPEAKER_07: So we want to come on up and say hello and and uh maybe have be on the show with us.
45:36
SPEAKER_07: We'd love it.
45:36
SPEAKER_07: We would love it.
45:37
SPEAKER_07: We would love it.
45:37
SPEAKER_01: So thank you guys so much for joining us today.
45:39
SPEAKER_01: We'll be right back here tomorrow, noon Eastern.
45:42
SPEAKER_01: So looking forward to that.
45:43
SPEAKER_07: Yep, go make it a great day.
46:04
SPEAKER_00: Supply chain joke in the body's breeze, new cars card by every number of things in the