0:00
/
0:00
AAH #704 - Honda Jumps Into the EV War
AAH #704 - Honda Jumps Into the EV War
0:00
0:00
0:00
0:00
About this episode
Honda is making significant strides in the EV market, with discussions led by Lance Wolfer, VP of Sales for Honda of America. The episode dives into Honda's growth, the introduction of new electric models like the Prologue and ZDX, and their strategy to retain loyal customers while attracting new buyers. The conversation also touches on Honda's hybrid success, production localization, and the impact of recent industry challenges, including supply chain issues and competition from other automakers. Insights into Honda's commitment to electrification and future plans provide a comprehensive look at the brand's evolving landscape.
Topics:
honda ev strategy
prologue and zdx
hybrid success
localization of production
market competition
supply chain challenges
customer loyalty
future electrification plans
Cars:
Cadillac Escalade
Cadillac Lyriq
Chevrolet Malibu
Chrysler Pacifica
Ford Bronco
Ford Taurus
Honda Accord
Honda Civic
Honda CR-V
Honda Odyssey
Honda Prologue
Hyundai Genesis
Jeep Wrangler
Toyota Prius
TOPICS: Honda PANEL: Lance Woelfer, Honda; Paul Waatti, AutoPacific; Gary Vasilash, shinymetalboxes.net; John McElroy, Autoline.tv
Filter:
|
Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Car
Honda Accord
"...g hybrid vehicle Speaker 6: in the United States, Accord was the best selling sedan. Speaker 6: Now with t..."
Car
Honda Crv
"...r hybrid sales last year, Speaker 6: where it was CRV was the best selling hybrid vehicle Speaker 6: in..."
Car
Honda Prologue
"...uest? Speaker 6: We expect seventy ish percent of Prologue and CDX byers Speaker 6: to be loyal Honted consu..."
Car
Honda Civic
"... than you are, John, and I'm driving a Speaker 3: Civic hybrid right now, I'm getting fifty miles per gal..."
Car
Toyota Prius
"... nineteen ninety nine, so you Speaker 3: beat the Prius. Everybody thinks Prius is the one. So Speaker 4:..."
Car
Chevrolet Malibu
"...ell, I mean GM, as they're leaving right now with Malibu, Speaker 7: the an EV is a good opportunity to co..."
Car
Honda Odyssey
"...You guys also continue with a minivan's how's the Odyssey Speaker 3: doing for you? Speaker 6: The sales th..."
Car
Ford Bronco
"... now. Ford Speaker 2: has hit a home run with the Bronco and where Speaker 2: I'm coming from, I've talked..."
Car
Jeep Wrangler
"...ker 2: into something that would compete with the Wrangler or the Bronco. Speaker 6: Well, I think we've bro..."
Car
Wrangler Rubicon
"...r 2: But you know, I'm thinking more extreme like rubicon trail Speaker 2: capable kind of vehicles. Is tha..."
Car
Cadillac Lyric
"...o get you know, I'll go get a Speaker 2: Cadillac Lyric, I'll go get a Hyundai Ionica five N Speaker 2: I..."
Car
Chrysler Pacifica
"...r hybrid is. And you know, you got the Speaker 7: pacifica hybrid, which is a plug in hybrid. But you know, ..."
Car
Hyundai Genesis
"...mpanies that does still do concepts Speaker 7: is Genesis, and they did a beautiful convertible concept as ..."
Car
Ford Taurus
"Speaker 4: You know. Speaker 2: Taurus knocked off the camera and the Accord to become S..."
Car
Cadillac Escalade
"...eaker 2: was good and we've got chief engineer of Escalade next Speaker 2: year or next next week, next week..."
Select text to request an explanation
Speaker 1: I'll dontline after hours. It's brought to you by bridge
Speaker 1: Stone Tires Solutions for your journey.
Speaker 2: Okay, Gary, lay it on me. I know you want something.
Speaker 2: Do you want one? Well, let's hear it all right.
Speaker 3: So, as as you know, World War two ended this Speaker 3: September of nineteen forty five.
Speaker 4: Okay, okay.
Speaker 3: A car company was established on July twenty fifth, nineteen Speaker 3: forty five, and had production operations in the Willow Run plant.
Speaker 5: WHOA, so think about this. The war is still going on.
Speaker 3: This company is established and there that's where they.
Speaker 2: So I was going to guess, Crosley, It's not Crosley Speaker 2: that you stumped me. You guys have any idea?
Speaker 3: I no.
Speaker 2: Kaiser Fraser Corporation very interesting Kaiser.
Speaker 3: So the interesting thing is is so, so you got Speaker 3: two guys, Henry Kaiser and Joseph Fraser, and they start Speaker 3: this company in nineteen forty five, and then they have Speaker 3: a falling out in nineteen fifty one. So Fraser leaves
Speaker 3: it says the hell then I'm go do something else.
Speaker 3: So then it became the Kaiser Motor Car Company.
Speaker 2: So, and by the way, they built the Liberty ships Speaker 2: during the Second.
Speaker 3: World of War, and in nineteen fifty three Kaiser bought Speaker 3: Willie's Overland correct and so then in nineteen fifty six Speaker 3: they you know, they had a line of sedans that Speaker 3: that Kaiser was building. And then they said in fifty six,
Speaker 3: just gonna do the utes, right, this is all.
Speaker 4: We're gonna do.
Speaker 3: So in nineteen seventy the Kaiser Jeep Corporation was purchased Speaker 3: from American Motors. So Kaiser Jeep was sold to American Motors,
Speaker 3: and then American Motors of course, was sold to Chrysler Speaker 3: in nineteen eighty seven.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Kaiser, by the way, he started building jeeps in Argentina Speaker 2: probably in the nineteen fifties, in the nineteen sixties for sure, Speaker 2: and uh yeah it was a complete They were jeeps, Speaker 2: but they were known as Kaiser's and so.
Speaker 5: Bar best for everybody you can get.
Speaker 2: Yeah, now you know that.
Speaker 3: But you know, you guys are probably bored as hell.
Speaker 5: So let's get out of the show.
Speaker 2: Let's get on with show and tell everybody we got Speaker 2: Lance Wolfer here, he's the vice president of sales for Speaker 2: Honda of America. American Honda, American Honda. Okay, we got
Speaker 2: Paul WADDI back from out of Pacific. Great to have
Speaker 2: you here, Ben, nice to.
Speaker 5: Be back, so great to be here.
Speaker 2: Let's talk Honda, Let's talk rails. You guys outsold Stilantis
Speaker 2: last month. Now, part of that talks to issues at Stilantis.
Speaker 2: But man, you guys are roaring COVID. You ran into
Speaker 2: all kinds of production problems, right, I mean, sales cratered Speaker 2: and looks like you're roaring back right now.
Speaker 6: Well, last year was a great year for us. We
Speaker 6: had tremendous growth out pac industry, and this year that's Speaker 6: continuing in a little bit more modest space. But yeah,
Speaker 6: we've outperformed the industry with about eleven percent growth for Speaker 6: the corporation overall. So it's just been strong here, continues
Speaker 6: to be and we foresee it continuing.
Speaker 2: You got the right allocation of all the products you need?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean really right now, we're focused on the Speaker 6: right allocation. Specifically, we want to make sure that dealers
Speaker 6: have a great supply, but we don't want to over Speaker 6: supply the market. We want to make sure we're about
Speaker 6: a thirty days supply for our dealers. So when a
Speaker 6: customer comes into a dealership, they've got the availability to Speaker 6: be able to meet their needs. But we're not in
Speaker 6: a position where there's a huge amount of vehicles now Speaker 6: going to ninety one hundred days, right, yeah, thirty days Speaker 6: you know on ground is a great supply for a Speaker 6: Honda ACURR dealership.
Speaker 2: One other quick this CDK cyber hatch er that shut Speaker 2: down so many dealerships. What was the impact on you guys, Well, it.
Speaker 4: Was industry wide and we were similar to everyone else where.
Speaker 6: It impacted dealer's immediate ability to have the normal through Speaker 6: put they would you know, they had to transact a Speaker 6: little bit differently as they went back to different tools, Speaker 6: so they were using their CRM for you know, most Speaker 6: of their activity at the dealership. There's a lot of
Speaker 6: ways that they can still conduct that part of the business, Speaker 6: like with us reporting a sale or working with the Speaker 6: finance division. So they just had to make the adjustment
Speaker 6: to be able to do it, you know, through the Speaker 6: other systems that we have available to them. But it
Speaker 6: was significant initially for a couple of days certainly to Speaker 6: the dealers, and by the end of the month's pretty Speaker 6: much full recovery in their ability to do business.
Speaker 4: But it continues to recover.
Speaker 3: You know, it's interesting you talk about vehicles that are Speaker 3: available in the market, and I think that I mean, Speaker 3: I've covered Honda for a long time, and even I Speaker 3: was surprised when I looked and saw that the Cars Speaker 3: dot Com twenty four American Made Index we at Jenny Speaker 3: Neewan on the show off cars dot Com that Honda Speaker 3: had three vehicles in the top ten most American made vehicles.
Speaker 5: You tied with Tesla, and they're really surprising.
Speaker 3: Part to me is that there was nothing from General Speaker 3: Motors and there was nothing import in the top ten, Speaker 3: and that Honda actually had the most in the top Speaker 3: twenty of any I'm six if I remember nine Honda Speaker 3: in accurate models in the top twenty.
