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News live from NADA show, Amazon Autos coming to the UK, and American dealers want to block Chinese cars – with James Leese, episode 242
News live from NADA show, Amazon Autos coming to the UK, and American dealers want to block Chinese cars – with James Leese, episode 242
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About this episode
Live from the NADA show, John and guest James Leese discuss the latest trends in the automotive industry, including the rise of AI technology and its implications for dealerships. They explore the unique scale of the NADA event, where dealers actively engage in significant deal-making. James shares insights from conversations with UK dealers, highlighting the importance of understanding specific pain points when implementing AI solutions. The episode also touches on the challenges of comparing various AI platforms and the need for effective onboarding to maximize their benefits.
Cars:
Dodge Challenger
Ford Expedition
Honda Accord
Honda CR-V
Hyundai Tucson
Kia Picanto
Rivian R1T
Skoda Yeti
American car dealers want to block Chinese manufacturers from gaining a foothold in the US
Amazon Autos UK launch ‘lined up for 2026’ as web giant to go head to head with Autotrader
Does anyone really know what they’re doing when it comes to using AI?
TikTok: Car dealers should encourage everyone to create video content
Cargurus AI used car search function could be rolled out to the UK
Filter:
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Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Brand
BMW
"this is the way I want you to speak about BMW customer this is a used car customer"
BMW is a car company from Germany that makes high-quality and luxury cars. They are known for making cars that are fun to drive.
BMW is a German automotive brand known for its luxury vehicles and performance-oriented cars. The brand has a strong reputation for engineering and driving dynamics, appealing to enthusiasts and everyday drivers alike.
Term
new car
"...how much people pay for new cars over here the average price he said..."
A new car is one that has never been owned before. You buy it directly from a car dealership, and it usually comes with a warranty for repairs.
A new car is a vehicle that has not been previously owned or used. It is typically purchased from a dealership and comes with a full manufacturer's warranty.
Term
monthly payment
"...the average price he said monthly payment for in for a new car over here was a thousand dollars..."
A monthly payment is the amount you pay every month when you buy or lease a car. It helps spread the cost over time instead of paying all at once.
A monthly payment refers to the amount of money a buyer pays each month to finance or lease a vehicle. This payment typically includes principal and interest on the loan, and can also include taxes and fees.
Car
Honda Crv
"...that's for a CRV or an Accord or something like that..."
The Honda CR-V is a small SUV that's great for families because it has a lot of space and is known to be reliable and good on gas.
The Honda CR-V is a compact SUV known for its reliability, spacious interior, and fuel efficiency, making it a popular choice among families and individuals alike.
Car
Honda Accord
"...that's for a CRV or an Accord or something like that..."
The Honda Accord is a midsize car that's popular because it's comfortable, has a lot of features, and is known for being reliable.
The Honda Accord is a midsize sedan recognized for its strong performance, spacious interior, and advanced safety features, making it a favorite among drivers.
Car
Dodge Challenger
"like how buyers are really using AI what Chinese challenger brands mean for your forecourt"
The Dodge Challenger is a big, powerful car that many people love for its speed and cool looks. It's often talked about because it's a classic American car and now faces competition from new brands, especially from China.
The Dodge Challenger is a classic American muscle car known for its powerful performance and retro styling. It has become a symbol of performance and freedom, often discussed in the context of competition with other brands and the evolving automotive market, especially with the rise of electric vehicles and foreign challengers.
Car
Honda That Honda
"...hat we picked up and I'll continue with that with that Honda dealer because one of the things we started talki..."
The Honda That's is a small car that’s great for city driving and is known for being practical and easy to park. It's mentioned because it shows how Honda makes cars that fit well in busy places.
The Honda That's is a compact car that is particularly popular in Japan, known for its unique design and practicality. It represents Honda's commitment to producing efficient vehicles that cater to urban environments, making it a noteworthy topic in discussions about small cars and their market appeal.
Brand
BYD
"like the BYDs he was talking about I've seen those BYDs when I've been on holiday"
BYD is a car company from China that makes electric cars. They are known for their modern designs and technology.
BYD is a Chinese automotive manufacturer known for producing electric vehicles and batteries. The company has gained attention for its innovative designs and technology in the EV market.
Car
Hyundai Tucson
"...you can go and find your next Tucson blah blah blah blah"
The Hyundai Tucson is a small SUV that many people like because it's easy to drive and has a lot of space inside for passengers and cargo.
The Hyundai Tucson is a compact SUV known for its practicality and modern features. It's popular among families and individuals looking for a reliable vehicle with good fuel efficiency.
Car
Skoda Yeti
"of wanting a Skoda Yeti a Kia Picanto etc before you say anything"
The Skoda Yeti is a small SUV that is good for families and has a lot of space inside. It's also capable of handling rough roads, which makes it a nice choice for outdoor activities.
The Skoda Yeti is a compact SUV produced by the Czech automaker Skoda. It is known for its practicality, spacious interior, and off-road capabilities, making it a popular choice among families and outdoor enthusiasts.
Car
Kia Picanto
"a Kia Picanto etc before you say anything"
The Kia Picanto is a small car that is easy to drive around the city. It's cheap to buy and run, making it a good option for people who want something practical without spending a lot of money.
The Kia Picanto is a city car known for its compact size, affordability, and fuel efficiency. It is designed for urban driving and is popular in many markets for its practicality and low running costs.
Car
Ford Expedition
"...film a Ford Expedition get it online and you will see a result..."
The Ford Expedition is a large SUV that can carry many passengers and has a lot of room for luggage. It's great for families or anyone who needs to transport a lot of stuff.
The Ford Expedition is a full-size SUV known for its spacious interior and towing capacity, making it a popular choice for families and those needing extra cargo space.
Car
Rivian
"...we're going to be picking up a Rivian this afternoon which I'm very excited to experience..."
Rivian is a company that makes electric vehicles, including a pickup truck called the R1T. It's designed for outdoor activities and has features that make it great for off-roading.
Rivian is an American electric vehicle manufacturer known for its innovative all-electric trucks and SUVs. The Rivian R1T is their all-electric pickup truck designed for adventure and off-road capability.
Select text to request an explanation
The car dealer podcast is sponsored by AutoTrader.
John, have you ever wondered why I, along with 14,000 other dealers, choose to partner with
AutoTrader?
Well, actually, I didn't think so.
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And now, with the launch of buying signals, we'll have brand new insights on every
deal, showing how likely a customer is to buy the car they're interested in.
Plus, as someone who set out to use AI and data as much as possible in my business, I've
found their technology, data and tools genuinely invaluable.
But when I do get stuck, which is, let's face it, most of the time, AutoTrader is
always on hand and committed to supporting us to get the very best from our package.
To find out how they can help you, visit trade.autotrader.co.uk.
Welcome back to the Car Dealer Podcast, where we pick our favorite stories of the week and
ask an industry guest to choose which were the best.
I'm John Ray.
And joining me this week, live from the NADA show floor, as you'll see if you're
watching this on YouTube, is James Bagot.
There he is.
Hello, John.
How are you?
Hello.
This is the nearest you've ever been, recording a podcast.
It's very nice of the Gardex team and Expalter.
Let us be on their stand.
We should give them a mention, shouldn't we?
Because we are in the middle of the NADA show recording the podcast on a stand, which
is a little bit strange, isn't it?
Yes.
And there might be a live product demonstration happening behind us as well.
Which will be good for those people watching on YouTube.
