BMW's Profit Warning, Ferrari's Polarizing New Strategy & Porsche's Wagon DeleteBloomberg Hot Pursuit! · Jun 19, 2026
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Term
take hand Wagon
They’re saying a wagon model is being discontinued. That matters because wagons are a niche style, so once production stops, it can get harder to find one to buy.
The Ferrari Luce is a Ferrari model, meaning it’s a very expensive, high-end sports car. The podcast talks about it in terms of how buyers are required or pressured to purchase it. That’s more about the buying process than how it drives day to day.
The BMW 760 is a top-trim BMW 7 Series. It’s notable here because it comes with a big V12 engine, which is rare compared with most modern luxury cars.
Term
N seventy four
N74 is the name of a specific V12 engine BMW developed. The host is saying that this V12 has been used in luxury cars like Rolls-Royce, and that BMW has moved away from using a V12 in its own lineup.
The Mercedes-Benz GLS is a large luxury SUV. It’s made to fit more people and luggage comfortably. The podcast mentions it as the car the person chose after thinking about other possibilities.
Big Star Cadillac is the dealership where the speaker found the car. They wanted to buy it through a BMW dealer, but the dealership wouldn’t sell it to other dealers.
PPI means a pre-purchase inspection. It’s basically a thorough inspection before you buy a used car, to help you find issues you might not notice during a quick look.
Term
cepo it
“Cepo” here sounds like shorthand for the steps needed to make a car eligible to be sold/registered in the buyer’s market. The speaker is saying the dealer might handle the compliance paperwork so the buyer can get the car legally.
Term
Quarrantine
This word looks like it may be a transcription error, but the idea is that the buyer wants protection/coverage after the car is inspected and processed for purchase. It’s about making sure you’re not taking on risk blindly.
A “twelve cylinder” engine usually means a V12. It’s a powerful, smooth engine, but it’s also more complicated and can cost more to maintain if something goes wrong.
Air suspension uses air bags instead of metal springs. It can change the ride height and usually makes the ride smoother, but it’s more complex than a basic suspension setup.
A “driving assistance suite” is a package of safety and convenience features that help the car drive. Think things like keeping you in your lane and helping with cruise control.
A rear bench is the standard kind of back seat that can fit more people side-by-side. They’re saying they wanted that instead of a more separated, lounge-style rear setup.
“Executive lounge” refers to a luxury-style rear seat setup meant to feel more like a lounge than a normal back seat. The speaker prefers the rear bench instead of that setup.
Term
led gun roof
This sounds like a transcription mistake, but the point is they wanted an illuminated roof/lighting feature. It’s one of those “pretty box checked” options that makes the car feel more special.
“Laser lights” means the car’s headlights use laser-based technology. They can reach farther down the road than normal headlights, but they’re usually a pricier option to have (and to fix if something fails).
Supply chain problems mean shortages or delays in getting parts to carmakers. The speaker is saying that during COVID-era disruptions, some high-end options were harder to produce or ended up being limited.
Night vision is a system that helps you see better in the dark by detecting things ahead and showing them to you. It’s meant to improve safety at night, even if the speaker personally doesn’t think it’s that helpful.
Four-wheel steering means the back wheels can turn too, not just the front wheels. It helps the car feel easier to maneuver, especially when you’re turning or parking.
The Chevrolet Suburban is a big, family SUV. The speaker is comparing the car’s length to it to explain why the steering feels more manageable than you’d expect.
The Dodge Challenger is a muscle car—an older-school style car that’s meant to feel exciting and powerful. The speaker is saying they’re not interested in switching away from it.
“Margins” here means how much money a company makes after costs, compared to how much it sells for. The point is that BMW isn’t hitting the profit level it wants.
“Guidance” is what a company tells investors about what it expects to happen next. “Slash their guidance” means they lowered those expectations.
Person
Oliver Zipsa
The hosts mention Oliver Zipsa as a BMW leader who is stepping down from a top role. They connect that leadership change to BMW adjusting what it expects to achieve.
Topic
BMW concept
The hosts pivot from corporate news to BMW’s “concept” vehicles, discussing what they think of the designs. Concept cars are often used to preview future styling, technology, or brand direction.
Alpina is a company that takes BMWs and turns them into more special, more refined versions. Here, they’re talking about an Alpina concept car that hints at what a future BMW 7 Series could look like.
An electric sedan is a normal-looking four-door car, but it runs on electricity from a battery instead of gas. In this discussion, they’re mostly judging the look, not the technical details.
“Brutalist” here means the design looks bold and a little rough-edged on purpose, not trying to be delicate or subtle. The host is saying BMW’s styling feels that way, especially around the grille.
