1
00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:07,000
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

2
00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:12,680
Speaker 2: I'm Hannah Elliott and I'm Matt Miller. This is hot pursuit.

3
00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:20,720
Speaker 2: Coming up today, Bentley unveils its new super Sports. They're

4
00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:25,759
Speaker 2: calling it their most driver focused Bentley ever, and who.

5
00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:31,080
Speaker 1: Better to talk about it than Bentley CEO Frank Stephan Wallacer.

6
00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:33,160
Speaker 2: And I also want to talk a little bit about

7
00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:37,319
Speaker 2: the Audi RS six that you've driven and has been

8
00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:40,760
Speaker 2: out this generation for years and years, but I just

9
00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:45,360
Speaker 2: got to spend a week in Plus Portia has a

10
00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,519
Speaker 2: new all electric hai En and Hannah. The reaction on

11
00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:52,360
Speaker 2: social media absolutely brutal.

12
00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:55,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, and maybe you rightfully so.

13
00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:58,240
Speaker 2: Almost feels like a Jaguar rebranding moment.

14
00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:04,720
Speaker 1: Possibly. I mean, it just feels like everybody in the

15
00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:08,640
Speaker 1: world and their mother is doing a major gut check

16
00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:11,840
Speaker 1: saying this is not what Porscha means, it's not what

17
00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:16,120
Speaker 1: it stands for, and we want get this out of here,

18
00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:17,039
Speaker 1: get it out of here.

19
00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:18,959
Speaker 2: I think, you know, to be fair, I feel like

20
00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:23,360
Speaker 2: Porsche they already know that this has been a problem

21
00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:30,200
Speaker 2: their journey into EVS, and it's caused hundreds of millions

22
00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:33,880
Speaker 2: of euros and losses and the stock has lost half

23
00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,640
Speaker 2: of its value since they started trading a couple of

24
00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:37,240
Speaker 2: years ago.

25
00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:40,200
Speaker 1: It's been a disaster. But also, you know what is

26
00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:42,560
Speaker 1: so weird. I just went back and I looked at

27
00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,120
Speaker 1: the numbers because I wanted to. You know, the mccon

28
00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:48,680
Speaker 1: has an electric version. And I went back and looked

29
00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,120
Speaker 1: at sales the first half of this year twenty twenty

30
00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,960
Speaker 1: five of macon and half of mccon's sales were the

31
00:01:56,040 --> 00:02:02,600
Speaker 1: electric version, which I thought was actually prizingly decent, considering

32
00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:07,559
Speaker 1: how poorly this whole ev experiment has gone for Portia. Yeah,

33
00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:08,359
Speaker 1: isn't that weird?

34
00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:11,239
Speaker 2: No? I mean I expected that kind of thing because

35
00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:13,280
Speaker 2: I was talking with David Welch, who is our Detroit

36
00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,240
Speaker 2: bureau chief at Bloomberg, about this, and he reminded me

37
00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:19,160
Speaker 2: there was a time when the purists were so angry

38
00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:21,840
Speaker 2: about the cayenne at all, you know, when they first

39
00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:25,720
Speaker 2: came out with it, and of course all I disagree

40
00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:29,280
Speaker 2: all of well, I remember the backlash. I was living

41
00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,280
Speaker 2: in Berlin. It was the early two thousands, and people

42
00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:36,200
Speaker 2: were some people were mad about it. But that's the

43
00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,440
Speaker 2: reason that we have all of these GT three rs

44
00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:40,160
Speaker 2: Y socks.

45
00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:44,120
Speaker 1: Now like this is I would say I did actually

46
00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:48,119
Speaker 1: listen to your interview with David, and I completely disagree

47
00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:53,680
Speaker 1: with that characterization. It's apples and oranges introducing a completely

48
00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,800
Speaker 1: new model like an SUV that has been proven in

49
00:02:56,919 --> 00:02:59,400
Speaker 1: the market. And actually Portia was late to the game

50
00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,840
Speaker 1: to introduce a SUV that was already proven as a

51
00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:08,200
Speaker 1: surefire success because most of the American market is SUV's,

52
00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:11,760
Speaker 1: everyone was already doing it and that was a known quantity.

53
00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,200
Speaker 1: Porscha had to do it to make money and you know,

54
00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:16,880
Speaker 1: quote unquote, as the story goes, save the company, which

55
00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:22,160
Speaker 1: is probably debatable, but that's not the point here. Here

56
00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:26,960
Speaker 1: this is something completely different, which is Porsche trying to

57
00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:32,080
Speaker 1: move forward ahead on something that is not proven and

58
00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:35,000
Speaker 1: it's something that is still hotly debated and is something

59
00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:39,320
Speaker 1: that is still in its infancy. Really, I think that

60
00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:41,760
Speaker 1: is a this is a completely different scenario.

61
00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,840
Speaker 2: Well, that's a fair argument, and of course you're right

62
00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,440
Speaker 2: on many of those points. BMW had such great success

63
00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,000
Speaker 2: with the X five before Porscha came out in the

64
00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:57,400
Speaker 2: cayenn And it's not just the ev part of this

65
00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:00,080
Speaker 2: that people are reacting negatively to. In fact, I think

66
00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:02,800
Speaker 2: for the most part, it's the design. I looked through

67
00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,520
Speaker 2: the negative sentiment on the Instagram post, the initial one,

68
00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,920
Speaker 2: and it's most people are saying like, look, uh, this

69
00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:14,800
Speaker 2: could be a car from BYD. You know, why don't

70
00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:16,880
Speaker 2: I just go ahead and buy a Chinese EV if

71
00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:18,640
Speaker 2: they're gonna be the same thing.

72
00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:24,240
Speaker 1: Yes, now, that take I really do agree with. And yeah, if, okay,

73
00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:28,320
Speaker 1: if this vehicle had come out and somehow magically looked

74
00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:31,800
Speaker 1: really cool, I think people would have been a lot

75
00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:34,760
Speaker 1: more forgiving that. Okay, it's an EV. But the fact

76
00:04:34,839 --> 00:04:38,560
Speaker 1: that it's electric and it looks blow, it looks like

77
00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:41,080
Speaker 1: a blob. Yeah, the fact that it looks like a

78
00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,320
Speaker 1: blob and is so clearly it does look like it

79
00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:47,840
Speaker 1: was just created by AI, Like there's there's no there's

80
00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:52,240
Speaker 1: no personality, there's no take. It's just sort of a blob.

81
00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:55,280
Speaker 1: Of course, people are gonna hate that, and for good reason.

82
00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:58,520
Speaker 1: Now are you gonna say that actually comes out of love?

83
00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:04,760
Speaker 1: Because obvious, Porsche is such a beloved brand, And like

84
00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,560
Speaker 1: the people who are going to criticize the most are

85
00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:12,080
Speaker 1: also the most invested and the most engaged. It's because

86
00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:14,520
Speaker 1: they care and it means so much to them, and

87
00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:18,040
Speaker 1: they don't like it. So I mean it's a good

88
00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:20,160
Speaker 1: sign that people are so upset in a way, yea,

89
00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:22,080
Speaker 1: because that means it's still engaged and they care.

90
00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:26,400
Speaker 2: Yes, It's not like Jaguar where people were just outright

91
00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:30,280
Speaker 2: disgusted or confused or it was a political thing because

92
00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:34,239
Speaker 2: they were so woke. This is definitely car enthusiasts who

93
00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:37,360
Speaker 2: care a lot. As his faith no More said we

94
00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:40,880
Speaker 2: care a lot about Porsie. But I will say Barry ritholtzs,

95
00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:44,200
Speaker 2: and you can probably guess what his response was. He said,

96
00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:47,240
Speaker 2: eleven hundred and thirty six horsepower. Why do I care

97
00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:50,120
Speaker 2: what a bunch of idiots on social media say? To

98
00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:52,640
Speaker 2: his point, you know, I spent recently spent a week

99
00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:56,680
Speaker 2: driving the Tykon. It was an amazing vehicle. Like, it's

100
00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:59,680
Speaker 2: not a nine to eleven. It didn't really. It reminded

101
00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:01,839
Speaker 2: me of a Porscha because it looks like a Porscha

102
00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:03,159
Speaker 2: and it has the badging all over.

103
00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,200
Speaker 1: It reminded you of a Porsche. It actually is a Porsche.

104
00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:10,039
Speaker 2: But anyway, but it was amazing for whatever it is.

105
00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:13,040
Speaker 2: It was great. Now the problem for me is it's

106
00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:14,680
Speaker 2: the same price as a nine to eleven. So why

107
00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:16,400
Speaker 2: wouldn't I just buy a nine to eleven because.

108
00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:20,520
Speaker 1: That's and look, we always go back to the thing,

109
00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:27,680
Speaker 1: which is, after a certain point, horsepower numbers are irrelevant, nobody.

110
00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:30,200
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter that it's eleven hundred. It doesn't matter

111
00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,640
Speaker 1: if it's two thousand horse power. It doesn't. No, here's

112
00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:36,520
Speaker 1: the best way that I've ever heard it described. You

113
00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:40,520
Speaker 1: can cook a piece of meat in the microwave really fast,

114
00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:43,280
Speaker 1: but that doesn't mean it's gonna taste better than if

115
00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,240
Speaker 1: you cook it for a slower time on a.

