An Hour In A Car Driven By AI, Volvo Launches All-Electric EX60 SUV

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Coming up on today's podcast, Volvo's biggest unveiling ever,

their new electric EX-60 is out.

And Hannah spoke with Volvo's president of the Americas, Luis Rezende,

giving us one of the company's first interviews on their launch,

and why he thinks it's a game changer for the industry.

Matt is back from the Detroit Auto Show.

We want to hear all about that.

I need to know a big takeaway or something that surprised you.

Well, I was shocked, to be honest, that no one plows the streets in Detroit when it snows.

And then the other thing is, like, racing is super important in Detroit now,

because the day that I arrived, GM was making some big announcements about its Formula One entry,

and then the next day, you know, I sat down with Bill Ford, for example,

and he was like, hey, I heard GM was talking smack about us.

At least we're making our own motors, you know?

He's using Ferraris.

Wow, I love it.

Trash talk.

Yeah, trash talk.

And, you know, I got to talk to Max for a step, and he is, I think,

Tell us.

He's officially the biggest let down I've ever had in an interview.

Probably the worst interview that I've ever had that I've been excited for.

Like, I thought I was going to be able to chill and have fun with him

and like dig into racing, and he had that amazing YouTube video with Chris Harris,

where I thought, wow, Max has really grown up, and he's come out as a person,

and he's, like, socially capable, and then when I sat down with him,

I mean, maybe he just didn't have, and not just maybe,

he definitely had no interest in talking to me.

He doesn't like press in general.

No, I mean, I don't think it's personal.

He wanted to get up and leave as soon as he sat down, so.

Did you try to, you know, like, get him to...

I did my best, and I'm usually, I tried myself on that skill, you know?

Yes.

But I could not open him up.

He might have had, might have missed breakfast that morning.

On the other hand, it was awesome to talk to Jim Farley.

I mean, Jim is such a great person to talk to.

Yeah, and, like, their commitment to racing is just,

I feel like Jim Farley is the Ford Racing CEO,

and he has the car maker as his, like, side gig.

Did he talk about Dakar at all?

Yes, he did.

What did he, so, like, what did he say?

So, he had just come back from Dakar.

He was out there watching the race,

but also driving trucks in the dunes and also camping out,

and, you know, they have their amazing off-road supercar

right now that's just for, you know, professional teams or privateers.

And also, some privateer team was running a Bronco Raptor into car stock.

Oh, that's cool.

Yeah.

That's cool.

So, there's that, and it's definitely my new bucket list race event.

I have got to go to Dakar.

You know, also you should come to King of the Hammers.

True.

I want to do all the stuff, but Dakar is on the top of my list.

I mean, that is, like, yes.

After Le Mans, Le Mans was the best racing experience,

four-wheel racing experience I've ever had,

and so now, like, Dakar is...

That was so, maybe we should, you know,

push for, like, a hot pursuit from Dakar next year.

I am very much into that.

That'd be very cool.

And, you know, I feel like Ford will be closer to getting out there,

off-road supercar for the...

Totally.

For the very, very, very wealthy masses.

We know it's coming.

And so, there could be some pegs to hang that on.

But it was cool.

I talked to not only Bill Ford, but his son Will,

who is running the racing division,

at least the marketing aspect of it.

Dak Shepard was there.

Did you talk to Dak?

No, I didn't.

Did you see him?

Yeah, I saw him, but I was...

How do you look?

Amazing.

Is he taller than you?

I think we're about the same height.

He may be, like, an inch taller than me.

6364 would be my guess.

He's jacked.

Like, absolutely jacked.

He's been hitting the gym with best friend Aaron Weakley,

like, on a daily basis.

Wow.

Interesting.

So, Kristen must love that.

I would love it, you know.

But I didn't...

I was too shy.

No, that's impossible, Matt.

I don't like to fanboy on people.

Like, it's backfired in the past.

Yeah.

Will Ferrell has taken out a restraining order against me.

No, no.

And Dr. Dre actually asked someone

to have me leave the green room once.

Are you kidding me?

No.

I lose it a little bit.

Wow, that is unbelievable.

Yeah, I mean, have you ever...

I mean, do you regret not going up to Dak's?

No, because...

Are you glad you restrained yourself?

I didn't want to, like, ruin...

I have a great non-relationship relationship with him.

Never meet your heroes.

We sometimes exchange tweets, you know, on Twitter.

Yeah, parasocial.

And also, it's a little...

To me, it's a little weird that he's fronting for Ford,

because I feel like he's totally a GM guy.

Yeah.

Right?

The vehicles, I know he has a Mustang, but...

Money talks.

But he does love those Chevy trucks.

And so, anyway, it was a fantastic trip.

And by the way, I got to see the Mustang Dark Horse SC.

So they've taken a supercharger and slapped it on the 5.2-liter V8.

It looks pretty badass.

I still prefer the S197 generation.

Yes.

So the, you know, 2000...

