A luxury car is a high-end vehicle that offers extra comfort, style, and features compared to regular cars. What makes a car 'luxury' can change as new models and technologies come out.
Car
Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon Cabriolet
The G-Wagon Cabriolet is a fancy version of the Mercedes G-Class that has a soft top, allowing it to be driven like a convertible. It's known for being both luxurious and good for off-road driving.
The Mercedes-Benz AMG GT is a powerful sports car that looks great and drives really fast. It has a strong engine and lots of high-tech features, making it exciting to drive. People talk about it because it's a blend of luxury and speed, appealing to car lovers.
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that is known for being fast and fun to drive. It's a popular choice among car enthusiasts and is often compared to other high-performance cars.
The Toyota GR GT is a new sports car from Toyota that focuses on speed and performance. It's part of their effort to create exciting cars for racing fans.
Gazoo Racing is Toyota's special team that works on fast cars and racing. They create performance versions of Toyota cars and help in racing competitions.
The Toyota Prius is a car that uses both a gasoline engine and an electric motor to save fuel and reduce emissions. It's known for being very good on gas mileage.
Pound-feet is a way to measure how much twisting force an engine can create. It helps determine how quickly a car can speed up or how much weight it can pull.
Carbon credits are like permission slips for companies to pollute. If a company pollutes less than allowed, it can sell its unused permission slips to another company that needs them.
The Ford Mustang is a popular sports car in the U.S. that is famous for being fast and stylish. It has been around for many years and is loved by car enthusiasts.
A 6.2 liter V8 is a type of engine that has eight cylinders and is very powerful. It's often used in fast cars like the Corvette and is known for its strong performance.
Stellantis is a big car company that makes many different brands of cars. It was created when two companies, Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group, joined together.
A G-Class competitor is a car that tries to be as good as the Mercedes G-Class, which is a fancy and tough SUV. Other brands want to make similar cars to attract buyers.
The G-Class is a luxury SUV made by Mercedes-Benz, famous for its tough design and off-road ability. The electric version is a new take on this classic vehicle, using electricity instead of gasoline.
The Audi e-tron is a fancy electric SUV that runs on batteries instead of gas. It's known for being comfortable and packed with cool features, but it doesn't go as far on a single charge as some other electric cars. People mention it because it's one of the first high-end electric SUVs available.
The Porsche Carrera GT is a rare and very fast sports car that was made in limited numbers. It has a special engine and is one of the few cars that you can drive with a manual stick shift, which many car fans love. People talk about it because it's a unique and thrilling car to drive.
The Rolls-Royce Phantom is a super luxurious car that is all about comfort and style. It's very expensive and can be customized to fit what the owner wants, making each one unique. People talk about it because it's considered one of the best luxury cars in the world.
The Land Rover Range Rover is a fancy SUV that can handle rough roads while also being very comfortable inside. It's popular among people who want a mix of luxury and adventure, but some parts can be tricky and expensive to fix. That's why people often talk about it when discussing car reliability.
The Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray is a new version of the classic Corvette that uses both gas and electric power to go faster and save fuel. It's exciting because it shows how sports cars can be more environmentally friendly while still being fun to drive. People are talking about it because it's a cool mix of tradition and modern technology.
LIVE
Introducing the all-new Adobe Acrobat Studio, now with AI-powered PDF spaces.
Do more with PDFs than you ever thought possible.
Need AI to turn 100 pages of market research into five insights with a click?
Do that with Acrobat.
Need templates for a sales proposal that'll close that deal?
Do that with Acrobat.
Need an AI specialist to tailor the tone of your market report to sound real smart in real time?
Do that with the all-new Adobe Acrobat Studio.
Learn more at adobe.com slash do that with Acrobat.
I'm Hannah Elliott.
And I'm Matt Miller.
This is Hot Pursuit.
Coming up on today's podcast.
My story just out on what even makes a luxury car these days.
I know there's, at least in my own head, a lot of questions about that.
And later, we're talking Mercedes.
Yeah, there's a lot to talk about, by the way, with Mercedes because we got pictures of the Baby G,
which, you know, you can Google that and make your own decision.
But I think, well, it's interesting to talk about.
And then we got pictures of the G-Wagon Cabriolet.
But you're driving, actually, what I think is the very best Mercedes that you can buy
if you have an unlimited budget.
I might agree with you as much as I love the G-Wagon.
I've been driving the AMG GT63 SE Performance, which is really a mouthful for just,
basically, the new AMG GT.
And of course, the thing to know about this car is it now has a backseat
and an attempt to compete against the 911.
So we can definitely discuss whether that helps or hurts.