116
00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:49,479
Speaker 2: Grill, right, as long as it gets hot enough to cook.

117
00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:51,479
Speaker 2: Totally totally true.

118
00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:53,520
Speaker 1: You get a point, You get the point just because

119
00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:56,240
Speaker 1: of my microwave can cook something super quickly. But we

120
00:06:56,279 --> 00:06:58,960
Speaker 1: don't want to eat microwave food. We want to have

121
00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:06,480
Speaker 1: charge broiled, crispy, juicy, you know, grilled steak, of course

122
00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:07,080
Speaker 1: what we want.

123
00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:09,479
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I mean a lot of people would much

124
00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,760
Speaker 2: rather have like a nineteen eighty eight nine to eleven

125
00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:15,920
Speaker 2: with two hundred and seventeen horse power. You know, even

126
00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:16,640
Speaker 2: though are.

127
00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:18,440
Speaker 1: You talking when you say other people? Are you talking

128
00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:18,880
Speaker 1: about you?

129
00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:23,000
Speaker 2: Not necessarily me? But yes, I would like that. I've

130
00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:24,520
Speaker 2: been looking at a lot of these old cars lately,

131
00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:27,760
Speaker 2: and they have low numbers. I saw this Ferrari threeh

132
00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:33,680
Speaker 2: eight on bat this week, absolutely gorgeous. It only has

133
00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,960
Speaker 2: a two point nine liter V eight with like two

134
00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,520
Speaker 2: hundred and thirty horse power, you know, and I wouldn't

135
00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:43,680
Speaker 2: what is it whey? They probably weigh like two thousand change,

136
00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:47,880
Speaker 2: just just tipping the scales there at twenty five maybe. Yeah,

137
00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:51,680
Speaker 2: I guess it's all relative. And Barry's a little bit

138
00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:56,720
Speaker 2: biased because he has a nine to eleven that he electrified. Yes,

139
00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,160
Speaker 2: all right, So anyway, that's the Porsche. Just I still

140
00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:03,400
Speaker 2: want to talk a little bit about the RS six,

141
00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,440
Speaker 2: But when we come back from break, we're gonna give

142
00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:12,440
Speaker 2: you our interview with Bentley's CEO talking about the latest unveiling,

143
00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:17,240
Speaker 2: the truly driver focused super sports, and we'll explain of

144
00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,400
Speaker 2: course his connection to Portie as well. Bentley CEO Frank

145
00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:30,200
Speaker 2: Stefan Wallaser. Up next, this is Bloomberg. Welcome back to

146
00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:33,560
Speaker 2: Hot Pursuit. I'm Matt Miller with Hannah Elliott and Hannah

147
00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,040
Speaker 2: I got a chance to I finally got a chance

148
00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:40,520
Speaker 2: to drive the Audi RAS six avant I, as you know,

149
00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:43,200
Speaker 2: have a history with the brand. My first car that

150
00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:45,800
Speaker 2: I ever personally bought was an Audi Avant, the A

151
00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:49,160
Speaker 2: four version. Mine was the two point five TDI with

152
00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:51,240
Speaker 2: only one hundred and eighty horse power, by the way,

153
00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:54,800
Speaker 2: and still fell fast to me with the five speed manual.

154
00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:59,320
Speaker 2: This thing, though, is an absolute beast. As you know

155
00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:00,880
Speaker 2: you've driven it, right, I.

156
00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:04,080
Speaker 1: Still have it. I've had it for a week. Yes,

157
00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:07,240
Speaker 1: and even though I'm actually recording from Las Vegas the

158
00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:10,120
Speaker 1: F one race here, I still have it's waiting for

159
00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:10,680
Speaker 1: me at home.

160
00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:11,880
Speaker 2: It is.

161
00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:14,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've really been enjoying it great.

162
00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:17,800
Speaker 2: I mean, I'll tell you what. I've been pulled over

163
00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:18,720
Speaker 2: twice in it.

164
00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,360
Speaker 1: Wait, okay, so we heard about the first time last

165
00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:24,040
Speaker 1: week when you were pulled over because you were running

166
00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:26,959
Speaker 1: late and you slipped out of those handcuffs. Now what

167
00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:28,000
Speaker 1: happened this time?

168
00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:34,240
Speaker 2: So I was cruising through Hartsdale in Westchester, and I

169
00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,120
Speaker 2: came to an intersection where I noticed that the light

170
00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:40,320
Speaker 2: was red, but there was a parking lot and I

171
00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,640
Speaker 2: saw that it went out on the other side. Oh yeah,

172
00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:48,080
Speaker 2: So I pulled into the parking lot, kind of looked

173
00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:50,840
Speaker 2: at the building that was there, and then pulled out

174
00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:53,520
Speaker 2: the other side avoiding the light. I feel like for

175
00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:55,880
Speaker 2: everybody it was more efficient, right.

176
00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:57,800
Speaker 1: It helps the flow of traffic.

177
00:09:57,840 --> 00:09:59,680
Speaker 2: Really, yeah, that's what I was thinking. But the police

178
00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:01,760
Speaker 2: office or who has parked right there, didn't think so.

179
00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:05,560
Speaker 1: Oh but did you see them parked? Did you?

180
00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:10,920
Speaker 2: As I was making that move, I saw him, Oh, no,

181
00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:12,680
Speaker 2: sitting there, and I thought.

182
00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:15,640
Speaker 1: What was your actual infraction?

183
00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:20,000
Speaker 2: Well, apparently that's illegal or that's not allowed. That's what

184
00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:20,480
Speaker 2: he told me.

185
00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:23,040
Speaker 1: Wait, what if you were pulling into the parking lot

186
00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:25,959
Speaker 1: and then you changed your mind and you quickly decided

187
00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:27,520
Speaker 1: I don't need to be in this parking lot.

188
00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:30,640
Speaker 2: Well, and that's exactly what I said. I had my

189
00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:33,800
Speaker 2: wife with me, and she said, as as the guy

190
00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:36,720
Speaker 2: was pulling me over, she said, tell him you wanted

191
00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,600
Speaker 2: a bagel? But I said no, because I've got a meeting.

192
00:10:40,679 --> 00:10:44,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, perfectly plausible, could be true.

193
00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:48,040
Speaker 2: Right, maybe that is? Maybe that is the case. So

194
00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:50,600
Speaker 2: I told him, I said, I listen, I pulled in

195
00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:52,800
Speaker 2: here because I wanted a bagel. It was a bagel shop.

196
00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:57,040
Speaker 2: And as I pulled in, my wife, who's sitting right here,

197
00:10:57,120 --> 00:10:59,040
Speaker 2: told me, no, I have a meeting to get to.

198
00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:01,800
Speaker 2: We can't so I pulled right out again.

199
00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:04,480
Speaker 1: You know, how did that go over?

200
00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:07,400
Speaker 2: He said, I don't believe you. But then he handed

201
00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:09,920
Speaker 2: me back my driver's license and registration and said, don't

202
00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:10,480
Speaker 2: do it again.

203
00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:15,199
Speaker 1: Gosh, those guys are so strict up there. I have

204
00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:17,439
Speaker 1: to say. They got a lot of time on their hands.

205
00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:20,320
Speaker 2: That's that's my thing. They had Like this guy was

206
00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:22,800
Speaker 2: doing nothing but just waiting at the light for someone

207
00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:24,360
Speaker 2: to do what I did. Like, why doesn't he go

208
00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:25,600
Speaker 2: solve a crime.

209
00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:28,760
Speaker 1: To Los Angeles? He'll have his hands full. I mean,

210
00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:31,120
Speaker 1: that is the least of our worries.

211
00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:33,400
Speaker 2: Is that really even against the law?

212
00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:34,920
Speaker 1: Like, I don't think it can be.

213
00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:36,320
Speaker 2: How can you write that law?

214
00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:39,160
Speaker 1: Change your mind because you don't want a bagel? Ye?

215
00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:39,560
Speaker 1: Come on?

216
00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:43,760
Speaker 2: Anyway, the car is an absolute beast and.

217
00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:46,120
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, back to the car it's making. Basically, the

218
00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,200
Speaker 1: point is it's making you drive like a renegade.

219
00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:53,160
Speaker 2: Maybe, but it's weird because it's a big old station wagon.

220
00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,360
Speaker 2: I mean it's heavy, right, It's like gotta be bordering

221
00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:58,400
Speaker 2: on five thousand pounds this car.

222
00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:00,800
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't have my the Maroni with me,

223
00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:01,720
Speaker 1: but I looked.

224
00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:05,040
Speaker 2: I think it's like forty nine hundred and you know,

225
00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:08,840
Speaker 2: obviously amazing power with a twin turbo v eight. And

226
00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:11,520
Speaker 2: I was in the performance version, which gets over six

227
00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:16,760
Speaker 2: hundred horse power, and like more than eight. It's huge, right,

228
00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:21,360
Speaker 2: And that's part of the joy. It's so fast, even

229
00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,640
Speaker 2: for such a big car. It's easy to place, place

230
00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:27,200
Speaker 2: it where you want it. So it's very precise.

