Automotive State of The Union

Robots Still Need People, Gen Z Buys IRL, Tax Credit Relief

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Episode #1130: As we gear up for our NAMAD coverage in LasVegas, Paul and guest co-host Ben Hadley are digging into the IRS's EV tax credit extension, how Gen Z balances screens with store shelves, and why Hyundai's futuristic plant still counts on the human touch to get the job done right.

  • The IRS is giving EV buyers a little breathing room to secure the full $7,500 federal tax credit, shifting expectations just before a hard deadline set for the end of September.
    • Previously, buyers had to take delivery of a new EV by September 30 to qualify for the $7,500 tax credit.
    • The IRS now says a binding written contract and deposit by that date will secure the credit, even if delivery comes later.
    • This update helps ease the Q3 rush from buyers and dealers scrambling to meet the original deadline.
    • Automakers may now try to lock in future EV reservations as binding sales, but that could be risky for buyers.
    • IRS: “Taxpayer will be entitled to claim the credit… even if the vehicle is placed in service after September 30, 2025.”

  • Hyundai’s new $5.5 billion Georgia plant is a showcase of robotic innovation—but even with 750 robots on the floor, it’s the human touch that ensures each EV rolls out with quality and care.
    • The Ellabell plant features a 2-to-1 human-to-robot ratio—far lower than the 7-to-1 U.S. industry average.
    • Robots handle welding and material movement, while humans manage quality control and complex assembly.
    • CEO José Muñoz says the goal is not to replace humans, but to “maximize human potential.”
    • Hyundai has pledged to hire 8,500 workers by 2031 as part of a $2 billion state incentive deal.
    • “It makes them feel a little safer than just relying on some machine,” said track team leader Chico Murphy.

  • Gen Z may live online, but when it comes to shopping, the path to purchase often ends in-store. A new YouGov study shows this digital-native generation still values the physical retail experience.
    • 69% of Gen Z starts their buying journey online, but over half still browse in stores.
    • Discovery is mixed: 50% hear about new products through personal connections, 46% find them while shopping in-store.
    • 29% of Gen Z spot items online but buy them in-store, while 21% do the reverse.
    • Social media remains crucial—64% of Gen Z use it to discover products versus 44% of older adults.
    • “Retailers can’t afford to pick a side: Omnichannel is where the action is.”

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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Paul J Daly:

Oh, good morning. It is Tuesday, August 26 This is the automotive State of the Union. I'm Paul Jay Daly. I got my second co host of The Week teed up locked and loaded. Ben Hadley. Here we're going to talk about news and talk about some name ad and talk about some EVs and talk about some robots in factories. It's kind of a fun industry we're in. Like, imagine if we were, like, the paper industry, how boring that could be.

Ben Hadley:

Don't get me started on the paper industry.

Paul J Daly:

Really. You have thoughts on the paper industry. I mean, Dunder Mifflin, obviously, they

Ben Hadley:

didn't realize how much the paper industry meant to the state of Wisconsin.

Unknown:

Oh, you know, you know,

Paul J Daly:

I totally know I've been, I've been where you're talking about, and I very much understand Kimberly Clark in the history of Nina Wisconsin. Don't go. We'll talk about that. That'll be a deep dive episode. But by the way, fun fact, if you're walking around today and you're happy to be outside, or if you happen to be at Disney, or you're somewhere, and you see a manhole cover. I want you to look at the manhole cover, and there's going to be a city and a state on the manhole cover. And more often than not, that city and state is Neenah, Wisconsin, where most manhole covers are quite a few of them are manufactured, also home with the Berkshire Automotive Group. And there's your friend for a Tuesday. I point one out every time I'm walking with friends, like, Oh, I've been there. I've been to Nina.

Ben Hadley:

We did not get that part of the tour, but shout out. Bergstrom, yeah. Tim Bergstrom, God, he's a savant, the

Paul J Daly:

best. All right, we'll talk about that more. We have a number of things. It's wheels up this morning. By this afternoon, I will be in Las Vegas covering the 25th I think annual namad, annual members, meeting with my good friend Errol Bomar the third. Kyle is on vacation. Ben couldn't make it all. My co host chipped out on me, so I have Errol and I are going to rock the mic for three days in Las Vegas, covering podcast content, talking to OEMs, talking to dealers, talking about best practices, industry partners. So we hope that you can follow along with all of the content that we're gonna be putting out. That'll be the morning show. Also, you can look for a special podcast called name ad sessions. We will have those. We'll be releasing them in pretty steady order over the next week. So we hope you follow along and get all the best insights and the new things that are coming out. Name at is one of the best. Have you ever been there? Ben, they met anyone just thinking

Ben Hadley:

about it. I was just thinking about it, and I was about to ask you, I haven't been Oh,

Paul J Daly:

man, next year, next year's your year. Let me tell

Ben Hadley:

you like i There's only, there's three Filipinos in this industry,

Unknown:

and I know what are the other two.

