Exploring the impact of EVs on dealers and OEMs at the upcoming 2023 NADA Show

Welcome to the first episode of the CBT News original show, The Future of Automotive, with Steve Greenfield, Founder, and CEO of Automotive Ventures, an auto technology advisory firm that helps entrepreneurs raise money and maximize the value of their companies.

It may not be a coincidence that it’s a new year, and this month we have both the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the National Automobile Dealer Association conference in Dallas.

CES 2023

I had a chance to spend a few days out at CES, and it has become the de facto U.S. auto show. While attendance at some of the other anchor auto shows across the country has waned, CES has more automotive content than ever. And at the show, you’ll find CEOs and executives across almost every OEM, supplier, autotech company, and then a critical number of investors, including bankers and venture capitalists. 

Interestingly, I saw very few auto dealers attend CES; but I think this will change given the growing importance of this show to the automotive space.

CES’s automotive-related buzz was mostly about new product releases, EVs and software.

Sony and Honda have collaborated on a new EV lineup called Afeela. Frankly, I wasn’t super excited by the exterior design of this car. It looked a bit blah. But the interior experience, driven by Sony, has huge promise.

Dodge took the opportunity to launch their big EV Ram truck to compete with the Ford F-150 Lightning; Volkswagen announced the launch of their new ID.7 EV; and BMW showcased a new concept car called the “i Vision Dee” that showcased a number of new technologies including a multicolored configurable exterior using E Ink technology to display up to 32 colors on the same car. The exterior surface is divided into 240 E Ink segments controlled individually, allowing an array of patterns to generate within seconds.

In terms of electrification, there was tons of news at CES. Probably most noteworthy was Mercedes-Benz, who, following Tesla’s lead, announced that they will build out their own Mercedes-branded EV charging network across the country – in collaboration with Goldman Sachs and Chargepoint.

If you haven’t been to the Consumer Electronics Show, I encourage you to prioritize a trip out next year. You’ll be surprised at how the CES conference, the largest conference that Las Vegas hosts, dwarfs the size of the NADA conference.

NADA 2023

So with that, let’s transition to the National Automobile Dealer Association Conference, which is back in Dallas at the end of this month for the first time since 1995.

This year is sure to be an interesting show as many industry trends are accelerating, not the least of which is the impact that EVs are having on dealers and OEMs, more facility upgrades required by dealers to support EV sales and service, continued discussions about OEMs selling directly to consumers and the Agency Model, as well as the unbundling of vehicle options into subscription products and how that revenue will be shared between automakers and their dealers.

Many of the OEMs are forecasting tens of billions of dollars in new, high-margin revenue as they charge consumers by the month for features like additional horsepower, heated seats, and extended battery range. In most cases, it’s still to be determined how these revenues will be shared between the automaker and their dealers. But in many cases, these negotiations are currently going on between dealer councils and OEMs. 

This is also the year that the dealers are going to start to feel the longer service intervals on their EV sales, as well as how over-the-air, or OTA, updates are going to mean that some of the work that would have typically been done in service bays can now be updated remotely via a wifi-enabled software push.

The flip side of this is that with the first generation of literally hundreds of new EVs hitting the market, the recalls on these EVs are going to be off the charts. There won’t be any shortage of work to do on these first-gen EV models.

For all of these reasons and more, dealers need to stay abreast of the latest news cycle, and I am certain that we’ll see a strong turnout at NADA this year as a result, as dealers seek answers to some of these open questions.

Personally, I’ll be excited to get back to NADA. It’s my favorite weekend of the year, and this year I’m honored to be hosting a group of outstanding, progressive dealers on the main stage on Thursday at Noon for an NADA Super Session called “The Future of Automotive Retail” – you won’t want to miss this one – we’re expecting an audience of 800 people, and you’ll hear about the future directly from the dealers we’ll have up on stage with me. 

If you’re going to be at NADA this year, drop me a note steve@automotiveventures.com. It would be great to catch up with you.

Companies to watch

Every week we highlight exciting companies in the automotive technology space to keep an eye on. If you read my monthly industry Intel Report, which you can subscribe to for free, I showcase a few companies each month, and we take the opportunity here on this segment to share some of those companies each week with you. 

Today, we have two companies to watch: Strategic DX and Accure Battery Intelligence.

Strategic DX

StrategicDX believes that the most important relationship in the auto sales industry is between the dealer and their customer, leading the dealer to increased sales and meaningful customer retention. 

Strategic DX, deploys advanced technology called Your Dealer Experience (or YDE), that has direct linkage to this industry critical mission.

The reason that I love Strategic DX is that their product helps dealers sell more F&I products, but also helps dealer evolve past the “once and done” mindset to create a better consumer experience, and build lifetime return customers.

You can check out Strategic DX at www.strategic-dx.com.

Accure Battery Intelligence

Accure Battery Intelligence turns battery data into business intelligence. 

Accure is a trusted analytics partner for battery system developers, owners, operators, asset managers, and insurers seeking immediate value from their EV battery data. Their solutions help companies assess battery failure risk, ensure reliability and maximize profitability by using operational data with scalable cloud-based analytics.

Accure Battery Intelligence ensures exceptional battery performance—reliably and safely—with award-winning battery analytics software built by world-class battery experts. Battery Intelligence software uses cloud-based analytics to monitor your entire Lithium Ion battery fleet.

The reason that I love Accure Battery Intelligence is that their validated and industry-leading continuous safety monitoring products prevents critical battery failures. As a fleet owner, you don’t have to stress over fire risks and warranties for your EVs. No more uncertainty about aging batteries. And you can minimize downtime and extend lifetime for each of the EVs in your fleet.

You can check out Accure Battery Intelligence at www.accure.net.

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So that’s your quick wrap-up of the big deals in the automotive technology space over the past week.

If you’re an auto tech entrepreneur working on a solution that helps car dealerships, we want to hear from you. We are actively investing out of our new DealerFund.

If you’re a dealer who wants to invest in early-stage auto tech companies that benefit your business, let me know. We are still accepting new investors into the fund.

If you’re interested in joining our investment club to make direct investments into auto tech and mobility startups with small checks, let me know.

And don’t forget to check out my new book available on Amazon called “The Future of Automotive Retail.”

Thank you for tuning into CBT News for this week’s episode of The Future of Automotive, and we’ll see you next week!