For me, 2010 to 2014, the sort of facelift of those.

But...

Okay, I'm looking at it.

I can't get it with a stick.

So for me, like all these supercars have gotten to a point where

you used to be able to get them with a stick.

Like, Porsche has, from the Carrera GT to the 918, right?

And the 4GT, the 2005, 2006 one, you could get that with a stick.

And it's an incredibly powerful motor.

And then the V6 GT that they did to win Le Mans,

obviously that can't be gotten with three pedals.

Like, I just wonder why they move away from that.

Because clearly, the more money a buyer is willing to spend,

the higher the take rate on manual transmissions.

Like the, like we've talked about a million times with the 911.

At the base, everybody wants the PDK.

When you go to the GT3 level or some special edition,

they only want to buy a stick.

So if Ford is making these three $400,000 cars,

why don't they say we're not doing it with a DCT?

It's only coming with a manual transmission.

I don't know, anyway.

You know, I know we talk about this quite a lot,

and I feel that the conversation is drifting more and more away from sticks.

Like, for automakers.

I just, I don't, yes, there are a couple instances where they'll throw one in,

but I don't know.

This, we could be, you could be on your death bed, Matt.

You're right.

Smoking a, smoking.

Smoking a doobie.

Smoking, no, I'm just saying smoking, you know.

I'm not endorsing anything.

And, you know, saying they didn't have a stick

by your last dying breath.

I can see it.

I wonder if, you know, on old pre-war cars,

there's that controller that like retards the spark or whatever, you know.

On old pre-war cars?

Pre-war cars.

Yes, yes.

I wonder if when that thing went out,

people were like, I want to be able to control the spark.

I'm sure.

This is the state of humankind.

Yes.

But we should talk about Volvo, really.

Not to change the subject, but to change the subject.

Yes.

We should talk about Volvo because on the complete other end of the spectrum,

they just unveiled a new electric car, the EX-60.

And we had their president of the Americas,

Luis Rezende, come and talk to us.

Actually, one of the first interviews about the launch

and why they're moving toward EVs

and like further away from fuel retardant switches.

When I was in Detroit.

Yes.

You were in China.

Yeah, I wish.

I mean, we need to get to China.

That was a Volvo joke because they're owned by Julie.

I know.

Yes.

And yeah.

Anyway, that's coming up.

Well, I'm looking forward to that.

You know, did you know that I've grown up with an Volvo family essentially?

I think you've mentioned that.

Is that from your mom?

Yeah.

Well, exactly.

When my dad was a single man, you know, he had cool cars.

He had like a Mustang, a 60s Mustang.

And then he had Audi's like during the sort of Quattro phase.

And then, but when my mom, he and my mom got married,

we got a 240.

And then we got another 240.

And then we got what was it like a 740.

And then we got like the 850.

Wow.

Very loyal.

Like continued Volvo, Volvo, Volvo, Volvo, Volvo.

And my mom just most recently, you know, 50 years later has got a new,

I think XC60.

So it's like constant in my family.

Is she interested at all in the electric Volvos that are coming?

Is she considering those?

I don't think, I always suggest this or that electric car for her

because she is the type, you know, she's super left wing,

cares about the environment kind of person.

But more important to her is like range.

And she drives from between Columbus and New York City,

like on a at least monthly basis, like 10, 12, 15 times a year.

So the reason I ask is because this EX60 has a range of over 500 miles,

which is kind of insane.

Yeah, almost the entire trip.

Completely.

And apparently it's priced similarly to the XC60.

So I think to your point, Volvo is trying to sort of work its way

into those types of customers that are really loyal to the brand

that maybe if we alleviate some of the range anxiety,

they can make some inroads.

So now let's listen to my interview with the Volvo president of the Americas,

Luis Rizende.

As he walks us through kind of what this new car means for Volvo,

where is it going and what do Volvo customers really want?

Luis, thank you so much for joining us.

This is a really exciting time for Volvo.

And I just would love to hear from you.

Of course, we're here to talk about your new car debut.

What can you tell us about the EX60

and really why it is so significant for Volvo in this moment?

Hey, it's a pleasure to be here and talk to you.

So this is a very exciting moment for Volvo.

And especially for me in this new role.

So I've been in this role since May 2025,

heading of Americas and especially president of Volvo Car US.

A lot of challenges ahead.

And when you have a new car, it always helps, right?

So this comes in a very good moment.

It's a launch of the car now in January.

So it's called the EX60.

So it's going to be our EV that is in the biggest segment

that we have globally, but also in US.

But we are very excited about it.

It's a new platform.

It's a new, it's a softer defined vehicle.

We have so many attributes to this car

to say that would be a very, very competitive model

if not saying would be one of the best in the market.

I love that.

Okay, so so many questions, but you mentioned

a software defined vehicle.

And I know that this particular car uses some great new technology.

Gemini and AI derived technology.

Can you just explain to us, you know,

I think maybe a lot of our listeners like myself,

AI is relatively new.

