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VW’s Non-Dealer Brand, Peloton Backpedals, CarGurus’ ‘Digital Deal’, McDonald’s Quits Russia

Author
ASOTU
Published
Mon 16 May 2022
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There is a lot to talk about this Monday as we survey the retail landscape across fast food, fitness, Auto OEM’s, and publicly traded auto retail including Vroom’s rightsizing and CarGurus new end to end offering for Dealers. 

  • McDonald’s is selling all of its stores in Russia
    • All stores have been closed since March and it has continued to pay its 60,000 employees
    • Will cost the company 1.4-1.6 Billion
    • It has been doing business there for over 30 years
  • VW Dealers didn’t like being surprised by the announcement of the new Scout
    • We talked about it last Friday and seemed to surprise a VW rep in the elevator
    • “On Friday, May 13, VW of America sales and marketing head Andrew Savvas sent a letter to the brand's 650 dealers, confirming that Scout will be an independent brand within VW Group and that they will have no claim on its products.”
  • Peloton keeps diving while in-person Planet Fitness has a big upswing 
    • $2.27 loss per share vs. the $0.83 expected 
      • Net losses widened to $757.1 million
      • Revenue lower than expected $964.3 million vs. $972.9 million expected.
      • Cash and equivalents for the quarter were down 22% year-over-year.
      • HOWEVER, less than 1% churn
    • Planet Fitness: 2022 Q1, almost all of its financial metrics increased YoY
      • Total revenue increased by 66.9% to $186.7 million.
      • same-store sales increased 15.9%.
      • Net income increased to $16.5 million from $5.6 million in the previous period. 
      • 37 new Planet Fitness stores opened Q1.
  • Vroom lays off 14% of its workforce (270), reprioritizes profitability over growth and appoints a new CEO
    • Named Thomas Shortt as CEO, former WalMart exec
  • CarGurus launches online retail platform 'Digital Deal' to provide end to end solution for Dealers
    • $249/mo per rooftop
    • Setup similar to dealer Digital Retailing tools
    • 50-70% of deposits taken on the tool complete purchase


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Join Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier every morning for the Automotive State of the Union podcast as they connect the dots across car dealerships, retail trends, emerging tech like AI, and cultural shifts—bringing clarity, speed, and people-first insight to automotive leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry.

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