Let's talk it.
Let's start, though, with a brand that we almost never talk about,
because it's an easy segue to make.
Toyota is also looking to compete against 911.
Just today or maybe last night, we started to see news break with pictures and details
about Toyota's new GR GT.
That's what they're calling it.
And it's developed by their Gazoo Racing Unit, which is certainly the silliest name of any.
Like, that's their M-Works or their AMG or their MAGMA.
They're calling it Gazoo Racing.
And we can be forgiven for not knowing, and our listeners can, too,
because it doesn't exist in the US.
They don't sell these in the US.
Right. I mean, this GR GT won't be sold until 2027.
So the street going version exactly of the GT3 car that they want to enter,
they want to get into GT racing.
I think Lexus already does it right now with the LFA.
So they're going to do it with this.
To me, it looks gorgeous and a lot like the AMG GT.
I mean, do you think when you look at this thing, it's got a huge long hood
and then a two-seater with a cockpit way out back.
And it's got a big twin turbo V8 in the front as well.
I'm going to strongly disagree and say it certainly didn't call to mind Mercedes at all.
But it does look very Toyota.
It reminds me of the old, older Toyota racers, of course, that we know and love
like Godzilla from back in the day that are really worth a lot of money now.
I don't, you know, it's interesting.
I'm just saying the proportions, Hannah, just the proportions.
Like, you know, the GT, the previous AMG one, before what you're driving and like the SLS.
This is what the proportions remind me of.
I hope the doors don't just open like normal doors.
Please.
Yes. I totally get it.
Yeah. I mean, if we're talking long nose, wow, that's really a long one.
It's like a Corvette, like the Corvette long nose, like the AMG GT long nose for sure.
You know, what I felt driving, it's a different feeling from like a 911,
for instance, which feels very centered.
It certainly feels like a huge protrusion to drive anything in that shape, so to speak.
Yes.
But obviously that's part of Toyota's heritage and it's there for a reason.
I mean, do you like how that car looks?
I like how it looks because at first, I don't like it.
So this is one of those designs, those shapes where it looks like it's the wrong proportions at first.
It reminds me of, there's a car in an old Bugs Bunny episode that just you see the hood pulling
up for so long and then, you know, outsteps the rival to maybe it's Tom and Jerry, outsteps,
you know, Jerry's rival or whatever with a diamond ring for his girl.
And that kind of reminds me of this.
But I also like that Toyota has set up so well for this release.
So, you know, we used to write stories at Bloomberg about how they've missed the boat on EVs
and how could they not have invested in developing EVs.
And they're going to be so far behind when everybody else has developed the best EVs
and Toyota has only gone with hybrids.
And now it looks like they were the smartest kid in class.
They've made so much money and saved so much money that they're the number one most profitable
car maker in the whole world.
And they've been making all of these, you know, fuel efficient vehicles like the Prius,
but everything else, they make it fairly fuel efficient.
So they have really low average or high average fuel economy numbers
and they can afford to put a V8 in this thing.
So now they're going to have 641 horsepower, 627 pound feet.
That's what they say today about a car that's going to be coming out in three years.
But I think it's great.
You know, everyone else is having to scrimp and put out these these sixes.
And no one else has ever been able to do what really what Porsche has done at the flat six
or BMW with the inline six.
So I just think it's fantastic.
It's cool.
I totally agree with you on that.
Anytime an automaker does a car that generates excitement,
I'm all for it.
And I don't even, I honestly don't even care what it looks like as long as it makes people
feel something.
This is going to be, I mean, it looks, it looks awesome.
It looks to me very Toyota.
And I hope they do make it.
Obviously these are just rendering.
So I'm, I'm always very skeptical when an automaker just puts out some pictures
and says this is what it's going to be in a few years from now.
And often that changes.
But I hope they can produce it.
I hope they that it actually looks like what we're look these renderings here.
And yeah, I mean, it is fascinating that everybody is coming out with internal
combustion, especially I'm so sure you saw the news about Trump, you know, going back
on some of the fuel and emissions goals for the U.S. and it's already saved.
Dude, it's already saved, you know, American car makers so much money in the order of billions
of dollars or at least more than a billion dollars a year and savings for Ford, General
Motors and Stellantis because they don't have to buy these carbon credits from Tesla.
Whether you're for or against it, it's given them a little bit more firepower.
And the thing is I'm not sure everyone is going to be able to develop the V8 in, you know,
their more powerful cars.
Obviously Ford has the Mustang.
Obviously, you know, GM has the Corvette and they also had the 6.2 liter V8 somehow
and everything else.