231
00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:29,720
Speaker 1: And stared a sixteen three point three seconds.

232
00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:34,160
Speaker 2: The air suspension is super plush, but also can stiffen

233
00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:35,080
Speaker 2: up when you need it too.

234
00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:38,240
Speaker 1: Now I do have some I have some notes. I

235
00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:40,560
Speaker 1: have some notes or just some they're not notes, but

236
00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:43,920
Speaker 1: more thoughts. For one, you kind of touched on it.

237
00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,920
Speaker 1: It's a big It feels to me to be wide

238
00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,160
Speaker 1: and quite long. You know this this car is going

239
00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:53,040
Speaker 1: to take up all all of the lane. Did you

240
00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:54,640
Speaker 1: since that when you were driving it?

241
00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:58,120
Speaker 2: Well, keep in mind that I drive a Dodge Challenger

242
00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:01,360
Speaker 2: on the wide body version on a regular basis.

243
00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:03,840
Speaker 1: Okay, So did it feel equal to that?

244
00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:07,720
Speaker 2: It felt about the same, yes, and but longer because

245
00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:09,160
Speaker 2: it's so long, right.

246
00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:11,840
Speaker 1: It's long. It's big. I mean, on the one hand,

247
00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:13,480
Speaker 1: that's a lot of storage space, and that's what do

248
00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:16,760
Speaker 1: you want it for completely, and I honestly, and I

249
00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:19,600
Speaker 1: will get on my soapbox for this. I really wish

250
00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:22,480
Speaker 1: more Americans would get out of their subs and get

251
00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:25,600
Speaker 1: into wagons. And this goes back to because the wagon

252
00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:29,679
Speaker 1: can do everything that you really are actually in reality

253
00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:32,319
Speaker 1: do in the suv. I know, people want to think

254
00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:34,120
Speaker 1: that they can get off road if they need to,

255
00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:38,480
Speaker 1: or get out of snow or whatever, but the reality is,

256
00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:42,280
Speaker 1: you don't need that big suv when a beautiful wagon

257
00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:45,600
Speaker 1: like an Audie Evant will more than cover any of

258
00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:47,320
Speaker 1: the realistic needs that you have.

259
00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:50,240
Speaker 2: I mean, obviously, I agree with you one hundred percent.

260
00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:52,280
Speaker 2: And I thought about that the whole every time I

261
00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:56,080
Speaker 2: was driving it, especially pushing hard into a corner. I

262
00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:58,439
Speaker 2: was like, ah, so, I'm so glad that this is

263
00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:01,160
Speaker 2: a low wagon and it is pretty. It's not at

264
00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:02,200
Speaker 2: all lifting.

265
00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:06,440
Speaker 1: I'm careful, Yeah, I'm I'm I'm going slow, you know,

266
00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:10,600
Speaker 1: as I pull into the Valets dand at Sunset Tower,

267
00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:12,840
Speaker 1: I am going slow. Oh. But that that reminds me

268
00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:14,640
Speaker 1: of two things that I have to say that are

269
00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:18,040
Speaker 1: very positive about this car. Number One, I don't think

270
00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:22,600
Speaker 1: I've ever had a dream about a car before, but

271
00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:26,120
Speaker 1: when I got this car that night, I had a

272
00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:30,440
Speaker 1: dream that I was drifting it. Cool witch, I don't

273
00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:33,320
Speaker 1: it was just like a snapshot of a dream, but

274
00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:36,240
Speaker 1: the dream was literally I was in this RS six

275
00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:39,480
Speaker 1: drifting it and it was really fun. And I can

276
00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:41,800
Speaker 1: honestly say, I don't know if I've ever dreamt about

277
00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:44,440
Speaker 1: a car before. So that's there's something emotional there, which

278
00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:46,960
Speaker 1: is very a very good sign you can.

279
00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:49,160
Speaker 2: You can drift it too, I'm here to.

280
00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:52,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, clearly, I've already been doing it in my dreams.

281
00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:55,800
Speaker 1: And then the second thing is it got the prime

282
00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:58,680
Speaker 1: parking spot. I did go to Sunset Tower a couple

283
00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:01,440
Speaker 1: times with it and got the prime parking spot at

284
00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:05,040
Speaker 1: least once. Of there's one single parking spot out front,

285
00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:07,520
Speaker 1: which is the car that is on display for everybody

286
00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,760
Speaker 1: to see, and they parked it out front, and I

287
00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:14,239
Speaker 1: got a buddy who works in the l stand named Gustavo,

288
00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:16,840
Speaker 1: and it wasn't even Gustavo who parked it with someone else.

289
00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:20,400
Speaker 1: So that car gets respect, which I really like. And

290
00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:22,920
Speaker 1: it's emotional now that the thing that I'm not in

291
00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:27,440
Speaker 1: love with is the center console screen.

292
00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:30,000
Speaker 2: Oh my goodness, that's what I am in love with

293
00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:33,040
Speaker 2: in fact, when I test drove it, and then my wife.

294
00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:35,360
Speaker 2: So I think it's fair to say that you and

295
00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:38,520
Speaker 2: I are both very tall, so for us, we don't

296
00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:41,880
Speaker 2: need the lifted like the raised seating height of the SUV.

297
00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:44,720
Speaker 2: A lot of people who are more vertically challenged, and

298
00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:46,640
Speaker 2: my wife's not short, but she said, look, I like

299
00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:49,000
Speaker 2: sitting a little bit higher. You know, I get it.

300
00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:51,880
Speaker 2: So that's why I think one reason people like SUVs.

301
00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:56,400
Speaker 2: But for me, I was like, all right, well, let

302
00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,960
Speaker 2: me look at a Q seven then or a Q eight,

303
00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:02,840
Speaker 2: which I love the design of that so much, and

304
00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:05,920
Speaker 2: make sure that they still have this center console this

305
00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:09,560
Speaker 2: MMI because we complain about the lack of buttons in

306
00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:11,960
Speaker 2: so many other cars, and this car also has no buttons,

307
00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:15,520
Speaker 2: like almost no physical buttons, but it has this haptic

308
00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:19,760
Speaker 2: response that makes the for me at least, the infotainment

309
00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:24,520
Speaker 2: system really pleasurable to use. And I find also the

310
00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:31,120
Speaker 2: whole system to be really intuitive. And the bottom screen

311
00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:35,360
Speaker 2: of the two screen setup is almost always HVAC. So

312
00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:39,640
Speaker 2: I thought it was great, Like I would take any

313
00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:41,640
Speaker 2: car with that setup in it. I really liked it

314
00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:41,960
Speaker 2: a lot.

315
00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:46,440
Speaker 1: I do agree with you that it is an intuitive setup,

316
00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:49,960
Speaker 1: and it works very well and very seamlessly. My quibble

317
00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:54,520
Speaker 1: is that with that haptic style screen, you can't just

318
00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:57,440
Speaker 1: gently touch the screen. You have to like push it harder.

319
00:16:57,640 --> 00:16:59,480
Speaker 2: Yeah you know what I mean. I like that.

320
00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:02,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know what they're trying to do, which is

321
00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:05,120
Speaker 1: like simulate a button, so you have to actually push

322
00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:06,600
Speaker 1: it harder. But then I'm like, why not just have

323
00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:10,760
Speaker 1: a button, because if it's a screen, I'm just intuitively

324
00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:13,159
Speaker 1: thinking I can just touch it really lightly, like just

325
00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:16,040
Speaker 1: brush it and keep going, and it doesn't actually register

326
00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:18,679
Speaker 1: that input. You have to push it harder, and I

327
00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:22,040
Speaker 1: find myself like jabbing my finger to push the button,

328
00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:23,480
Speaker 1: to push the button, which isn't a button.

329
00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:25,840
Speaker 2: It's a great I imagine, like all the cars that

330
00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:28,080
Speaker 2: we test out for a few days or for a week,

331
00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:29,600
Speaker 2: this is the kind of thing that you would get

332
00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:30,960
Speaker 2: used to if you owned it and live with it

333
00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:34,080
Speaker 2: on a daily basis. Either way you would adapt. But

334
00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,880
Speaker 2: my only complaint with this car that I loved so much,

335
00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:40,680
Speaker 2: I was automatically you know, configuring them online and shopping

336
00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:44,680
Speaker 2: for used ones. The problem I have is the complexity.

337
00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:46,520
Speaker 2: And this is something that we talked to Frank Stephan

338
00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:49,960
Speaker 2: Wallacer about as well, like it's a twin turbo, it's

339
00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:54,800
Speaker 2: got the air suspension, rear wheel steering, you know, the

340
00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:58,520
Speaker 2: whole electronic system on the inside. Just so there's so

341
00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:00,680
Speaker 2: many things that can go wrong, and you can break

342
00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:05,119
Speaker 2: down and repairs you know of brands like this just

343
00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:09,720
Speaker 2: cost so much money. I mean I lightly cracked the

344
00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:14,800
Speaker 2: headlight on my Mercedes GLS and it cost five thousand

345
00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:18,439
Speaker 2: dollars to repair it. So yeah, and that was just

346
00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:21,400
Speaker 2: a light crack on the cake on the outside glass.

