Leaders in the sale of quality FCA Mopar Parts.
September - October 2020
Also In This Issue
NADA 2020 Goes Virtual Covid Continues Taking a Toll
Mopar Masters Guild in Discussions to Potentially do the Same
From the Desk of MMG President Susan McDaniel “Walk the Walk” ................2 NADA 2021 Goes Virtual ...............................3 Why the new FCA-PSA board merits a closer look...................................... 4-5 FCA Service & Parts Managers 20 Group Meets Virtually on Zoom with Mopar Masters Guild Members ................ 6-8 Dodge, BMW, Nissan and Genesis win praise in J.D. Power multimedia quality study .......9 Vendors .......................................................10-11 Longtime OEConnection leader Rotuno steps down; former IAS head Brown is CEO ..................................................12 OEConnection .................................................13 On The Lighter Side: Eddie Van Halen: Legendary Rocker, Car Enthusiast .......14-15 Wholesale Parts Pro/ NiTS Solutions .........................................16-17 OEConnection ...........................................18-19 10 Missions Media .........................................20 CDK Global .....................................................21 Katzkin Leather ..............................................22 CDK Global .....................................................23 Reynolds & Reynolds .....................................24 PSX - Parts Sales Xcellerator ......................25 Reynolds & Reynolds .....................................26 Elite Extra .......................................................27 Autobody News .........................................28-29 Wholesale Parts Pro/ NiTS Solutions ...............................................30 10 Missions Media .........................................31 AER Manufacturing .................................32-33 UPS ...................................................................34 How to Ship a Vaccine at –80°C, and Other Obstacles in the Covid Fight–UPS .......35-38 AutoNation to Drop Aftermarket Collision Parts Business ................................39 The View from My Office with Kat Monteiro .............................................40-41 MMG Officers/Committees ........................42
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From the Desk of MMG President Susan McDaniel
Walk the Walk Hello Everyone, I hope you are all safe and well. I can’t wait un l we can all be together again. Un l that me comes, we will have to con nue to improvise, shi and reevaluate. It has been a very trying year for us all with so many uncertain es. As I look around me, I can’t help but make a few observa ons. People with good inten ons make promises but people with good character keep them. We are living in a me when so much informa on and knowledge is at our finger ps; in a country where our freedom and independence are paramount. This also allows for so much insincerity with words and ac ons. Talk is cheap. As I look around me, I see so many people “sounding” so convincing when they talk about who they are or what they believe in. Sounding like they know more than they really do and professing to be someone or something they really aren’t; whether it is through religious, poli cal, moral, business, family or ethical values. Saying that they are going to do something that they really have no inten ons of following through with. Making commitments they know they cannot keep. Always make good on your promises – not only for yourself but for those you have commi ed to. What if we just stopped talking and started doing? What if we just stopped trying to “sound” like we know more than we really do and just be who we really are? We would walk so much further. We wouldn’t even need to talk. Ac ons speak volumes. Now, more than ever, it is so important to follow through with your words. Our integrity is at the top of the page in a me when people desparately need the reassurance that they can s ll believe in something. Un l We Meet Again,
Susan McDaniel
Susan McDaniel - susan@billluke.com - 602.336.1557
Mopar Masters Guild Magazine
Leaders in the Sale of Quality Mopar Parts
Breaking News!!! NADA 2021 in New Orleans Has Gone Virtual
The Mopar Masters Guild will do the same. We are now formulaƟng plans to hold our 29th Annual Mopar Masters Guild MeeƟng in January. Please watch for more detailed informaƟon in the next few weeks while we discuss scheduling with the MMG ExecuƟve CommiƩee. We are dealing with unprecedented Ɵmes and appreciate your paƟence as we confront the challenges of making decisions to accomodate everyone!
