MotorTrend's Ed Loh & Jonny Lieberman sit down with President & CEO of Mercedes-Benz North America
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00:00:00Welcome to The Inevitable, a podcast by Motor Trend.
00:00:15Hi there, and welcome to another episode of The Inevitable.
00:00:18This is Motor Trend's podcast, our podcast
00:00:21about the future of transportation,
00:00:24the future of the car.
00:00:25And today we're talking to a guy from a company
00:00:28that actually invented the car.
00:00:30So it's also about the past in some ways.
00:00:32However, before then, this guy, Ed Lowe,
00:00:35has a special message just for you.
00:00:37The Inevitable podcast is brought to you
00:00:39by the all-electric Nissan Ariya,
00:00:41inspired by the future, designed for the now.
00:00:43And right now, we have no question.
00:00:45So you guys don't send us stuff, we don't answer it, sorry.
00:00:48So we'll just talk about our guest,
00:00:49because we need to go along with him.
00:00:52Dimitri Salakis, president and CEO
00:00:54of Mercedes-Benz North America.
00:00:56He's held this position since 2021,
00:00:59but he's been with the company since 1992.
00:01:03Wow, that's a career.
00:01:04Since Johnny was a junior in high school.
00:01:07Graduated in 93, so that's corrected.
00:01:09Yes. Yes.
00:01:10That's how I went to the first year of Lollapalooza.
00:01:12And, wow, the people at Lollapalooza.
00:01:15Yeah, yeah, that's right.
00:01:16This guy. Body count, Rollins Band.
00:01:18Oh my God.
00:01:19Remember like it was yesterday.
00:01:20Yes.
00:01:21Salakis, if you talk about a guy who has,
00:01:27and with apologies to people who live in Greece,
00:01:28but started like on Pluto and ended up on Earth.
00:01:31He started as a management trainee
00:01:35at Mercedes-Benz Hellas,
00:01:37which is apparently the Greek subsidiary.
00:01:41And, I mean, this dude had, he worked in Brazil.
00:01:45He would manage South America.
00:01:47Korea.
00:01:48Like van sales in Brazil.
00:01:50He tripled the volume and made them
00:01:53the number one brand in Brazil.
00:01:56He joined Mercedes-Benz Korea in 2015.
00:02:01They became the fifth largest market in the world
00:02:03for Mercedes-Benz cars.
00:02:04Wow.
00:02:06Yeah, the guy's been all over the world
00:02:08for the three-pointed star.
00:02:11He's got a degree from the University of Kent at Canterbury.
00:02:15And he has-
00:02:16Oh, that's why his English is so excellent.
00:02:17Yes.
00:02:18As well as the Imperial College Business School
00:02:20at the University of London.
00:02:22And we annually get to know him at Pebble Beach,
00:02:27which we talk about a little bit.
00:02:28I mean, I'll forever be a fan of his
00:02:30because there's this thing called the Tour d'Elegance.
00:02:32So on Sunday, you have the Concours d'Elegance,
00:02:35where you have about a billion dollars worth of cars
00:02:37sitting on the lawn at Pebble Beach.
00:02:39The tour takes place on Thursday,
00:02:40and you take a lot of the cars.
00:02:43You can't win the Concours d'Elegance
00:02:46unless you participate in the Tour d'Elegance.
00:02:47And they start up at Peter Hay Hill, top of Pebble Beach,
00:02:50drive over Bixby Bridge down the Highway 1.
00:02:53And they had the prototype for the Maybach SUV,
00:02:57the electric Maybach EQS SUV, whatever it is.
00:03:02What are you doing?
00:03:02The one that bounces?
00:03:03No, non-bouncer.
00:03:04It was the electric one.
00:03:05The electric one.
00:03:06And I was with Mercedes,
00:03:08and I showed up thinking I was gonna ride
00:03:10in an open-top 1927 W06 Mercedes or whatever.
00:03:17And I don't know, Michael and me,
00:03:19and Michael's a PR guy.
00:03:21Michael and me and Dimitri were talking,
00:03:22and Dimitri goes, do you wanna drive the lead car?
00:03:24I was like, yes.
00:03:25And so I got to actually drive the lead vehicle
00:03:28on the Tour d'Elegance, which is like, you know,
00:03:30kind of a once-in-a-lifetime, you know,
00:03:32maybe if you're lucky, twice-in-a-lifetime thing.
00:03:34He didn't want the liability, probably.
00:03:36Yeah, I don't know.
00:03:37Anyways, it was cool.
00:03:38It was very cool.
00:03:39Dimitri, we're gonna quiz him all about
00:03:41Mercedes-Benz product strategy
00:03:43for the North American market,
00:03:45what they're doing with EVs,
00:03:46what they're doing with software,
00:03:47Formula One, the whole nine yards.
00:03:48I'm also retreating a little bit on EV
00:03:51because, and I didn't bring it up on the episode,
00:03:53but I was in Portugal a couple years ago
00:03:56talking with one of their designers,
00:03:58and it was about that Maybach SUV,
00:04:01and I asked him a question,
00:04:02like, what does this thing mean, or whatever,
00:04:04you know, he asked designers questions.
00:04:06And he goes, man, I don't know.
00:04:07He's like, I designed that six years ago.
00:04:10And I go, oh, so you've designed
00:04:12all the 2029 cars already?
00:04:14He goes, oh yeah.
00:04:15I go, any gas?
00:04:16He goes, no.
00:04:17So, big retreat.
00:04:19Big retreat.
00:04:20As you'll hear, they're gonna keep gas
00:04:21going into the 2030s.
00:04:22Yeah.
00:04:23So, but, without further ado, let's not spoil it,
00:04:25Dimitri Salakis, president, CEO,
00:04:28Mercedes-Benz North America.
00:04:29All right, so.
00:04:30Welcome.
00:04:31Dimitri, this is long time coming.
00:04:34I think we started talking about this
00:04:36at Pebble Beach, two Pebble Beaches ago,
00:04:39at the, what's it called?
00:04:41What's that place at the end?
00:04:42The last, the Sunday night.
00:04:44Baja Cantina?
00:04:45Pebbly, no.
00:04:45Oh, oh, oh, the Mercedes dinner.
00:04:47The Mercedes dinner.
00:04:48Yes.
00:04:49That I always crash.
00:04:49Yes, me too.
00:04:50And we're like, you should be on the podcast.
00:04:52I should.
00:04:53The problem being, we record in person,
00:04:55and this is a very busy gentleman right here.
00:04:58Who doesn't live in Los Angeles.
00:04:59Who does not live in Los Angeles.
00:05:01Lives at the headquarters of Mercedes-Benz
00:05:04in Atlanta, fair to say.
00:05:06And he happens to be in town
00:05:06on the way to the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
00:05:09So, thanks again for coming on.
00:05:12We promise only a light grilling
00:05:15about all the future product plans.
00:05:17But, congratulations are in order.
00:05:19Yes.
00:05:20The E-Class, so the 2025 E-Class,
00:05:23the seventh generation?
00:05:25It's the 10th generation.
00:05:26Is it the 10th?
00:05:27Let me first say, thank you for inviting me
00:05:30and hosting me here today.
00:05:31I'm very happy to be with you guys.
00:05:34I'm very proud.
00:05:35Yeah, one Motor Trends car of the year.
00:05:38Yeah.
00:05:39Right, so that's a big honor in our world,
00:05:42and I think in the car world, so.
00:05:44And I've been driving one for the last three days.
00:05:48What is your favorite part about the E-Class,
00:05:50this new generation?
00:05:53Look, I said before, the E-Class
00:05:55is the 10th generation of E-Class.
00:05:57So, the E-Class product started in the early 60s.
00:06:00It has evolved as the vehicle which incorporates
00:06:04the latest technology of Mercedes-Benz.
00:06:07So, what I see on the E-Class,
00:06:09when I see the outside, is a beautiful design,
00:06:12a beautiful sedan.
00:06:13Very characteristic and very Mercedes,
00:06:15if you see the details around the product.
00:06:17When you come into the vehicle,
00:06:19you have a very luxurious, comfortable interior.
00:06:24Beautiful screen with the technology
00:06:28of our MBUX latest system.
00:06:30And a vehicle which is easy and fun to drive.
00:06:35So, I also, it's one of my favorite products.
00:06:38All right.
00:06:39Yeah, it was obviously one of our judges.
00:06:42It was their favorite.
00:06:42It was their favorite.
00:06:44It's a vote at the end of the day.
00:06:45I know.
00:06:47So, we're gonna be basically celebrating it all month long.
00:06:51I think this episode's coming out
00:06:54right in the middle of us making a lot of noise
00:06:57with our announcement.
00:06:59We're doing a media tour.
00:07:00There's articles all over the site.
00:07:04What else, as we wrap up 2024 and going to 2025,
00:07:10what else are you working on for North America
00:07:13and for the U.S. market in particular?
00:07:14For 2024, we're looking to 2025.
00:07:17Whatever you want to tell us about.
00:07:18I think 2024 has been a very important year for us
00:07:22in terms of new vehicle launches.
00:07:23And you've been accompanying us throughout the year
00:07:26with both electric, plug-in hybrids, and ICE.
00:07:31And this is part of our philosophy
00:07:33and strategy going forward.
00:07:35Offering all technologies
00:07:38and putting it in the hands of the customer
00:07:40to decide what they want to drive.
00:07:43I would say the latest launch, just last month,
00:07:47is the electric G-Class.