Speaker 2: So remember there is accurate.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, so seventy percent of Honda vehicles and Speaker 3: one hundred percent of accurate vehicles sold in the US, Speaker 3: and twenty three were built in the United States. I
Speaker 3: think that that is something that sometimes doesn't get a Speaker 3: sufficient amount of attention. You guys have really really focused
Speaker 3: on this market and tailoring vehicles to the interests of Speaker 3: the market.
Speaker 6: Well, yeah, the North American market is big for hont Speaker 6: It's an important part of our business. But overall, we
Speaker 6: work to localize our production and source everything as much Speaker 6: as possible in the local areas as far as it Speaker 6: makes sense.
Speaker 4: So that gives us really a good connection to.
Speaker 6: The community we're building where we sell cars, and has Speaker 6: been successful for us really in the United States particular.
Speaker 6: But yeah, we are building a lot of vehicles in Speaker 6: North America right now. Almost everything is built in North
Speaker 6: America today, and.
Speaker 7: More than ever right now, as we're moving towards more Speaker 7: evs and electrification, localized production is probably more important than Speaker 7: ever and you guys are well positioned with a good Speaker 7: footprint already.
Speaker 4: Yeah, i'd agree with that.
Speaker 6: I mean, certainly as we transition to electrication, it's continuing Speaker 6: to be part of our business. We've recently announced investments
Speaker 6: in both Canada and our EV hub and Ohio and Speaker 6: making sure that you know, we're positioned to transition successfully.
Speaker 6: So localization is a big.
Speaker 4: Part of that.
Speaker 2: Let's talk more about EV's You got the prologue. It
Speaker 2: is the lineup right now. In fact, i'm test driving one.
Speaker 2: It's out in the parking lot here at the studio.
Speaker 2: But tell us that, you know, what are your expectations, Speaker 2: what are your customers asking for fill in the blank.
Speaker 6: Well, you know, we've seen Honda Virus transition really effectively Speaker 6: to the hybrids that we've had in the marketplace for Speaker 6: quite some time, but really escalated our hybrid sales last year, Speaker 6: where it was CRV was the best selling hybrid vehicle Speaker 6: in the United States, Accord was the best selling sedan.
Speaker 6: Now with the recent launch of both the prolog and Speaker 6: the ZDX really meets the needs of our customers who Speaker 6: have been transitioning to electrification or wanting.
Speaker 4: To transition to electrification.
Speaker 6: So our expectation is that we're going to be able Speaker 6: to keep loyal Hontab buyers in the brand and anybody Speaker 6: who's ready to transition to electrification. We've got products that
Speaker 6: really are strong competitors at the marketplace.
Speaker 2: I've seen sales targets of forty thousand Prologus is that Speaker 2: this year or what period of time, Well.
Speaker 6: You know, the launch really started is ramping up now, Speaker 6: so I think we can get to that level of Speaker 6: sales and production soon. As far as what our number
Speaker 6: is for the year, forty thousands, you know what we Speaker 6: could do in a twelve month period, certainly, and I Speaker 6: think as we saw when the launch was really started Speaker 6: supplying dealer strongly over the last couple of months where Speaker 6: they've got a good mix and supply of vehicles specifically.
Speaker 6: Now we're seeing sales ramp up pretty significantly.
Speaker 2: Do you see that as bringing on being you know, Speaker 2: aggrigative if through such a word aggregating And here's what Speaker 2: I'm trying to say. Sure, Mary Barr said, fifty six
Speaker 2: percent of EV buyers are new to GM. Interesting, do
Speaker 2: you think that you're going to get that kind of Speaker 2: a conquest?
Speaker 6: We expect seventy ish percent of Prologue and CDX byers Speaker 6: to be loyal Honted consumers. It is an opportunity for
Speaker 6: us to bring new buyers into the brand and thirty Speaker 6: percent maybe conquest buyers. But our first thought is we
Speaker 6: want to make sure that Honda loyalists have an opportunity Speaker 6: to you know, find it EV within the brand. But
Speaker 6: conquest is a significant part of the sales, but HANT Speaker 6: is more of a seventy percent forecast.
Speaker 2: Got it? And have your customers been asking for EV's
Speaker 2: I mean you're kind of late to the party, you know, Speaker 2: not terribly late, but others are way out there in Speaker 2: front of you.
Speaker 6: So we've approached it as a marathon, not a sprint, Speaker 6: and hybrids have been a really important part of our transition, Speaker 6: and you know, bringing these cars to market now with Speaker 6: more coming soon that are going to be utilizing some Speaker 6: of that production, like the EV hub that I was Speaker 6: talking about in Ohio, I think we're actually in a Speaker 6: great place for our consumers. And yes, they've been asking
Speaker 6: for them, and I think we came out with the Speaker 6: right vehicles at the right time.
Speaker 3: So to the point of hybrids, which I'm a bigger Speaker 3: fan of than you are, John, and I'm driving a Speaker 3: Civic hybrid right now, I'm getting fifty miles per gallon Speaker 3: and wondering why anybody would think they need anything else.
Speaker 3: So Honda actually had the first hybrids available in the Speaker 3: United States, the Insight, in nineteen ninety nine, so you Speaker 3: beat the Prius. Everybody thinks Prius is the one. So
Speaker 3: are you at all surprised at the shift in the Speaker 3: market that there seems to be less overall interest in Speaker 3: evs than there had thought there would be, and that Speaker 3: hybrids are really coming back in a very strong way.
Speaker 6: No, because when you look at what we had prepared for, Speaker 6: which was fifty percent of our CRV and A cord Speaker 6: production actually a little more than that, and our sales Speaker 6: are hybrid, So I think we were prepared for this.
Speaker 6: And when you look at the Civic Hybrid that's launching Speaker 6: now just hitting dealerships today, and then the what do Speaker 6: I think of the hatchback will be coming out the Speaker 6: next couple of months, it's really fitting into our plans perfectly.
Speaker 3: Actually, Man, those are great cards.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you're ding and the.
Speaker 3: So what is your strategy to get to that fifty Speaker 3: mix is?
Speaker 7: I mean, it seems pretty clear that you guys, are Speaker 7: you know, putting where the volume is, you're giving the Speaker 7: hybrids as a standard. Are your customers actually asking for
Speaker 7: the hybrids or are.
Speaker 4: You absolutely Yeah, we're seeing a lot of demand for Speaker 4: the hybrid. It's generally the higher.
Speaker 6: End trims within those models, and we're saying the performance, Speaker 6: the styling, and the gas mileage really is meeting customer needs.
Speaker 6: So there's a lot of demands for our hybrids. So
Speaker 6: that makes it fifty percent is really about right.
Speaker 2: You know, if you go back fifteen years or so ago, Speaker 2: there was a lot of confusion in the public's mind, Speaker 2: the general public's mind about hybrids and they don't understand it.
Speaker 2: Has that gone away and this is now why you're Speaker 2: seeing so much demand.
Speaker 6: I think, yeah, absolutely, there's a better understanding of what Speaker 6: a hybrid is and brings to the table, and I Speaker 6: think now that they're starting to really impact performance.
Speaker 4: To the vehicle as well. The most driving.
Speaker 6: It's got about two hundred and thirty foot pounds thirty Speaker 6: two foot pounds of torque with two hundred horsepower. This
Speaker 6: is an amazing performance in this vehicle and it gets Speaker 6: fifty miles to the gallon. So they're bringing more to
Speaker 6: the table than ever before. And I think it really
Speaker 6: creates an opportunity form to meet people's needs.
Speaker 2: Can you get the pricing you need to pay for Speaker 2: the extra hardware and it goes into a hybrid.
Speaker 6: Yeah, people who are stepping up to make the decision.
Speaker 6: I mean there's more to it than just being a hybrid, Speaker 6: and a lot of cases easier as they said, the Speaker 6: higher end trims, and absolutely consumers are stepping up to Speaker 6: the you know, higher end trims that include the hybrid.
Speaker 3: So earlier this month, you guys started doing something that Speaker 3: is rather unusual in the industry. There aren't very many
Speaker 3: companies doing it. You're offering a fuel cell powered vehicle.
Speaker 3: You have the CRV and CRV E colon f c V. Yeah,
Speaker 3: pretty long title in there.
Speaker 5: So talk to us about that. I mean, what's the decision.
Speaker 3: You guys again have been doing lots with hydrogen over Speaker 3: the years and offering it to the market. This isn't
Speaker 3: something you know that this is first rodeo that you've Speaker 3: been in, but it seems to have gone away and Speaker 3: now it's coming back.
Speaker 6: Well, we've been pursuing it, as you mentioned, quite some time, Speaker 6: and most recently. I think the clarity is where we
Speaker 6: had been spending our time putting that in the market Speaker 6: and learning, and I think this is just another opportunity Speaker 6: for us to learn more about that technology and really Speaker 6: work with consumers to find out what fits their needs Speaker 6: and pursue multiple towards zero emissions. You know, BEV is
Speaker 6: obviously something that drives towards zero emissions, and our goal Speaker 6: is to get to zero missions by twenty forty and Speaker 6: be net carbon neutral by twenty fifty as a global corporation, Speaker 6: so there could be definitely an opportunity for fuel Seal Speaker 6: to pay play a role in that. So we can
Speaker 6: centered it misspeaking, But I mean to say we're continuing Speaker 6: to just invest and pursue that technology as well.
Speaker 2: Lance there's a massive tax credit too, right, rebate from Speaker 2: the government for getting a fuel cell vehicle. Isn't it
Speaker 2: something crazy like thirty five thousand dollars?