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Why the new FCA-PSA board merits a closer look
Three women highlight a new board with global execuƟve talent The first thing no ceable about the new board that will preside over the combina on of Italy’s Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and France’s PSA Group is the dis nctly global, non-automo ve profile of the new independent directors. Which makes sense because the nonsensical name of this combined company — Stellan s — offers zero identy with anything automo ve. But there’s reason to believe this could be a good thing as the auto industry desperately tries to reinvent itself amid the existen al threats emerging from massive changes in autonomous technology, electrifica on and global poli cal upheavals. The key FCA and PSA insiders and family leaders, of course, remain on the board: Chairman John Elkann, Vice Chairman Robert Peugeot, non-execu ve director Andrea Agnelli and CEO Carlos Tavares. As expected, current FCA CEO Michael Manley will not join the new board, and there’s been no announcement about his future role with Spaceship Stellan s. Otherwise, it’s abundantly clear that the new directors reflect a company that no longer wants to be linked by name to its automo ve legacy underscored by iconic brands such as Peugeot, Fiat, Chrysler, Jeep, Ram, etc. Continued on Page 5
Mopar Masters Guild Magazine
Leaders in the Sale of Quality Mopar Parts Continued from Page 4 First of all, the new board lacks anyone directly involved in current FCA opera ons in North America. There aren’t any CEOs from auto suppliers or dealers, which is the norm for directors deemed to be “independent.” There is nobody affiliated with North American unions. There is no African American director, yet there s ll is plenty of diversity. Naturally, much of the new board reflects French and Italian backgrounds, but not en rely. And give the architects of this new board some credit for the highly qualified global execu ve talent they a racted: U.S. execu ve Kevin Sco , Microso Corp.’s chief technology officer since 2017, whose “20-year career in technology spans both academia and industry as researcher, engineer and leader,” a company statement said. He also served notable s nts at LinkedIn and Google and has laudable nonprofit accomplishments. Canadian Ann Frances Godbehere is one of three women slated for the new board. She brings deep experience from the global insurance, banking and accoun ng worlds. Her past es to Swiss banking giant UBS and metals giant Rio Tinto make her resume reminiscent of that of late FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne, who also was a na ve Canadian. European pharmaceu cal execu ve Fiona Clare Cicconi will be an employee representa ve on the full board. She has been head of human resources at AstraZeneca PLC since 2014. Philippines na ve Wan Ling Martello, one of the world’s most powerful women according to Fortune, brings creden als from the private equity world and is the former CFO of Nestle. She previously held senior execuve roles at Walmart Stores Inc. and holds board posi ons at Chinese computer giant Alibaba Group and ridehailing pioneer Uber Technologies Inc. Henri de Castries and Nicolas Dufourcq hold a long list of tles in the European business world. Long me PSA insider Jacques de Saint-Exupéry represents French union interests. All in all, the new FCA/PSA board offers new blue-ribbon blood for this combined global automaker. The talent pool at the top of Stellan s will be well stocked as strategic challenges arise. “You’ll have noted that the board is made up of 11 outstanding individuals of diverse backgrounds and accomplishments — including from North America and with extensive U.S. and global business experience,” FCA spokeswoman Shawn Morgan said in an emailed statement to Automo ve News. S ll, some voids remain. Perhaps the addi on of North American and other regional boards would help. When asked about the possibility of regional boards, Morgan replied: “As we’ve confirmed, the transac on is expected to close by the end of the first quarter 2021 by which me further details of the company and its structures will be shared.” Source: www.automo venews.com – Ar cle by PHILIP NUSSEL
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FCA Service & Parts Managers 20 Group Meets Virtually on Zoom with Mopar Masters Guild Members
During these challenging mes of COVID-19, we have all needed to be as crea ve as possible to con nue our quest for con nued learning and running our businesses.
Day 1 The Mopar Masters Guild members were able to a end their FCA 20 Group mee ng this past September 14th and 15th live online on Zoom. There were over 20 in a endance. FCA 20 Group Senior Moderator, Mark Beaton, and FCA 20 Group Coordinator, Jen Short, led us through two intensive days of learning, sharing, and helping us be be er managers. Mark began by covering the agenda for the two days and men oned a few tools that 20 Group members would find useful. Jen emailed a endees with up-to-date files that would be needed to discuss and dissect informa on as we proceeded. One of these tools is the FCA 20 Group Facebook Page. “Our FCA 20 Group Facebook Page is a great way to get answers to your possible service, parts, or dealership problems. It is used for blogging where you can ask your ques ons,” said Mark Beaton. He con nued, “This is a closed and moderated group page. Not everyone can get in. This page is limited to members of the FCA 20 Group in good standing.” (Which means you must have a ended mee ngs!) Both Mark and Jen post items of importance so that communica on flows con nually.
Continued on Page 7
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Continued from Page 6 A endees then moved into discussions of the Commitment Areas they chose from the Spring 2020 FCA 20 Group mee ng. Discussing the implementa ons and results were: • Paul Allred – Parts Manager – Stateline DCJ – Fort Mill, SC • Tony Bailey – Director – Bosak Motors of Merrillville, IN • John Balerna – Parts Director – Central Auto Group – Norwood, MA • Chris Hojnacki – Parts Manager – Milosch’s Palace CDJR – Lake Orion, MI • Dan Hu on – Parts & Service Director – Tom O’Brien CJD – Greenwood, IN • Jim Jaeger – Parts Director – Bosak of Merrillville, IN • Ma Jarvis – Parts Manager – Bald Hill DCJ – Warwick, RI • Don Kinkle – Service Director – Milosch’s Palace CDJR – Lake Orion, MI • • • • • • •
Rocky Latorre – Service Director – Be enhausen Motors – Tinley Park, IL Crosby Long – Parts & Service Director – Scoggin Dickey CDJR – Levelland, TX Joe McBeth – Parts Director – Dallas DCJR – Dallas, TX (Mopar Masters Guild Vice-President) Susan McDaniel – Parts Director – Bill Luke CJD – Phoenix, AZ (Mopar Masters President) Rick Monteiro – Parts Manager – Jack Powell CJD – Escondido, CA Randy Rogers – Parts Manager – Huffines CDJR of Plano, TX John Russo – Parts Manager – Dallas DCJR – Dallas, TX
•
John Waltereit – Parts Advisor – Milsoch’s Palace CJD – Lake Orion, MI
A er a short break, Mark guided us all through our Dealer Financial Composite Review. All in a endance could share their individual informa on, which made for great discussions and helped to solve problem areas and be able to find successful ideas from each other in hopes of implemen ng those ideas when back at work.