A powertrain is the “stuff that makes the car move,” like the engine or electric motor and the parts that send power to the wheels. The host is saying they don’t want an EV sports car because they care about that moving system.
The BMW 7 Series is BMW’s top luxury sedan. The host is saying it’s built to feel smooth and quiet, unlike an M car where the engine feel matters more.
The BMW i7 is the electric, luxury version of the 7 Series. The host is saying that EVs fit this kind of car because it’s more about a smooth, quiet ride than about the engine feel.
The BMW M3 is a high-performance BMW made by BMW’s M division. The host is saying the M3 is special because of how its engine drives the car, not because it’s quiet or comfortable like some luxury cars.
The BMW M2 is a compact performance coupe from BMW’s M division, typically prized for its agile handling and driver engagement. Here, the host says they’re “hopelessly smitten” with the M2 and implies they plan to test drive it, framing it as the kind of car they actually want to buy.
E Shift is a Porsche feature that tries to make an electric car feel more like a gas car. It does that by simulating shifting and engine sounds using the steering-wheel paddles.
Artificial shift shocks are fake “jolts” that try to imitate what you feel when a gas car changes gears. Electric cars don’t shift the same way, so the car simulates it.
A virtual rev limiter is a software limit that stops the simulated engine speed from going higher. It’s meant to recreate the way a gas engine would hit its redline.
Engine braking effects are the “slowing down” feeling when you take your foot off the accelerator. EVs can simulate it so the car feels more like a gas car.
Instant torque hit means the car’s pulling power shows up right away when you accelerate. Electric motors can feel very immediate compared with gas engines.
Some EVs play made-up noises through speakers. The goal is to make the car easier to notice, but it can also feel like the car is pretending to be something else.
Hans Zimmer is a well-known composer for movie soundtracks. The host is joking that he could help design an EV’s sound so it feels cool and intentional.
Instead of playing a made-up engine noise, the car boosts the sound that the electric motor already makes. The host thinks that feels more honest and easier to accept.
Dodge is mentioned as another car brand that experimented with EV sound. The host is using it as an example of making the noise feel more real or more interesting.
Tesla is mentioned as an example of a company that embraced EVs instead of trying to copy gas-car behavior. The host thinks that approach helped EVs become mainstream.
This is about making a brand feel exclusive. If people believe only a few can get the “good stuff,” it can make the brand seem higher-status and more desirable.
The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car designed to be very fast and exciting to drive. People talk about it a lot because it’s a well-known performance model. The podcast mentions it as a car someone might want.
The Range Rover is a luxury SUV, meaning it’s designed to be comfortable and feature-rich. It can also handle rough roads better than many regular SUVs. The podcast mentions it because someone was seen driving one.
The G-Class is a luxury SUV from Mercedes-Benz with a very recognizable, boxy shape. It’s designed to handle rough roads while still feeling comfortable inside. The podcast mentions it because someone was reportedly seen driving one.
The Lucid Air is an electric luxury car. The speaker is talking about a problem they noticed with something on the outside/inside trim while driving it.
The A pillar is the front vertical support between the windshield and the side window area. Many cars use trim panels around it, and if that trim loosens or falls off, it can be a noticeable fit-and-finish problem.
Car
twenty twenty BMW M seven sixty
This is a very powerful BMW 7 Series variant with a V12 engine. The host is saying it feels like it keeps pulling hard, so it’s easy to get carried away with speed.
These are safety features that help you avoid going too fast. A limiter actually caps the top speed, while a warning just tells you you’re over a chosen limit.
A V12 is a type of engine with 12 cylinders arranged in a V shape. The host is saying it makes the car feel like it keeps pulling strongly all the time.
Haptic touch is when a screen pretends to be a button by giving you a physical-like feedback. The host prefers real buttons and knobs because they’re quicker to use while driving.
Place
Taconic
The Taconic is a road in the northeastern U.S. The host is saying they use night vision to check for deer along the roadside.
LIVE
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. I'm Hannah Elliott.
And I'm Matt Miller. This is Hot Pursuit.
Coming up on today's podcast. We've got the news from
Portia that they're no longer making the take hand Wagon.
Yes, which is a bummer for us, but probably not really a bummer for.
Probably not a surprise nobody was buying. I know, but
people like us get so mad when an automaker says they're not going to make.
Yes exactly and ferrari as you might expect, essentially forcing wealthy clients to buy the Luce Yes.
Now we kind of already know this, but this is a really good of course, but this is a great reported piece from our Italian counterparts about the real things happening behind the scenes.
Plus BMW's slashing its margin forecasts. This is one of
the best run car makers in the world in terms of profitability, and they're having a tough time, which is bad news for the whole industry.
Yeah, you know, when you said let's talk about BMW, I was thinking, we're talking about your new BMW.