And then Stellantis is bringing back the Hemi, but they all have to be careful because
when a new administration, if a new administration, if we ever have an election again and someone else
is president who feels differently about, you know, climate change and the environment,
they're going to put those CAFI standards right back on and we know that it takes like four,
three, four or five years to develop a car.
So I don't think it's necessarily going to give us a whole bunch more
fire-breathing V8s, but at least it's a break for these car makers for the next,
for the foreseeable future, let's say.
I do agree that this actually could mean really nothing because every time we have
the chance to talk to an auto executive, they all say the problem is the moving target.
If we had a target that we knew was immovable and would be, we'll hit that target,
but they all say it's the moving target that is really difficult.
So I do agree with you that, you know, for people who love internal combustion,
they might be cheering this, but also it may not necessarily mean that we're going to see a
bunch of internal combustion vehicles coming out like this cool new Toyota.
And I have to say for the record, again, I am not against electric vehicles at all.
I think they have a lot of great applications.
Someone yesterday was saying to me, electric vehicles were simply a failure of marketing
and they were marketed wrong.
And I said, well, I totally disagree.
There are a lot of reasons why electric vehicles aren't the prominent and dominant
cars on the road today, but it has really, to my mind, nothing to do with marketing.
And it has to do with a lot of other things.
Yeah, I know, I think, but I think both can both are true, right?
Marketing also wasn't done well.
And you think that?
Yeah, I do because they seem to be only going after initially kind of like the Prius crowd or
it was like a fad for rich people to buy Teslas like a virtue signaling thing.
And yeah, they didn't they didn't start with, hey, these things can be so powerful.
And they didn't start with the big bulky.
Have you seen there was a Ford dealer who took a Bronco?
I guess this is not an electric vehicle.
So that shouldn't there's I have it.
There's a story about Scout, you know, Audi's brand that they're reviving.
And I'm excited about the the EV and apparently Audi is going to make a G class competitor
that Scout will, I guess, design and build.
So you'll get these like butch looking, you know, very masculine bulky EVs that I think Americans
will want and probably could sell well.
I'm not saying the Audi will, but I think the Scout probably will.
So you're saying Audi is planning to launch a large SUV that will appeal like an off-roader
that will appeal to Americans.
Yes.
Well, I mean, build on a Scout platform.
This is the this is the the rumor mill or what I've seen from reading like auto blog
and car scoops and everything that.
So since Volkswagen owns Scout and there's been so much interest in that vehicle,
which initially was planned to be all EV.
And now the most orders are for the EV that has a range extender, the harvest version.
Apparently now Audi is going to get Scout to build them a big butch off-road SUV that obviously
is only going to be going to Starbucks and not off-road, but like the more expensive version.
So it'll be their G-Wagon.
But I'm guessing it will also be an EV like the G-Wagon also EV itself.
The what do you call it the EQG or whatever.
That is a great example of how you can have a big butch off-road SUV.
And I don't know why I continue to use that term, but that that is electric powered.
And the and the electric powertrain is perfect for that kind of vehicle.
I drove that vehicle in Austria and it was great.
Now they haven't sold a ton of them, but in terms of performance, it worked well.
And this goes back to my point about the marketing thing.
I don't think there's any.
I don't think you and I would say that something like the electric G-Wagon
doesn't isn't a good product.
The problem is it's expensive.
And there's not really a network to support it.
And so why would why would consumers aren't dumb?
Why would they spend more money on something that creates more inconvenience in their life?
No matter no matter if it promises that they're going to go to heaven for saving the world.
No, you hit the nail on the head.
That's really what it is.
It's the expense.
That's the problem.
So, of course, the electric G hasn't sold very many because it's like 170,000.
And that's before you put options on it.
Right.
But the cool thing about and that's and that's the case for a lot of these,
you know, the Audi was one of the first out of the gate with an electric SUV with the
e-tron, which was a really great vehicle.
Not a lot of range, but very luxurious to a lot of people and expensive.
Right.
The cool thing about the Scout is that it's supposed to be only 60 grand a start
or maybe 65, which isn't cheap, but it's $100,000 less than the G.
And the other thing we have to remember too is all of those federal incentives
and rebates are have now gone or are disappearing.
A lot of them, which also propped up sales of a lot of these vehicles.
So now that they are leaving or will soon, some already have left,
I think it's going to be very interesting to see how automakers
to your point are able to try to compete on a price on a price point
with something like a big SUV because you're right.
60 grand is not crazy for an SUV.
That's competitive, I would say.
By the way, while we're on price, can I just say it is insane how expensive Porsche's cost
new and used.