Speaker 4: It may be. I actually can't answer that question because
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no, it Well, look, we know this is Speaker 2: going to be very low volume ergo of the costs Speaker 2: are going to be very high because there's no scale Speaker 2: to it, So there needs to be a big incentive Speaker 2: to get people to try these things. So I know
Speaker 2: it's a big incentive. I don't know the number, right,
Speaker 2: I don't.
Speaker 6: Know the details of it, but I know that there's Speaker 6: just an optunity for us to continue to identify ways Speaker 6: that we can meet consumer needs and look at various Speaker 6: technologies as we grow the business, So those investments make sense.
Speaker 2: You know, you've mentioned the Accord and the Civic have.
Speaker 2: Has the market share for Sedan's passenger sedans bottomed out Speaker 2: in the US market? You know, we've seen a huge
Speaker 2: fall off the cliff in the last decade and now Speaker 2: looks to me like they've reached the floor.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and we're all in on Citayans that have continued Speaker 6: to be with the Civic and the Accord, and I Speaker 6: think from a market perspective, yeah, there's an opportunity. I
Speaker 6: think that we can grow that business. I don't know
Speaker 6: if it's reached a bottom or not, you know when Speaker 6: you think about the overall industry, But for Honda, there's Speaker 6: continues to be potential there. We sell a significant number
Speaker 6: of Accords. It's a big part of our business, and
Speaker 6: with the addition of the hybrid to the Civic, we Speaker 6: can continue to expand it as we go forward. But
Speaker 6: our sales of that model are pretty significant still. It's
Speaker 6: a couple hundred thousand Civic a year, so yeah, they're Speaker 6: through part of our business.
Speaker 2: There's what maybe three companies Toyota, Honda, Hondi, Kia as Speaker 2: a group that that have stayed committed to that. But
Speaker 2: in the industry, do you think do you have any Speaker 2: sense if it's.
Speaker 4: I don't know what the industry will do on it.
Speaker 4: I don't know what they see.
Speaker 6: I think maybe gas prices might make it a more Speaker 6: attractive option for more customers than has been recently.
Speaker 4: But for Honda, there's absolutely room for us to continue.
Speaker 6: And support the accord and the CRV industry wise, I Speaker 6: think that's possible.
Speaker 3: But last tundred and ninety eight thousand the cords and Speaker 3: two hundred thousand civics, and it's like a nice business Speaker 3: to have.
Speaker 5: Yeah, there's those companies that don't really wish they had Speaker 5: some of that.
Speaker 4: And we're growing civic this year. As I mentioned, there's.
Speaker 7: Also that theory that you know, there might be a Speaker 7: revival of sedans in some way with the move towards Speaker 7: electrification because of the you know, they're a lot more slippery, Speaker 7: you can get a lot more range out of you know, Speaker 7: a similar sized vehicle, and so we see an opportunity Speaker 7: for some automakers to maybe reintroduce some dands later down Speaker 7: the road that may have gotten out earlier.
Speaker 2: Oh nokodding, Who do you think?
Speaker 7: Well, I mean GM, as they're leaving right now with Malibu, Speaker 7: the an EV is a good opportunity to come back with. Yeah,
Speaker 7: I think overall in the industry, with considering that you know, Speaker 7: you can get you know, a decent size package on Speaker 7: the interior and lots of cargo room, it could make Speaker 7: more sense in an EV application versus traditional ice to edans.
Speaker 3: You guys also continue with a minivan's how's the Odyssey Speaker 3: doing for you?
Speaker 6: The sales throughput on that vehicle has been strong and Speaker 6: the days supplies remained pretty low actually, so there's good Speaker 6: demand for it and we see continued potential in that Speaker 6: part of the market.
Speaker 4: Odyssey is doing great.
Speaker 3: So there wasn't a situation where we're younger generations as Speaker 3: they could get older say oh, you know, I grew Speaker 3: up in that minivan, I got to get something else.
Speaker 6: Well, I mean, I think there's been some transition from Speaker 6: minivan to SUVs that we've seen that market grow, but Speaker 6: it's continued to be a segment where it's supporting us Speaker 6: with its seventy eighty thousand sales a year, pretty significant Speaker 6: and a strong part of the market.
Speaker 4: So it's great for us.
Speaker 2: Are you looking at any opportunity for heavy duty off Speaker 2: road performance? I mean, Jeep has made a boatload of money,
Speaker 2: although they're running into some sales issues right now. Ford
Speaker 2: has hit a home run with the Bronco and where Speaker 2: I'm coming from, I've talked to some heavy duty off Speaker 2: road customers and they're like, why don't why don't Jeep Speaker 2: go out and buy.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 2: What am I trying to say? The like the side
Speaker 2: by side or dirt bikes? You know, why don't they
Speaker 2: have like a range extension of the Jeep line or Speaker 2: maybe Ford with the Bronco. You guys make side by side,
Speaker 2: you make dirt bikes, you know, any thoughts of getting Speaker 2: into something that would compete with the Wrangler or the Bronco.
Speaker 6: Well, I think we've brought to market some recent trail Speaker 6: sports in both the Passport and in the Pilot in particular, Speaker 6: as well as the Ridge Line that have enhanced the Speaker 6: off road capabilities of our vehicles, and I think really Speaker 6: done well for us. We see a significant portion of
Speaker 6: the Pilot right now his trailsport and all those models.
Speaker 6: It's had an impact and they're fun to drive, they're rugged, Speaker 6: and consumers are loving them.
Speaker 2: But you know, I'm thinking more extreme like rubicon trail Speaker 2: capable kind of vehicles. Is that something that Honda would
Speaker 2: look at.
Speaker 6: I'm sure we'd look at it. I can't get into
Speaker 6: future product. Yeah, yeah, but I hear you, and that's
Speaker 6: certainly a part of the market that's interesting.
Speaker 2: Okay, and pickups, you've done fairly consistent work or sales Speaker 2: with the ridge.
Speaker 4: Line the best year ever last year, is that? Right? Yeah?
Speaker 2: So where can you take that truck? Where's more up
Speaker 2: for the ridge Line?
Speaker 6: Well, the ridge Line is doing a great job of Speaker 6: giving loyal Honted customers an opportunity. From a truck standpoint,
Speaker 6: I think that it really fits in the marketplace to Speaker 6: make sure that we can keep Hanta customers focused on Speaker 6: driving hot a vehicle. So right now, it's really I
Speaker 6: think at a great volume point for us at that Speaker 6: fifty eighth thousand level where we could take it. I mean,
Speaker 6: there's certainly, you know, opportunity in every model to grow, Speaker 6: and there's opportunity there, but really trail sport, I think Speaker 6: gives us an opportunity to enhance that vehicle and the Speaker 6: people that would be interested in it, and we could Speaker 6: grow that part of that business.
Speaker 4: But Ridgelighte's really doing a great job for us.
Speaker 3: So what's the nature of a person who buys a Speaker 3: ridge Line rather than buying one of the crossovers.
Speaker 6: I think that you know where we see Honda buyers Speaker 6: gravitate to the ridge line often as somebody who's got Speaker 6: a car in their driveway. A ridge line is an
Speaker 6: option instead of an suv or you see a lot Speaker 6: of people who have SUVs have a truck because it's Speaker 6: still easier to haul stuff around with a ridge line, Speaker 6: throw something in the back, you know, put a you know, Speaker 6: a load of bark dust in the back. I don't
Speaker 6: know if they call it that here, but from the Speaker 6: Pacific Northwest as what we call mulch. But you know,
Speaker 6: really just the versatility of having a truck so and Speaker 6: a lot of people in a lot of the parts Speaker 6: of the country really look forward to that.
Speaker 3: So you also have Accurate under your pterview absolutely and Speaker 3: tell us about how that's doing.
Speaker 4: Accura is doing great.
Speaker 6: In fact, the second quarter of this year we're up Speaker 6: about eleven percent over the first quarter, and we continue Speaker 6: to build momentum with that brand this year and again overall, Speaker 6: we're looking to be up about ten percent for American Speaker 6: handa and Accurate is going to be about one hundred Speaker 6: and fifty thousand units this year and Honda somewhere between Speaker 6: one point two to one point three million units. So
Speaker 6: it's a big part of our business and really a Speaker 6: great luxury.
Speaker 4: Brand for us.
Speaker 2: Lance where do you see the car market going? There
Speaker 2: was a lot of hope at the end of last Speaker 2: year that we would hit sixteen million, And every time Speaker 2: I see a sales forecast, they're shaving, they're shaven numbers Speaker 2: off at I think the CDK hack probably really hurt Speaker 2: June sales, that the sarrow was a lot lower. How
Speaker 2: do you see the second half of the year going well, I.
Speaker 6: Think we'll recover most, if not all, of the impact Speaker 6: of CDK. If somebody needs a vehicle, they're going to
Speaker 6: find a way to get one. Fifteen to five to
Speaker 6: sixteen million is our forecast for the year, in line Speaker 6: with most of the analyst predictions. It seems to me
Speaker 6: to be pacing Rent and Liab.
Speaker 2: It does, but that's a little bit weaker than what Speaker 2: everyone thought.
Speaker 4: It's in line with what we were thinking for the year.
Speaker 2: I think, yeah, Paul, you guys must make forecast on Speaker 2: it too. Well.
Speaker 7: Yeah, so we were I think at the beginning of Speaker 7: the year. I think we were at fifteen eight and
Speaker 7: I think we're dropping down now. We're in the middle
Speaker 7: of doing our Q three right now forecasts, so I'm Speaker 7: not exactly sure where we're going to end up, but Speaker 7: it's going to be less than what we had predicted earlier.
Speaker 2: In the year, so the market's a little bit softer.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean we're round pacing the industry, so I'm Speaker 6: keeping an eye on that. So it makes me pretty confident.