That God, let's start Actually, let's start with that. So
I bought last week new to Me BMW. It's a
used MB seven sixty and from twenty twenty good, and I had never test driven it. I'd never driven a BMW,
a twelve cylinder BMW before.
What gave you the confidence to make this purchase without even kicking the wheels?
Well, so I had driven BMW seven series in many different forms. I'd driven the seven to fifty from this generation,
although the earlier one. I drove the twenty sixteen seven
to fifty when it came out, and I've driven the new seven series in all of their eyeamiliar.
With you're familiar with the portfolio.
I knew it would be a big luxury sedan, an isolated, you know, touring car with very light steering, and but I wanted the V twelve. And the reason is that
I've always wanted like a sportier Rolls Royce. Remember how
badly I wanted a Bentley Turbo Are for a long time until Matt Farra actually made the purchase, and he didn't keep that car very long. So I always and
that was like the sportier that Bentley was, the sportier Rolls Rolls Royce of the era's I think it's really cool, but I in my opinion, the Bentley of today is the BMW because obviously they bought Rolls Royce since then, and you know, they build this N seventy four to twelve cylinder engine for Rolls Royce as well, and now they're no longer using the twelve cylinder and any BMW product.
But but I love the feeling of the roles. I
just wanted to be a little bit more connected to the ground, a little bit stiffer role. I wanted to
roll less, yes, and so I knew. Plus I love
the look of the facelifted G twelve generation BMWs. It
got the big grill and at the time when it first came out, everybody was like, oh, that's horrible.
It's funny this is considered big.
It was at the time, I considered very big in twenty twenty, so I traded my Dodge Challenger for it because I also needed a bigger car for my kids.
I needed a car that would work better in winter.
You've got a third one on the way exactly.
And so I had been looking for it for years.
In fact, I tried to convince my wife when she got rid of her Volvo xt ninety that the answer is a big German Sedan because they depreciate so quickly you can afford to buy a one hundred and fifty or two hundred thousand dollars a luxury car a few years later for like sixty five or seventy, right, and she poo pooed the idea and ended up getting the Mercedes GLS. So I've I've kept thinking about it. I
kept wanting it, and over the last few months I was searching. They're hard to find because they only made
three hundred and sixty of the facelifted version in the last three years of production. But I finally found one.
We found this in Texas.
I found it Big Star Cadillac outside of Houston, Texas.
I tried desperately to buy it through a BMW dealer because I had gotten to know some BMW dealers and they were like, listen, let us buy this car for us, and then we'll like do a full PPI essentially, and then maybe we can even cepo it, you know, so that you can get a Quarrantine exactly, and you know, with a twelve cylinder car with air suspension, like it's a little bit scary maybe, but Big Star they're part of a big Automotive Group, and they don't. They don't
wholesale cars to other dealers. But the problem is, it's
so hard to find a low mileage example of these cars out there that has everything I wanted. I wanted
the bowers In Wilkins stereo, you know. I wanted the
full driving assistance suite. I wanted a rear bench instead
of the executive lounge.
And some interior lighting effects, didn't you.
I wanted the led gun roof like and I wanted the laser lights, which they only made in the twenty twenty year and they had to act because of the COVID remember the supply chain problems, and then also they were just too expensive to make anymore. I wanted the
night vision, as useless as it is, just because I wanted every pretty box checked. And so finally I big Star.
I was like, come on, please wholesale this to a BMW dealer and they said, sorry, like, we just can't.
It's corporate, you know, rules, And but I thought, I'm not going to let this one slip through my hands because I had lost so many of them. I thought
I had when we were when we were in Miami for the F one and it got sold. I thought
I had another one from South Carolina. I got sold,
so I pulled the trigger. No PPI, no test drive, nothing.
I love this for you because Magnus.
Because Magnus told me, like I never do that stuff.
And I'm really excited for you.
Want to live my life more like Magnets. And it
worked out really well. I got maybe I got lucky,
but it was like it's perfect, I'm so in luck.
So it got dropped. What did you do for your got.
Dropped off two days ago and it came up on an open truck. Because chicking was so expensive, Like the
first quotes I got were like six or four thousand dollars, sorry to in. It covered for covered taking the car
to me and then picking up my challenger and trade.
And I was like four thousand is that's a lot because you're already paying. I got it for sixty five.
You know, it stickered for one eight, so I already got a massive deal, but I didn't want to add any more. Finally I got a quote fourteen hundred for
the shipping each direction, but open. So when it got
to me, it was pretty dirty. So the first thing
I did was wash it right and then it was like getting to.
Have any word smells or anything.
No, it didn't. And I was worried about that Mercedes
that I got.
That's a Seinfeld episode.