347
00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:23,040
Speaker 2: I was like, can we just repair the glass? They

348
00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:24,960
Speaker 2: were like, no, no, dude, we got to order the

349
00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:27,800
Speaker 2: whole headlight pod with the computer and the chips and everything.

350
00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:30,760
Speaker 2: That's horrible, But that's the same thing. If you knock

351
00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:33,080
Speaker 2: a way mirror off the RS six, it's gonna cost

352
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:35,280
Speaker 2: you many, many thousands of dollars.

353
00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:38,000
Speaker 1: How did you crack that headlight? Out of curiosity?

354
00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:40,800
Speaker 2: I gently bumped it into another car in my driveway.

355
00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:44,800
Speaker 1: Oh no, oh god, Matt.

356
00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:47,560
Speaker 2: Anyway, this this kind of complexity is something that we

357
00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:50,320
Speaker 2: talked to Frank Stefan Wallacer about as well. And I

358
00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:52,760
Speaker 2: want to get into the first part of our interview

359
00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:57,440
Speaker 2: remind us quickly, Hannah, why we talked to this guy

360
00:18:57,520 --> 00:18:58,520
Speaker 2: so much about Portia.

361
00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:03,720
Speaker 1: Well, of course, as our listeners may recall, Frank Wallaser

362
00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:07,200
Speaker 1: was the head of Porsche Motorsport and really credited with

363
00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:12,960
Speaker 1: multiple Lamon victories, the nine to eighteen Spider development, and

364
00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:18,800
Speaker 1: really a guy that has made Porsche racing successful. And

365
00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:21,600
Speaker 1: that goes back to our earlier conversation about Porsche. You know,

366
00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,919
Speaker 1: it's Frank and his team that really kind of is

367
00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:28,080
Speaker 1: the beating heart of Porsche. Porsche has always been a

368
00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:32,800
Speaker 1: racing brand, that is the DNA, and so Frank had

369
00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:33,720
Speaker 1: a big role in that.

370
00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:36,080
Speaker 2: All right, let's let's listen to what Frank has to

371
00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:36,920
Speaker 2: tell us.

372
00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:41,360
Speaker 1: This super sports the new car. It's got a Mantai

373
00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:48,240
Speaker 1: racing wheels, it's got a Kropovich exhaust system. People, serious

374
00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:49,959
Speaker 1: car people know these brands, and they might know him

375
00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:52,600
Speaker 1: from Porsche and Orgakati.

376
00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:56,920
Speaker 2: Of course, fantasy switch from turban Noni to Akropovich because

377
00:19:57,160 --> 00:19:58,760
Speaker 2: the exhausts were so much better made.

378
00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:02,960
Speaker 1: Of course, you've got the daughter of a very famous

379
00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:09,760
Speaker 1: Porsche racer, mister Ikozawa now who's now helping shape some

380
00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:14,440
Speaker 1: of the Bentley messaging I'm curious if Bentley Brass get

381
00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:18,480
Speaker 1: tired of you talking about Porsche, and like it keeps

382
00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:21,280
Speaker 1: coming up in the conversation and I'm starting to see

383
00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:26,360
Speaker 1: almost like a dovetailing between the brands. Is that even accurate?

384
00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:31,639
Speaker 3: No, I think number one, I'm I'm really cautious on

385
00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:35,520
Speaker 3: comparing the company's because Bentley has a very rich own

386
00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:41,560
Speaker 3: history and everything. It's not about copying it, for sure. Yes,

387
00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:44,520
Speaker 3: And this is not so much about my knowledge or

388
00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:47,400
Speaker 3: my link to it. It's it's inside the company. And

389
00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:49,680
Speaker 3: this is what amazed me a lot when we started

390
00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:53,639
Speaker 3: that project. It was really kind of igniting what was

391
00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:57,199
Speaker 3: there anyway, and we just kicked off the project and

392
00:20:57,200 --> 00:20:59,240
Speaker 3: then people came up with the ideas with the arrow,

393
00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:02,960
Speaker 3: with the wheels, with the tire setting, the tire selection,

394
00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:07,240
Speaker 3: and how to tune the car. And then yeah, maybe

395
00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:10,160
Speaker 3: I fueled it a little bit up and gave some directions,

396
00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:13,280
Speaker 3: but it was never never to say, Okay, we have

397
00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:16,240
Speaker 3: to target that car or this car. It was really

398
00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:18,959
Speaker 3: an own Bentley interpretation. It has also showed a lot

399
00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:23,320
Speaker 3: about self confidence and the knowledge inside the company, and

400
00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:27,639
Speaker 3: that's honestly, that's even more more fun to do so.

401
00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:30,640
Speaker 3: And yes, there's some suppliers out we are using. They're

402
00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:34,720
Speaker 3: just amongst the best in the industry. Why not why

403
00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:37,640
Speaker 3: going elsewhere, Go to the professionals, go to the best

404
00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:40,480
Speaker 3: what you can get. And this is the same for

405
00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:43,560
Speaker 3: carbon fiber parts, this is for wheels, this is for exhaust.

406
00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:46,480
Speaker 3: We know, we know what to do, and we knows

407
00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:48,760
Speaker 3: what we can do in our factory, like the seat

408
00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:53,240
Speaker 3: adjustment to create a new seat in that time. This

409
00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:57,520
Speaker 3: looks easy, but this is a safety part, airbags, everything

410
00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:01,240
Speaker 3: what comes with that. And we have the engineer capabilities

411
00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:05,480
Speaker 3: and we have to the manufacturing capabilities to really make

412
00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:09,119
Speaker 3: something in such a short time that really is great,

413
00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:11,720
Speaker 3: a little bit engineering's paradise, honestly.

414
00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:14,760
Speaker 2: You know, you came and essentially flipped a switch or

415
00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:18,360
Speaker 2: you ignited something that was already there, that the company

416
00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:20,840
Speaker 2: already had in it. And I'm just wondering if you

417
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:26,080
Speaker 2: think Bentley had gone too far towards luxury maybe or

418
00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:31,520
Speaker 2: too far towards complications when simplicity may have been better.

419
00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:33,919
Speaker 2: I always we always talk about the fact that I

420
00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:37,920
Speaker 2: really want a Turbo R. I love those and all

421
00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:41,240
Speaker 2: of the Bentley's of the last you know, twenty or

422
00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:45,080
Speaker 2: thirty years, and unfortunately they're affordable for me because they're

423
00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:48,480
Speaker 2: so complicated and maintenance costs are so high that other

424
00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:50,600
Speaker 2: people are avoiding them. Do you want to kind of

425
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:51,680
Speaker 2: turn that around a little bit.

426
00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:57,159
Speaker 3: I think simplification is a matter anyway, and that fits

427
00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:01,440
Speaker 3: also to our luxury proposition because is normally not complicated.

428
00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:04,720
Speaker 3: It's curated and simple and someone makes you the choice,

429
00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,800
Speaker 3: and the choice is thoughtful and it takes it away

430
00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:12,840
Speaker 3: from the customer. And that's that's part of our luxury proposition.

431
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:17,240
Speaker 3: So it does, it does not, Yeah, it contributes to that.

432
00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:22,680
Speaker 3: When I started, for sure, I looked carefully on history

433
00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:25,399
Speaker 3: and what have been the cars, And you mentioned the

434
00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:29,640
Speaker 3: tourbo Art. That was the car that changed a lot

435
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:32,879
Speaker 3: in the Bentley brand perception and it was the return

436
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:39,159
Speaker 3: of the the birth maybe of the power seedan and

437
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:41,560
Speaker 3: and that's the reason for being Bentley because from that

438
00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:46,760
Speaker 3: point on it was outselling thes siblings and that just

439
00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:51,000
Speaker 3: shows just the sporty image. And it's not only image,

440
00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:54,320
Speaker 3: it's also the car delivered. It's very important for it

441
00:23:54,359 --> 00:23:59,360
Speaker 3: and it's part of the Bentley DNA. In the late eighties,

442
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:07,360
Speaker 3: unbelievable think on their tires and brakes. We maybe went

443
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:13,080
Speaker 3: a little bit too much in luxury and the only craftsmanship.

444
00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:17,479
Speaker 3: But it's it's more. It's it's the rewarding car, the

445
00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:19,919
Speaker 3: car that makes fun to drive. And it's all built

446
00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:22,560
Speaker 3: in these cars. The capabilities are there, and now it's

447
00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:25,760
Speaker 3: up to emphasize it again and to give also clear

448
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:29,399
Speaker 3: direction to say, well, if you do the curation, we

449
00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:33,280
Speaker 3: do the curation. That means we will have to give

450
00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:37,520
Speaker 3: up on compromises. A clear direction for the car, for

451
00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:42,720
Speaker 3: the car, a clear signature, very easy to explain car.

452
00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:45,440
Speaker 3: And I think that that's maybe the power of the supersports.