Speaker 3: So I mean our value in affordability sort of the Speaker 3: things that are characteristics that bring people to Honda in Speaker 3: which allow you guys to have this market that you're experiencing.
Speaker 4: Now, that may be a good way to put it.
Speaker 4: I mean, we really think Honda into accurate.
Speaker 6: You know, we do a great job of making sure Speaker 6: we've got what a customer is looking for in the vehicle, Speaker 6: and we focus on bringing it to market at a Speaker 6: price that you know, is affordable to the consumer it Speaker 6: meets their needs. We also will look at, you know,
Speaker 6: what we've got from a trim lineup and a model lineup.
Speaker 6: So and you take a look at our hybrid strategy Speaker 6: where that's fifty percent of a cord and CRV that Speaker 6: means fifty percent of petrol and those are generally lower price.
Speaker 6: As you were asking about, you know, our customers willing Speaker 6: to make that investment to get a hybrid. Some customers
Speaker 6: are looking for that traditional or a lower payment, and Speaker 6: so we've got a mix of both that I think Speaker 6: gives us the right position in the marketplace.
Speaker 4: I think that works for us. So yeah, apparently it
Speaker 4: does that.
Speaker 2: Motor racing, do you pay much attention to that on Speaker 2: the sale side? And I'm just curious, you know, Honda's
Speaker 2: commitment to IndyCar. It had sort of suggested that it
Speaker 2: might not be getting not continuing in the series in Speaker 2: the future unless you could find another engine manufacturer.
Speaker 6: I don't have any news to make there. You know
Speaker 6: that you'd have to talk to Honda Racing Corporation or Speaker 6: you know, pr folks about that. But I'll tell you
Speaker 6: that I'm excited about F one IndyCar. I'm a big fan,
Speaker 6: but I don't have any news to make there.
Speaker 2: Okay, So when on Sundays or sell on Monday, you Speaker 2: think that's still there or is it a bit more Speaker 2: subtle than that.
Speaker 4: It's more subtle than that. You know.
Speaker 6: I've always been a racing fan, but you know, now Speaker 6: I've gotten really a F one probably over the last five, six, Speaker 6: seven years, and I think we see a lot of Speaker 6: the US market getting excited about it, and I've had Speaker 6: an opportunity to go to a couple of races. I
Speaker 6: think it generates excitement overall. But yeah, I don't think
Speaker 6: it's a win on Sunday sell on Monday. I think
Speaker 6: it's create positive momentum and excitement for the brand and Speaker 6: we get a.
Speaker 4: Lot out of it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, it's interesting to see Honda really re up
Speaker 2: its commitment to f one with the next generation of Speaker 2: power chain that's coming.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's exciting.
Speaker 3: In terms of the act of selling a vehicle. I mean,
Speaker 3: there had been some discussion that more would be shifting Speaker 3: to online sales and less reliance on dealership models. Where
Speaker 3: is Honda on that.
Speaker 6: Well, I think the consumer sets the pace for how Speaker 6: many cars are going to be sold online versus you know, Speaker 6: the traditional method.
Speaker 4: But you know, we're prepared.
Speaker 6: If a customer wants to buy a car online, they Speaker 6: can do that. It's through a dealership, but we're working
Speaker 6: to make sure that our dealers are prepared to meet Speaker 6: a customer's need.
Speaker 4: So we've got the ability to do that when appropriate.
Speaker 4: So it's really a pay set by the consumer.
Speaker 6: But I think it's something that you've got to be Speaker 6: involved in and you've got to be prepared for because Speaker 6: more and more consumers are going to be interested in Speaker 6: pursuing that ability to buy that way, so.
Speaker 5: Build to order.
Speaker 2: There was top when COVID hit, when you couldn't go Speaker 2: to dealerships in that sure that there was a big Speaker 2: increase in direct orders rather than buying off the lot Speaker 2: because it wasn't much to buy off the lot. Right,
Speaker 2: has that changed at all? Are people ordering more cars?
Speaker 2: Are just buying what's available or.
Speaker 6: Seeing more pre sold units where consumers may be buying Speaker 6: into the dealer's inventory than we saw before COVID. But
Speaker 6: it was certainly at a higher level in COVID because Speaker 6: there just wasn't any availability.
Speaker 4: You had to wait for a vehicle.
Speaker 6: But we are seeing more of a tendency for consumers Speaker 6: to be able to wait for the color of their choice, Speaker 6: the trim of their choice, whatever matches their needs. And
Speaker 6: I think as you look at your question about buying online, Speaker 6: I think that fits into that very well and giving Speaker 6: the consumer the opportunity to plan ahead and buy the Speaker 6: vehicle that's perfect for them.
Speaker 2: Can you quantify that in any way there's ten percent Speaker 2: more that are ordering or whatever, because I find it Speaker 2: fascinating and you brought it up waiting for the color Speaker 2: that they want because as you know, and this is Speaker 2: true all across the industry, all over the world. You
Speaker 2: get white, black, or silver because the dealers ordered that, Speaker 2: because those are safe colors. And so, you know, we've
Speaker 2: seen a great decrease in the variety of colors of Speaker 2: cars over the last couple of decades, and if people Speaker 2: are willing to wait to get the color they want, Speaker 2: I'm just wondering if you can give us a sense Speaker 2: for how much of an increase there might be in that.
Speaker 6: It's a great question, but since it's been on the Speaker 6: you know, down since COVID, I give you an exact Speaker 6: number on that and quantify we can get back to Speaker 6: you with that. But I think you know, one thing
Speaker 6: about Honda is we've always you know, simplified our models, trims, Speaker 6: colors certainly meet customers expectations, but not kind overboard on that, Speaker 6: which makes it less of a challenge. I think when
Speaker 6: you go to a dealership to be able to find Speaker 6: what you're looking for at a thirty day supply, we've Speaker 6: got a pretty good availability in.
Speaker 4: A dealership slot, but it's higher than it was before COVID.
Speaker 4: But I can't answer the question dirrectly.
Speaker 2: But I'm just interested because I hope people take the Speaker 2: time to get what they want. I mean, it's a
Speaker 2: huge purchase for it, and to have the satisfaction of Speaker 2: getting exactly the vehicle you want rather than settle for Speaker 2: some sort of deal and get something that doesn't match Speaker 2: what you want. I think it's healthy for the industry
Speaker 2: if people get what they want.
Speaker 6: I think it's healthy for the industry and the customer satisfaction.
Speaker 6: As you indicated, it's going to be quite a bit higher.
Speaker 6: You're driving exactly what you came in looking for. You know,
Speaker 6: sometimes people come into the dealership and they'll learn more Speaker 6: about the product and they'll make a decision to make Speaker 6: a switch, and that's you know, it really just talks Speaker 6: about the value that dealers bring to the equation in Speaker 6: making sure that a customer gets the vehicle that's right Speaker 6: for them. And they continue to be important as we
Speaker 6: go through the process, even as consumers may look into Speaker 6: what they can do from an online standpoint, but it Speaker 6: is important that we find ways to make sure that Speaker 6: the customer.
Speaker 4: Gets exactly the vehicle they're looking for. They're going to
Speaker 4: be far happier.
Speaker 3: But that would necessitate having efficient manufacturing, which these guys Speaker 3: do have. So that's because I'm thinking the number of
Speaker 3: people who have Amazon Prime and are annoyed if it Speaker 3: takes more than twenty four hours to get their product Speaker 3: delivered to them.
Speaker 5: So there's still this demand that, well, we want.
Speaker 2: It's been gratification. I mean, that's the American way of
Speaker 2: buying anything just about. It's interesting. I've got a historic
Speaker 2: color chart somewhere here in my office that show those Speaker 2: car colors in Europe, the US, and Japan from the Speaker 2: nineteen fifties through the two thousands. And if you look
Speaker 2: at the fifties and early part of the sixties, color everywhere, Speaker 2: color everywhere, and then Europe is the first to go black, white, silver.
Speaker 2: Japan was pretty much always white. I mean it's like
Speaker 2: eighty percent of the vehicles over there or white. And
Speaker 2: sure enough, around the mid eighties, the US starts following Speaker 2: what Europe was going, and then by the time you Speaker 2: get to the two thousands, the colors are almost all Speaker 2: the same and not many reds, not many rus, not Speaker 2: many greens or any of those others.
Speaker 6: So yeah, I guess so, I mean I see a Speaker 6: lot of cars, right, So I definitely noticed the colors Speaker 6: and differences we see when we go to a dealer's Speaker 6: a lot, but we look at the majority of what Speaker 6: they're selling.
Speaker 4: The silvers are very popular, they.
Speaker 2: Are, but that's because the dealers ordered them. Hey look, god,
Speaker 2: we've come to the first the end of the first Speaker 2: half of the show, the Lancet. Great having the show here,
Speaker 2: very interesting, very good to see the strength and sales Speaker 2: that Honda is showing right now coming out of the Speaker 2: disaster of a couple of years ago. So good on
Speaker 2: you guys.
Speaker 4: Well, thank you for your time. It's a pleasure to
Speaker 4: be here. Shure it.
Speaker 2: We're going to take a quick commercial break right now.
Speaker 2: Give a shout out to our sponsor Bridstone.
Speaker 8: When the elements are working at GUESSTI, being confident in Speaker 8: your grip on the road is what really matters. Breach
Speaker 8: through a lens of tires, improved acceleration in wet conditions.
Speaker 2: All right, we're back and you can get into a Speaker 2: lot of other things that are going into this industry Speaker 2: right now.
