Latest / CBT Live / Detroit 3 Headed for Record-Low U.S. Share, Chinese Brands, Scout Fight (09.24.26)

Transcript

Detroit 3 Headed for Record-Low U.S. Share, Chinese Brands, Scout Fight (09.24.26) · CBT Live

0:00
SPEAKER_06: What does Volkswagen's new North American strategy mean for dealers?
0:03
SPEAKER_04: And what does Stellantis' new pricing rules mean for the way dealers advertise?
0:08
SPEAKER_04: All that and more coming up next on CBT Live.
0:29
SPEAKER_06: Hey everyone, welcome into another edition of CBT Live.
0:32
SPEAKER_06: Today is Thursday, September 24th.
0:34
SPEAKER_06: I'm Jim Fitzpatrick, and I'm joined by my lovely partner, Bridget Fitzpatrick.
0:39
SPEAKER_04: Hello, everyone.
0:40
SPEAKER_04: Welcome to the show.
0:40
SPEAKER_04: We are so glad to have you here with us today.
0:42
SPEAKER_04: We've got a great show for you today.
0:44
SPEAKER_06: That's for sure.
0:45
SPEAKER_06: We really do.
0:45
SPEAKER_06: There's so much going on out there.
0:46
SPEAKER_04: There's a lot going on today.
0:48
SPEAKER_04: It's not necessarily a slow news day like it was yesterday.
0:50
SPEAKER_04: That's right.
0:51
SPEAKER_04: That's right.
0:52
SPEAKER_04: So we will get right into it.
0:53
SPEAKER_04: Coming up on today's show, we'll be joined by Fred Emmick, managing partner at Emmeck Automotive and chairman of Volkswagen National Dealer Council to share his perspective on Volkswagen's North American strategy and leadership change.
1:06
SPEAKER_04: And then we'll be joined by Joe LaHam, president of Premier Companies, to talk about Stellantis' new map pricing and the FTC.
1:14
SPEAKER_04: Looking forward to both of those conversations.
1:16
SPEAKER_06: Absolutely.
1:17
SPEAKER_06: Yep.
1:17
SPEAKER_06: It's always great having Joe on.
1:18
SPEAKER_06: He tells it like it is.
1:20
SPEAKER_06: And of course, we want to hear from uh Fred and find out what is going on with Volkswagen, right?
1:24
SPEAKER_06: Sales are a little bit down uh the first half of the year, so I want to get his take on that.
1:29
SPEAKER_06: And uh and then of course, you know, the whole situation with Scout and everything else.
1:33
SPEAKER_06: So we have to do that.
1:34
SPEAKER_06: Yep, great guy.
1:35
SPEAKER_04: Looking forward to that.
1:36
SPEAKER_04: But before we do, I would like to thank our sponsor, Capital One.
1:40
SPEAKER_04: Navigator platform from Capital One gives you the solutions you need to drive leads, conversions, and results.
1:46
SPEAKER_04: You deserve a partner that helps you win in your market.
1:49
SPEAKER_04: Reach out to your Capital One representative to learn how Navigator Platform can help your dealership take the lead.
1:55
SPEAKER_04: Thank you, Capital One.
1:56
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
1:57
SPEAKER_06: They make it possible for us to have this broadcast.
1:59
SPEAKER_04: They do.
1:59
SPEAKER_04: We appreciate that very much.
2:01
SPEAKER_06: What's in your wallet?
2:04
SPEAKER_04: All right.
2:04
SPEAKER_04: Do we do have some news today?
2:06
SPEAKER_04: Um Cox Automotive just released its Q3 sales forecast update at 11 a.m.
2:12
SPEAKER_04: this morning, and it's good news.
2:14
SPEAKER_04: New vehicle sales have been stronger than they expected.
2:17
SPEAKER_04: August finished at an estimated 16.8 million SAR above Cox's original 16.3 million forecast.
2:24
SPEAKER_04: So that's great news.
2:25
SPEAKER_04: That is incredible.
2:27
SPEAKER_04: This is the strongest sales pace of 2026 and the sixth straight month above a 16 million SAR.
2:34
SPEAKER_04: So we will take it.
2:35
SPEAKER_06: That's great.
2:36
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
2:36
SPEAKER_06: I think our graph there says uh forecast is 16.1, but you're saying it's actually 16.
2:40
SPEAKER_06: 16.8.
2:41
SPEAKER_06: Wow.
2:42
SPEAKER_06: Okay.
2:42
SPEAKER_06: Great.
2:43
SPEAKER_06: Right?
2:43
SPEAKER_06: That's right.
2:44
SPEAKER_06: So so there you go.
2:45
SPEAKER_06: This is great news.
2:46
SPEAKER_06: So we will have to change that.
2:49
unknown: We will.
2:50
SPEAKER_06: No, that's good news.
2:51
SPEAKER_06: I mean, you know, it in light of everything that's going on.
2:54
SPEAKER_06: I've said this a number of times on on earlier broadcasts that, you know, with all that's going on uh from a a macro uh viewpoint and and uh you know in the world and gas prices and everything else, dealers are still out there selling cars.
3:07
SPEAKER_06: That's right.
3:08
SPEAKER_04: These we still are in a surprisingly resilient market here.
3:11
SPEAKER_06: We really are.
3:12
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
3:13
SPEAKER_04: Also, automotive news released its CEO compensation study today, and GM's Mary Barra is number three on that list.
3:20
SPEAKER_04: Wow.
3:21
SPEAKER_04: Her 2025 compensation came to 48.2 million, up nearly 62 percent from 2024.
3:28
SPEAKER_04: The study says that the gains she received from stock options and awards doubled last year.
3:33
SPEAKER_04: Wow.
3:34
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
3:35
SPEAKER_04: And also on the list, NVIDIA CEO is number one at 152.9 million, and Flex CEO is at number two at 48.8 million.
3:46
SPEAKER_04: Wow.
3:47
SPEAKER_04: That puts two women in the top three.
3:49
SPEAKER_06: So there you go.
3:50
SPEAKER_06: There you go.
3:51
SPEAKER_06: That's good.
3:51
SPEAKER_06: That's fantastic.
3:52
SPEAKER_06: Mary Mary Barr's done a uh pretty nice job with GM since she's I mean, what has it been like 13 years now?
3:58
SPEAKER_06: 12, 13 years that she's been heading that company up and uh done another pretty good job.
4:03
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
4:03
SPEAKER_04: Another um um name to mention that dealers will recognize is the CEO of ACV auctions, um George Shamoon.
4:11
SPEAKER_04: He's number seven at 29.5 million, up 227% from 2024.
4:17
SPEAKER_06: It's good to be him.
4:18
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, right, right?
4:19
SPEAKER_04: They just had that big acquisition.
4:21
SPEAKER_04: So they did.
4:22
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
4:22
SPEAKER_04: He's a happy guy.
4:26
SPEAKER_04: All right.
4:27
SPEAKER_04: Um Bentley unveiled its first fully electric vehicle yesterday in London.
4:31
SPEAKER_04: It's an SUV called the TorCal, and there's also a more powerful TorCal S.
4:36
SPEAKER_04: The TorCal can produce up to 876 horsepower, and they've also given the vehicle a sound inspired by a V8 engine, which I think is really cool.
4:46
SPEAKER_04: They created this with real musical instruments.
4:49
SPEAKER_06: A lot of people will still want that sound of you know of the Well, now we can get that EV that we've been wanting to get.
4:54
SPEAKER_06: There you go.
4:55
SPEAKER_06: Well, that's great.
4:56
SPEAKER_06: That's the car right there.
4:57
SPEAKER_04: Well, let's go get it.
4:58
SPEAKER_06: I mean, I don't want to go over$500 a month, but uh we should probably be able to work something out.
5:01
SPEAKER_04: They haven't um confirmed this price, but it is um reported to start at$230,000.
5:08
SPEAKER_04: What a deal.
5:09
SPEAKER_06: So let's go get one.
5:10
SPEAKER_06: I wonder if there's any subvented programs through Bentley for that, like zero percent or you know, the first couple of months free.
5:16
SPEAKER_06: Maybe you know what I mean?
5:17
SPEAKER_06: I mean, if they had 184 financing, we could probably do something.
5:21
SPEAKER_06: There you go.
5:22
SPEAKER_06: It's a nice car.
5:23
SPEAKER_06: Put the grandkids in there.
5:25
SPEAKER_04: We are all anxiously awaiting the meeting later today with President Trump and the Chinese president.
5:31
SPEAKER_04: Um so they will be talking about obvious the Chin a lot of things, but the Chinese vehicle situation.
5:37
SPEAKER_04: Um Trump has said he would be open to Chinese automakers building vehicles in the U.S.
5:41
SPEAKER_04: Six auto industry groups, including NADA, have urged him to keep the current restrictions in place.
5:47
SPEAKER_04: There has been no announcement that those rules are changing.
5:50
SPEAKER_04: But we, like I said, we'll be anxiously awaiting this.
5:53
SPEAKER_04: And um, Mary Barra is expected to attend this meeting.
5:56
SPEAKER_06: So earning that.
