Latest / Auto Collabs / Chinese EVs, Amazon, and the Future of the Dealer Model with Ted Smith

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Chinese EVs, Amazon, and the Future of the Dealer Model with Ted Smith · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  Could there be a business that's changing more rapidly than us? It's daunting to look at the headlines. As association executives, we lead with a rear view mirror.
• 0:10
  Just this far out in front of our members, but always quick to check to make sure they're in the backseat, 'cause if they're getting too far behind us, we've left them or they've left us.
• 0:19
  [upbeat music] This is Auto Collabs. Michael, how's your new studio? Well, it's a work in progress, okay? He's like, "You noticed?" [laughs] This old, this old thing?
• 0:37
  [laughs] But I'm always like, "Dang it," because I get it all dialed in. I got the- the gray card thing- Mm-hmm... to do the white balance- Oh...
• 0:45
  and then the two of you come on with your beautiful blues and the this- Mm... and I'm like, "Well, I look like I'm living on the surface of the sun." You know? You actually- I mean, well, you look like-...
• 0:55
  you might look like Mars I mean, there's kind of like a 1978 essence- Ooh... somewhere in there. '83 maybe. I don't know. [laughs] Yeah. It's a little bit of nostalgia- Yeah. Mm... mixed with dialed in.
• 1:06
  It's- it suits you, you know? I feel like there's a British accent coming soon. Ooh. I don't know how... Yeah. I need, I need my overcoat and my- Yeah. That's exactly. Your, your smoking jacket. Oh. Yes. Smoking jacket.
• 1:19
  Yeah, the pipe, the whole thing. Perfect. Yes. As you say. [laughs] Oh my gosh. I don't know what the heck to do with our podcast. How do we get into these conversations? How do we get into these conversations?
• 1:28
  Uh, we're excited for today's con- uh, conversation. Uh, Ted Smith, friend of ASOTU, longtime friend, chairman or the president of the Florida Auto Dealer Association.
• 1:36
  But n- the newly named chair of all of the ATAEs across the country, and he's always so much fun to talk to. A real advocate of the industry, and, uh, likes to crack a joke every now and then. So I'm...
• 1:48
  [laughs] This is gonna be an amazing conversation, I hope you enjoy it too, with Ted Smith. [upbeat music] Ted, I can't help but notice you have very good taste in hats. [laughs] What do you think, guys? I love that.
• 2:05
  I think it's a winner. Looks like you were born with that thing on. Somebody gave me this. Yes. It might've been somebody on the screen here today.
• 2:12
  [laughs] Sent me this, and they wanted me to look like an idiot, an old guy in a flat bill. Hey, I- Let's guess. Was it someone with a beard? [laughs] Living narrowed way down.
• 2:23
  [laughs] Some really poorly dressed dude with a beard. Oh my gosh. A poorly dressed dude. Oh, you're talking about Michael. I got it. Oh. [laughs] So, [laughs] uh, well, well, Ted, thanks for joining us today.
• 2:34
  Thanks for always being just so much fun to hang around.
• 2:35
  Even in the pre-show we were like, "If we were to hit the record button, we'd be somewhere, uh, between becoming the most popular automotive podcast in history or completely canceled. We won't know which one."
• 2:46
  So, uh, we'll just keep [laughs] get going from there. Um, congratulations. Incoming 2026 chairman of the Auto Trade Association Executives.
• 2:54
  In general, um, congratulations and let us know what the people can expect during your tenure. Um, I'm gonna be the, the, really calm above the water and below the water. [water gurgles] Look at this. Ah. Like crazy.
• 3:09
  I think that's kinda like every good leader, right? We have a couple of issues. We have a couple of issues. One or two. One or two. Just one or two. But as always, association executives, we lead with a rear view mirror.
• 3:22
  Mm-hmm. So- Okay, explain that. Go, go deeper...
• 3:25
  we wanna be, we wanna be just this far out in front of our members, but always quick to check to make sure they're in the backseat, 'cause if they're getting too far behind us, we've left them or they've left us.
• 3:37
  So my metaphor is poor perhaps, but it kinda does describe the role of an association person, regardless of the industry, and honestly, in our business. Could there be a business that's changing more rapidly than us?
• 3:52
  Um, it's just kind of incredible. It's daunting, in fact, to look at the headlines.
• 3:58
  In, in preparation for my conversation with you t- today, I, I went out and looked at some of your material and, and other people's material, and it's just too much to get your arms around.