00:07:51So, an iconic product with 40 plus years of history,
00:07:56a very robust product that went fully electric.
00:07:58And I think this is quite an achievement for our brand.
00:08:02I spent a lot of time with one of those.
00:08:04And I gotta say, you electrified a G-Class.
00:08:08Like, I felt like the only thing holding it back
00:08:11was the fact that it had to be a G-Class.
00:08:14I think most owners, if they owned a gas one,
00:08:17if they got into it,
00:08:18they really wouldn't even notice the difference,
00:08:19except for how you charge it up or fuel it up.
00:08:22It was like, it was interesting,
00:08:26contrasting with what you guys have done
00:08:27with your other electric vehicles,
00:08:29like the EQs specifically,
00:08:30where they're pretty radical, you know,
00:08:33in terms of design, in terms of efficiency,
00:08:37and just, I don't know, just behavior.
00:08:41The EQS compared to the S-Class
00:08:43are very, very different machines currently,
00:08:45whereas the G550, which we spent time with at SUV of the year
00:08:51and did well, it was actually a finalist,
00:08:53it did really well.
00:08:54And the electric G, the G580, it was almost no difference.
00:08:58I think the electric one's better off-road.
00:09:01I was kind of shocked,
00:09:02because I do a lot of electric off-roading.
00:09:05And like, boy, you might have a new champion
00:09:08in the off-road segment.
00:09:11But other than that, it was a G-Class.
00:09:12Through and through.
00:09:14And I recall discussions we've had a couple of years
00:09:16back in Pebble Beach,
00:09:17when I was pitching the electric G coming up,
00:09:20and we had all these intense discussions,
00:09:22how it would be, how can you electrify
00:09:24in this shape and this kind of car,
00:09:27but yes, with four engines and with a lot of technology,
00:09:31it's fun to drive, and amazing,
00:09:34or it surprises you with its off-road capabilities.
00:09:36Have you started, have customers taken delivery yet?
00:09:40Yes, yes.
00:09:41What's been the feedback from the customers?
00:09:42Great, very impressed from the,
00:09:44obviously the torque that the vehicle is offering,
00:09:47the smoothness in driving, the capability it has,
00:09:52and it calls the attention that the G-Class is calling,
00:09:56right, because it's, I mean, from the outside,
00:09:59you don't see the differences.
00:10:00Yeah, very, very subtle differences.
00:10:02Except you had one very specific complaint.
00:10:05Oh, well, yeah,
00:10:06I had the one that didn't have a spare tire.
00:10:08Yeah.
00:10:09Yes, and I went off-roading and got a flat.
00:10:11Yes, that was a big complaint,
00:10:12but all resolved, and you know, look,
00:10:15if I had bought one,
00:10:16I would have ordered, obviously, with the spare tire, yeah.
00:10:20Are these, the customers,
00:10:21are they existing G-Class customers,
00:10:23or are these new to the brand?
00:10:26Look, we're in the happy situation
00:10:29that the G-Class has a waiting list on customers.
00:10:34Across the board, right?
00:10:36Exactly, whether it is 550,
00:10:37whether it is the 580, the electric,
00:10:40or whether it is the 63,
00:10:42the most noisy and present vehicle.
00:10:47So I would say today it's more customers
00:10:49which are first fans of the G-Class,
00:10:53of the design, of the technology that it delivers,
00:10:56and then they are customers
00:10:59which come out of an electric vehicle,
00:11:02or they have also an electric vehicle,
00:11:05a sedan or whatever, in their driveway.
00:11:07Got it, okay.
00:11:08But it's very early.
00:11:09It's only one month in the market.
00:11:11It's hot, and the demand, again, it's amazing.
00:11:15So there is good demand for it.
00:11:16Yes.
00:11:17And what about the G550?
00:11:19How's that doing?
00:11:22Out of the, let's say, the new G-Class
00:11:25which started launching this summer,
00:11:27the 550 was the first product in the market,
00:11:30already four months now in the market.
00:11:32The electric G was launched in November
00:11:37along with the G63.
00:11:38So the 550 was the first one,
00:11:40and the demand obviously for it being the newcomer
00:11:43with all the new developments,
00:11:45and the new keyless go,
00:11:47the touches and design, the touchscreen,
00:11:51the little amendments that the vehicle had,
00:11:53the new engine and whatever,
00:11:55it has received a lot of attention, a lot of attention.
00:11:58So first of the new product questions,
00:12:03are we gonna see an electric G-Class squared,
00:12:09four by four squared, or a six wheel?
00:12:11Is that in the plans?
00:12:15We have nothing there, so you're picking now for news.
00:12:19No, there's nothing in the pipeline,
00:12:21but always the G-Class is a product
00:12:23which allows a lot of creativity, right?
00:12:26Right.
00:12:27Let's see what our guys are working up in the headquarters.
00:12:31Right.
00:12:32My guess-
00:12:33I think the first year with four axles would be-
00:12:34Well, my guess is what they're gonna do,
00:12:36because it launched,
00:12:38the 580 launched with one more horsepower than the G63,
00:12:42but it's in kind of the same segment
00:12:43with Rivian and Cyber Beast
00:12:46are over a thousand horsepower with quad motors.
00:12:48So I think, and I know you're not gonna confirm,
00:12:51but there's gonna be like a G65 on top of the G63,
00:12:55which will be a mega output, hot rod,
00:12:58AMG, electric AMG G-Wagon.
00:13:01So that would be my guess if I was-
00:13:04I'm not taking bets,
00:13:05but I can definitely tell you
00:13:07that there's a lot of creativity around this product
00:13:10and a lot of good ideas.
00:13:12Okay.
00:13:13Well, let me ask you, Johnny,
00:13:14is it the best electric four by four,
00:13:17best electric off-roader?
00:13:18Boy, I mean, so, you know, I had-
00:13:22You can take your truck out of like-
00:13:24Yeah, I'm saying, I'm saying,
00:13:26so, no, no, I mean,
00:13:27cause the Rivian SUV is just as capable
00:13:29as the pickup truck is.
00:13:32Yeah, it's just as capable.
00:13:34The one I had, the launch edition G580
00:13:37was on low rolling resistant street tires.
00:13:41I took it up a trail that is a double black diamond trail.
00:13:45And there was one spot that it couldn't go up.
00:13:48And what's cool about this trail
00:13:50is there's always three ways to go up.
00:13:51So you can do the easy, medium, or hard way up.
00:13:54And there's one spot where like my truck
00:13:57on off-road tires when they're aired down,
00:13:59it can get up to the Rivian R1T.
00:14:02It struggles, but it can get up.
00:14:04But like a four runner wouldn't make it up.
00:14:08So the G580 couldn't do that,
00:14:10but I think it was tire limited.
00:14:11And the other thing was,
00:14:13I was never really past 10% throttle.
00:14:17That's the difference.
00:14:18Like if you do off-roading with an internal combustion car,
00:14:20even a G63, and I've taken a ton of them up there,
00:14:23you're doing a lot of flooring it to get torque,
00:14:26because torque shows up higher up in the rev range
00:14:29a lot of times.
00:14:30And I mean, it was like just a constant 10%.
00:14:33It just kind of elegantly made its way up
00:14:36some incredibly difficult obstacles.
00:14:37I was blown away.
00:14:38I was actually blown away by how well it did off.
00:14:42Like I said, I was sort of like,
00:14:43boy, with these motors,
00:14:45you could have made a better vehicle if it wasn't a G-Class.
00:14:48It could have like raked the windshield,
00:14:50made it longer, got more battery in there.
00:14:52Like, wow, I could see if this was like a GLS,
00:14:55this would be fantastic.
00:14:57Cause you know, the range isn't,
00:14:58you know, it's like 240, 260 miles.
00:15:01But then I went off-road, I was like, oh, whoa,
00:15:03like this goes, like it really goes.
00:15:07And it was on again, like street tires.
00:15:09And without effort, basically.
00:15:11No effort.
00:15:12That's the control of the engines
00:15:14and the electronics make a big difference.
00:15:16Yeah.
00:15:17And I had experienced, you know,
00:15:18I went to Arjeplog last February, March.
00:15:21Sweden.
00:15:22Yeah, in Sweden.
00:15:23And I, you know, I was in a, I was a passenger,
00:15:26but I saw what the electric G was capable of
00:15:28on like almost zero grip.
00:15:29And I was, you know, I know like four motors
00:15:32provides incredible control.
00:15:35And there's a reason you do it for an off-roader.
00:15:36It really does have an advantage in a lot of situations.
00:15:40But I just like the rock crawling ability,
00:15:42the thing was, it was crazy.
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00:16:20So awesome on the G-Wagon.
00:16:23I wanna go back to something you said earlier
00:16:25about the range of powertrains on offer for the consumer
00:16:31and how you have internal combustion,
00:16:34you have hybrid, plug-in hybrid,
00:16:36and full battery electric.
00:16:39You know, we were having this conversation
00:16:41actually just yesterday with the guest about how,
00:16:45you know, when we started this podcast,
00:16:48I think you're gonna be episode 105,
00:16:49so this is three years ago we started this podcast,
00:16:52and the mood in the issue was electric,
00:16:56go as fast as you can.
00:16:58And now everybody's like, ooh,
00:17:01we gotta have some hybrid, plug-in hybrid,
00:17:04and E-Rev seems to be what everybody's talking about,
00:17:07right, extended range electric vehicle.
00:17:11Stellantis is coming out shortly
00:17:13with a number of vehicles.