What do you mean by software defined?

And what do you mean maybe by AI defined vehicle?

Yeah, a software defined vehicle means that we have like a car computer

that is designed internally from Volvo.

So instead of have a lot of computers around,

we have a one which brings us in terms of,

let's talk about what is the benefit for the consumers, right?

Otherwise we're going to be technology part too much.

So the benefit for the consumer is that first

the car can be updated over the years.

So it's not something that we can, you buy it,

it's analogic and then you get what you got.

Yeah.

So we're going to have easily over the air updates in the car.

So the software will be updated as we have today

in the EX9 as well,

but the software will be updated from time to time,

which gives a lot of new features for the consumer.

Imagine this, it's a technology or solution that we are defining

that we needed to predict what consumers wants

and they don't know what they really want now,

imagining four years, but the car will be ready

and prepared for that.

So this is fantastic.

It changes how we do make evaluation of a car,

a used car model and etc.

So it's a new era.

I think Volvo, we are very pleased that we are one of the legacy brands.

If we talk about legacy brands like us,

with almost 100 years, 70 years in US,

it's one of those that can really say that we have this car.

So it's the second car in this mode.

EX9 was the first, EX60 is the second in the line.

But yeah, so for the consumers,

I mean what is the benefit?

So they have a better car over the years.

The car will be updated over the years,

so they don't need to go to a store or etc.

Like your iOS.

You have some other benefits like maintaining

so for a car will be much lower

because we have less parts.

As we have this one core computer.

Yeah, so many benefits.

I mean AI, you touch the point of AI.

So yes, we're going to have a Google Gemini in this car,

which will be brilliant.

I can give you examples like for me coming into US,

leaving US, new city, new places.

I can have, I can have a conversation with Google

in a very nice way.

A humanistic way.

Yes, I mean what is this place that I'm seeing?

I mean what can you, because they're going to be able

to see through our cameras.

So Google will use our cameras to scan what is around.

And this helps a lot.

I was driving with my wife and kids in Boston another month.

And then we were just looking places that was fantastic.

And then we said, oh, what is this looks like?

And then we need to do a Google search.

It was not that easy as if it was, if the car could help.

So I think all technology must be meaningful for the consumers.

And I think this one it is.

Well, that's something that we've talked about a lot.

The idea that I don't get the sense from,

and you can tell me if I'm wrong, but I don't get the sense

that people want technology just for technology's sake.

They want technology that is practical,

that benefits and compliments their life

and that doesn't get in the way of their life.

Is that also what you're seeing with your consumers?

Yeah, 100%.

I mean, in Volvo we don't develop the technology

for the sake of technology.

We develop this because we believe it's better

for the consumer.

And that's why we are partnering with Google Gemini

in that sense, because we see that there are so many things

that can help.

Also, if you look into other technology aspects

that consumers they don't see,

but they will understand it's getting better

is the ability of the car to learn.

So the car will be able to scan the area

in terms of safety.

The car will be able to have processing so much faster

the data that they are collecting

and they're going to learn

and it's going to be better over the time.

So imagine how many users using the car

across the globe,

how is the ability of this car to learn

and then once again coming back

and protect our consumers going forward.

So that is something that we see as a technology

working the benefit of the consumer.

And that is part of sort of the automotive connectivity

that Volvo is developing.

Is that part of the Snapdragon partnership

that you have done with Qualcomm as well?

Yeah, so Snapdragon with Qualcomm.

We have Gemini with Google.

We have NVIDIA and all of this.

We have a new name which is Hugenkor.

Yes, I wanted to ask you about that

because this seems like the first time

that Volvo has marketed

or come out publicly with this internal name, right?

What is the thinking behind it?

And can you say that word again

so we all know how to pronounce it?

Yeah, Hugenkor.

Yeah, it's what we have decided to name

because as we said, it's a fantastic project

that we were able to put together,

software defined vehicle together with Google,

together with NVIDIA processing data.

So it's so many things in Qualcomm.

So it's so many things that I think it deserves a name.

Normally, in Volvo, we are a little bit more,

let's say shy, not humble,

but now I think we need to come

and really outsell and outmarket what we are doing great

and this is great.

And again, going into the direction of our DNA

that is safety, that is Scandinavian design.

So everything goes inside,

not losing our heritage

that we're having Volvo.

That's Volvo president of the Americas, Luis Rezende.

More of our conversation after this break,

including how Volvo is using AI

to work toward a goal of zero auto-related deaths

in its cars.

I'm Hannah Elliott and you're listening to Hot Pursuit.

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Welcome back to Hot Pursuit with Matt Miller.

I'm Hannah Elliott.

We're gonna dig in deeper to

all the President interview,

but can we first talk about the piece you wrote

on AI?

Because it really struck a nerve with me,

and I wanna get first your take

on what you were driving

and how AI it was

and what your reaction

or what your takeaway is.

How AI it was

is the question that we are all

learning.

