Toyota’s Last Olympic Hurrah? Chinese Car Software Ban? Gen-Z Works In Healthcare?

There’s less than 2 weeks left in July, and we’re already thinking about Toyota’s upcoming presence at the Olympics. Plus, we discuss if the US is poised to ban Chinese software in cars and the surprising places Gen-Z wants to work.

Show Notes with links

As the 2024 Paris Olympics are set to begin next Friday, Toyota is set to deploy 2,650  electric and fuel cell vehicles and 50 electric scooters to transport athletes, officials, volunteers, and spectators 

• In what may be their last year as exclusive mobility sponsor, Toyota will showcase 10 different applications of hydrogen fuel technology, including leasing hydrogen-powered city buses to Paris and supplying retrofitted coaches for Toyota's hospitality services. Over 1,000 Mirai hydrogen-powered vehicles will be used, with 500 for the official Paris 2024 Fleet. The Toyota Crown FCEV will be the marathon car, and a prototype FCEV Hilux will support equestrian events.
• This may be Toyota's final year under the $835 million deal with the IOC as reports indicate Toyota's dissatisfaction with how its funds were used by the IOC.
• More than 3 billion people tuned in to watch the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and viewership is expected to be higher in 2024.

The U.S. Commerce Department will propose new rules on connected vehicles next month, targeting software from China and other adversarial nations.

• New rules focus on key vehicle components and software management with an aim to ensure critical software is sourced from allied countries.
• Export Controls Chief Alan Estevez emphasized the security risks posed by foreign software in cars along with others hinting that the Biden animistation could take extreme action.
• The Chinese foreign ministry argues U.S. actions violate market principles stating Chinese manufactured vehicles are born in a fierce competitive market touting strong tech innovation.
• The Biden administration has proposed sharp hikes in tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and other goods that they expect to be in place by Aug. 1.
• Estevez stated, “A modern car has a lot of software in it. It's taking lots of pictures. It has a drive system. It's connected to your phone. It knows who you call. It knows where you go. It knows a lot about you.

Gen Z’s career aspirations are changing, with tech giants losing their allure. A National Society of High School Scholars survey of over 10,000 Gen Zers reveals the evolving preferences of America’s future elite professionals.

• Students prioritize companies that treat their workforce well, impacted by tech's harsh layoff practices while front-line worker heroism during the pandemic has made healthcare a top career choice.
• The top 10 are St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Mayo Clinic, Health Care Service Corp., Local hospitals, FBI, NASA, Google, Amazon, Apple, Disney
• Google dropped to No. 7, Amazon to No. 8, Tesla to No. 33, Instagram to No. 48, and Facebook to No. 94.
• The highest automotive intere

Hosts: Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier

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Transcript

Kyle Mountsier: 0:06

Nope, that's not it. We get it going. Let's go on a Thursday morning. It's July 18. Paul's in Moscow, not my scouts

Paul J Daly: 0:18

pronounced Moscow is going to the Olympics Chinese

Kyle Mountsier: 0:21

car software and Gen Z. Id they stopped. Weekly Gen Z conversation Z. I

Paul J Daly: 0:30

mean, I kind of feel like I do because I have Gen Z children. So every weekly Gen Z, I've been on a lot of Gen Z conversations lately. It is so weird being on West Coast time. I don't think I could I live in Pacific Time Zone, I would just feel like I was behind all the time. Like everybody else is doing something. Everybody

Kyle Mountsier: 0:51

else is halfway through their day. Like so weird. Many West Coast people that do like they just get their day started at six o'clock, just for the heck of it. Like everybody else is at nine o'clock and eight o'clock. So I'll just be here at six o'clock. And

Paul J Daly: 1:06

yeah, that makes that makes a ton of sense. Because I don't know, just you got to car businesses like moving. I mean, you think about how David long does it right where it's like 6am. And he's running all things use cars on Friday. Right? And just like he had been up. Ya know?