5:58
SPEAKER_06: I wonder, I wonder if uh Jim Farley will be there.
6:01
SPEAKER_06: He's been tooling around town in a Chinese vehicle.
6:03
SPEAKER_04: I didn't see that, but I did see that Mary Barra was expected to be there.
6:06
SPEAKER_06: I think Mary Barra would be taking a vacation with that uh millions of dollars in front of the city.
6:10
SPEAKER_06: She has to work so she can keep making it.
6:12
SPEAKER_06: She's probably looking at new yachts or something.
6:14
SPEAKER_04: I don't know.
6:15
SPEAKER_04: Maybe she has time for that.
6:17
SPEAKER_06: No, but I think a lot of people right now are keeping a close eye on what Trump uh may be doing here with the president of China.
6:24
SPEAKER_06: This is true.
6:25
SPEAKER_06: A lot of people.
6:26
SPEAKER_06: I know my good friend Senator Bernie Moreno will be keeping a close eye on that, as will Senator Slotkin and so many other people in DC and NADA, because they'll be like, Are you gonna let them in or what's going on?
6:37
SPEAKER_06: Right?
6:37
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
6:38
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
6:38
SPEAKER_06: You never know.
6:39
SPEAKER_04: And you'll only get coverage of that on certain news stations because that's right.
6:44
SPEAKER_06: We'll see what's going on with that, too.
6:46
SPEAKER_06: No, overnight at one o'clock in the morning, the judge said put them back in, uh, the the news organizations.
6:51
SPEAKER_06: Right.
6:51
SPEAKER_06: So we'll get full coverage.
6:53
SPEAKER_06: Trump I guess lost that that that deal.
6:55
SPEAKER_06: So yeah, they're they're back in.
6:57
SPEAKER_07: All right.
6:57
SPEAKER_06: Well, yeah, there you go.
6:59
SPEAKER_06: Very interesting.
6:59
SPEAKER_06: No.
7:00
SPEAKER_03: For sure.
7:02
SPEAKER_04: All right.
7:02
SPEAKER_04: So Volkswagen, is that an interesting point in North America with new leadership and plenty of questions around what comes next.
7:09
SPEAKER_06: That's right.
7:10
SPEAKER_06: Joining us live to share his perspective on that, as well as Scout Motors, is Fred Emick, who's managing partner at Emick Automotive and uh chairman of the VW National Dealer Council.
7:21
SPEAKER_06: Fred, welcome to the show.
7:22
SPEAKER_06: Thanks for having me on again.
7:24
SPEAKER_06: Sure, good to see you.
7:25
SPEAKER_06: And uh, how are things in Colorado?
7:28
SPEAKER_01: Things are good in Colorado.
7:30
SPEAKER_01: Um we're not selling as many cars as we'd like to versus last year, based on the EV craze that we went through in the third quarter, but uh overall things are good.
7:40
SPEAKER_01: Well, that's great.
7:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
7:41
SPEAKER_01: That's great.
7:41
SPEAKER_04: So VW announced a new North America leadership structure and a new uh North America strategy.
7:48
SPEAKER_04: So talk to us about that.
7:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so so right now, well, we don't know all that much so far because we haven't met the new leader.
7:57
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, that was you know, through a media uh leak that we learned of at the dealer council level.
8:05
SPEAKER_01: It was nearly a month before you know we got word that it was official and that the uh Kel Gruner was out and Marco Schubert uh was in.
8:15
SPEAKER_01: We still haven't met Marco so far.
8:18
SPEAKER_01: Um so we're we're waiting to learn a lot.
8:20
SPEAKER_01: We do we we asked for and and they did uh oblige uh a meeting in Germany with some board members to get some clarification just because it's been so murky.
8:31
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we haven't had a lot of information here in the States uh as the dealer council.
8:37
SPEAKER_01: So we're looking forward to learning a lot more here in December.
8:40
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, the dealer council should be the first to know this stuff rather than hearing it bits and pieces, right?
8:45
SPEAKER_06: Or or rumors out there.
8:47
SPEAKER_06: But uh VW sales in the U.S.
8:49
SPEAKER_06: were down, I think, 7.4% in the first half of 2026 from your seat as chairman of the council.
8:56
SPEAKER_06: Uh, what are dealers telling you right now about uh VW and what what they really need to see right now from uh VW?
9:04
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's been a really tough year uh since I've you know been the head of the or the chairman of the dealer council, which is almost two years here in December, which I'll be done.
9:14
SPEAKER_01: Um it's just been a rough road.
9:16
SPEAKER_01: Um we we did see some really good sales, particularly in in my area and California and kind of the EV states um through the third quarter of last year.
9:27
SPEAKER_01: But since then, you know, we we've leaned on TIG1.
9:31
SPEAKER_01: TIG One has been successful, but uh you know all the other you know models and stuff like that, we just haven't seen the throughput that we've wanted to.
9:39
SPEAKER_01: Um they've actually cut kind of their production numbers, and right now we're kind of questioning how you know what they're planning to produce supports the 650 dealers uh that are here in the United States.
9:51
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
9:52
SPEAKER_06: Well what would you like to see uh come from them in order to get this great franchise back on track?
10:00
SPEAKER_01: You know, the right product, um, better quality.
10:03
SPEAKER_01: You know, if we get both of those things, we we know we can be successful and more you know consistent production as well.
10:12
SPEAKER_01: Um we we need a lot more than the 250,000 you know cars that uh they're planning on building this year and selling retail.
10:20
SPEAKER_01: You know, most of us you know joined this brand and invested millions of dollars in facilities, these big whiteframe facilities and everything like that, with kind of a minimum of you know 400,000 you know retail units, and we've just watched that that number decline year over year.
10:37
SPEAKER_01: So we need a resurgent of this brand.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: There's still a lot of love for the brand, you know, there's a lot of awareness.
10:44
SPEAKER_01: Uh we we just need the right product.
10:46
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and we need investment and commitment in the United States.
10:49
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
10:50
SPEAKER_06: Where do you where do you think the holes are in the fleet?
10:53
SPEAKER_06: What what would you like to see more of?
10:56
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, the the rugged SUV side of things, whether that's you know, the the scout uh version or uh a different VW version, you know, they've talked about a truck um that's more of like a kind of a Tacoma type uh off-road vehicle, maybe something similar to to a Bronco.
11:16
SPEAKER_01: Um but then they've also just got to support the other products that they have.
11:20
SPEAKER_01: You know, we have a subcompact SUV in the in the TOUS, and even the tariffs, they they really don't support that car, and and we're not selling enough of that car, we're not competing in that segment.
11:31
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
11:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, it'd also be nice to see them bring back a wagon.
11:36
SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, so whether it's sport wagon, all track, where we used to see success uh, you know, in that mark in that segment, and everyone's pulled out of that segment, um, more jetta production, um, you know, and and they just need to expand and then kind of double down on on what they have.
11:55
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah.
11:55
SPEAKER_06: What about the bug?
11:56
SPEAKER_06: Do you want to see the bug come back?
11:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
12:00
SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, I I think anyone would love to see the bug go back.
12:03
SPEAKER_01: It it is an iconic vehicle for our brand.
12:06
SPEAKER_01: Um, those Halo vehicles, whether it be ID ID Buzz, uh the Beetle, even if it's not a lot of you know, sales and and volume, yeah, uh, just drive you know interest into our brand and people love that.
12:21
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, no, no question.
12:23
SPEAKER_06: Um, as we all know, Scout Motors uh wants to sell directly to consumers and has built a plant in South Carolina that is is under construction now, and I guess they're gonna be pumping out vehicles in uh late 2027 from what the news uh articles or the PR releases say.
12:39
SPEAKER_06: Um what talk to us about that?
12:42
SPEAKER_06: I I know that this is a real bone of contention uh among VW dealers.
12:46
SPEAKER_06: You've got to be hearing that from your dealer, dealers out there as head of the council.
12:51
SPEAKER_06: Uh, is there any movement in that at all?
12:53
SPEAKER_06: Are they loosening that or saying whether or not they're gonna give that brand to to the Volkswagen dealers, or where do we stand on that today?
13:04
SPEAKER_01: It's it's been pretty quiet, and for the most part, they've refused to talk about it.
13:08
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, anyone here in America says that that they don't work for Scout, they're they're not part of those decisions.
13:15
SPEAKER_01: Uh part of us agreeing to or asking to go to Germany is we did have to agree that we are not going to discuss Scout.
13:23
SPEAKER_01: We are gonna discuss the the VW business here in the United States.
13:28
SPEAKER_01: Um however, I I know Scouts they've got to make a decision here soon.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: They've they've got to start building facilities and and they've got to make that decision that they are truly going through, you know, direct to consumer and spend those billions of dollars.
13:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
13:42
SPEAKER_01: We obviously think we we have a better avenue that is turnkey for Volkswagen.
13:48
SPEAKER_01: Um we think we can serve the customers better.
13:51
SPEAKER_01: Um so you know, we're we're there to embrace the the Scout franchise with open arms, whether that's Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, however they do that.
