Kia EV6, Nissan Frontier, Range Rover and VW Taos | Autoblog Podcast #738
In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined byYahoo Finance Senior Reporter Pras Subramanian. First, they discuss the cars they've been driving, including the Kia EV6, Nissan Frontier, Land Rover Range Rover and Volkswagen Taos. Then they discuss the state of certain brands like Bentley, Ferrari and Polestar. They also talk about the most recent quarterly sales updates, including what's going on with Tesla in China.
Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com.
Video Transcript
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GREG MIGLIORE: Welcome back to "The Autoblog Podcast." I'm Greg Migliore. We've got a great show for you today.
Got a special guest host. Joining me from Yahoo Finance is Pras Subramanian. How are you, man?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I'm good, I'm good. Just enjoying the summer here as we roll along.
GREG MIGLIORE: Sounds good, sounds good. It's pretty hot here in Michigan. I know in the Northeast, you guys get it just as hot, if not more so. But good time to drive some cars, right?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's, like, the wonderful time we have here. And I was like, we actually have a bit more time to do it in better weather, so very exciting.
GREG MIGLIORE: Exactly, exactly. So yeah, we got a great show for you. Let's dive right in. We're going to talk about the Kia EV6, the Nissan Frontier, Land Rover Range Rover, and the Volkswagen Taos, which is actually sitting in my driveway right now, so--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: [LAUGHS]
GREG MIGLIORE: --kind of a robust drive section. Lot of news this week. We're going to talk about the states of Bentley, Ferrari, and Polestar. We'll close things out with just what we're seeing in the sales trends. And of course, we're going to talk a little bit of Tesla.
And if you enjoy the show, this podcast at autoblog.com, send us your Spend My Moneys. Five star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. I think we're just about everywhere. So let's jump right in.
Pras, you were in the EV6. I was in one about three weeks ago. I am very interested to hear what you think.
This is, for me, one of the more interesting vehicles I've driven, electric or otherwise. I'll throw it over to you. What do you think?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, you know, Greg, it's-- again, I've been having these situations where I've been-- if you were going to get this car, electric car, I've been sort of ambivalent. Oh, OK, great. Lukewarm-- it's going to be boring.
Kia EV6 pops up in this nice, matte gray finish-- actually a pretty nice-looking car from an exterior design point of view. I was surprised. It looks nice and very different than its twin, right, the Ioniq 5. So pick up the car.
Again, the interior also-- lots of thought went into that to make it a bit-- make it different than its sibling, and a bit more futuristic in a nice way. And I thought it drove great. Even though I was in the-- kind of a single motor car with the 225-horsepower powertrain there with the single motor, and then that 77 kilowatt battery, I still thought it gave decent power. Nice drive in the city. I was in the city mostly.
I think it's a really capable car, Greg. And I think that it's very well designed and has a lot of features that I think people would need. It's got that combination of crossover versus kind of hatchback. So it has a nice size and great driving dynamics, and-- with everything pushed out to the-- wheels pushed out to the side, and battery down low. Again, these EV cars are great.
And I was getting around, yeah, 300 miles, 290 miles of range, so not too bad, not too shabby. And for the price, this one was around $53,000 before any tax breaks or credits. It's not a bad-- not a bad car, not a bad car at all.
GREG MIGLIORE: It sounds like you and I maybe had the exact same car, as there's a lot of interplay between the fleets, especially from, like, the upper Midwest here to the East Coast. I thought it really made a statement with that kind of matte, silvery gray finish with the big wheels. Kia, I give them a lot of credit. They go aggressive when it comes to many of their designs.
And I kind of like the EV6 a little more than the Ioniq 5, which is-- to your point, that's, like, the mechanical twin, basically. I'm in the minority at Autoblog. Everybody else here likes the Ioniq 5. They think it's this, like, great, almost '80s throwback thing.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Really?
GREG MIGLIORE: What do you think?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So I will say that I dig the Ioniq 5's exterior a lot. I think it's got that-- it's what a GTI would look-- a retrofuturistic GT-R, something like that. But I thought the interior of the Kia was way better. I like the touches that they had.