This was a drive in the

new Mercedes-Benz CLA.

This is their new entry-level sedan.

This was a totally

electric car.

They are coming out with a hybrid version

in the middle of the year,

but the CLA starts at

$47,250,

which I think is a very, very good value

Mercedes is trying to

see if they can... How much again?

$47,250.

That's how much it starts for.

47 grand, yep. All electric.

All electric.

And this is Mercedes trying to

eat some of Tesla's

pie. Wait, does that sound bad?

Eat some of Tesla's lunch.

Yeah, this is Mercedes

trying to break into some of Tesla's

market share with offering

a totally electric,

rather affordable sedan.

I really liked it.

The thing that I was really evaluating

when I drove this car in San Francisco

was the new

Drive Assist Pro system

that is available through

subscription. You can subscribe to it.

It downloads over the air.

And basically this is like

the most advanced

AI driving system you can buy.

Period.

Mercedes developed it with NVIDIA

and I

really liked it.

NVIDIA, of course,

develops driving programs for a host of

automakers, including Toyota and Volvo

and Rivian.

This is the end-to-end stack,

completely end-to-end stack developed

for Mercedes that uses

a combination of cameras

and radars and ultrasonic

sensors to basically drive the car.

You basically put in a destination

and the car drives itself

there. Wait, do you

I mean like you pull out of the

driveway or and then it goes?

It can pull out of some

driveways. I would say this is not

perfect like some

valet situations are a little bit tricky

and it can't

quite navigate that yet.

But the I would say the

progress here is that

this system

seems more human-like

in that it will roll

through yellow lights

and it knows when it can turn right on

red and when it cannot turn right on

red, you know, sometimes that's a difference.

This system will nudge out in a lane

to like avoid a big

rain puddle and it will automatically

nudge out to avoid

like if a van is parked

double parked and unloading something

it will adjust to that

without canceling the whole

navigation, which was kind of great

and it will also allow you to

if you do want to adjust

you can make adjustments on the steering wheel

and it will still continue

driving the route. It's not like

it doesn't drop out. Exactly.

So these are all very subtle

advances, but they are really advances

and altogether they add up to making it

feel pretty

fun, really.

I mean, do you have to really still be

paying attention or can you like read the paper?

You can't read the paper. You still

have to pay attention. It is monitoring

whether you're

looking straight ahead and whether

your eyes are awake.

You don't have to touch the steering wheel, but somehow

the car does monitor

you being alert. Right. You can't

nap. You can't nap.

That would be like level three and beyond

really. That is where the threshold that we

cross over into basically

the automaker assumes responsibility

for the car rather than the

driver. At this point, you

the driver are still ultimately

responsible for if anything happens.

So

that's the big

basically moonshot leap.

Once we get to level three which

we're not there yet, then the automaker

takes responsibility

if there's any incident.

It's clear that we're getting there.

We're getting there.

I wonder for someone especially like you

who loves to drive

and you love

an engaging experience

where you do have to pay extra

close attention. Some of the cars

that you love to drive are a little dangerous if you're not.

But also someone like

you who lives in LA and spends a lot

of time in traffic. What do you think

about self-driving?

I loved it

and I was surprised that I loved it but I really

did because here's the thing

commuting isn't driving for me.

Like sitting in traffic

on Sunset Boulevard for an hour

while I try to get to work in the morning

is not fun driving.

Driving down Sunset early

morning or late at night when you have the

amazing iconic views and the lights

and open road in front of you. That's driving

that's what I love. But I am

very happy to

text on my phone

and look at Instagram while I'm sitting

in traffic and letting the car just do

the 5 to 10 to

15 mile per hour

driving that needs to be done.

I think we can have

both. Why can't we have both and?

Why can't we have some amazing driving

cars? Sure, give them

a manual gearbox. Give them

internal combustion engines. Give them whatever

you want. And also

we're going to have hybrids for some

jobs and we're going to have EVs and we're going to have some

self-driving cars. I'm a big

fan of Waymo.

I think Waymo is the future. This car

the CLA with the

MBE Drive Assist Pro felt the closest

to Waymo that I felt in a

private vehicle. So if anyone

has driven in a Waymo or even

a Zooks which is coming up

this car felt pretty similar to that which was awesome.

Zooks?

It's another

driving platform. They're testing

in like San Francisco and

I've seen them in L.A.

They're testing yet. I don't think they're

fully public. But that's another

one and I do think

especially in urban centers this

is the future

which is exciting.

So I agree and actually I was

reading your story

a couple of days ago and I made

some notes. Oh tell me.

I wrote a little note to myself because I was

moved by it

in a way. So I

think I agree self-driving cars

are awesome and I think in the truest

sense of the word

meaning like it's awe

inspiring to witness

and to feel

the transition from

what we know

and what even today kids know like

this is the last generation that will witness

this kind of transition that understands

a foot in both worlds. Yes.

