# Dimitris Psillakis of Mercedes-Benz USA Talks Tariffs, Manhattan Dealership

An episode of [Bloomberg Hot Pursuit!](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1710787142), 18 Apr 2025, 42 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/4778f66f-5d19-456a-9820-b08f00dfd567/0c27614d-0257-45c1-8936-b2c20107b1c7/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=42336c1a-f7c2-4898-885b-b08f00e0bb66

Dimitris Psillakis, the president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA, joins the podcast to talk tariffs and the big Manhattan dealership opening this week in New York. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:02] Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. I'm Matt Miller and
[0:10] Speaker 1: I'm Hannah Elliott, and this is Hot Pursuit.
[0:20] Speaker 2: All right, we have a jam packed show today.
[0:22] Speaker 1: Jam packed.
[0:22] Speaker 2: We're going to talk to the North American CEO of
[0:27] Speaker 2: Mercedes Benz for the USA.
[0:29] Speaker 1: CEO in BUSA Dimitri Silakis, who is a wonderful leader.
[0:36] Speaker 1: He's been with the company since wow, for thirty three years,
[0:39] Speaker 1: I think, yeah, and in the current his current spot
[0:41] Speaker 1: since twenty twenty.
[0:42] Speaker 2: That's like as long as Jesus was alive.
[0:45] Speaker 1: Is golden age, you know, and they recently just last
[0:49] Speaker 1: night announced that he will be leaving the position. So
[0:52] Speaker 1: we get him at a really good time.
[0:55] Speaker 2: True, but he wasn't talking any smack about Mercedes Benz.
[0:59] Speaker 1: No, he seemed to be loyal.
[1:01] Speaker 2: Yeah, he's loved Mercedes since he was four. As we'll find.
[1:04] Speaker 1: Out that kind of It's weird when you think about
[1:07] Speaker 1: all these influences when you're super young and they do
[1:10] Speaker 1: come back. Yeah, you know, it's it's for sure accident.
[1:14] Speaker 3: Yeah.
[1:14] Speaker 2: I remember when I first saw like a Portia nine
[1:17] Speaker 2: to eleven and understood how cool it was. I think
[1:20] Speaker 2: I was about nine, so I wasn't that young.
[1:22] Speaker 1: What about the first time you saw a G Wagon.
[1:24] Speaker 1: Let's get serious.
[1:26] Speaker 2: I was a teenager, Okay, I was a teenager in
[1:28] Speaker 2: the US. You were in the US. My one of
[1:31] Speaker 2: my neighbors two houses down showed up in his dad's
[1:36] Speaker 2: I think it was a two thirty. Does that make
[1:37] Speaker 2: any sense? Yeah, it was a It was it was
[1:40] Speaker 2: like a military cool vehicle. And I thought that thing
[1:44] Speaker 2: is so cool, and I asked him. I peppered in
[1:47] Speaker 2: with questions and it was only on our street for
[1:49] Speaker 2: a week because he was borrowing it from his dad.
[1:52] Speaker 2: But that's cool, Yeah, very very cool. I mean that's
[1:56] Speaker 2: These are the iconic shapes of the automotive industry. Nine
[2:00] Speaker 2: to eleven g Wagon and a Mustang. When I was
[2:04] Speaker 2: a little, little, little kid, my dad had a Mustang.
[2:08] Speaker 1: Really yeah, for how much we talk about corvettes, I'm
[2:11] Speaker 1: surprised that actually you are imprinted with a Mustang.
[2:14] Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, I've never been a Corvette guy until the
[2:17] Speaker 2: C seven was the first one that I really got into.
[2:21] Speaker 1: Interesting.
[2:22] Speaker 2: So, anyway, I wanted to go through a list of
[2:25] Speaker 2: I wanted to go through a few of the emails
[2:27] Speaker 2: that we've been getting. Oh please, recently, so please log
[2:29] Speaker 2: onto your Bloomberg terminal because I am locked out of
[2:32] Speaker 2: my messages.
[2:33] Speaker 1: I'll try to log on it for not doing my
[2:36] Speaker 1: silist because I've lost a contact, so I'll try to
[2:38] Speaker 1: squint and see my way through.
[2:40] Speaker 2: The main thing was not a car thing that I
[2:42] Speaker 2: wanted to talk about. It was a denim thing.
[2:45] Speaker 1: Oh yes, I remember that email.
[2:47] Speaker 2: We were talking about how a lot of the sort
[2:52] Speaker 2: of Americana in terms of clothing, the best stuff is
[2:56] Speaker 2: out of Japan. And I may have been propagating a
[3:00] Speaker 2: rumor or a myth that I have heard for years
[3:04] Speaker 2: and years, which is that the original denim manufacturers like
[3:09] Speaker 2: Levi's and Cone Mills or whatever, they gave all of
[3:14] Speaker 2: their looms to Japan after the Second World War because
[3:17] Speaker 2: they had found more sort of cost efficient ways to
[3:23] Speaker 2: produce cheaper jeans, and that's why the Japanese are the
[3:28] Speaker 2: ones that make the best heavy you know, unsanfordized or
[3:33] Speaker 2: whatever means denim. And we got a message from a
[3:37] Speaker 2: guy who is like, YO, love your podcast. Dean said,
[3:40] Speaker 2: I am into cars and bikes and stuff, but I'm
[3:44] Speaker 2: mailing you about this myth. You're totally wrong. That didn't
[3:48] Speaker 2: happen that way.
[3:49] Speaker 1: Well he said it maybe he said it appears this
[3:57] Speaker 1: maybe a myth. Yeah, well he's he's not saying. It's
[4:00] Speaker 1: attached if.
[4:01] Speaker 2: You scroll down, he attached all of the Ai conversation,
[4:05] Speaker 2: which I think is absolutely fascinating, even more interesting maybe
[4:09] Speaker 2: than than the myth.
[4:11] Speaker 1: Well, I'm already taking uh take umbradge with guest taking
[4:15] Speaker 1: umbrage because I just happened to be at the Levi's
[4:22] Speaker 1: HQ ground zero in Los Angeles about two weeks ago,
[4:27] Speaker 1: where they were personally talking about how they don't have
[4:32] Speaker 1: access to looms and they had lost the looms because
[4:37] Speaker 1: all of the great looms went to Japan. And this
[4:40] Speaker 1: is Levi employees, you know, high up in the company.
[4:44] Speaker 2: So it's interesting. I mean, it doesn't really matter, but
[4:49] Speaker 2: this guy says the American draper looms were not actually
[4:54] Speaker 2: sent to you know, Tokyo, and that they used Toyota
[4:58] Speaker 2: looms and the only reason that their genes are better
[5:02] Speaker 2: is because they continue to use these old men manufacturing
[5:04] Speaker 2: processes and they actually care.
[5:06] Speaker 1: Because I'm in New York City and I'm traveling with
[5:09] Speaker 1: my husband because we're taking a few extra days in
[5:11] Speaker 1: the city. He is sitting in on this podcast because
[5:16] Speaker 1: he loves the show, and Magnus Magnus, this is my husband.