• 4:09
  So what can we expect this year? Here's what I hope we can expect from ATAE is our job as association folks.
• 4:17
  And I'd love to talk about associations more because I believe there's so much power when you have a community of people that do the same kind of work.
• 4:25
  And you form an association 'cause there's strength in numbers, and there's intellect, and there's multiplication of that intellect across the industry.
• 4:32
  But, you know, our job is to anticipate change for our members, for our dealers.
• 4:39
  I think that's our job at FADA and at NADA, is to not just sit by and go, "Oh yeah, we sold some more cars today, and we did some things right, and we did some things wrong. And some things need attention.
• 4:51
  We need to change and innovate." But it's also to look at what's over the next horizon, that we ought to figure out a path before we get there, not be reactive once we get there. Mm. Yeah. I, I, I think of it like this.
• 5:08
  Like, e- every, every operator needs someone manning their, the, the sight zones that they can't see, right? Like covering my six, whatever you wanna call it, right? Because we need great operators. We...
• 5:26
  Actually, Paul and I were sitting with a couple dealers at the NADA show.
• 5:29
  We were going, "Why is it important for you to, or your, your team members to pay attention to, let's say, political influence or economic influence or, uh, you know, AI influence globally?
• 5:42
  Why, why would you say that's important?" And they said, "Well, it's only important if it's relatable on the ground to that person," right? And to, to some dealer principals, some of those things are more important.
• 5:53
  To, to some salespeople, some of those things are less important. And I think what's, but what is important is to have someone that is-... paying attention to those things, right?
• 6:02
  Someone that is having those conversations. So whether it's, you know, a, a, a state association or a local association or the, uh, or NADA, e- everybody has their own part to play in it, right?
• 6:14
  Um, and, and, and maintaining that is what I'm hearing you say, just like, "This is our part to play. We're gonna guard this area.
• 6:22
  We're gonna, we're gonna check the bases to make sure that they can keep doing what they need to do," right? Because obviously you, you guys have worked in dealerships. You know the retail business of selling cars.
• 6:34
  How many fiefdoms are there in a dealership? And there's so many departmental levels- [laughs]... and so many customer issues.
• 6:40
  I don't even know how, as a dealer principal, you can get your arms around that and the real estate and the zoning requirements and all the things that press in on our dealers. So my belief- Oh, my...
• 6:50
  is that let's let them focus on all that stuff, and let's...
• 6:54
  We need to be their advocates in the legislature with consumer groups, with the media, with anybody that's pressing in on their business to change how they do it, which includes OEMs and future OEMs, like the Chinese, and boy, is that an issue.
• 7:11
  So- Mm-hmm... there's just so much going on. But I love, I love working for associations. I, that's all I've ever... I've really never had a real job. [laughs] I, I haven't.
• 7:20
  Right out of college, I went to work for an association. Really? And I began to... Yeah, right out of school. It just happened.
• 7:26
  You know, I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up, so I ended up getting this wonderful job in the construction industry, but it was with an association.
• 7:34
  And I quickly learned that, you know what, we're like, just like you said, Kyle, we, we became like the home office for all of these independent businesses who were focusing on their business, but we were looking at the big picture stuff, the 5,000 to 50,000-foot stuff.
• 7:50
  Mm-hmm. That's where we lived. You know?
• 7:53
  And that's so important in our business, and it's what you guys do every single day in your jobs, is you help the industry see things that they might not focus on, and you give perspective.
• 8:06
  So I love that about you guys, and I love your motto, man. "Love people more than cars." What? [laughs] Come on. Okay, I gotta- There's two things here I gotta just bring up.
• 8:17
  Number one is this morning I'm building a, a model, uh, an LLM. M- I'm using Gemini, and it was the first time in a sentence I had ever read the word fiefdom. No way. And just now- Twice? [laughs]...
• 8:34
  you said fiefdom in a sentence. That's wild. And I'm like, "What in the heck is happening?" I don't believe in coincidences, Ted. That means we're getting into something today that's gonna change lives.
• 8:44
  The second thing is, you know, talking about your experience, th- this is the,
• 8:50
  this is the year of the human, and as we look at all of the landscape shifts and things of that nature, when you talk about, um, coming out of college and going to work for associations, there is something so irreplaceable in the real hands-on, nitty-gritty experience in how you see things.
• 9:10
  And w- I always forget his name. The, the CEO of NVIDIA, Jensen, Jen- Jensen Huang. Huang. Huang. Yeah, him.