453
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:49,560
Speaker 3: To explain this car. I need ten seconds because I

454
00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:51,920
Speaker 3: will tell you it's the lightest ever, it's really drive.

455
00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:55,640
Speaker 3: It's a nice only car. That's it. And the message

456
00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:58,040
Speaker 3: lens and we can see the social media reactions. It

457
00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:02,880
Speaker 3: is very clear. Everybody understands it. This is this is good.

458
00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:04,800
Speaker 3: We have to make benefit out of that. And this

459
00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:07,800
Speaker 3: this applies to every car. There's more to come. We

460
00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:11,960
Speaker 3: have different segments. It looks different for us then then

461
00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,840
Speaker 3: for an suv and and for sure to go on

462
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:21,080
Speaker 3: the Continental is the the most natural and easy, easy

463
00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,240
Speaker 3: one and second is and I think this is also

464
00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:27,320
Speaker 3: very important the league and the price point where we

465
00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:32,080
Speaker 3: are selling cars. It's about emotions and the brand. And

466
00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:34,800
Speaker 3: this is a common understanding. It's it's not something we

467
00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:37,879
Speaker 3: fight inside the company or we have a we have

468
00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:42,440
Speaker 3: difficult discussions within the board and within our management. We

469
00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:44,800
Speaker 3: are very clear we want to bring more emotions back

470
00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:45,320
Speaker 3: to the brand.

471
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,080
Speaker 1: You made the comment we need fans. This is very

472
00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:53,040
Speaker 1: important and this is a bit of a new focus

473
00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:57,400
Speaker 1: that you've brought to Bentley, talk a little bit about

474
00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:00,560
Speaker 1: what you what you meant when you said we also

475
00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:01,320
Speaker 1: need fans.

476
00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:05,600
Speaker 3: I think it's for a car brand. And there's famous

477
00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:09,440
Speaker 3: examples from h names I will not name now, but

478
00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:12,880
Speaker 3: they have a red car in Italy. They have definitely

479
00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,960
Speaker 3: more fans than than buyers. But this is a this

480
00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:17,639
Speaker 3: is a big part of it. And this is for

481
00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:20,800
Speaker 3: every luxury brand you need, you need to be admiled for,

482
00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:24,719
Speaker 3: for your for your choice you made. If you're the

483
00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:26,679
Speaker 3: only one that is convinced on the product, that's not

484
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:30,880
Speaker 3: partn of a luxury story. And this is you want

485
00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:34,159
Speaker 3: to show and you yeah, you want that. Other people

486
00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:36,600
Speaker 3: say I would like to have such a car even

487
00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:39,399
Speaker 3: if it's not my price, TEG. But I really like it,

488
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:41,320
Speaker 3: and this is this is the fans. But we have

489
00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:44,240
Speaker 3: also to address to the fans and not just say no,

490
00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,120
Speaker 3: this is only for customers. We want to be accessible

491
00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:52,720
Speaker 3: to show the fans why not sharing and show our

492
00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:55,480
Speaker 3: passion and show what's behind this is for example, why

493
00:26:55,960 --> 00:27:00,320
Speaker 3: our stand in Goodwood was open to the public. Everyone

494
00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:03,000
Speaker 3: and I think it was ten thousand people could sit

495
00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:05,560
Speaker 3: in a Bentley and make a photo and a lot

496
00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,159
Speaker 3: went out that I was never sitting in a Bentley.

497
00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,920
Speaker 1: It's a lot of butts and seats. Yeah, yeah, did

498
00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:15,080
Speaker 1: I mean? Is it to me when you say when

499
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:18,200
Speaker 1: you mentioned the Italian brand? I think, okay, did Porsche

500
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:21,560
Speaker 1: follow that blueprint? And now Bentley is following the Porsche blueprint?

501
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:23,919
Speaker 1: Can we make that connection in terms of there are

502
00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:24,960
Speaker 1: more fans than buyers.

503
00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:32,240
Speaker 3: I think Porsche is maybe the masterpiece of orchestrating the

504
00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:36,720
Speaker 3: community it developed over the years. I would say it's

505
00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:40,240
Speaker 3: from the result. It's definitely there was there masterplant, I

506
00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:43,919
Speaker 3: don't think. So it developed and it was adapted and

507
00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:46,720
Speaker 3: a lot of people are very passionated and brought it

508
00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:49,720
Speaker 3: in and for sure the group is bigger and the

509
00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:54,480
Speaker 3: whole thing grew. I think it cannot. There are some

510
00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:59,000
Speaker 3: cases in the world, some car manufacturers and this is Ferrari,

511
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,120
Speaker 3: this is Porsche. They cannot be repeated because you don't

512
00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:05,600
Speaker 3: have seventy five years of history and everything, what was

513
00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,479
Speaker 3: built up over over the years, all the different cars,

514
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:12,560
Speaker 3: the stories, the motorsport, the heritage to racing. You cannot

515
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:15,880
Speaker 3: copy that. And it's not about copying it. It's more

516
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:21,879
Speaker 3: about to understand how does our brand work, what is

517
00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:25,240
Speaker 3: specific on us, what is special and unique on us?

518
00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:29,920
Speaker 3: And yeah, make this accessible and then develop an own

519
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:34,280
Speaker 3: brand plan that says, okay, we take this element and

520
00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:37,600
Speaker 3: for sure, in today's world, as nearly everything exists, you

521
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:41,120
Speaker 3: will never have something totally unique, and all the time

522
00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:43,640
Speaker 3: someone will call you copy this, you copy, copy this.

523
00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:44,680
Speaker 3: It's never new.

524
00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:47,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's yeah.

525
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:50,960
Speaker 3: But on the other hand, it's also combined cleverly and

526
00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:54,920
Speaker 3: then execute. The idea of a supersports have been around

527
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:58,160
Speaker 3: for many, many times, many many years. But it's about execution.

528
00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:02,200
Speaker 3: It's about do it make it. Take the money and

529
00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:05,360
Speaker 3: for sure it was also risk. So we invested a

530
00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:07,120
Speaker 3: little bit of money and not only a little bit

531
00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:09,600
Speaker 3: to make such a car happen.

532
00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:12,680
Speaker 1: I can't imagine it being a tough sell to the

533
00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:13,880
Speaker 1: board to do this car.

534
00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:17,600
Speaker 3: But was it I was the board so okay with

535
00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:21,800
Speaker 3: my colleagues, No, I think the interesting thing is and

536
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:25,200
Speaker 3: this is maybe definitely or this is a strength of

537
00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:29,520
Speaker 3: Bentley in the configuration we have at the moment with

538
00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:34,200
Speaker 3: our management with the board, we are really very very

539
00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:37,840
Speaker 3: quick aligned on what direction we go. And Supersports was

540
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,960
Speaker 3: not a hard sell. We have all been convinced all

541
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:43,640
Speaker 3: that this is the right way to do it, and

542
00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:46,520
Speaker 3: we had to find a way to finance it and

543
00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:50,600
Speaker 3: to bring it in and very tough timing. And yeah,

544
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:54,440
Speaker 3: then you have to work on to make it possible,

545
00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:59,080
Speaker 3: from procurement to finance, from manufacturing to logistics. Is a

546
00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:02,080
Speaker 3: complex car prote so it has two hundred and fifty

547
00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:06,680
Speaker 3: something new paths. So this is really complex and that

548
00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:08,880
Speaker 3: shows what the organization the project.

549
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:10,600
Speaker 2: But as you say, the explanation of the car is

550
00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:14,360
Speaker 2: not complex. No, it's high horse power, you know, big

551
00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:19,120
Speaker 2: displacement VI eight rear wheel drive. Everybody looks at that,

552
00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:22,440
Speaker 2: even people who can't afford it and and can identify

553
00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:25,400
Speaker 2: with it right away. As opposed to something that's super

554
00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:30,000
Speaker 2: luxurious and complex and that's only for Sty'll think it's

555
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,960
Speaker 2: only for CEOs and I'm not gonna. I just wonder

556
00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:35,800
Speaker 2: how hard it is for an ultra luxury brand like

557
00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:38,560
Speaker 2: like a Bentley or Rolls Royce to get the kind

558
00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:44,000
Speaker 2: of accessibility that Porsche can offer, because you know, there's

559
00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:46,640
Speaker 2: always a Porsche that you can go out and buy

560
00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:49,680
Speaker 2: for thirty or forty thousand, like a nine to ninety

561
00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:53,400
Speaker 2: six or a Boxer, right, and it's not too pop aftermarket, yeah,

562
00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:55,720
Speaker 2: and it's not too complicated to have your the gas

563
00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:59,480
Speaker 2: station on the corner work on it, right, whereas with

564
00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:03,240
Speaker 2: these two, you know, British brands, especially obviously with Ferrari

565
00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:06,479
Speaker 2: as well. But there's a different case. You can't You're

566
00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:08,400
Speaker 2: never going to be able to offer something like that.

567
00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:10,800
Speaker 2: You don't want a Maserati yourself. You know.