The group ended its first day with the “Best Prac ce” Session. The winner was Susan McDaniel’s Best Prac ce on “How to Handle SOP’s to Reduce Obsolescence.” CongratulaƟon Susan! Continued on Page 8
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Continued from Page 7
Day 2 We used the first part of this day to finish up hearing from a endees repor ng on their Spring 2020 Commitment Areas. Mark then guided us through an adver sing discussion. Mark asked, “What does your website say about your Service and Parts Department today?” This was the beginning of a very spirited discussion with some good examples and great ideas to poten ally increase traffic through our dealerships.
The final por on of the day saw the Parts & Service Breakout Sessions. Broken into two groups, service and parts managers discussed issues that are important to their specific department. A er a specified me, Mark brought us all back into the general discussion room to discuss our findings. As the mee ng drew to an end, Mark offered congratula ons to the following Mopar Masters for earning the Customer 1st Award for Excellence.
ArƟcle SubmiƩed by Don Cushing
Mopar Masters Guild Magazine
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Dodge, BMW, Nissan and Genesis win praise in J.D. Power multimedia quality study The Dodge Challenger, BMW X6, Nissan Sentra and Genesis G70 led each segment in a J.D. Power study measuring mul media quality and sa sfac on. J.D. Power’s redesigned 2020 U.S. MulƟmedia Quality and SaƟsfacƟon Study measures owner satisfaction with the quality, design and features of their vehicle’s mul media systems. The Challenger was the top performer overall, with the most sa sfied owners and lessees. On a 1,000-point scale, the vehicle scored a 938. Brent Gruber, senior director of global automo ve at J.D. Power, told Automo ve News the study found Nissan was the only Japanese brand that ranked above average and that domes c brands performed best. But the study said, “Owner sa sfac on with such systems is among the least sa sfying aspects for the vehicle experience.” Gruber said 23 percent of overall automo ve consumer problems are with the mul media and infotainment systems. And the top 10 problems with mul media systems are design-related. Owner sa sfac on drops by 173 index points when over-the-air problems are experienced. “This is very concerning, considering the rapid growth of remote update capabili es for mul media and infotainment systems,” Gruber said in a statement. He told Automo ve News that smartphone users expect vehicle updates to be as seamless as their smartphone updates. «Manufacturers need to ensure that updates have been thoroughly tested with a very high probability for success.» The study found that one way to boost owner sa sfac on was to add virtual assistant integra on. The study also analyzed suppliers of naviga on and speaker systems, but many of the sources for those systems were not available. Mobis, Hyundai MnSo , Aisin and Telenav won kudos for naviga on systems. Alps Alpine and Harman Interna onal won high marks among speaker suppliers. The 2020 U.S. Mul media Quality and Sa sfac on Study is based on responses from 87,282 purchasers and lessees of new 2020 models. The survey was conducted from February through May. Source: www.automoƟvenews.com
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Our Supporting Vendors: Support those who support you.
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Sept - Oct 2020
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Our Supporting Vendors: The exchange of information by like sized dealers in a non-competitive environment.
Support those who support you.
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Sept - Oct 2020
Longtime OEConnection leader Rotuno steps down; former IAS head Brown is CEO OEConnec on announced founder and longtime leader Chuck Rotuno would step down as CEO and assume the role of executive chairman, effectively immediately. Patrick Brown, the former CEO of Innova ve A ermarket Systems, has been named OEConnec on’s new CEO. OEConnec on on Thursday said he “brings extensive experience running high-growth companies in the FinTech, InsurTech and automo ve industries.” “We want to thank Chuck for his leadership and look forward to our con nued collabora on in his role as Execu ve Chairman,” Genstar Capital director Geoff Miller and managing director Eli Weiss said in a statement. “Over the past 20 years, Chuck and team have successfully established OEC as the leading provider of technology and data solu ons to the automo ve replacement parts marketplace,” said Geoff Miller, Director, and Eli Weiss, Managing Director, of Genstar Capital, the majority investor in OEC. “As OEC con nues its growth trajectory, we are very pleased to welcome Patrick to the team. He is a highly strategic leader who is very well posi oned to build on this momentum.” According to a LinkedIn profile, Brown until June had been the CEO of Innovative Aftermarket Systems, which like OEConnection had been owned by Genstar. The private equity firm announced in May it would sell IAS to iA Financial Group. Genstar called IAS “the leading provider of automotive warranties, vehicle services contracts (VSC), training, and related software and services.” At the time of the sale’s announcement, the company did business with more than 4,300 dealers and employed more than 500 people. “Having spent a great deal of me with Patrick throughout the process, I am convinced he is the right person to lead the next chapter of growth for OEC. He is a seasoned execu ve with a proven track record of successfully managing high-growth companies,” Rotuno said in a statement. “I am incredibly proud of my tenure at OEC and all the team has accomplished, and this is the right me to pass the torch