And... So It Begins

And... So It Begins (Or Did It Already Begin?)

Back in 2013, when I worked at SHOP.CA, we did a lot of crazy shit. The kind of shit that was great for PR, great for sales, and less great for our bottom line. We assembled a wide array of promotions in preparation (preparation is a strong word here) for Black Friday and Cyber Monday that year.

We worked with suppliers to offer deep discounts on all sorts of products.

We gave away gas in the form of discounted gift cards that we shipped for free and included a set of coupons, cash rebates, and promotion stacking that made very little economic sense (you can still find the details of this promotion on RedFlagDeals).

We asked our search agency to test Google’s available keywords threshold in Canada. Our CEO wanted to know if we could spend more than $100K in a single day on Google search to understand the size of our keyword universe. Google wouldn’t exactly share the information we wanted. Spoiler alert: We only managed to spend about $98K in a single day. It was a reckless use of media dollars.

After working a 16-hour day the Thursday before Black Friday, our President called me at home and asked me to construct one more promotion for a Cineplex deal that had just materialized. I configured it from the kitchen table late that night, minutes before it was officially Black Friday.

On top of all of that, we worked with a Chevrolet dealership to list and sell a heavily discounted Silverado online.

First thing Friday morning, we received our latest cease-and-desist letter.

General Motors wasn’t exactly ecstatic about the idea of us selling a vehicle online.

In retrospect, SHOP.CA’s listing probably violated the dealership’s sales and service agreement with the OEM and OMVIC regulations for vehicle promotions in Ontario.

We were ahead of our time.

We did hard things.

We were idiots.

This past week, Amazon caught up. aboutamazon.com, wired.com

You can buy a new Hyundai in 48 US cities through Amazon.com. Their partnership has been in the works for over a year. aboutamazon.com

Unlike SHOP.CA, I suspect that Amazon consulted the OEM and some lawyers before they took their offering live.

People have been talking about selling cars online for a long time. There have been many attempts, successes, failures, and a few lawsuits.

A completely messed-up version of online car sales materialized during COVID. It resulted in a healthy set of experiments, but most of those tests and learnings have evaporated. Dealers went back to selling cars the way they always have.

Now, shit gets real.

Let’s not forget that every Tesla purchased at home or in their showrooms is sold online. You walk in to buy it, and they hand you a tablet to purchase it yourself. I like to describe Tesla showrooms as the world’s most elaborate tablet holders.

Online used car retailer Carvana looked dead not so long ago. And now they are on an upward stock price swing. finance.yahoo.com

Boston Consulting Group estimated that from 2020, the automotive industry would take 15 years to reach a point where about 30% of vehicle sales happened entirely digitally. It is the same sales trajectory that every product area sold online has grown through. Cars will be no different. bcg.com

Dealerships aren’t going away. Online sales will not replace them.

However, Hyundai’s and Amazon’s launch kicks off a new era of online car sales that is likely too big to rig.

EVs That Sound Like ICE

Stellantis made the new electric Dodge Charger sound like it isn’t an EV. arstechnica.com

Hyundai made the new Ioniq 5 N shift, and sound like a rally car for no good reason. insideevs.com

China’s Automotive Expansion

ICYMI: The New York Times reports that Chinese OEMs are taking Mexico by storm with a vision to expand into the US and Canada eventually. nytimes.com (paid subscription required)

BYD plans to build even cheaper EVs thanks to the cost savings of their new blade battery technology. carnewschina.com

CATL partners with Stellantis to build a battery factory in Spain. ft.com (paid subscription required)

Must Know Musk News

Elon is now worth $400 billion. bnnbloomberg.ca

Elon isn’t happy with the SEC. The feeling appears mutual. theverge.com

Elon’s plans to head to Mars may cause a military boon that defence experts say could help the US deter or win a future war against China. washingtonpost.com (paid subscription required)

Rise Of The Machines

A surgeon performs the world’s first procedure using two different surgical robots. therobotreport.com

This insect-sized robot is faster than actual insects. interestingengineering.com

Anybotics closes its Series B round at $110 million with plans to bring more autonomous industrial robots to the US. techcrunch.com

Energy

Arevon Energy’s Eland Project in the Mojave desert combines a 384-megawatt solar farm with a 150-MW/600 MWh battery storage system. electrek.co

BC plans massive wind farm projects that match the newly launched Site C dam’s electricity output. globalnews.ca

Kevin O'Leary wants to build a massive AI data centre in northern Alberta powered by Canadian natural gas and geothermal energy. cbc.ca

Exxon and Chevron want to power the tech industry’s data centers with low-carbon electricity by coupling carbon capture with natural gas-fired power plants. reuters.com

EVgo gets a $1.25 billion loan for EV charger expansion from the US Department of Energy. theverge.com

In addition to that EVgo loan, to bolster EV charging and battery production, the Biden administration plans to move a bunch of cash around before Trump takes office. techcrunch.com

Twisted carbon nanotubes can store triple the energy of lithium-ion batteries. scitechdaily.com

Parkland Energy started making low-carbon aviation fuel from non-food grade canola and tallow. bnnbloomberg.ca

But Wait, There’s More

GM shuts down Cruise. The auto industry explodes with commentary. The average consumer says, “What the fuck is Cruise?” Except for that one person who was dragged about 20 feet by a Cruise robotaxi who is painfully aware of who Cruise is. techcrunch.com, theverge.com

The end of Cruise also hurts Microsoft. techcrunch.com

Toyota’s new European compact electric SUV is made in collaboration with Suzuki. theverge.com

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suggests that factory shutdowns would be a wrong move by Volkswagen. reuters.com

Porsche, which owns 31.9% of Volkswagen’s equity and 53.3% of its voting rights, said it expects to write down the value of the holding by 7 billion to 20 billion euros. reuters.com

The new Jeep Recon EV has a familiar shape. electrek.co

Ford holds the record for the fastest North American production car at the Nürburgring with the Mustang GTD. motor1.com

VinFast plans to build its second production plant in Vietnam. reuters.com

ICYMI

Canadian dealers can help small businesses activate an underutilized government tax incentive for EVs. digitaldealer.com

Archer Aviation signed an exclusive deal with Anduril Industries to build military, hybrid propulsion, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. theverge.com

Google launches new quantum chips. forbes.com

Let’s Circle Back

Here are some updates on some previous newsletters

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