And I think like regardless

of your take on the technology

eventually what it means for society

like your kids like no one's going to

want to drive anymore maybe you think that

I think everyone

should stop

and experience the joy

of living through

this insane

transition and as I was reading your story

I had just read

Rodentrack had a piece about

the U.S. highway system

and they were saying

it is

was one of the biggest most important

turning points in like

ground transportation. You've got the

invention of

the combustion engine whenever that was

and then like Henry Ford's

mass production and then

the highway system which

at the time was the biggest

construction project that

mankind had ever

attempted and we've now

accomplished and so

National Geographic when they were writing about

the highway system in the 60s

said Americans are living

in the midst of a miracle and I

think that's what we're seeing right now

with self-driving as well

so I just think it's

so cool and then

for the enthusiasts out there

I think

I agree with you that commuting is not the

same as driving but

they get kind of blurred and some people

don't care about the cars

that much because they

are only commuting but I think if you

separate these two activities well enough

and self-driving will do that

then

the self-driving

sort of technology will spur

more people to explore

enthusiasts driving as a hobby

or a pastime

like for me

if I can self-drive commute to work

and sometimes I'll be like you know what

I want to go just drive to drive

okay I do that all the time anyway but

I'll do it more and more

intentionally if you know what I mean

so I think it's really really cool

I mean we're not all

riding horses

out there like everybody used to

in the wild west but that doesn't

mean that there isn't a wonderful

vibrant community of

equestrians and enthusiasts

and people who love them

I hear that

I hear that analogy a lot

and it makes obviously good sense

but it's much more

difficult to keep a horse

than it is to keep a car

even if we move to a future where everybody

uses wamos and then

probably wealthy people will have their own

wamos you know

even maybe middle-class

people will aspire to and they'll all

have their own kind of wamos

and we've got into the commoditized

vehicle

world already where like a model

Y is just like this

uninspiring hunk of

thing that's built to commute you

to work and back and cost $30,000

but people will

still be able to have cars to

drive and enjoy because you still

have

at least a lot of people still have a house

with a garage attached to it and

you don't have to feed your car every day

you know you don't have to

pet it or groom it

you can leave it in the garage for

an extended number of days or weeks

and it's still going to work just as well when you get it out

so I think it'll be easier

for people to hold on to

in real

you know

what do you call the opposite of self-driving

cars like manual

driving

so anyway I just

think it's a really cool thing that we're watching

that we're witnessing and I also

don't think it's going to make

enthusiast driving

less exciting

in fact I think it'll make it more

totally agree and I

I do want to say I have

huge reservations about

some uses of AI I'm not

a complete fan of

every use of AI I think it's

could be really dangerous and really

harmful for a lot of aspects of humanity

it's definitely going to be the end of humanity

yeah and I also think

lots of segments

in this huge AI boom

that we're seeing right now they're kind of

they're not real

they're speculative

and

I think those will eventually fall away

but I do think the AI

applications in the

automotive industry are real

and we're already seeing that

they'll hopefully also in pharma

right and

education and anyway I just think

I thought it was a great story

nice job on that one

hopefully we get a lot of feedback

we've gotten some pretty good viewer mail have you seen

we I mean should we do

some viewer mail well maybe at the end

I love hearing from you guys

I just I got

such an inspiring

message from this guy

Hardy I won't say his whole name

but I was

in the middle of my live television

program so like

my day job is I have to

anchor a show on cable TV

about financial news and

I mean I love it but

when I got this message

from this dude

I was so inspired that I had to immediately

answer even as I was interviewing

Lizanne Saunders the chief market

strategist for God you know so

don't tell her that no I won't but

I'm well too late if she listens

and she is a car she loves cars

she has it she has a very

cool chariot but

I just had to write

back to this guy because he's in such

an I think enviable

position that I dream

about all the time he's

reached his retirement he's

he's been frugal I guess

with his money and he's

built a nest egg that he can

you know spend the rest

of his silver and golden years

you know enjoying and he

is ready to get like a fun

sports car toy

and he's got an amazing selection

from which to choose and

I just thought it's

so great dude he's

living the effing dream

you know and you know what

came through for me with this email

from Hardy is that he's

doing it for himself he doesn't

want it he doesn't need to impress anyone

he's already done all the things

he just wants something that he can

truly enjoy and

he does list a couple options

we're talking about something

that might be a hundred grand or less

right and he's considering

a golf R a BMW

M240i and an Audi

RS3 are there others that

you think should go on that list Matt

I told him

so I think the BMW

is the killer choice of those

having said that

I haven't driven a new golf R

or a new Audi RS3 I've

driven previous versions of those cars

but I spent some time

in the BMW M240

but I said look

you should

cast a little bit of a wider web

and for me like since he's going

in this direction I would look at other

BMWs so the M2

I was looking for him on

like AutoTrader and CarGurus

and you can find

like last year

or two years old

M2 with a stick

and only a few thousand miles for

60 grand like that's a killer that's awesome

that car is a rocket

it is

BMWs like that's the one I would

like to have probably the most right now

except for I keep

thinking about I can't stop

thinking about the Z4 that I

drove last summer which is

their drop top Roadster

I was wondering if that was going to come up

it also comes with a stick

and it's not a rocket

but it's such an honest

like

um

what's the woke word now when you want to be

your true self

authentic it's such an authentic

automotive experience

that I just cannot get it out of my head

and I love the way it looks

and I love the top down

so I told him like consider those

two other vehicles but what a

great position this guy is

I love it I love it and yeah

I just like that he's like

this isn't about anything other than

he just wants something fun

and he mentions too

driving a slow car fast

that's kind of the best

and he has incredible experience because he's

a former motorcycle racer

slash rider and so he knows

as I do that you don't always

want the you know Kawasaki

H2 it doesn't make any sense

to have even like

the Ducati

V4 on the street like

you're gonna have just as much fun on a

um

you know like a

Triumph T120 or something

anyways we got a lot of

good messages but I think that was the best

one people really loved our Porsche episode

have you noticed that yes

I also saw that email from Giles

did you see that about the

2006 Carrera C4S

yes a lot of people agreed with me

I don't want to get too deep back deep

into the 911 thing no we can't

we can't we have to keep moving forward

let's do that come on let's do that in fact

let's take a break

and then come back and listen

to the rest of your interview with the

US head of Volvo

shall we let's do it

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welcome back

to hot pursuit I'm Hannah Elliott along

with Matt Miller more of Hannah's

conversation now with Volvo president

of the Americas Luis Rizende.

