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Speaker 1: We're thrilled to be joined by al La Collenius, the

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Speaker 1: chief executive officer of Mercedes Bends. It's a new age

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Speaker 1: for mobility.

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Speaker 2: We're here in Munich.

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Speaker 1: How does this car, the CILA, the new concept, How

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Speaker 1: does it answer the new demands that the consumers are

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Speaker 1: asking for in this new age of mobility.

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Speaker 2: The CILA concept is in its technological offering revolutionary three

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Speaker 2: figures for you, more than seven hundred and fifty kilometers range,

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Speaker 2: twelve kilow hours per one hundred kilometers. So I'm not

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Speaker 2: aware of any car in that class that has that

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Speaker 2: level of efficiency and equally important for our customers, four

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Speaker 2: hundred kilometers range charged the only fifteen minutes, So it

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Speaker 2: really takes the game to the next level in this class.

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Speaker 1: And I want to talk a little bit about how

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Speaker 1: the car looks and how that plays with the range.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's got the sort of stylized of Mercedes,

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Speaker 1: a big grill, big face.

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Speaker 2: How do you.

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Speaker 1: Balance that aerodynamism with the need for range and the

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Speaker 1: aesthetics that Mercedes wants to preserve.

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Speaker 2: Mercedes has always been about the perfect blend with between

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Speaker 2: innovation and technology on the one hand, but this timeless elegance.

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Speaker 2: On the other hand, you know the aspect of the

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Speaker 2: desirability of Mercedes. We have really smart engineers that get

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Speaker 2: this down to the lowest drag that you can possibly

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Speaker 2: think of. But at the same time it's absolutely beautiful

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Speaker 2: and on the inside it's room mirrored and you think,

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Speaker 2: I'm six four, I can sit comfortably in the backseat of.

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Speaker 1: This car, And when will you be sitting comfortably in

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Speaker 1: the back of this car? When will you see this

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Speaker 1: car on the road?

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Speaker 2: We're looking at market launch sometime in the first half

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Speaker 2: of twenty twenty.

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Speaker 1: Five and the combustion engine sort of equivalent prices at

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Speaker 1: around fifty thousand. Will it be more or less than that.

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Speaker 2: We're not announcing prices at this stage, but all I

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Speaker 2: can say is on the technological front, we're taking a

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Speaker 2: significant step up in this segment and at the same

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Speaker 2: time it will be in Mercedes through and through. So

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Speaker 2: look for something exciting.

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Speaker 1: And with the CLA and BMW announced against Noya class,

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Speaker 1: does this bring back the importance of the Auto show?

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Speaker 2: Do you think? In your mind? I think the Auto

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Speaker 2: show importance never went away. During COVID, we've learned to

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Speaker 2: deal with digital formats for everything, but it's a physical product.

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Speaker 2: It's a product you need to kind of see it,

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Speaker 2: touch it, feel it. There you go.

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Speaker 1: And in terms of pricing more broadly in the business,

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Speaker 1: and we're seeing a softening economic picture right now globally,

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Speaker 1: how is it pricing holding up for evs and combustion

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Speaker 1: engine cars from Mercedes?

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Speaker 2: More broadly, our goal is value over volume, so we're

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Speaker 2: not pushing volume. We're very very careful about how we

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Speaker 2: go to market, our go to market strategy and as

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Speaker 2: you can see from the salt for the first six

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Speaker 2: months of this year, that has been working quite well

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Speaker 2: for us.

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Speaker 1: And can you continue to ignore Tesla's price cuts even

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Speaker 1: on the higher end which are more in competition with

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Speaker 1: Mercedes products.

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Speaker 2: We're focused on value for the customer. I don't think

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Speaker 2: the customer expect from a Mercedes a little bit of

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Speaker 2: a roller coaster ride, but something that you can depend on.

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Speaker 2: So we will continue with the value over volume strategy.

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Speaker 1: We see raw materials for evs coming down, we see

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Speaker 1: the supply chain kinks work out. What does that look

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Speaker 1: like in the future. Is that going to help you

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Speaker 1: on margins? Do you think going forward? Do you think

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Speaker 1: that is stabilized for the time being.

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Speaker 2: We're working on deep sourcing as far as the raw

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Speaker 2: materials for electric mobility is concerned, not just to make

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Speaker 2: sure that we have sourcing stability, but also make sure

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Speaker 2: that we have more economic stability in terms of raw

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Speaker 2: material pricing. And I think there is an opportunity there

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Speaker 2: as ev the TV sector scales that we can find

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Speaker 2: variable cost improvements in this area.

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Speaker 1: And there's huge concern about the state of the Chinese economy.

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Speaker 1: What is Mercedes experience of the Chinese economy right now?

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Speaker 2: Is it affecting demand? Well, all big economists at the

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Speaker 2: moment are grappling with some challenges. We have high interest

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Speaker 2: rates in higher interest rates in the United States and

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Speaker 2: also in Europe to deal with inflation. In China, they

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Speaker 2: have their structural problems. After thirty forty years of an

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Speaker 2: economic wonder they're reaching also, I guess a level of

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Speaker 2: maturity where you're dealing with structural issues as well. So

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Speaker 2: I think we have to take a little bit of

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Speaker 2: a cautious stance on that and see how things developed

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Speaker 2: and not expect rapid growth as far as the economy

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Speaker 2: is concerned.

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Speaker 1: In the short and this Karsha will also be marked

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Speaker 1: by a lot of Chinese automakers bringing their cars to

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Speaker 1: the market, introducing them maybe for the first time to

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Speaker 1: many people.

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Speaker 2: How do you view that in your home turf? Here

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Speaker 2: in Germany, the other industry is in transformation, I think,

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Speaker 2: almost a disruption. It's natural that new players are going

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Speaker 2: to come in, and we respect both the established competition

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Speaker 2: as well as new players that are trying their luck

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Speaker 2: in the business. But that's not our focus. Our focus

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Speaker 2: is on the Mercedes customer, to give that customer the

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Speaker 2: perfect blend between technology and desirability.

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Speaker 1: And that customer loves the G Wagon. And I have

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Speaker 1: to ask now about is this a lowercase G? What

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Speaker 1: can we expect from your announcement today?

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Speaker 2: The G Wagon is an icon. I mean it's almost

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Speaker 2: impossible to get one. Actually it's sold out. But yes,

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Speaker 2: tonight we are announcing for all the G fans out

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Speaker 2: there there will be a little G so a son

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Speaker 2: or daughter of the iconic big G. We have not

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Speaker 2: denounced timing yet, but if you wait for something good,

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Speaker 2: it will be worth the wait.

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Speaker 1: And we were looking a lot into the future. I

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Speaker 1: want to just step back into the past. If I

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Speaker 1: may ask you, what was the first car you owned,

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Speaker 1: what did you learn how to drive on?

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Speaker 2: My very first car was a VW Golf one, so

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Speaker 2: that's where where my motoring started. But my first Mercedes,

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Speaker 2: and I think that's even more important, was the C

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Speaker 2: Class in the early nineties, a Lakelinia. Thank you so much,

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Speaker 2: Thank you