And the Hyundai had a bit-- it seemed a bit more, I don't know, not as fluid. It seemed a bit more kind of boxy, right, interior-wise, I thought. I thought the Kia was a bit more streamlined, a bit more comfortable.
Nice seats, I thought. I like that kind of like that vegan materials they're using, like, the kind of cloth they're using those in that car. Did a really good job. I mean, I was impressed, fit and finish-wise. I think it's a great car.
I'll have to do an actual drive in the Ioniq 5. But I'm with you in the sense that I kind of like the entire package of the Kia, at this point, more than I do the Ioniq 5.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, for me, it really comes down to, like, I really like the emotion that the EV6, I think, can kind of bring to the table, from the taillights all the way to just-- it's kind of got, like, a speed wagon profile, which I think is cool.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, yeah, exactly right, especially with the wheels at the ends of the car. I also want to just note that it has that onboard power generator, where you can actually power a bunch of things that a lot of cars in its class don't have, right, that V2L, I think is what they call it. It's kind of a nice feature there, too.
GREG MIGLIORE: Did you have to charge your EV6 when you were driving it?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I didn't have-- I had maybe about 200 miles of seat time in that car, so I didn't need to do that. As you know, where I live, in Manhattan, there are-- it's problematic finding chargers. Because you've got to go to garages or go out of the city. And you know it's a big pain.
So luckily, I did not have to deal with that. But that is an issue with these cars, at least for people living in cities.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, honestly, I didn't have to charge it either. It's kind of funny, I-- it came fully charged. I drove it for about-- I think I had four or five days, and it was still about maybe, like, a third. Swapped it out with one of our other editors, and I got something like a Ram or something. It was, like, totally opposite ends of the spectrum. I forget what the car was.
But yeah, charging is-- I find it interesting, like, the different approaches companies are taking with charging, whether it's like, hey, we're just going to kind of team up with Electrify America, whether you're Tesla, and of course, you want to do your own thing with the Supercharger network. It's a big problem.
Around here-- I live in, like, the suburbs of Detroit, north of Detroit. So thankfully, not too hard to find a charger. Like, there's a lot of malls, libraries, even some of the cities do it. But it's also not the easiest thing.
Like, there's nowhere near as many chargers as there are gas stations. So to me, it's a bigger problem than just, like, at the OEM level. It's like, I wonder if maybe-- you look at some of the political solutions, which obviously is always tricky.
But I mean, honestly, if I were looking to try to do the next big thing, I wouldn't make another electric car. I would make the charging network for the electric cars. If I were, like, Jeff Bezos or somebody, that's what I would do.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, you know, we're going to have, on the Volta, chief commercial officer next week on Yahoo Finance. Because they struck a deal with Kroger, right, to start installing their charging infrastructure, their units in Kroger's. And it seems like, you know, when we talk about how are we going to charge these cars and where, places like a grocery store, like a Kroger or even a Starbucks seem like the natural fits, right?
Because you're going to go there and maybe hang out there for at least 10 to 20 minutes. They've got a DC fast charger-- I mean, you get a decent amount of juice in the car. So that's, like, this equation we're talking about as we look at our society, and we look at our towns and our places where we shop, where we go, is that where we're going to add these chargers? And Greg, you're right, from a business opportunity, if you can do this, deploy these things in a strategic way, cost-effective way, it's a big opportunity there, right?
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, I mean, it's definitely, to use the buzzword monetization, I mean, this is an opportunity that's ripe for it. But there's obviously some startup costs, too. I mean, we're looking to monetize things, so yeah, I mean, hey, that's-- that would be one way to do it. Get the word out.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Well, how about we shift gears over to the Frontier? It's been a while since I have driven one. But I generally like it.
This is-- like, Nissan really let that old generation of the Frontier run for forever. Then they rolled this out, made them immediately more competitive. Interestingly, there's still some of the-- like, the underparts-- the underpinnings of the old Frontier still live on with this thing.
So I'm curious, what did you do with this? Did you go upstate? What did you do?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So kind of an interesting story here with this Frontier, because I'm a fan of these midsize pickups. I mean, they're the right size, really, right?