14:02
SPEAKER_01: Um we understand that you know certainly not everyone would would get one of those franchises, but but we're we are hopeful that uh you know they will change their minds.
14:12
SPEAKER_01: However, I would say that they've really doubled down on you know whether they're fighting it legally, uh not discussing it, and uh internal kind of discussions that I've seen in terms of um what they they think and uh you know from a profitability standpoint that the direct-to-consumer model is a better model for them.
14:33
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, and as of right now, they're have they been given a dealer's license or been approved for one in your state of Colorado?
14:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so last I think it was October, they went through the uh dealer board, which is uh part franchise dealers, part independent dealers, and part uh citizens.
14:53
SPEAKER_01: Uh they were granted a dealer's license.
14:56
SPEAKER_01: Um the real big thing that our statute doesn't define is it it says same line manufacturers would would not receive a dealer license.
15:06
SPEAKER_01: Um they did not consider them a same line uh manufacturer, however, uh uh they're not even you know declining the fact that they are very connected in in many different ways.
15:19
SPEAKER_01: In fact, we're actually doing uh courtesy, VW courtesy deliveries for employees to scout employees.
15:25
SPEAKER_01: So that they're certainly not going to hide the fact that they are connected.
15:31
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, that's something.
15:32
SPEAKER_06: Okay, that kind of confirms it right there.
15:35
SPEAKER_06: That's crazy.
15:35
SPEAKER_04: All right, changing gears here a little bit.
15:37
SPEAKER_04: The federal EV credit is no longer available, but Colorado still has state level incentives.
15:43
SPEAKER_04: How much are those incentives actually moving EV demand?
15:47
SPEAKER_01: So EV demand is certainly off this year versus last year, uh, transitioning a lot to hybrid, uh, mainly with our Kia brand there.
15:57
SPEAKER_01: Um, but we are seeing great used EV uh sales.
16:01
SPEAKER_01: I think for for our dealerships, we're up uh like 229% in used EV sales.
16:08
SPEAKER_01: So that seems to be where the the market is.
16:10
SPEAKER_01: Um we're still waiting.
16:13
SPEAKER_01: Uh the right now that that Colorado EV innovative tax credit, as they call it, was as much as$5,000.
16:20
SPEAKER_01: Um cut that down to$750.
16:24
SPEAKER_01: However, if the EV is an MSRP before destination of$35,000 or less, then it qualifies for an additional$2,500.
16:34
SPEAKER_01: So then you're at$3,250.
16:37
SPEAKER_01: That's a pretty significant uh number to move the needle.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: Um, however, we only have the the bolt on the Chevy side and then the the brand new EV3 in a couple models, but they're they're front-wheel drive variants.
16:50
SPEAKER_01: Um so we're kind of waiting to see how we're gonna do with that.
16:52
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah.
16:53
SPEAKER_06: The dealers that we talk to around the country have have re have told us that uh you know used EV sales are pretty strong.
17:00
SPEAKER_06: Uh there was a time when they would kind of stay away from them, you know, in a trade-in.
17:04
SPEAKER_06: You didn't know how much to put in it, especially if it was a uh a Tesla, what have you.
17:08
SPEAKER_06: But now you've got you know dealerships, uh maybe yourself included, that are out actively buying EVs for the used car a lot, right?
17:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
17:17
SPEAKER_01: And we have a ton of uh volume coming back off of lease uh right now.
17:23
SPEAKER_01: So that's good.
17:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
17:26
SPEAKER_01: Well, we're trying to combat the you know, there's some lease buyout uh incentives, whether it's from Kia or or Volkswagen.
17:33
SPEAKER_01: Uh so trying to convert those cut customers one way or the other.
17:37
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
17:37
SPEAKER_06: What does your lease penetration look like there in in Colorado?
17:41
SPEAKER_06: Uh at some of our stores it's over 60%.
17:44
SPEAKER_06: Really?
17:45
SPEAKER_06: Wow.
17:45
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, that's strong.
17:46
SPEAKER_06: That was just great news for a dealer.
17:48
SPEAKER_06: I mean, that's you're getting those cars back, you're getting the customers back, putting them in new cars.
17:52
SPEAKER_06: I mean, that's that's uh that's great.
17:54
SPEAKER_01: Well, that that was the idea, but uh you know, you look the keep your kia program uh with up to you know ten thousand dollar discounts for them to do a lease buyout.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: So um we're we're trying to work with the manufacturer and figure out maybe some unique ways whether we trade for that car, yeah, uh solve the same thing and and try to sell them a new vehicle.
18:14
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, but don't you get 500 bucks uh if you do that?
18:19
SPEAKER_06: Yes, we do.
18:21
SPEAKER_06: How out of touch do you do do can OEMs get on this shelf, right?
18:26
SPEAKER_06: Uh that's it's incredible.
18:29
SPEAKER_06: But what are you gonna do?
18:30
SPEAKER_06: So so how are you feeling about the balance of the year?
18:35
SPEAKER_01: Uh you know, I I'm kind of hoping to get through these midterm elections.
18:40
SPEAKER_01: I would say this month, with the exception of our our Kia store, it's you know, we've really seen traffic die.
18:47
SPEAKER_01: I think part of it is you know the uncertainty in the market.
18:51
SPEAKER_01: Doesn't help that interest rates just went back up and and gas prices are where they're at.
18:56
SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
18:57
SPEAKER_01: Uh there seems to be a lot of headwinds going into the end of the year.
19:00
SPEAKER_01: Um, but we'll we'll see what happens here in November.
19:03
SPEAKER_06: Well, we'll also see what happens in DC today with uh the the China Chinese uh president there or the pr president from China.
19:10
SPEAKER_06: Uh maybe uh Trump's gonna open up the uh the gateway for Chinese vehicles to come in, right?
19:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that that would be very interesting.
19:21
SPEAKER_06: So if if he did do that, would you uh be open to getting acquiring a Chinese franchise?
19:30
SPEAKER_01: I mean I would be open to it.
19:32
SPEAKER_01: I've I've talked to people that are involved in uh BYD in in Mexico, and and it sounds like um, you know, the Chinese are are very difficult to work with, and it's kind of their way to the highway, and um they're they're not afraid to uh you know drive the business the way that they want to, regardless of uh how it impacts you.
19:54
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
19:54
SPEAKER_06: Well, it might now if you did get one, you could open up a store like right next store to the scout store just to like you know, show the W.
20:05
SPEAKER_06: That's a terrible thought.
20:06
SPEAKER_07: I know.
20:07
SPEAKER_06: But if I were a dealer, I'd probably want to do that, you know.
20:10
SPEAKER_06: But uh well, Fred, thank you so much for joining us on the show.
20:13
SPEAKER_06: Very much appreciate it.
20:14
SPEAKER_06: Uh, it's always great catching up with you, and uh best of luck to you and the and the council.
20:18
SPEAKER_06: That's uh not an easy position these days to be in.
20:20
SPEAKER_06: And uh you you've had it, is is it for two years?
20:23
SPEAKER_06: Is that what the term is when you're the chairman of the council?
20:26
SPEAKER_01: Yep, it's two years, so I'll be down here at the end of the year.
20:30
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, what did you do wrong to get the two?
20:31
SPEAKER_06: No, I'm kidding.
20:33
SPEAKER_06: You got a rough two years there.
20:35
SPEAKER_06: So I'm sorry.
20:36
SPEAKER_06: Car guy to car guy, you know.
20:38
SPEAKER_06: So all right, well, thank you so much.
20:40
SPEAKER_04: Thank you so much for being with us.
20:41
SPEAKER_06: Absolutely.
20:42
SPEAKER_06: Thank you, appreciate it.
20:43
SPEAKER_06: All right, take care.
20:46
SPEAKER_06: Great guy.
20:47
SPEAKER_06: He's he's he's uh he's awesome.
20:50
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, didn't you say and I was kidding him about obviously being the because they you know they're they're getting the calls.
20:55
SPEAKER_06: I'm sure that that that Fred's sitting there on the phone and emails and everything else going, you gotta tell you know, VW this, or you gotta tell him that.
21:02
SPEAKER_06: Or it's a tough position to be in, you know?
21:04
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, and then you've got to appease VW and the dealers, and I it's uh listen, he's he's just the right guy, he's got the right demeanor for it.
21:11
SPEAKER_06: He really does.
21:12
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
21:13
SPEAKER_04: It was nice to talk to.
21:14
SPEAKER_04: And didn't you say you worked with his dad?
21:15
SPEAKER_06: I did work, yeah.
21:16
SPEAKER_06: We we when I was with Auto Nation and we had this discussion last time he was on, but uh uh Emic uh I think was acquired by Auto Nation and and uh also the um uh can't remember the football player's name now.
21:28
SPEAKER_06: That's right.
21:29
SPEAKER_06: John Lway.
21:30
SPEAKER_06: John Lway stores and another group, and uh so yeah, got got to know those guys.
21:34
SPEAKER_06: Nice, yeah, great, great group.
21:36
SPEAKER_06: Yep.
21:36
SPEAKER_04: We did it.
21:37
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
21:38
SPEAKER_06: So let you guys know I love social clips, right?
21:40
SPEAKER_06: You do?