568
00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:16,480
Speaker 3: I will not comment on this, but yeah, this is

569
00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:18,440
Speaker 3: why I say you have to tailor it for your

570
00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:21,840
Speaker 3: own brand what you can do. And on the other hand,

571
00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:25,320
Speaker 3: if I look at especially in the UK Continental GTS

572
00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:30,200
Speaker 3: first generation six liters W twelve's nice cars, so this

573
00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:31,720
Speaker 3: is affordable.

574
00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:34,160
Speaker 2: Yes, and look at them a lot.

575
00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:38,000
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it comes with and that's maybe that's the

576
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,640
Speaker 3: power of the folks one group. A lot of the

577
00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:44,960
Speaker 3: paths where you look from a really reliability point of

578
00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:50,120
Speaker 3: view is it's the wrong wording, but I use it.

579
00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:53,680
Speaker 3: It's mass production, so very reliable. So the engineering what

580
00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:56,680
Speaker 3: you get on that car is really good. Yes, spare

581
00:31:56,760 --> 00:32:01,040
Speaker 3: power prices. Okay, that's maybe cost a little bit of money,

582
00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:02,720
Speaker 3: but that comes with the with the value.

583
00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:05,800
Speaker 2: But it's something that a regular person can handle basically

584
00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:09,200
Speaker 2: and done. Yeah, I know what you mean. Not mass production,

585
00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:14,880
Speaker 2: but having a massive brand behind the production must must

586
00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:19,280
Speaker 2: be helpful. What about future product? Like this is our

587
00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:24,120
Speaker 2: first glimpse of what you can enable Bentley to produce?

588
00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:28,680
Speaker 2: What else is there? We all know the Continentals and

589
00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:33,880
Speaker 2: the Bentaga Okay, ev interesting, but but this.

590
00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:34,800
Speaker 3: Is the next BIX thing.

591
00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:37,680
Speaker 2: What about something different than those two? I only think

592
00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:40,800
Speaker 2: of Continental and the Ventaga. So what can.

593
00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:44,400
Speaker 3: You We look, we look at the complete range, We

594
00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:50,400
Speaker 3: look in our offer. What could drive excitement? Maybe also

595
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:55,720
Speaker 3: on the Bentaga side? What could that look like? We

596
00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,560
Speaker 3: look and this is and I think this is important.

597
00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:00,720
Speaker 3: Now it was asked yesterday. Oh, now you do a

598
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:03,320
Speaker 3: supersports spent Taka and you do a supersports flying Spur.

599
00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:07,040
Speaker 3: I said, no, no, no, no no. Maybe a more

600
00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:10,200
Speaker 3: extreme car of the Bentela. Maybe something that is a

601
00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:15,400
Speaker 3: more exciting, maybe a coup or. I don't know, I know,

602
00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:21,720
Speaker 3: but I don't tell you or what is the interpretation

603
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:23,560
Speaker 3: in a flying Spur, and then you have to make

604
00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:27,840
Speaker 3: specific decisions to that. But as you said, in the

605
00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:30,840
Speaker 3: area of a flying spur, the flying Spur is for

606
00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:34,920
Speaker 3: me such a perfect car already. I'm not sure if

607
00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:39,040
Speaker 3: you could add something similar then on the supersports there,

608
00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:45,880
Speaker 3: because he's already the performance sedan coming with the luxury

609
00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:51,560
Speaker 3: of a Bentley. So it's not again, it's it's tailoring.

610
00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:54,560
Speaker 3: It's to understand the brand. It's understand the marketing and

611
00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:57,840
Speaker 3: the markets and the customer demands and then to come

612
00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:01,520
Speaker 3: out with the with the the ideas. But for sure

613
00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:06,600
Speaker 3: Continental is our core product and it's it's really brand

614
00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:10,480
Speaker 3: defining and there we will have the majority of our

615
00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:14,080
Speaker 3: focus on Continental. And second, as the market is so

616
00:34:14,160 --> 00:34:15,680
Speaker 3: big on Bentega.

617
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,919
Speaker 2: That's the Bentley CEO Frank Stefan Wallacer coming up after

618
00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:22,640
Speaker 2: the break, how Ai is redesigning what luxury looks like

619
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:25,960
Speaker 2: more of our chat right after this, and I got

620
00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:39,480
Speaker 2: some buying advice for an air cooled Porsche. Welcome back

621
00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:41,920
Speaker 2: to Hot Pursuit. I'm Matt Miller along with Hannah Elliott.

622
00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:45,200
Speaker 2: Let's get back to our conversation with the Bentley CEO,

623
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:47,840
Speaker 2: Frank Stephen Wallaser, who also worked at Porsche for a

624
00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:50,000
Speaker 2: long time and is famous for that. And I will

625
00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:54,120
Speaker 2: tell you quickly, Hannah. You know, I asked him about

626
00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:58,239
Speaker 2: my air cooled Porsche search and I'm leaning towards I

627
00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:00,520
Speaker 2: thought like nine to six four, because it's the end

628
00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:04,080
Speaker 2: of for me a generation of Porschas that all look

629
00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:08,759
Speaker 2: the same. I've thought about, you know, an earlier one

630
00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:13,439
Speaker 2: I saw Magnus did a video on the International Race

631
00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:16,319
Speaker 2: of Champions in which he's driving a very old one,

632
00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:17,920
Speaker 2: far too expensive for me. But I was like, oh,

633
00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:21,040
Speaker 2: maybe I could backdate our era. Yeah, yeah, to get

634
00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:24,759
Speaker 2: to the seventies. But you know, they all have more

635
00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:29,800
Speaker 2: primitive suspension. And Frank said it's a rubbish. He said,

636
00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:32,719
Speaker 2: go with the nine to nine three because they had

637
00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:35,120
Speaker 2: upgraded to a multi league suspension in the back. They

638
00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:38,080
Speaker 2: had already coil overs from the nine six four, And

639
00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:41,440
Speaker 2: he said everything else is like he didn't say trash,

640
00:35:41,480 --> 00:35:45,440
Speaker 2: but he implied like not even worth driving. You know what.

641
00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:47,880
Speaker 1: I remember when you asked him that because I was

642
00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:51,160
Speaker 1: standing there and I kind of loved how unfussy his

643
00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:54,560
Speaker 1: answer was yeah, because didn't he make some comment about, oh,

644
00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:56,880
Speaker 1: you know, people get into what wheels are you running

645
00:35:56,920 --> 00:35:59,400
Speaker 1: and all this stuff and he kind of just like

646
00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:02,640
Speaker 1: was like shoot it all away, and he was very

647
00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:06,080
Speaker 1: unfussy about it, and I just kind of liked it

648
00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:09,279
Speaker 1: because this guy is an engineer, mastermind and he just

649
00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:11,399
Speaker 1: kind of brushed it all away and was like, oh yeah,

650
00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:14,000
Speaker 1: you know, just get the nine nine three and drive it.

651
00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:16,560
Speaker 2: Yeah. For him, there's no debate, like he has thoughts.

652
00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:20,120
Speaker 2: He's decided and that's it. But the funny thing is,

653
00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:22,360
Speaker 2: I was texting Magnus later and he said, that's like

654
00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:23,640
Speaker 2: my least favorite generation.

655
00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:26,880
Speaker 1: I know it is it is he doesn't like he

656
00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:28,000
Speaker 1: really doesn't like it.

657
00:36:28,239 --> 00:36:29,879
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't like the way the nine line

658
00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:33,239
Speaker 2: three looks, the headlights already starting to lay back, and

659
00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:37,680
Speaker 2: it looks like every time I see a nine nine

660
00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:41,960
Speaker 2: three that's red, I feel like it resembles the guy

661
00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:43,880
Speaker 2: from Cars, you know, the red guy.

662
00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:46,080
Speaker 1: Cars they totally, totally.

663
00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:48,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't want that, you know, I want something

664
00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:51,319
Speaker 2: bad ass. I want to step out of it in

665
00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:54,400
Speaker 2: cowboy boots with my dreadlocks and big beard. You know.

666
00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:55,800
Speaker 2: That's I want to be the outlaw.

667
00:36:56,400 --> 00:37:00,799
Speaker 1: You need something a little more ornery? Do you need

668
00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:03,759
Speaker 1: something that feels a little rambunctious. Yeah?

669
00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:06,359
Speaker 2: Sure, and that's you know what. That's kind of like

670
00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:09,760
Speaker 2: what the Supersports is for Bentley as well. They're getting

671
00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:11,200
Speaker 2: a little bit more ornery.

672
00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:15,040
Speaker 1: Yeah. Let's come on, giddy up, let's go.

673
00:37:15,239 --> 00:37:17,200
Speaker 2: All right, let's get back to our interview with Frank

674
00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:19,200
Speaker 2: Stephen Wallace, or the CEO of Bentley.

675
00:37:19,719 --> 00:37:21,760
Speaker 1: I want to ask about something I've been thinking about

676
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:26,160
Speaker 1: a lot with these really old historic luxury brands, and

677
00:37:26,640 --> 00:37:30,839
Speaker 1: it's the idea of AI and how software is increasingly

678
00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:36,080
Speaker 1: becoming a key differentiator for a lot of buyers in cars,

679
00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:40,400
Speaker 1: but in luxury cars too. So how do you implement

680
00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:46,080
Speaker 1: that in a very old, historic luxury brand that it's

681
00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:51,000
Speaker 1: not necessarily a friendly fit with software?