[5:24] Speaker 1: He has quite a background in textiles and retail and design.
[5:30] Speaker 2: That's where you made your name. Initially we've had him
[5:32] Speaker 2: on the show, so people who right, I'm.
[5:34] Speaker 1: Trying to set up his bona fides here.
[5:36] Speaker 4: So I'm no denim expert. But how I got into
[5:39] Speaker 4: fashion was selling second nd clothing, mostly Levi five oh
[5:42] Speaker 4: ones on the Borderwalk in Venice Beach in the late
[5:45] Speaker 4: eighties and early nineties. And back then the whole rage
[5:47] Speaker 4: was what was called redline salvage five ozho ones and bigies.
[5:52] Speaker 4: And the way I know the story is Cone Mills
[5:56] Speaker 4: was the manufacturer of the denim supplied mostly to Levi's,
[6:00] Speaker 4: and back then the denim was woven on a narrow
[6:04] Speaker 4: loom that produced a salvage down the seam of the denim,
[6:08] Speaker 4: and that was known as the redline that was in
[6:11] Speaker 4: the side seam of the genes. Later on, it appeared
[6:15] Speaker 4: that Cone Mills started manufacturing a wider width of denim,
[6:20] Speaker 4: which required a wider loom, so those original machines that
[6:24] Speaker 4: wove the denim were dismantled and sold to overseas manufacturers,
[6:30] Speaker 4: mostly in Japan. And that's why the Japanese are still
[6:34] Speaker 4: producing what's known as salvage denim on these original mostly
[6:38] Speaker 4: cone mills machines which are now set up in Japan.
[6:43] Speaker 4: Denim is still produced in the States, but it's on
[6:45] Speaker 4: a wider width fabric on a different mill or machine,
[6:50] Speaker 4: and it doesn't have that salvaged edge, and that salvage
[6:53] Speaker 4: edge is basically not overlocked down the side seam. And
[6:56] Speaker 4: that's how you know it's salvage denim. That's the story
[6:59] Speaker 4: of the way I.
[6:59] Speaker 2: Know new stuff is like it's not slubby, it doesn't
[7:04] Speaker 2: have as much texture, it's not as heavy.
[7:07] Speaker 4: Right, I mean a lot of the Japanese denim that
[7:09] Speaker 4: you see is fourteen sixteen, eighteen twenty ounce almost feels
[7:13] Speaker 4: like cardboard.
[7:14] Speaker 2: These are twenty five.
[7:15] Speaker 4: Well, that's real, real heavy weight. So you gotta break
[7:17] Speaker 4: him in, you know, it's a real badge of honor
[7:19] Speaker 4: to break in that hard denim. And that's rigid denim.
[7:22] Speaker 4: There's no stretch in it like a lot of denim.
[7:24] Speaker 4: Now that stretch two way, four way stretch might be
[7:27] Speaker 4: ninety eight percent cotton, two percent likely to give it stretch.
[7:30] Speaker 4: What you're wearing. The heavyweight twenty five ounce is one
[7:32] Speaker 4: hundred percent cotton.
[7:34] Speaker 2: I assume different ways. I don't wear lycra. There is
[7:38] Speaker 2: no situation in which.
[7:39] Speaker 1: I'm wearing God, this is the biggest challenge I have
[7:42] Speaker 1: with living in Los Angeles. Let's just be honest. The
[7:45] Speaker 1: culture of lycra as an option for being in public
[7:50] Speaker 1: period after seven am, if you're outside of a workout class,
[7:55] Speaker 1: is too prevalent. It's really a shame on societ. Yes,
[8:01] Speaker 1: it's the problem with the world. And I would also say,
[8:05] Speaker 1: now this is not a comment specifically to Dean, who
[8:08] Speaker 1: was so nice to email us, but I would say
[8:11] Speaker 1: that just because an AI summary has some information after
[8:15] Speaker 1: you google it doesn't necessarily make it.
[8:17] Speaker 2: True, true, fair, We're going to get to the bottom.
[8:20] Speaker 1: That would not cross a reporting standard, a standard of reporter.
[8:24] Speaker 2: I just I found Dean trustworthy. I think he said
[8:27] Speaker 2: he had g body nine to eleven.
[8:31] Speaker 1: And that definitely means he's a good person.
[8:33] Speaker 2: Like Corbet. You know, he has some good cars too,
[8:37] Speaker 2: good tasting cout By the way, he also, I'm pretty
[8:40] Speaker 2: sure he's also the one who pointed out there's another
[8:43] Speaker 2: reason that we don't like tinted windows. You know, we
[8:46] Speaker 2: were talking about how I hate it when people totally tint.
[8:48] Speaker 2: I just yeah, and he says, you know, as a
[8:51] Speaker 2: motorcycle rider, it's also a problem because when you pull up,
[8:55] Speaker 2: for example, to an intersection, you want to be able
[8:59] Speaker 2: to see the driver, so you can tell if the
[9:02] Speaker 2: driver sees you. So it's very important. There are other
[9:07] Speaker 2: reasons that we don't like tint By the way, since
[9:10] Speaker 2: we have Magnus here anyway, can I please ask okay,
[9:15] Speaker 2: I want to ask about this Batista hypercar that whenever
[9:18] Speaker 2: I see pictures of your pad. And I haven't been
[9:21] Speaker 2: to La to your house, but I do want to
[9:23] Speaker 2: go sometime.
[9:23] Speaker 1: You can welcome out of host. We don't let anybody
[9:27] Speaker 1: whenever I.
[9:27] Speaker 2: See pictures of your place. There's recently been this hypercar there.
[9:33] Speaker 2: I know it's an electric hypercar just sitting in It's
[9:36] Speaker 2: like what in your loft, right.
[9:38] Speaker 4: It's like a paper weiste what I call opp other
[9:40] Speaker 4: people's piniferina.
[9:41] Speaker 2: Yeah, so but you're it's there, I guess because you
[9:45] Speaker 2: have just recently done a collaboration with Pininferina. Tell us
[9:47] Speaker 2: about it.
[9:48] Speaker 4: Well, the bike store, is you know Automobilia Pinniferina, based
[9:51] Speaker 4: out of Terine, Italy, the ninety five year old world
[9:53] Speaker 4: renowned Italian design house, just needed a place to stole
[9:57] Speaker 4: that car. That car is a life sign resin design
[10:01] Speaker 4: study model. That was the wind test model that debuted
[10:04] Speaker 4: at the Geneva Autos show in twenty eighteen. It's not
[10:06] Speaker 4: an actual running driving car. It's way more unique than that.