21:41
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
21:42
SPEAKER_06: I mean I think they're great.
21:43
SPEAKER_06: I love I'd love to see how creative dealers are, right?
21:46
SPEAKER_06: You know, and it also it also gives sales teams something to do, you know, and also to build morale instead of working.
21:53
SPEAKER_06: If I were back on the showroom floor, I would do this kind of stuff.
21:57
SPEAKER_06: All right, show let's show that clip, guys.
22:00
SPEAKER_06: Number my people right there with it.
22:13
SPEAKER_02: Good morning to Rachel, Jeff Canada coming for Bang Hyundai.
22:17
SPEAKER_02: Hey my man, it is indeed a beautiful morning to buy the 2026 Hyundai A month with MCO Sport.
22:23
SPEAKER_02: But guess what we're missing?
22:24
SPEAKER_02: We're missing you, my friend.
22:26
SPEAKER_02: Where can you come in?
22:27
SPEAKER_02: My name is Jeff Canada, 972, 512, 4215.
22:32
SPEAKER_02: Let me say it again.
22:33
SPEAKER_02: 972, 512, 4215.
22:36
SPEAKER_02: We look forward to working with you.
22:42
SPEAKER_04: I wouldn't want to call him back to the one because he sounds like a really fun guy.
22:44
SPEAKER_04: I know.
22:46
SPEAKER_04: Even happy, positive, get the music going.
22:49
SPEAKER_04: Oh my goodness.
22:49
SPEAKER_06: The creativity from some of these people is really it's really incredible.
22:53
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
22:54
SPEAKER_04: I loved his attitude.
22:55
SPEAKER_06: So yeah, yeah.
22:56
SPEAKER_06: And so so many of these um so many of these salespeople and managers that are doing videos like this, it's it's just incredible.
23:03
SPEAKER_04: I know, I know.
23:04
SPEAKER_04: If you've got any that you'd like us to share, that's right.
23:08
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
23:09
SPEAKER_06: Because it takes everything nowadays to get that customer, you know, in the door and doing business with you.
23:14
SPEAKER_06: And you know, it's it's funny, but you know, you for a customer that goes from store to store to store and meets a number of different salespeople or even online, what's going to separate you from everyone else out there?
23:24
SPEAKER_06: You know what I mean?
23:25
SPEAKER_06: Exactly.
23:25
SPEAKER_06: So it's it's kind of crazy.
23:27
SPEAKER_06: Very good points.
23:28
SPEAKER_06: But uh yeah.
23:29
SPEAKER_06: So go ahead.
23:30
SPEAKER_04: While we're waiting, be sure to sign up for our CBT newsletter to get the latest automotive retail news and insights delivered straight to your inbox every single day.
23:39
SPEAKER_04: And be sure to like, follow, and subscribe on your favorite social channels so that you don't miss a show.
23:44
SPEAKER_04: There's Sean Duffy again.
23:45
SPEAKER_06: So many other stories, but Sean Duffy is always it looks like he's always on our new free newsletter.
23:53
SPEAKER_06: It's gotta change that, guys.
23:56
SPEAKER_06: You know?
23:57
SPEAKER_06: So many other things going on.
23:59
SPEAKER_06: So um anyway.
24:00
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, so we're we're we're gonna be talking to uh Joe Laham.
24:04
SPEAKER_06: Um I'm not sure if he's in yet, but uh we're gonna be talking to him about the the situation or wanting to talk to him anyway.
24:10
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, but the situation stillannis.
24:12
SPEAKER_04: The last time Joe was on, we got such great feedback from so many people reaching out to us.
24:18
SPEAKER_04: And I know a lot of people reach out to him.
24:19
SPEAKER_04: He's a friend of ours, so we talked to him after the show, he got a lot of a lot of great feedback as well.
24:24
SPEAKER_04: So we um are looking forward to talking to him.
24:27
SPEAKER_04: He'll be joining us in just a few minutes.
24:30
SPEAKER_06: But uh what we love about him is he tells it like it is.
24:33
SPEAKER_06: Yes, median a limited.
24:34
SPEAKER_04: He was one of the viral social posts that we have.
24:38
SPEAKER_06: A lot of dealers like are you know, they they kind of they're they're careful as to what they say because they're worried about their OEM, you know, not Joe La Ham.
24:46
SPEAKER_06: Joe La Ham is like, we're gonna tell it like it is.
24:50
SPEAKER_06: But but I but I think it's great.
24:52
SPEAKER_06: I really do.
24:53
SPEAKER_04: I do too.
24:53
SPEAKER_04: We we need more like him in the industry that um is pain like it isn't.
24:57
SPEAKER_06: I've spoken to dealers since he was on last and I'm like, yeah, Joe was right.
25:01
SPEAKER_06: You know, do you want to get him on?
25:02
SPEAKER_06: No, no, no, I don't want to get him on any.
25:03
SPEAKER_06: I know Joe kind of speaks for them, I think, unofficially.
25:07
SPEAKER_06: Right.
25:07
SPEAKER_04: He doesn't have something favorable to say about a certain organization and they're looking to get more stores or whatever they gotta be.
25:14
SPEAKER_04: That's right.
25:15
SPEAKER_04: A little bit careful there, right?
25:16
SPEAKER_06: So Solantis is changing the way its dealers handle pricing and digital advertising with minimum allowable advertised price, also known as map um or MAAP requirements set to take effect on October 1st.
25:32
SPEAKER_06: The dealers that I talked to, Bridget, have you know, about 25% are like, uh, this okay, yeah, this is a good idea.
25:38
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
25:38
SPEAKER_06: The other 75% are like, what is going on here?
25:41
SPEAKER_06: Okay, this is this isn't even not, this isn't even necessarily helping the consumers.
25:46
SPEAKER_06: You know, I think they think it is, but uh, but we're gonna bring Joe Laham in here.
25:50
SPEAKER_04: We would love to hear what Joe has to say.
25:51
SPEAKER_04: So joining us live to share his perspective on this is Joe LaHam, president of Premier Companies.
25:57
SPEAKER_04: Joe, welcome to the show.
25:59
SPEAKER_06: Good afternoon, guys.
26:00
SPEAKER_06: Good good afternoon.
26:01
SPEAKER_04: Always great to have you with us.
26:03
SPEAKER_06: That's right.
26:04
SPEAKER_06: So this this new uh map pricing sets a sets a floor for the prices and discounts dealer can advertise.
26:11
SPEAKER_06: We're we're hearing mixed reactions, as I said earlier.
26:14
SPEAKER_06: Some like it, others not so much.
26:16
SPEAKER_06: What is your take on this as a Celantis dealer?
26:20
SPEAKER_05: So I, you know, it's simple.
26:22
SPEAKER_05: The reality is we have it with every other brand, Jim.
26:25
SPEAKER_05: I mean, we don't we don't have the opportunity to say, hey, we don't do this, we do it, and we do it successfully with all of our other brands.
26:31
SPEAKER_05: So I'm not sure why everyone's so concerned about it or worried about it, but ultimately it's good for all of us, not just one specific set of uh here's the problem, and and everybody can talk about it all they want.
26:46
SPEAKER_05: Our brand is not uh Toyota and it's not those other brands.
26:50
SPEAKER_05: Right.
26:51
SPEAKER_05: However, we need to get ourselves aligned both with the consumer and the marketplace.
26:58
SPEAKER_05: We have certain groups uh doing certain things, and you know, you read all about this uh change in the marketplace.
27:07
SPEAKER_05: Well, we can't change if we stay the same.
27:09
SPEAKER_05: Right.
27:10
SPEAKER_05: So we need to advance our process.
27:13
SPEAKER_05: I personally can't understand why anybody wouldn't want this.
27:17
SPEAKER_05: It's good for business, it's good for the local operators, because if you're operating in a market and there's another dealer who's 20 miles away, and all they're doing is quote unquote pricing, the consumer gets there, they have a bad experience because the price that they have on not just online, Jim, but the FTC really drove a lot of this.
27:39
SPEAKER_05: Let's be honest.
27:40
SPEAKER_05: They said, hey, and and quite frankly, they just go for the you know, they they know where the money is, they're just going out and putting their hands in our pocket and saying, hey, we know you guys can write a check, so we're gonna come after you.
27:52
SPEAKER_05: But quite frankly, guilty as charged, we shouldn't be doing half the things we've been doing.
27:56
SPEAKER_05: Look, Jim, when we were doing this back in the 70s and 80s, we would advertise three grand below and blow our hands out to get them in the door.
28:05
SPEAKER_05: And you know, it was cash trade of finance.
28:07
SPEAKER_05: How do you want to pay for it?
28:08
SPEAKER_05: What's your trade worth?
28:09
SPEAKER_05: Oh my god, they want to pay cash.
28:10
SPEAKER_05: What do we do now?
28:11
SPEAKER_05: Right.
28:12
SPEAKER_05: And um, we did what we had to do then, but it's not that anymore.
28:16
SPEAKER_05: And quite frankly, I think you know, because we've talked about this um and in and obviously in 1995, we we stopped all negotiations.