to Patrick.” Rotuno, a senior vice president and general manager of Bell + Howell Automo ve (now known as Snap-on Business Solu ons), had been recruited to launch OEConnec on. Four years a er the company’s founding in December 2000, Ernst & Young named Rotuno Entrepreneur of the Year. OEC has grown to 1,000 employees and serves 30,000 dealerships and 135,000 wholesale customers worldwide, according to a company biography. The undated bio says OEC has posted double-digit compound annual growth rate over the past five years. Brown worked at IAS for around four years. Prior to that, he served as senior vice president of payments company Netspend and president of Euronet Payments & Remi ance, assuming the la er role a er selling a financial services company he co-founded to Euronet World Wide. He also currently serves on the board of All Web Leads. “I am very excited to become part of the OEC family,” Brown said in a statement. “Chuck and the team have done a tremendous job taking OEC from a joint venture start-up to a leading technology provider in the global automo ve space. I look forward to partnering with Genstar and the management team to drive con nued growth for OEC.” Source: www.RepairerDrivenNews.com
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Sept - Oct 2020
On The Lighter Side: Eddie Van Halen: Legendary Rocker, Car Enthusiast
Fast cars and fast tunes go hand in hand --- especially when you’re talking about Van Halen. On Tuesday, October 6, Eddie Van Halen lost his ba le with throat cancer and passed away. He was 65 years old. He’s well known and well-respected as one of the greatest guitar players of all me, but he was one of us, too. Eddie Van Halen was a car enthusiast of the highest order. The best-known car in his collecon was his Lamborghini Miura. As he grew in popularity through the 1980s, Van Halen reportedly owned a string of Lamborghinis. It’s safe to assume that the Miura was his favorite, considering it was the one he kept around the longest. The reason we know the Miura so well is that it once served as a backup singer alongside original Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony. Continued on Page 15
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Continued from Page 14 You can hear its engine revving during the “Runnin’ a li le bit hot tonight...” por on of Panama. Legend has it that Eddie backed it up to the doors of the recording studio, and the engineers stuck microphones in the exhaust pipes. The rest is rock & roll history. He also had an affinity for Porsches, too. In an interview with Car and Driver, he praised his 911 GT3 RS, saying that it handled be er than any Porsche 911 he’d owned previously. Van Halen wasn’t afraid to take it on the racetrack and turn in some seriously impressive lap mes. He even had the suspension set up for racing by legendary Porsche tuners BBI Autosport. As it turns out, Eddie Van Halen was mul -talented. When that Car and Driver ar cle was wri en, he owned the Miura, the 911 GT3 RS, and a pair of Audi R8s --one a V8, the other a V10. He also appreciated older American cars, too. He’s owned a 1947 Dodge flatbed truck, and at one point, he owned a pair of Chevy Nomad wagons that even had their own customized, matching guitars. As far as we know, neither one of those guitars ever replaced the legendary Frankenstrat. Back in the early ‘90s, Van Halen partnered with Sport Truck magazine and legendary customized Boyd Coddington to build the coolest street truck of all me, the Van Hauler. The red GMT400 pickup featured black and white stripes that matched (arguably) the most famous guitar of all me. In fact, two trucks were built, with Eddie keeping one and the other being given away. Countless more were built when Testors issued a 1:24 scale replica of the truck. According to Van Halen News Desk, Eddie kept the more subduedlooking one.
Eddie Van Halen owned some truly great cars, and he leaves a lasting legacy for enthusiasts like us. Van Halen has been the unofficial soundtrack of cruising, burnouts, and stoplight drags for over four decades, and we don’t see that stopping any me soon. And the cradle will rock. WriƩen by Cam Vanderhorst, Motorious Source: www.autobodynews.com
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Sept - Oct 2020
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Wireless Work Bill Condron of Florida’s Sawgrass Collision Center had his estimators ditch notepads and embrace laptops, finding greater efficiency in the process.
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How to Ship a Vaccine at –80°C, and Other Obstacles in the Covid Fight - UPS Developing an effec ve vaccine is the first step. Then comes the ques on of how to deliver hundreds of millions of doses that may need to be kept at arc c temperatures. By David Gelles Many things will have to work out to end the coronavirus pandemic. Drug companies will have to develop a safe and effec ve vaccine. Billions of people will have to consent to vaccina on. But there are more prosaic challenges, too. Among them: Companies may have to transport ny glass vials thousands of miles while keeping them as cold as the South Pole in the depths of winter. A number of the leading Covid-19 vaccines under development will need to be kept at temperatures as low as minus 80 degrees Celsius (minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit) from the moment they are bo led to the me they are ready to be injected into pa ents’ arms. That will not be easy. Vaccines may be manufactured on one con nent and shipped to another. They will go from logis cs hub to logis cs hub before ending up at the hospitals and other facili es that will administer them. While no vaccine has yet been approved by health officials in the United States, prepara ons for a mass-vaccina on campaign