I was seeing used prices are so high that I thought, I might as well,
I'd be better off buying a new one, right?
So I go on the website to configure a new 911 with the manual transmission.
And so I click on the manual box and there's only one choice below GT3.
You can't get a manual in the Carrera S.
You can't get a manual in the GTS.
You can't get it in the base.
Obviously, you can only get a manual transmission in the Carrera T,
which we used to laud as like the smart guys Porsche because
okay, it only has 380 horsepower, but it's the cheapest.
And on American roads, what are you going to do with 500 horsepower anyway?
That thing starts at over $150,000.
That's wild.
It's insane.
Yes.
And that, I have to say, goes right into this whole narrative that in September,
according to Kelly Bluebook, the average price of a new car in America today hit
over $50,000 for the first time ever, the average price of a new car.
And the thing driving that rising average are two things, electric vehicles and luxury cars,
like the kind that you're describing right now.
And we know that according to Bloomberg Intelligence, the average price of any vehicle from Porsche
on average, including all the SUVs and everything, is over $115,000.
And that obviously is being pulled up by cars that you're describing, the manual stuff.
Yeah, I don't know why.
Why don't they just make more manuals?
I don't understand why you only offer a manual transmission on one vehicle.
And the answer, I mean, they say it's the take rate and that you would be surprised
how many people don't choose the manual, but your resale value is going to be
so much higher with the manual transmission.
It's got to be consideration even for people who don't know how to drive with three pedals.
It's like, would you buy a 911 and not option the Sport Chrono?
That's the dumbest decision ever because then no one wants to buy it from you in the used market.
I think that Porsche is putting manual transmissions in fewer and fewer cars because
it somehow is more expensive for them to do so.
That's the same reason they're not putting gauges in the dash is because it's more expensive.
It's the same reason they don't have a handbrake with a handle.
It's because it's more expensive.
They're doing all these things to cut costs on a car that costs three times the average new car cost.
It's insane to me. They must be in absolutely dire straits.
I also want to tell everybody who's listened.
Thank you for putting up with these little clicks and pops that you hear
because I have a brand new headset and it's like degassing right now.
I don't know what the deal is, but it's making that noise.
All right. We are going to take a break.
We come back. We'll talk about with so many luxury vehicles on the market,
how do we really separate the best from the rest or the bake from the real?
Because Hannah has a piece on what actually makes a luxury car that's just ahead on hot pursuit.
Verbo makes it easy to claim your dream summer spot with early booking deals
from homes with pools to poolside loungers.
When you book a Verbo, you don't have to reserve any loungers.
They're all yours. Get that early booking deal at Verbo.com.
Welcome back to hot pursuit from Bloomberg radio.
I'm Matt Miller here with Hannah Elliott and Hannah.
You and I have had a discussion for a long time.
In fact, you've kind of changed my view on this with your kind of base case
for what makes sort of the 35,000 foot view of what makes a luxury car.
What did you write about for a Bloomberg pursuits?
Well, it's something I think about quite a bit because in today's market,
we've got pickup trucks that cost $120,000 and we've got Mercedes that cost $40,000.
And traditionally, you think Mercedes always luxury and pickup trucks non-luxury,
but it's not that simple anymore. And I spoke with probably 10 different automotive executives
about this and how they are defining luxury and how their customers define luxury.
And what I really came away with is that luxury is certainly an ephemeral quality
that is not defined by any one thing. Nobody came back and said to me, luxury is about
performance. Luxury is just about horsepower and sprint times, or luxury is just about
a certain price or a certain popularity. It's a lot more nuanced.
And I think the number one thing people said is luxury is buying into a family of like-minded
individuals where you feel your own personal tastes can be communicated and then seen and enjoyed
among this family. So that was something that Christopher Pagani told me about his clients,
that Christoph Bugatti itemized that Chris Brownwood Ridge at Rolls Royce. They all said
it's about this close bond that when people buy the car, they feel they're buying into a exclusive
family that is welcoming, that sees who they are on a very personal level, and then also reflects
them. Which yeah, that's a little vague, but I thought that was very, very interesting.
Yeah, because your initial concept, and correct me if I'm wrong, is luxury has got to be real.