Kyle Mountsier: 1:23

Hey, Paul, I don't know, I think we thought about talking about this Monday, but we're on a golf course. And we totally forgot about it. But we have released a sneak peek that I don't even know if we have a graphic or anything like that for Nathan's probably he's about to kill me right now. But if you go to a soda con.com Oh, you can find Oh, look at there it is we got a little graphic, you can go to ASOTU con.com. Get a little sneak peek of the vibe that we're going to have next year. The dates are there, you can drop your email in there you will be if you drop your email in there, I don't care if you're on your email on our email list, we'll make sure that you're the first to know that something's happened and tickets are dropping hotels are announced all of that. So go to ASOTU con.com. Drop your email in there. You also get our daily email. If you don't already, you get a little sneak peek at the brand. And you'll be first in line to know exactly when

Paul J Daly: 2:26

I was like, What are you going to say? We did forget that because we were so excited about it last Friday, because we were like working. We got the designs in from, from actually the designer who has done all the ASOTU CON main aesthetics. He's he works for a big tech company now. But he's still like he's that head motion designer, but he's still hooks us up. And boy, did he come through for a soda con 25 It looks unlike anything else that we've ever done. And I've seen Yeah, and it just, it's it's amazing. Go check a look. You'll get the vibes and the energy. And yeah, I can't believe it. We're so excited about it on Friday, we could barely talk. We forgot. There's been so much. It's just been so much like disparate travel. We were in Atlanta. Now. I'm in Moscow, Idaho, and it's like the week is gone. The week has gone already. Oh hey, we're releasing dropping a new Auto Collabs. That's our other podcasts a little bit longer form drops. Today we're talking with Devin Daly, the CEO of impel who have recently just acquired outsell for $100 million, late last week talking about building AI authority in the automotive vertical. But we also talked about some of the beginnings of the company get to see a little side of Devon, if you don't know him or don't know, kind of where they've come from or why they're doing what they're doing. This podcast will give you a little insight into that. So check that out. Just go to any podcast platform or YouTube and search a SOTU. I'm sorry, a soda if you search a soda, you get all our podcasts, but the podcast title is Auto Collabs. Alright, let's get into some news into it. We've this is only a week away as the 2024 Paris Olympics begin next Friday in Paris. Toyota is set to deploy, get this 26 over 2600 Electric and fuel cell vehicles 50 electric scooters, they're going to be used to transport athletes, officials, volunteers, spectators, this may be their last year as the official mobility sponsor costs a lot of money. It's a huge activation. I mean, just think about what just think about what 2600 cars looks like. Like golly, just that alone. Why is that? Yeah. And they got to get all of those departments and have somebody responsible for them and it's unbelievable even just the logistics. Basically, they're trying to showcase 10 Different applications of hydrogen fuel cell technology, Evie technology, leasing. They're even hydrogen powered city buses, like really getting these things. They're going to retrofit It these things with Toyota is hot. It's it's just a lot of stuff at 1000 Unbelievable Morotai hydrogen powered vehicles remember those? Like there's a lot of talk around those in California this year right? They were cutting the price to try to like because the hydrogen plants were closing or the hydrogen fueling stations 500 cars for the official fleet. The FC the FC what's an FC fuel cell? Evie the helix it's a pickup Truckee? Yep. Is going to going to be supporting the equestrian events. So might be their final year $835 million deal. It's been so almost a billion dollar. Obviously almost 3 billion people tuned in last year. So it's like half of the world's population. Here's a quote from the manager of sports sponsorship marketing. It's without his name is Brock Cartlidge. He says this is truly the only time we have a global campaign across all distributors around the world. And dealerships in the US. Here's what ties back dealerships in the US. Also, we're going to get some love. Because there have been point of sale materials for salespeople to engage with customers at the dealership, they're going to have watch parties, and they're encouraging their dealer network to, quote, bring Paris to the dealerships. Look,