are gearing up. The U.S. military and a federal contractor are expected to play a role in coordina ng the distribu on. But a hodgepodge of companies are scrambling to figure out how to keep hundreds of millions of doses of a vaccine very, very cold. Planes, trucks and warehouses will need to be ou i ed with freezers. Glass vials will need to withstand icy climes. Someone will need to make a lot more dry ice. “We’re only now beginning to understand the complexi es of the delivery side of all of this,” said J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and Interna onal Studies, a research firm. “And there’s no ge ng around it. These have stark temperature demands that will constrain access and delivery.” President Trump asserted that hundreds of millions of doses of an uniden fied vaccine will be available to all Americans by April. That meline is more ambi ous than what his own advisers have described. Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven on, told a Senate commi ee on Wednesday that a vaccine would not be widely available un l the middle of next year. Of the three vaccines that have advanced to Phase 3 trials, two — one made by Moderna and the Na onal Ins tutes of Health, the other by Pfizer and BioNTech — need to be kept in a near constant deep freeze. Continued on Page 36
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Continued from Page 35 (They are made with gene c materials that fall apart when they thaw.) Pfizer expects its vaccine to be stored in temperatures as low as minus 80 Celsius, while Moderna’s will need to be kept at minus 20 Celsius. Another leading vaccine candidate, being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, must be kept cool but not frozen. McKesson, a major drug distributor, won a major federal contract last month to help distribute a coronavirus vaccine. Much of the work, however, will fall to companies outside the medical and drug industries. The major U.S. logis cs companies, including UPS and FedEx, already have networks of freezers that they use to ship perishable food and medical supplies. The companies have experience shipping vaccines for other illnesses, including the seasonal flu. But the Covid-19 vaccina on effort is likely to dwarf all previous campaigns. UPS said it was construc ng a socalled freezer farm in Louisville, Ky., the company’s largest hub, where it can store millions of doses at subzero temperatures. Crea ng an en re warehouse that could maintain that deep freeze would have been too complex and costly. So instead, rows of upright industrial S rling Ultracold freezers, each capable of holding 48,000 vials, are being arranged inside a warehouse. There are 70 freezers so far, but the warehouse could fit a few hundred. A similar UPS center is in the works in the Netherlands. “I haven’t seen anything like this before,” said Wes Wheeler, UPS’s head of health care. “Nothing has been quite this global in scale.” At FedEx, the vaccine prepara ons are being led by Richard W. Smith, the son of the company’s founder, Fred W. Smith. The younger Mr. Smith, who runs the company’s airline opera ons in the Americas, was in charge of the life sciences business for FedEx’s airline opera ons in 2009, during the H1N1 pandemic. At the me, the U.S. government asked FedEx to prepare to help transport vaccines, Mr. Smith said, and the company doubled its number of freezers around the globe. “Fortunately, H1N1 did not rise to the level of the pandemic we thought it could be,” he said. “But that allowed us to really beef up our cold-chain infrastructure.” In the years a er that scare, FedEx expanded its supply of freezers and worked with the Federal Avia on Administra on to win approval for its planes to carry more dry ice. (When dry ice melts, it emits carbon dioxide, making the air on planes poten ally unsafe for pilots and crew.) Now FedEx is adding freezers that can maintain temperatures as low as minus 80 Celsius in ci es including Memphis, Indianapolis and Paris. It is installing addi onal refrigerated trailers in Oakland, Calif., Dallas and Los Angeles, which could be used for vaccines that need to be served chilled, not frozen. “The demand for this is huge,” Mr. Smith said. “We know it’s going to be a very substan al market.” Analysts at Ci agreed, saying the business of transpor ng vaccines is likely to be profitable in a recent note sugges ng that FedEx stock was a good investment. As if the challenge weren’t sufficiently daun ng, the world is facing a looming shortage of dry ice — an unexpected side effect of the pandemic. Dry ice, the stuff that exudes chilly smoke and enthralls school-age scien sts, is made from carbon dioxide, which is most commonly created as a byproduct during the produc on of ethanol. But ethanol produc on ebbs and flows based on the demand for gasoline. This spring, as stay-at-home orders went into effect, people began driving less. As a result, ethanol produc on slumped, and so did the supply of carbon dioxide. Continued on Page 37
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Continued from Page 36 In April, Richard Go wald, chief execu ve of the Compressed Gas Associa on, sent a le er to Vice President Mike Pence warning of “a significant risk of a shortage in carbon dioxide.” Five months later, “the ethanol industry s ll has not bounced back,” Mr. Go wald said in an interview. “We are seeing a shortage.” And that is making dry ice hard to come by. For much of the summer, Marc Savenor, owner of Acme Dry Ice in Cambridge, Mass., which supplies medical companies, has been running low on carbon dioxide. Supply was the ghtest he had seen in his 42 years of business, forcing Mr. Savenor to ra on his dry ice. “It was like a McDonald’s with no hamburgers,” he said, adding that carbon dioxide seemed to more plen ful in recent weeks.