[10:09] Speaker 4: There's only two of them in the world. So I
[10:12] Speaker 4: did him a favor, stored the car, and then a
[10:14] Speaker 4: couple of weeks later they said, hey, would you be
[10:15] Speaker 4: interested in collaborating with us on a one to one
[10:19] Speaker 4: livery both interior and exterior for this nineteen hundred horsepower
[10:22] Speaker 4: all electric Automobilia Pinaferina Bautista. And so we debuted. The
[10:28] Speaker 4: global debut was yesterday where we showed the world that
[10:32] Speaker 4: I sort of what I've been working on for the
[10:34] Speaker 4: past year or so.
[10:35] Speaker 2: So this livery is, I mean, I love your style,
[10:41] Speaker 2: but it's usually I can tell that you've done it
[10:45] Speaker 2: yourself right, and this looks so polished and like I
[10:49] Speaker 2: expect someone from design school to have made this, and
[10:53] Speaker 2: there's some you know, philosophy behind it and a computer generator.
[10:57] Speaker 4: Oh it's not what I mean, right, Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah,
[11:00] Speaker 4: I'm taking that as a compliment.
[11:02] Speaker 2: I mean, I.
[11:02] Speaker 4: Mean the way I designed this car literally was quite
[11:05] Speaker 4: a lot of what I like to call thirty second
[11:07] Speaker 4: quick doodle sketches, which is mostly how I always do everything.
[11:11] Speaker 4: Most of the time, I don't even sketch truth be Told.
[11:13] Speaker 4: And then this livery was an evolution of what I
[11:17] Speaker 4: call a tape job, which was paper and vinyl tape
[11:19] Speaker 4: laid over the car, sort of taken inspiration from an
[11:23] Speaker 4: art car from Truth be Told. A lot of this
[11:25] Speaker 4: strobe effect was from a seventies Tha Challenger mopar or
[11:30] Speaker 4: no car or they have the strobe down the side.
[11:32] Speaker 4: That was my first reference point, and then it sort
[11:35] Speaker 4: of morphed into this barcode livery. But in my mind
[11:38] Speaker 4: mentally was I'd always like that Tha Challenger Ararcuda that
[11:43] Speaker 4: had a bold strobe down the side, So that was
[11:46] Speaker 4: the original inspiration behind it, which I applied by hand.
[11:49] Speaker 4: What you're looking at here is obviously a digital rendering
[11:53] Speaker 4: of what I did by hand, and how I work
[11:55] Speaker 4: was I'd mock up the tape on the car, then
[11:57] Speaker 4: physically take photos on my phone right there, and I'd
[12:01] Speaker 4: send them to the team in Turin and they would
[12:04] Speaker 4: take that inspiration, and you know, some of it was
[12:06] Speaker 4: a little too crazy for them, so some of it
[12:08] Speaker 4: did get scaled back. But it's a project that I'm
[12:11] Speaker 4: so honored to be a part of.
[12:13] Speaker 3: You know.
[12:13] Speaker 4: For me, it's just a great opportunity to do something
[12:16] Speaker 4: with the world's greatest design.
[12:17] Speaker 2: I'm looking at a picture of I don't know why,
[12:21] Speaker 2: it's on Yahoo Finance of Magnus laying tape stripes down
[12:25] Speaker 2: the side of this hypercar, and I mean, did you
[12:28] Speaker 2: take the picture, Hannah.
[12:29] Speaker 1: No, No, that's a that's a professional photographer.
[12:32] Speaker 2: So it's it's so cool. And this is only one
[12:37] Speaker 2: of a kind vehicle, right.
[12:38] Speaker 4: So it's one of one.
[12:40] Speaker 2: Yeah, who's buying it? Who gets it?
[12:42] Speaker 4: We're gonna find out. Time will tell.
[12:44] Speaker 2: Who's going to buy it?
[12:45] Speaker 4: Will be one lokioner who's getting a piece of Pinaferina history.
[12:48] Speaker 4: It's it's a drivable work of art. It's an art car,
[12:51] Speaker 4: you know. For me, I always say the idea is
[12:53] Speaker 4: the most important thing. And as I just shared, this
[12:56] Speaker 4: idea was based on a few doodles, some tape drawings
[12:59] Speaker 4: and a code Strobe Graphics, so we've got to find
[13:02] Speaker 4: out pretty soon.
[13:03] Speaker 2: I'm I'm also looking at pictures of you with David
[13:06] Speaker 2: day Amantia.
[13:08] Speaker 4: Yeah, Big Day.
[13:10] Speaker 2: So the chief design Officer for pen and Farina, which
[13:14] Speaker 2: that's a title like chief designa.
[13:18] Speaker 4: He's a great guy. I mean, this was a pinche
[13:19] Speaker 4: moment for me because I met Dave at Monterey Carweek
[13:23] Speaker 4: where it just debuted another Pinaferina concept car, and he
[13:28] Speaker 4: happened to be wearing my Nike two seven seven dunks
[13:31] Speaker 4: and that was how we met.
[13:32] Speaker 3: That was it.
[13:33] Speaker 4: And then I test drover the actual running driving car,
[13:36] Speaker 4: and then fell into this collaborative project purely by accident.
[13:40] Speaker 4: So this stuff can't be scripted. There's no PR marketing
[13:44] Speaker 4: team behind me pitching collaborations to people.
[13:47] Speaker 2: It just evolved.
[13:48] Speaker 4: And that's kind of organically how my life has been
[13:51] Speaker 4: evolving over the past few years with these cool, mostly
[13:55] Speaker 4: art based collaborations. And this is sort of the pinnacle
[13:59] Speaker 4: of where I'm at to because it's a world renowned designer.
[14:02] Speaker 2: Can I say, so, what I think of the interiors
[14:05] Speaker 2: that you do? I always think of this blue tartan.
[14:08] Speaker 2: I don't know why maybe in the documentary in the
[14:12] Speaker 2: Urban Outlaw movie that there's some of that in there.
[14:15] Speaker 2: But you've got essentially like a blue tartan on the
[14:18] Speaker 2: interior of this as well. Tell us about the interior, Well.
[14:21] Speaker 4: It's a throwback to my sort of fashion background and
[14:24] Speaker 4: my sort of rebellious punk attitude, which has been there
[14:29] Speaker 4: throughout my whole design career, whether it was on the
[14:31] Speaker 4: Borderwalk in Venice or the Nike collab has the red
[14:34] Speaker 4: and blue tart in the shoe, and it's bringing elements
[14:37] Speaker 4: of my background, fibers of my fabric together. The thread
[14:41] Speaker 4: that connects them together is the fashion and design element
[14:44] Speaker 4: which is now incorporated in this one of one Bautista
[14:48] Speaker 4: on the interior. So it's becoming a little bit of
[14:51] Speaker 4: a signature touch this rock and roll thing. And the
[14:55] Speaker 4: joke here with the Pinaferena Bautista is I'm becoming the
[14:58] Speaker 4: gentleman outlaw. This is obviously a lot more refined in
[15:02] Speaker 4: the sense of, you know, the level of execution for
[15:05] Speaker 4: me as being elevated. I had to up my game,
[15:08] Speaker 4: you know. I always say nothing needs to be perfect,
[15:10] Speaker 4: which it doesn't. I don't overthink things, but I definitely
[15:14] Speaker 4: had to elevate the execution level with Pinaferina, which is
[15:17] Speaker 4: a good thing.