00:17:14They're probably gonna be the first out
00:17:16with an E-Rev truck.
00:17:17Scout from the VW group has announced
00:17:20both an E-Rev truck and SUV.
00:17:23As far as I know,
00:17:24and I tried to do some research before this,
00:17:26I don't think any of the other German car companies,
00:17:29not Mercedes or BMW, have E-Revs in the pipeline,
00:17:33although you do have plug-in hybrids.
00:17:36Is there any distinction?
00:17:37Do you see, is this something customers are asking for
00:17:40or you guys are planning on bringing as?
00:17:44I think on one hand, you're absolutely correct.
00:17:48There's a change in narrative
00:17:51compared to a couple of years back, a few years back,
00:17:53because the customer is defining at the end
00:17:58which products we should put in the markets.
00:18:01And there was a certain hype on the electric vehicles
00:18:04driven very much by regulations, right?
00:18:07The state were in, the country,
00:18:09but also go back in Europe, right?
00:18:11Which drove a hype on the electrics.
00:18:14And again, customer demand did not follow
00:18:18on the same ramp or speed.
00:18:21So we will adjust
00:18:24and we declared that we'll continue offering
00:18:31our ICE products, nice E-classes and G-classes
00:18:35well into the 2030s.
00:18:38We had plug-in hybrids in place.
00:18:40We brought one excellence,
00:18:42the best range in the market, the GLC 350E
00:18:46with 56 miles EPA range, fully electric.
00:18:52And other models which will come looking forward.
00:18:56So all technologies are there.
00:18:58Now, how we would move in the future,
00:19:01whether it's a range extender or whatever,
00:19:04it's also a matter of what fits best
00:19:08the character of the vehicle
00:19:10and what fits best the customer needs.
00:19:12There are ways and there are ways.
00:19:15So on that, we're still on the works,
00:19:19but for sure we'll follow what's best for the customer
00:19:22in the specific markets.
00:19:24Okay.
00:19:24Can you talk a bit about,
00:19:27because what you're, I think, the customer,
00:19:30the narrative change or the customer pivot,
00:19:35I think most people agree,
00:19:36it's before it was range anxiety, right?
00:19:38And now a lot of the EVs have the range.
00:19:41There are moves to charge anxiety
00:19:43because a lot of potential customers
00:19:44either do not have the ability to charge at home
00:19:47or for whatever reason, even if they do.
00:19:51Road trips are a thing.
00:19:52Where they live, the access to chargers has been poor.
00:19:58Has it been, does that track for the Mercedes-Benz customer?
00:20:03Were you getting feedback that I'd love to buy an EV,
00:20:05but the charging infrastructure sucks?
00:20:08And then if so,
00:20:12and I know Mercedes is planning on building out
00:20:15some more luxurious chargers,
00:20:17but in your role, how do you get people into EVs?
00:20:24Yeah, so it's a perfect point
00:20:27because at the end, it's not only bringing
00:20:30a capable, nice design vehicle in the market,
00:20:35electric vehicle,
00:20:36but it's also offering convenience to our customers.
00:20:38And the concerns are, what is the range?
00:20:42Where can I charge?
00:20:43How fast can I charge, right?
00:20:46And these are answers that we have to give to the customer.
00:20:48We cannot provide everything,
00:20:49but we have to give these answers.
00:20:51And I think we have taken that fully to heart
00:20:55and not only delivering, as I said,
00:20:57the products in every segment,
00:21:00but also engaging on a charging infrastructure.
00:21:05You said it's, I would call them
00:21:08branded Mercedes-Benz charging stations.
00:21:10Of course, we cannot fill up the country with that,
00:21:12but we have a solid plan of 450 points in North America
00:21:19were well advanced in this plan
00:21:23and mostly going to places where the customer's goods
00:21:26would make a stop, right?
00:21:28Where the market is
00:21:29and where our customers are driving their vehicles.
00:21:32We already have collaborations
00:21:33to announce that with Starbucks, for example,
00:21:35on placing charging stations in points
00:21:40with Bakis when it comes to the South of the country.
00:21:43So in locations where the customer will be,
00:21:45that's one thing.
00:21:46Second, we have engaged along with other six manufacturers
00:21:52in this Iona charging network,
00:21:55which also is being deployed on a fast speed,
00:21:58highly invested on that.
00:22:00And last but not least,
00:22:02we also announced that our vehicles
00:22:05will be the new generation,
00:22:08starting with the CLA next year,
00:22:09we'll be offering the NAX as well as the CCS charging plug.
00:22:17And our vehicles will be soon capable
00:22:20of charging the existing ones.
00:22:22So the products you know are in the market,
00:22:24but also the upcoming other Tesla network,
00:22:26meaning that we plan to offer the maximum convenience
00:22:30of whatever stations are in the country
00:22:33or are coming in place for our vehicles
00:22:36to charge for our customers
00:22:37to have the convenience of a fast charging.
00:22:40That's a convenient and fast charging.
00:22:42Right, yeah, you literally said it.
00:22:44You're covering all the bases.
00:22:45You're gonna do 450 of your own branded,
00:22:48more luxurious Mercedes Benz stations
00:22:51where your customers are.
00:22:53You're joining Iona, which we've talked about,
00:22:54which is this consortium of all these other OEMs.
00:22:57And then you're joining NAX,
00:22:58the Tesla supercharger station.
00:23:00And all that's through our ecosystem, right?
00:23:03So the customer does not have to use different apps
00:23:06or different whatever.
00:23:07Right, you just plug in or use the app.
00:23:10Exactly.
00:23:11But it's gotta be frustrating
00:23:12because I remember when I drove the EQS for the first time,
00:23:16like I think it's rated like 380 miles of range
00:23:19and I was getting like 410.
00:23:22I just was not prepared for how efficient that vehicle is.
00:23:25And I'm like, you don't even need to charge.
00:23:27I mean, I'm gonna just caveat.
00:23:28I think most Mercedes customers have a house.
00:23:31For the data bears that out.
00:23:32Several homes.
00:23:33Yeah, several homes.
00:23:35So like, man, that's more range than like people need.
00:23:39And I hate to define need for anybody,
00:23:40but like you came out with this like,
00:23:43you know, great, luxurious,
00:23:44like high efficiency, big range vehicle.
00:23:47And people are worried about where to charge it.
00:23:49And it's like, just charge it at home.
00:23:51You're probably not driving more than 400 miles in a day.
00:23:54But you see, this is all a matter of mindset, right?
00:23:58Changing the way you're thinking.
00:23:59And I'm sure today,
00:24:01and everyday customer who's not experienced
00:24:04with an electric vehicle,
00:24:05he never thinks when he starts his travel,
00:24:08where would I add gasoline to my vehicle?
00:24:10You start to travel, whether it is a nine hour drive,
00:24:1320 hour drive, or three hour drive,
00:24:15you just jump in the car and you go out.
00:24:17Is that a uniquely American problem?
00:24:19Because we drive such big distances.
00:24:21Like I know, like in my little experience in Europe,
00:24:25people don't drive as big of distances as often.
00:24:27Is that just something that like plagues Americans?
00:24:30Like those two times a year I go on a road trip,
00:24:32where am I gonna charge?
00:24:33Is that?
00:24:34I would say partly yes,
00:24:35because first you drive long distances.
00:24:38Second, you drive a lot, right?
00:24:40Gas is cheap.
00:24:41Yeah, gas is cheap.
00:24:42Still cheap.
00:24:43Exactly.
00:24:43And you drive your cars a lot.
00:24:47In Europe, you have much more use of public transportation.
00:24:52Distances are shorter.
00:24:54Density of the network, let's say,
00:24:56it's of a charging network, it's bigger.
00:25:01It's easier to achieve than in the U.S.
00:25:04I wanna go back to something Johnny said
00:25:07and just sort of pressure test you on this.
00:25:09I heard early on, Porsche, when they rolled out the Taycan,
00:25:14had a problem where buyers were initially excited,
00:25:18interested, they would buy the car,
00:25:21and then a month goes by, they'd be back to the dealer,
00:25:26say, I don't want it, I don't get the charging.
00:25:30And it was mostly an older customer.
00:25:32It was a loyal customer.
00:25:35They had to be to be one of the first to get the Taycan.
00:25:38And then for a period of time,
00:25:40dealers had a number of very low-mile Taycans
00:25:45sitting on their lots that they then
00:25:46had to sort of contend with.
00:25:47Did you have the same situation with the loyal Benz,
00:25:52like the S-class owner who then maybe got an EQS
00:25:55and was like, ah, it doesn't work,
00:25:57I can't figure it out, not putting a charger in,
00:25:59or no, nothing like that?
00:26:00No, not really.
00:26:03To the contrary, I would say customers
00:26:05which moved from an ICE vehicle to an electric,
00:26:09or added an electric vehicle in the driveway,
00:26:11because it's not either or, right?
00:26:14Customers are happy for the convenience,
00:26:18for the reliability.
00:26:18As you said, once you drive it,
00:26:20then you realize, okay, why should I worry?
00:26:22I have 300, 350 miles, whatever.
00:26:24Or more.
00:26:25That's for my daily use, it makes no difference, right?
00:26:29And I have the convenience of plugging
00:26:31when I park my car in the driveway,
00:26:33or in my garage, or in the office,
00:26:35I plug and I never need to stop in a gasoline station.
00:26:38No more gas stations, yeah.
00:26:39You pick up the smelly gas nozzles, right?