So real leather, the dash has to be inlaid with real wood, a reduced amount of plastics,
of artificial, right? And ever since you said that, I've been a believer. Now,
whenever I'm trying to judge whether or not something is a luxury car, I want to see if
it has an actual clock rather than something digital. And obviously, automatic is better than
quartz. But none of these executives came back to that, because that's also, you could say,
maybe people are choosing people who would normally buy a luxury product,
not to have leather in their vehicles now. Yeah, that's an interesting point. Some
automakers, like for instance, Volvo don't even offer leather anymore. I would argue the point
about the thing being real still holds, it's one layer. Because in some cars, like for instance,
a Koenigsegg, those certainly are, you could put them in a luxury car category, but a Koenigsegg
is not going to have a bunch of wood trim and lambswool carpeting. A Koenigsegg is
something very different. Even though the people who are in those circles who own and drive and
collect those cars feel they're receiving a luxury experience. So I think the quality of the materials
is one very important layer, it's not the only layer. And now automakers are taking a very
holistic look at a broader definition of what luxury means. For instance, we know that Maserati
has really suffered in terms of residual values and in terms of reliability. And Maserati vehicles
right now are not among the top five options you'd probably want for a car in any given segment.
Even though Maserati is an old brand with a lot of heritage, but I would not consider a Maserati
a luxury purchase at this point because they're falling behind in so many other ways that the
people who buy them are not getting a full luxury experience. Does that make sense?
Yeah, totally. I mean, well, first of all, it's interesting that you think of Koenigsegg
as luxury because I've always drawn a line between sports or performance and luxury. And
even though there are companies that I know of that blur that line like Pagani and Bugatti,
I guess I just don't know enough about Koenigsegg to know if you can actually,
because customizable is also bespoke is something that luxury should be. So you
should be able to pick the materials and the colors. And luxury isn't something that's just
like off the shelf. You know, I'm not going to go and buy a luxury suit without having it at least
tailored. One thing that a lot of automakers told me is that the car needs to be deeply
meaningful on a personal level. And one way that that is communicated is through actually
innovation. And it's being able to have the innovation to create ways for the cars to be
incredibly customized and incredibly bespoke to the buyer. And that applies both to Rolls-Royces,
which have, you know, 100% of the phantom sold are heavily bespoke to the criteria of the customer.
But that also does apply to Koenigseggs, which are hand built on a very slow timeline.
They're extremely rare. And they are built to the exact specifications of the person who is
paying for that car. So I do consider that a luxury. It's a different type. It's a new type.
This is kind of the whole point of the story. Like in this, in this current world,
there is a new definition of luxury. And it's not just about a bunch of wood and
lamb's wool carpets and chrome in a, in a Bentley, it's a, it's a lot bigger than that.
By the way, when you mention Maserati, I think of, you know, things going
wrong and breaking down. And I don't have enough experience with that brand to say that,
you know, that's because of what's happened to me in the past. It's just that I see these
broken down old Maseratis on, you know, on like a Craigslist all the time.
But I wonder if reliability is a part of luxury or not. Because if you think of like the
SZ-bodied Rolls-Royces and Bentley's, they're definitely luxury vehicles, but you can easily
blow a head gasket or have a problem with the hydraulic system and end up with like $40,000
bills. Now maybe it's no big deal to rich people. And so it can still be a luxury product.
But I would like, I would prefer to think of a luxury product as something like the
Mercedes, over-engineered Mercedes-Benz's of the 60s and 70s, where, you know,
they just spent so much to build these things that they don't break down.
Well, certainly there are different rules for non-new cars. I think the piece that I wrote this
week is speaking strictly about new cars, you know, the brand new stuff. In terms of
collectible cars, that's a whole other world. And you're completely right. I think
reliability goes out the window. That's a completely different animal.
Well, the thing is, I think there's a lot of new cars that seem to be engineered only to last the
life of the first lease, you know, in terms of reliability. There are some very expensive
German brands that I suspect engineer cars to work very well for three or four years.
And then everything starts to break and it costs a hell of a lot of money to fix.
And they do that because they know that most people are just swapping in and out of them,
always wanting to have the newest thing. Whereas back in the day, when my grandmother bought a car,
you know, you would buy a Rolls-Royce even though it was a huge outlay if you had the
cash because you knew that you would be driving that same Rolls-Royce or your driver would be
chauffeuring you around in it for decades, right? Yeah. Yeah. I admit, and this is something
we talk about all the time, but I like, I think that mentality is a better mentality. I think it's,
you buy something expecting to own it and keep it for a long time. Now, I am curious about this
theory you have about the purposefully engineered to break thing. Well, I don't know how to say
that in a better way. This is an interesting, is this a conspiracy theory? No, it's not. I don't
think that they engineer these things purposely to break. Like Range Rover or Mercedes like the
air suspensions that all of these very luxurious cars have. They're just complicated systems that
are difficult to make durable. So if you have somebody abusing these things by driving them,
by commuting in them every day in the Northeast or around Chicago or in American places where
the roads are awful, they're just going to need a fix and any kind of fix because they're computerized
with so many specialized microchips and expensive systems that it's just not going to work for
much longer than one or two leases. So I don't think they're doing it on purpose.