28:29
SPEAKER_05: We went negotiation free, which you know better than anybody.
28:31
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah.
28:32
SPEAKER_05: No, I I I'm a believer in it.
28:35
SPEAKER_05: So if we go negotiation free, yeah, we can't run at two grand back.
28:40
SPEAKER_05: We can't say we're gonna blow two grand on an ad, and then they come in and we say we're negotiation free, but right?
28:47
SPEAKER_05: So you gotta be honest with yourself.
28:49
SPEAKER_05: And the reason I did it is because way back then, we're talking, you know, uh 30 plus years.
28:55
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
28:57
SPEAKER_05: My boys and my girls were young, and I thought, you know, if I do this right, which uh you've done the same, right?
29:04
SPEAKER_05: And and I'm sure that your family's looking at their legacy and saying the same thing, you know?
29:10
SPEAKER_05: How do we take this business to the next level and be legitimate and not get kicked out of the White House by being the CNN?
29:18
SPEAKER_05: Right?
29:18
SPEAKER_05: That's really what it comes down to.
29:20
SPEAKER_05: How do we legitimize our business so that we're all on the same page?
29:25
SPEAKER_05: I will say this to you, and you know we've talked about this in the last few years, Jim, both on and off record, right?
29:32
SPEAKER_05: Stellantis is in it to win it.
29:34
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, they're in the game, they're not afraid.
29:36
SPEAKER_05: They're now saying we have a legitimate brand, we have good product, yeah, nobody's perfect.
29:42
SPEAKER_05: You know, we don't have the best product in America, but we got a really good product lineup.
29:47
SPEAKER_05: We need to legitimize.
29:49
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we need to get the consumers to realize hey, this is a good group of people to do business with, and we should support that.
29:56
SPEAKER_05: So I can tell you there are some dealers that are scratching the head saying, How's Caravana doing all this volume of business?
30:05
SPEAKER_05: And then you see this report that says they're retailing trucks for more than any other dealer in the market.
30:10
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
30:11
SPEAKER_05: So, which is the truth.
30:12
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
30:13
SPEAKER_05: You know, remember when we trained Jim, we used to say, What's a woman's favorite words?
30:19
SPEAKER_05: And it's not a three-letter word, it's four, it's sale.
30:23
SPEAKER_05: Sale.
30:24
SPEAKER_05: And then they say that they bought two because they were on sale.
30:26
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
30:28
SPEAKER_05: Look at what they saved you.
30:29
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, Bridget never did that.
30:31
SPEAKER_06: Never did that.
30:32
SPEAKER_06: No, not at all.
30:33
SPEAKER_05: So I'm sorry to say it, but I am so supportive of this process.
30:39
SPEAKER_05: Good, good.
30:40
SPEAKER_05: You know, I'll give you another example.
30:42
SPEAKER_05: In our market, which is the Boston area, which covers part of New Hampshire.
30:46
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, this quarter, we have two million dollars.
30:50
SPEAKER_05: We're putting up some, and they put up most.
30:54
SPEAKER_05: So why go to market and spend two million dollars in the Boston metro market, let's say and then have every cowboy come out and say the price that we just spent, two million as a group, yeah, isn't the price.
31:09
SPEAKER_06: Right.
31:10
SPEAKER_05: Right.
31:10
SPEAKER_05: Like none of it makes sense to me.
31:12
SPEAKER_05: Like, why are we doing this?
31:14
SPEAKER_05: So, from my perspective, don't spend the two million collectively, which by the way, three quarters of it comes from Stellantis, one quarter comes from us.
31:25
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, okay.
31:26
SPEAKER_05: That's a lot of money.
31:27
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, it is.
31:28
SPEAKER_06: It is.
31:28
SPEAKER_06: They're committed, and that's only in one area of the country.
31:30
SPEAKER_06: They're so um obviously they're doing that all over the country.
31:33
SPEAKER_06: They'd have to.
31:34
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we we have a very strong regional group.
31:37
SPEAKER_05: Our team in the Northeast region, um, the regional manager used to do our marketing, Scott Cullen.
31:43
SPEAKER_05: He's awesome.
31:44
SPEAKER_05: He's built a great team.
31:45
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
31:46
SPEAKER_05: Um, you know the old saying, you got to believe to achieve, right?
31:49
SPEAKER_05: And there's gonna be pain before this game.
31:51
SPEAKER_05: And the dealers that don't like this really got to look themselves in the mirror and say, why?
31:56
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
31:57
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
31:57
SPEAKER_06: Well, as you know, there's a lot of, you know, uh, there's a lot of very, very aggressive dealers.
32:03
SPEAKER_06: I spoke to some in South Florida, some of my friends in South Florida, where it's kind of like the Wild West down there.
32:09
SPEAKER_06: And uh, you know, they're doing everything that they can to, you know, move the numbers here and there to try to get that customer in.
32:16
SPEAKER_06: In fact, they believe it or not, they still advertise in the newspaper down there.
32:19
SPEAKER_06: So, you know, but obviously, you know, the the age of the South Florida residents, uh skew a little higher.
32:27
SPEAKER_05: Hey, that's us.
32:30
SPEAKER_05: Right.
32:31
SPEAKER_05: So let's let's talk about that for a minute.
32:32
SPEAKER_05: Just be very, you know, as you know, I I I'm brutally honest, people don't like that sometimes, but the most is obviously why not, right?
32:40
SPEAKER_05: Right.
32:41
SPEAKER_05: So if you're going to go to market, and the only thing you have to go to market with isn't the breadth and the depth of your reputation, your customer service, your location, your facilities, all the investments you made.
32:58
SPEAKER_05: And the only thing you can market is price.
33:01
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, you shouldn't be doing this.
33:03
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
33:03
SPEAKER_05: I agree.
33:04
SPEAKER_05: I agree.
33:05
SPEAKER_05: Especially in 2026.
33:07
SPEAKER_05: We spent$15 million to build that Jeep store you have on there.
33:10
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
33:11
unknown: Yeah.
33:11
SPEAKER_05: And it's best in class.
33:13
SPEAKER_05: We absolutely love it.
33:14
SPEAKER_05: You put that up against our BMW store, Audi store, yeah.
33:17
SPEAKER_05: Yeah I mean, this is a the brand needs more representation to let people know we're in it to win it and we've got good product.
33:26
SPEAKER_05: Yep.
33:27
SPEAKER_05: You know, the Wrangler, the Wrangler's coming on strong, but you know, all of this isn't worth talking about if we don't have the support of the corporate team.
33:34
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
33:35
SPEAKER_06: I I agree.
33:36
SPEAKER_06: I agree.
33:36
SPEAKER_06: And especially when you, like you said, when you make those investments in the stores and the marketing and everything else, do you think that that that we're gonna see more OEMs coming out with with map pricing?
33:46
SPEAKER_06: They all have it, Jim.
33:47
SPEAKER_06: They all have it.
33:48
SPEAKER_05: They're the only ones that didn't have it.
33:50
SPEAKER_05: We've had it with Audi for years.
33:51
SPEAKER_05: We have it with BMW for years, we've had it with Volvo for years, Mazda's got it.
33:55
SPEAKER_05: Everybody had it except us.
33:58
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
33:59
SPEAKER_05: So what happened is, and and look, we have a lot of really good retailers.
34:04
SPEAKER_05: Let's be honest.
34:05
SPEAKER_05: There's 2,000, and there's probably a thousand too many, maybe.
34:08
SPEAKER_05: I mean, it's kind of crazy that Toyota sells with 1200, we need 2400.
34:12
SPEAKER_05: I know.
34:13
SPEAKER_05: So, but we have a good group of leaders, leadership leads.
34:18
SPEAKER_05: And when these people made a decision, they put Antonio in charge.
34:22
SPEAKER_05: He brought in some new people.
34:24
SPEAKER_05: Some of them are from the companies that maybe we don't care a lot about.
34:27
SPEAKER_05: You know, they came from organizations that we don't think are so great, but they're but they're in our house now.
34:32
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and they have and they're they're the chefs of our kitchen, and they're making a very good menu for all of us to eat from.
34:40
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, but they can't do it if they've got somebody saying we're gonna sell this for a$5,000 difference, then what we're nationally advertising things for, that's right.
34:50
SPEAKER_05: You can't do it.
34:51
SPEAKER_05: And and oh, by the way, most of these people that have these other brands, like let's let's call a spade a spade, you're not doing this with any other brand.
35:01
SPEAKER_05: If you ever have a Toyota store, they're not gonna let you play this game where you can just do whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want.
35:08
SPEAKER_05: No, every manufacturer has their value, the brand value.
35:14
SPEAKER_05: And we have to protect the brand value.
35:18
unknown: Yeah.
35:18
SPEAKER_05: And if we don't protect it, and if they don't force you to say, hey, look, you can't just do crazy shit anymore.
35:24
SPEAKER_05: Right.
35:24
SPEAKER_05: You got to be honest about the process.
35:26
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
35:26
SPEAKER_05: And oh, by the way, didn't the FTC finally fix everybody's like dilemma of, oh my god, what can I do?