Speaker 3: So big big week for earnings reports.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, big week of earnings. Not everybody is reported
Speaker 2: so far overall it doesn't look that good. I mean,
Speaker 2: Tesla had a disastrous quarter. I think I mean sales down,
Speaker 2: profits fell, off a cliff. But they're not the only one.
Speaker 2: I mean, Stilantis had a bad quarter, Nissan had a Speaker 2: bad quarter, Renault had a bad quarters.
Speaker 3: Let's stick with with Tesla for a moment, Paul. Do
Speaker 3: you see that basically part of the reason that it Speaker 3: isn't doing as well as it has been doing is Speaker 3: because its models are getting too old.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 7: I think a lot of attention's been on other projects Speaker 7: besides automotive, and that is starting to show very well Speaker 7: now that these products have been neglected quite a bit.
Speaker 7: I think we do have some you know, changes coming Speaker 7: to the model. Why some you know, like similar to
Speaker 7: the Highland for Model three, But these are We've been Speaker 7: seeing this design for so long, and I think consumers Speaker 7: are starting to say, hey, I mean this feels old.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree with you. I think the hardcore Tesla
Speaker 2: fans will go, you guys don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker 2: There's been all these updates, there's been all these changes, Speaker 2: But this is a fashion industry. People don't realize that
Speaker 2: this is a fashion industry and you've got to have Speaker 2: the freshest products out there. And history, automotive history shows
Speaker 2: that whoever has the right cadence of dropping in a Speaker 2: couple of new models every year gains market share and Speaker 2: if you do not change your styling, the public grows Speaker 2: old of it very quickly, and over the air updates Speaker 2: is not enough. When Tesla was the only EV game
Speaker 2: in town, that was fine. But now it's facing serious competition.
Speaker 2: And I point out, you know, Hyundai Kia, oh my god, Speaker 2: what they've done with their EV stuff has been sensational.
Speaker 2: And I think styling has got that. I always like
Speaker 2: to quote Steve Pasteiner, designer in the industry that a Speaker 2: lot of people know, who said, of course styling matters.
Speaker 2: If people don't even notice your car, how will they Speaker 2: ever know they want it? And I think that Tesla
Speaker 2: has got itself in the in a rut right now Speaker 2: where the the S and the X styling has not Speaker 2: changed in over a decade.
Speaker 7: Over a decade.
Speaker 2: You know, they had the front end styling, but that Speaker 2: was around twenty fourteen. Nothing has changed since then. You
Speaker 2: mentioned the Highland on the three very minor minor refresh Speaker 2: on the front and that was there.
Speaker 7: Was mostly manufacturing stuff that you know, increased their profitability. Right,
Speaker 7: you know, we're a bulk of the changes, so you know, Speaker 7: for a consumer to come in and they don't see Speaker 7: any noticeable updates, you still feel like you're in an Speaker 7: old product, even though a lot of has been changed Speaker 7: under the skin.
Speaker 5: Okay, but more software. But don't you think that maybe
Speaker 5: what it is is you know, John, you.
Speaker 3: Mentioned that, you know you'd get a lot of reaction Speaker 3: from the tefl Tesla faithful saying, hey, wait a minute, Speaker 3: you know you don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker 5: There's been all these changes.
Speaker 3: So those folks are completely keyed into what is been Speaker 3: changed in what is changing, And as you say, the Speaker 3: normal person who isn't a Tesla fan, not to say Speaker 3: that Tesla fans are abnormal.
Speaker 5: But just a regular consumer isn't going to notice it Speaker 5: as much.
Speaker 3: So the question becomes, have they basically reached all of Speaker 3: the people who are enthusiasts and therefore that is going Speaker 3: to contribute to them hitting a ceiling or maybe even Speaker 3: losing because you know, you can't buy a new.
Speaker 2: Car every other year. It's a good question. I think
Speaker 2: it varies regionally. So if you go out to California.
Speaker 2: I talked about all my friends out in California, they go, Speaker 2: oh my god, Teslas are everywhere, and so there's I'm Speaker 2: not going to say a saturation point because there's actually Speaker 2: more Toyotas out there still in the aggregate, but Tesla's Speaker 2: are everywhere. So when most people buy a new car,
Speaker 2: they want everybody know, I got a brand new one, Speaker 2: brand new one. And if you go out and buy
Speaker 2: a brand new model, why doesn't look any different than Speaker 2: the ones that came out five years ago. And so
Speaker 2: it's like you're not showing the world you got a Speaker 2: new car. Whereas I think if you got a Tesla
Speaker 2: here in Michigan, it's a totally different story. You don't
Speaker 2: see them all that. I mean you see them all that.
Speaker 2: I see them every day, but they're not ubiquitous like Speaker 2: they are in California or other markets. And so I
Speaker 2: think Tesla can still do good in markets where it's Speaker 2: not strong, where it's really showing its weaknesses, where it Speaker 2: has been strong.
Speaker 3: But if the demand we're still seeing being greater in Speaker 3: California for electric vehicles across the board than any place Speaker 3: else in the country, and that's the saturated area, then Speaker 3: they got a problem.
Speaker 2: Well, and it goes beyond that, because you know, here's Speaker 2: Elon Musk trash in California, say, and I moved Tesla out, Speaker 2: and I'm going to move X out, SpaceX. Now I'm
Speaker 2: going to move Neurallink out and you know, just bashing Speaker 2: the state. And I'm sure a lot of people in
Speaker 2: California are saying, well, screw you, I've got other alternatives.
Speaker 2: Now I'll go get you know, I'll go get a Speaker 2: Cadillac Lyric, I'll go get a Hyundai Ionica five N Speaker 2: I'll go get filled in the blank EV. Whereas five
Speaker 2: years ago, none of those cars were there, so they Speaker 2: had no choice. They went there, and they believed in
Speaker 2: what Tesla was doing, and believed in what Musk is doing.
Speaker 2: He's turned a lot of his buyers off.
Speaker 3: So, Paul, do you see the availability of vehicles from Speaker 3: Hyundai and Kia in general motors in Ford eating into Speaker 3: Tesla's market or just growing.
Speaker 5: The EV market.
Speaker 7: I think it's probably a little bit of both, but Speaker 7: I would say more that it's incremental volume. In addition
Speaker 7: to Tesla, I think the Yndai Kia, like you've been Speaker 7: saying that their new evs are really grabbing a lot Speaker 7: of attention with new styling that you know, just it's Speaker 7: very unique in the industry, and I think people are Speaker 7: really catching on to that. So I do think there's
Speaker 7: a lot of people that may not have been interested Speaker 7: in EV and they're seeing some of these new EV's Speaker 7: and what they have to offer, saying maybe I actually Speaker 7: can make this work. And whereas I think the Tesla
Speaker 7: buyer was more like, you know, the early adopter that Speaker 7: wanted to get in, wanted the new technology, and you Speaker 7: know so and then they became loyalists. I think most
Speaker 7: of the volume in the EV outside of Tesla is new, Speaker 7: not necessarily taking from Tesla, although I think that's going Speaker 7: to happen at some point, especially as the models get older.
Speaker 2: Well, look, you know, Tesla's got what five models now, Speaker 2: including the cyber truck. It's not in every vehicle segment.
Speaker 2: Others are going to go into segments where Tesla does Speaker 2: not exist, and they're going to get that volume. Right. So,
Speaker 2: I mean, look at how BYD is wiping up in Speaker 2: China right now. One of the reasons is, besides it's
Speaker 2: a pretty good company, it's in far more market segments Speaker 2: than Tesla is. In fact, BYD is going to surpass
Speaker 2: Tesla in global EV sales probably in this quarter. So
Speaker 2: I think not only is Tesla not been keeping it Speaker 2: styling up to date, its limited model range is hurting Speaker 2: it in the marketplace as well.
Speaker 7: That's again that comes back to where I was talking Speaker 7: about the focus has been on av and robotaxi, but Speaker 7: should it have been more on this entry ev that Speaker 7: now they're pulling forward again and it's going to be Speaker 7: a mishmash of old technology and new technology, not the Speaker 7: whole new technology like they were talking about.
Speaker 2: Look, I think all this talk about robots, the optimist Speaker 2: robots and Neurlink and all this other strection is to Speaker 2: get people the tension away from the fact that these Speaker 2: models are old and the sales are going down.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 7: No, I totally agree. I think it's all headlines and
Speaker 7: diversion from the core of the problem. You know, their
Speaker 7: market share is starting to get chipped away at and Speaker 7: they've never really experienced that until recently. Profitability is going down,
Speaker 7: so you could see some problems starting to come to Speaker 7: head and now they got to take some attention away Speaker 7: from that until they can find a new plan.
Speaker 2: And look, it's not like they don't know how to Speaker 2: style cars. Absolutely do. They've got one of the best
Speaker 2: designers in the business. Yeah, I'll bet tranz Von's hotels
Speaker 2: and is chomping at exactly. I'll bet they've got walls
Speaker 2: of all kinds of variations and new designs that you know, Speaker 2: Elon will not give the ok too.
Speaker 7: I agree, he's probably very excited to get one of Speaker 7: his new designs out because they haven't been out in Speaker 7: a long time.
Speaker 2: Right, and you mark my word, the instant they make Speaker 2: a dramatic change to their styling, their sales are going Speaker 2: to pop.
Speaker 3: All right, So so let me ask you, like, let's Speaker 3: shift this to the styling question and go back to Speaker 3: the fashion industry sort of approach. You know, we've we've
Speaker 3: been talking about hand Ikea.
Speaker 5: Now it's just not.