• 9:17
  He said that we need to change the definition of what it means to be smart in this next era because smart used to mean, like, being able to, you know, do something that somebody else can't do or that requires a lot of- Write lines of code...
• 9:31
  lines of code, and now all of a sudden, AI, that was the first thing that AI was able to do, was write lines of code.
• 9:37
  Um, and he said that the definition of smart, in his estimation, needs to change to being able to see around a corner, and you've kind of talked about seeing the horizon. Mm.
• 9:48
  And I, and I can't help but draw a straight line between your ability to see the, what's on the horizon because of the hands-on experience you've had. It's so irreplaceable. I want to get your thoughts on that.
• 10:01
  What, what, what are you seeing now on the horizon, given the experience you've had working in all these associations and the thousands of people that you've, you've worked with? Well,
• 10:13
  uh, uh, I, I'll tell you that w- we, we used, we used that, uh, necessity of looking ahead in 2023 when VW didn't announce how they were gonna release the Scout in the marketplace. Mm.
• 10:27
  And because they weren't saying they were gonna use dealers, we went, "Hmm." "Let's ask a question." "Let's don't be reactionary. Let's be proactive."
• 10:35
  And we went to our legislature and said, "Because they're not announcing in 2023 who they're gonna use when they build these cars that aren't even being produced yet, we better assume that they're not gonna use our car dealers."
• 10:49
  So we went to the legislature and said, "Let's look at our law. Ooh, could they use a subsidiary organization to go around the dealer network?" Hmm. And we said, "Yes, our law might allow that in Florida."
• 11:01
  I got busy with our lawyers, and we cinched that right up and said- Ooh...
• 11:06
  "If you're gonna be an OEM, you can't compete directly with my members, my car dealers, but you also can't use a, an affiliate organization to do it." We defined that very dis- uh, succinctly at 30% or more investment.
• 11:22
  How much of Scout does VW own today? How about 100%? 20. [laughs] But what if it had been 40? Okay, we're good. So we said 30% or more, and we said, "Why do we need to do that? Is that just protectionism of our dealers?"
• 11:38
  No. It's protecting the system we think is the best system to sell cars in, and that's OEM, dealer, consumer. There's- The most competition, the most service ability for people close to their home. I'm sorry.
• 11:53
  That's where I live, working for car dealers. So that was big. But that was y- that was looking over the horizon. We saw something that could happen, and we acted on it before it happened, and then it happened. Mm-hmm.
• 12:04
  Sure did. And that has allowed 27 of my dealers-To be in a, a lawsuit today with VW Scout saying, "You can't go around us, boys and girls." Hmm. "We're right here. We brought you to the dance. Use us." Hmm. Oh.
• 12:20
  Does that make sense? See, that's good. That's a great line, "We brought you to the dance. Now use us." Yeah.
• 12:25
  I think, I, I'd love to hear, because I think these are words that you've probably r- thought about a lot, um, you know, you said, and, and we would agree, but I wanna kind of get your perspective that the franchise dealer network is the best possible way to deliver and service vehicles to the end user.
• 12:45
  How... If someone is getting those questions from a friend, a family member, uh, a, a Reddit thread, a, a LinkedIn comment, a Facebook comment, in a, in a culture that is really pressing in on that continually, right?
• 13:00
  Well, I'll say, like, macro level, macro level culture, especially because some of these OEMs are saying it's possible.
• 13:05
  Some of the, the, you know, the Teslas and the Rivians and the Scouts of the world are, are pushing into that narrative and saying, like, "We should do that."
• 13:13
  Um, how, how do we, like, in a caring way, defend the position to the end user, right?
• 13:21
  I think all dealers would say, "Yeah, we're the best way," but they're gonna run into friends and family members and Reddit threads and, and Facebook threads, and not in, like, a bashing way.
• 13:31
  But you've probably considered, how do we, how do we communicate that in a caring way so that people can see why this is the best way to, to buy and service a vehicle?
• 13:39
  You know what I say to friends when the, when the whole subject comes up of what is the best model, OEM direct to consumer or OEM dealer consumer? I go, "It's real easy. Just think about, um, think about Apple computers.
• 13:54
  How much does an Apple computer cost in LA? Ele- let's just say $1,200. What does it cost in Tallahassee if we were to have a store, and we do not? What would it cost in Tallahassee?" $1,200. $1,200. Yeah.