682
00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:56,520
Speaker 3: Yeah? Well, the question is now from a little bit

683
00:37:56,520 --> 00:38:00,560
Speaker 3: more an engineering perspective, A car like super Wards without

684
00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:03,760
Speaker 3: software no chance to realize it because we are using

685
00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:07,880
Speaker 3: all the systems that are in from from the rollbar

686
00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:11,840
Speaker 3: adjustment to the air suspension to the slip differential to

687
00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:14,800
Speaker 3: the engine tuning. This is this is everything based on software.

688
00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:16,120
Speaker 3: You can make that driving.

689
00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:19,080
Speaker 1: Area I mean more specifically like the interface with.

690
00:38:19,239 --> 00:38:24,239
Speaker 3: The interface and the entertainment there is. It is really

691
00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:29,439
Speaker 3: it's a way to find again the curation, to make it,

692
00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:34,800
Speaker 3: to make it simple in the use. What's definitely a

693
00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:37,360
Speaker 3: bigger effort than to make everything adjustable because you have

694
00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:41,960
Speaker 3: to make decisions. It can be also in the luxury

695
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:46,520
Speaker 3: segment really helpful to build up, but you have to invest.

696
00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:52,840
Speaker 3: And the real task is it's just the size of

697
00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:56,239
Speaker 3: the company because we're a small volume and if you are,

698
00:38:57,200 --> 00:39:01,080
Speaker 3: the competition is coming from premium because there's high volume,

699
00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:05,680
Speaker 3: a lot of engineering capacity and to keep that level

700
00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:09,759
Speaker 3: this is really demanding. And again this benefit as we

701
00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:14,160
Speaker 3: have resources in the group we can use and benefit from.

702
00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:17,560
Speaker 3: And then we have to find a Bentley way in

703
00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:22,120
Speaker 3: an interpretation of a digital user interface to not just

704
00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:26,200
Speaker 3: have something what is replaceable. Do you feel that there

705
00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:30,800
Speaker 3: will come rise ideas with our next card that we

706
00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:35,879
Speaker 3: will present, I would say it's really very very good

707
00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:38,320
Speaker 3: ideas people have been very soughtful.

708
00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:44,120
Speaker 1: I was thinking, does the Bentley buyer expect Bentley to

709
00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:46,640
Speaker 1: be at the forefront of that or not necessarily.

710
00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:50,640
Speaker 3: I don't think it's expected to be at the forefront,

711
00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:54,919
Speaker 3: but it's expected to be on ice level. You want

712
00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:57,520
Speaker 3: to use your car play, you want to connect your phone.

713
00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:05,240
Speaker 3: This has just to work. Also, the driver assistance systems

714
00:40:05,239 --> 00:40:08,080
Speaker 3: they're getting, they have more and more impact on the driving,

715
00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:13,759
Speaker 3: and people expect that they work flawless. From traffic sign

716
00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:20,000
Speaker 3: recognition to lane keeping, all these things have to work. Yet, No,

717
00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:22,560
Speaker 3: we don't have to be the first, but you have

718
00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:23,920
Speaker 3: to keep the pace.

719
00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:29,160
Speaker 2: I look around the other brands in your stable and

720
00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:32,080
Speaker 2: the Volkswagen stable, and I think of the successes, like

721
00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:36,359
Speaker 2: the RS six that I'm driving right now. By the way,

722
00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:40,440
Speaker 2: they've done a really good job of haptic feedback and

723
00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:45,120
Speaker 2: controlling things through screens without making it annoying. But obviously,

724
00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:47,080
Speaker 2: I think a lot of people would like to go

725
00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:51,440
Speaker 2: back to buttons for things, especially like HVAC and volume.

726
00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:55,839
Speaker 2: I look at the GT three with the touring and

727
00:40:56,280 --> 00:41:00,640
Speaker 2: I obviously love the tactile manual transmission. I'm not suggesting

728
00:41:00,680 --> 00:41:03,919
Speaker 2: that Bentley has to do something like that, But can

729
00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:07,560
Speaker 2: you break away from can you give us a shooting break?

730
00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:11,600
Speaker 1: Can you This whole conversation was going to come to

731
00:41:11,600 --> 00:41:12,440
Speaker 1: that court. Well, I do.

732
00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:15,239
Speaker 2: The honest truth is when I look when I woke

733
00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:17,520
Speaker 2: up this morning and I looked at the super Sports,

734
00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:25,000
Speaker 2: the front was clearly in view and the the rear

735
00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:27,000
Speaker 2: end of it was kind of in the distance, and

736
00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:30,560
Speaker 2: I could imagine it. I sort of thought of it,

737
00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:33,200
Speaker 2: And I also happened to love. I love everything from

738
00:41:33,239 --> 00:41:35,320
Speaker 2: the clown shoe to the f F and I'm in

739
00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:37,240
Speaker 2: the R S six right now, so I think about

740
00:41:37,239 --> 00:41:38,920
Speaker 2: that right especially.

741
00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:42,880
Speaker 3: I like to discuss this really in the US, he

742
00:41:43,080 --> 00:41:46,200
Speaker 3: is a wagon. No one buys a wagon. Why no one,

743
00:41:46,719 --> 00:41:50,759
Speaker 3: I don't know, but it's it's everybody, all the car

744
00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:54,200
Speaker 3: enthusiasts we needed, we needed, we needed. Once the cars

745
00:41:54,400 --> 00:41:55,959
Speaker 3: on the market, nobody buys it.

746
00:41:56,040 --> 00:41:58,240
Speaker 1: Well, it's because they just default and buy an suv.

747
00:41:58,680 --> 00:42:02,960
Speaker 1: If SUVs weren't optional, it's an arms race, and you're

748
00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:07,960
Speaker 1: worried about has won. But if we remove the suv option,

749
00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:10,040
Speaker 1: then everyone would get wagons.

750
00:42:10,760 --> 00:42:13,480
Speaker 3: After one hundred I don't know, one hundred and forty

751
00:42:13,560 --> 00:42:16,360
Speaker 3: years of car development, one hundred and fifty years we

752
00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:19,480
Speaker 3: have came up the best body form. The body style

753
00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:22,799
Speaker 3: is a sui. Well, that's the biggest market. How about this?

754
00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:23,279
Speaker 1: Will you do?

755
00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:27,200
Speaker 2: Will you do more of the one offs of the

756
00:42:27,360 --> 00:42:33,799
Speaker 2: high dollar custom projects that your English competition has been

757
00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:37,320
Speaker 2: doing that your Italian competition has been doing. It results

758
00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:40,880
Speaker 2: in big margins and also results in a lot of

759
00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:43,120
Speaker 2: fans too. A lot of times if you get the

760
00:42:43,200 --> 00:42:45,400
Speaker 2: right buyer or if it's shown in the right place,

761
00:42:45,480 --> 00:42:45,839
Speaker 2: you know.

762
00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:49,560
Speaker 3: The keys as you say, the right buyer is the

763
00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:54,120
Speaker 3: right place. But you need a little bit also technically spoken,

764
00:42:54,160 --> 00:42:56,000
Speaker 3: you need a good platform to do so. If you

765
00:42:56,040 --> 00:42:58,400
Speaker 3: have a meat engine, carb and fiber hang on body,

766
00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:02,680
Speaker 3: it's very easy because keep the easy in. But it's

767
00:43:02,719 --> 00:43:04,880
Speaker 3: easier because you have a spine and then you put

768
00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:06,680
Speaker 3: a new body on it, and then you call it

769
00:43:06,719 --> 00:43:12,239
Speaker 3: a something and there's a demand in the market because

770
00:43:12,239 --> 00:43:14,960
Speaker 3: it's unique cast it's coming from the factory and it's

771
00:43:15,320 --> 00:43:18,520
Speaker 3: it's great stuff and great business. Would it fit well?

772
00:43:18,719 --> 00:43:24,439
Speaker 3: Number one to Bentley's technical background, we have more. It's

773
00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:28,160
Speaker 3: harder to realize and if you do, it has to

774
00:43:28,200 --> 00:43:34,760
Speaker 3: be readly done properly. I see for the Bentley ideas

775
00:43:34,800 --> 00:43:37,560
Speaker 3: and for our offer, the sweet spot is more in

776
00:43:37,640 --> 00:43:42,520
Speaker 3: the area of super sports, so means higher volume, higher

777
00:43:42,520 --> 00:43:48,520
Speaker 3: price point, but limited run. That could be more exciting

778
00:43:48,560 --> 00:43:49,200
Speaker 3: for us.

779
00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:53,200
Speaker 2: Well, it is pretty darn exciting just from looking at

780
00:43:53,320 --> 00:43:55,120
Speaker 2: and reading the numbers.

781
00:43:54,680 --> 00:43:58,480
Speaker 1: I have one final question for Frank. What have you

782
00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:03,880
Speaker 1: learned in your year Bentley or what surprised you.