35:34
SPEAKER_05: Didn't say Jim, I mean, look at you have to have and and Stellantis, let me tell you, I I give them a lot of credit.
35:41
SPEAKER_05: They are very calculated, they've sent out report after report.
35:45
SPEAKER_05: I mean, every day we get a report.
35:47
SPEAKER_05: Are you compliant?
35:48
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
35:49
SPEAKER_05: They don't want they don't want dealers to be non-compliant.
35:51
SPEAKER_05: They're saying, hey, make sure you're compliant.
35:53
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
35:54
SPEAKER_05: Because what I think is going to happen is the FTC is going to come down on them, meaning the OEMs, if they don't clean up their own house.
36:02
SPEAKER_06: Oh, no doubt.
36:03
SPEAKER_06: That's right.
36:04
SPEAKER_06: That's right.
36:05
SPEAKER_06: Because they're they're in this thing too.
36:07
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, but Jim, here's the other side of this.
36:10
SPEAKER_05: For many, many years, uh, one dealer would complain about the other dealer's price, right?
36:15
SPEAKER_05: They'd call up the rep and they'd say, you know, Johnny down the street, Joe up the street, right?
36:20
SPEAKER_05: I mean, let's it is what it is.
36:22
SPEAKER_05: I know.
36:23
SPEAKER_05: So so what what you know what came out with this FTC was they said, we want you to be whistleblowers.
36:29
SPEAKER_05: Well, that's bullshit because if we blow the whistle on one of our competing Silantis dealers, we blow the whistle on ourselves.
36:36
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that's true.
36:37
SPEAKER_05: So so you don't want to do that.
36:39
SPEAKER_05: We don't need to have somebody say, you know, I can buy this Jeep over here and I can buy this RAM over there, and and and that's not gonna help us.
36:48
SPEAKER_05: It doesn't, uh we don't need these headlines that talk about dealers doing things the wrong way.
36:54
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah, I agree.
36:56
SPEAKER_05: The problem with our industry is that 17,000 stores, right?
37:01
SPEAKER_05: And not 17,000 uh footprints, right?
37:04
SPEAKER_05: It's the platform is different in every store.
37:07
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
37:08
SPEAKER_05: I'm a firm believer that uh you present the client with the information necessary for them to make a good decision, and then you ask them to reward you with the business.
37:17
SPEAKER_05: And in a negotiation-free environment, it doesn't work any other way, Jim.
37:23
SPEAKER_05: I went into I went into Carthere to buy a Love Cup bracelet 15 years ago for and Bridges probably got a handful of it.
37:31
SPEAKER_05: I just do.
37:36
SPEAKER_05: My retirement design the guy in front of me says, How much is it?
37:41
SPEAKER_05: And the woman says, the press, and he says, No, no.
37:44
SPEAKER_05: Well, I mean, how much is it?
37:45
SPEAKER_05: I you know, uh, is it you know, how much can I get it for?
37:47
SPEAKER_05: And the woman says, Sir, you're at Katia.
37:49
SPEAKER_05: And he goes, Yeah, I I know where I am.
37:51
SPEAKER_05: He says, I know where I am.
37:52
SPEAKER_05: I want to get the manager.
37:54
SPEAKER_05: And so she says, Well, it's not gonna change the price, sir.
37:56
SPEAKER_05: This is Katia, the price is the same.
37:58
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, uh so then the manager comes over and she says, Sir, we understand if if this isn't for you, we understand there's other options out there.
38:05
SPEAKER_05: You can go ahead and find one.
38:07
SPEAKER_05: Of course, I look at it, I said, I'll take that one.
38:09
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah, right?
38:11
SPEAKER_05: Because I I I felt so good that I had become a lifelong client of Katia.
38:15
SPEAKER_05: There you go.
38:16
SPEAKER_05: And they own Van Cleef and and Richard can tell you all the names.
38:21
SPEAKER_05: You can't go in, you can't go into these brands and play that game because their reputation.
38:27
SPEAKER_05: Look, Jeep and Ram are the house that we have to build on.
38:31
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, for sure.
38:32
SPEAKER_05: Chrysler's Chrysler, Dodges, George.
38:34
SPEAKER_05: I don't know what we're doing with them, and I'm not gonna downplay it.
38:37
SPEAKER_05: They need product, and I think we're gonna get it.
38:38
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, Grand Cherokee, they've done a great job with bringing that brand back.
38:42
SPEAKER_05: Yes, for sure.
38:43
SPEAKER_05: The new Cherokee is really nice.
38:45
SPEAKER_05: Yep.
38:46
SPEAKER_05: I mean, do we have some issues?
38:48
SPEAKER_05: Of course we do, but so doesn't everybody else.
38:50
SPEAKER_05: Have you read about the recalls and all the GM engines and the Toyota head gas?
38:54
SPEAKER_05: Well, that's no doubt, yeah.
38:56
SPEAKER_05: But but it's it's not that any manufacturer's intentionally doing anything wrong.
39:01
SPEAKER_05: No, it's the car business.
39:03
SPEAKER_05: When you build tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of products, you think you'd get it right on every one, but unfortunately, we don't.
39:09
SPEAKER_06: That's right.
39:10
SPEAKER_06: And if you if you think about the brands and we've talked about it, whether it be Audi or Nissan or you know, or VW, we were just talking to uh the dealer council chairman uh Fred Emick out in Colorado about VW.
39:22
SPEAKER_06: And uh these are these are brands that did very, very well in the past, and they're having a little bit of a rocky road now, you know.
39:30
SPEAKER_06: Um, but but they're all great brands.
39:32
SPEAKER_06: And in in large part, they'll probably all come back, retool, redesign, and then come back stronger than ever, right?
39:39
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we what we need to do is focus on a lot of the things that we've done really, really well and figure out how to not do the ones we haven't done well, right?
39:49
SPEAKER_05: I mean, it's simple philosophy, right?
39:51
SPEAKER_05: I mean, just treat the customers well.
39:53
SPEAKER_05: They come into our place of business, greet them, be happy that they're there to see us.
39:58
SPEAKER_05: And when you take away all this nonsense in our business, the negotiation free works.
40:03
SPEAKER_05: I mean, Jim, we're gonna do 6,000 vehicles this year.
40:06
SPEAKER_05: I mean, we're a small group.
40:07
SPEAKER_05: Nice, yeah.
40:08
SPEAKER_05: And and and we don't negotiate on any of them.
40:11
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, that's great.
40:12
SPEAKER_05: Now, we love it when they tell us that, you know, uh I can go get it for someplace else.
40:17
SPEAKER_05: I can say you're gonna let me leave for 200.
40:19
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
40:19
SPEAKER_05: Yep.
40:20
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, you're gonna leave for 200.
40:21
SPEAKER_05: It works both ways, right?
40:22
SPEAKER_06: And and as you know, and we ran studies on this at Auto Nation, it wasn't as much that the consumer wanted the$200 off.
40:30
SPEAKER_06: They just wanted to be assured that the person behind them isn't gonna get the$200 off.
40:34
SPEAKER_06: You know, they just wanted that feeling that, okay, it's the same for everybody, right?
40:39
SPEAKER_06: Everybody's paying the same price if they come in.
40:41
SPEAKER_06: And if you can assure them of that, and many of them test you, you mean you're gonna let me walk over a hundred bucks or whatever the case might be.
40:48
SPEAKER_06: And when you're committed to that, then they feel better about doing business with you.
40:53
SPEAKER_06: Bridget, we can make him a trainer.
40:55
SPEAKER_03: Right?
40:55
SPEAKER_03: Well, he's yes.
41:01
SPEAKER_06: They all try you on for size.
41:03
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, not everybody.
41:04
SPEAKER_06: You know, there's a lot of people that that you know.
41:05
SPEAKER_05: I I'm happy to hear you say that because as long as we've been doing this, nothing's changed.
41:11
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
41:12
SPEAKER_05: You haven't done that in a long time, but you you just said it perfectly.
41:15
SPEAKER_05: Yep.
41:16
SPEAKER_05: A professional doesn't change you.
41:18
SPEAKER_05: When you know what you know, you do it the right way.
41:20
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
41:20
SPEAKER_05: Every time.
41:21
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
41:21
SPEAKER_05: Every time, every customer, same way, every day, and you don't have to worry about it.
41:26
SPEAKER_05: It's when you fear because of your inequities or your inabilities to give the consumer what they want.
41:34
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
41:35
SPEAKER_05: And but part of that is we don't pay anybody on commission.
41:38
SPEAKER_06: That's that's phenomenal.
41:40
SPEAKER_06: That's a whole that's a whole other show that we gotta have.
41:44
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, but you know, I I I've seen you know a couple of yard shows.
41:47
SPEAKER_05: I try to watch as many as I can.
41:49
SPEAKER_05: Um, you I I gotta really, Jim, we're not gonna talk about Audi because I gotta go see the CEO now.
41:55
SPEAKER_05: Because that's right.
41:58
SPEAKER_05: That was a good thing.
41:59
SPEAKER_06: We're gonna get in trouble again.
42:00
SPEAKER_05: But no, actually, actually, I don't I don't think it was trouble.