[15:18] Speaker 2: Yeah, because this is I mean, it's an electric hypercar.
[15:23] Speaker 2: This is like perfect right, that's the point of this engineering.
[15:28] Speaker 2: And I wonder, just finally, what do you think about
[15:31] Speaker 2: driving this? Have you driven it? I?
[15:33] Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean how this whole project came together was
[15:36] Speaker 4: literally over a couple of drinks after I'd driven the
[15:39] Speaker 4: actual car probably eighteen months ago, faster than it I
[15:41] Speaker 4: ever gone on my favorite road. And it was the
[15:43] Speaker 4: ability of this nineteen hundred horsepower car to put the
[15:46] Speaker 4: power down and not lose traction, and then the grip,
[15:49] Speaker 4: the suspension, the brakes, the turn in. It was a
[15:51] Speaker 4: whole package, you know. So I like speed. Speed comes
[15:55] Speaker 4: in a lot of different forms, whether it's you know,
[15:57] Speaker 4: makes a lot of noise or doesn't make a lot
[15:59] Speaker 4: of noise. You know, these things are deceptively fast because
[16:02] Speaker 4: you don't hear the big engine roaring. You hear the
[16:04] Speaker 4: tires squealing and suspension creaking and carbon flexing on all
[16:08] Speaker 4: those emotions. So it's recalibrating your mind around. For me,
[16:13] Speaker 4: I don't put speed and sound together necessarily in the
[16:17] Speaker 4: same sentences I used to. It doesn't have to be
[16:20] Speaker 4: loud to be fast. Sure, loud's exciting, intoxicating, it engages
[16:24] Speaker 4: the senses. I get it. But speed comes in a
[16:27] Speaker 4: lot of different packages, and this is just one variety
[16:29] Speaker 4: of speed.
[16:30] Speaker 2: All right, dude, thank you so much for jumping in there.
[16:33] Speaker 2: So and Dean, thank you for the email.
[16:35] Speaker 1: Yes, thanks, Please keep writing tell us if you still
[16:39] Speaker 1: think we're wrong.
[16:39] Speaker 2: We got a bunch of good emails. We don't have
[16:42] Speaker 2: to go to all of them, but I know one
[16:43] Speaker 2: of them was about Mercedes. So someone was asking about
[16:49] Speaker 2: the Glees and the g LA which a while, those
[16:54] Speaker 2: aren't the cars that you drove in roam. You drove
[16:56] Speaker 2: the CLA, that's right, and not the cars that I love.
[16:59] Speaker 2: I love the c l E. We do have the
[17:03] Speaker 2: perfect guest for Victor on today.
[17:06] Speaker 1: Yes we do. Thanks for writing, Victor. Let's talk to Dmitri.
[17:09] Speaker 2: Let's get into it.
[17:11] Speaker 1: So big treat for us today to have Dmitri solacis
[17:14] Speaker 1: the President and CEO of Mercedes Ben's United States of
[17:18] Speaker 1: America here with us, live and living color in the studio.
[17:22] Speaker 1: I'm excited to be here physically as well.
[17:25] Speaker 2: I'm excited too.
[17:26] Speaker 1: Yeah, So it's a great day for all of us.
[17:28] Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us.
[17:30] Speaker 3: I'm happy to be with you guys here, very happy.
[17:32] Speaker 1: And this is on the eve of a big grand
[17:35] Speaker 1: opening of your new dealership, not a new location, but
[17:39] Speaker 1: a new dealership in Manhattan. Can you just tell it,
[17:42] Speaker 1: walk us through everything that you guys have done on
[17:44] Speaker 1: the new space and why it's such a big deal
[17:47] Speaker 1: for you.
[17:48] Speaker 3: As you said, it's not a new location, but it's
[17:51] Speaker 3: a totally new store. So going back to history, it's
[17:54] Speaker 3: what in Manhattan since over seventy years and in this
[17:58] Speaker 3: look is this is.
[17:59] Speaker 1: Your oldest your oldest location in the US.
[18:02] Speaker 3: It's one of the oldest locations in the US and
[18:04] Speaker 3: a very traditional one. But you have not always been
[18:07] Speaker 3: at the same location, so there since twenty eleven. And
[18:10] Speaker 3: now we're doing, or have done, basically in a very
[18:14] Speaker 3: short period of time, a full renovation based on the
[18:17] Speaker 3: new standards of Mosses Bends and we're adding a couple
[18:22] Speaker 3: of more things to this space. We have the first
[18:25] Speaker 3: top end vehicle lounge and my BA Lounge, which is
[18:28] Speaker 3: our top brand. I would say, we have an extended
[18:32] Speaker 3: space and MG Performance Center as we call it. And
[18:37] Speaker 3: we have a beautiful new boutique also with a collaboration, yes,
[18:43] Speaker 3: exactly exactly a cafe, and we have also collaborated with IWC.
[18:47] Speaker 3: So it's a space where it's not only more more
[18:50] Speaker 3: digital than it used to be, but it's modern, it's
[18:53] Speaker 3: more i would say warm, and it's more a place
[18:56] Speaker 3: that you can not only get into buy car or
[18:59] Speaker 3: to service you vehicle, but you can spend you can
[19:01] Speaker 3: spend time around. It's a lifestyle place.
[19:04] Speaker 1: This sounds great because I feel like people hate having
[19:07] Speaker 1: to go to the car dealership in general. I mean
[19:09] Speaker 1: it's not thought of as a fun thing to have
[19:13] Speaker 1: to go to the car dealership. But this place actually
[19:16] Speaker 1: sounds really really nice, like I might want to be there.
[19:19] Speaker 3: We call it the destination, right, So it's not only
[19:22] Speaker 3: to go shopping, but you can spend some time there.
[19:24] Speaker 3: You can stroll around. You can see some classic cars,
[19:27] Speaker 3: vintage cars, I'm see this, you can see some modern cars,
[19:29] Speaker 3: some sports cars. And if you end up buying a vehicle, yeah,
[19:33] Speaker 3: we've got to be good, but it's not cannot be
[19:36] Speaker 3: the reason of visiting the place.
[19:37] Speaker 2: I totally understand what you mean. Yeah, except I love
[19:41] Speaker 2: going to.
[19:42] Speaker 1: Car do you also like going to the dentist? Are
[19:44] Speaker 1: you one of those?
[19:45] Speaker 2: I mean, I make an appoyment every three.
[19:47] Speaker 1: Months, Well, your teeth look good.
[19:49] Speaker 2: But so I wonder do more people buy cars now online?
[19:56] Speaker 2: Or does everybody who actually buys a car, since they're
[19:59] Speaker 2: plopping down so many time of thousands of dollars, does
[20:01] Speaker 2: everybody go to the dealership for that experiences?