This had a smell. I couldn't get out of it
for like a year. Yeah, But then, like I had
to put my kids to bed, you know, I had to do all this family stuff. And so by the
time I got a lad of thinking about it again, it was already ten. I wake up at five, so
you usually I'm in bed by then, but I couldn't go to bed. I had to drive it. So my
wife went to sleep and I like quietly snuck out of bed and I took it out on the Bronx Rood Parkway up to twenty two out to Bedford and like didn't get home till midnight. But it was so
much And the stereo is insane.
What did you listen to when I was.
Listening to the newest King Buffalo record, which is like my obsession lately, this band, And it's just an amazing stereo system. Plus it has like the lighted speaker grills
and the ambient lighting inside makes it the experience so cool. Yeah,
I just I absolutely love it. It's really and the
four we steering is for the first time something that I can totally feel working. Yeah, because it's a long car.
It's like as long as a Chevy suburban. But yeah,
with the four wheel steering, it just shortens the wheelbase, you know, and the way it feels so much and everything works perfectly on it. The suspension is great, the
wheels are gorgeous.
Have the girls been in it yet?
The girls have not been in it, okay, but when they do. It has the the blinds that go up
on the back seat, on the back window that I can control from up front, and yeah, it's just got I just I just got so lucky. I'm so happy
with it.
Are you even thinking about the Challenger?
Not even a little bit. And I thought I thought
I would cry. I thought I would actually actually cry,
and I don't even It's not a guy who cries very much. But I thought, you know what, this Challenger
has been. It served me so well over the last
three years, and I really love it. I like the
whole kind of cosplay, like muscle cars, cruising, everyone walks lasting. Yeah,
but it just it rolls so much. And I never
trust the grip because I always lose traction and it's hard to put kids in the back like it just.
It's just you're just evolving as a person.
I still look at them longingly when I see them drive by. It's only been a couple of days, but
I honestly I don't miss it one single bit.
That's a really good sign. I think you made the
right decision.
Yeah, that's so cool, so very very cool.
Do we need to talk about what BMW is doing corporately now because that is.
Well, they're tie in, I mean, I mean so to me, the BMW story is a concern for the industry right because they're having real problems getting the margins they want.
They're having problems and trying to I.
Don't think but BMW is alone by any means.
No. No. In fact, the reason the story I think
is so interesting is that BMW has been so sicks.
That's one of the last ones to adjust.
Yeah. Yeah, but they had to slash their guidance. They
get in. They got a new new CEO or new
chairman as Oliver Zipsa steps out of the lead role.
But he had done very well, we thought, and maybe this is the new guy, like throwing everything out with the kitchen sink. A lot of times when the new
CEO comes in, they will act the previous forecasts and just drop expectations so that they can underpromise and over deliver for their their.
Pay set themselves up for six exactly this way.
Yes, exactly. But look, I mean you've just pulled up
BMW right, and you're looking at their new concept.
Because yes, I want to talk about I want to hear.
We actually haven't discussed this, Matt, So I'm really curious what you think of these concepts, especially the m concept Noyah CLASSA, but also that Alpina concept that they showed at COMO. I don't know if you saw it.
I haven't seen the Alpina concepts normally. Well, no, I
have seen Alpina concept now that I think about it, But I don't think it's a concept.
It's a concept. What makes it? Okay?
Yes, this is not a production car. I've seen something
that Alpina has done recently which goes the other way in terms of lessening the craziness of BMW. Yeah, that's
the Alpina concept for the the new seven.
Uh yet inspired by the seven series, they to my knowledge design right. They have not actually confirmed that this
is this is anywhere, This is not a production Carr, Are you saying you've.
Confirmed from the BMW North American CEO that Alpina will make well a certain series.
Yeah, but there's not a timeline.
Of social the new design language on that.
That's kind of what I was getting up back to the series. Okay, so what about this m concept Noya Classic.
I really like it. Okay, what do you think?
I like it. I'm trying to find a picture. But
to me, it reminds me a little bit of Mercedes four door AMG coop in that it's an electric sedan.
At the end of the day, they can tart it up however they want, but at the end of the day, it's an electric sitan.
I wasn't thinking about the powertrain, just the design, you know.
I like the design a lot.
Sure, the design is like slightly more interesting than normal BMW cars, which I do like. I love how brutalist
they are. I like the attitude. I in general do
like the BMW design. I like the grills, I like
all of it. And this one was like the dial
was turned a few more notches to the right. So yeah,
I like it. But I wouldn't call it like a
supercar or anything like that.
So I wasn't thinking about the powertrain. And I've seen
so much reaction to this car on Twitter, and people are reacting to the evnus of it, and I'm and they hate it, and I'm loving the design of it.
I don't care about the evnus of it because.
That seems insane. You, of all people always care about.