UPS and FedEx are taking ma ers into their own hands. FedEx already has machines in warehouses that can produce dry ice, and UPS said it was considering adding them. The companies will also have to provide their delivery employees with special training and equipment like gloves to handle their icy wares. Pfizer has designed a special box to transport its hoped-for vaccine. The boxes, roughly the size of a large cooler, will hold a couple of hundred glass vials, each containing 10 to 20 doses of vaccine. Continued on Page 38
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Continued from Page 37 The boxes are equipped with GPS-enabled thermal sensors, allowing Pfizer to know where the boxes are and how cold they are. (If they get too warm, workers can add dry ice.) All of this leads to another problem: Glass o en cracks in extreme cold. Early this year, Corning, a 169-year-old glass maker in upstate New York, approached officials at the Department of Health and Human Services with a warning: There wouldn’t be enough cold-resistant glass vials to handle a frozen vaccine, said Brendan Mosher, Corning’s head of pharmaceu cal technologies. Corning pitched a solu on. It could make millions of vials with a new type of pharmaceu cal-grade glass that can withstand the lowest temperatures. In June, the government awarded the company a $204 million contract to increase its produc on of the special vials. The new glass is made without boron, a common ingredient in conven onal glass that can lead to contamina on of whatever is in the vials. Mr. Mosher said Corning was using the federal money to quadruple the capacity at its plant in Big Flats, N.Y.; to accelerate construc on of a glass furnace in New Jersey; and to speed up construc on of an addi onal plant in North Carolina. Corning is hiring 300 workers and says it is on track to start producing hundreds of millions of glass vials next year. Even if there is enough dry ice and chilled warehouses and sturdy vials, everyday pharmacies are unlikely to be equipped to stockpile large quan es of vaccines that require ultracold storage. Nevertheless, they might be able to keep Pfizer’s cooler-size boxes on hand, and Moderna’s vaccine can be stored at less extreme temperatures in the days before it is administered. In a presenta on to the White House coronavirus task force last month, Kathleen Dooling, a disease expert with the C.D.C., said strict temperature requirements “will make it very difficult for community clinics and local pharmacies to store and administer.” She said the vaccine would have to be dispensed “at centralized sites with adequate equipment and high throughput.” It’s not clear where those sites will be or who will administer the vaccines. That is just in the United States. A vaccine requiring stringent temperature controls would be off limits for much of the developing world. A recent study by DHL and McKinsey found that a cold vaccine would be accessible to about 2.5 billion people in 25 countries. Large parts of Africa, South America and Asia, where super-cold freezers are sparse, would be le out. “The consequence is to reinforce the staggering bias in favor of the wealthy and powerful few countries,” said Mr. Morrison, of the Center for Strategic and Interna onal Studies. David Gelles is the Corner Office columnist and a business reporter. Follow him on LinkedIn and Twi er. @dgelles
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AutoNation to Drop Aftermarket Collision Parts Business AutoNa on recently announced it would cease its a ermarket auto body parts business by the end of the year as part of an “aggressive approach to streamline its business.” The publicly traded dealership chain said the “AutoNa on Collision Parts” represented less than 1 percent of the company’s parts and service gross profit for the first half of the year, which works out to less than $15.67 million. Dumping the brand would actually save it about 1 percent of gross profit, which for the first half of the year would work out to more than $16.08 million assuming the company meant total gross profit. The company es mated spending about $52 million throughout the second half of the year to wind down the business, including about $12 million in cash, plus another approximately $9 million a er that “related to existing contractual obliga ons.” It thought dropping the a ermarket collision parts business would bring its selling, general and administra ve expenses below 68 percent of its third-quarter gross profit. The company said it already had slashed SG&A down to 68.2 percent of its $795 million gross profit in the second quarter. “Over the last two years, AutoNaon has implemented a restructuring plan that reduced costs annually and consolidated its region infrastructure from three to two regions,” AutoNa on wrote in a news release. “In 2020, further reduc ons to headcount, adver sing, and discre onary spending were also made.” AutoNa on CEO Mike Jackson issued a statement Monday but didn’t men on the collision parts business. However, he told a July 23 earnings call that it hadn’t been performing well. (Special thanks to Seeking Alpha, whose transcript allowed us to iden fy speakers and find quotes.) “I would say that’s the only area of concern,” Jackson said. AutoNa on had seen “big success” with maintenance and mechanical components, which gave the company a “very good basis” for recondi oning and would be used for that purpose, Jackson said. Those parts contributed to company profitability, he said. “Now, AutoNa on Collision Parts is another story,” Jackson said. “The whole collision business was very challenged during the second quarter with the drama c reduc ons in the amount of miles driven, and that business wasn’t profitable even before the marketplace got much more difficult.” Collision parts represented a “rela vely small part” of the company’s parts offering, according to Jackson. The rest of the parts business had been trending in a “very good direc on,” he said. Jackson’s comments regarding recondi oning appeared to be related to a company bullishness on buying used cars and recondi oning them — essen ally flipping vehicles. “We figured out how to do recondi oning compe vely,” Jackson said. He said AutoNa on has a core skill of buying used cars, and it knows how to improve them cost-effec vely. He was op mis c about the company’s chances in used cars going forward. “We see an opportunity to take a larger share of the used vehicle market and benefit from the increased interest in vehicle ownership by our customers,” Jackson said in a statement Monday. “AutoNa on’s strong brand, first-class digital capabili es, and One Price pricing strategy, combined with lower acquisi on cost and stable used vehicle retail pricing make AutoNa on USA stores an a rac ve opportunity.” Source: www.RepairerDrivenNews.com
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The View From My Office
With Kat Monteiro
Happy October y’all. Hope this finds all of you healthy and safe. It is finally star ng to feel like Fall here in Southern California and I welcome it. It has been a long hot summer. Weather has really been an issue for so many these last few months. Between the powerful hurricanes and all the fires raging here in the western states. More extreme than ever it seems. Some people chalk it all up to this crazy year of 2020. Everything is out of the norm. And let us not forget all this elec on madness! I heard that the Mopar Masters Guild has decided to forgo NADA in New Orleans - even if they s ll put on the show. (Which we all now know that NADA has gone virtual!) Even though I am disappointed, being New Orleans is my favorite place to visit, and I will miss being able to see everyone, I also believe it was the right decision. We need to keep us all safe and healthy. You are all essen al workers, and your dealers count on you to keep everything up and running. And it’s not worth it to put your own health in jeopardy. I think the days of large crowds and par es will be put on hold for a while yet. It’s all a wait and see game now. In the mean me, we just need to keep washing our hands frequently, sani ze, social distance and wear those masks! And hope that 2021 brings us be er days. I can’t talk about this and not think about the many people who are not as fortunate as us and have no job to go to. My heart goes out to them and I hope that it all gets be er for them sooner rather than later. The same goes to all the many small businesses that have been closed, some to never open again. I feel like that poster of the cat hanging from the tree branch with the tle “Hang In There Baby” Today I want to tell you a bit about one of our customers. His name is Shaun Dove and his company is EVOD Industries. Shaun is a customer of ours through his ownership of the Viper. His shop is really cool! If you ever are in need of some beau ful, custom, one-of-a-kind wheels for your car or truck this is the guy you want to talk to. EVOD was created 14 years ago with the sole purpose of building unique one-of-a-kind wheels and parts for custom cars. Before that, their real job was manufacturing and distribu ng medical supplies, but they found themselves spending all their extra money and me on cars! They finally decided working with the cars is what they really wanted to do full me so they decided to make it into a business. Shaun was raised around cars; his dad was a collector and a hobbyist. As soon as Shaun was making money, he was off to pursue the cars that he always wanted. Cars have been a passion ever since. He leans towards the classic muscle cars and street rods, though he has had a couple exo cs.