Ben Hadley:

Uh, Carlito, yep, from La Fontaine. And, oh no, her name's killing me, from victory Automotive Group. Oh my gosh. I'll come to me in a

Paul J Daly:

second. I wonder if they're gonna be there, but you all need to show up. Then there's only three. I feel like we gotta bring our whole Yeah, it's the whole con nation, exactly. Yeah. No, you. I'll tell you what it is. It is definitely the highest dealer to industry partner ratio. In any event, in retail, auto and dealers who show up to name at are ready to learn. They're ready to try new things, which I think is one of the best kept secrets in the industry, if you haven't been to the conference, if you're an industry partner, like this is a place where dealers are like, tell me the new thing. I want to try it. Teach me. Let's do it. So we'll be there on the ground with them, so I'm looking forward to joining you. You all from there. And we're not going to talk about the ASOTU edge webinar, but we're having one, I guess I just talked about it. We're going to be talking about it every day pretty much for the next two weeks. But you can go to asotu.com and check out what that's all about. But we have some news to talk about today. I got all excited because I'm going to be with all my people later on. So you know, still gonna get we got news to talk about. Here's here's something that everyone's kind of been like on bated breath. There's been a big emergency, but maybe not so much. The IRS is giving EV buyers a little breathing room to secure the full $7,500 EV tax credit shifting expectations just before the hard deadline that was set for the end of September. Previously, buyers had to take delivery of the new EV by September 30 to qualify. However, the IRS is now saying you just need a binding written contract and a deposit by that date, even if delivery comes later. This obviously, is going to help ease the q3 rush from buyers and dealers scrambling to get the vehicle delivered by the 30th. The IRS says the taxpayer will be entitled to claim the credit, even if the vehicle is placed in service after September 30, 2025 so if you were rushing to buy that EV to get it delivered, I think everybody can calm down. What did we get the contract done? Do?

Ben Hadley:

Is there any like insight into the if this even worked, like, the what even very like, like, if I'm a manufacturer and I'm like, oh, there's this EV credit, great. Like, wouldn't I wouldn't the natural thing to be to increase the price a bit? You?

Paul J Daly:

Uh oh, to to offset the EV credit, because it's, I think that's what people the argument they've had when there have been like credits in the past to buy real estate, right? The market just adjusts to whatever the credit is, right? If the government's giving$10,000 towards the down payment of a new house, doesn't the market just adjust up $10,000 I don't think that's the same with the EVS, because I think the affordability issue has been in place since they came out, and now we're actually there was another story we didn't cover today, but we're starting to see, for the first time ever, EVs are wholesale cheaper than ice vehicles brand new, the cost of ownership has just

Ben Hadley:

gone below. You just took the where's that? My math man, because I'm like, you can drive like, a pretty sweet Tesla three for like 30 something. K, Oh, yeah. So the affordability thing didn't really ever pencil with me either. Well, I think

Paul J Daly:

it's actually it. What we got caught up in, though, is the fact that there was, like, this idea that these vehicles had more value than they did, when, in the end, the consumers, like, we're just going to buy what we see the value in. And so I don't think manufacturers ever had a chance to adjust up or down. It really, the market is dictating what people are willing to buy or not. There's another story about the jeep. Have you seen the jeep? Wagoneer s? It's the Jeeps. No, okay, so EV version, it's an EV, but it's not like big like the wagoneer is. It feels more like a model Y size. So Jeep Wagoneer x s, it has the equivalent of, like, 600 horsepower. It does the whole zero to 60 in three seconds thing. And it was like 65 grand. And Jeep is now like, there are reports of this across the country being marked down 28 grand off MSRP right now, whoa. So you can drive this car for in the 30s, which apparently is what people are willing to pay for a car of this size and of this drive train. So, you know, I think that everyone who wants to buy an EV, or has been, you know, curious to buy one, go do it, right? You have 3033, 34 days to go get this done. Get the EV tax credit, especially if you're leasing, which the majority of people are, apply the tax credit to the lease. And I Ben, I can't tell you how many people ask you what car they should buy? Do you tell them an EV, right now?