00:26:42Or be exposed.
00:26:44So, I would say the contrary.
00:26:45People who drive the vehicle and enjoy the technology,
00:26:49enjoy the smooth drive, the torque,
00:26:50what you said, which is important.
00:26:51If you don't drive an electric vehicle,
00:26:53you don't get the feeling of how little you need
00:26:56to play with the gas pedal and get fun out of it.
00:26:59I mean, I remember I was driving a lovely V12 Maybach
00:27:04sedan around, and I had been in,
00:27:08I can't remember what it was.
00:27:09It might have been an EQS,
00:27:10but a big electric sedan the week before.
00:27:12And I, on the big V12, I went to get in front
00:27:16of somebody in traffic, and I had to push the pedal,
00:27:19wait for the lag, wait for the transmission to shift,
00:27:22and I was like, oh, this thing needs
00:27:24to be electric yesterday.
00:27:26I had a selfish reason for asking that question.
00:27:29Good answer.
00:27:30How do we convince my dad, who is a multi,
00:27:34he has owned many Mercedes-Benz,
00:27:35he's a retired cardiologist, currently has,
00:27:38they're older, he has an SL500,
00:27:41he has a E450 wagon, which I love,
00:27:44which he did European delivery on,
00:27:45and prior, he had an S500 he did European delivery on.
00:27:50I keep saying, hey, man, you don't drive at all.
00:27:53Go electric.
00:27:53He's like, mm.
00:27:55And his point of reference is,
00:27:56he drove in his neighbor's Tesla Model S,
00:27:58and he didn't like the ride,
00:27:59which I thought was sort of interesting.
00:28:02Okay, yeah.
00:28:04Do you do European delivery on EQ, EQS?
00:28:09No, we have stopped the European delivery
00:28:11along with the COVID times,
00:28:12and it's something which we're working.
00:28:14Wait, European, period, on all European delivery,
00:28:17or just?
00:28:17All, all the European delivery.
00:28:18Really?
00:28:19I didn't know that.
00:28:20Yes, people would not travel, and whatever,
00:28:22so it became an issue, but we're looking into that back.
00:28:26But come back to your father.
00:28:27I mean, we should give him an electric Mercedes to drive,
00:28:32not an electric Tesla.
00:28:34So that's, if he comes, I mean,
00:28:36here I have to be an advocate of my brand, right?
00:28:39If you come out of the vehicles he's driving,
00:28:41SL and S550 and E450,
00:28:45he's driving the best of our line, right?
00:28:48And then he's accustomed with quality, comfortable drive,
00:28:53no squeaking noises, whatever.
00:28:55So he should drive an equivalent electric vehicle.
00:28:58To be honest, I think, and this is a problem,
00:29:01I think a lot of people of our generation
00:29:03need to contend with, the screens in the car,
00:29:07like I'm, it's not me, it's actually my brother he calls,
00:29:09because he can't get the Wi-Fi to work.
00:29:12And I think when he sees the screens,
00:29:13he's gonna be like, what is, come on.
00:29:16So we gotta, there's gotta be some middle ground
00:29:19or pathway that we need to work on.
00:29:21And that's also, sorry, John,
00:29:23this is also the balance we're trying to bring, right?
00:29:26Obviously, an electric, an EQS, as you said before,
00:29:31has enough buttons and enough technology on the screen
00:29:35to play with as a customer,
00:29:36because people like your father and like me,
00:29:39you need still to pull the button and low the window,
00:29:46or, I don't know, open the sunroof, right?
00:29:48You cannot expect to do everything on,
00:29:50they don't expect to do everything on a screen.
00:29:52And this is a generational issue.
00:29:54Well, I was gonna say, I remember,
00:29:57I was over 10 years ago now, but I drove,
00:29:59Rolls-Royce had a electric Rolls-Royce Phantom
00:30:03experimental model, and I went and drove it,
00:30:05and it was the perfect Rolls-Royce.
00:30:07It was like silent, torque, more room,
00:30:11because there's no drive shafts, bigger rear seat.
00:30:14And I was like, this is incredible.
00:30:16We talked with Rolls-Royce,
00:30:17they're like, our customers hate it, they hate it.
00:30:20Why?
00:30:20They just hate it.
00:30:22And then, but now they have the Spectra,
00:30:24which is doing very well for them,
00:30:25and their customers love it.
00:30:27It took just time, and also the average age
00:30:30of their customer over that decade went from 83 to 43.
00:30:34I mean, it was a huge, a lot of young people
00:30:36are buying Rolls-Royces for whatever reason.
00:30:39And I think, I remember 20 years ago,
00:30:42when hybrids were first coming out,
00:30:43everyone hated them, so horrible, horrible.
00:30:46Now, everyone's like, I don't want an EV, I want a hybrid.
00:30:49So it's just time, right?
00:30:51It becomes inevitable that, this is his big joke,
00:30:55it becomes inevitable that, for personal use,
00:31:02I don't know, we gotta solve for apartment dwellers,
00:31:03but personal use, like a single-family vehicle,
00:31:07needs to be electric.
00:31:08I don't know what it needs to be,
00:31:09but it's a better solution.
00:31:10It's a better solution, yes, yeah.
00:31:12Isn't there, so there's no room for,
00:31:15I keep talking about this, my billion dollar idea,
00:31:17which if you wanna invest in, we can talk after.
00:31:20It's called dumb car, which is,
00:31:24it's the opposite of a smart car.
00:31:25You buy it once, there's no subscription,
00:31:27doesn't take any of your personal information,
00:31:29there's no screens in the car,
00:31:31it doesn't do anything for you, and you own it forever,
00:31:34and it runs on this dinosaur juice
00:31:35that's available on the ground.
00:31:37But one of the, I know it's a silly idea,
00:31:39one of the ideas, though, is reducing the number of screens,
00:31:43going back to, I mean, have the latest technology,
00:31:46the powertrain and everything, all of the advances
00:31:50and the range and the fast charging,
00:31:53but with much more traditional, well-understood controls.
00:31:57And it's, I think Scout's kinda going with that.
00:31:59There's more buttons and knobs than there is screen.
00:32:03I also know there's a manufacturing
00:32:05and cost reduction efficiency to just having a screen
00:32:08and then programming it and changing it
00:32:09and updating it over time.
00:32:10But isn't there, to your point, Rolls-Royce,
00:32:13they're updating the technology,
00:32:14but they're not doing a ton with the actual physical.
00:32:17No, nothing, literally, it's the same.
00:32:19If you blindfolded a Ghost or a Wraith customer
00:32:23and threw them in the Spectre,
00:32:25they wouldn't know the difference.
00:32:26Isn't that an opportunity for a Maybach customer?
00:32:28I think we need to find a balance,
00:32:31because you have some traditional drivers
00:32:35which want the vehicle to be as simple as possible,
00:32:37what you said, and this will get also
00:32:39out of our studies and research.
00:32:42But at the same time, you have the new generation
00:32:44of people who want to have, in the car,
00:32:47the convenience and the facility they have
00:32:49with their mobile phone, with the weather at home,
00:32:52where they can use this technology
00:32:54to continue their daily life while in the car.
00:32:56And if you consider we're spending more and more time
00:32:58in the car today, because of traffic,
00:33:00because we live in the car, because, because, because,
00:33:03it's part also of the need to give this technology
00:33:07in the vehicle.
00:33:09Last point, Johnny.
00:33:09No, no, no, it's fine.
00:33:11I'm always showing for the bit.
00:33:12No, no, you have to, but I give you more chords to come here.
00:33:17Last but not least, as the vehicles
00:33:19are giving us the chance now
00:33:20with all these driver assistance systems
00:33:22to be less engaged, or maybe with our level three
00:33:27driving assistant program for the S-Class or the EQS,
00:33:32they can basically take the hands off the wheel
00:33:34and let the vehicle drive in the freeways of Los Angeles.
00:33:38There, the screen is what you need.
00:33:40Your emails, a film, a phone call, a video call, whatever.
00:33:44So we need a balance, that's what I'm saying, right?
00:33:46There's no right or wrong.
00:33:48I was just gonna go back to,
00:33:48I really think it's generational.
00:33:50Like my, I have a seven-year-old son,
00:33:53and he's on his tablet too much,
00:33:54but he's on his tablet a lot,
00:33:56and he's, now he's writing with it, but he won't,
00:33:59like, I'm like, hey, use the keyboard.
00:34:01He's like, no, he just uses the voice command, you know?
00:34:04And again, people in their 20s, they've never,
00:34:08well, yeah, they're also doomed,
00:34:09but they've never held a magazine.
00:34:12You know what I mean?
00:34:12Everything is on a screen.
00:34:14I watched a kid swipe a magazine the other day.
00:34:16I was like, oh boy.
00:34:17But you know what I mean?
00:34:18Keyboards are sort of obsolete, you know what I mean?
00:34:21Like buttons, as much as people, I need buttons,
00:34:24like, mm, boy, when you have good software-defined vehicles
00:34:28and you're able to like update and like, you know,
00:34:30make things better with better software,
00:34:33physical buttons, you know, they sort of hamstring you.
00:34:37They tie your hand behind your back, in a way.
00:34:40I mean, the same, my muscle memory
00:34:43is typing the address on the virtual keyboard
00:34:49of my screen of the car.
00:34:52And the easiest thing is, hey, Mercedes, drive me to,
00:34:56it's so much easier.