These, you know. I just mean the reason I don't
care is because I'm never gonna buy one. And uh,
if they come out with that as an EV, I'm not interested in it because of the powertrain. I'm yeah,
I mean, I just don't have much interest in an EV sports car.
Nobody does.
I think probably the drive train works in the I seven and the seven series. It works because the soul
of a seven series is as much the isolation and the suspension as it is the motive.
A rolling, smooth cocoon that shield you from the city while you work and have your meetings and you're running the world completely.
But the soul of an M three is the motor.
And yes, and to me, motor. Now we're looking at
a side profile. Now, this m concept Noya CLASSA. I
love to say it in your German. I was just
gonna say, this actually doesn't look any different than any other BMW. It looks exactly the same. So if this
is their like shining new star, I'm like, well, I think they should turn it.
Up a bit more ductail. It has a split ductail
on the back. I'm hopelessly smitten with the M two.
So I know I'm getting one actually when I get back to LA to test drive, to test, yeah, not to not to buy only because really, you are so effusive about it. Now I'm really curious. I have to.
Well, my my buddy Philip Richter, you know who does yes, who puts on the Turtle Invitational Car Show, Yes, in Bedford.
He is a huge BMW aficionado. He has like an
M six from the eighties. He has a ton of
BMW motorcycles, and the M two, the new M two, is the first new car that he's been interested in since, like Mercedes in the early two thousands.
That's a really that that's a good direction to go like this, And you're right, I do. Now we're on
the BMW website and it just has powerful.
Rear end, like a powerful rear.
I know me too. This is great, this is great.
I'm excited, and but back to the mar gets Uh is this going to change anything for the bottom.
Line, don't you know what? I'm interested. I'm interested to
see what the future would look like. I'd love to
fast forward five or ten years and just see how EV adoption has progressed. Because obviously everybody who wanted an
EV already has one. And people who don't care about
like the soul of a car or are really the driving experience, you know, who want an appliance, they'll get one, for sure, because it makes perfect sense as an appliance.
But are car enthusiasts really gonna get evs? I mean,
as as I see Mercedes and Porschae and we'll talk about what Porsche is doing in a second, try desperately to make their evs feel like gasoline cars. Sounds like
a V eight exactly exactly, Like, oh, we made this sound exactly like the V eight. Well, but then why
not just buy a V eight or Porsche with they.
You still have real V eights exactly yea.
And in fact, let's talk about the Porsche thing. Let's
do it. They've come out with a system on the Tychon.
It's called E Shift, and you'll be able to choose as an option for the twenty twenty seven Tychon. It
uses steering wheel paddles to simulate an eight speed transmission, complete with artificial shift shocks, a virtual rev limitter, engine breaking effects, and synthesized powertrain sounds. So they're basically trying
to make it feel as much like a gasoline engine as they can, including basically reducing the efficiency and the kind of instant torque hit and the one gear simplicity that you would get with an EV normally. So they're
basically trying to handicap the EV to make it feel more like a gasoline engine. So then, like, why not
just buy one of the gasoline engine cars that they sell.
I know, that's such a good question, And honestly, I get why they're trying to do this, because they understand that people want to feel things with their cars, and you have to make evs somehow. Emotional and emotions are
generated through feelings, often physical feelings, So I get that, but I can't help but think as we see more and more of these simulated things like simulated shifting and simulated sounds it's only going to make the value of the real thing even higher. True, it's only going to
make the real thing even more desirable. And it's only
going to continue to polarize the highest end where people really want the real manual, the real combustion, the real whatever else. And it's expensive now to get that. And
I mean it's pulling. I think everyone talks about a
K shape curve, but I feel like we're even going in that direction just with simulated stuff.
Right, the real leather, right, yes, yes, they come out with better and better pleather. People are going to say, hey,
I got this one with real leather in it.
I think so.
I just think it's a bit silly. I mean, imagine
if when we transitioned from horse drawn carriages to cars, they were like, wait, let's make this like simulated poop, you know, or this this can smell like a real horse.
It can smell like a real horse in here. I
mean I kind of think, you know what, that's it.
That's actually an argument for if you're making an EV, just keep it in evy clean into what an EV is, which is silent, smooth, completely uh you know, seamless acceleration, instant acceleration. Just lean into that, right.
Yeah. Also, they're building these things for the enthusiasts, right,
And we're also seeing at the same time these brands acts enthusiasts. Yes, products like Portia is no longer going
to sell the whatever they call it cross Charismos Sport or whatever, like the wagon versions of their Taekons. And
they've long since stopped making the wagon version of the PanAm Era. And that's like we were saying, that's what, yes,
you and I would want. Apparently not enough people were
buying them, so they stopped making them. If they're making
these cars fake shifting for the enthusiasts, is the enthusiast really going to pay however much they charge, like an extra ten thousand dollars, the option's got to be expensive, right on an already one hundred and fifty thousand dollars car. Yeah,
I doubt it. They should just make a real EV
I know that's supposed to be an EV and in charge accordingly completely.