783
00:44:03,560 --> 00:44:04,839
Speaker 2: From seven Housing the crew?

784
00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:07,920
Speaker 1: Yes, because I have to imagine it is it's different.

785
00:44:08,960 --> 00:44:12,399
Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure, it's it's not only another company, it's

786
00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:16,640
Speaker 3: another country, it's another culture. I learned a lot I

787
00:44:16,680 --> 00:44:21,879
Speaker 3: think about the culture. I had a coach, business coach

788
00:44:21,960 --> 00:44:25,680
Speaker 3: that helped me on a regular base and I exchanged

789
00:44:26,120 --> 00:44:31,360
Speaker 3: my feelings and learnings and everything and it was good. Ignored

790
00:44:31,400 --> 00:44:35,719
Speaker 3: the sometimes directions how to deal with the bread. Yeah,

791
00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:39,320
Speaker 3: but this is no, this is not a problem and Bentley, No,

792
00:44:39,480 --> 00:44:44,720
Speaker 3: really not. And Bentley has a number one A welcoming culture.

793
00:44:45,440 --> 00:44:49,040
Speaker 3: People are really open minded and integrate people relatively quick.

794
00:44:50,040 --> 00:44:52,120
Speaker 3: And they know how to deal with the Germans. For

795
00:44:52,160 --> 00:44:56,480
Speaker 3: twenty five years, well they make longer. They're coming in

796
00:44:57,719 --> 00:45:00,680
Speaker 3: all the time. No, no, no, this is this was the

797
00:45:01,239 --> 00:45:04,160
Speaker 3: easier part. For sure. You have to learn what can

798
00:45:04,239 --> 00:45:06,799
Speaker 3: the company do what we are the capabilities where it's

799
00:45:06,960 --> 00:45:11,200
Speaker 3: maybe points where you can improve. How does the whole

800
00:45:11,239 --> 00:45:13,680
Speaker 3: system work, How does the sales work, how does the

801
00:45:13,719 --> 00:45:18,719
Speaker 3: financial things work? You learn an overview and to get

802
00:45:18,719 --> 00:45:22,080
Speaker 3: the right things. On the other hand, you have to

803
00:45:22,239 --> 00:45:25,320
Speaker 3: act immediately until you have no time, so you cannot

804
00:45:25,320 --> 00:45:27,680
Speaker 3: make an analysis and then reflect and then go on.

805
00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:30,439
Speaker 3: So we did. The whole strategic work was done within

806
00:45:30,480 --> 00:45:35,120
Speaker 3: eight weeks. The team was supportive, and then we changed

807
00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:37,640
Speaker 3: the direction. We looked at the electrification, we looked at

808
00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:40,680
Speaker 3: the offer of the hybrids, and a lot of learnings

809
00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:45,360
Speaker 3: for me, and then we immediately started new projects immediately,

810
00:45:45,560 --> 00:45:47,960
Speaker 3: so this after twelve weeks, we started with the next

811
00:45:48,160 --> 00:45:52,120
Speaker 3: next projects, the next programs, so that was really a

812
00:45:52,200 --> 00:45:56,400
Speaker 3: quick start. I would say it worked pretty well with

813
00:45:56,480 --> 00:46:01,480
Speaker 3: the integration. My colleagues could could judge that better, but no,

814
00:46:01,840 --> 00:46:05,480
Speaker 3: I think it's it worked and I also embraced it

815
00:46:05,520 --> 00:46:07,640
Speaker 3: and liked it. I liked the complexity in the job

816
00:46:09,160 --> 00:46:14,120
Speaker 3: to have this overarching responsibility. I think we have a

817
00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:16,680
Speaker 3: really really good team in the board and with our

818
00:46:17,239 --> 00:46:22,600
Speaker 3: our extended management team together, very trustful, open minded, a

819
00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:26,440
Speaker 3: good culture in Bentley that is that is open minded

820
00:46:26,520 --> 00:46:31,080
Speaker 3: and the small team is nimble and agile. What I

821
00:46:31,239 --> 00:46:34,840
Speaker 3: like this is my raising genes too.

822
00:46:35,239 --> 00:46:38,040
Speaker 2: To go through and then stay light on your feet.

823
00:46:38,120 --> 00:46:44,400
Speaker 1: Yeah horse power, right, I like that exactly.

824
00:46:45,080 --> 00:46:47,640
Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much for joining us.

825
00:46:47,680 --> 00:46:50,279
Speaker 1: Please come back if you're a year from now. We

826
00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:52,200
Speaker 1: should do this twice a year.

827
00:46:54,280 --> 00:46:57,360
Speaker 2: Once again. Our thanks to Bentley CEO Frank Stefan Wallacer.

828
00:46:57,600 --> 00:47:00,799
Speaker 2: He is truly an awesome dude. And by the way,

829
00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:04,280
Speaker 2: he also had PR with him. Each of them knew

830
00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:08,319
Speaker 2: everything about every generation of every folks slacking vehicle. So

831
00:47:08,400 --> 00:47:10,120
Speaker 2: like a really smart team.

832
00:47:10,840 --> 00:47:13,120
Speaker 1: They've got a tight operation. Let me tell you they

833
00:47:13,200 --> 00:47:14,440
Speaker 1: run a tight ship over there.

834
00:47:14,520 --> 00:47:16,600
Speaker 2: I want to have those guys on as guests, like

835
00:47:16,719 --> 00:47:19,879
Speaker 2: we can't have a PR person on as a guest.

836
00:47:20,480 --> 00:47:24,040
Speaker 1: But no, no, it wouldn't be proper. But there are

837
00:47:24,080 --> 00:47:27,600
Speaker 1: a couple PR people and one of the PR people

838
00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:32,040
Speaker 1: with Frank who joined their couple that I want to

839
00:47:32,080 --> 00:47:35,000
Speaker 1: write a book. And I know they never would because

840
00:47:35,000 --> 00:47:38,480
Speaker 1: they're discreet and professional, but you know that they know

841
00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:42,120
Speaker 1: so much and have so many interesting stories. I'd love

842
00:47:42,160 --> 00:47:42,960
Speaker 1: to read that book.

843
00:47:43,080 --> 00:47:46,359
Speaker 2: Yeah, they know where the bodies are buried and they

844
00:47:46,400 --> 00:47:50,960
Speaker 2: have such deep knowledge. I know, so very cool to

845
00:47:51,000 --> 00:47:52,160
Speaker 2: have them here in studio.

846
00:47:52,840 --> 00:47:55,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, that does it for this week's show. Remember to

847
00:47:56,000 --> 00:48:00,120
Speaker 1: follow and subscribe to Bloomberg Hot Pursuit on Apple Spot

848
00:48:00,560 --> 00:48:04,440
Speaker 1: and anywhere else you listen. Please leave us a rating,

849
00:48:04,600 --> 00:48:06,319
Speaker 1: maybe five stars if you feel like it.

850
00:48:06,600 --> 00:48:07,600
Speaker 2: I'm not your mom.

851
00:48:08,040 --> 00:48:08,719
Speaker 1: Be what you want?

852
00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:09,320
Speaker 2: Four we go?

853
00:48:09,360 --> 00:48:09,560
Speaker 3: Okay?

854
00:48:09,600 --> 00:48:10,080
Speaker 2: Four would be go?

855
00:48:10,239 --> 00:48:13,120
Speaker 1: Yet? Fine? We'd accept, We'd accept, or just leave a comment.

856
00:48:14,160 --> 00:48:17,480
Speaker 1: It helps new listeners find the podcast and join the community,

857
00:48:17,640 --> 00:48:20,799
Speaker 1: and you can also send us your comments by emailing

858
00:48:20,880 --> 00:48:24,240
Speaker 1: us at Hot Pursuit at Bloomberg dot net.

859
00:48:24,360 --> 00:48:27,000
Speaker 2: And check out Hannah's columns and stories on Bloomberg dot

860
00:48:27,040 --> 00:48:29,840
Speaker 2: com and on the Bloomberg Business app. Go there for

861
00:48:29,920 --> 00:48:33,160
Speaker 2: car reviews, events and stories that you won't find anywhere else.

862
00:48:33,719 --> 00:48:36,880
Speaker 2: From a unique perspective. Find it all at Bloomberg dot com,

863
00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:40,040
Speaker 2: slash Pursuits, slash autos plus.

864
00:48:40,239 --> 00:48:43,640
Speaker 1: We do tend to share pictures, videos, and more from

865
00:48:43,680 --> 00:48:47,560
Speaker 1: the podcast on our Instagram. For instance, I'm actually joining

866
00:48:47,800 --> 00:48:50,799
Speaker 1: from Las Vegas today. I'm here for the F one

867
00:48:50,840 --> 00:48:53,880
Speaker 1: Grand Prix. You can find me on Instagram at Hannah

868
00:48:53,960 --> 00:48:55,080
Speaker 1: Elliott XO.

869
00:48:55,760 --> 00:48:58,800
Speaker 2: And I'm Matt Miller nineteen seventy three. Thanks for listening,

870
00:48:58,840 --> 00:49:02,080
Speaker 2: we'll be in your podcast feeding and next week Happy Thanksgiving.