[20:04] Speaker 3: It's a mix. You have still the traditional customers which
[20:09] Speaker 3: would like to go in the store, be treated by
[20:12] Speaker 3: the sales consultants, leave the whole experience, as you say,
[20:17] Speaker 3: kick tires right, drive the vehicle with a lot of money,
[20:20] Speaker 3: choose it and walk out with a new car. But
[20:24] Speaker 3: you have also the ones which trust a brand, trust
[20:26] Speaker 3: a store, trust a sales consultant, and they go fully
[20:30] Speaker 3: online and they can complete.
[20:31] Speaker 2: So what's the percentage of Mercedes buyers that go fully
[20:35] Speaker 2: online or you know, via telephone, who actually don't ever
[20:39] Speaker 2: enter a dealership until they maybe take.
[20:40] Speaker 3: I would say on average about ten percent of our
[20:43] Speaker 3: sales are fully online what we call from start to finish,
[20:47] Speaker 3: and then they might come and have the delivered of
[20:50] Speaker 3: the vehicle done in the showroom, because that's a process
[20:53] Speaker 3: that's a nice moment, right, it's a it's a one moment,
[20:56] Speaker 3: or they get delivered the vehicle in the driveway, which
[20:59] Speaker 3: you also offer.
[21:00] Speaker 1: Talk to me about my Back. You mentioned the special
[21:03] Speaker 1: my Bak attilie for lack of a better word. Can
[21:06] Speaker 1: you tell us a little bit about what that offers
[21:09] Speaker 1: these high net worth individuals and why we may aspire
[21:13] Speaker 1: at one point to be there ourselves.
[21:15] Speaker 3: I would like you to be out on my Back.
[21:17] Speaker 3: It's our top and vehicle or top end brand. It's
[21:24] Speaker 3: actually super luxury part of our brand. So we offer
[21:28] Speaker 3: these my Bak versions of additions for the S class,
[21:33] Speaker 3: for the electric, for the EQS SUV's it's a design,
[21:39] Speaker 3: it's the equipment, it's the comfort, it's a convenience that
[21:42] Speaker 3: the vehicle is offering. And as I said earlier, we
[21:46] Speaker 3: have now in Manhattan the first my BA Laud. So
[21:49] Speaker 3: it's an exclusive space with all the samples and colors,
[21:54] Speaker 3: and you can also individualize your product with the program
[21:59] Speaker 3: that call manufacturer and even a step up manufacturer made
[22:03] Speaker 3: to custom.
[22:04] Speaker 1: So you could do that in many sto you can.
[22:07] Speaker 3: Do the studio right in the launch, so you can
[22:09] Speaker 3: choose out of a very exclusive colors, very exclusive interior
[22:15] Speaker 3: leather streams, stitching hoods, so you can basically say you
[22:18] Speaker 3: can make a vehicle which does not look like any
[22:21] Speaker 3: other else, any other in the market, or even we
[22:25] Speaker 3: go to this UH made special where you can do
[22:33] Speaker 3: and you can stitch, and you can choose a color
[22:35] Speaker 3: which is not it's not even in the range of
[22:38] Speaker 3: our standard colors. So these are programs which are offered
[22:43] Speaker 3: at NB Manhattan.
[22:45] Speaker 2: So when when I last had all a colonials on
[22:51] Speaker 2: my television show, it was a while back, and I
[22:56] Speaker 2: feel like we were coming out of COVID and he
[22:58] Speaker 2: was talking about a shift towards just full on luxury
[23:02] Speaker 2: because supply chains were limited, right, and they had the
[23:06] Speaker 2: best margins on those obviously top end cars. And I'm
[23:11] Speaker 2: not sure how closely they held to that strategy. You
[23:14] Speaker 2: held to that strategy throughout the last few years. But
[23:17] Speaker 2: now that we're facing tariffs, does it mean a total
[23:21] Speaker 2: return to focus on high margin vehicles because cheaper cars
[23:25] Speaker 2: are just not going to be as profitable if you're
[23:28] Speaker 2: looking at a twenty five percent tariff to get.
[23:30] Speaker 3: It in here, I think we try to be in
[23:34] Speaker 3: different segments. Definitely, the top end vehicle segment were dominating
[23:39] Speaker 3: with brands like my bach AMGS a sports brand with
[23:43] Speaker 3: the G class and these are big, big volume. Oar
[23:47] Speaker 3: Us is the number one market, but that does not
[23:51] Speaker 3: mean we move or a step away from different and
[23:54] Speaker 3: other segments where there is more volume opportunity and obviously
[23:57] Speaker 3: compete with other brands. During the pandemic. What you said
[24:03] Speaker 3: earlier there was there was. There were different reasons which
[24:08] Speaker 3: also made the vehicles. We had a micro chip challenge,
[24:13] Speaker 3: so we could choose which vehicles we would first place
[24:20] Speaker 3: our the micro chips and what to produce.
[24:24] Speaker 2: Class and S class first as as possible.
[24:26] Speaker 1: Right that was I would not argue with that.
[24:30] Speaker 3: Yeah, there was an opportunity obviously, but today you're looking
[24:33] Speaker 3: to all segments and on the tiff topics, it's creating
[24:37] Speaker 3: obviously a big upset in the market. Still, the situation
[24:41] Speaker 3: is not very clear how to end up. But our
[24:44] Speaker 3: approach is to be us close to the market as possible,
[24:47] Speaker 3: a just our prices and keep our customers loyal to
[24:53] Speaker 3: the brand and offer to them our products. I think
[24:59] Speaker 3: we're in a good shape. Who have just shot a
[25:02] Speaker 3: couple of weeks back that we maintain our model here
[25:07] Speaker 3: twenty five pricing at the current MSRP level, So you.
[25:11] Speaker 1: Won't you won't be passing on any.
[25:13] Speaker 3: No until further notes, until until any other major change happens.
[25:18] Speaker 3: So I think that gives sustetnt quiality yes in the
[25:22] Speaker 3: market and yeah, go on by Yes. So I'll always
[25:28] Speaker 3: try to be adjusting to market conditions and keeping out
[25:32] Speaker 3: our clients as happy and as satisfied as possible.
[25:36] Speaker 1: You know, I joined you guys in Rome a few
[25:37] Speaker 1: weeks ago for the CLA debut, which is so exciting.
[25:40] Speaker 1: What's the future of a car like that potentially in
[25:42] Speaker 1: the US which isn't as high end, but it's obviously
[25:45] Speaker 1: a very special car and the most really advanced Mercedes
[25:49] Speaker 1: I've seen when it comes to technology. What's the future
[25:52] Speaker 1: of that in the US.