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Continued from Page 40 Then there is his Viper collec on! He has had 5 Vipers and currently has a 1998 GTSR GT2 and a Gen V GTS. He admires the Viper as being the closest that a new car gets to the raw feel of a classic muscle car with minimal computers and a manual transmission! Shaun not only created EVOD Industries but also runs their hot rod shop called EVOD Garage. Through EVOD Garage they mostly build cars for themselves, but they also do some work for friends and customers of EVOD Industries. They do everything from custom engine builds to complete car builds, minus heavy fab, paint and body work. They currently have 9 cars in their private collec on and are always adding as well as selling so it changes all the me. So now let’s go back a couple years, I just got back recently from the SEMA show where they unveiled the new Hellephant engine. Shaun had purchased some parts from us, so when our Powertrain rep, Sherree Dye was in town I took her over to Shaun’s shop so we could thank him and to see if he had any need for some powertrain. We all got talking and the SEMA show came up and of course the topic turned toward the Hellephant! Now Chrysler has announced that they are only making 100 of these and I told Shaun that I could get him one. It was all pre y exci ng. So Shaun connected with our parts advisor Steven Ausencio and the sale was made. The wait was long, but in July we made the delivery! I don’t have any pictures of the build, but I hope to update you all a er it is done in a later ar cle. But I am told it is going into a 69 Roadrunner with a Roadster Shop chassis and a 6-speed transmission! I really was excited about this Hellephant project and about Shaun’s shop and I wanted to share it with all of you. How great it is to be doing what you love and crea ng beau ful art while building cars. I want to give a shout out to our dealer owner Jack Powell. If you all read my arƟcle last issue Don published a liƩle paragraph of a note Jack had sent to Rick and I. I was so touched by his kind words. He is always so kind and supporƟve. It really means a lot to me to know that he reads my arƟcles, and he always has from the very beginning. He would come up to me at work and let me know he enjoyed reading my arƟcle that month. He was there from the very beginning, liking my posts on Facebook when I would post a picture of wherever I was having lunch in my parts truck when I was a driver and I would Ɵtle it The View From My Office. That is how this all started. So thank you Jack for all your support over the years! It really means a lot. Till next me, stay safe and stay healthy.
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Fine-tuning FCA’s Uconnect system in crisis had upside When drivers start up the 2021 Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Durango this fall, they’ll be introduced to the next-generaon version of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ heralded Uconnect infotainment system. The latest itera on, Uconnect 5, runs on an Android-based opera ng system and has processing speeds five mes faster than those of its predecessor. It enables two Bluetooth phones to connect simultaneously, aiding those who carry mulple phones and allowing passengers to interact with the system in addi on to the driver. Ge ng the system ready in me for vehicle launches became a tougher task than expected a er the coronavirus pandemic forced designers to rearrange their working condi ons on the fly. And the experience could leave a las ng imprint on how designers go about their du es in the future. The crew of about 30 employees had to finish tuning Uconnect 5, which was far along in its development, using standalone prototype units in home offices. The team usually operated with a few prototypes at FCA’s suburban Detroit headquarters but suddenly needed a few dozen with everyone separated. Vince Galante, FCA’s chief designer of user experience, said he might keep a standalone unit at home from now on — even a er he eventually goes back to working at the office. “I get so ware updates once a week, for sure, some mes twice a week,” he told Automo ve News. “We get on calls and we talk about it, we look at it. We update, we tweak, we get a new so ware download and we’ve been doing that for six, seven months now.” The design team has been making a lot “fine adjustments” such as ensuring that the selected screen colors work and that the contrast is right so everything is easy to read. Response me is another key piece in making Uconnect 5 intui ve. This was evident in the system’s “cardbased format” that allows users to personalize and simplify display screens. Users can group features into different screens to determine how and where each is displayed. By touching one of the cards and holding it for a second, a user can move it into different posi ons on the screen. Ge ng the ming right required a delicate balance. “We started off with, like, 2 seconds, and that just felt too long,” Galante recalled. “We went down to half a second; it was too quick. And so we’ve been doing li le adjustments like that. Really fine-tuning to make sure that all those things [are] put in there to make it really easy to use, to make sure they’re working right, exactly how they should be.