00:34:57But I go always, ta-ta-ta-ta-ta, until I realize,
00:35:01I take my attention off, right,
00:35:03trying to spell the address of the place I want to go.
00:35:06So, yeah, it's generational.
00:35:08Yeah.
00:35:08We'll dive in there a little bit.
00:35:10But I wanna come back to this thing you said about autonomous
00:35:12because you're part of autonomous.
00:35:13So, you have Drive Pilot.
00:35:14Mercedes-Benz was famous for being the first in the world,
00:35:19right, to bring-
00:35:20And first in California.
00:35:22First in California to bring, which is the world,
00:35:25to bring level three autonomous to the masses.
00:35:29Has that been a big selling point?
00:35:32Is this something, I mean, it's one thing
00:35:34for it to get our attention and the industry's attention,
00:35:37but is it something that the consumers
00:35:39have really responded to?
00:35:40Real quick, just level three, if you don't know,
00:35:43that is where the most important thing it does
00:35:45is the liability is on the back of Mercedes,
00:35:49not on the person sitting in the driver's seat.
00:35:51So, even if you have full self-driving autopilot,
00:35:55that's level two, it's very fancy level two,
00:35:58but the liability's on you.
00:35:59So, if the system kills someone, it's your fault,
00:36:02whereas if the system somehow kills someone,
00:36:04it's Mercedes' fault.
00:36:05You don't want that to happen,
00:36:06but that's the advancement of what level three is.
00:36:10You said it correctly, John.
00:36:11This is a difference.
00:36:12And also, Mercedes-Benz is the first brand
00:36:16which has been officially has been authorized
00:36:20by California and Nevada in the U.S.
00:36:24to commercialize the level three driving system
00:36:27as well as in Germany, which is where it started.
00:36:31So, I think, coming back to your question,
00:36:32if this is something the customers are looking for,
00:36:35first of all, people do not know.
00:36:37Second, people are confusing with the FSD
00:36:40or other systems which offer same,
00:36:43pretty same, pretty good, yes,
00:36:45but again, not to the point of saying,
00:36:47okay, I am responsible, me as a brand,
00:36:51and the system allows you to drive autonomously.
00:36:54And again, it's a system for freeways, basically, right?
00:36:57So, it's for traffic jams.
00:37:00Where the system is taking over
00:37:01and we take the responsibility,
00:37:03that's something which is not known out in the world.
00:37:06So, it has some attraction.
00:37:08Obviously, it's offered now on the S-Class and the EQS,
00:37:10on the top range of our products.
00:37:13It's been, from the ones which have invested
00:37:17and are using it, they're very happy.
00:37:21But again, it's not in the mass vehicle
00:37:25and it's not throughout the country.
00:37:27Okay, well, at this point, I need to look directly
00:37:30at that camera and apologize to Johnny
00:37:31because he said that numerous times
00:37:34about the liability falling directly on the OEM,
00:37:38on Mercedes-Benz as being like the key definer.
00:37:40And I was always like, I think it's more
00:37:42that it also is a really good system.
00:37:44But for Dimitri to confirm it is,
00:37:47okay, now I believe you.
00:37:49Wow.
00:37:50Well, let me get to it.
00:37:52So, the guy, the customer that has DrivePilot and loves it,
00:37:58what's the profile of that person?
00:38:00Are they like a tech?
00:38:02Are they like a early adopter, Silicon Valley,
00:38:05tech bro type with the vest and everything?
00:38:07Or is it curious?
00:38:09First is someone who drives his vehicle, right?
00:38:13Because if you have a chauffeur
00:38:15and you sit at the back seat, who cares?
00:38:18Yeah, right, you already have that.
00:38:19You don't, yes, you have to let someone else drive it.
00:38:22You don't need to.
00:38:23Second, these are customers of the brands.
00:38:27So, this is not a customer which comes first time
00:38:30to Mercedes-Benz.
00:38:31Someone who has the experience, trust the brands,
00:38:34and yes, he's open to try and trust the new technology.
00:38:38And of course, someone who drives in traffic, right?
00:38:40Who drives in these conditions.
00:38:42Right.
00:38:43So.
00:38:43Okay, all right.
00:38:44But again, it's the first year of launch time in 2024.
00:38:47It's the first year in place.
00:38:50No, and again, I mean, I just think it's fascinating
00:38:52because there are systems out there,
00:38:54like, you know, General Motors has a Super Cruise
00:38:57and Ford has Blue Cruise,
00:38:58and they're very, very good systems.
00:39:00In fact, I recently went to Palm Springs,
00:39:03which is a 125-mile drive from where I live,
00:39:06in a Ford truck, and I maybe touched the steering wheel
00:39:10twice, and that was like to change freeways
00:39:12or something like that.
00:39:12Very, very good systems, but you gotta sit there.
00:39:15They got cameras staring at your eyes.
00:39:18If you look away, it like beeps at you,
00:39:21whereas level three means the car's driving.
00:39:24Like, you're just a passenger at that point.
00:39:27And you tested it.
00:39:28Yeah.
00:39:29You drove it in the freeway, and you see the consistency.
00:39:33We watched a video.
00:39:36Ola Klenius, the CEO of Mercedes-Benz,
00:39:38had a little YouTube video that we watched
00:39:40while the car was driving itself.
00:39:42It was crazy.
00:39:43Yes.
00:39:44So, it was cool.
00:39:46Let's switch into something more fun,
00:39:48which is on the performance side,
00:39:53what's Mercedes' philosophy on all of this,
00:39:55from electrification of high performance,
00:39:59you know, of your AMG GT,
00:40:02to even adding some of these assistance systems?
00:40:06Is this, you know, other brands are leveraging torque
00:40:11in the batteries in different ways from hybrids.
00:40:17Obviously, Mercedes did a lot with hybrid vehicle
00:40:19in the racing realm as well,
00:40:22but what can consumers look forward to?
00:40:26So, we have our performance brand, AMG, right?
00:40:30Which is basically taking technology
00:40:34out of our Formula One experience, out of racing,
00:40:37whether it's hybrid or whether it is smaller displacement
00:40:41with very high output,
00:40:43and bringing it to the daily performance driving
00:40:48for our vehicles.
00:40:49And I think we've done that quite successfully.
00:40:50If you consider, I can give a couple of examples.
00:40:54If you consider the C63 or the GLC63, right?
00:40:58Which has a super performance out of hybrids system
00:41:05of an internal combustion engine, right?
00:41:08The most powerful four-cylinder engine,
00:41:13plus an electric motor at the rear,
00:41:16delivering over 600 horsepower, right?
00:41:19Or when it comes to the S63 performance,
00:41:22reaching 860 horsepower, for example,
00:41:25out of these technologies being in the vehicle.
00:41:28And yes, a V8 combined with the four-cylinder V8 of the AMG
00:41:34combined with an electric motor.
00:41:35I think we give the best of technology,
00:41:39the best of performance.
00:41:41And as you said, with a very high torque
00:41:43from the very beginning, right?
00:41:44Where you need in the vehicle can make the difference.
00:41:46Talking about 2.6, 2.9 seconds to 60 kilometers
00:41:51on a 5,000 pound heavy vehicle.
00:41:56So bringing the technology and the performance,
00:42:02AMG brings the technology and delivers performance
00:42:05on our products.
00:42:06And this is throughout the range,
00:42:07starting from the C-class going all the way up
00:42:10or starting actually with the CLA.
00:42:12The CLA45 is also a very good example
00:42:15of a great engine, right?
00:42:16A great car.
00:42:17A great car.
00:42:18I call it a go-kart, the go-kart of Mercedes, right?
00:42:21And going all the way up to the GT63 SE performance
00:42:26that we launched weeks back.
00:42:29Right, right, right.
00:42:32Well, what about, so is AMG like...
00:42:37I know there was like an EQS and EQE AMG
00:42:40and I think there was SUV versions as well.
00:42:43But is there like plans for, I don't know,
00:42:46just electrified two-door or just further electrification?
00:42:51Or is it like, because those are hybrids.
00:42:55They're not even plug-in hybrids.
00:42:56They're performance hybrids, I think,
00:42:58is the term you guys use.
00:43:00But is there a plug-in hybrid, full electric,
00:43:03or more full electrics, I should say?
00:43:04So, good point.
00:43:06And here we follow the same strategy
00:43:09out of Mercedes-Benz brand,
00:43:10where we say we offer the best of both worlds.
00:43:14We continue our investments on the ICE technology
00:43:18and we go on full new platforms
00:43:21when it comes to electric vehicles.
00:43:23So AMG falls fully in line with this strategy.
00:43:27So, you know pretty well our famous four-liter V8.
00:43:33Sure.
00:43:34And it's the sound and the performance
00:43:36whether it's on a G63 or on a GT, on a SL, whatever.
00:43:39But now we come the next couple of years
00:43:42with a pure electric AMG platform,
00:43:45which is designed from scratch
00:43:48for a performance electric vehicle of high performance.
00:43:52Great torque and high performance.
00:43:54And this, obviously, we're looking into a sports car,
00:44:00which will come out of this platform,
00:44:02but also recently we announced that an SUV
00:44:05based on this platform will also come out.
00:44:08So we'll go fully in on both with interesting technologies.
00:44:13You know that we're invested in axial flux technology,
00:44:19which is meaning performance
00:44:21from a very small electric engine.
00:44:25And we could show some of our technological breakthroughs,
00:44:30I would say, here in California,
00:44:31when we presented our high performance concept car.
00:44:37That was a year, year and a half back
00:44:39down in South California in Calspat.