Not so much those people on Spotify, so sorry about that.
It's very true.
Anyway, I should introduce our guest, rather than leave you sat here in the middle.
So another fellow Brit here in Vegas, it's of course James Lease from AI Provider Impel.
James, thanks for joining us.
You're welcome.
Thank you for the invite.
Nice to see you.
Sorry if I sound a bit croaky, but it's been a long week.
Well we are in Vegas, aren't we?
So you can imagine there's been some interesting parties for people to attend.
I think John, we should probably just for those people listening and not watching.
Just give them a sort of idea of the scale of this show.
We're currently sat in the West Hall.
There's two halls here for the expo.
It's been open for two and a half days.
This is the last hour or so, I think, of the show, but it's been incredibly busy.
It feels to me like a motor show, it is huge, isn't it?
Some of the stands are absolutely massive.
I hate to think how much they've cost to put together.
I'm sure James knows actually, but I hate to think how much they've cost.
It really is a place for the motor trade in the US to attend every year and get a good
idea of what's happening, isn't it?
I've enjoyed walking around.
What's been your take on just the expo halls, really?
Well, there's been a lot of AI.
Hence James being here.
Of course.
None of them is as good as yours, James.
Thank you very much.
Yeah, a lot of AI stuff here, as you might expect.
Strangely, a lot of car washes in this show.
I've got lots of pictures of my phone of you just stroking car washes, John.
Well, you know, when there's a spinny, rotaty thing, you don't normally get the opportunity
to see what it's doing to my paintwork.
Yeah, a lot of that, a lot of incredible amount of stuff that's mind-blowing for us, because
it's very American-focused, you know, a lot of providers of big American truck
parts and all these sort of lifted trucks.
I mean, there's been a lot of talks as well.
We've gone to a lot of workshops and things like that, which I think some are
a bit more useful than others because some are tailored more to Americans, as we say.
But it's been interesting to see and hear the different challenges that people have
here compared to the challenges we have across the pond over in the UK.
Some of them very similar.
Some of them quite different.
James, you've obviously been on the impale stand, haven't you, for the last couple
of days, and you've been chatting to a lot of British dealers here, isn't there?
There is a very good contingent, and up, yes.
What has been your take from those dealers you've been chatting to?
I mean, the Brits first, because I'm interested to hear what you've heard
from the Americans too, but what have they been saying to you about the show?
What have they learned?
Actually, a lot of the dealers that are here come every year, and they come
every year for a reason.
The reason is there's nothing else like this in the world.
To get the opportunity to see all of these businesses.
And a lot of them are global businesses.
A lot of them are US focused.
But to come and see what's happening in this market is a great opportunity
for those dealers.
So I think what they are game from coming to something like NADA is to
see, especially the technology, I think car washes are nice, but
they're probably not here to see the car washes.
It's more about what are the dealers using in the US?
What's the technology look like?
You talk about AI last year.
Again, AI was a topic, but this year you're now seeing that the AI and
people are coming with stories on actually what it's delivered and
the return on investment now.
So it's a different conversation.
So dealers get that opportunity to spend time here understanding about
the products and seeing what US dealers are doing.
I think what's interesting, you would have noticed this, that as you
walk around, if you've got international on your badge, a lot
of the businesses here actually won't talk to you because they're so
focused on their local market, which is understandable.
But there are more businesses that are now looking at international
especially with SaaS and the ability to be global.
So I think dealers get a lot out of coming here and seeing those
businesses and how they operate and the products that they've got
available.
What's amazed me about the show is that firstly the amount of
people here and if you go to trade shows in the UK and
doesn't matter what industry is, people are more just browsing.
Here they're really doing deals, aren't they?
There are people signing up for very, very big deals on stands
like yours and some of the other big ones here, that's normal,
isn't it?
Yeah, I mean this traditionally is somewhere, I mean I work for
Cox Automotive for 16 years, they call it the Cox Automotive
Village here because it's so big.
But these businesses will be writing anything up to 20, 25%
their revenue will be written a show because the dealers are
here to do deals and when you think about that and you
think about some of the sort of events we have in the UK and
that doesn't happen.
But the US is so vast to have the opportunity to come to one
place and see all your potential partners negotiate deals
as an opportunity they can't refuse.
So yeah, as in power as you've seen our stands being
up to the ramp this week again and lots of dealers come
there to do the deal, sign the deals, they get an offer
maybe.
So it's a very important show for the US market.
I want to touch on AI because it is a theme absolutely running
throughout this show, isn't it?
I mean you can't, you know, if I had a pound for every time
I've heard AI I would have made a lot of money on the
gambling tables in Vegas.
I mean it is everywhere, I mean I can see it across the way
from where we just stood now.
It does fields me a little bit, James, and some of the
deals I spoke to have said the same thing, that it is a
bit of a gold rush at the moment and there are so many
different platforms out there.
You're obviously selling one so you are going to be slightly
biased, but what do dealers need to be looking for when it
comes to choosing an AI solution?
What is the most important?
Because here it will do voice, it will do answering text
messages, it will answer emails, it will help you book
services.
Where should people look for first, for those UK
listeners, what should they be looking at?
I think it's a similar conversation we always have
and we say to people, well first of all AI, it's two
letters and at the end of the day it's technology.
It's very good technology and it is absolutely making
waves and the capabilities that it can deliver.
But it is just technology and with any form of
technology you bring into a business, whether that's a
CRM system, a DMS system, you have to take the time to
make sure you're implementing it on board it
correctly.
So I suppose the first thing would be what are your
pain points?
Because we always say you can find the next shiny
thing but it's actually solving a problem in your
business.
What's the pain point you want to deal with, whether it
is warranties, whether it's lead management,
nurturing, whatever it may be, then go look for that
supplier and then when you find the supplier then
have a conversation with them to understand their
methodology, how they work with their customers.
I mean we talk about 50-50 approach in the UK
which is 50% is about the technology and it's
good technology and you need good technology but
the other 50% is how you implement it on board
it and that's about the people that help you
do that in your business.
So spending time in the dealerships, talking to
them the way that the system is going to work so
they understand because in some instances, not all
but in some especially in lead nurturing, it can
change fundamentally the way you operate and how
your salespeople manage those leads and enquiries
so you've got to take the time.
Yeah I mean there's a lot of dealers that I'm
talking to who said they've been to all of
the different stands and they've really
struggled to compare them, there's a lot of
people out there doing AI but it's about
understanding which bits they need.
If you were running a dealership, what would
be the first thing that you would, where would
be the first place you implemented AI and I'm
talking dealerships of all sizes, you know the
smaller ones all the way up to the large group.