I just think when they're faced with a more reliable choice, they realize that's not as
luxurious and they're willing to inflict the costs on the second or third owner.
By the way, I want to thank all of our listeners for putting up with this
annoying clicking that you might be hearing. I have a new headset right now and I believe
it's like degassing or something, but every time I move even a little bit,
it creaks. The NVH on this headset has not been addressed. I need to get some WD-40.
So anyway, thanks for that. Let's move on. Coming up, we're going to talk a little Mercedes.
You'll hear my take on the 2025 Mercedes Benz I've been driving all week.
I'm Hannah Elliott with Matt Miller and you're listening to Hot Pursuit from Bloomberg Radio.
So have you heard the story about the prescription plan with savings automatically
built in? It's where a family of any size can feel confident the cost of their medication
won't hold them back. Go to cmk.co-stories to learn how CVS Caramark helps members save
just by being members. That's cmk.co-st-o-r-i-e-s.
Welcome back to Hot Pursuit from Bloomberg Radio. I'm Hannah Elliott here with Matt Miller and
let's talk about Mercedes, the AMG GT that I was driving all week. This is the car if you've seen
it on my Instagram that is in the desert sand color, which has gotten a ton of feedback,
both positive and negative. Not a good color. Some people have said it looks like a hearing aid
device and some people have said it looks incredible. I actually like it. I think it's cool.
It's probably not the best color ever for AMG GT, but it's cool because it's different and it stands
out and it's got great wheels. Don't like it. That desert sand color and like everyone's,
everyone has come out with a version of that. I noticed Nathan Hoyt said he thinks it rules
and I respect his opinion. I mean, by the way, the same thing when I got a Chevy Silverado
ZR2 back a few years ago and that color was very hot and popular at the time and I didn't get it
then. I don't get it now. Honestly, it looks like the color of a girdle. It's like the color
of stockings that my grandmother would buy in an egg at the grocery store.
I do agree with the idea that it would make sense perhaps on a G-wagon or some sort of off-road
rig because it is very desert safari-ish. You could say excuse that way. I don't
disagree with you that it could be bad. I think I'm very much swayed by the wheels,
which are these forged split-spoke gold 21-inch rims that someone said to me,
they look like Lamborghini wheels in a good way. They look so cool and I think it just made the
color pop and when I first saw the car, I was not expecting it to be in that color and I was like,
wow, that is different. It's definitely like in LA where everybody has a 911.
If you really want to stand out and get something that's different that will make
people look at you, this is a good option, especially if you get it in this color.
Oh, I would way rather have this car than the 911.
Okay, so let's talk about that.
I also spent a week driving in and first of all, which wheels do you have?
Do you have the Monroney in front of you because I have my configurator open?
Yes, I do.
What's the official name of those wheels? Are they the 10-spoke?
The official name is 21-inch AMG forged split-spoke in gold and they cost an extra $2,900,
which I think is worth it. The suggested retail price of this car is $195,000 and the total
retail on the version that I drove is $221,000. Yeah, I think those...
So it's expensive.
Yeah, and those prices are actually low because I've...
Well, compared to a 911 configurator, yes they are.
I've opened up my configurator. I chose olive green and the wheels you said and I'm already at 217.
So I haven't even picked an option yet other than the color and the wheels.
And we can get back to this because I think the color is massively important.
I used to wonder why they charge so much for different colors
and now that I'm in the market for a used car, I really understand it.
But this car, I want to hear your take because I think it's a far better choice
than almost any 911 you can get. The amount of power, the sheer numbers are mind-blowing.
I can't remember exactly but they're like 824 horsepower and over a thousand pound feet of torque,
right?
Yes, 805 combined horsepower, 1047 pound feet of torque. We should say this is a V8 hybrid
and it's also four-wheel drive. So the dynamics of the car feel very different than driving a 911.
It's heavier. I mean, just straight up it's heavier but it also has over 800 horsepower to your point.
I thought it doesn't feel as fast as the numbers suggest when I was driving it.
Well, there's a reason for that. It's pretty heavy. It weighs over 4,500 pounds.
Well, but it feels incredibly luxurious. I mean, not like complicated and the interior,
I thought was pretty simple but I would say elegant but it feels like a super luxury vehicle.
Yes, absolutely completely. It's the total package to me. It is the total package
and there is a part of me that is... First of all, it drives fabulous. This is the quickest
Mercedes currently that you can buy right now. The numbers, like we say, speak for themselves.