Kyle Mountsier: 6:13

this one right here is like, it is bump set, like softball pitch over there. If you are a Toyota dealership, and you are not planning something, anything, I don't know, a watch party, and it doesn't really matter. Like, where you Jersey Fridays or something like that, like, lean into this, you have probably the entire population already getting obliterated with Toyota stuff on the daily, and when they come into the showroom for you for them to feel like they're engulfed with that same interaction. And like, activations are like, I mean, shoot, you know, I'm thinking of like, barber or mentor, Toyota, the one we went to, it's like, they got the Plinko game like, it's like, all the Olympics games that you could do alongside of that, right like little games to increase engagement in the showroom or in service to like drive retention, drive loyalty drive, like the brand connection to what people already seeing, the opportunities are endless. I

Paul J Daly: 7:17

also feel like this, there's a lot of conversation and how dealers can reach into some minority buying segments. And the Olympics is a time and especially in the streaming world where you can get access to all the matches and all the events. This is a great opportunity to say, hey, if there is if there's a demographic, a minority buying segment, you want to like reach into further or cultivate relationships you already have, do a watch party around some event where their country is featured prominently. And I feel like oh, they'll never they'll never forget that. Right. And it's it's a time to celebrate. So lots of opportunities. I'm

Kyle Mountsier: 7:53

like, I just want to quit the podcast right now. My boyfriend, like I got ideas. I got ideas. I got ideas.

Paul J Daly: 8:00

So many so many, but either way it's I mean, I haven't watched the video. Would you watch the Olympics? All

Kyle Mountsier: 8:07

I mean, I'm like the guy that finds the badminton. I find the

Paul J Daly: 8:12

just love. Yeah, I

Kyle Mountsier: 8:13

love the little unique things. Yeah, like Yeah, it is the doctor in the basketball, that's fine and everything, but I like the little one offs that you never find breakdancing is going to be a part of it that you're you've got to I'm not even kidding you. Not even kidding you. Yeah, okay.

Paul J Daly: 8:31

I maybe maybe maybe, uh, maybe Summer Olympics in 2028. They'll have podcasting is an event. Where a in it's over.

Unknown: 8:43

All right, well, segue off of that. The US Commerce Department.

Paul J Daly: 8:49

Oh, we don't have a button okay.

Kyle Mountsier: 8:54

All the money, all the money. This

Paul J Daly: 8:56

is this is a little bit less fun but still international implications. The US Commerce Department will soon proposed new rules on connected vehicles early as next connected vehicles as early as next month. targeting specifically software from China and other what they would call adversarial nations new rules focus on key Vehicle Components software management with an aim to ensure that critical software is sourced from Allied countries. export controls chief Alan s. devez emphasize security risks posed by foreign software and cars, along with others, hinting that the Biden administration could take some level of what they are calling extreme action. The Chinese Foreign Ministry on the other hand argues us actions violate market principles stating Chinese manufactured vehicles are born in a fierce competitive market, touting strong tech innovation. Biden administration proposed SARF hikes on tariffs as we know on electric cars, Chinese electric vehicles and other goods and they expect these to be in place by August 1. I didn't realize they were coming back quickly. But less than 10 days from now. Estimated said a modern car has a lot of software in it, it's taking a lot of pictures that has a drive system, it's connected to your phone, it knows who you call, it knows where you go, it knows a lot about you. If that doesn't make you think twice, I don't know what will. Yeah,

Kyle Mountsier: 10:15

I mean, I'm glad that there's something coming for this, you know, obviously, all of these companies are repositioning as data companies. So it's going to come, you know, there's going to be a big head headwind, on any of these proposals. But from a consumer perspective, like cars are now equivalent to telecom at this point. And so you're gonna see auto manufacturing software side of the business, get the same regulations most likely that telecom sees. And so it's just, it's something that we're going to see more and more of as, as lawmakers start to get wind of all of the data the car has access to, you know, I get it, it thinks it kind of like slows down progress at some level. But also, it's probably very necessary, because the same things that phones have access to now cars have access to and probably in greater detail.