Ben Hadley:

Oh, 10 people, yeah, you because you're in the car

Paul J Daly:

business. So when you're in the car business, you always get the friends that are like, hey, what car should I buy? And you start asking all the questions, like, what size he was freaking what

Ben Hadley:

was the Acura ZDX, I think right now, yeah, was like, just sitting on a lot, they did a collab with GM on it. And that thing was, like, there was places you could lease it for like, $99

Unknown:

a month. And I was just like, like, three grand down. You want to just have, like, a spare car, you know, like, just, I know

Paul J Daly:

it's despite that, right? Despite that. You try to show people this, a lot of people are hesitant to lease that aren't used to leasing, and they just don't really calculate the like, well, actually a vehicle is, like, cost per mile, because even that used car that you think you're going to pay cash because you're listening to Dave Ramsey, right? Like, that's going to depreciate a lot more over the next three years than this EV is going to and so it's tough, but the bottom line is, if you're out there, this is the deal, the EV the next 30 days is the place to get it. And you don't have to take delivery. You just have to

Ben Hadley:

sign the contract. Exactly. I want

Paul J Daly:

to come up with a great segue, because we're talking about robots, but I don't have one, so I'm just going to say, speaking

Unknown:

of robots, segway, oh, this is a way you should have pro bro, bro. You should have had me do it okay, because then your all time streak of amazing segways wouldn't have. Nobody's accepting that's, that's a bad segue, right there. Speaking of robots,

Paul J Daly:

well, Hyundai's new$5.5 billion Georgia plant is a showcase of robotic innovation. But even with 750 robots on the floor, it's the human touch that is ensuring that each EV rolls out with quality and care. Basically, the Ella Bell plant features a two to one human to robot ratio, basically two humans to every robot, but that is far lower than the industry average. The industry average is seven humans to every robot, and this factory has two, only two humans to every robot, which is going to make that epic battle at the end, a lot easier for the robots to win. But robots handle welding, material movement and humans are managing quality control and some more complex assembly like some like wiring harness routing and some things that you just need the human touch to make sure you get right. CEO Jose Munoz says the goal is to not replace humans, but to quote, maximize human potential. They've pledged to hire 8500 workers by 2031 as part of their $2 billion state incentive deal. Track Team Leader Chico Murphy says it makes it makes everything feel a little safer than just relying on some machines, meaning the humans and the robot interaction. But if you saw the pictures miles, did you scroll through the pictures on this? So there are just so many pictures here. And if you go to the Wall Street Journal's page, the link in the article, these are all videos, and you can just watch the humans and the robots interacting. And it is very, very impressive. They have everything from like the big arm robots that you've seen to those little dog robots that walk around and measure things like they got them

Ben Hadley:

all. Oh man, first time in my life I've heard human to robot ratios

Unknown:

for myself, which is like, Oh, hey, yeah, their rate, their ratio of human to robot, is two to one, dude. Pretty soon you

Paul J Daly:

hear about that in like, an elementary school. Yeah,

Ben Hadley:

100% I genuinely mean, like, Okay, we're going back. You're totally right. This is the first day. Also, 4600 employees. Does that mean or no, 8500

Paul J Daly:

8500 by 2031, does that mean there's 17,000 robots without? Oh, no, no, wait, half. So it'd be 4000 Oh, yeah, 4000 robots. Yeah, 4001

Unknown:

insane. And that's absolutely,

Paul J Daly:

it's like, really, it kind of, have you, you've probably seen the movie. What's the one with wall E? You've seen that

Ben Hadley:

recently? Oh, okay, actually, like, like, the last six

Paul J Daly:

months. So if you've seen wall e, if you if you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about. There's the scene when they're on the spaceship, and all of these, like, random robots are just like, parading through the halls, like they're going a little berserk. And there's all different robots of shapes and sizes. That's kind sizes. That's kind of what this factory looks like. There's like the dog robots, there's the arm robots, there's the ones that the cars are sitting on, just like moving the body of the car around. And it's, I can't help but think Ben about all the conversations we were having over the last two and three years about the worker shortage because of birth rates. Remember all that? That conversation disappeared, actually overnight, seemingly,

Ben Hadley:

but now that makes sense. I mean, supplement it with with the robots, robots and AI, do you? Hey, I have a question for you. Okay, brand wise, do you think the consumer is going to prefer higher or lower human to robot ratios? Like, if the consumer

Paul J Daly:

is what it is, you know what I mean, like, it's kind of like a like a made in the USA, stamp is going to be like that means something to me. So like made by humans is gonna mean something to me.

Ben Hadley:

I've always wondered if made in China, if we imagine made in China meaning, like with humans, cheaper human labor, yep, actually becomes of a higher quality feel than made in robot land, like wherever robot land is. I

Paul J Daly:

mean that all has to do with whether or not disclosure is going to become mandatory. So like, I think some brands will see it. I think just like every time, like a brand might have an angle where it's like, this is handcrafted. This is made by humans. But I do think a lot of activities, like making a car, I think most people would probably be like, I'd rather have the robot do the welding, right, if you don't, if you're not, like, from a family of welders, that you're like, No one can do it, like a human can, right? Yeah? Like, there's an element where it's like, I kind of want a robot, like, making my pacemaker.