42:04
SPEAKER_05: I no, neither do I.
42:05
SPEAKER_05: Uh the calls were interesting, Jim, but staying on the Slantis topic.
42:10
SPEAKER_05: I, as I told you, we bought another store.
42:12
SPEAKER_05: We're celebrating, uh, we're fine up there today, as a matter of fact.
42:15
SPEAKER_05: Wow, that's great.
42:15
SPEAKER_05: Congratulations.
42:16
SPEAKER_03: That's great.
42:17
SPEAKER_05: One year, one year.
42:18
SPEAKER_05: It's it's a hard turn, it's not been easy, but I still have a lot of confidence in it.
42:22
SPEAKER_05: And I will tell you that I wouldn't be afraid to buy in a Slantus store.
42:26
SPEAKER_05: I I think everybody that's buying Slantus stores the right locations.
42:29
SPEAKER_05: I think there's a lot of stores that shouldn't be there.
42:32
SPEAKER_05: We've got, you know, if you looked at the list, which you don't have privilege to, but we have, you know, we have a confidential uh connect with dealer connect, and we can go and look.
42:42
SPEAKER_05: And there's there's some areas where there's you know 30 dealers that don't sell 300 cars a month in total between all of them.
42:50
SPEAKER_05: But they've got them spread out, you know, like these quote unquote service centers, which it doesn't work.
42:55
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah, for sure.
42:56
SPEAKER_05: We we don't need as many as we have, especially a lot of these smaller dealers that don't do as much volume, and I hate to say it, but I gotta get my store cranked up as well.
43:06
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, meet the woman just bought.
43:08
SPEAKER_05: But when you look at the numbers and you think about what we can accomplish, you know the old saying, together everyone achieves more.
43:15
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
43:16
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
43:17
SPEAKER_05: That that's that that hasn't changed.
43:19
SPEAKER_05: And I think we got an amazing opportunity here with great leadership, and I think we can accomplish a lot.
43:27
SPEAKER_05: The products getting better by the day.
43:29
SPEAKER_05: You know, they fixed all these crazy ass things that they were doing.
43:32
SPEAKER_05: Wagon here, grand wagon ear.
43:34
SPEAKER_05: Nobody knew it was a Jeep.
43:35
SPEAKER_05: I mean, come on.
43:36
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, so I think they've got all that going the right direction.
43:39
SPEAKER_05: And like you said, Volkswagen, they'll come back, they'll be fine.
43:42
SPEAKER_05: Oh, yeah.
43:42
SPEAKER_05: Oh, yeah.
43:43
SPEAKER_05: I don't I don't necessarily agree with some of the other products that they sell, but I think they're gonna be, I think Volkswagen will be fine.
43:49
SPEAKER_05: They build them in this country.
43:50
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
43:51
SPEAKER_05: We could we can spend uh a long time talking about the other crazy son of a guns that they're you know aligned with, but Stellantis, I'm pretty confident we're gonna have a good run here.
44:04
SPEAKER_05: I don't think it's gonna be an overnight sensation.
44:06
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
44:07
SPEAKER_05: I can tell you, our stores do well.
44:09
SPEAKER_05: Profitability's good.
44:11
SPEAKER_05: It's not great, but it's good.
44:13
SPEAKER_06: And um not only that, you got so many units and service in any given you know metro already.
44:19
SPEAKER_06: So that that helps in your fixed ops department in a big way, right?
44:24
SPEAKER_05: Fixed ops.
44:25
SPEAKER_05: It's the the absorption in service is getting better.
44:28
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
44:29
SPEAKER_05: Um, and it's not all warranty business, it's not all recall business, it's not all that crazy things that are.
44:34
SPEAKER_05: It's customer pay.
44:35
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, but it it's it's good.
44:37
SPEAKER_05: It really is good.
44:38
SPEAKER_05: And you know Jeep is an iconic brand.
44:42
SPEAKER_05: Oh, yeah.
44:43
SPEAKER_05: You know, they remember in the old days, Jim, we used to say they did everything to Cadillac except kill it, they tried like their sales are 22% off Cadillac.
44:54
SPEAKER_06: Wow.
44:54
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, well, if you look at the market today, there's a lot of things occurring that we have no control over.
45:01
SPEAKER_05: And I think there's a lot of things that are going to shift and change.
45:04
SPEAKER_05: And you know, look, we're in a very interesting situation with our country with all the things going on for sure.
45:12
SPEAKER_05: Um, I still think that long term, you know, it's like when you have a bad staff member and you don't sit them down and tell them, hey, we gotta take action here.
45:24
SPEAKER_05: Either you clean up your act or go someplace else.
45:27
SPEAKER_05: Right.
45:28
SPEAKER_05: You know it what happens is that spreads throughout the organization.
45:32
SPEAKER_05: And if you don't handle it correctly, this is what's happened to our country.
45:36
SPEAKER_05: We didn't we let things go too far, too long, right?
45:39
SPEAKER_05: So long, so wrong, they think it's so right.
45:42
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
45:42
SPEAKER_06: And in your business or our business, we need to make sure we take actions, and I don't think it's that difficult, but it's not, it's not sometimes the easiest things uh are the things that aren't getting done.
45:55
SPEAKER_06: I mean, and and I I couldn't agree more.
45:58
SPEAKER_06: I I say Joe Laham for maybe Senator from New England.
46:01
SPEAKER_06: There we go.
46:01
SPEAKER_06: From from Bernie's doing a great job.
46:05
SPEAKER_05: No, thank you.
46:06
SPEAKER_05: No, thank you.
46:07
SPEAKER_05: I will say this God bless those people that do that.
46:10
SPEAKER_05: I know, I know like Bernie's of the world and some of the other people that are there that are doing they're doing you know yeoman's work.
46:17
SPEAKER_05: I think it's not easy.
46:19
SPEAKER_05: I don't know why he wants to be there.
46:21
SPEAKER_05: It is easy.
46:22
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
46:22
SPEAKER_05: He was great, and I don't, but God bless him, and and I think that uh we need more of people that look, there's not that many out there that know our business.
46:31
SPEAKER_05: That's that's right.
46:32
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
46:32
SPEAKER_05: They think they do.
46:33
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah.
46:34
SPEAKER_05: He's he's he's got a lot of talent, and uh and you know, he's we need to keep, I know you talk about this a lot, Jim, but the Chinese cars are not coming to the U.S.
46:45
SPEAKER_05: So stop talking about it.
46:46
SPEAKER_05: Well, thanks for joining us, Joe.
46:48
SPEAKER_03: We'll find out more later.
46:50
SPEAKER_06: Listen, as we speak, I think the the president is sitting down with the president of China to talk about this very issue.
46:58
SPEAKER_05: We're not turning into, we're not, we can't afford to have them come into a country where they subsidize all the vehicles, they subsidize the manufacturers, and all they want is market share so that they can employ their people in their country as opposed to us employing people in our country.
47:15
SPEAKER_05: And if you recall, they have, you know, their track record of building quality products is not very good.
47:25
SPEAKER_06: I love bringing it in.
47:26
SPEAKER_06: He went down that he went right down that Chinese.
47:30
SPEAKER_06: No, I agree.
47:30
SPEAKER_06: Well, yeah, I yeah, there's a lot to unpack there.
47:35
SPEAKER_05: The Japanese came in, they left, they came back, and Toyota's done a marvelous job.
47:38
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, they didn't know.
47:39
SPEAKER_05: The Koreans have done a good job.
47:41
SPEAKER_06: By the way, by the way, uh, we just we were just talking about this with another guest, but um, you know, Mary Barra obviously is doing a good job, but you know, to think that uh I spoke to uh interviewed um David Um uh Christ Christ.
47:55
SPEAKER_06: Thank you.
47:55
SPEAKER_06: David Christ, the vice president of Toyota Motor Sales.
47:59
SPEAKER_06: And um, you know, we talked about the fact that, you know, he's got so many cars that are hybrid in the in the lineup, and they are edging up on GM to take over the number one, you know, spot as the number one retailer in the country of vehicles, Toyota over GM in the U.S., right?
48:15
SPEAKER_06: They're like neck and neck right now.
48:17
SPEAKER_06: So I was it was amazing because we then we talked about how many hybrids GM builds.
48:24
SPEAKER_06: And you know, Joe, I don't know if you're aware of this.
48:26
SPEAKER_06: They build one one hybrid, okay?
48:29
SPEAKER_06: And it's the Corvette.
48:30
SPEAKER_06: So go figure.
48:33
SPEAKER_06: Did they completely miss the miss the the deal on this or what?
48:38
SPEAKER_05: So hats off to Toyota.
48:40
SPEAKER_05: Number one, they do a great job.
48:41
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, number two, they have a huge footprint in the U.S.
48:44
SPEAKER_05: This is their biggest market.
48:45
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, not only do they sell in the US, they build in the U.S.
48:50
SPEAKER_05: They're a great company.
48:51
SPEAKER_05: And if you look at the blue chips, they're the blue chip of the blue chips.
48:54
SPEAKER_05: No, no doubt, no doubt.
48:55
SPEAKER_05: You so they set this example way back many, many years ago.