• 14:10
  If you go in and say, "How about if I give you 1150?" What's the answer? [laughs] Are you okay? That's funny. Do you need a doctor? Right. [laughs] Not so much. So they work under...
• 14:19
  The, the direct to consumer model says, "Oh, one price is best," but one price is also very much loaded with margin for the seller. Is it not? Yeah. In our system, the dealer buys the car. You'll...
• 14:36
  What, what pe- what I believe consumers wanna hear is, "What's the most competitive system for me?"
• 14:41
  I believe that is where you have a lot of our dealers in a certain linemake who have inventory on the ground, and they've paid for it, and they'd like to sell it to you, and they'd like to do so in a competitive w- Mm-hmm.
• 14:55
  I call it an open, I call it an open market, but it's a regulated open market. Yeah.
• 15:02
  It is regulated to the extent that I go to the legislature and go, "Let's regulate this to keep it in place, not to benefit my dealers, but to benefit the people buying the cars." Hmm.
• 15:13
  Because you and I both know people will travel 200 miles to save $500 or $1,000 on a car, but where do they want it to be serviced? Mm-hmm. In- Right... their backyard. That's right.
• 15:24
  Within two miles of their home or office, and that's what America wants. And has that... Is that gonna change tomorrow? Never. Never. I, you know, I, I think
• 15:36
  the service argument is actually stronger than the sales argument when it comes to- 100%... when it comes to competition, right? Because cars are mechanical things. Things go wrong, they break, emergencies happen.
• 15:48
  Um, and the honesty and the level of service that's needed in a service maintenance facility is a lot different than the needs of a sales side, right?
• 15:58
  Sales, typically, it's more of a, a pre, [laughs] a premeditated purchase, right? Like, we're looking, we're shopping, we have time. Service is a lot less like that.
• 16:07
  And so I think the service, competitive service offering is actually an even stronger case than a competitive sales model. Right.
• 16:14
  So when Tesla came into Florida however many years ago that was, '12, '15, and they first started putting up some stores, they had a couple of sales outlets- Mm-hmm... but almost no service outlets. Right.
• 16:26
  And I'm told that even today, when, when, uh, Teslas need collision repair... Do they have collision shops? No. No, no. And they struggle with parts availability, like crazy.
• 16:38
  Who are they using to do their collision work? The dealers. Dealers- My-... third parties, everybody else. Yeah. My dealers who own collision shops and third parties who own collision shops. Mm-hmm.
• 16:49
  Who've made the investments in the equipment that it can actually repair a Tesla to spec. Exactly right. So it really is about, you know...
• 16:56
  I, I believe in fighting for the franchise system because I believe it's the best system. When Tesla and Rivian and all those guys came in, and Rivian's a funny story, 'cause Rivian was birthed right here in Florida.
• 17:07
  You guys know that. Right. Right? Yeah. Mm-hmm. I remember visiting that little factory with that young man who is now- RJ... a very, a very happy young man.
• 17:18
  [laughs] And I've seen his first cars, and I, you know, I visited his little facility and went, "Wow, I don't know who's gonna buy that." It was, it looked like a little small Porsche.
• 17:27
  And I'm 6'2", so I was standing about this much over the- Right. That's what they did look like. Forgot about- You're so right. I forgot about that... you for- it was a plug-and-play car originally.
• 17:37
  I saw it- Forgot about that part... in his warehouse, and my, my lawyer and I were looking at it and we go, "Hmm, really cool." "We're good." [laughs] But- "Good luck, kid." Yeah... I'm hungry, gotta go. [laughs] Yeah.
• 17:48
  [laughs] That's so funny. We have no vision, guys. We should've had some vision, 'cause that guy ended up becoming a big deal. His father is now married to a senator from Florida. Hmm. Oh. Yes.
• 18:02
  So when we talk about franchise stuff, she always comes up and goes, "Teddy, don't worry about it, man. I'm not gonna play the Rivian thing." I said, "I don't care about any of that." [laughs] What a, what a riot.
• 18:13
  We never fought you guys at Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid because we believe our system is better than yours. We didn't feel a need to fight you coming into the market.
• 18:25
  Yeah, it's, it's more about the fight against the OEM that's competing with its own dealers is kind of the- That's the shift...
• 18:29
  that's the big, that's the shift, yeah There's still a war going on over direct to consumer, but it is not with those three.