Speaker 3: Their evs that look great. It's like their entire lineup
Speaker 3: looks great.
Speaker 7: And we got to go to the Santa Fe and Speaker 7: in the Santa Fe something new that you know, these Speaker 7: are unique designs that the market hasn't really seen, and Speaker 7: it's you know, they're they're catching a lot of attention Speaker 7: and you can see it in the sales and market Speaker 7: share growth.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and throw throw Genesis into the mix, because you Speaker 3: know that's that's one of their companies.
Speaker 2: As well.
Speaker 3: So the question that I have is is that, Okay, Paul, Speaker 3: do you guys see that consumers are looking at the style, Speaker 3: the fashion of the vehicle and then the propulsion system Speaker 3: or do they start out saying, I'm going to buy Speaker 3: an EV or I'm going to buy a hybrid, or Speaker 3: I'm going to buy an ice vehicle and then they Speaker 3: look at the styling.
Speaker 7: That's an interesting question.
Speaker 4: I think.
Speaker 7: You know, if you rewind back two three years ago, Speaker 7: I would say the majority of people that were buying Speaker 7: an EV were coming in looking for an EV. Nowadays,
Speaker 7: I think we're starting to see that change as awareness Speaker 7: is growing on different propulsion systems.
Speaker 2: People.
Speaker 7: It's still difficult because every automaker has different acronym for Speaker 7: what their hybrid is. And you know, you got the
Speaker 7: pacifica hybrid, which is a plug in hybrid. But you know,
Speaker 7: and then how do you explain that to a consumer, Speaker 7: and you know, there's a lot of confusion out there.
Speaker 7: I think a lot of people are looking for a Speaker 7: hybrid or an EV and they come in looking for Speaker 7: that specifically. I think the styling might be the thing
Speaker 7: to woo them to one brand over another. I'd say overall,
Speaker 7: people that are buying hybrids or EV's are probably going Speaker 7: into showroom looking for that specifically. Now that's going to
Speaker 7: start to change, as you know, like Honda's got fifty Speaker 7: percent mix and you know, if you want to heat Speaker 7: it steering, well, you've got to get a hybrid because Speaker 7: that's part of the you know, that's their high mix.
Speaker 7: So it's changing, but I would say the majority of Speaker 7: people know what they want when they come into a showroom.
Speaker 2: Sticking with the styling thing, Cadillac dropped the bombshell of Speaker 2: a concept car this week, the Solet, which looked.
Speaker 5: To me like a convert tudor convertible version of.
Speaker 2: The Celestic They're four hundred thousand dollars car. I think
Speaker 2: the thing is drop dead gorgeous. I think it's exactly
Speaker 2: what Cadillac needs to be doing. They presented it as
Speaker 2: a concept, but you know they can do this low Speaker 2: volume stuff now that they've got the Celestic assembly process Speaker 2: set up. You don't even have to tool it. You
Speaker 2: just fabricate this stuff. I think they're going to do it.
Speaker 2: What do you guys think?
Speaker 3: I think that part of the excitement is predicated on Speaker 3: the fact that hardly any companies are doing concept cars anymore.
Speaker 3: So you see something that's a concept car, it's like, wow, Speaker 3: this is really cool. I mean, okay, if we go
Speaker 3: back over the last ten to fifteen years, Cadillac has Speaker 3: rolled out lots of beautiful concepts that ed Welburn. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I mean, it's just you know, we just kept seeing it, Speaker 3: kept seeing it, and then then the production cards come out.
Speaker 2: We're like, yeah, what happened? What happened?
Speaker 3: So I'm not so sure. And I mean and and
Speaker 3: you know this Celestic, you know, we're still waiting, right, Speaker 3: We're still waiting.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 4: Still.
Speaker 7: Well, one of the companies that does still do concepts Speaker 7: is Genesis, and they did a beautiful convertible concept as well, Speaker 7: and that is supposedly going into production.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so I think Cadillac could do that too.
Speaker 3: So if there's a race, Okay, so, which do you Speaker 3: think is going to come out first?
Speaker 7: Well, I think the Jenital like would come to market before.
Speaker 7: I think they've already got those wheels in motion.
Speaker 4: Like.
Speaker 7: Cadillac could surprise me, but I don't think it would Speaker 7: happen in the next two years where I think it'd Speaker 7: be a reality for Genesis to have that.
Speaker 2: Well, let's see what happens with the Selastic. I hear
Speaker 2: through the grapevine production has been delayed. I don't know
Speaker 2: what you guys, that's what I've We thought we were Speaker 2: supposed to start building them last week, right, it actually happened.
Speaker 7: And I haven't gotten any firm you know, mumblings from Speaker 7: anybody at GM saying that it has started yet.
Speaker 2: So so it'd be interesting to know what's their order Speaker 2: book for the Selastic, because you know, they can't even Speaker 2: build to a day, I mean, even at full production.
Speaker 2: The plan all along was they'd build maybe to a Speaker 2: day one in the morning, when in the afternoon that's it.
Speaker 2: So you know your order bank's going to be fairly low, Speaker 2: but it's going to take a long time to fill it.
Speaker 2: So I mean, the priority has got to be you know, Speaker 2: here's people spending four hundred thousand dollars on a car, Speaker 2: get them the day in the car, let's get in Speaker 2: the door. And there's obviously oh yes, you can set
Speaker 2: after that. And my guess is if they put the
Speaker 2: sole to production, it's going to be at least a Speaker 2: half a million bucks at least, right, But I think Speaker 2: they'll do it.
Speaker 7: Do you think that's enough to make them the standard Speaker 7: of the world.
Speaker 2: Again, it's part of the process. I think they need
Speaker 2: to do halo products. They need to do Wow, look
Speaker 2: at that products get into Formula one like they're doing.
Speaker 2: They're really ramping up their EV stuff. You know, by
Speaker 2: next year they're going to have evs up and down Speaker 2: the model line, at least with SUVs. Yeah, they're going
Speaker 2: to be way out ahead of everybody at that point Speaker 2: on the EV side. So I think something like the
Speaker 2: sole a is you know, I don't want to say Speaker 2: another brick in the wall, but another tile in the Speaker 2: mosaic of what it takes to get Cadillac back to Speaker 2: the top. Right, you think they're going to go all EV. Nah,
Speaker 2: you know, let's let's exclude escalate. Yeah, yeah, no, Look,
Speaker 2: I mean the goal was by twenty thirty, right, all electric.
Speaker 2: Now everybody's back and off that. You know Volvo, you know,
Speaker 2: which was so committed to ALIV. They're going, Wow, They're
Speaker 2: going to let the market decide because it's clear that Speaker 2: a significant chunk of the car buying public wants nothing Speaker 2: to do with electrics.
Speaker 5: Well, so let's broaden this out to general motors.
Speaker 3: I mean, they announced the orient plant is going to Speaker 3: stay not in production for what another six months?
Speaker 5: They pushed that back.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they pushed it back to mid twenty six and Speaker 2: so what's to say that.
Speaker 3: There wouldn't be another pushback after that pushback after that.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's just it's irrational exuberance as the stock Speaker 3: market was once described as having. That's what I think
Speaker 3: they were seeing that some of these car companies.
Speaker 1: And will there be.
Speaker 5: Consequences to.
Speaker 3: Companies that had claimed or to executives running companies that Speaker 3: claimed we're going to have all ev by filling the Speaker 3: blank and now they're finding that that's.
Speaker 2: Not the case. There's already consequences in the fact that
Speaker 2: everybody's losing boatloads of money on their electrics. They overinvested.
Speaker 2: And look, the only reason they got in was because Speaker 2: of government regulation that's driving everything. And the EPA originally
Speaker 2: wanted what was it, sixty seven percent market share for Speaker 2: EV's by twenty thirty two. Well, even the Biden administration
Speaker 2: backed off that. They recognize that's never going to happen.
Speaker 2: And so it was this fear of global warming. The
Speaker 2: end is nigh. We've got to do things right now.
Speaker 2: We've got to push this as fast as possible, and Speaker 2: now we realize it. Okay, even if the world is
Speaker 2: going to end, we can't get there. The public's just
Speaker 2: not ready for it, or a significant chunk of the Speaker 2: public for political reasons, are now completely against evs.
Speaker 7: Right, and we have an election coming up. You know,
Speaker 7: what are you going to What do you think is Speaker 7: going to happen if something changes?
Speaker 4: You know?
Speaker 7: There, it's pretty clear that there is a lot of Speaker 7: heavy investment that was way ahead of itself. We've seen
Speaker 7: nearly every automaker change their pace, at least in some form.
Speaker 7: You know, for just announced their building super Duties in Oakville, Speaker 7: which was supposed.
Speaker 2: To be three row three row EV But remember here's Speaker 2: another thing that Oakville move, that's protection against the UA.
Speaker 7: Yeah, no, absolutely, I mean there's a lot of good Speaker 7: reasons to do it, and I'm I actually think it's Speaker 7: a smart move, especially considering the conditions in the market Speaker 7: right now. But now where are they going to build
Speaker 7: their evs or they just you know that are.
Speaker 2: Supposed to come in twenty seven, right, So I mean, look, Speaker 2: Oakville was going to be a three row SUV. Farley
Speaker 2: has complained the battery size and something like that puts Speaker 2: the price in the stratosphere, and Lincoln can't get that Speaker 2: kind of pricing. Apparently Mercedes can't either. It's struggling with
Speaker 2: its evs.
