This Wednesday is all about disruption. Not the buzzword kind, but the real kind as we talk about ASOTU’s next evolution. We also blow out the candles on Carvana’s 10 year birthday cake, as well as give our grocery store magazine review of the soap opera that is the EV transition.
-Automotive Ventures partnership and what is next for the ASOTUverse
Carvana celebrated its 10th birthday yesterday with an ironic stock price of $1 for every year the company has been in business at $10.04
-Intense focus on customer experience starting in 2013 led to CVNA being one of the youngest company ever to debut on the Fortune 500
-First vending machine appeared in Nashville in 2015
-“Ten years ago, when we sold our first car online in Atlanta, Georgia, it was hard to imagine at that time just how far we would come in our first decade. Carvana’s core values and our belief in treating people better have led the way towards creating a better car buying and selling experience,” said Ernie Garcia, Carvana Founder and CEO
-According to a new study presented by Cox Automotive, in 2022, 81% of shoppers responded that the overall car buying experience was improved by online activities
As the EV world turns:
According to recent data, every $100 in Tesla revenue turns into $26 in profit which is far greater than its competitors proving a major competitive advantage. Despite the newsmaking antics of CEO Elon Musk and the company’s recent stock value reckoning, the value of Tesla still remains greater than Toyota Motor Co., Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Volkswagen AG, BMW AG, General Motors Co., Stellantis NV and Ford Motor Co. combined.
The current court case focusing on Elon Musk’s $56B pay package heard closing arguments yesterday in a Delaware court. Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick who is presiding over the case called the prosecution’s argument “elegant” and a “kill shot” as they attempt to discredit the manner in which the board posed the pay plan to shareholders for a vote.
-The defense argues that the package was tied to overall performance and shareholders have received over a 10x increase in stock value since the vote
-Musk told the court that the pay package was a way to help fulfill ambitions for space travel saying “It’s a way to get humanity to Mars,” he testified in November. “So Tesla can assist in potentially achieving that.”
A WSJ article is featuring the broad disagreement on how quickly EV adoption will likely occur, “Most car executives agree that the transition to electric vehicles is inevitable. How rapidly to make the switch is a central question, one that is driving divergent strategies.”
-“We don’t want to risk missing the market,” Volvo Car Chief Executive Jim Rowan
-Traditional automakers point to limiting factors outside their control like battery minerals
-Subaru who has earned the trust of its very ‘green’ customer base is taking a measured but attentive approach“We’re all feeling the pressure,” Mr. Doll said earlier this month. “We have to make sure that the market is really going to tip toward it.”
-Mike Manley, CEO of AutoNation says there has been more communication than ever between OEM Execs and Auto Dealers as of late “At the end of the day, if it’s a problem” for the car companies, he said, “it’s a problem for us.”