I think, great question, I'm going to go back
to that point about understanding where
you're paying for each other, there's no
point in trying to bring something into your
business where you feel that the problem
isn't there, there's nothing to fix because
some people would just go chasing, oh I need voice,
we hear it a lot, voice is the big one right now,
everyone talks about voice but okay where do
you want to deploy voice and for what
reason? Because we've seen lots of examples
and you talk about you know a bit like the
Wild West, there's AI everywhere, it's all over
and but actually when you start looking at
it and someone goes well I'll just put
voice into my service area, okay well why
are you doing that and actually and can
the voice get to the data because this
is another big conversation all the
time, the technology is great but if it
can't get to the data to have the right
conversation, the right outputs then all
it's potentially going to do is just
shift that problem further down the
process. So I think for a dealer it's
just understanding your own business,
working out where you feel that there
is a place for AI to be deployed, finding
the right partner and then maybe
you know what go play, go you know
and that's easy to say isn't it, if
you're going to bring in a brand new
system that's big you can't
necessarily play but pick those
points. So things like lead nurturing
is a good example, chat is another one
we talk about a lot on the website but
that is again moving really quickly
so the chat solutions we've seen in the
last few years are now very
very much out of date and now you're
starting to get into a genetic search
so I think pick your spot and we say
to a lot of smaller dealers even with
things like chat GPT they're using
chat GPT well you know I'll play with it
you know see what it's quite capable
of but also remember that actually
your data you need to make sure it's
secure so get yourself a business
account and then go play. John and I
went to a session on the first day
about AI and they had two dealers on
there and a couple of like training
experts didn't they and we listened
to the session it was absolutely packed
wasn't it, there must have been
three or four hundred people in this
in this auditorium and I came away
from it and I wrote a story for the
website this week and I'm on the
headline looking at now does anyone
really know what they're doing when it
comes to using AI you know we've come
to the US and often people come to
come to this show to learn stuff that's
not happening in the UK and it still
feels like to me from from from that
session that I got the feeling that
people don't know what still don't
know what to do with AI it feels like
we've moved on they were talking
about like you said last year but
they're still really testing now
no one's actually come up with the
this is where it works the best. Well I think
I think there's lots of good
good cases that show where AI has
actually absolutely made a difference to
their business either UK or US
I think that the technology is moving
at such a pace that by the point you
get to somewhere and go oh this is
working really well actually the next
iterations there and it keeps moving
so I think there's always this bit
where people step into it and go
yeah I'm on the journey with AI
and then something new comes out and
the new version of it and agentic
is out now as well so
I think there probably is always that
feeling of you know where's the end
point when do we sit there and go this
has been really successful and
that's not the space we in this will
continue evolve and develop we're
still really at the beginning of the
capabilities of what the technology
can deliver so you will always see
that that line that people people are
looking for what sort of investment it
will keep moving. Yeah like John from
that session that we went to I mean
there was some things like one of the
pieces of advice was make sure people
are using chat gpt I mean it wasn't
exactly the most insightful was it that's
the no and I suppose none of the people
on that panel were from AI firms where
they saw it was as you say dealers and
training people really I mean I thought
it's quite one of the examples was to
say to your sales team type into chat
gpt I want to go and buy a Toyota at
your Toyota dealership who's the best
salesperson and if it comes back with
someone that isn't you as the sales
person why not you know go and
reverse engineer it and find out why
and try and it's very much like trying
to understand how it all works still
isn't it. Yeah I did find that bit
interesting it was the kind of I think
someone said it's like the the start
of SEO whereas before it was about
surfacing yourself in Google now these
days it's about working out to surf
yourself in chat gpt and it's I mean
nobody really knows. And that's a
really good point I mean I was
chatting to my wife and I phoned him
back home and just we were talking
about something I can't remember
what she was looking at but she's
using chat gpt for what you would have
traditionally used Google for now so
you're absolutely right so yeah go
find out what it says about your
business and then just make sure any
social you're putting out there
your website whatever has got the
right information on it because
that's where it's gaining its data
and insight and obviously it will
learn from when people are typing
in their queries and questions and
you know I think we've said it
before where you have to be
careful because someone goes and puts
in a load of potentially
confidential information to help
them build out a report or
something they're they're writing
now that information is out in the
worldwide web so you need to just be
mindful of that but yeah go find out
see what chat gpt said about your
business. I mean the other one that it
said was customers are now using
chat gpt wait you know they are using
it as they would use Google but it
does so much more doesn't it so
customers are saying how do I get you
know find me this car firstly
secondly how do I get the best deal
how much should I be paying for this
what are the things I should be
saying to the salesperson all this
sort of stuff so if you're the sales
person you need to be in there
getting an idea of what customers are
going to come in and speak to you
about and how they're going to
address you and how they think the
sales process is going to work it's
so broad isn't it it is and you know
and I laugh only because you think
about now I'm having a conversation
with technology about how I should
have a conversation with a human
and that's just that's crazy but
but that's the world we're living
in but that we go back to it's
still about relationships so they're
typing in how should I have a
conversation how should I negotiate
well that still requires human to
human interaction so
the technology is great but we still
need humans within that and the
getting the balance between the two
is where you get your benefit
one one of the things I did find
interesting in this is panel on AI
that we've mentioned in the story
on carding the magazine was that
there's this high on Digenesis
dealer who has implemented AI tech
throughout his business he's
really been testing it and he was
talking about some of the learning
points that he's had
and you know one of the things he
said is this is not magic
these these are tools and I thought
that that was an interesting point
but the the thing he said was so
important for him
was getting his team on board and
making them understand that firstly
it's not there to replace their jobs
it's there to help them do their
jobs
better and I suppose that's that's
an important thing because there's
a lot of people out there at the
moment that are worried that
AI is just going to steal their jobs
absolutely and then I go back to
the 50 tech 50 about the people
about bringing people on that
journey
so a good example is
and so when we we we sit with our
customers
we actually build out personas of the
AI
so you treat it as another member of
the team
so
you'll go into some of these
dealerships
customers of ours and I have a
poster on the wall of
Fiona Tracy whatever the name may be
and it will say hey this is who I
am this is what I'm doing for you
so when you're sleeping I'm
nurturing the customers
I'm doing these things
so I'm doing all of this for you
now just make sure you can do
this for me
and it becomes a member of the
team
and and if you treat it that way it's
the same as
talk to business owners and they
talk about AI and what we need to
go
but think of it as a
another member of your sales team
you know it still needs to be
trained it still needs to have the
right information
but the beauty is when you give it
the information
it doesn't forget and it will
you know repeatedly use that
information doesn't make
spelling mistakes all of those
things
but you're absolutely right it's
you have to be people on that
journey
and once they see this and they
think
well actually now the AI is doing all
the jobs
I don't enjoy doing
and I can now do the bits I do enjoy
doing spending more time with
customers whatever it may be
then you get buying and then you
really start seeing the value out
the technology
yeah I mean that's where it's helped
helped to cross my business
the the clever car collection we've
tried to use AI to
free up our time
to look after the customers better
and I think if you do look at it
that way it's
it's a much more useful
much more useful tool
