ASOTU Recap: February 5-9th

?? Some big stories:?

• Volvo and Hertz decide to take a few steps back from their friend, Polestar.
• Stellantis puts the kibosh on merger rumors with Renault.
• A real pain in the rear, GM had to recall 323,000 HD Trucks due to a faulty tailgate latch.?
• EVs accounted for 16.3% of total US light-duty sales in 2023. Those numbers include hybrids, which, at nearly 8%, outsold EVs (~7%) and plug-in hybrids (~2%).

On Monday, we were equal parts exhausted and invigorated as we enjoyed our first day home from the exhilarating NADA Show in Las Vegas.?

We made sure to cover every exciting moment for anyone who couldn’t attend (or, just wants to revisit the magic of the event) – check out all of our NADA 2024 content here!

Tuesday, we discussed a positive report (debatably) from Hyundai dealers regarding their recent venture into selling cars through the online retail giant, Amazon.?

Though they did cite a successful delivery to an “extremely pleased” buyer just a month into the pilot program, the purchaser also happened to be an Amazon employee.?

We were obvi a little skeptical, but we wanted to know what you thought.

POLL: Do you think this is a good indication of how the market will react to this program long term?

???????????? ?? Yep, this is just the first small step. Buying a car on Amazon will eventually become like buying anything else on Amazon.

???????????? ?? Maybe? It’s still way too early to tell, and this one experience doesn’t mean much.

???????????? ?? Nah, this doesn’t represent the general market at all. Most customers still want to visit a dealership before purchasing (and probably always will).

Turns out, nearly half of you agreed with us – 48.89% to be exact. We’re gonna need a lot more data before we can call this program a success.

Then, on Wednesday, we saw Toyota gearing up for profit growth, Carvana tightening its belt for a leaner future, and Mazda getting cozy with Tesla charging tech. Meanwhile, the ASOTU Crew set its sights firmly toward the future, with new episodes of More Than Cars and ASOTU CON 2024 sitting on the horizon and we. can’t. wait!?

Thursday, we dropped an important article on steering clear of digital fraud and scams after a multi-national company was defrauded out of nearly $26M through a complex deep-fake video call scam. This is prompting individuals and businesses alike to reassess their digital protection procedures and double (or, even triple) down on authentication and verification measures.

Me: "Sorry, Boss, I'm not going to do that. After all, how do I know you're not a deepfake?"

Boss: "I'm standing right in front of you!"

Me: "Hmm...still not convinced. What’s the secret code?”

Boss: “Do I have to?”

Me: “Yep, safety first!”

Boss: *sigh* “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.”

Me: “Okay, I guess you’re real. I’ll go get the mail now.”

After a very busy week post-NADA, by Friday, we were clawing toward the weekend.?

And not just any weekend…Super Bowl weekend.

The Automotive Troublemakers took a sneak peek at some hilarious early-release Super Bowl commercials from OEMs Toyota and BMW, and we attempted the first-ever written Christopher Walken impression. And, you know…we, uh, thought...it went...remarkably well!

. . .?

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