GREG MIGLIORE: Same.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: At The New York Auto Show, I met with Nissan's head of design, Alfonso Albaisa. And we're talking about their new electric car, which now, the name escapes me. [LAUGHS]
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, the Ariya.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, yeah, the Ariya or whatever--
GREG MIGLIORE: Ariya, yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --and other cars there. And then I had mentioned to him-- I was like, hey, Alfonso, what about the new Frontier? He's like, that's my favorite car. He's like, I designed that to kind of give it a very Japanese look-- the new one, at least. It has a very Japanese-- he almost said even anime kind of look, like you'd see in an anime, with that very squared off front, and almost the homage to the hardbody Nissan trucks of the past.
So he was really excited about it. So it's like, you know what? I got to get in this car, in this truck, and I did. And Greg, I got to tell you, very impressed.
I was in the PRO-4X model, the all-wheel-- the all-terrain, whatever you want to call it, off-road model. I thought it looked great. I loved the design.
Inside, a welcome update to the interior, right, which was so dated. Now, it's kind of up to, like, where you're kind of like Tacoma-style, right, at that level. Nice, powerful engine. You know, it's funny, it drove-- when I got in and drove it, it definitely is a truck, right? I don't know what you think, Greg, but it felt like a truck, you know? It was very, like, body-on-frame. Like, you turn the steering wheel, you might-- you get a turn a little bit later.
But I thought-- good power. 310 horsepower from a 3.8-liter V6. Good power-- oh, that nine-speed transmission, very smooth. You got the part-time four-wheel drive. I thought it was a great truck. And I think it's a great size.
And we took it upstate, wonderful-- up Hudson Valley, no problem at all. Little dirt roads here and there, it was-- handled, of course, no big deal. I think it's a really compelling package in that, you competing against a Colorado, the Tacoma, and others like that. So I like the Frontier a lot.
GREG MIGLIORE: I agree with you. My son drove it. And he likes trucks because, of course, little boys like trucks, right? And at first, I kind of wondered, would they keep that kind of truck dynamic here?
And I think they fully captured that. I think it looks pretty good, too. It's kind of like a tough-looking truck. It looks way better than the old one.
Yeah, I think it's very credible, very credible in the segment. Would I say it's the best? I wouldn't. I think there's a lot of things in the midsize truck segment, which is-- I think it's my favorite truck segment.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Mm-hmm.
GREG MIGLIORE: If I were looking to get a truck, I would think one of those. I know we're going to see a new Ranger coming up, which will update that truck, which is quite old. It's from, I think, Australia originally.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
GREG MIGLIORE: Which I'm really interested to see what they do there. Because I actually like the current Ranger, old as it is. But I mean, long story short, I think the Frontier was not competitive before. It was like a value play. If you wanted a truck for like-- what was it, like, 18,000 20,000 bucks, you could get it, if you wanted a truck from 2008 or whatever it was.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: But now, it's right in there. It's in the mix, I think, with like-- it's tough to rank them. Let me throw a surprise curveball at you. What would you say is the best midsize truck right now?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: You know, I was a fan of-- when the new Colorado came out, I liked that truck a lot. I thought it drove really smooth and had the right package. And that-- the tried and true V6 was fine. The new Ranger-- or I should say the Ranger that came out recently here--
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --I liked it, but I thought it was kind of plasticky. And I think, like you said, the design was a little old. Nice power, right, from that-- that turbo engine. But it just didn't, like, totally capture me.
The Tacoma is just, like, your benchmark. Straight away, kind of has everything you need. I'm not impressed by the power, though. It's really kind of--
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --takes a while to get going. I think right now, I would have to say the Colorado and the Frontier are my favorites right now in that segment. I'm really looking forward to the new Ranger.
Because we just saw the Amarok, the new VW Amarok, which is based on-- that thing looks hot, right?
GREG MIGLIORE: It does.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Better interior comfort and features, better power. I think that could be a really big-- sorry, the Ford Ranger could be the top of the line there. But as of right now, the Frontier and Colorado, I think, are my favorites.