when it comes to these next steps
than James
the AI is developing
incredibly quickly
we've seen that here
we've been talking for a long time
we've watched the
the impel business develop
what are you most excited about
next I mean what do you think
it's going to be able to do that
that's really going to help
dealers next
I think
people talk a lot about
agentic
and agentic when you can start
getting to that world of
training agents to do individual
tasks whereas very
it's a very generic type
technology at the moment
is that's where it gets exciting
where whether you can
you can start programming
these agents to go off and do
specific tasks for you
and then
those agents start learning
as well as they go on that journey
and go that one didn't
I didn't quite get the result
I was thinking of
or what we wanted
so I'm going to try a different
journey
I think
that again
as the technology moves forward
adds another layer of complexity
or challenge to businesses
because now
you're going to potentially be
looking at roles
inside those businesses
that you just don't have today
so
how many
dealerships have prompts
engineers or people that can
write prompts
now we all sit there and chat
GPT and we write things
I mean that's really
what we're writing is a prompt
when you start talking about
training
a genetic agents
you now need to start talking about
so as an example
again I usually nurturing
because that's the era I'm working
but it is now if someone
I want this
so if someone submits a new car lead
from a specific manufacturer
I now want you to communicate
within a certain way
whereas if it's a used car lead
I want you to communicate
in a different way
well that's training people
now I can sit and have a conversation
with you and John and say
right James this is the way
I want you to speak about
BMW customer
this is a used car customer
I've got to do the same with the technology
so having that skill set
to sit there and write prompts
and then
just understand all that one
didn't quite work
or monitoring the day
to the CEC
and lots of engagement
on conversations
but can we get it better
I need to tweak that prompt
so those are some of the things
where I get really excited
about what the capabilities
are going to be
but it just
it means that we
need to spend more time
training working with our customers
I'd like to talk a little bit
about the
visit that John and I did this week
we went to see some
a couple of dealers
early on this week
and I know that you've
you've been talking to
lots of them this week too
so I'll be interested
to get your take on it
but
what I was amazed about
so John and I went to see
firstly CarMax
which is
they are the biggest seller
of used cars here
they had a very big
dealership
didn't they just down the road
in Las Vegas
I think as they go
it was a relatively small one for them
but for us it was big
well still had a thousand cars
and stocked
they sold
well over 250 cars this week
and we had a little bit of a tour
of that facility
didn't we
they had 60 sales staff
and it's the way that
they do business
that I found fascinating
it's so fast
paced here
firstly he was saying
that the cars that they brought in
they
from the minute they arrived
on the site
to the point in time
they were sold to a new customer
the maximum was seven days
or the average was seven days
a seven day turnaround for stock
was incredible
and it was the pace at which
they do it
do those deals
he said
some customers will come in
and they will be driving away
within 30 minutes
I mean it was an amazing setup
John wasn't it
I mean it really was incredible
and he said
the other part of that
car max business
I just didn't realize
the scale of it
they're a listed business
over here
they sell 1.3 million cars a year
so they have got huge scale
when it comes to selling
and buying
so they're sucking up
huge amounts of stock
and it was just the
the professionalism
with which they do it
which sounds a weird thing to say
you'd think all dealers would be
would be professional
but they have really got
the processes nailed
well it was
there was a lot of
a lot of eye-opening things
in our 15 minute visit really
we was thrilled didn't we
one is
the owner of that particular one
say
people turn up with the car
and we'll pretty much buy
whatever
anything
yes
because
even if it's not right
for that particular site
they don't really decide
you know
he is the dealer principle
whatever you want to call it
of that
he doesn't really care
what he's buying
because ultimately
he will put the details into
the car max mega computer
and car max head office in
Virginia or wherever
will decide
what the price for that car is
where the best place
for it to go is
so an example
I mean the states is enormous
as we know
it's very
well we
we talk about the UK
and saying
four by four sell better
up north or whatever
you imagine that in America
you know
if you if you trade in a Subaru
to car max in Vegas
it's not going to stay in Vegas
it's going to immediately
be on the transporter
up to Oregon
or New York
or wherever
you need
four-wheel drive
so they're very on
all that sort of stuff
and yeah
it's just amazing really
the
the level of control
the head office has
over the operation
but it seems to work
doesn't it
and the
yeah the turnaround from
as you say
here's a car
with a few dents in it
it's arrived
seven days later it's sold
it was including
reconditioning
it was that we buy any car model
that they've got built in
within their business
and they said they
60% of the stock
that they have
across the business
is brought to them by customers
I mean that is a
huge difference to the UK
they've plugged in that
we buy any car model into a
into the retail side
I mean it sort of reminded me of
the constellation group
but
just a very successful version of
yeah
and I think similarly
in the way that
let's say some dealers
many dealers in the UK
are not that fond of we buy any car
a lot of franchise dealers
over here
not a fan of CarMax
but even
and the
second visit
which will come on to
we visited a franchise dealer
who said basically
sometimes
he will have to get rid of
tradings through CarMax
because they offer the best price
more than he could
you know
offer in terms of selling
that vehicle
so it's sort of
they were wholesaling cars
from that
that dealership as well
weren't they
so it wasn't just a case of sending
them off to auction
they had an auction platform
online
well they have their own auctions
basically
and then the dealers were picking them up
from the same site
just as much as consumers
James have you
have you been
come across the
these CarMax sites at all
did you
have you done any visits
while you've been out here
um I've not
sad I've not had time to do visits
we've been so busy on the stand
but in previous years
yes absolutely I've visited these sites
and and they are a site to behold
and and you're absolutely right is
it's the process that is critical
that you know they've got so much
scale
they need that process
and and when they get that right
and then you bring in
the technology side of it
that helps them
with efficiencies
and you know you could
you know normal dealers
can't don't have the ability to
that because they don't have that
scale
so but but it is you just
you're looking all of actually
and it is like a factory
have you listened into any of the
the pitches your American colleagues
are doing to the American dealers
I mean what
is it
is it the same pain points
that they're having
to us in the UK
yeah no it's very
it's very similar
you you have
dealers that are
you know way ahead of the
curve that are very engaged
and and have bought technology
into their business AI
technology
several years ago
and are now
continue to evolve and develop
and actually are helping
businesses such as impale
develop that next product
you know what
have we dealt with that
pain point
what's the next one
and keep going on
and then you've got
many other dealers that
haven't ventured into the world
of AI and now going
okay where do I start
I see a lot more about it
so you've got this real mix
I think again
come back next year
it'd be different again
because now probably
everyone will be using AI
but there'd be different
some at the start of the journey
and some still very much at the forefront
so but when it comes
to the conversations
you hear that happen
and it's not just the impale stand
it's all the other stands around us
it's a very different way
I keep saying to my US colleagues
so they say
hey we'd love to come over
to the UK
and I'm going
I put you in front of a
UK dealer
you'll be out there
as quick as you like
their approach is very very different
it's very direct
it's very
you know what
you want to make your business
better this is what you need
it's those sorts of conversations
but they have the same pain points
absolutely
and are going on the same journey
some of those will be asking the same question
as you had in the
some of the events you went to
earlier this week
where do we start
so they're still having that
even though
UK dealers will come over here
and look at the tech
and go
the US
at several years
in front of where we are in the UK
they're still dealers
still at the very start
of that journey
not understanding
or thinking about
where they need to start
the second visit we did was to
as John mentioned
was a franchise main dealer
Honda dealer
called Findlay Honda
so it's in the Henderson area
so it's just south of Las Vegas
yeah take the i5
go through
thanks John
thanks