What are the considerations

that Volvo is taking around

safety and we ask knowing

that so many consumers love

Volvo because of your safety

track record it's really

considered such a safe brand

that has really been

your calling card

in a way what are the concerns

and how are you

addressing that but also educating

people about the safety of these new technologies

in the cars

yeah no you're right I mean

we have a we are so proud

of our safety I mean we have so many

examples by not

ours

the seat belt I think I was just

going to say the seat belts

is implemented yes

and we were able to

really improve

the seat belt technology on the EX-60

now it's going to be adjustable

so it's different

if we seat the car

a man, woman

depending on the size, weight

so it varies

and I think this is

doing the research that we were doing

we understand that could be better

and this is why we are launching

this car a new adjustable seat

belt which is going to be

it's a fantastic thing

it's going to protect even more

so yeah

we need to understand that the

technology itself

it's good but it needs to interact

with human and we have a different

age so also

and the background so

we're going to have people

that comes from different generations

that needs to interact with that

and people that are much more technology

that will be a little bit more easy

to understand but putting all

aspects and also

understanding that it's not

all volvos in the road

so we have a different

type of vehicles and technology in the road

so we have all of this in consideration

when we develop our cars

to make sure that we protect ourselves

the people that are inside but also

outside

so safety

will remain our main

it's our DNA

as I said

and also I would say

we don't develop cars to pass

through the tests

I mean we develop cars to

face

real scenarios

in the consumers life

which means that

our basics, our standards

for Volvo standards

to crash test our cars

are much higher than

I would say what is

implicit today

in the tests that we see

across the globe

we're not very comfortable about it

but it seems that

we still have a vision that should be

zero death

this is a vision that we have

with us

and we work very hard to

achieve this one day

How does implementing

AI and as we move more

and more into autonomous

self-driving cars

does the introduction

autonomous driving technology

potentially help

you get closer to that goal

of zero deaths

there are some aspects of it

that

the car will be much faster reacting

on the versus the human

like the ability of car

to predict an accident

based on the

all the accidents that the car

learned before

will be very

very good

but I would say

still need a human

I'm big fan of AI

but I'm big fan of human as well

so I believe the human

looking to this

will not be replaced

we need to have humans

to make the right interpretation

of the things

that is

that needs to be there

we were in a safety center conversation

about the head of

safety center in Volvo

and

when we asked these

to her she said it accelerates a lot

the ability

of us processing data

it's much faster than

however we still have the

expert's looks

in order to make sure that the

combination of everything

goes into this direction

so that's to me

still very very valid point

and again

with all the technology that evolves

if you look into previous

eras we had the internet

that was let's say before AI

was internet

before internet was logistics

the big thing

that you could differentiate yourself

and with all of that

there was always a question about

the AI

if it's gonna replace

the human if the human

the robots are taking over

exactly and did not happen

because we need humans

to think about the robotics

we need humans to think about the next

part of it and to execute

in a nice way so

yes some of the job can be done

by the

AI but I still

believe the driver or the

consumer plays a very

very important role especially on the judgment

I know you're

you're overseeing the Americas

what can you tell us about

the market that you see

for Volvo going into

2026 especially

in light of the fact that

EV sales are

they're still growing but they're not maybe growing as quickly

as some people anticipated

what do you see

as the challenges and the

opportunities for Volvo in the Americas

good

yeah I think

we see

EVs you

make a right comment I mean

before people I would say 2 years ago

people are saying that 50% of the

marketing 2030 will be EVs

in US

we don't see this anymore based on

our research

but it's still growing that's

for sure the total market will not grow

but the EV market will grow and especially

because not only Volvo but the other

brands they are putting together

nice EVs

and in the road and I think

consumers starts also to understand

that not only based on incentives

but based on the

use of the car they learn more

so they start to

see that okay this is for me

maybe not to the full garage of EVs

but maybe one car can

work in that way or not

when you come with

the new launch that we have the X60

if you look into the

this car can goes

400 miles these

removes a lot of barriers

a lot of barriers

so this is and can fast charge

like in 10 minutes I don't know

in miles I know in kilometers but

it can

yeah so it's

400 or so so it's

it's quite it's

I would say you're gonna finish

your journey