GREG MIGLIORE: Colorado is, I think, really good at everything.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: I think it's maybe not, like, the most emotional truck in the segment. But it's just-- it's very trucky, but it's also pretty drivable. You can get, like, kind of a pretty intense off-road version with the ZR2.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yes.
GREG MIGLIORE: Big fan of the Colorado. I think almost illogically, I still like the Ranger a lot. But metrically, to your point, if you-- we actually have an Autoblog score sheet where we grade different parts of the vehicles. You know, a few years ago, we said it was best in class. I wouldn't say that now.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Mm-hmm.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's just the interior-- so many different things have passed it by. And the Gladiator, of course-- I think that's a great-- the Jeep truck, it's just kind of expensive.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, and you could even say the Maverick-- I mean, would you prefer a Maverick over the Ranger, just because it's-- it seems so composed? I will say we're going to get a lot of hate from Tacoma people, right?
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. I like the Tacoma. It's fun to drive. But I mean, it's-- I'm not even that tall, but it's pretty cramped in there. The infotainment looks like it's from-- I don't know, the era The Wallflowers would be playing on it. It's-- it's a dated truck, I would say.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, I completely agree. And I know it's super capable. But it just seems so sluggish to me. And this day and age, we don't need to have sluggish trucks. Like, there's more there for you. And even-- you don't have to suffer from any kind of MPG problem, either.
So yeah, it's an exciting semi, Greg, I totally agree. And you have stuff like the Hyundai Santa Fes of the world too, right? So--
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --or sorry, Santa Cruzes, Santa Cruzes of the world.
GREG MIGLIORE: The Santa Cruz, yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: That's a whole other thing that's popping up, too.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, no, it's interesting. You can get, like, Maverick and Santa Cruz, step up to all of these other trucks we just named, and then, obviously, go full-size. And it's interesting, you guys probably saw this, the Nissan Titan is reportedly on its way out.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yes.
GREG MIGLIORE: So there is, like, a Darwinism to the segment, you know? If you can't cut it, you're done.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Which seems kind of crazy, right? Like, you're going to kill the full-size or pseudo-full-size truck, that Titan, that it seems like you need to have in America to compete. But seemingly, people aren't buying it. I mean, you're just going Tundra, or you're going F-150, you're going Silverado, I mean-- and RAM, of course. Like, is that it? There's no more room for the Titan? I thought it was a nice package.
GREG MIGLIORE: Apparently not. You know, I thought it was a decent truck. I would probably put it right in there with the Tundra as far as, like, ranking them, behind all of the Detroit trucks. And I would include the Sierra in there. The Sierra is a pretty good truck. Sometimes we tend to just mishmash it with the Silverado. But I would put all of them ahead of them.
The Tundra-- yeah, the new Tundra--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: The new Tundra.
GREG MIGLIORE: --I think, is pretty credible. So yeah, I guess honestly, you've got to drop it behind the new Tundra. And then you--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: And then we got a new Tacoma, too.
GREG MIGLIORE: I mean, at that point, what are you even doing, you know? Like, you've got trucks of different sizes and shapes coming at you. You're really caught in, like, a pincer movement.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: I mean, from a business standpoint, I can totally see just draw the line and say, hey, we're only selling this many. It's making this much money. We've got to spend that money somewhere else. So I get it, I guess.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I get it. And now, I'm seeing-- you're seeing more of the mainstreaming of it. And really, I just want to throw in anecdotally, my brother has two young kids and his wife. And they have two cars that they use.
And they're like, they want to get a third-- they want to get-- they want to get a pickup.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: They want to get a pickup that they can just throw stuff in the back and have fun and-- and that's going to be their third car. So there you go. That's your third car, right? It's a fun little pickup.
So I think that's what we're seeing, more of that emerging in this country, of people wanting that fun activity vehicle.
GREG MIGLIORE: I'm going to kind of live that life next week, I think. We're going to try to, like, maybe go over to Chicago for a little bit. And the vehicle that I'm looking to take is a Ram. And I think it's actually a Ram Rebel, which is going to be amazing for, like, 95% of the drive. Because it's big. It's comfortable, right? You know, fly out on 94.