good traffic at the moment
yeah it's a
it was an amazing
amazing business too
I mean what firstly
what struck me there was
this is
this is a huge Honda dealer
which sounds quite strange
when you're in the UK
it's
it doesn't really exist
this was a dealer
that had 600 Hondas in stock
and then
the new car business is very
similar to the used car business
these customers turn up
and expect to drive these cars away
whether they're new or used
so they've got these cars
the new cars in stock
it's all about the inventory on the ground
there's no such thing really
is buying to order
which was
I find that
I knew
I knew that in the past but
actually seeing it there
it taking effect in that dealership
it's just
it strikes you doesn't it
because
there are you know
you want to see RV there's
you can choose from 100
it was strange wasn't it that
but the
we had some time with the dealer principle there
and he was very candid
wasn't he about
about the pain points
that this business is struggling
and then
I hope you notice we're about to quote him on
yeah sorry
well I've quoted him in my sub-stack
so unfortunately
it's already out there
but now he was talking about
some of the
some of the pain points
that the American
automotive industry is feeling
and it felt very similar to the
to the UK
it's
affordability was a big
was a big one
he was talking about the
the way that the
after Covid
they really made hay
and he said
they sold
some fantastic numbers of cars
because
demand was
well outstripping supply
and now
it's gone the other way
and they're having these awkward conversations
it was a lot
and he said
a lot of people were in negative equity
and
the the bit that struck me was
how much people pay for new cars over here
the average price he said
monthly payment
for in
for a new car over here
was a thousand dollars
which is
the equates to 730 pounds
I mean that is a lot of money
I mean I know it cost us
£8.50 for a coffee
from Starbucks before and John
but
you know that is
that really is a lot of money for a new car isn't it
yeah incredible we're not talking
I mean that's for a CRV or an Accord
or something like that
he wasn't talking
high-end stuff
and I think generally speaking
the cars themselves list price are cheaper
than what we would get before as well
so
we'll be right back
running a dealership means making
hundreds of decisions every day
but James
when do you get the time
to step back and think
well John
I don't
but this is exactly what car dealer live is for
on March the 19th
at the British Motor Museum in Gayden
the UK's car dealers
manufacturers and suppliers
will come together
to learn what's actually working
right now
you'll hear from dealers
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and exclusive research from headline sponsors
auto trader
as well as Google
motorway
cox automotive
key loop
and impale
we'll be tackling the big questions
like how buyers are really using AI
what Chinese challenger brands
mean for your forecourt
and how the best dealers
are growing faster
than anyone else
hmm maybe you'll actually learn something James
bit rude John
but you're probably right
car dealer live
is sponsored by auto trader
and takes place
on March the 19th
at the British Motor Museum
tickets are available now
at car dealer live
dot co dot uk
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John have you ever wondered why I
along with 14 000 other dealers
choose to partner with auto trader
well actually
I didn't think so
I'll tell you anyway
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car buyers and delivers more deals
than anyone else in the UK
and now with the launch of buying signals
we'll have brand new insights on every deal
showing how likely a customer is to buy the car
they're interested in
plus as someone who set out to use AI
and data as much as possible in my business
I've found their technology data and tools
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but when I do get stuck
which is let's face it most of the time
auto trader is always on hand
and committed to supporting us
to get the very best from our package
to find out how they can help you
visit trade.autotrader.co.uk
now back to the podcast
I think probably let's move on to our stories
because we're sort of slightly getting there aren't we
we're cannibalising them
yeah and we are halfway through
so James and I are going to run through
our favourite stories of the week as usual
and at the end
James gets to decide which one of us chose
the best ones
and who's the winner
James won last week apparently
so off you go
thank you John
so I'm going to just continue on this theme
of the things that we picked up
and I'll continue with that with that Honda dealer
because one of the things we started talking about
while we were there was Chinese cars
and it's been a big topic
just like AI out here
the Chinese manufacturers have come up a lot
in conversations I've had with the Americans here
and also just the Brits have come over here
been surprised not to see any
so firstly that Honda dealer
we asked him
what do you think of the Chinese manufacturers
do you think they'll be accepted here firstly
and he was explaining how they've come with
a hundred percent tariffs over here
so they're incredibly expensive
well sorry
a hundred percent tariff does make them more expensive
than they would be in the UK
but still would be very good value here
compared to pretty much stuff he was selling
in his Honda dealership
he said he'd seen quite a lot of them
when he'd been on holiday
like the BYDs he was talking about
I've seen those BYDs when I've been on holiday
they look amazing cars
but he was saying he hopes that they don't come here
because he actually does think
the Americans would buy them
and so we had that conversation early on
and then we ended up picking up a
conversation that was in one of the
sessions
from the NADA chairman
Mike Stanton
I think his name is
CEO
CEO thank you
and I mean he was very forceful about this topic
asked about it
he said that effectively
he would back blocking these Chinese manufacturers
coming to America
his quotes were incredibly strong
he said they're bad for the country
bad for the industry
and he wants to keep the Chinese car makers out
and he said 95% of the car dealers here
back that same thought process
which I thought was a
what struck me with that John is
if the sort of lobbying over here is far stronger isn't it
can you imagine
any groups in the UK
any dealers getting together and saying
no we're going to block the Chinese
we've welcomed them with open arms
it's very different how it's
how that translates across the pond here
well yeah and you can see the scale of
well I mean this is the NADA conference
I mean what's our equivalent of the
of the NADA
National Automotive Dealers Association
probably the NFDA
I don't see an NFDA conference quite like this
I don't know about you James
and you know everywhere you go
in this set of four buildings
there's you know in the press room
for example there's all this
signage about all this
and on their website all this
lobbying work that NADA has done
to prevent things that are not in dealer's interest
whether it's to do with compliance
or agency sales star models
all that sort of stuff
they've worked really hard to stop
that stuff coming in
because they've said it's not good for dealers
what I think is
this is where the difference is
isn't it between the UK and the US
from our point of view
and when I have conversations about
Chinese car makers
and whether it's a threat or not
it's not a threat to the people
that we talk to
because they are the people selling them
and they're struggling to sell
a 50 grand crossover
from a European manufacturer
they're not struggling to sell
a 28 grand crossover
from a Chinese manufacturer
so from that point of view
from a dealer's point of view
really Chinese cars are
going pretty well in the UK
so it's
well it's peculiar for us isn't it
but we don't have the automotive industry
in quite the same
we don't have a manufacturing base
to the level that US does
it was a strength of feeling
that surprised me
you know especially from someone like this
that the NADA CEO
coming out in the press
saying those sorts of comments
I mean it's
you know he hasn't sat on the fence there
has he he really has said what he thinks
but it's sort of opposed with that
that chat that we had with the Honda dealer
that the consumers buy them
I mean
the reason they've come out with this
as well as suspects is because
last week or this week
Canada announced that they would accept
a certain number of
Chinese cars to come into the country
tariff free or very low tariff
so that's what has set panic stations here
you know not that
well quite far from Vegas in Italy
but not far across the border
there's going to be BYDs
and whatever else
driving about
and you know
I suppose people are thinking
how long is it going to take
before they're down here as well
but we've met up with some American journalists
and we've covered the market here
and they are fascinated to hear
what's been happening in the UK
because they're watching it from afar
and they've seen how
how differently we've approached it
James if you had
you must have had conversations
about Chinese cars this week
yeah yeah absolutely
lots of conversations
and I think
the stance that they're taking
doesn't surprise me
and you look at the government
it starts from the top down
on their approach
and they're just generally
to businesses coming into the US