[25:53] Speaker 3: So, Hannah, you're privileged in being in Rome, right right
[25:58] Speaker 3: and at the same time seeing the CLA. So tomorrow's
[26:02] Speaker 3: our US North American debut of the CLA and we
[26:06] Speaker 3: call it our smartest car ever. So it's not only
[26:10] Speaker 3: the beautiful designs the space, but it's more the technology
[26:14] Speaker 3: that this vehicle is bringing. So yeah, in the US,
[26:19] Speaker 3: maybe Sedance and these entry models are not the ones
[26:23] Speaker 3: which have the biggest volume for us, but as a
[26:26] Speaker 3: technology better and as the vehicle which brings us into
[26:30] Speaker 3: a new era of electric vehicles, of ice vehicles with
[26:35] Speaker 3: this super technology call it a computer and wheels. Right,
[26:39] Speaker 3: It's very important for us. So we're very happy to
[26:42] Speaker 3: have it here, very happy to showcase it for the
[26:44] Speaker 3: first time in New York at our new store in Manhattan,
[26:48] Speaker 3: which has, as we discussed earlier, lots of also digital
[26:53] Speaker 3: elements and lots of technology in the showroom. So happy,
[26:56] Speaker 3: and we plan to bring it in the market at
[26:59] Speaker 3: the end of the year. And it's again it is
[27:02] Speaker 3: one of a series of products which would come in
[27:05] Speaker 3: the future.
[27:05] Speaker 1: Is that a car you could ever produce in the US?
[27:10] Speaker 3: This is a difficult discussion and situation because always you
[27:16] Speaker 3: produce vehicles which make sense in terms of volume and
[27:20] Speaker 3: in terms of what the market needs. So I don't know,
[27:25] Speaker 3: it's that lots of.
[27:27] Speaker 2: Car that Americans necessarily are going to be buying in.
[27:29] Speaker 2: I mean, Americans like big trucks, right, we like suv.
[27:32] Speaker 1: My point on that was really you you actually manufacture
[27:35] Speaker 1: quite a few vehicles in the US already. If we're
[27:38] Speaker 1: dealing with tariffs, maybe you would move production of some
[27:41] Speaker 1: of some more vehicles to the US. Would that help
[27:44] Speaker 1: alleviate some of the stressors?
[27:46] Speaker 3: Well, looking to all opportunities, as you said, are well
[27:49] Speaker 3: rooted in the US since decades, not only with passenger cars,
[27:54] Speaker 3: I mean the the GLE SUV and Coop the GLS,
[27:59] Speaker 3: the two electrics the equi as UV in the equs's
[28:02] Speaker 3: UV are produced in the in the US and l
[28:04] Speaker 3: Factor in Alabama, but also the commercial vehicles. Our sprinter
[28:08] Speaker 3: van is produced in South Carolina. So we're well rooted. Obviously,
[28:12] Speaker 3: we're looking two opportunities and we're we're convinced and will
[28:17] Speaker 3: continue investing in the in the country. Now which product
[28:20] Speaker 3: and which model is to be seen, but has to
[28:22] Speaker 3: do with what the market likes. Right, as you said,
[28:25] Speaker 3: I think US is more and as UV in a
[28:27] Speaker 3: truck market.
[28:27] Speaker 2: But it's a good question. I think a lot of
[28:30] Speaker 2: people are wondering how much will tariffs incentivize a big
[28:36] Speaker 2: industrial business like Mercedes Benz to move production. I mean,
[28:41] Speaker 2: isn't it expensive to move production? And you know this
[28:45] Speaker 2: administration is only going to last another you know, three
[28:50] Speaker 2: and a half years, So do you make a decision
[28:53] Speaker 2: like that, how long does it take? For example, if
[28:55] Speaker 2: you want to build a new factory in America, would
[28:57] Speaker 2: it be done before Trump is out of office?
[28:59] Speaker 3: It is? I mean, you have a factory first of all,
[29:01] Speaker 3: or have two factories right in the there we have capacity,
[29:06] Speaker 3: which we have decided what makes sense. But these decisions
[29:10] Speaker 3: you said take take time to be taken and have
[29:12] Speaker 3: a long it should be long lasting. I mean, we
[29:16] Speaker 3: started with our factory in Alabama in the mid mid
[29:21] Speaker 3: nineties and you.
[29:23] Speaker 1: Have a long, long time ago.
[29:25] Speaker 3: Now, yeah, so we come in to stay, we invest
[29:29] Speaker 3: to stay. So we're evaluating now the situation of the conditions.
[29:32] Speaker 3: But we're determined to have more vehicles produced in the
[29:36] Speaker 3: US for the US, hopefully our.
[29:39] Speaker 1: Products, hopefully not the g Wagon. Now, I mean that
[29:42] Speaker 1: is that's that's a unique. That's a unique. But to
[29:46] Speaker 1: Matt's point, that is a big truck like vehicle that
[29:51] Speaker 1: I think is sold probably the most in the US.
[29:53] Speaker 1: I think probably Beverly Hills because I see them every
[29:55] Speaker 1: other car in Beverly Hills.
[29:56] Speaker 2: Plus Magnus Styre actually makes that. I mean, you don't
[29:58] Speaker 2: even produce that.
[29:59] Speaker 1: You're right, that's when saying like that, would that would
[30:01] Speaker 1: make sense for me to try to move production to
[30:03] Speaker 1: the US, but you can't. It's it's Austria. You know,
[30:06] Speaker 1: this is such an.
[30:08] Speaker 3: Icon, Yeah, exactly, an icon, such a history behind it.
[30:10] Speaker 3: So not everything is easy, it's not. So it actually
[30:13] Speaker 3: cannot cannot be shipped out of the worlds on the
[30:15] Speaker 3: short notice. Yeah, that's certain precucis for that, but we're
[30:20] Speaker 3: looking to that.
[30:28] Speaker 2: If we're done talking about basically, yeah we can, we
[30:30] Speaker 2: can pivot. Okay, so we've talked about the smile. I
[30:35] Speaker 2: like to ask people, like what got you into cars?
[30:37] Speaker 2: You weren't born as a Mercedes employee, right, So what
[30:42] Speaker 2: were your first cars that you really loved? What What
[30:45] Speaker 2: is the first car that you love that you actually
[30:47] Speaker 2: could own yourself? Like what what was it for you?
[30:50] Speaker 3: So, I mean, good people points. I have not studied
[30:55] Speaker 3: automotive engineering. I studied medical electronic engineering and I started
[31:00] Speaker 3: working in this field. But cars were always my hobby.
[31:04] Speaker 3: And one of my colleagues triggered me a couple of
[31:07] Speaker 3: weeks back, when did you first come across Mercedes? And
[31:11] Speaker 3: I remember, and I went back to my photo album,
[31:14] Speaker 3: you know, still printed black and white photos, and I
[31:18] Speaker 3: found a photo of myself with four years and being
[31:22] Speaker 3: on a small pedal car which was a Mercedes. Right,
[31:26] Speaker 3: So that was my first encounter with Mercedes in Greece.
[31:30] Speaker 3: I'm great. So that was back in Greece. So I
[31:34] Speaker 3: always like cars. I always followed racing and developments of technology.