• 18:36
  It's with our own OEMs who kind of every now and again go, they have some Tesla envy, and they go, "Oh man, I'd like to go to direct to consumer." Yeah.
• 18:45
  And we have a piece of legislation this year that deals with some of that.
• 18:50
  So, you know, our, our design here is to just, again, uh, represent the dealer with the hopes that that means representing the cons- what's best for the consumer in the long run. And you know what?
• 19:01
  I'll defend that and argue that with anybody. Put 'em on. I mean, come on. [laughs] Put 'em on. I mean, good. I can deal it. I can deal it. We have five people.
• 19:07
  There's so much- Before we wrap, I wanna get your thoughts because you mentioned China, China, Chinese vehicles. We've had the... We've all three had the chance to drive some of them- We did. I liked that...
• 19:15
  when we were in Kazakhstan. Um, and I'd, I'd love to get your thoughts because there's, there's a mixed bag of results, right? There's, there's a... Dealers wanna sell stuff.
• 19:24
  They're like, "Give me something to sell," right? Um, and there's- Anything with wheels... there's political pressure, there's OEM question marks.
• 19:31
  Now we're hearing the talks of Ford get involved with, with some of that stuff.
• 19:35
  Like, how are you, how are, how are you working with dealers to just, like, talk through the potential, the challenges, the oppor- you know, all, all of the things that, I think, when you look at the retail side it's like, "Give me something to sell.
• 19:48
  I'll sell it." But there's also the dynamic of the political or, or, or the, the comp- competing OEMs. What's the conversation in the halls? You know what? That, that's such a...
• 20:00
  That is so important, [laughs] that question, because it's not just China. It's, we have a new player called Amazon who wants- Mm... to enter the business. They started on the new car side.
• 20:11
  They're now on the used car side. They came to me in Florida, I don't know, three months ago, and said, "Hey, can we have some dialogue? We'd like to get inside your community of your dealerships."
• 20:20
  And I said, "Well, let's talk."
• 20:21
  But any- what I'm saying is that represents sort of a challenge to the model that we have today because, uh, those folks would, that, their digital retail platform is the same one you buy toilet tissue on, right?
• 20:36
  It's the Prime deal. The Chinese now are coming and saying, "Well, we've got this new model we wanna introduce." So what should the association's role be in that? To tell our dealers what to do? No. To educate them?
• 20:50
  100%.
• 20:52
  So we took it as a matter of fact that we needed to do something with respect to Amazon, and I got with my lawyers and I got with their team, and we analyzed what they were offering through the Amazon used car sales program to my dealers.
• 21:07
  And we took on the role of education and we talked about all of the new contracts that need to be signed and what they might mean for a dealer, and what the dealer's responsibility and liabilities would be.
• 21:16
  If we educate our members, they're smart men and women. Mm-hmm. They can make decisions with information. The problem, going back to what we said earlier, is they may not have all that information. That's right.
• 21:26
  They need to rely on somebody to give it to them. So we- Right, 'cause it's hard to keep up with everything because there's so much- It's a nasty job... coming across the pipe. 100% ridiculous to, to try to do that.
• 21:35
  So with China, what's our role? I don't know. We, we had a guy, uh, speak to our group in Vegas, and I left there, and if I'd had any hair at all it would've been on fire.
• 21:46
  [laughs] Let me put, let me put my hair and my hat back on [laughs] because you caught me off guard. [laughs] Hat on fire, yeah.
• 21:54
  Honestly, he, he shook, he shook me to the core with what he told us about the game plan of the Chinese with respect to the auto reta- the retail auto market in America. Is it about selling cars or is it about dominating
• 22:09
  the culture eventually? Was it Michael Dunne? It sure was. Yeah. Yeah. He's our guy. Good buddy. Good buddy. I knew it too when he said that. That guy knows all the stuff.
• 22:17
  Every time we talk to him we're like, "Wah" [laughs]. [laughs] Yeah. I felt like I was in a fan. [laughs] Yeah. Yeah. That's great. He, he knows he, he knows his stuff. He, he's, he's an explosive guys.
• 22:28
  But, so, so what's our role with China? Uh, you think, you think car dealers wanna sell Chinese vehicles in an affordability crisis? Yes. And w- Hard yes... oh, my goodness. So, so do we- Line it up...
• 22:41
  do we blame our OEMs for not producing $30,000 cars, or do we come up with a strategy to deal with the possible entry of the Chinese automakers? Mm.