I think they have said about
and now whether it's just a statement
just to put something out there
but you know if they were considering
coming in and starting and building
factories in the US
then maybe we'll have a different conversation
so I get their point
about trying to protect the workforce
trying to protect their economy
but your point is very valid
that then says
but as a consumer
actually it's what's in my back pocket
and how much I have to spend
and we see that in the UK
we're seeing it right now
where people are on PCPs
for some premium product
they're coming back into the market
it's X amount to refund that
or I can get this brand
for a lot cheaper
which actually is a pretty good car
so because you know
it's tough
and people are always thinking
about what's in their back pocket
so there's that whole challenge
that they're going to have
the consumer
pushing for cheaper vehicles
and this
so it's going to be
an interesting watch
yeah definitely
I mean we produced a video
about Chinese cars
on our YouTube channel
about
I think the week before we
before we came out here
and I've been watching the comments
there's well over a thousand comments on there
and it's interesting to see
them fall into two camps
there's
there's a lot of
Chinese car buyers
on there who say
I love my Chinese car
it's absolutely fantastic
you're stupid not to buy one
and then there's the other camp of saying
why on earth would you buy a Chinese car
you are just killing our
automotive industry
not that we've got a huge one
in the UK anymore
but in Europe we certainly have
and it's just
there it's very opposed
you're either you either want them
or you really really don't want them
yeah absolutely
and and even more so in the US
you know that that has been the stance now
with the government
is very much you know
what protect the US
protect the workforce
so actually anyone coming into this market
that isn't here
and you know what providing jobs
and all of those things
it's you know they look at it very closely
yeah I just wonder whether
future governments in the UK are watching
what happens here
and thinking well
we'll copy that or whatever they do
and I think there's opportunities
look at tariffs
absolutely the cars are selling very well so
yeah I mean they just
anyway I'm going to park the Chinese cars
John I'll let you
I'll let you do a story
lovely I'm going to be able to Amazon Autos
oh yes very interesting
so we went to a little micro session on this
which was well it was on
it was on a stage about the size
where we're sat now
and then
we got there 15 minutes early to get a seat
and then
300 people descended
around it
so obviously something that is of great interest
to US dealers
so Amazon Autos
if you've not come across it is
sort of what it sounds like
so on amazon.com
you can search for new and
I think used cars
near you
there's only a select number of dealers at the minute
so for example in Los Angeles
where we're heading off to this
there's a couple of Hyundai dealerships
for example are on it
so you can go and find your next Tucson
blah blah blah blah
but it's interesting for lots of reasons
one is that initially when
Amazon Autos kind of came about
I think a lot of people assumed it would be
direct to consumer
Amazon would start selling cars
directly from car manufacturers
or maybe even launch their next
used car proposition
or something like that
this this whole 15 minute session
was largely about
we're not doing that
you know this is entirely an
advertising model for us
and they spent a lot of time and energy
explaining that that was the case
so in effect this is a marketplace
for dealers in the US
to start selling their cars
to consumers
I mean I think they've got a bit of a
challenge on their hands over here
because there's some enormous players
car cargo ruses the biggest over here
isn't it by
by some margin
by some margin
you've got other ones like cars.com
autotrader.com
which of course Cops Auto Multivones
and so on and so forth
but anyway we cornered
Steve Johnson I think it was
who's the guy on the stage
James cornered him and said
when are you coming to the UK
and the answer was well
it's not a case of
if but when
we will come to the UK
where you know there will be
markets that we're going to tackle
after this
and it's very early days for
Amazon here
but it is coming
and then having had a few more
conversations with
select sources James
thank you John well hidden
you've established that
actually they are well on the way
to getting themselves set up for the UK
with a view really
to be maybe in the market
by the end of this year
that's what we heard wasn't it
I mean we heard that very strongly
I mean they are having conversations
with those partners
that they need
to facilitate that launch in the UK
because the interesting thing was it
it's how that Amazon
solution works
it's very similar to an
autotrader deal builder isn't it
so you'd find the car
whether be it new or used
you can work out how
you are going to fund it
so you can do the finance deal
you can work out what
after sales products you want on it
be that you know paint protection
like this
or warranties etc
you build it
and then at the end of that point
once you've decided how it
what you want to buy
it's sent to the dealer
so it was very very similar to
that deal builder product wasn't it
but it what I found interesting is
again talking to some of the
automotive journalists here
is they were saying that
Amazon and the dealers
haven't really got on
the dealers have been
very skeptical about what Amazon
are planning
are they planning a margin grab
are they going to eventually want to
take a little bit of the
a little bit of the pie
rather than just that advertising play
yeah and Amazon would say
no we're not interested in that at all
it's purely an advertising model
and I think their argument was that
when you go on to Amazon
I think particularly in the UK
you search for a
hairdryer as I often do
and you'll find of the
millions of billions results there are
very few of those products
are actually in an Amazon
they're not Amazon stock
it's generally speaking
a another company has borrowed
some of Amazon's warehouse
and it's their product
that they're selling
Amazon is just fulfilling it
and it's the same sort of model as
that you know
that Amazon will take a
teeny tiny slice of it
in terms of here's some
advertising revenue
that's all they want to do
over here they've focused on
not just new
not just used they're doing both
aren't they
which I think
I feel if they
if and when they come to the UK this year
which we know that they're going to be doing
I sort of think
that if they went straight in
with just the used car market
they would probably be
a little bit more successful
I think that would probably be
slightly easier to serve
than that new car market
I don't know
I think the opposite
because I think new cars
are homogenised
and you know
whether you want
as Carwell found out initially
when they started
you know you
a Hyundai Tucson
from every dealer across the country
is identical
you just
it doesn't really matter
where you're getting it from
it's just a case of
what's near
and what's the price
whereas used as we know
every car is unique
it's a nightmare
in terms of setting up a platform
if you're someone like Amazon
to explain why
this particular car
that's five miles down the road
is better than the next one
that's 10 miles down the road
or so on and so forth
this story has been incredibly popular
on our website this week
and you can see why
I mean the advertising market
for used cars in the UK
is fraught at the moment
I mean there has been
lots of talk about
about AutoTrader
and the other rivals
to AutoTrader
like Cargoerys
and Motors
and because they were pushing
pushing really hard
it sort of feels to me like
this is a good time
for Amazon Auto's
to enter the UK
and if they can come up
with a platform that works
I suspect they're
corner quite a bit
of the market
because they've got
the audience haven't they
these other platforms
have to go out there
and acquire those audiences
by a paper click
or Google
Amazon we've already got it
what's your take James
um well I think
we've been in the industry
many years
there's been many examples
of where big brands
have suddenly said
we're coming into cars
yeah test goes
and they haven't worked
yeah
um I think that also
if I think about
why I feel
I enjoy the test
the sorry the Amazon
experiences because
if I don't like it
I'll just send it back
whether it's a partner
products or not
now I'm not going to be doing
that with cars
so then you think
it is just a marketplace
play it has to be
that's all it can be
I see
but then the other side
I think about
I suppose just because
the way my brain works
is actually
the data they're potentially
going to start learning about
and be getting through
this the platform
is going to get really
interesting because
you think about all that
data when you
go onto Amazon right now
hey you might be
interested in one of these
you might
so the experience
is a great experience
because it's learned
from all of your data
now suddenly people are going
in the start
start searching for cars
so there's a big data
play in here as well
because of the volume of them
which I think
would be a really
interesting point
so I think
I think
I'm a little skeptical
I'd sit back
and probably say
being here before
things may be slightly
different this time
so I'll keep a
very open mind
I tell you why I'm