Let's think also about China where China, Okay, this is the biggest, most lucrative car market in the world. Buyers
there have already shown that they are very interested in buying Chinese made domestically made evs because the AIS way better, They're way more affordable, and they perform just as well, if not better as well from Chinese automakers. Those automakers
aren't trying to add in some sort of weird sounds or weird shifting into their cars. So why would we us,
meaning the West, then try to like come in on the back end and give those buyers some sort of tangible sounds that they clearly don't want. They're already happy
with the pure EV and the AI. I don't know
if I'm making sense here.
You are. You are. The argument for sound, and it's
long been a controversial in Germany that EV's don't make noise because you can they do make coming, or because you don't know how you can't gauge how fast they're going by the way they sound, makes sense. But the
argument for faking a sound of a different powertrain that doesn't make any sense to me. Yeah, like remember when
Mercedes started coming out with their fake sounds, but they were like a lion roar or like a wave crashing. Yes,
I like that better, you know, I want somebody somebody brought in. I think Hans Zimmer to make a sound
for their EV. That's great.
That might be BMW was it?
Yeah, big, He's the perfect kid to do it. Yes,
Like I'm all for making your own or what Dodge did with the Fratsnic chamber or what Ferrari's doing with the luch where they're actually amplifying the sound of the electric motor. I get that better. I get that. I
can understand that more easily than trying to fake a V eight sound.
I feel like the general rule of thumb of trying to please everyone or be all things to everyone at all times, it almost never works for anything, including cars.
I think really you should just if you're going to do an EV, lean into it. I mean, Tesla leaned
into being completely different and being an EV and they changed the world.
That's for sure. I'm Matt Miller along with Hannah Elliott.
You're listening to Hot Pursuit. We have more coming up
after this. I'm Matt Miller and.
I'm Hannah Elliott, and this is Hot Pursuit.
By the way, speaking of evs, we can get to the Ferrari story. Yeah, so you already know, and we've
already talked about so many times, and Jay Leno's made famous Ferrari's business model, right, he won't buy a Ferrari because they want you to come and buy the entry level models or coming by the you know, the cheaper stuff before you can get to.
Their like the more exclusive the.
Twelve cylinders or the exactly or the one offs or I don't know, like one of one hundred or whatever.
So and that business model has worked incredibly.
Word regardless of Jay Leno's distaste for it.
Completely it creates the perception of status and scarcity and complete elitism in the most in the most desirable way.
You want to be in that club.
It also makes sense though, like I want to sell my most coveted products to clients that have been with me there throughout.
The Well, look, if you're if we're the regular at a restaurant, we want to know that we can walk in and have a table because we have proven we're here, We're we're supporting you, we're fans of the restaurant. I've
been here. I want to fill some.
Of that, all your new products completely. We'll take whatever
you can serve, right, yeah, right, I totally get that, So I'm not I'm not really against that business model.
Per se me neither. But it's a fine line. Yes,
it's a fine line.
And if they're twisting arms to uh sell the Luce, that's more than a story about their business model. That's
a story about how nobody wants his car.
Well, yeah, I think there's for sure, there's that. There's
also the idea that people who make enough money to buy nice ferraris aren't dumb, and nobody likes to feel that they're being controlled, or that they're being taken advantage of because of their money, or that they're just gonna take it. And I've heard plenty of people who own
ferraris who say, I'm so sick of being you know, dictated to about what I can and can't buy. I'm
kind of done. You know, it gets to a point
where they don't like it anymore. But then you have
like David Lee for instance, told me, Yeah, maybe he'll buy the LuSE and Luce, and if he decides to sell it in a few years after the you know period where he can't flip it ends, then he'll sell it and to someone like that he can afford it and it's not that big a deal.
Yeah, for him, is no problem. But I think and Okay,
he just paid thirty eight million dollars for a car, so he can buy everything. But I have a friend
who just bought a two ninety six GTB because well, not necessarily because he wants to twelve cylinder, but his expectation is that it's in his mind. Yes, at the
same time, he's loving the two ninety six.
That's so good.
He's having so much fun driving it. Yes, And also
when people see him driving the two ninety six, they're like, that's an awesome car. That dude is a total baller.
He's driving a sweet Ferrari. Whereas if he bought the
Luce to get there a number one, I'm not sure how he would be feeling about it. It's probably awesome,
fun to drive, and the interior looks comfortable, you know, but definitely people on the street would be like, look at that idiot. He's driving a six hundred and fifty
thousand dollars Apple car, Like, what a sucker.