• 22:51
  And, and we know that, uh, the barriers to their coming into Florida are not gonna be whether dealers want them. Mm. They're gonna be safety issues, concerns about information security in vehicles. Mm.
• 23:04
  Somebody told me something today, it was nuts.
• 23:06
  D- uh, they said that our vehicles in China, they have parking rules that if you have an American vehicle that has some of that same ability to capture information, you can't park it anywhere near a Chinese government building.
• 23:20
  Oh, wow. Wow. Like, they, they're- Right... they're suspect of us. That's wild. What if I went to our state legislature and said, "Come on, Chinese.
• 23:28
  You can bring those cars in, but you can't park them anywhere near the capital, anywhere near a post office- [laughs]... anywhere near the tax collector, any..." How many would they sell?
• 23:37
  Or anyone that works for any of those. Right. Wow. I mean, and you know what? This validates the, the position that you shared with us earlier- Mm... which is the, the best model is through the dealer body.
• 23:50
  W- what the consumer might look... U- a- and the three of us when we were overseas in Kazakhstan and we drove these, these things, and we went in and out of, I don't know, 30 different dealerships.
• 24:00
  It is easy to be blown away with the luxury feel and look- Mm-hmm... and price point, right? You... Like, to get a Land Rover-esque tank- [laughs] Tank... of a SUV for 25,000 bucks- That is wild... you're like, "What?"
• 24:14
  Even if you tariffed it at 200%, the allure from a consumer perspective is there.
• 24:19
  But-All of a sudden, to your point, the position through the dealer body is, "Okay, but we're the professionals that are actually watching your back.
• 24:27
  We're the ones considering, the associations are the ones considering the real impact."
• 24:32
  It's not just about an affordability crisis, it's about whether this thing's gonna steer me off the road one day [laughs] because it didn't like what I ate for dinner last night. But it's not s- it's not just that.
• 24:43
  It's if the OEM is a Chinese entity influenced by the CPP, what is going to be the ability- Mm-hmm... of the dealer to communicate its needs with that OEM? Look- Mm-hmm...
• 24:57
  we have a difficult time talking to German OEMs and, and international brands, even our own brands right here in America. Can you imagine how difficult the contractual relationships- [laughs]...
• 25:08
  might be if the person bringing the cars has some motive other than just selling cars in America? So- Can I ask you this?
• 25:17
  What impact, if any, or, or, um, bearing does the fact that Canada signs a deal with China to f- put 50,000 vehicles a year into the market on US perception?
• 25:34
  Is it like, "Oh, crap, thanks, guys. You did it. Now, now we have to have this conversation"?
• 25:39
  'Cause I mean, I saw Trump's, you know, conversation this morning about now he's kind of considering, "Well, how can we build them here?" Uh, but, but I mean, what's your take? What, what's your vantage point on that?
• 25:52
  Well, that question was, is loaded with two or three things. [laughs] He's like, "Actually, I, I don't think I want that one." [laughs] Do we have any passes on this, by the way? I'd like a pass.
• 26:01
  Can I get a strike the ball, please? Well, well, let me give you some context. We were in Kazakhstan sitting in a yurt with association professionals- [laughs]...
• 26:09
  and talking about b- because, I mean, so many Chinese brands there. You look at, you look at Europe, there's already 30-plus Chinese brands- Mm-hmm... in the market, flooding into the market.
• 26:21
  Um, and I, I just made this statement with how friendly... I, I, I mean, I grew up in Canada.
• 26:26
  Um, you know, so, so I was like, "Well, we're kind of friendly with China, and if, if there's gonna be an entrance into North America, it's gonna happen through Canada." And here we are. I mean, w- when was that, guys?
• 26:35
  October. Right. Here we are just a few months later, and all of a sudden it's, it's kind of unfolding that way, and I'm just curious what kind of influence, if at all, that has on what we do here in the United States.
• 26:47
  Well, the geographic proximity m- creates an, a, a tremendous problem for us, doesn't it? I mean- Yeah, because-... they're right there... now it's, now it's both sides, Mexico and China, right?
• 26:56
  But at what, at what point do you say, "Oh, well, you can't bring in these Chinese cars," but if somebody who lives just across the border in Canada comes into New York and trades their Chinese vehicle at a dealership- Mm...
• 27:07
  now we have a Chinese car that might be six months old sitting on a dealer's lot for sale, and it has not been approved for safety standards, information- Well, can it sell?...