49:00
SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, there's there's a lot to be said about that organization.
49:04
SPEAKER_05: They do a great job, but they also build in the US.
49:07
SPEAKER_05: There's a ton of plants, right?
49:08
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, um BMW is on that same path.
49:12
SPEAKER_05: We do not we sell ice, hybrid, bev, and we're gonna have hydrogen.
49:17
SPEAKER_05: And you know our partner is in hydrogen with BMW?
49:19
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, uh the Chinese.
49:23
SPEAKER_05: Who is your partner?
49:24
SPEAKER_05: Uh Toyota.
49:25
SPEAKER_05: Toyota, okay.
49:27
SPEAKER_05: Partnering on hybrid.
49:28
SPEAKER_05: Wow, nice.
49:30
SPEAKER_05: So those two have partnered to make hybrid vehicles.
49:33
SPEAKER_05: I mean, uh, excuse me, hydrogen.
49:35
SPEAKER_05: I apologize.
49:36
SPEAKER_05: Right.
49:37
SPEAKER_05: Hydrogen.
49:38
SPEAKER_05: So uh hybrids are the middle of the road, and Volvo just said they're gonna come out with one that gets 70 miles on a plug-in.
49:46
SPEAKER_05: Wow.
49:47
SPEAKER_05: So think about it.
49:48
SPEAKER_05: If they came out with that to start with these knuckleheads in government, yeah, and said go with hybrids to get 60, 70, or 80, we wouldn't be in this craziness that we're in today.
49:58
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
49:58
SPEAKER_05: We're showing the hydrogen Toyota right now.
50:02
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, so Toyota's hydrogen vehicle is already out there and BMW's testing it, so they're gonna have it as well.
50:09
SPEAKER_05: I I'm not uh in-depth familiar with it as much as maybe somebody else is, but what I'll say is ICE, hybrid, bev.
50:20
SPEAKER_05: They all sell in segments and they all have their own little piece of the puzzle.
50:24
SPEAKER_05: Agreed.
50:24
SPEAKER_05: Agreed.
50:25
SPEAKER_05: We should not tell consumers what they should buy.
50:28
SPEAKER_05: Totally agree.
50:29
SPEAKER_05: Yep, and the government should not subsidize it.
50:32
SPEAKER_05: No, your Chinese friends, that's all they do.
50:35
SPEAKER_05: Now they're my friends.
50:36
SPEAKER_06: Now they're my friends.
50:40
SPEAKER_06: They subsidize my house.
50:42
SPEAKER_06: So that's that's good.
50:44
SPEAKER_06: So there he is.
50:47
SPEAKER_05: There's Trump and the president of general.
50:49
SPEAKER_05: I I say that in in humor because I know that you're you're a true blue American and I love that.
50:55
SPEAKER_06: Yes, I am.
50:56
SPEAKER_06: Yes, I am.
50:57
SPEAKER_06: Let me ask you a quick question.
50:58
SPEAKER_06: Because you mentioned you mentioned BMW and Toyota building here.
51:02
SPEAKER_06: Would you be okay if the Chinese wanted to build here?
51:08
SPEAKER_05: No.
51:08
SPEAKER_06: No?
51:09
SPEAKER_06: Okay.
51:11
SPEAKER_05: I don't I don't I think there's a lot of nice people in this world.
51:15
SPEAKER_05: Do you like Chinese food?
51:18
SPEAKER_05: There's a lot of people.
51:19
SPEAKER_05: Who doesn't like Chinese food?
51:22
SPEAKER_05: There's a lot of nice people in this world.
51:24
SPEAKER_05: Um, we don't have a good relationship with them for a lot of reasons.
51:28
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
51:29
SPEAKER_05: They they were subsidized by us for many years production there.
51:35
SPEAKER_05: I know.
51:35
SPEAKER_05: And what did they do?
51:36
SPEAKER_05: Think about it.
51:37
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
51:38
SPEAKER_05: They copied everybody, they stole our technology, they stole our IP, and they're building all these cars because they have no legacy costs.
51:45
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
51:46
SPEAKER_05: And they have the government.
51:48
SPEAKER_05: No legacy costs.
51:48
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
51:49
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
51:50
SPEAKER_05: Each one of these provinces in China are subsidizing the vehicles.
51:55
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
51:56
SPEAKER_05: They can't sell any more of these vehicles in their own country because they flooded the market and people aren't buying as many as they thought they would.
52:04
SPEAKER_05: So what are they going to do now?
52:05
SPEAKER_05: They're going to go out and push every one of the cars that they knocked off from the Americans into this into our country.
52:12
SPEAKER_05: And shame on us because the Americans relied heavily, especially uh BMW, Audi, and all those companies, they relied heavily on China.
52:24
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
52:24
unknown: Oh, yeah.
52:26
SPEAKER_05: They just copied everything that they gave them.
52:28
SPEAKER_05: And you can't, I mean, let's call it as it is.
52:32
SPEAKER_05: You can't go to China and open up a plant unless you have a Chinese partner.
52:35
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
52:36
SPEAKER_05: Toyota doesn't have a partner here.
52:38
SPEAKER_05: We don't need to make a partner with Toyota to get them to build in the US.
52:42
SPEAKER_05: Neither did the Koreans.
52:44
SPEAKER_05: And if they come to us, they want to build plants, but they don't want us, they don't want to do the same things that we make them do.
52:49
SPEAKER_05: Right.
52:50
SPEAKER_05: And then they got the PR machine running behind the scenes with all these knuckleheads telling them, you know, how good and bad we are.
52:57
SPEAKER_05: It's a bad subject.
52:58
SPEAKER_05: Let's can let's stay on Stellandis.
53:01
SPEAKER_06: Joe La Ham.
53:02
SPEAKER_07: You know, telling it like it is.
53:03
SPEAKER_07: Yes.
53:04
SPEAKER_06: You can always count on them.
53:05
SPEAKER_06: Thank you so much for joining us.
53:06
SPEAKER_06: This has been, it's always great.
53:07
SPEAKER_06: It's always great catching up with you and hearing your very candid views on this.
53:11
SPEAKER_06: And uh I agree with you.
53:12
SPEAKER_06: I think Stillannis is going to make it, not only make it, but it's going to be a winning franchise that everybody's going to want.
53:18
SPEAKER_06: So thank you so much.
53:19
SPEAKER_05: Thanks, Joe.
53:20
SPEAKER_05: Thank you guys, and appreciate you taking advantage of covering all these things for us because as an industry, we need your voice.
53:27
SPEAKER_05: We do.
53:27
SPEAKER_05: We need to be out there, get onto these national platforms and let people know that C B2 is it's us, it's all of us.
53:34
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it's right.
53:34
SPEAKER_06: It is originally in and it's you that makes a difference.
53:38
SPEAKER_06: That's right.
53:38
SPEAKER_06: And we've changed the C and CBT for China, which is which is uh a mistake.
53:44
SPEAKER_05: Bridget, Bridget, I hope you got those spike heels on.
53:47
SPEAKER_04: He's getting it under the table, yeah.
53:49
SPEAKER_04: He's getting kicked under the table.
53:51
SPEAKER_06: That's gonna cost him.
53:52
SPEAKER_06: Sorry, man.
53:53
SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
53:54
SPEAKER_04: Great to see you.
53:56
SPEAKER_06: He's great.
53:58
SPEAKER_04: Can we come on to tell like it is yes, and I appreciate those kind words that he mentioned at the at the end there.
54:05
SPEAKER_04: Um we have been doing this for 14 years, and for the 14 years, we have been all about new car dealers and helping them service and sell more cars, and we will continue to do that as long as we can.
54:16
SPEAKER_03: Did I mention over 7,000 interviews?
54:19
SPEAKER_03: Over 7,000 interviews, all dedicated to help 7,000 dealers.
54:24
SPEAKER_06: Right.
54:25
SPEAKER_04: I see some of our friends out there that are bragging about a couple hundred, but just hey, we can use all the content that we can get as an industry.
54:35
SPEAKER_06: Everybody's got a great job.
54:37
SPEAKER_06: Everybody's got a viewpoint.
54:38
SPEAKER_04: That's right.
54:39
SPEAKER_04: And we appreciate all of them.
54:40
SPEAKER_04: And I think that the more content that dealers can get their hands on, the better to help them.
54:45
SPEAKER_06: That's right.
54:45
SPEAKER_06: That's right.
54:46
SPEAKER_06: So be sure to head over to cbtnews.com for more great conversations like the one that we had today.
54:52
SPEAKER_06: And while you're there, be sure to sign up for our newsletter to get these great stories delivered to your inbox every day.
54:59
SPEAKER_04: Thank you so much for watching, everyone, and we'll see you right back here tomorrow at noon Eastern for another edition of CBT Live.
55:05
SPEAKER_06: That's right.
55:06
SPEAKER_06: Go make it a great day.
55:20
SPEAKER_00: Interviews in the glass wall, boom, price tags up in the laptop, leaders up with the mark is breeze, supply chain joke in the bias freeze.
55:27
SPEAKER_00: New card that juice card play every number things on the Thursday night.