Parking in Chicago with a Ram Rebel is going to be-- I might just valet it and be like, here you go, man. Like, put it in the hotel. If you scratch it, I know where to send the bill. But I could see that truck kind of-- like, it's just a fun vibe, you know? You load everybody up in the pickup, and away you go.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Kids love the trucks, man.
GREG MIGLIORE: They do.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: They do. They just think [INAUDIBLE] a massive toy. And we're like, yeah, it is. It is a massive toy. We love it.
GREG MIGLIORE: Kids--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: It's exciting.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, I know. I mean, it's funny-- and Jeeps, too. That's the other one that, like, my son is obsessed with, the Jeep Wrangler-- and the Ford Bronco a little bit, too.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Dude, kids-- we're adults, we're-- I'm still into these--
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --trucks, so--
GREG MIGLIORE: This is one of the-- yeah, 100%. I mean, you get to write about cars. What could be better than that, in many ways?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: [LAUGHS]
GREG MIGLIORE: So Land Rover Range Rover.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Pretty cool, luxurious SUV to drive. It's actually been a little while since I've been in the Rover. I'm going to get in-- I'm going to get in this one, I think, towards the end of the month. So I mean, I guess you tell me. What did you think of it?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So I just got out of it, actually, over the weekend. And so it's pretty fresh in my mind. And a few things just off the top of my head-- I mean, the design of it, it's got this futuristic vibe, right, like hardcore-- you know, the recent Range Rovers have kind of been edging more towards the design philosophy of very clean, not so much rugged-looking, the old-school-- the LWBs of days gone by, Counties of the past-- again, it's a very futuristic vibe. And especially now, with the new Range Rover, because it's going to be all-electric at some point, I think in 2024. So you have this really modern look.
Ultra luxurious inside, right? We had-- it was just the first edition model. It's got leather headlining. It's got leather everywhere.
I got to see the drive-- this was a preproduction build, but it felt very, very production. The drive was like a magic carpet ride, right? Almost like a Rolls-Royce, sort of floating on those air suspension-- absorbing all the city ruts and cracks and potholes. It was just so smooth and composed.
Yeah, it's a bit wallowy if you're trying to drive it in something aggressively. But it's just so comfortable. As a daily driver, my god, I can't imagine-- you just get in that thing, you just sink into it, right? The seats are so comfortable.
It has 520 horsepower around that. So you're not lacking for any power there, for a car that's weighing, what, 5,000, 6,000 pounds. So I was very impressed.
This is a very expensive car. We're talking about a car that operates in the Mercedes G-- the GL-- the wagon-- is it the GLS wagon? I'm sorry, the SUV, the top of the line--
GREG MIGLIORE: The Landa wagon or the GLS, I guess.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: The GLS, the GLS. Yeah, the G-Wagen's another thing. But yeah, it's in that same level of price. But it's ultra luxurious. You can get chauffeured in this thing. It's an amazing animal.
But we're talking about, also, the future of Land Rover. And it's-- they're hinting at it, this is where it's going to be, or we're going to go EV at some point. Even though our customers love the cars as is, they're going to offer that car in an EV. And it sure has the looks of that.
GREG MIGLIORE: Interesting. OK, when you look at Land Rover, how do you think they're sitting right now in that kind of luxury marketplace? And this is kind of like, I guess, a preview for where we're going to go next here.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Mm-hmm.
GREG MIGLIORE: But I mean, you think they're in a position of strength? Generally, when I drive their products, I find them to be interesting. They're always different, more interesting than if you wanted to get--
Like, I think the Germans tend to have-- they have their mold. Like, if you want to get a very expensive, like, Ford Expedition or something, you could argue that's luxurious. I think they have, like, an identity.
But I mean, it's tough out there, you know? I mean, what do you think?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I think that they are in a-- I would say a good and bad position, where they're extremely popular, right? People buy or want the Defenders. They want the new Range Rover Sport. Range Rover fans are there, and they're not going to go away.