[31:40] Speaker 3: And I switched thirty three years back from the medical
[31:45] Speaker 3: electronics industry that was working at that time just to
[31:49] Speaker 3: my hobby, which was automotive cars, and to Mercedes. The
[31:54] Speaker 3: option was at the time Mercedes, but also there was
[31:57] Speaker 3: a big dream, I mean big brands, very successful, long history,
[32:03] Speaker 3: so it was for me a big achievement starting with Mercedes.
[32:06] Speaker 3: And that's how my story started thirty three years ago.
[32:08] Speaker 2: And what are you into? I mean, we love the
[32:10] Speaker 2: g Wagon, I love the c l E.
[32:13] Speaker 1: You know I love an sl to be honest. Yeah,
[32:15] Speaker 1: I mean like all erasing.
[32:18] Speaker 3: You live in California. Cour Sale was born, right, and
[32:21] Speaker 3: it's the US the US product. Look always I'm asked
[32:26] Speaker 3: what car do you drive? And as I'm spoiled because
[32:28] Speaker 3: I can drive any car, any messides car, right, and
[32:31] Speaker 3: I love but I would say for me an SUV
[32:36] Speaker 3: which gives you versatility of driving everywhere of putting your
[32:40] Speaker 3: life in bikes, dogs, whatever. I like you C is
[32:44] Speaker 3: for me what what makes sense? But of course driving
[32:46] Speaker 3: in the cell on a nice evening down on the
[32:49] Speaker 3: pH is is.
[32:52] Speaker 1: Kind of heaven. Exact really is kind of heaven. And
[32:54] Speaker 1: it's the perfect car for the perfect road. But I
[32:57] Speaker 1: like your answer that you're not trying to be you know,
[33:01] Speaker 1: front or try to like say some fancy race car
[33:04] Speaker 1: the C one eleven or you know, it's a very
[33:07] Speaker 1: practical answer. Yeah, no, no, it's no, it's yeahs is.
[33:13] Speaker 3: It means it's something which supports and basically fits you
[33:16] Speaker 3: life too. Yeah. Back in Griz, I have an sl
[33:20] Speaker 3: A full fifty of the early eighties, which is my
[33:24] Speaker 3: classic car. Let's say what color, light blue, beautiful? I
[33:28] Speaker 3: love it.
[33:29] Speaker 1: Yes, and Dmitria, we know we just heard the news
[33:32] Speaker 1: that you will be transitioning out of the role of
[33:35] Speaker 1: top dog at Mercedes Benz USA. I'd love to just hear.
[33:41] Speaker 1: I think you joined in twenty twenty in your current role, right,
[33:44] Speaker 1: so five years can you just tell us, I don't know,
[33:47] Speaker 1: looking back, what you've seen change in the auto industry
[33:50] Speaker 1: and give us some wisdom.
[33:52] Speaker 2: That well you will learn.
[33:55] Speaker 1: I mean it's so much has changed.
[33:58] Speaker 3: Absolutely, So I say this was the most challenging and
[34:01] Speaker 3: the most intense five years of my life or of
[34:05] Speaker 3: my career. I mean, if you go back, i joined
[34:08] Speaker 3: at the late twenty twenty and we're at the beginning
[34:11] Speaker 3: of the pandemic, at the beginning of the supply crunch,
[34:16] Speaker 3: which you lived and came and joined a company who
[34:19] Speaker 3: were basically I mean, you've been into our headquarters in Atlanta,
[34:24] Speaker 3: to a beautiful building, but with no life. I didn't
[34:27] Speaker 3: know my colleagues, i didn't know who was around. Traveling
[34:31] Speaker 3: was a challenge to our locations in the US, to
[34:34] Speaker 3: the dealers or whatever. So it was a very challenging start.
[34:37] Speaker 3: But I would say many things have changed since then.
[34:40] Speaker 3: We're back into more digital were discussed earlier, right, who
[34:43] Speaker 3: was buying a car online in twenty twenty, Right in
[34:47] Speaker 3: today people do buy or at least get all the
[34:51] Speaker 3: information online. So many things have changed. Many things have
[34:56] Speaker 3: have moved into our industry, electric vehicles, plug in hybrids again,
[35:02] Speaker 3: digital retailing, so very intense times, new products in the markets.
[35:08] Speaker 3: I'm really glad of what I lived.
[35:11] Speaker 1: How have you changed?
[35:14] Speaker 3: I think that's a that's a great question. On one hand,
[35:17] Speaker 3: that's nothing is given right. Things can change from one
[35:21] Speaker 3: day to the other, and the faster you can adapt,
[35:25] Speaker 3: the better, the better you are. So things and traditions
[35:29] Speaker 3: do not apply. They help you maybe to make some considerations,
[35:34] Speaker 3: but you cannot. There's no blueprint from one day to
[35:38] Speaker 3: the other. So that's one thing. The second thing is
[35:41] Speaker 3: that basically in all these challenges, what makes all the
[35:45] Speaker 3: difference is the people that you have around you. And
[35:48] Speaker 3: for me, people is my team. People is our dealers,
[35:51] Speaker 3: which that the ones which are facing and serving the customers,
[35:55] Speaker 3: which for them was also a difficult time, right, all
[35:58] Speaker 3: of what was going on and changing. So people no
[36:05] Speaker 3: blueprints and being fast, trying things out, failing quickly adjusting
[36:14] Speaker 3: and moving forwards. That's I think. What's I learned or
[36:18] Speaker 3: lived in the last five years?
[36:19] Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a lot.
[36:20] Speaker 2: What about America? What do you think about being here?
[36:25] Speaker 3: I think it's it's a great country with a big momentum.
[36:29] Speaker 2: Are you going to stay here where we're going to
[36:30] Speaker 2: go next?
[36:31] Speaker 3: Yes, I'm looking to stay here in the US. I
[36:35] Speaker 3: mean I've been sixteen years, seventeen years out of my
[36:40] Speaker 3: no more more and more out of my country. And
[36:44] Speaker 3: this is the place we feel mostly mostly home.
[36:47] Speaker 1: So yeah, okay, you mentioned evs. I have to ask,
[36:51] Speaker 1: are evs still going to happen?
[36:54] Speaker 3: Oh?
[36:54] Speaker 1: Yes, eventually, you think so?
[36:56] Speaker 3: Truly? Yes, maybe not in the speed and the adoption
[37:02] Speaker 3: that work initially expecting, but IV's are offering certain advantages.
[37:08] Speaker 3: I can give an example my wife. She didn't want
[37:13] Speaker 3: to drive any V.
[37:14] Speaker 2: Why not because she had all these.