Ben Hadley:

Yeah, I think so. I think you're right. I I objectively think I want a robot made car. I just don't know how the rest of the I'm a weirdo, right? Like,

Paul J Daly:

I think this is where, like, the fit and finish in the human touch, to where the brand builds in the human touch. Like a lot of the future is going to be, how do, how do we scale the human element inside a business, inside manufacturing, inside delivery, how do we scale the human element to a point where it actually adds value to the transaction or to the product? And I don't think that's actually that's ever changed, but we are going to be faced with a new a new element, like, if I know something is written by a human, or a song is written by a human, it has more intrinsic value to me than if I know, like somebody typed in a thing on suno and it made up a

Ben Hadley:

song, 100% right? But yeah, effort equals meaning. Yeah,

Paul J Daly:

effort equals meaning. So I think maybe there'll be some new ways that that we maybe track and delineate what effort is that

Ben Hadley:

goes into it gonna be really tough, tough for the next generation to figure that out.

Paul J Daly:

One day, Ben, our children are going to look back on these podcasts and be like, You know what? Our grandpas, they ask some really good questions, like they had no idea to figure it out. Yeah, I hope they're still thinking critically about this stuff I really, really, really do, speaking of the young ones thinking critically, now that's a segue. Gen Z may live online, but when it comes to shopping, the path to purchase often ends in a store. A new YouGov study shows the digital, native generation still values the physical retail experience. 69% of Gen Z starts their buying journey online, but over half still browse in stores alongside the online stuff. Discovery is mixed. 50% hearing about new products through personal connections, and 46% finding them while shopping in. In a store. 29% of Gen Z spot items online, but then buy them in a store, while only 21% do the reverse, see them in the store and then buy them online, social media still remaining crucial, 64% of Gen Z using it to discover, discover products, versus 44% of older adults. Omnichannel is where the action is. And you know, according to the study, retailers can't afford to pick a side, so this, this one tracks for me,

Ben Hadley:

100% I look, I love, I'm not knocking on Carvana. But there's the old thing, I think in the CRM was 78% of people buy something totally different than they leave a lead on,

Unknown:

right, right? Well, and if

Ben Hadley:

you reverse, if you reverse that stat, right, it goes all right. So only 22% of people are fully confident in what they want to show that they're like, Yeah, deliver it like they could. That could even be a Carvana con, kind

Paul J Daly:

of so what are they doing? Are they just saying, deliver it anyway, even though they're not fully confident.

Ben Hadley:

So, I mean, I think the, I think the, there's 22% of America that's ready for just buy a car online and have it shipped, right? Yeah, I think the other 78% are like, I'm pretty sure. I'm pretty sure. But I kind of want to go feel it. I want to go touch it. I want to go do to go do the thing. Yeah, yeah. You know, it's funny. And this, also, this stat, doesn't surprise me at all, because, like, freaking if anybody's been so starved of human to human connection, it is that generation that has, like, lived online their entire

Paul J Daly:

lives that's so true. And then they went through the covid separation, they went through all of that stuff. And I'll tell you what, like, miles, who's actually producing the show right now? Gen Z er, we were, it was his birthday yesterday, and we're hanging out, and we're listening to Nirvana. It's on the it's like he got to take over the house's playlist. So on our, you know, on our, on our Sonos system. Now I'm like miles, you're the only one that successfully got us to, like, play Nirvana, like full volume in the living room, right? That's the only way that's ever happening. But it is funny to see how the the tendencies of Gen Z are going back to this more raw, authentic feel. And a lot of the stuff not just not just the interaction and the shopping, but also the music. And if you're ever wondering what Gen Z is out to go outside of Hollister in your local mall on a Saturday. And number one, you will see a line of dads outside, just like waiting by the railing in the mall, which I think is an amazing opportunity for Hollister to just treat them a little bit nice, and then they'll want to go to Hollister. But like, they like shopping in stores. And you know what they're buying, Ben, the same things we were buying when we were teenagers, painters, jeans,

Ben Hadley:

oh, my God, I saw someone whole UVM just came back into college, yep, the amount of Jenko jeans,

Paul J Daly:

Jenkins, painters, just giant. Yeah, I had all these things. I threw them out a long time ago.

Ben Hadley:

I used to be cool when I was 11. You can now,

Paul J Daly:

well, you you will be cool once again. Listen, thanks for joining us here. You know, we got 18 minutes into your day, but you have the rest of the day, the rest of the week, to go take care of some people. Regardless of what the robots are doing, the people are out there, serve the people. Everything else you'll figure out you.

People on this episode

Contributor

Kyle Mountsier

Host
Contributor

Paul J Daly

Host