Speaker 3: So look, I the Kia is doing okay at that Speaker 3: EV nine.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is no Look, I think Honda and Toyota Speaker 2: have made a strategic error in allowing Hundai and Kia Speaker 2: to get so far ahead of EV with EV's you Speaker 2: know pre code. If you had said to me in
Speaker 2: five years, people are going to be spending sixty thousand Speaker 2: dollars on Kias and Hyundais, I would have said, there's Speaker 2: no way the brand can't take it. The brand will
Speaker 2: not take that pricing. But people are paying that for
Speaker 2: their evs. Now, it's not in grandiose numbers. It's not
Speaker 2: enough to be wildly profitable, but that has brought the Speaker 2: brand image of Kia and Hyundai up so fast in Speaker 2: the last five years. And the cross shopping, I mean,
Speaker 2: you tell me if I'm wrong. Cross shopping with Kia
Speaker 2: and Hyundai is largely coming out of Toyota and Honda.
Speaker 2: So Toyota and Honda the luckdawn grow their brand in Speaker 2: tremendously in five.
Speaker 7: Years, right, they're they're in the market in a big Speaker 7: way in evs, and you know, they're building that reputation.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 7: Toyota still has the hybrids obviously, but it's almost like Speaker 7: they didn't want to sell any BZ four x's. You know,
Speaker 7: it's just not a very competitive model when you look Speaker 7: at everything else that's out there. And that's pretty surprising
Speaker 7: from Toyota. I know that they weren't all in on
Speaker 7: EV's and that's okay, that's a smart move. But to
Speaker 7: your point, letting Hondai Kia get so far ahead when Speaker 7: Toyota clearly has the technology to do it, they're just Speaker 7: choosing not to. I think that's going to bite them.
Speaker 2: Well, that's why I call it a strategic error.
Speaker 5: Yeah, although being very far ahead.
Speaker 3: In a very small space is not that devastating in Speaker 3: a business. I mean, and if we look at the
Speaker 3: you know, the valuation of Toyota Motor Corporation, I think Speaker 3: it's okay for them that they absolutely I mean, they Speaker 3: could take in stride, but yeah, and you know, this Speaker 3: is not going to be a five ten year transition.
Speaker 7: This is a decade's transition.
Speaker 3: So you know, it's early early, still a very early Speaker 3: in the scheme of it all.
Speaker 2: But I mean, this Hyundai group is a monster man, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Speaker 2: and they just gave these guys almost blanche to compete Speaker 2: at a much higher level price.
Speaker 7: Wise in Genesis. You know, there, I can't believe the
Speaker 7: products that they're turning out. And you know, you look
Speaker 7: at some of the competition that you would think and Speaker 7: Genesis is cheaper, more affordable, I should say, it's not Speaker 7: cheaper more affordable.
Speaker 2: They have to be well, yeah, exactly what vire a Speaker 2: compelling reason? Exactly, but it's going to another Mercedes or
Speaker 2: a BMW, maybe even a Cadillac and go, nah, maybe Speaker 2: I should look at this Genesis. There's got to be
Speaker 2: something more compelling and as part.
Speaker 7: Of it, definitely well BMW's do you know. Okay, so
Speaker 7: they they've managed.
Speaker 3: But the thing I wonder about is that, Okay, so Speaker 3: as you as you have younger generations that you know, Speaker 3: Mercedes isn't going to resonate as much with them as Speaker 3: this new brand. And you know when they when they
Speaker 3: get a phone, they get an iPhone from Apple or Speaker 3: they get something a Galaxy from Samsung. Right, so those
Speaker 3: are basically equal products. And so Genesis to them is
Speaker 3: an equal product to a BMW or an Audi or Speaker 3: probably better than a Cadillac. But so, I mean, I
Speaker 3: think you're going to have that change and then that's Speaker 3: part of the strength that they'll have going forward, right, Speaker 3: there's being natural constituents for their product. Ye.
Speaker 7: And I think Hyundai and Kia, well, Genesis and Kia Speaker 7: in particular are doing a great job not just in Speaker 7: the in the car department, but gaining awareness in other places.
Speaker 7: You know, Genesis is big in the in the golf Speaker 7: and you know the sponsorships that they've had, Kia their Speaker 7: their stadium in La and uh, the brand awareness is Speaker 7: really really growing fast for them. And it's obviously their
Speaker 7: products are great, but they're doing a great job outside Speaker 7: of just the auto business too.
Speaker 3: So john Ford Earnings, Yeah, give us, give us a snapshot, Speaker 3: and what you think happened there.
Speaker 2: Look, they got to fix their quality problems. They got
Speaker 2: to fix their quality problems. They had to take another
Speaker 2: big charge for warranty costs. This has been going on
Speaker 2: for a decade now, I mean, uh, they fixed that.
Speaker 2: The company is going to look a whole lot better.
Speaker 3: So Farley's been there for a few years now, Farley, Speaker 3: when he first started, he said he was going to Speaker 3: address the quality problems.
Speaker 5: How do you see that working out in the long run?
Speaker 2: They are they claim they're making progress, they claim they're Speaker 2: they're starting to see in gdpower IQs Initial Quality Survey stuff, Speaker 2: their numbers are really they came up in like nine Speaker 2: places or something like that, which is good. But initial
Speaker 2: quality only measures the the quality of a car after Speaker 2: three months of ownership. And as I like to say,
Speaker 2: everything should work for three months. I mean, come on,
Speaker 2: So I think a better measure is the i QS, Speaker 2: the initial or the the VDS Vehicle Dependability Survey, which Speaker 2: looks at cars after three years. And I'll bet you
Speaker 2: they're not. They're not doing that well. Right now. I
Speaker 2: would say Ford's got to look at what Hyundai did Speaker 2: of how it pulled its quality up. You know, Ford
Speaker 2: appointed a guy UH to UH to be sort of Speaker 2: their qualities are, but I think the guy is a director.
Speaker 2: What Hyundai did is they appointed a vice president who Speaker 2: reported directly to the chairman, mister Chung. And so that
Speaker 2: sends fear in the organization. If your quality guy says,
Speaker 2: hey do this, they know you're going to run and Speaker 2: tell the chairman.
Speaker 5: If you don't do it, you're going to do it.
Speaker 2: And so I think that's what they got to look at.
Speaker 2: I would say Ford should even look at what they Speaker 2: did in the nineteen eighties when they really turned their Speaker 2: quality around. You know, quality is job one was the slogan,
Speaker 2: and they did it. I mean, all the quality measures,
Speaker 2: everything showed Ford right at the top. And remember the
Speaker 2: Taurus knocked off the camera and the Accord to become Speaker 2: the best selling sedan in America because the quality was Speaker 2: so good at it. Ford's got to look at its roots,
Speaker 2: see what it did before. I think they got to
Speaker 2: appoint somebody who reports right to Farley and and maybe Speaker 2: that would start changing things around. But I mean, Farley
Speaker 2: hit his career at Toyota.
Speaker 3: He knows all this stuff.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 3: That's right again, what's taking them so long?
Speaker 2: I wish I knew the answer to that. That's that's
Speaker 2: the you can't say sixty four thousand dollars question. That's
Speaker 2: like about the four billion dollar question.
Speaker 3: And they lost one point one billion in the quarter Speaker 3: on their EVS in software.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but Gary, everybody's losing money on evs. Ford is
Speaker 2: the only one with the guts to publish what the Speaker 2: numbers are. GM's losing, Toyota's losing a name, any car
Speaker 2: company except for Tesla and BYD and they're all losing Speaker 2: money on their evs. We just happened to know how
Speaker 2: much Ford is losing.
Speaker 3: But the question becomes how much can they afford to Speaker 3: continue to lose? And the other guys as well. I
Speaker 3: mean that this sort of becomes real money at some point.
Speaker 2: Right, well, it already is real money, but then you Speaker 2: look at what are the fines that you have to Speaker 2: pay if you don't meet you know, the emission standards Speaker 2: or the fuel economy standards, and you can pay them.
Speaker 2: I mean what a Stillantis just got hit with like Speaker 2: one hundred and twenty eight million dollar fine. But car
Speaker 2: companies don't like being lawbreakers. They can afford the fine.
Speaker 2: It's it's an image issue, but it's a serious issue.
Speaker 2: And again I come back to the only reason they Speaker 2: went down this path is the regulations say you have Speaker 2: to do this. So I cut these execs a lot
Speaker 2: of slack in that regard. I bet they wish they
Speaker 2: could roll back three years and make their decisions again.
Speaker 2: They'd still invest in evs, but not to the extent Speaker 2: that they have.
Speaker 3: Paul, do you see any impact on Ford's perception in Speaker 3: the market given these quality problems.
Speaker 7: I'm I mean, I don't see how there can't be.
Speaker 7: But you know, for Ford's still a strong brand and Speaker 7: you know, there's a lot of loyalty there, especially where Speaker 7: we live in Michigan. But yeah, it's going to catch
Speaker 7: up to them eventually. I can't believe how long it's
Speaker 7: gone on. And to your point, you know, when Farley
Speaker 7: came in, I really thought it was going to be addressed.
Speaker 7: You know, Heinrichs was one who got pushed out, and Speaker 7: I think he was the closest one to making some Speaker 7: headway in that area of quality. But I thought Farley,
Speaker 7: and to your point of coming from Toyota, he knows Speaker 7: what quality manufacturing looks like. And the fact that he's
Speaker 7: been at the home for this long and it hasn't changed.
Speaker 7: It almost seems like it's gone backwards in a few areas.
Speaker 5: Is surprising to me.
Speaker 3: Bring Jim Hackett.