[37:17] Speaker 3: Concerns of where do I charge, what if the range
[37:20] Speaker 3: is not enough, my feeling I wanted to to have
[37:23] Speaker 3: roaring sound of the engine and all that stuff. Three
[37:27] Speaker 3: four months later, and actually three years down the road later,
[37:31] Speaker 3: she does not want to step out of an electric
[37:33] Speaker 3: The convenience of charging at home, the comfort it's offering,
[37:37] Speaker 3: the chalk that you have, she's fascinated. So I'm not
[37:40] Speaker 3: saying if is the only way, No, for God's sake,
[37:43] Speaker 3: but a co existence of electric vehicles, of plug in hybrids,
[37:48] Speaker 3: of internet combation engine is the future. And maybe in
[37:53] Speaker 3: one part of the world where you live in California
[37:55] Speaker 3: and be to a higher degree because infrastructure is there,
[37:58] Speaker 3: because mindset, because because you know somewhere else it's much less.
[38:03] Speaker 3: But the penetration development and the qualities of the evs
[38:09] Speaker 3: will be much more visible in the future.
[38:11] Speaker 2: I love that your wife didn't want to give up
[38:13] Speaker 2: the roar of an internal combustion engine, but now she's
[38:16] Speaker 2: addicted to the torque of an EV. You married the
[38:19] Speaker 2: right woman.
[38:20] Speaker 1: Okay, yes, is she Greek too?
[38:24] Speaker 3: No, she's Brazilian. Brazilian. Yes, she's Brazilian. But I'll tell
[38:28] Speaker 3: you the first when I got the I'm driving the
[38:31] Speaker 3: electric cig class now, the five eighty. And you know,
[38:34] Speaker 3: when you look at it externally, there's no differences, right,
[38:40] Speaker 3: except some little badges of eque technology or whatever. So
[38:46] Speaker 3: for a couple of days I did not declare it
[38:49] Speaker 3: was an electric and I was driving it, and it
[38:50] Speaker 3: has some sounds, right, so the sound, the talk, the
[38:55] Speaker 3: speed whatever. She didn't realize it was it was electric
[38:58] Speaker 3: only when the sign up here on the on the
[39:01] Speaker 3: on the head un it's okay, it's you time to
[39:04] Speaker 3: charge whatever, right, I said, Oh, that's electric.
[39:06] Speaker 1: See I like that. I like not even it's not.
[39:10] Speaker 1: It's not the defining characteristic of the vehicle. If it's
[39:14] Speaker 1: if it works and it accomplishes the task, great, but
[39:16] Speaker 1: it's not the defining characteristic of whatever.
[39:19] Speaker 3: Vehicle.
[39:20] Speaker 1: And that's great because you are it's an icon and
[39:24] Speaker 1: the doors.
[39:24] Speaker 2: Closing the doors is the defining characteristic of that vehicle for.
[39:28] Speaker 3: So you have to slam the door. Yes, still she
[39:30] Speaker 3: didn't get used to that, right, loving the door because
[39:33] Speaker 3: in every other car.
[39:34] Speaker 1: You say, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[39:36] Speaker 3: You have to slam the door. Yeah.
[39:38] Speaker 2: All right. Well, it's been great having you here.
[39:41] Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
[39:42] Speaker 2: I'm gonna swing by your new store to check it out,
[39:45] Speaker 2: looking forward to is it open now? I guess by
[39:48] Speaker 2: the time this podcast, sure will be Friday.
[39:50] Speaker 1: So yeah, Friday, and the public can go buy the
[39:53] Speaker 1: new dealership.
[39:54] Speaker 3: And yeah, except Sundays. Yeah, those are open for everyone. Yeah,
[39:58] Speaker 3: and that's some surpris ues though. It's a nice place to.
[40:01] Speaker 2: Be nice, great talk, good talk. Great to hear from Dimitri.
[40:06] Speaker 2: And I'm looking forward to going over to see the
[40:08] Speaker 2: new dealership. I'm also looking forward to going to the show.
[40:10] Speaker 2: By the way, you're here in New York, Cana. Yes,
[40:12] Speaker 2: and I thought, oh, you must be here for the
[40:14] Speaker 2: New York Auto Show.
[40:15] Speaker 1: But that's not no, no, no, I'm I'm not going
[40:18] Speaker 1: to the Javitt Center. I think I'm very happily not
[40:21] Speaker 1: going the funny thing is auto shows are not as
[40:24] Speaker 1: relevant as they have been for press, and that's the
[40:28] Speaker 1: sad truth. So there's not a real reason to go
[40:30] Speaker 1: over there.
[40:31] Speaker 2: It is true, or it has become the case that
[40:34] Speaker 2: auto shows are no longer where the big news breaks.
[40:37] Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean Mercedes has news. They're just not doing
[40:40] Speaker 1: it at the autosh exactly. They're doing it at their
[40:41] Speaker 1: own party.
[40:42] Speaker 2: It's not always where the CEOs go. They're now more
[40:44] Speaker 2: likely to go to cees completely.
[40:46] Speaker 1: And let's be honest, no CEO loved being in a
[40:50] Speaker 1: convention center all day for three days, talking to press
[40:53] Speaker 1: in a little back room, and that was the format
[40:56] Speaker 1: for auto shows for years, and they would just be
[40:59] Speaker 1: on a you know, twenty minute rotating schedule.
[41:02] Speaker 2: Still I love to go, I don't. I mean, I
[41:04] Speaker 2: wasn't even considering going. But yesterday I had Jose Munios
[41:08] Speaker 2: on my show, who now runs Hyundai, and.
[41:12] Speaker 1: Would you take your daughters?
[41:13] Speaker 3: Oh?
[41:13] Speaker 1: Sorry, go ahead, good?
[41:14] Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, I would definitely And I would definitely take
[41:17] Speaker 2: my daughter. And I may do that this weekend because
[41:20] Speaker 2: right now I'm just gonna go to the press days.
[41:21] Speaker 2: But you can bring you know, civilians this weekend. Yeah,
[41:25] Speaker 2: I'm just gonna go now because Jose's gonna be there
[41:27] Speaker 2: and I want to go and say thank you for
[41:29] Speaker 2: coming on my show. And also because my buddy Hit,
[41:34] Speaker 2: my new buddy who runs Buele, he wants to go
[41:37] Speaker 2: because he's here from Grand Rapids, you know, like, yo,
[41:39] Speaker 2: let's go to the show.
[41:40] Speaker 1: I definitely think for consumers, for families, for kids, it's
[41:44] Speaker 1: still a great place to be inside if it's a
[41:46] Speaker 1: little bit cold or rainy out and look at a
[41:48] Speaker 1: bunch of different new cars, for sure.
[41:50] Speaker 2: And I like to go to dealerships too, so I
[41:51] Speaker 2: guess it's just weird in that way, all right. It's
[41:54] Speaker 2: been awesome having you here, so good. It's been great
[41:57] Speaker 2: having Magnus here as well, and it was awesome talking
[42:00] Speaker 2: to Dimitri. And we'll be back here next week with
[42:04] Speaker 2: Bill Melvin, the CEO of Buell Motorcycles.
[42:08] Speaker 1: I'm Matt Miller and I'm Hannah Elliott, and this is
[42:10] Speaker 1: Bloomberg

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