00:44:42Right, right.
00:44:44So do you have any product news on that?
00:44:46Like when will we see the first product
00:44:48off this electric AMG platform?
00:44:51That would be in the late 26, early 27, I would say.
00:44:55Okay.
00:44:55Yes, a couple of years ahead.
00:44:57Is that Dr. Philip Scott's dad?
00:45:01Is that the R&D, is that Mercedes-Benz R&D?
00:45:03Do they work on that kind of stuff?
00:45:05Or is that more the autonomous?
00:45:08It's more on the autonomous and technology
00:45:11of the infotainment and technology side.
00:45:14But the whole development of the platform
00:45:17is done in Germany.
00:45:20Okay.
00:45:20But anyhow, the bits and pieces
00:45:22were developed in different parts of the world, right?
00:45:23Sure.
00:45:24When it comes to R&D.
00:45:25Is that, I mean, this is probably above all our pay grades,
00:45:30but is it frustrating that like,
00:45:33or is it liberating where it used to be,
00:45:36you were just concerned.
00:45:37And I know over the years,
00:45:39Mercedes has dabbled in electrification,
00:45:40dabbled in hydrogen, da, da, da.
00:45:42But like, you know, they build engines.
00:45:44Mercedes built, you know, a five-cylinder,
00:45:46a six-cylinder and a great V8.
00:45:48And then suddenly now it's like,
00:45:49oh, okay, we gotta do that.
00:45:50And we gotta do hybrids and plug-in hybrids
00:45:53and a fully V platform.
00:45:54Like, is it, I don't know, is it?
00:45:58It's a challenge.
00:45:59It's a challenge, right?
00:46:00But-
00:46:02It's expensive.
00:46:02But this is, exactly.
00:46:03It's very costly.
00:46:05It needs lots of resources.
00:46:07And obviously we need to keep an eye
00:46:08on every new technology and how can we develop
00:46:11and be competitive in this segment.
00:46:14So it's a highly complicated exercise for the brand,
00:46:17but this is our strategy.
00:46:19This is the way we go forwards.
00:46:22As at the end, I go back to what I said at the beginning,
00:46:25the customer decides what he wants to drive.
00:46:27And we want to give him this option and choice.
00:46:32Staying on high performance and getting even more fun,
00:46:36you've been in your current role since 2021.
00:46:39I think Netflix Drive to Survive
00:46:43came out around the same time.
00:46:47And then prior to, I think around that time,
00:46:51America had one, the US had one Formula One race.
00:46:57And now we have three.
00:46:59And of course, Drive to Survive has blown up.
00:47:02Everybody and their mother knows Formula F1 now.
00:47:05Has that race on Sunday actually meant
00:47:09you sold cars on Monday?
00:47:12Has the success of Toto and Lewis and now George,
00:47:17has that actually translated to,
00:47:19or is it more of a marketing thing?
00:47:21How has it affected Mercedes-Benz globally,
00:47:24but then specifically US, would you say?
00:47:27I would say on a global scale,
00:47:30it's good that the United States
00:47:33being a big automotive market, right?
00:47:36And so much vested so much
00:47:38in the blood of Americans racing, right?
00:47:40It's good that Formula One made it so much in the US
00:47:45and highly successfully, I would say.
00:47:49For us as a brand, we invest behind that
00:47:52because on one hand, it's again,
00:47:54the technologies which are developed in the racing field
00:47:57are coming into our daily drives, right?
00:48:00In the vehicles we drive every day.
00:48:02So it is important.
00:48:04And marketing is following.
00:48:06We do invest more and more into Formula One
00:48:09and more and more into engaging customers,
00:48:11our customers, AMG customers with Formula One viewing.
00:48:15We do what we call race days.
00:48:18So we had two this year, one in Atlanta,
00:48:20one in Austin.
00:48:24Actually in Atlanta, we did this race day
00:48:26in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
00:48:28So basically live broadcasting and commenting
00:48:31on the Formula One race of Montreal,
00:48:36which was on the same time zone.
00:48:38A lot of people, big excitement.
00:48:41So it's something which is gaining speed,
00:48:43but I cannot tell you if this is landing
00:48:46on a new AMG sale the next day in the showroom.
00:48:49I think it's too early to see that happening,
00:48:52but definitely it's a good ground
00:48:54of engaging with our customers.
00:48:57Is there, well, you mentioned you do a race day in Austin.
00:49:03Right.
00:49:04Is that the best race for Mercedes-Benz USA
00:49:07or is Vegas or Miami?
00:49:10Miami.
00:49:11Which has the, Miami has all your customers?
00:49:14Miami is a Mercedes country.
00:49:17I think it depends how you see the event.
00:49:22Do you see it from the point of view
00:49:24of how much do I enjoy the race if I'm a race fan
00:49:27or do I go to the Formula One race
00:49:31to enjoy the whole environment and being there?
00:49:34And I think Miami's offering the best deal.
00:49:38Really?
00:49:39It's an exciting race.
00:49:40Look, last time I was at Miami race,
00:49:42Tom Cruise was standing in the AMG pits and-
00:49:48Brad Pitt.
00:49:49No, no, no, Mahomes, Patrick Mahomes
00:49:52was next door in the Ferrari pit and-
00:49:55Yeah, but-
00:49:55No, but I mean, that's crazy.
00:49:58And Michelle Obama showed up.
00:49:59I mean, it's a crazy race.
00:50:00Yeah, but prior to Miami,
00:50:02those guys would have been in Austin.
00:50:04And I would argue that Austin is a better,
00:50:06Austin's arguably one of the best F1 races
00:50:08to go to purely from a spectator perspective.
00:50:11Sure, but that's the point, right?
00:50:13So if you try to combine everything,
00:50:15for me also, FOTA is the best racetrack, right?
00:50:18It has the conditions, you can watch the race,
00:50:20you can feel everything, it's perfect.
00:50:24But people don't only go for the race, right?
00:50:27They go for what's around the race.
00:50:28And then the spectacle is in Miami at the moment.
00:50:31And I would say this too, like-
00:50:32I haven't been to Miami, so I don't know.
00:50:33Yeah, so what I found really exciting about Miami
00:50:37was there was a buzz in the air that like F1 is here.
00:50:41Whereas Vegas has a big event every day.
00:50:43Vegas is like, you know, it's great.
00:50:45Vegas is a big show.
00:50:46Vegas is a big show for the spectators on TV, right?
00:50:49Because you give the chance to the rest of the world
00:50:52to see what's going on in Vegas.
00:50:53And that has a certain glamor.
00:50:55But for the ones who are there, it's midnight, it's cold.
00:51:01It's, you have other attractions, right?
00:51:03It's a different setup.
00:51:04I'll just say that, thanks to Mercedes-Benz,
00:51:06about 10 years ago, I got to go to the Monaco Grand Prix.
00:51:09Yeah.
00:51:10And it's not a great race to go to as a spectator.
00:51:13Like, you get locked into your one seating area.
00:51:16You were on the wrong yacht.
00:51:18I was literally, I was opposite the swimming pool.
00:51:21Next, all the Russian billionaire yachts were behind us.
00:51:25And there was one screen,
00:51:26and they're not playing the audio from the race.
00:51:29So you just see the cars go by,
00:51:30and you're like, I hope, it looks like they're,
00:51:32and it's like, and then you can't leave.
00:51:33So the best seat in the house for Formula One
00:51:36is your couch, actually.
00:51:37If you want to watch the race, the TV feed is a day.
00:51:40Or the race day.
00:51:41Because you have this comfort,
00:51:43you have the comments from experts, right?
00:51:46Big screens, and you leave it, right?
00:51:48Did you pay to do that in Atlanta?
00:51:50Do you have to go, is it a ticket?
00:51:51No, no, we invited customers for that.
00:51:53It's not open door, but you have to buy a Mercedes.
00:51:57I did, when I went to Miami last year.
00:51:59Went to Miami last year, we sat inside the stadium
00:52:02and watched on the Jumbotron.
00:52:04Literally, the Miami Dolphins Jumbotron.
00:52:06And we had audio, and we had a bartender,
00:52:10and there was like six of us.
00:52:11It was the greatest way to watch a race.
00:52:13And you could hear the engines going around you,
00:52:15and you could just see it, it was perfect.
00:52:16That's the way to do it.
00:52:18All right, last Formula One question.
00:52:21Lewis Hamilton has been with the team for ever.
00:52:24And multiple world champion.
00:52:27Arguably the greatest driver in history.
00:52:29Is that a big loss, that he's going to Ferrari for you?
00:52:32Are you, you can, you know, say no, we embrace,
00:52:35I had to look at this guy's name, Kimi Antonelli.
00:52:38Great, joining George Russell.
00:52:41But is it, I mean, I think Americans,
00:52:43of all of the Formula One drivers,
00:52:44they probably know and identify with Lewis.
00:52:46Max, man.
00:52:48I think the whole of America, I mean,
00:52:50North and South America has been identified
00:52:52extremely with Lewis.
00:52:53And definitely it's a name.
00:52:57It's a, you said, probably best driver of all time.
00:53:01Oh, you can really make that argument.
00:53:02Yeah, you can, you know, top three.
00:53:04Oh, top three, exactly.
00:53:06Exactly, and he was associated with the brand
00:53:08because Mercedes-Benz or Formula One,
00:53:11Mercedes team grew with Lewis,
00:53:13and Lewis grew with Mercedes.