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Those are some of the small adjustments we’re making, but they’re really, really important for when the customer is finally using it.” As team members made changes, Galante would get texts aler ng him to try it out on his prototype. He said this is the way they have to work. Speed is cri cal. In fact, working that way might even be a li le quicker in some aspects, Galante said. Relaying ideas, which may have required a presenta on previously, can be as simple as zipping texts back and forth. “It would have taken a li le bit of me,” Galante said. “Now that we’re so used to this really itera ve, quick communica on, [I] just get a text. Before, they’d have to prepare something, and now it’s like, ‘No, no, he’s there, he’s available, let’s just ask.’ “ While the home prototypes have been invaluable to refining the system, the true proving ground is the vehicle itself. Uconnect 5 appears to be passing that test with Galante’s children, ages 9 and 6. The youngsters jumped in a Jeep Grand Cherokee equipped with the prototype unit and learned the system within a few seconds. “I just put it in front of them, and they’re very curious. They were making pages and changing widgets and moving things around. I didn’t have to say a thing,” Galante said. “As soon as I saw that — I mean it was 30 seconds and they had their own screens built. I said to myself, ‘OK, I think we got something here.’ “ Galante’s mother got in on the act, too, and was able to pick up on the intricacies of the system. Working from home, he said, has yielded an unforeseen benefit. “Designers, when you’re more comfortable, when you’re more in your element, it’s a li le easier to be even more crea ve, come up with new ideas and do all those things,” he said. “A nice surprise of all this has been all of us designers are in our comfort zone. I’ve actually seen an explosion of crea vity that I didn’t expect.” Source: www.automo venews.com - Ar cle by Vince Bond Jr
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2020 2 02 0 M o opar p ar M ast aster er s G Gui ui ld O ffii cer s & Com Off Committee m i t t eess Officers: President Ͳ Susan McDaniel Ͳ Bill Luke CJD – Phoenix, AZ Vice President Ͳ Joe McBeth Ͳ Dallas DCJ – Dallas, TX Secretary Ͳ Cody Eckhardt Ͳ Larry Miller DCJR Ͳ Sandy, UT Treasurer Ͳ Don Cushing Ͳ Tasca Automotive Ͳ Johnston, RI Executive Committee Ͳ All Officers Including: Dan Hutton Ͳ Tom O’Brien DCJR Ͳ Greenwood, IN Mike Opperman Ͳ Baxter CDJR Ͳ Omaha, NE Alan Yancey Ͳ Hayes CDJ Ͳ Alto, GA Rick Monteiro Ͳ Jack Powell CJD – Escondido, CA Rick Cutaia Ͳ Rick Hendrick DCJR – Charleston, SC Paul Allred Ͳ Stateline CJD – Fort Mill, SC Steve Hofer – Park Chrysler Jeep – Burnsville, MN Guild Committees
Vendor Committees CDK Global Mick Padgeon Ͳ Fred Beans Auto Group Ͳ Doylestown, PA Dan Hutton Ͳ Tom O’Brien DCJR Ͳ Greenwood, IN (Chair) Paul Allred Ͳ Stateline CJD – Fort Mill, SC Joe McBeth Ͳ Dallas DCJ – Dallas, TX Reynolds & Reynolds Rick Cutaia Ͳ Rick Hendrick DCJR – Charleston, SC (Chair) Randy Rogers Ͳ Huffines CJDR Ͳ Plano, TX Kent Cogswell Ͳ Jack Phelan CDJR Ͳ Countryside. IL Alan Yancey Ͳ Hayes CDJ Ͳ Alto, GA OEConnection & Snap On Business Solutions Dan Hutton Ͳ Tom O’Brien CJD – Greenwood, IN Paul Allred Ͳ Stateline CJD – Fort Mill, SC Mike Opperman Ͳ Baxter CDJR Ͳ Omaha, NE (Chair) Cody Eckhardt Ͳ Larry Miller DCJR Ͳ Sandy, UT
Nada 2020 Planning Jill Vance Ͳ Avenue Event Group, LLC Finance Committee Susan McDaniel Ͳ Bill Luke CJD – Phoenix, AZ Don Cushing Ͳ Tasca Automotive Group Ͳ Johnston, RI Rick Cutaia Ͳ Rick Hendrick DCJR – Charleston, SC Newsletter/Website/Social Media Don Cushing Ͳ Tasca Automotive Group Ͳ Johnston, RI
AER Manufacturing Robert Chatwin Ͳ Larry Miller DCJR Ͳ Sandy, UT (Chair) Shane Birdyshaw Ͳ Benchmark CDJR Ͳ Birmingham, AL John Russo Ͳ Dallas DCJ Ͳ Dallas, TX Ted Hawkins Ͳ Cerritos Dodge Ͳ Cerritos. CA John Waltereit Ͳ Milosch’s Palace CDJR Ͳ Lake Orion, MI Jim Jaeger Ͳ Bosak Motors Ͳ Merrillville, IN (ALT) Vendor Chairmen Paul Allred Ͳ Stateline CJD Ͳ Fort Mill, SC Mike Opperman Ͳ Baxter CJD Ͳ Omaha, NE
The exchange of information by like-size dealers in a non-competitive environment
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