Speaker 2: Back, No, Hacket, No, they don't want to do that. Look,
Speaker 2: you know, obviously Farley and his team are hyper aware Speaker 2: of this, hyper aware. I have no idea why they
Speaker 2: can't get their arms around it or haven't. Their latest
Speaker 2: report suggests they are making progress. I hope they make
Speaker 2: a whole lot of progress. But you know, it suggests
Speaker 2: that no one at the company really can put their Speaker 2: finger on the pulse of what is the root cause Speaker 2: of the problem.
Speaker 3: I wonder if it's you know, not screwing the cars Speaker 3: together in the factory as much as it is you know, Speaker 3: the software and the interfaces and things like that which Speaker 3: are causing the quality problems. I mean, I think that
Speaker 3: all forward plant people are really good at what they Speaker 3: do in terms of putting this stuff together. I just
Speaker 3: wonder whether we're getting to the point where there is Speaker 3: you know, eight S systems and sensors and the associated Speaker 3: software and the controllers and the interface.
Speaker 2: I think that's part of it. But the real thing is, look,
Speaker 2: it's been across model lines. It's been happening for many,
Speaker 2: many years. To me, what it suggests is it's a
Speaker 2: corporate structure problem that you can't blame engineering, you can't Speaker 2: blame part of manufacturing, you can't blame purchasing. It's some
Speaker 2: combination of all that that is a breakdown in communications, Speaker 2: a breakdown and follow up or something, But there's something Speaker 2: to the structure that they haven't quite identified yet, is Speaker 2: my opinion.
Speaker 3: Although when we had Dave Andrea from Platt Moren on Speaker 3: the show and did the OEM supplier relationship and we Speaker 3: saw Forward just plummeting, and so then you got to wonder, Speaker 3: you know, is General Motors saying, hey, we're going to Speaker 3: pay you more to give its better product so we Speaker 3: can put that out there, and Forward saying we got Speaker 3: to save some money here.
Speaker 2: You know, that's a great question. I don't know as
Speaker 2: that GM is paying more money. I think it's more
Speaker 2: early involvement. I think it's better communication. And you know,
Speaker 2: once you, as a supplier have more trust in an automaker, Speaker 2: you're going to do more for them. They got a problem,
Speaker 2: You're going to throw your a team on the problem.
Speaker 2: You hate some car company, they're treating you like dirt.
Speaker 2: You have terrible relations. You got a problem. Okay, we're
Speaker 2: busy on other stuff. We'll get to it next week.
Speaker 2: And that's where the the intangible benefits of having good Speaker 2: supplier relations shines through, and cost accounting does not capture that.
Speaker 2: You look at what are we paying for this component?
Speaker 2: What are we paying for this commodity, and when it's Speaker 2: just a strict transaction, you miss these other things that Speaker 2: suppliers will do for you. If you have a really
Speaker 2: good relationships, Handa and Toyota have brilliant relations with their Speaker 2: suppliers and they'll go to the mat to help their Speaker 2: their oem out. Whereas if you have terrible relations what's
Speaker 2: my motivation to help you? You're just trying to screw
Speaker 2: me on price.
Speaker 7: Do you think Ford backing away from, you know, some Speaker 7: of the vertical integration that they had in the past, Speaker 7: Do you think if they brought some of that back Speaker 7: that some of these problems might be alleviated.
Speaker 2: No, Look, you know, I mean that it seems unsustainable Speaker 2: to do that. But Ford invented vertical integration, right. The
Speaker 2: rouge plant was that, you know, raw materials came to Speaker 2: one end and car spit out the other. But what
Speaker 2: they got away from was put the blame full on Speaker 2: the uaw is. You know, they were paying such high wages,
Speaker 2: such high healthcare costs, pension costs, that the automakers went, Speaker 2: oh my god, we can buy this stuff so much Speaker 2: cheaper from suppliers, and so the pendulum swung all the Speaker 2: other way, I think they outsourced too much. But you know,
Speaker 2: they're not going to bring this stuff back in the Speaker 2: house if they got to pay UAW wages when the Speaker 2: Chinese are setting up shop in Mexico and saying, hey Speaker 2: will sell it to you for thirty five percent cheaper.
Speaker 2: So I don't see vertical integration coming from that that way. Now,
Speaker 2: Tesla doesn't pay Mexican Chinese wages, and they're very vertically integrated, now, haven't.
Speaker 2: I said that there's a lot of Chinese parts and Speaker 2: even in the US made Tesla's. But look, I think
Speaker 2: they would love to go to vertical integration. But as
Speaker 2: long as there's a supplier community out there that's willing Speaker 2: to sell it at a cheaper price, you can't make Speaker 2: the numbers work by bringing it in you.
Speaker 5: Look at it.
Speaker 7: You know BYD that's part of their magic.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 7: Do you think that there's even a possibility that a Speaker 7: domestic company could compete on that kind of a level Speaker 7: because they don't have that vertical integration.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I know some suppliers that sell to BYD.
Speaker 2: They said those guys are brutal. You know, you think
Speaker 2: Stilantis is treating it's suppliers bad or for it doesn't Speaker 2: get a good rating. They said they resource their components
Speaker 2: every six months. Wow, six months, So it doesn't matter
Speaker 2: if you sign a three year supply contract. In six months,
Speaker 2: are going, hey, we can get it cheaper, you know, Speaker 2: and if you can't meet the price, we're going to Speaker 2: resource it elsewhere. I don't believe that's sustainable. But right
Speaker 2: now BYD is growing so fast all over the world, Speaker 2: you know, not just in China, that suppliers are hitch Speaker 2: my wagon to this thing because it's pure growth. And
Speaker 2: even though they're they're squeezing me like crazy on price, Speaker 2: the growth is something I can't will.
Speaker 7: They know that the business is going to be there, Speaker 7: even if they're taking a little less profit now.
Speaker 2: So, yeah, BYD is it's monster and it does do Speaker 2: a lot in house. And I'll bet the people who
Speaker 2: are sewing up seats or molding headlamp lenses are not Speaker 2: getting paid the same amount of money is the people Speaker 2: assembling on the line.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't do it, guys, Listen, A lot of people Speaker 2: won't do it. This is why ELI wants to go
Speaker 2: to Optimist Robots. And that's something that we really have
Speaker 2: to keep an eye on. You know, he's famous for
Speaker 2: over promising and under delivering. But as I like to say,
Speaker 2: eventually he does deliver. So he's saying Optimus robots making
Speaker 2: cars next year. I'm not sure I buy it, but
Speaker 2: sometime this decade, you bet it's going to happen. You
Speaker 2: don't think so, Gary, Why not?
Speaker 3: So if you look at every major robot manufacturer on Speaker 3: the planet, how many of them are offering anthropomorphic robots?
Speaker 4: Yours?
Speaker 5: I can tell that might be zero?
Speaker 2: No, no, no, Boston Dynamics is working on it. There's
Speaker 2: some China company that's working on it. BMW's even joying
Speaker 2: around with putting you know, okay, but the robot.
Speaker 3: Okay, but okay, So if we look at Boston Dynamics, okay, Speaker 3: so what are they using their robot for. They're not
Speaker 3: using their robot to build things. They're using their robots
Speaker 3: to say, guard perimeters and to go around BMW is Speaker 3: talking about using these robots basically for transport of goods. Okay, yeah,
Speaker 3: that's fine, But I mean the you know, there's a Speaker 3: reason why cars look like cars, right, because it turns Speaker 3: out that over one hundred and twenty years that has Speaker 3: become a pretty efficient design. Okay, overall it's pretty efficient design.
Speaker 3: So the classic six access robot design, it's pretty classic Speaker 3: design that sort of fits the requirements of manufacturing operations.
Speaker 3: And therefore, I mean, yeah, maybe they'll be a sell somewhere, Speaker 3: will be doing something with the Optimist robot, but by Speaker 3: and large, I don't see it.
Speaker 2: You could be right, you could be right.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, the tooling companies, they've gotten really Speaker 3: damn good at what they do in terms of positioning Speaker 3: and manipulating.
Speaker 2: Also, what I would say is, you know, I'm still Speaker 2: thrilled by this Tesla unboxed assembly process. And I could
Speaker 2: see where Pick and Place could do the whole car Speaker 2: where you don't even need humans. You know, you don't
Speaker 2: need you know, walk around robots, you don't even need humans.
Speaker 2: I could see you where you could design a car Speaker 2: or pick and place robots would just assemble six different modules.
Speaker 2: Then you put the modules together at the end and Speaker 2: you got a car. So yeah, you may not even
Speaker 2: need optimists. Brave New World, Brave New World. Now with that,
Speaker 2: we should wrap up the show. I think, Paul, thanks
Speaker 2: for coming back, Thanks for having me. Ye, Gary, this
Speaker 2: was good and we've got chief engineer of Escalade next Speaker 2: year or next next week, next week, right next year.
Speaker 2: Don't have to wait that long. People wait back then.
Speaker 2: By the way, if you like this kind of kind Speaker 2: of conversation, please subscribe to our channel or subscribe to Speaker 2: our newsletter that you can get on the Auduline website.
Speaker 1: Auto Line after Hours is brought to you by bridge Speaker 1: Stone Tires. Solutions for your Journey
Request an explanation for:
14 cars
Scroll for more
14 cars featured
Request an Explanation
Heard something you'd like explained? We'll add it to this episode.
Sign in to request explanations for terms you heard.
Want to learn more?
Browse our glossary for plain-English explanations of automotive terms, jargon, and concepts.
Help improve this episode
See something that's not quite right? Our annotations are AI-generated and can sometimes miss the mark. Click the flag icon on any annotation to suggest a correction.
Report incorrect info
Suggest better explanations
Flag missing cars