00:53:14And I think the fits and what was built over the years
00:53:18in term of team performance,
00:53:20I think is the most important thing,
00:53:21which led to all these seven titles and,
00:53:27but obviously everything has an end, right?
00:53:31So whether it is soon or later, it's an end.
00:53:33And we're happy because we had really a long
00:53:35and good life jointly with Lewis.
00:53:38That makes space to new drivers.
00:53:39Now, you said Kimi is joining the team.
00:53:43I think it's a great or has great performance
00:53:46so far as a driver, very young,
00:53:50fits the brand from the whole profile.
00:53:52So we wish him good luck.
00:53:55And don't forget that also the specifications
00:53:59are changing in Formula One drastically.
00:54:02In 2026, we talk about basically total new car
00:54:06in terms of engine or dynamics, whatever comes there.
00:54:10Yes, an engine which has to run,
00:54:12or sorry, a car which has to run 50% of the race
00:54:15in electric and 50% on fuel.
00:54:18That's a big, big difference.
00:54:20So it's a totally new game in the next, next season.
00:54:24And I think Mercedes-Benz is getting prepared
00:54:27to play with a new player or partly new player
00:54:31and a new car.
00:54:32Yeah, well, I wish him the best.
00:54:35Kimi, this guy Kimi has big shoes to fill
00:54:38because the real Kimi is one of my heroes.
00:54:42That's a good guy.
00:54:43Oh yeah, super hilarious.
00:54:44One of the best interviews in Formula One.
00:54:47So that makes more sense though.
00:54:5050% of the time being electric,
00:54:53the technology transfer.
00:54:55Because I mean, there was the AMG One which,
00:54:58actually, can I ask you a question about the AMG One?
00:55:00Because that was, hey, let's stick a F1 motor
00:55:03and we all know the story.
00:55:04I'm like, wow, that's really hard to put in a street car.
00:55:05But what, officially, why didn't it come to the US?
00:55:10What was the?
00:55:13The issue was that, as you said,
00:55:15it's a very specific product.
00:55:17It's a Formula One engine in a daily drive car.
00:55:22Which is crazy.
00:55:23Which is crazy, right?
00:55:24It's a small engine, over 1,000 horsepower, right?
00:55:28It's crazy.
00:55:29So, but still this vehicle has to fit
00:55:32into the standards.
00:55:37Regulations.
00:55:38Certificate regulations, right?
00:55:39Which is very difficult to take a vehicle
00:55:41which is revving at 14,000, 15,000 revs, right?
00:55:45And make sure that it complies
00:55:48with all the necessary regulations.
00:55:52Or, let's put it differently,
00:55:53if you would make it to comply,
00:55:56then it would not be a Formula One car for everyday drive.
00:56:01And our decision was, we cannot,
00:56:03and we do not want to hamper and reduce the fun
00:56:07of a product which is meant to be a Formula One,
00:56:11which everyone can drive, down to a vehicle
00:56:14that's gonna be a hyper car, but still not a Formula One.
00:56:19And therefore, as we could not go through that in the US,
00:56:23in the US, the vehicle is not imported,
00:56:25but it is driven in the streets of Europe, you know?
00:56:29It was in Monaco, it was here,
00:56:31and there you saw Toto, yeah, I'm sure,
00:56:33driving the car around.
00:56:34So, some of the US customers bought it for,
00:56:38and kept it in Europe.
00:56:39I'll leave his name out of it,
00:56:40but a colleague of yours at AMG,
00:56:43he said, like, yeah, we all stuck our hands up,
00:56:45like, wow, what a great idea.
00:56:47Then, after we made the decision to do it,
00:56:48we realized that you need 10 people with PhDs
00:56:52and mechanical engineering to turn it on.
00:56:54Like, that's how complicated, you know,
00:56:55they have to have, like, you turn on the brakes
00:56:57with a laptop, and we want to do it with a key fob.
00:56:59Like, this is ridiculous.
00:57:01Exactly, exactly.
00:57:02So, he was very candid about it, but it was.
00:57:04And that was the hard decision to take, right?
00:57:06But, again, we leaned over,
00:57:08not changed the character of the vehicle
00:57:11that we came up with producing,
00:57:15and that was the compromise.
00:57:16Okay.
00:57:18Now, we're running out of time.
00:57:18I have a couple more things I want to ask you
00:57:20about future technology.
00:57:22We've had,
00:57:25we've had a lot of time,
00:57:28and really great experience chatting with folks
00:57:30like Magnus Osberg, the Chief Software Officer
00:57:33for Mercedes-Benz AG.
00:57:35Again, Dr. Philip Skogstad at Mercedes-Benz,
00:57:39our research and development, RDNA,
00:57:42great name, MBRDNA.
00:57:45And you guys have done some,
00:57:46in addition to DrivePilot being the first level three system
00:57:49which I think Skogstad helped get over the goal line,
00:57:56Magnus and I, last year at CES,
00:57:58we were talking about how Mercedes was the first
00:58:00to put ChatGPT as a test in-
00:58:06Like 900,000 cars or something.
00:58:08Not that many.
00:58:09I thought it was a lot.
00:58:10Yes, yes, yes.
00:58:12And now you're moving away from,
00:58:15it's not gonna be, it's not ChatGPT,
00:58:17it's a different AI assistant.
00:58:19It's our AI, yes.
00:58:20It's your AI.
00:58:22How's it going?
00:58:24The best story, if you want to go back and listen to it,
00:58:26was Magnus saying that-
00:58:29We asked him, what did you learn?
00:58:30What did you learn?
00:58:31And he said, a lot of our customers
00:58:33apparently are pretty lonely.
00:58:35They just like to talk to the AI
00:58:38and just have a conversation with the AI while driving.
00:58:40And I was like, oh, that's fascinating.
00:58:42Have you, anything, any fun stories
00:58:45or do you want to tell us about how that's going?
00:58:49I think it's, first of all, it's convenience again, right?
00:58:51It's a companion, as you said.
00:58:53And if you want to address younger generations,
00:58:55this is the way to communicate, right?
00:58:57And communicates fast.
00:58:59So it's gaining ground, obviously,
00:59:01or learning out of our experiences and our trials.
00:59:06And we continuously improve the system,
00:59:09along with the launch of the new CLA next year,
00:59:12which is our new generation electric,
00:59:16and it's ICE, so it's a hybrid technology,
00:59:21that also will offer two different products
00:59:24on the same platform.
00:59:26We're also introducing our MB-OS,
00:59:27what Magnus has shared with you,
00:59:30which is the operating system that Mercedes-Benz
00:59:33is developing and is placing fully at the CLA.
00:59:37And this replaces MB-UX, the MB-OS?
00:59:41It's, MB-UX has been developed over the years already.
00:59:44The version that the E-Class, which you awarded,
00:59:48has the, what you call 1.5, right?
00:59:51And the full deployment of our MB-UX
00:59:55will come along with the MB-OS introduction.
00:59:59Okay.
00:59:59OS is the underlying layer.
01:00:00Got it, got it.
01:00:01MB-UX is on top of it.
01:00:02Exactly.
01:00:03And then, so then, are you saying that this,
01:00:05the next iteration or the next generation
01:00:08of this AI assistant will debut with the CLA?
01:00:11Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
01:00:12And that, what can we expect?
01:00:14Is it, you can, is it like,
01:00:16a lot of people now are using Perplexity
01:00:19or ChatGPT on their phone,
01:00:21and they're just like, boop,
01:00:22and they ask it a question,
01:00:23and then it speaks it back,
01:00:25or it puts it on screen.
01:00:26We're gonna see the same ability
01:00:29through like, hey, Mercedes, voice prompt,
01:00:31or pushing a button on the screen somewhere?
01:00:33Absolutely.
01:00:34Mostly voice controls, right,
01:00:35that the vehicle is capable of.
01:00:37And obviously, with all the experience
01:00:38which is collected,
01:00:39and Philip and his team are collecting here,
01:00:41because, well, what we're developing,
01:00:44or let's say, improving the system
01:00:45for the U.S. customer,
01:00:47locally, and this is the advantage
01:00:48of having MB-IDNA in the U.S.,
01:00:53we're making the system more user-friendly,
01:00:56more responsive, and yes,
01:00:59very, very supportive to the customer.
01:01:02And it'll include all sorts of assistance, right?
01:01:07It's not just the simple stuff we know,
01:01:09like navigate, take me home,
01:01:13or adjust the temperature.
01:01:15Theoretically, you can do web search prompts,
01:01:19or ask it different.
01:01:20Let's leave that for the next podcast.
01:01:21Okay.
01:01:23Well, I do ask you,
01:01:24because one of the things that we've been doing
01:01:27at Motor Trend is going to China a lot,
01:01:29and looking, and seeing, and driving their cars,
01:01:32and they have a voice assistant
01:01:33at the most affordable level.
01:01:35They're not great.
01:01:36They're not all great.
01:01:37We try them a little bit.
01:01:39But do you have any,
01:01:41have you done much experimentation,
01:01:45or test driving, testing of Chinese vehicles?
01:01:47Absolutely.
01:01:49We have a strong base in China,
01:01:51for the China markets,
01:01:53and there's a lot of benchmarking, obviously,
01:01:54which we're taking with them, yes.
01:01:56But again, customer is different, right?
01:01:58So what might fit a Chinese customer
01:02:02will probably not fit a US customer.
