Special Guest Elon Musk, What Inventory Level?, 20 Years of Gmail

The Automotive Troublemaker w/ Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier

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Happy April 1st as we roll into a fresh week, fresh month, and fresh quarter all at the same time. Today we’re talking about landing Elon Musk as a special guest. We also ask what we have learned as an industry about inventory levels, as well as looking back on 20 years of Gmail.

• In a decisive stance against e-commerce giant Amazon and competing OEMs like Hyundai, Toyota President Jack Hollis voiced a resolute "no" to selling cars on the platform at the Automotive Forum New York. Here's why Toyota is charting its own digital path:
  • Hollis emphasizes the risk of bypassing Toyota's established dealership system, calling it “a completely divergent path”, advocating for direct engagement with consumers through traditional channels.
  • Introduced in 2019, these digital retailing tools developed for Toyota and Lexus are continually refined based on dealer feedback, ensuring a tailored, seamless customer experience.
  • Toyota commits to enhancing the digital buying experience within its ecosystem, prioritizing the integration with dealership management systems and safeguarding customer privacy.
  • Quote from Jack Hollis: "For us to take the dealer's input and provide it so they have a tool to make it seamless for you, the customer — that, to me, we're all in on."
    
• Inventory has been a hot topic in the industry and questions still loom whether OEMs can learn from more stringent inventory levels or whether flush inventory will return.
  • New-vehicle inventory last month reached 2.8 million vehicles, a 78-day supply, according to Cox Automotive, up about 1 million vehicles from where it had stood a year earlier.
  • Tight inventories during the pandemic led to a significant increase in industry profits, reaching $55 billion in annual dealer profits in 2022.
  • Despite the potential benefits of lean inventory management, factors like dealer competition and manufacturing overcapacity suggest this success may be hard to replicate.
  • J.D. Power analysis reveals a direct correlation between inventory levels and dealer margins, highlighting the profitability of operating with fewer vehicles to sell.
  • Automakers and dealers expressed intentions to maintain lower inventory levels, but the return to pre-pandemic inventory and incentive levels seems inevitable.
  • "We've learned [as an industry during the pandemic] that we can operate at lower inventory levels," said Tyson Jominy, vice president of data and analytics at J.D. Power.
• 20 years ago, Gmail burst onto the scene with an unbelievable offer: 1 gigabyte of free storage, revolutionizing email and quickly becoming a cornerstone of our digital lives. Now, with over 1.2 billion users, it's a staple, yet many wonder about its future role amidst evolving online communication tools.
  • Despite its success, Gmail's role in daily communication has shifted, with platforms like Slack and WhatsApp taking precedence.
  • Over the years, Google enhanced Gmail with features like better search, themes, and smart replies, though its essence remains largely unchanged.
  • Gmail has evolved be

Hosts: Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier
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