The thing that I wonder is is there space for a group of Luce owners to become kind of like cyber truck owners where they have their own little tribe and they they're in their world. They like it, and
it's a badge of pride to drive a cyber truck, even though the cyber truck is widely hated.
You think that's how it is. Yes, you know someone
who drives a cyber truck.
Yeah, and among that set, it's kind of like a badge of pride, like they're they're very tight. I wonder
if that would happen with Luce at all.
I don't know. I try to be a kind person
you are. I hope that I'm tolerant and open minded
and inclusive, you know, And I mean that in the least woke and most authentic way that you know, because I want to be I was telling my wife the other day that, like, you know, being kind it's like free money because you're you make yourself feel good about you.
But but but I still can't help a past judgment on anybody I see driving a cyber truck.
I always go back to, I see how children got so excited for that cyber truck, And I've driven one and had lived in one for a few days, and it wasn't that bad.
No, I hear you. I think I think about your
test drive as well, and I think about how much I respect both Elon Musk and vun Holdsausen for having the courage on the show, for having the courage to make it. And at the time, I was like, that's
cool because they're willing to break out of this conformist like yes, But at the same time, when I see someone driving a cyber truck past the Starbucks in Scarsdale, I.
Think, yeah, so that's an interesting thing. I don't think
this applies to cyber truck owners because I think you have to really know what you're doing, or like, you know what you're buying when you buy a cyber truck.
But a lot of people who owned Tesla's, at least in La, they don't think about it that deeply. Well,
like the girl who colors my hair owns a Tesla and she just wanted an electric car.
Yeah, but that's because they're cheap ish, right with the Model three and great appliance is easy to get to a to B. You never have to go to gas
station again. I get that, But if you're buying a
cyber truck, yeah, you're paying extra money and I imagine you have some kind of weight in order to broadcast to the world that you know, I'm part of a club that you probably don't like.
Let's get specific when you're talking about these values, Matt, what values are you elluding?
We don't need to get that specific, right, but you're basically.
You're supporting Elon's efforts with SpaceX and AI type things do okay. So the astration the specific you're like, if
you buy a cyber truck, it does telegraph perhaps that you're okay with that agenda. That with the cyber truck
I agree with. I don't think that applies to all
Tesla drivers.
No, of course not. That's not a Model three driver.
That's not a Model ye driver.
It's interesting that's.
Saying like I'm a you know, a family or a person who's wanting maybe even smart with my money.
You know, I know, it's really interesting to think about.
It's it's a very different set of people.
Do you think cars are more political now than they were in like the seventies and eighties.
I can't really answer that because in the seventies and eighties I was mostly interested in cars only for design and motor and status. I wasn't really interested. I wasn't
even born until you know, nineteen seventy three, So I wasn't thinking about politics until the eighties, And at that point, I don't know, I was more concerned with like the car itself than what it said about the person driving it.
Don't maybe it did say something about you that you were I.
Just remember, you know, old guys back in the day would say they would never drive a Ford, or they would never drive a Chevy or.
You know, there's always been that.
There's always that.
But they're from the same place.
Right.
If you get two guys from Lexing, Kentucky who both work for I don't know, Columbia Gas.
You know they're gonna want to have a Corvette.
Well, no, I'm just saying one will say I only want a Chevy and the other one will say I only want Afford. It has nothing to do with like
their political socioeconomic Yeah, nothing to do.
But now it does feel like I think cars are more political, and probably that's really around EV's.
Yeah, in general, I'd say that's probably true.
Yeah, which is interesting.
What are you doing here? I'm just as in New York.
Usually usually you're in LA and we can get to see each other. Right now, we're in the same studio together, and.
What I'm doing here is having fun and living my life in the greatest city this world has ever seen.
Are you here for the championship?
I mean, I was here on that fateful night on Saturday night, out in the streets with the people. It
was one of the greatest nights of my life, a time to remember and a real benchmark for all New Yorkers.
Will always say, where were you on the night the Knicks one and five? And I was in Dimes Square
And I was actually with mister Enthusiast, mister Phillip Toledano also far over and his family watching the game, and we were sort of upstairs, and then we were out in the streets celebrating, and it was amazing. So yes,
I I we had already planned to be here just because I love New York City and it feels like home.
Yeah, I mean, and I'm doing a little.
Oh. Also, our anniversary was yesterday, married in New.
York, so I had and you were married by mister Enthusiast.
So we kind of just thought, let's be in the city for our anniversary.
That's that's really cool. I was watching the game with
my wife and it was so great to see basically Jalen Brunson carry the team to victory at the end.
That guy is an absolute machine.
He's not tall, it's your height.
I am taller than Jal.
That is incredible to me, the size of that guy's heart.