and you need to stop

to have a coffee

anyway

and then in 10 minutes you're gonna have so much miles

that you're gonna be

in a good position to continue

anyway if you need to stop

so that is

so unique and the

pricing point of the car will be also

in a very competitive way

we are not launching the pricing in Americas yet

I was gonna ask

yeah I can

I mean now we're gonna announce it in

April but what I can say

is that this is it's gonna be a very

competitive because this is one of the key

points of the EVs but so

all in all I think

we're gonna be in a very good position because

you're gonna serve our customers what they

want so you as

I see that is a different

it's a different market I mean

we can say like one

US market but

when you look into a perspective

of a country

we can also say that is a 50 countries

easily I mean I was managing

50-80 countries before

we fall across the globe

and I can say here in US

we have like 50 countries in one because

all states they are different

if you look into Texas

if you look how they buy cars in Miami

or New York or California

they are totally different

I think we're gonna serve well

so we're gonna be we're gonna have

electric vehicles in a very

competitive price for those that wants

we're gonna have a p-halves that is

we believe it's gonna be

it's a transition between

an EV

the consumers they need to this bridge

and we have consumers that they say

no this is not for me I'm fine

with a combustion

car and that's fine we're gonna

they're gonna be protected they're gonna be in a very nice car

in a Volvo premium

model so that is that is

how we are approaching US

at this moment and I believe we have

the right things to just

succeed in this market for sure have you

determined how long you will

maintain

that mix of

powertrains I mean can you

indefinitely continue to offer that

option who's

gonna dictate this is a consumer

so I think as soon

as we have a very important market like

US and that we see

consumers that wants to stay

into this direction I think we're

gonna produce one thing that

is we need to take into consideration

is that technology is evolving

so the hybrid cars

that we see today will be

completely different hybrid cars

in the end of this

decade so the question

will be do we still need to

have

a combustion

engine car

which is done a very

efficient hybrid that

can go even further

in terms of miles

and charging and all

aspects in a cost

that is the same cost

of a nice vehicle

so that's I think is gonna be the

big question that needs to be answered

in the in the decade but

for sure I will have EVs

I will have a p-haves and if the

consumer stills want

m-haves or haves

I'm gonna bring it to US

so one of the aspect

that is coming that is important

to say is that we are

reinforcing our production in Charleston

so we have a plan in South Carolina today

that we produced

our EX90

that is an EV

next year 27 we're gonna

start the production also of XS60

the current car that we have

with a facelift

in the two models

it's gonna be m-have and p-have

in this car and also we're gonna have

in 29 a totally new model

a new SUV

that is gonna be a hybrid

and this totally with this

big portfolio that I'm bringing

these will represent

around 70% of

my sales in US

I do expect to grow around

60% so from 120,000

cars to 200,000 cars

in 2030

and 70% of this

will come from my plan

locally produced so yes

it's a big shift today I import

95% of my cars from Europe

so it's a big shift

it's a big commitment with the country

what is your biggest market in the US

California

the market it is but what I do

sell more is tri-state

New York

right now so I do like to hear that

but I live in California at the moment so

I can't say I'm surprised and it does seem like

you are working hard at Volvo

to address what seem like

the two big barriers for people

to buy an EV which is range

anxiety and the price

premium is that accurate

and it seems like this car is specifically

targeted to answer those two

questions

precisely yes so

those are the big

pain points for

adoption of the EV so

having this car

an average mileage of 400 miles

that is going to be

a very very

it's a very good number today we have around

300 right for

ourselves and competitors

so I think it's going to be a very big benchmark

in that

aspect also when you talk about

a fast charge

in US it's not difficult to find big

fast chargers I mean for 100

kilowatts or 350

so with that I think it's going to be

also a very key point and valid

point it's a car that comes

with NAX so it's

it's going to be adapted for a lot

of chargers

in the world so should be

really really nobody here on that we don't need

an adapter comes with the car

and pricing I mean we know we cannot

price like

entry level

PHAVs, mid level, PHAVs

and up level EVs that

that's gone I mean that was one day

a conversation that's not

that's not true anymore

so we needed to have EV in a

very pricing point with

with the PHAVs

at least so that is

with that addressing these

three aspects and with our

safety heritage

in the car with all the technology that

we are bringing to that so I think

it's going to be a it's going to be a very

very competitive product

well Luis Rizende thank you so much for joining

us I wish you all the best on this launch

we look forward to getting out on the road

and driving

thank you