01:02:04So this is, I think, the power we have
01:02:06by being so rooted and localized in the US
01:02:10with Mercedes-Benz RDNA,
01:02:12the research and development department of us,
01:02:14with the manufacturing,
01:02:16with our sales operations,
01:02:18with our financing operations.
01:02:19We're very much taking care of the US customer,
01:02:23designing the product,
01:02:24developing the product for the US customer.
01:02:28Adapting it, yeah?
01:02:29Well, let me riff off that,
01:02:30because I agree,
01:02:32the China market and the US market are different.
01:02:36Your counterpart at Ford,
01:02:39CEO Jim Farley,
01:02:40on the China market,
01:02:41he's been very outspoken about how advanced they are,
01:02:44and how they're gonna come and eat everybody's lunch,
01:02:45and he's been up front about how Ford sales
01:02:47have been tanking in China.
01:02:48A lot of legacy Western have as well.
01:02:52And he said things like brands don't matter.
01:02:56And VW Group seen a huge decline,
01:02:59Ford again, GM.
01:03:02I've always posited that,
01:03:04I think that, I know I'm Chinese,
01:03:06the Chinese customer loves luxury goods.
01:03:08So I think certain brands don't matter.
01:03:11Fords don't matter.
01:03:12Yes.
01:03:12Three-pointed stars might matter, yeah.
01:03:14Yes, do brands matter?
01:03:16Does Mercedes brand,
01:03:17does the star matter in China?
01:03:20Or will it?
01:03:21Yes, it matters in China,
01:03:23it matters in the US,
01:03:24it matters in Germany,
01:03:25it matters in my home country, Greece, right?
01:03:28But there's always a certain degree
01:03:31of how much the brand matters,
01:03:32and how much the content of the brand
01:03:34also weighs on the customer decision
01:03:37to choose your product,
01:03:38or to invest in your product.
01:03:39And I think this is the balance that we need,
01:03:41and try to strike in every marketplace.
01:03:45Different for the Chinese customers,
01:03:47different demands, different priorities,
01:03:50different for the US.
01:03:52Okay.
01:03:53All right, we're, let's get into some,
01:03:55just we'll end on some fun questions.
01:03:58So what are you driving?
01:03:59What's in the garage?
01:04:01What's in Dimitri's garage at home?
01:04:03This question I get in every podcast,
01:04:05in every interview, right?
01:04:06So I'll give you my standard answer,
01:04:09which is, I have the luxury of driving
01:04:12every vehicle I like.
01:04:13Right.
01:04:14My team, my PR team, my product team
01:04:17is giving me the vehicle at the very early stage.
01:04:19So I have the fun of driving everything.
01:04:21Now, if you ask me what would be my daily drive, right?
01:04:24If I would not be a Mercedes-Benz officer,
01:04:28then I would say I would go for a GLE,
01:04:31for our SUV,
01:04:33with 53 engine,
01:04:37which gives you the best of two worlds, right?
01:04:39It's not an extreme performance car,
01:04:41but it gives you enough power,
01:04:42good sound, good feeling, good space,
01:04:44good everyday driving.
01:04:45The GLE is really good.
01:04:47We had one, I had one for a year as a long-term tester,
01:04:50and I still think like, what a nice vehicle that was.
01:04:53Yeah, it's kind of a great all-rounder.
01:04:55It's a balance.
01:04:57Because, why an SUV?
01:04:58Because of putting my bicycle in,
01:05:01or taking the dog along.
01:05:03If not, if I would be in Europe and not doing that,
01:05:05I would be driving an E-Class.
01:05:06That's also the really best you can get.
01:05:12Are you a member of this secret club
01:05:15of a number of automotive executives
01:05:17that also owns a certain German sports car
01:05:20with its engine in the rear?
01:05:21Also from Stuttgart?
01:05:23No, I don't belong in this group.
01:05:25Okay.
01:05:26But, I have my love, and he knows it,
01:05:29because we discussed about that.
01:05:31My fan car is an SL 450 of 1980, right?
01:05:39Which is a California car.
01:05:41I love it, and that's my fan car back home in Greece.
01:05:45Okay, those are going up in value.
01:05:48I mean, that's one of the,
01:05:49talk about the all-time designs.
01:05:51I mean, you know, Bruno Sacca at the height of his powers.
01:05:54Right, I mean, it's perfect.
01:05:56Yes, Bruno Sacca, R.I.P.
01:05:57Yeah, he did, he just passed away.
01:05:59Yeah, we've been losing some good designers lately.
01:06:01Yeah, I mean, I could keep going, but.
01:06:04No, we're gonna ask him questions about A.I.
01:06:07and Formula One in a couple of years.
01:06:10I do have one question.
01:06:12It's kind of level three, maybe getting to level four,
01:06:15but California, Nevada, Germany, level three works.
01:06:20What about the other states, the rest of the world?
01:06:23Do you see, like, you know,
01:06:25now that apparently Elon Musk is gonna cut all regulations
01:06:28and red tape in the U.S., is it like,
01:06:30great, no regulations?
01:06:31Like, what's the, like, just the quick future
01:06:34of autonomy from where you're sitting?
01:06:37Yeah.
01:06:37What do you see?
01:06:38Obviously, we're working with other states
01:06:43to communicate, to promote, to convince them
01:06:48to move with similar regulations like Nevada and California.
01:06:51We're very proud of California being the first in the U.S.
01:06:55to adopt and be brave in moving forward and certifying.
01:07:01To get California to do something first
01:07:03that requires cutting through red tape is wild.
01:07:06Yes.
01:07:07And we're working with other states to continue that.
01:07:10Because obviously, a customer does not buy a product
01:07:12to only drive it or make use of it in one state,
01:07:15then he cross to Arizona,
01:07:16and then some of his functionalities
01:07:18are not functioning anymore.
01:07:20So we're working on that.
01:07:21But beyond that, we're also working
01:07:23in developing further technology
01:07:25to be able to drive on higher speeds with other elements.
01:07:30Obviously, the top target is level four and level five.
01:07:34You're right.
01:07:35But this still needs quite some time.
01:07:38So coming soon.
01:07:39To come and be able to commercialize, right?
01:07:41Coming soon.
01:07:42Coming soon, okay, great.
01:07:43Cool?
01:07:44Well, great.
01:07:45We'll have you back when there's a bigger update
01:07:46across all of these topics, but...
01:07:49Moving on the new AMG platform vehicles.
01:07:51That would be great, yes.
01:07:52Yeah, let's do it.
01:07:53Stay tuned on that.
01:07:54Oh, I'm tuned.
01:07:55Stay tuned on that.
01:07:56I'm very tuned.
01:07:57And remember our Pebble Beach encounters
01:07:59and Pebble Beach discussions.
01:08:01Exactly.
01:08:01Because Pebble Beach is a focal point for us
01:08:04in terms of bringing, I mean,
01:08:06this year we presented for the first time,
01:08:09it was the world premiere of the SL680 monogram,
01:08:13Eibach monogram series.
01:08:15So that's a place for showcasing.
01:08:20If you can get to...
01:08:21Keep meeting at Pebble.
01:08:22Yes, if you can get to Pebble, it's a bucket list thing.
01:08:25And Mercedes always has a huge stand out there.
01:08:27Huge.
01:08:28They have a lot of new cars.
01:08:29And then of course, there's always a bunch
01:08:31of their history out on the 18th green
01:08:35at the Pebble Beach golf course.
01:08:37But...
01:08:38Don't forget, first vehicle in the world.
01:08:42Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:08:43Was not a Mercedes, but was...
01:08:44A Benz.
01:08:45One of our brother Benz, yes.
01:08:47Yes, we've...
01:08:48Johnny's apparently driven one.
01:08:50No, no.
01:08:50You sat in one.
01:08:51You pretended you've driven it.
01:08:52I have driven that.
01:08:53Yeah, I could.
01:08:54I mean, I was...
01:08:55In Sindelfingen?
01:08:57No, I did it in Sindelfingen.
01:08:59I did it in South Korea,
01:09:01but I invite you to drive it in our classic center.
01:09:03Yeah, I was down there like two weeks ago
01:09:05and they have three of them.
01:09:07We're doing other stuff, but yeah.
01:09:08Okay, you get to drive that.
01:09:09No, I'd love to.
01:09:10Yeah, yeah.
01:09:11I drove a 1903 Simplex, Mercedes Simplex.
01:09:14That's tough.
01:09:15That was good.
01:09:15Very early in my career,
01:09:17I went to Sindelfingen and did the whole tour
01:09:20and I got to drive a 240D and the whole thing.
01:09:22And that still stands out in my career as a...
01:09:26I was just...
01:09:26I had only driven like Hondas and Toyota,
01:09:28like import, like slammed cars.
01:09:29And I was like, what am I doing here?
01:09:31And that was...
01:09:32That still is one of the wildest things.
01:09:34I encourage you guys to do that again, actually.
01:09:35You picked up a bunch of like...
01:09:37You're probably dealing with influencers these days.
01:09:39I think you take them
01:09:40and you just give them this immersive experience
01:09:43and education in automotive.
01:09:44And then you just go,
01:09:46by the way, we invented the car.
01:09:48You know that, right?
01:09:48And they go, and this is Mercedes?
01:09:51Right, exactly.
01:09:52So anyways, Dimitri Salakis,
01:09:54President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz North America.
01:09:56Thank you so much for coming on to the podcast.
01:09:58It was wonderful to talk to you.
01:10:01It was a great discussion.
01:10:02I appreciate it.
01:10:04And enjoy Vegas.
01:10:05Yeah.
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