Paul J Daly: 11:09

I'm just waiting for the movie to come out. You know, where 10,000 EVs all of a sudden, just start doing doing whatever they want, and like converging on like Washington, DC, something like that. It's funny, it's funny to talk to. I was thinking about it last night, and I think you just think of EVs. But I guess I guess they just have a higher level of autonomy than ice vehicles do. I don't know if it's just because the way they start, right, like they just start moving, as opposed to like an engine firing up. But I guess it's all the same controls. Without a doubt when you start thinking of like, we know that Tesla, for instance, you know, gathers 1 billion frames of video every day. And you start thinking about that, like, yeah, they are like, kind of little surveillance vehicles, apps, right, that can that can connect to the internet, and that can move on their own What could possibly go wrong?

Kyle Mountsier: 12:07

What could go wrong?

Paul J Daly: 12:08

It's always the trade off, right? Like this level of security for giving up some level of privacy or freedom. And so it'll it will be I mean, this is a car it's always been like a small device, a phone, a television that has a camera, a PlayStation, and now it's a car, right? Yep, it's outside all the time connecting speak.

Kyle Mountsier: 12:28

Speaking of big tech segue. A news study seems shows that Gen Z's career aspirations may be changing with tech giants actually starting to lose their alert, a National Society of High School scholars survey of over 10,000 Gen Z years that's pretty good sample size that reveals the evolving preferences of Americans future elite professionals. Students are prioritizing companies that one treat their for workforce Well, today are impacted by Tech's harsh layoff practices while frontline worker heroism during the pandemic has made healthcare a top career choice. So the top 10 Places to Work listen to this. St. Jude's children Research Hospital, Mayo Clinic, Health Care Service Corp, local hospitals then the FBI, NASA. Well, Google, Amazon, Apple and Disney. Go Okay, Google actually dropped Amazon dropped, Tesla dropped to number 33. Instagram dropped the number 48 and Facebook dropped to 94. So some of these big tech companies not seeing those those top spots anymore like they have in previous generations. Here's the automotive top ones Tesla sitting in at number 33 just mentioned that Mercedes Benz at 39 Ford at 62 and Toyota at 79. It's also worth mentioning, we love this this is right right up the gut for us that over 75% of students are also interested in pursuing entrepreneurship at some point in their career. Christine Cruz Vergara from career matching matchmaking app handshake noted they're using their full time job as a safety net to make sure that they have steady income, that they're able to pay their bills and that they're able to save. So that mass layoffs thing happening in the tech world is definitely goes against the safety net persona, for sure. I

Paul J Daly: 14:28

mean, definitely is influenced I think by who is hiring and who is not. In the article it clicked through in the shownotes. There's the the writer was talking about back when they were in the same position when they back when they were younger, and finance a lot of people going into finance and then the Lehman Brothers thing happened. And then a lot of people change their perception because of the brand perception of the industry at large. Tech has obviously been the darling of like highly educated, highly talented. Students coming out of high school or coming out of college going to careers, that seems to be shifting. I am surprised about the healthcare, the healthcare ones being the tie or some people think that maybe because of the the heroism that was, you know, portrayed as during the COVID pandemic, seeing this as like an altruistic career. It's almost like The Few The Proud The Marines, like who wants to do this. It'll be interesting to see how this shakes out. I still think that even though there are some automotive manufacturers on there, I think there's still so much opportunity for the auto industry, especially large groups to start to scoop up some of this big talent. Because more and more we're having conversations around the auto industry, even at the retail level, needing tech savvy, finance savvy, process, savvy people coming into it. So I think as we make more of a space, we may actually move up on this list. Yeah.

Kyle Mountsier: 15:55

And it's a resilient industry that makes it through pandemics and, and recessions and all that and also doesn't see a massive amount of layoffs in the tech sector. So great opportunity, if we brand it, right,

Paul J Daly: 16:07

that's for sure. Yeah, they should watch the show. What's the show called?

Kyle Mountsier: 16:10

It's something like more than cars more than covers more than cars. They were all about being about more than cars. So whether you're creating a Olympics or you know, given Gen Z's jobs make it today about so much more than cars