skeptical as well
and it's
that Amazon
search function
you know
like Amazon 10 years ago
it's very easy to find
a product on there
that was going to be all right
looking for a
hair dryer
whatever a toaster
now
it's like a flood of stuff
you know
there's millions and millions
of products on there
and I don't think the search
is particularly brilliant
on Amazon
I think that's one of the
the weaker points
and when it comes to use cars
as I say
they're so unique
people want a certain
price
certain number of miles
certain kit
all that stuff
I don't know if
Amazon are really thinking
about that
properly at the moment
but they
they have got
very very deep pockets
something
and I think this is a
different when
you compare them to others
that have tried
to enter the market
I mean Amazon have got the
the expertise
and the money
to try and make this one work
and I think that's what the
dealers are excited about
yeah
and I suppose for a
consumer
if suddenly you look at
I loot
I use Amazon a lot
and if I could have that
same experience
of buying a car
but it will never happen
you'll never get to point
I'm going to order two of
those and I'll send one back
because I don't like it
and it's
it doesn't cost me anything
so it has to be a
different experience
for the consumer
for what they're used to
with Amazon
but
as you say
big organization
deep pockets
if there is someone
who can probably
invest that time
but
at what point will they go
when are we going to start
seeing a return
and
perhaps it isn't
worth the investment
yeah because then
they're not charging
dealers over here at the
moment
are they
they've been running for
what do you say it was
13 months
and they haven't charged
dealers a penny
but then
but they've only got about
30 dealers on it
and I mean
so
I mean we walked over to
a Mitsubishi stand
which is a rare thing
isn't it
and they said
they are a small
company over here
and they've got 250
like that
so
30 across the whole of America
on Amazon Autos is
not a lot
really
but we did
we did publish this story
as you say
they're
saying that they're coming to the
UK
we did approach Amazon
for a comment
and they did finally
get back to us John
after saying that the
inbox I sent the email to
wasn't monitored
they did come back to me
and they said
we're focused on expanding
Amazon Autos in the United States
where we're continuously
adding new dealers
vehicle inventory
and features for customers
while we're always
exploring opportunities
to serve customers
in new regions
we do not have anything
more to share at this time
what that says to me
is it's not a no
it's certainly not a denial
that says to me
that our story is correct
and they'll be coming
very soon
lovely
over to you
your story
is it my go
is your go
excellent
well I'm going to stick with
use car advertising
because we had a very
interesting chat
with the cargoers team
didn't we
so
we met up with
with cargoes
and they wanted to show us
some of the new things
that they've
they've been doing
and it's something
I've written about
and we've talked about
many times on the podcast
it's it's the conversational
AI use car search
it's the
I genuinely think
the way that people
we expect people to search
for cars at the moment
on these use car platforms
auto-trader etc
is a little bit archaic
we expect people to know
what car they want
and actually a lot of people
that seems fine
for car people like us
but when you talk to people
who know nothing about cars
the people who
who walk into my dealership
I often ask them
how did you get to the point
of wanting a Skoda Yeti
a Kia Picanto
etc before you say anything
John
and they say
well we
I spoke to chat gpt
I asked Gemini
I asked friends and family
and it's sometimes they
they said
I had one customer who came in
and they had all of these
questions that chat gpt
prepared for them
that to ask about that car
so having it built
into a platform
I think is really important
and that what
cargoes showed us
they call it discover
it was the ability
to go on there
and ask questions
in the way that
you would ask a friend
that what cars
I'm looking for a reliable car
what brands would I buy
I'm looking for
a car with seven seats
what options I've got
and it was very good wasn't it
rapidly served up firstly
dealer adverts
which is important
but
importantly gave it context
and advice
and I just feel that
I genuinely think this is
the future of search
but we haven't seen it
in the UK yet have we
no
and it feels like
I mean
cargoes weren't going to be pressed on
when or if it would come to the UK
but I can see that it would be
relatively easy to implement
yeah and I think as to your point
I agree with you basically
I think the way that we do
search on a lot of platforms
at the minute is
it's very specific
and that's
back to what I was saying earlier
it's because used cars
have been complicated
and
there's lots of different variants
of everything
but yeah it is archaic
you know for
to take
people that come into your dealership
as an example
they just
they've had the car written off
they need a car immediately
they presented with a drop down
that says do you want a
Ford, a Vauxhall
an Audi, a Vauxwagon
or a lot of other
I don't know
anything
yeah I just want with seven seats
like my last one
yeah for about eight grand
like where do I
I see it a lot on the
so we've got an impaled chat
function on the front
of our website
and I look at the conversation
that customers have had
and they're having these sorts
of conversations
on our website now
and AI's already
even in our small world
I mean you know
10 cars advertise at the moment
it's helping them
decide which one
on our website works
you must see it
on a much grander scale
I mean I get excited
about these types of conversations
so we may know
where the winner's going to go
at the end of this
but I
we're going to have to have
a good one Jane
a John sorry
so I
I think
I mean
a genetic search is
as you would expect
is something we're currently
working on
with a UK
sorry a US car manufacturer
about exactly that
that
you know what people
are coming in now
and they're unsure
they're not only
unsure what type of vehicle
but actually brand as well
so brand agnostic
is a big thing
so
and I think we make
the customer journey
and this isn't necessarily
just in the automotive world
but we make the customer
the consumer journey
really tough
and and difficult
and anything that can make
that easier
I'm up for that
and I think
the the
genetic approach
and what car gurus
are doing
you'll start seeing that
happen quite quickly
because the technology
is now starting to get there
and again that'll be
another one that we'll probably start with
just very simple search
on the front of a website
that you can just go in
and just chat to it
as if it was a friend
and it will point you
in the right direction of vehicles
and then we'll get even better
with a genetic agent
that says
okay now I've got an agent
that's helping me find a car
now I need an agent
that's going to help me
find the best finance deal
and an agent
that's going to start
helping me find
you know where I can get it delivered
there'll be lots of these things
and it will just get
richer and richer and richer
and the day of a website
where you will go onto a website
and search for things
will change
you can see a world where
I may just have on my phone
my little agent
who I just go and chat to
a bit like chatGPT
and Gemini right now
they will go off and do
all of this for me
yes
and so I get really excited
about that
yeah and I can see the work
I can see that world
and how it will work
it's just
I don't think in the UK
we're catching up
with those sorts of things
fast enough
you know this
ability to search in this way
people are already doing it
but they're not doing it
on the platforms
that serve up our cars
yeah exactly
yeah
um
John I'll let you have a go
I'll squeeze one more in
shall we end
I have got one
thing on top of it
I'd just like to talk about
okay all right
I'll do this quickly then
TikTok
so one of our other sessions
we went to do
was hosted by TikTok
which is not a platform
either but she used very well
is it James or at all
I actually hate it
when someone sends me a TikTok
and I can't look at it
because I'm not on the platform
yep
I'm with you on that one
but there was a live stage
presentation from TikTok
which was
okay
but it was
it was sort of
it was interesting
from the point of view of
here are TikTok
enormous
social media company
probably the world's biggest
in some ways at the moment
presenting to dealers
saying you really need to be
on our platform
and it was
there's lots of things
I mean they have
in the US at least
I can't speak for the UK
they have a
an advertising model
that lets dealers
push things
into TikTok
I guess a little bit
like an Instagram ad would be
but the
the main takeaway from this
particular session was
slightly questionable
I'm not sure I agree with this
you need to get
every member of your
dealership staff
and again this is
American dealers are a lot bigger
and
sales works a lot differently here
I think
you need to get every member
of your sales team
on TikTok
posting things
and
because of the way that
TikTok works and serves
content up to random people
almost
you know
so it's a discover
kind of
algorithm isn't it
the more people you have on it
the more people
are going to be
pushing stuff from your dealership
the more customers
you're going to have
so get all of your sales team on it
get them to be pushing content
lo-fi content
is the term that was