It really handles incredibly. It feels very different to drive than a 911. First of all,
the proportions are different. The nose, like we said before, is longer. It's more stretched out.
It feels bigger. It feels wider. It feels bulkier. So it's not an exact comparison driving wise
but I think it is a really interesting option that somebody should test drive before just diving
into getting a 911 because it's different. It is different and it's a fabulous car.
Well, the motor's in the front for one thing, like every other car in the world. The coolest thing
about the 911 is that the motor is behind you. So all of a sudden you're in like Lamborghini
Ferrari territory without spending that much money and there's... What other rear engine...
What other mid or rear engine car is there? I guess you could say, well, Corvette obviously
and then you've got boxters and stuff. But this, like every other normal car, has an engine in
the front which is why I think it doesn't feel anything like a 911 to begin with. But
I think it's the greatest thing you can get from Mercedes. I mean, it's the most special.
Did you ever drive the GT-R, the AMG GT-R back in like 2017, 2018?
No, I never got to. But I did must over them, drool over them as they were driving.
I think the AMG T was a better looking car in that generation.
I agree. I think the GT-R and I remember I actually pulled this up because I loved it so
much. In 2017, I said that the best car I drove that entire year, the one that I want,
that I will not forget is the GT-R, the AMG GT-R from that specific year.
It looks perfect. It looks so cool. I don't think the new one looks quite as good,
the proportions slightly different. Yeah. Well, the new one, their proportions
make a lot more sense. And this is what I was saying at the top, like the AMG GTs,
and I would take, by the way, a GT-R, a GT-S, a GT-C, I don't care.
Those, when they pulled up, you were like, that doesn't look right at first because the nose is
too long in proportion to the rest of the car. And it's that jarring kind of wakes
you up and you notice it. And then you're like, damn, that looks awesome.
Yeah. I don't think that, I think this one looks too normal in comparison to that. But
obviously, it's going to be a newer, faster, it's going to hold the road better.
And maybe it won't be as special as the AMG GTs and themselves weren't as special as the SLS.
But I just think it's a home run. I mean, it's a slam dunk. This thing is just incredible.
I agree. We should also say, miles per gallon combined is almost 30 miles per gallon, which for a car
with 800 horsepower is pretty incredible. And again, for me, the mileage thing is more about,
I don't want to have to break up my day to stop for gas. And maybe I'm going to hell for this,
but I don't care as much about like miles per gallon. I care about having to stop at the
gas station less. Just the truth. Look, you're going to be able to hit these high numbers with
hybrids. But this is another reason I think hybrids are the way forward. The packaging maybe
isn't right on all of them. But this is why I like, for example, the Corvette E-Ray. You still have
the power, the ferociousness, the brutality of the big V8 behind you. But you have an extra
push or pull in the case of the Corvette, because it's on the front wheels of the battery. And it
just makes it so much quicker. It makes it so much grippier. Obviously, it makes it heavier and more
complex, which is also, which a lot of people could see as a problem. And I'm sure at some
point will become a problem. But yeah, I just think it's a fantastic car. By the way,
when I go on the configurator to build this, to build my own version of a $250,000 car,
there are, I mean, like a hundred different color choices, and I'm not exaggerating.
And I used to wonder like, why would someone pay an extra, you know, when the AMG GT came out,
they offered it an exclusive sunbeam yellow for an extra $10,000. And I thought, who would
pick that? Like, first of all, a yellow car is always a mistake. But also paying an extra
$10,000, I thought it was silly. And why would they charge you for that? But now that I'm looking at
old cars, and everyone for some reason, or the most people have for some reason have chosen black
or white two cars, two colors that I don't want. And then I'm looking at a respray. I realized
that a total paint job done well is going to cost $25,000. So then $10,000 for the sunbeam
yellow doesn't seem too much to me if it were a different color than yellow. So now that Mercedes
is offering like a hundred different sort of PTS style colors. And it's completely worth it, I think,
because you separate your vehicle from every other one on the street. And it gets back to your
point about what really what real luxury is completely this desert sand color. I know some
a lot of people hate it, including you Matt, for reference $6,500 extra to get it painted like that.
Here's one thing on the topic of color that I have never understood. Anytime I'm talking to car
guys, and I do mean guys, and I say what car what car do you have and they nobody says the
color of the car until I ask what color is it? Why is that? That's a good point. Actually,
I was just I was just listening to Doug DeMiro talking about his new his new 993 turbo that he got.