• 27:16
  technology, C- CTS, whatever that thing is, the, all of the info barriers that might exist in the federal government. How do you deal with all that? So, I mean, this is a com- this is way above my pay grade.
• 27:30
  All right, who's g- who's got an easier question? Pay grade. Look, no, it goes like this. It goes like this: Ted, I'm glad we just cover the news and ga- give perspective. [laughs] I don't envy your job.
• 27:41
  [laughs] You keep it. Hang on to your hat. And, uh, man, it's been a, a joy and a pleasure hanging out with you, getting inside the mindset of, of where you're at as an association and where your dealers...
• 27:52
  Uh, keep that hat on because you're gonna need it this next year so you don't pull your hair out- [laughs]... I think. Uh, but thank you, Ted, again, so much for joining us here on Auto Collapse.
• 28:00
  You guys are great, and I love your theme, your theme, loving people. I, I gotta tell you about one dealer here in, in Tallahassee, Florida. You know what his theme is?
• 28:10
  His theme is, "We've been in the people business," or, "We're in the people business." They shortened it to, "We're in the people business." It used to be, "We've been in- Like him already...
• 28:18
  the people business for over 100 years." Ah, like him already. It's more punchier. I like him. And what a great theme, right, for a car dealer? So- He's in the people business... love you guys. You're doing a good job.
• 28:28
  Keep it up. [upbeat music] Okay, so he mentioned a few months ago Amazon called him. I think he texted me, like, within minutes of that happening because we had- I remember this actually...
• 28:43
  an hour-and-a-half conversation.
• 28:45
  And what I love about Ted, and he, he was able to orate some of the thoughts and, and opinions, but we didn't really get to see the side of him that he's, he's someone that asks a lot of questions.
• 28:58
  So even, like, you can... If you read through the lines, "I went to my, to the legal team and I started asking questions. Oh, I went to, uh, you know, Rivian's original factory here." That's, that's an inquisitive mind.
• 29:12
  It, it, it's- Right... probably the way that he even approaches the dealers. It's gonna be the way that...
• 29:16
  There's nothing about him that tells me that he's got some super secret personal agenda by which he's going to dictate across of the ecosystem.
• 29:26
  And so I'm excited about this year because it's someone that is uniquely inquisitive about the position of others, and that allows you to gain perspective in a whole different way. It's, you know what?
• 29:36
  There's two camps there. There's, there's the group of people that are in the camp you just talked about.
• 29:41
  We're inquisitive, and we wanna learn, and we wanna understand so that we can move to action, and then there's the majority of the rest of us who are like, "That sounds like if, if I inquire, then I gotta know something that I probably don't wanna know."
• 29:54
  [laughs] No. You know? He's like, "Oh, man." And, and this always stands out to me, though, 'cause this is, like, how to win friends and influence people 101. Oh. And you see it in great leaders like Ted, where how...
• 30:04
  Like, I couldn't help but think, like, "How is this guy so cheerful knowing what he knows?" And like- Right... word choice, word choice, I, I'm, I'm always p- observing word choice.
• 30:17
  He said, at one point he said, "And because of this, it's allowed some of my dealers to be involved in a lawsuit." And I'm like, "Who the heck says they're al- like-" Allowed? Oh, congratulations. "I allowed them."
• 30:32
  Amazing. Right? Good news, I've allowed you to be a part of a lawsuit. Yes. Like, like, the cheery disposition. "Yes, I've allowed you to be a part of a-" Great news. I'm like- We're with the IRS, and we're here to help.
• 30:44
  Right. [laughs] So amazing. Ah. It, it can't be faked. It's that, it's that authentic. It's just a true sign of a great leader. That's something that stood out to me as we were chatting with him. Mm.
• 30:56
  I mean- It's amazing. It's good... Ted really is. And he's wearing the flat brim. If you weren't watching- Yeah... you should watch the video episodes of these. You should.
• 31:03
  And you should join us for more of these Auto Collaps'. We, we release them all the time.
• 31:07
  We're just trying to have conversations with real people across this industry, so we'd li- hope that you like, subscribe, share it with your family, your friends.
• 31:14
  On behalf of Paul Jay Daly, Michael Cirillo, myself, Kyle Messier, thanks for joining us on this one with Ted Smith on Auto Collaps'. [upbeat music] Welcome to Auto Collaps'. Welcome to Auto Collaps'.
• 31:29
  [laughs] Why are we recording? Are we rolling yet? Not yet.