yes
that was interesting
you know you don't need to
make these really beautiful
glossy videos
literally just
do this
hold the iPhone in front of you
film a
Ford Expedition
get it online
and you will see a result
it was realism wasn't it
that's what they were talking about
it was the fact that
you don't have to do stupid
dances
or funny
TikToks
for them to actually work
because
a lot of people
and they were saying
it's not just about the youngsters
there's a lot of older
older generations
that are using TikTok
as a
and I don't know how much I believe this
but as a search engine
they were searching for
for dealers to
to work out what they were like
on the platform
it's
I think
it's hard to invest time
in TikTok
this is the thing
it does take time
and when you are
when you're producing
social media for your business
no one which platform
to put it on
is really hard
yeah
you're right
it does make me feel very old
all these TikTok things as well
can I wedge just one more
last topic
go on
yeah
I just wanted to talk about
some of the experiences
that we've had
while we've been out here
that have sort of
blown my mind
and
and one of them was
well two of them
were to do with Tesla
the first one was
would be
we've been getting a lot of
we've been getting a lot of
Ubers around, haven't we
and
one of them we got into
I was kind of
I noticed at some point
that the guy was
not really paying much attention
and then I noticed
he didn't actually have his hands
on the steering wheel
and it was until I started chatting to him
that he was
he was running the entire
journey on full
fully autonomous autopilot
which I know has been a thing
in the States for a while
but I've never actually experienced it
and I was amazed at how good it was
it was
he's
I asked him like
how often do you use this
and you know
his job is to drive people around
he said well
all the time
every journey I do
he said he just
turns on
and he's got
the Uber app
plugged into the Tesla
system
and it just plums in
where the
where the trip's going
he presses go
and he just says he sits there
he says he has to wear sunglasses
because otherwise the car knows
he's not paying too much attention
I mean
I don't know how many stars he gave them
John after that ride
he did get a tip
but really I should have sent it straight to Elon
shouldn't I
and the other thing that
I've experienced while we're out here
again with
with Teslas
is the Tesla Loop
so it's that
I've obviously read about that many times
it's
Elon Musk's
boring company
that's drilled the holes
but
we did that between the
show halls
didn't we
you can jump in
at Tesla
I think only Teslas are out
through these
yeah
these
weird tunnels
but it was
strange wouldn't it
it was like going through
like a kind of disco party
all the
all the weird lights on the walls
but
it was actually quite surreal
wasn't it
yeah I would say it was like
the Blackwall tunnel
imagined by a
Gen Z
gaming streamer
yeah exactly what it was like
RGB lights all the way like
but it is so
over here
everything seems to be autonomous
doesn't it
there's so many of those cars
the Zoot cars
I think they're called
driving around
which is like
weird little vans
with
with loads of
radars all over
they look like something
you'd see at the Tokyo Motor Show
exactly
20 years ago
you know
square box
with a wheel at each corner
you know
but it's
what's amazed me is
that it
that it's live
is happening
you can experience it
you can
you can do it
right here
right now
and I've just
that's probably one of the things
that's blown me away the most
it's just
it
again it's back to the AI subject
isn't it
it's
you know
thanks to AI
that these things exist
have you tried any of them
yeah yeah
I've been in all of them
and it's an experience
because you don't
you don't get a chance
very often to be able to do
those things
so
and the monorail is very good
as well
going back to old school
but what's surprising
but what
I'm just surprised to me
is actually
just standard taxis now
is actually
they've got these
virtually massive TV screens
on the top of them
just advertising everywhere
so I'm surprised that
in the tunnel actually
those walls
at some point
would become more like TV screens
and they'd just be
throwing advertising at you
but
yeah it's an experience
and everyone should
should try it while they're here
yeah it's been great
I
I want to get one of those
Zooks John
before we leave
because that was
them
they just look
so space age
driving around don't they
although our taxi driver
at the one who was
not really driving us
but was letting the car drive
I think he said
they
have a habit of getting stuck
stuck
right in the middle
which
is probably not ideal
when you're sat inside it
because it's
you know they're a bit like
the Heathrow pod things
the T5 pods aren't they
yeah exactly
them
yeah
but it's been nice
isn't it
trying to experience
those
those sorts of things
but you
you wonder whether
they would ever work
in the UK
and then you look at
some of the roads
and the road markings
we have
it's kind of
I just can't see it happening
I think they've got
a lot of
a long way to go
should I wrap this up
yeah I think you
probably should
so
James in the middle
before I ask
for your verdicts
are there any
stories or
things from the show
that you think we
should have talked about
that we haven't
well you've
you've covered
I think
as I'm looking at now
we've got
not only car washes
but lots of lifts
and ramps
we've not touched on those
so I don't know
if we want to get
into conversation about
sure could do
but no
and no
I think that
I mean you've covered
some great stories there
that there's lots
happening here
and
I think
the one that was
interesting
there's
this new entrance
coming in
for the first time ever
I've seen some
UK businesses
making their way
into the US
which is quite unusual
yes
tends to be the other way
be interesting to see
how that journey
happens for that business
so
I think that
I mean
also from an
other perspective
this is the first time
they've run the event
midweek
which was interesting
to us
because normally
it's over a weekend
it finishes on a Sunday
right
there had feedback
from a lot of the dealers
saying
actually we don't want
some of our people
out of the business
our business times
can we run it
midweek
so they've done this
for the first time
so we were always
interested to see
what does that do to
the level of attendance
and we've seen really
strong attendance at the show
but I think what we haven't seen
is perhaps so many
business owners here
so the business owners
tend to arrive at the weekends
and
they're not here right now
so I think that
what you're finding is
lots of managers are here now
they're out looking around
they're shopping
so I think
so the stands are busy
but it'd be interesting to see
how many deals are actually done
and the level of those deals
compared to last year
what would you say to
those people listening
and watching this
who've been thinking about coming out
is it worth the trip
absolutely
I mean
it's obviously
it's not every year
that it's at Vegas
it's every second year
I think it's
Orlando I think next year
but Vegas is one of those
where you can experience
so much more than
as you have done
rather than just the show
so I would
absolutely recommend it
I think there are some
businesses out there
that run trips
for dealers
I've heard of a couple of businesses
that do that
so I think it's a very
valid thing to do
and yeah
if you get the opportunity
absolutely you should
yeah definitely
I mean John and I are out here for
another week
so we're going
heading on to LA after this
we're going to be picking up a Rivian
this afternoon
which I'm very excited to
experience
and then we're going over to
Pennsylvania next week
to hopefully
see one of the
largest
US car auctions
with Cox Automotive
so
those people listening
and watching this
will be able to see
a lot more next week
won't they
indeed unless we're stuck in a snow storm
in which case
we'll be showing you that
live from our hotel room
oh so I'm going to have to ask you
who chose the best stories
here's your winner
I think I need to go with the search story
so I'm really sorry
and I know that's a surprise
because I didn't hint at that at all
I will chalk that up as
one for me James
thank you very much
there's two all
a US win
a US win
that should count for two
no what happens in Vegas
stays in Vegas James
so actually
no until we come back
doesn't count
well on that note
all that's left for me to say
is thank you to James
for joining us today
thank you James
we should also thank God X for letting us
use their stand
and the expel team
give this expel product to Google
because it's available in the UK
very soon
it's a very interesting
way it's a sort of paint protection film
isn't it
but it's
it's like regenerative
so if you scratch it
you heat it up
it fixes itself
it's very interesting
are you going to put on one of these
lanyards
and start selling it
do you want to put on them
you're not good at it
they pay very well James
so
oh god
actually no don't talk to me
thank you as well to James
and thank you for listening
as he says
we'll be back next week
with another episode
probably some random time like this one
so make sure you're subscribed
so you're notified when that goes live
if you want to check out the stories
you mentioned today
take a look in the show notes below
or head to carliethemagazine.co.uk
thanks for listening
and goodbye
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