And the other two guys on his podcast, their first question was what color? It is everyone's
first question whenever you say you have a new car. But why don't people just say it like, oh,
it's a red whatever. Yeah, I don't it's a good point. Like if I were Doug, I would have
said, yeah, I got an arena red 993 turbo. You know, but yeah, you're right. But it is the first question
and why it what struck me as funny is he's talking to these two like total car guys, dudes who know
like every vehicle ever made and each trim level and you know, the different specs on different
generations. And they know so much about the car, the vehicle, the engine, the handling,
you know. And yet their first question is what color? It seems so elementary, right? It seems so
basic. Well, colors are emotional, you know, the colors are it makes me feel like a kid. If I see
a cool color, I feel like I did when I was a little girl, you get excited. You know, and this
is this is why I think it's worth it to spend the extra 10 grand. I mean, if you're buying
this car, it's already a $200,000 car to start with. So you might as well sink
10 grand question for you on this car. Would you pay an extra $2,100 for a panorama roof on this car?
So personally, I would. But there's so many people out there who are opposed to sunroofs and
panorama roofs because they're heavier. I don't know if that's the case with this.
I don't know if that's the case with this current technology. But I as a very tall person
in a sports car and you had the same experience. When I pull up to a stoplight, if I'm the first car
at the intersection, if there's a hard top and there's no panorama roof, or if there's a sunroof
and it's closed, I have to lean forward over my steering wheel and look up a lot of times to see
if when the lights going to turn green, right? This is an experience I had in my old 911.
So with my 911, I had the glass roof so I could lean back and look up the roof at this
at the stoplight for it turned green and it was far more comfortable. It's a half for tall guys.
Yes, that's why I need to be able to see through the roof, essentially. And to me, it's worth.
Like I was just configuring a Carrera T on the Porsche website and
you can option the carbon fiber roof, right? It saves 40 pounds. 40 pounds? Do I care about 40 pounds?
I've lost 29 pounds in the last three months. So I'm already saving almost all of that. Thank you
very much. You're doing the work for it for yourself. Exactly. So a lot of people, I think,
are going to choose the carbon fiber roof even though they weigh 250 pounds and they should
just going to die instead. Well, I agree. This car did have a Panorama roof and it had
gobs of headspace, gobs, gobs, gobs. Like I could have worn my tallest hat and been and still had
multiple inches ahead of over my head. So you're whenever you get in this one, Matt,
you're going to love it because it's really, really big in the cabin. And the other thing
I liked about this Panorama roof is the shade for it was just like a normal handle. You just moved
it with your hand. There was no button. There was no switch to hold down while the shade slowly
gets pulled forward automatically. It was literally just you moved the shade with
your hand like a normal thing, which was so much better. And it was another case of probably
lighter, one less thing to break and actually quicker and simpler than trying to put technology
up there to hold a button down to close and open the sunshade. Brilliant. I love things that are
manual. Me too. As you know. It was great. So yeah, good car. Really good car. The fewer
things to break, the better is what I've been thinking about a lot, a lot lately.
Agree. All right. Well, I would guess that's all we have time for this week. Is that right?
Yeah. I want to say thank you to everybody who writes into us. We really appreciate the dialogue.
Remember to follow and subscribe to Hot Pursuit on Apple Spotify and anywhere else you listen.
You can also send us your comments by emailing us at hot pursuit at Bloomberg.net.
Yeah. And we've gotten some pretty awesome emails, I should say lately.
You know that one of my favorite podcasts, and probably my most watched YouTube channel is TFL,
right? The Fast Lane Trucks. And I got an email from Roman who was a guest on our show at one
point. So I thank him for listening. And I also want to tell everybody who's listening,
thank you for putting up with these little clicks and pops that you hear.
I can't hear it at all, Matt. You're loud and clear for me.
Good, good, good, good. All right. We'll keep writing into us at hot pursuit at Bloomberg.net.
And tune back in next week. Same time, same place. I'm Matt Miller. We'll see you again next week.
About this episode
Exploring the evolving definition of luxury cars, this episode delves into what truly makes a vehicle luxurious in today's market. Hosts Hannah Elliott and Matt Miller discuss the latest Mercedes AMG GT63 SE Performance, highlighting its impressive specs and unique features. They also touch on Toyota's upcoming GR GT, the shifting landscape of electric vehicles, and the importance of personal connection in luxury car ownership. With insights from automotive executives and a lively debate on design and performance, this episode offers a fresh perspective on luxury in the automotive world.
Luxury is slippery to define when you can spend $42,000 on a Mercedes-Benz or $114,000 on a Ford pickup truck. The term has become so ubiquitous, it has almost lost all meaning. That's the focus of Hannah's latest reporting. Plus we've been driving the latest and quickest Mercedes ever.