From what they were telling me, people at the company-- and this is no open secret. It's the fact that, yes, we have to go EV because that's where the market wants to go. That's where the future is.
But our customers say, don't change anything. They're literally telling them, don't change anything. We like how things are.
So they have this sort of customer base that's very old-school. They're upper crust. They've got money, but they don't necessarily want, maybe, to go full EV right away.
So they're trying to thread that needle where they're going to say, OK, we're going to offer these cars in both standard powertrains, but also, we're going to start going EV with the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, right? Those are the two models that are going to go EV by 2024. And then they want to have something like six EV models by 2026, and then be, like, 60% EV by 2030.
So their goals are not as aggressive as the rest of the industry. But I can see why. They're trying to go to the future, but also, they're trying not to piss off their very, very particular clients.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, no, it's interesting. And of course, they're owned by Tata. And that's a pretty big, like, industrial conglomerate. So there is money there. If they need to pivot, they have sort of a sibling brand with Jaguar. So you know, it's interesting.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I'd ask you that, Greg. I'm curious about what you think about Jaguar. Because to me, it seems like a brand that's sort of floating around and doesn't have a vision yet as to what it wants to be.
I was just in the UK for-- I was at Goodwood. And it's funny, you see a lot of Jags on the road because it's a British marque that they like. But you don't see any Jaguars around here, right? I mean, it's so rare, other than SUVs.
GREG MIGLIORE: You know, it's interesting, we see a few of them. You might see more Jaguars around Michigan than you might expect.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Hmm, interesting.
GREG MIGLIORE: You do see a lot of the F-Pace, which is probably the one you see the most of. I actually feel like Land Rover is in a better spot. Because like we covered, they do have an identity.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: For sure, yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: And the Defender, I think, is really a nice vehicle. That's one of the more interesting ones that I've seen in a few years. It was nice they took almost a little more of a subtle take on that rough and tough off-roading segment.
But with Jaguar, it's like, I know they're talking electrification. But to me, Jaguar is a sports car brand. And the F-Pace is like, I believe, their best seller, right up there with the E-Pace.
The E-Pace, to me, is invisible in that segment. It's smaller, it has less of an identity. It's not really any of the things that Jaguar needs to be.
So I personally think they need to get back to having, like, another car in there that's, like, at or near the best of class. It can be electric. I don't care. Style it up, make it beautiful, and that's what Jaguar is.
I mean, not many people buy Jaguars for the engines, to be honest. You know, usually, the stereotype is like, well, it's a Jaguar. You've got to have another one for when it doesn't start. I think they've since put that mostly behind them.
But I mean, it's only been fairly recently that Jaguar has really gotten into this almost, like, hot rodding. You know, I drove an F-Pace SVR with the 5.0-liter V8, which is just amazing. I left a hole in the ozone layer behind me. But--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: How great does that car sound?
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, my gosh.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: It's just-- oh, I loved it. I was in tear-- I loved it.
GREG MIGLIORE: Cold start-- I mean, what's better than that? Wake up the whole neighborhood.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: And people have said it's the best-sounding car out there. And I'm like, it might be.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's up there. Yeah, I had a Maserati Levante, I think it was the Trofeo, which had another big, big V8 that just--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Ferrari.
GREG MIGLIORE: --sounded awesome. Yeah, Ferrari V8.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: So yeah, we'll see when it comes to Jaguar, I guess. But yeah, we'll close things out real quickly. I'm in the Volkswagen Taos right now, small crossover. Mine has the 4Motion all-wheel drive.
Handles really well. It's got that pretty nice interior. I like the steering, if you will. Plenty of room for like, just a small family. It's very usable.
Powertrain's a little weird. I've noticed that in Volkswagens lately, just with the engine and the transmission. It seems like, I don't know, there's a little bit of like, a delay at times, which bugs me. I have sort of solved that by driving in sport mode all the time, which kind of keeps the shifts a little quicker.
Really nice-looking thing. It's bright red, so it's-- Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's a small crossover. It's sort of unremarkable. But I'd say it's competitive.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: You have two kids, yeah?