Yeah, and it's true because I mean, for those who didn't watch the game, it came down to stamina and endurance.
At the end, everybody was so tired, you know, Wemby was like dead on the floor, and Brunton, I'm sure Brunson, who is far older and in let's just say, different shape than a lot of the other players, persevered. He
just pushed through it. And he must have been just
as tired, but he just put his shoulder down, drove it to the hoop, and put it in for I think he had like forty five points, yeah, of a total of ninety four. He just crushed it.
I just have to say, too, there was something really special about it because New York, you know, you've got so many different sports teams that even if say the Yankees, when the Mets fans are not gonna support the Yankees no matter what. But somehow, with the Knicks, it's felt
like all of New York had united around this team.
I mean, Jets fans are not going to support the Giants, probably, but somehow that.
Your books, I'm sure you're right. I bet you that
there were Nets fans, Brooklyn Nets fans who were very happy about the Knick championship.
Right, So somehow it just felt more unifying and completely it just felt like such elation. And I haven't felt
that in a long time. Obviously I live in La now,
but I'm back here a lot I had. I hadn't
seen that in a long time, so it was very it was nice, a nice moment.
I just googled it because Jalen Brunson lives up by me as car sale and uh, I've never seen him driving it, but reportedly he has a g Wagon well Love, no surprise, and has been spotted behind the wheel of a range Rover Love also no surprise. But he's partnered
with Lucid Motors, which is interesting. I mean, they have money,
you know. And also I really enjoyed for the few
days that I drove a Lucid Air that hicle. You know,
I wouldn't want to I don't think own one, but.
Yeah, yeah, yeah you've driven, Yeah, I've driven it. The panel,
The the panel covering the A pillar fell off. I
mean it was like falling off.
I don't think they're known for bad quality.
They're they're not They're not great.
Really.
Yeah, they're way overpriced, I think. I'll be honest. I
think they're very ugly and they're very overpriced. Yeah, I
don't think and they're losing money.
This is not I don't think they're that like. The
design isn't to me. I don't get it. I don't
get it. But it doesn't look too much different than
a Ferrari.
Well that's the low bar.
That's true.
I don't have a compelling reason to purchase one. I
would say even I could come up with a compelling reason, perhaps to buy a Tesla.
Have you driven a Gravity No, I haven't gravity. I
haven't driven on yet either. I felt like it was
the air was a very solid vehicle, and it was super fast. But yeah, I don't think it.
Speed is such a commodity these days.
That's true. You know, that's true.
It really I keep going back to I think I'm warned.
Maybe I'm just getting old.
You know, it's very fast, is my twenty twenty BMWM seven sixty. I love it. It's so fast. I was
driving in this morning, and I realized that for the first time I may have to set like a speed warning or limiter because that, yeah, you can do that.
And I just I keep looking down and realizing that I could, instead of ending up at work, end up in jail.
You know, we don't want we can't have that, and.
It's, uh, the V twelve is just it's like a locomotive that keeps on pulling, and it's addictive to put the pedal further and further down, you know what. The
one of the best things about it is though it has all of these physical buttons everywhere that you can touch, or dials that you can turn, and not like a haptic touch, but like.
An actual an actual knob.
Button or a knob and it's honestly, it's it's like the best part of you know, I got just got this car after having driven the M two that I love so much a couple of weeks ago. But the
M two has this giant like rectangular screen that looks like they just glued it on at the last minute, and also could be a serious injury risk if you get into an accident, and it's useless for controlling the car.
It's like I have to dig deep into digital menus to find out how to do this or that. And
if there's a button, even for the night vision in my car, there's a physical button that push.
Because normally that would be buried under like five L.
No, it's just a button to the left of the steering wheel, and I can see if there are any deer hiding off the side of the Taconic, so.
You can't be too careful.
It's just fantastic. I think I'm gonna go home right now.
Go drive it.
Yes, well, I want to bring you down there.
Okay, we got to hurry. We gotta hurry. That does
it for this week's show, We've got to go down and look at a car real quick. Remember to follow
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Email us at hot Pursuit at Bloomberg.
Dot net, and check out Hannah's columns and stories on Bloomberg dot com and the Bloomberg Business app. Go there
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Pursuits slash Autos. I'm Matt Miller.
And I'm Hannah Elliott. We'll be back in your podcast
feed again next week
About this episode
BMW’s profit troubles and guidance cuts set the tone, then the conversation turns to what enthusiasts actually want: a V12 BMW 7 Series with physical controls, plus the hunt for a scarce G12 facelift spec. Porsche’s E Shift and the broader EV “feel” debate follow, including whether to simulate gears or lean into silence. Ferrari’s strategy of entry-to-elite exclusivity sparks buyer backlash talk, while wagon and other “delete” trends show how options are shrinking.