our thanks to Volvo president of the Americas

Luis Rizende

Matt are we driving the same car right now

we are we're both driving

as far as I know the same car

I went to Miami

yesterday and when I came home

there was an Aston Martin DBXS

sitting in my driveway is that

what you're driving as well a life yes

yes I have

a green one

mine is I think

it's a white ish

and I love

I think they're beautiful and I have

since they first came out

but I'm so

focused on the interior

and what they've done with the car that I

didn't look at the outside too much

and also I got home and it was dark

and when I got in the car to drive to work this morning

it was also dark

yes this is not our full take

on the DBX this is our first blush

with it we each have the car

it's an SUV for a week

so we're both going to be

trying it out

I can say like my initial so yeah

I've only driven it to work

and fortunately for me

I come to work very early in the morning

so there's not a lot of traffic

fly to work essentially

and this is the car in which to do that

it is like 10 degrees

Fahrenheit so I'm a little

bit more careful

knowing that there could be ice out there

but for me this is going to be extra

exciting because my neighbor

Eric he just got

a new Cayenne

GTS

and I feel like this is the Cayenne

is the sports

SUV that you have to beat

in this segment right

well I would say it's the Urus

to be honest the what

the Urus I see

but you know tomato

there's our there's our debate

I mean those two have the same motor

right and

not the GTS

but the turbo that's Urus

I just think okay

that's a fair that's a fair point I hadn't

really thought about that so because this is what

I was thinking when I was driving the DBX in is like

Eric got this Cayenne it's so sweet

and it drives

so well

and the interior is done perfectly

and the tech obviously works it's a Porsche

so maybe I'm biased but I feel like it's

not going to break

but that thing didn't cost

200 grand in fact

I don't know how much he paid for it but

I think closer to 150

this

DBXS

retails for 422

$1200 with all the options

that's with the options the starting

prices in the 260s

but that's just

let me say this before

we dive into it and this is just a first

blush I actually think the DBX

looks way better than the Cayenne

agreed like way

and again we're not going to get into driving

because we haven't we each haven't driven it much

this is does I don't know what

Cayenne what the specs are off

off my the top of my head but this is a V8

717 horsepower

twin turbo 4-liter

engine it stomps

the Cayenne GTS

killer and it looks killer

but I don't know if it's

three times

as beautiful

and better driving speed I don't know so I

haven't spent a lot of time with this

car I'm really looking forward to it because I think

Ashton Martin has absolutely

nailed the execution at least as far as I

can tell

today like the for example

the interior

everything nothing looks cheap

nothing looks like it was an afterthought

it all looks like it was done

very intentionally

with the highest technology

the highest production quality

and the

forefront of like the carplay

that they have isn't available

I don't think in any other vehicle

so we'll talk

about it more you will talk about it also

I have to shout out

mine came with 23 inch

magnesium wheels

in satin titanium gray

those wheels alone

cost $21,600

so that's why we're going from

MSRP of

262

and ending up at

at a final price with upgrades

I'm at 409

sounds like yours is a little bit more than mine

for example has two

separate exterior packs

that total

$31,000

in extras

and the exterior packs are like

carbon fiber detailing

so it's like we add

a lightweight material on top of

you know if they didn't have it

it would be even lighter

the paint is like 14 grand

the pinstripe is 15 grand

the stereo is an extra

12 so yeah they loaded

up with options and I'm glad they did

because I'm going to enjoy trying it

but we love options

so I guess we'll tell you more about this next week

yeah I can't wait to hear

and we have Steve Sirio next week

and we have Steve Sirio for a collecting special

oh and we would be remiss if we didn't

mention this amazing

sale at Mecom where

so many car set records

but the real headliner was this Ferrari

which sold for over $38,000,000

that's huge

it's a white Ferrari

not numbers matching

engine even

so we have to talk about that

there aren't many GTOs

it's a very rare club

that's funny

I think Eddie Alterman was talking about

how he had gone to

Pebble in 2011

and they managed to wrangle together

like 20 GTOs

put them all next to each other on the concor

and it was like

he was so excited

to see the first one

and then when he walked down the line by the end

he was bored of it

I know that's really bad when that happens

it's like where can you go from here

yeah so we'll dig into

the GTO, the Ferrari auctions

that everyone was talking about with Steve

Scottsdale auctions are this weekend

so we can talk about results from those

and Retromobile

what's going on

we're going to bring it all to you right here

on Hot Pursuit

that does it for this week's show

remember to follow and subscribe

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I'm Matt Miller and I'm Hannah Elliott

we'll be back in your podcast feed again next week

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