GREG MIGLIORE: Just the one. Just one. So this is probably perfect for him, but not for two, is how I would put it.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: That's what I was going to ask. Like, you think it's a bit-- bit too tight for two kids. And is it a DCT? What's the deal with that? Is that why it's sort of hunting around, or--
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, it is the-- let me pull up the specs real quick. And I can give you the full deep dive here. But it's-- yeah, it's one of those things, too, where I almost feel like they kind of went off the shelf with everything here, so to speak. So it's just very, like, Volkswagen-y in every sense. And it's right kind of in the-- I would say, like, the middle of the segment, if you will.
I mean, here's why-- I think this is what bugs me the most, is it's a 1.5-liter. That's why I was looking for a four cylinder.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
GREG MIGLIORE: So respectable, and it's fine. But it's a seven-speed DCT. That's what I was looking for.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Mm-hmm.
GREG MIGLIORE: I was thinking it was a nine-speed for some reason. But no, it's a seven-speed. And it just-- those two don't seem to play nicely, in my opinion. You know, I think-- a dual clutch is great. You know, that's fine in many applications, in fact.
But I don't know. I think it might just be-- it's like it's the small displacement engine with the dual clutches trying to fight it out. It's not great, you know? It's--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: [INAUDIBLE]
GREG MIGLIORE: 1.5 liters.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: 1.5 liters.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, I mean, that's probably the overarching problem.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: [LAUGHS] Yeah, it's--
GREG MIGLIORE: But--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, it makes a big difference, right? As we still kind of linger with the gas-powered engines, you know, it's--
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: It's to get smaller, more efficient. But then they also, like-- like, let's move, let's go. Let's go.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: At some points.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's funny, I was actually changing lanes in the Taos. And sometimes, I'm-- like, I was listening to sports talk. You know, I was exactly in my, like, you know, Lime Rock mode of driving, let's put it that way.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Mm-hmm.
GREG MIGLIORE: Get over, nail the gas. And this guy in, like, a Honda, I think it was the Accord, was just bearing down on me. I'm like, yeah, that's fine. You got room here.
And then all of a sudden, I'm sitting there like, OK, come on, dual clutches, let's get this thing in gear. We got to go. You know, this guy's coming at you. So--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: [LAUGHS]
GREG MIGLIORE: You know, I didn't think I was in a McLaren. But this thing's a little-- I don't know. I will say this-- it looks pretty good.
I think Volkswagen design in recent years is-- it's a nice look, you know?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: I think they've done a good job of creating this kind of like-- blocky isn't the right word. Chiseled, to use that cliche.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Mm-hmm.
GREG MIGLIORE: But like, if you don't want to spend the money on an Audi, it's there for you.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I was just thinking, it's like, Audi is the big brother, right? Because the design language is, it's like-- they're more about the hard edges, not so much the curves. And I kind of think that's a nice look as we kind of progress into the 2020, mid 2020s here, and they move on.
VW-- Jesus, I mean, how much are they investing in--
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --in their future? So the Taos, and also the Tiguan. I have a friend has a Tiguan. He says he'll never buy another car ever again. He just wants to keep buying Tiguans--
GREG MIGLIORE: Really?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --over and over again. The guy's just like, it's comfortable. It takes me from A to B. You know, it looks good, you know? OK, fine, you don't care.
GREG MIGLIORE: Volkswagen buyers, I think, are very-- they can be very loyal. So it's funny, I have a friend, too, who has a Jetta. And it's like the newer Jetta. That's a little more sedan, as opposed to the hatch from-- I think of college and high school, for people driving Jettas.
But he's in no hurry to get rid of it. And I'm like, hey, man, you could get something a little better here. He has two kids.
And we'll meet up for golfing. And I'm like-- there's two car seats in there. I'm like--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: [LAUGHS]
GREG MIGLIORE: But so to your point, though, people are-- they're loyal to Volkswagen, especially if the cars keep running. And their reliability is, like, OK, you know? I mean, the whole diesel thing maybe had some issues with their quality, and just in general, image and environmental friendliness. But--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: And that just reminds me of one quick thing, right, that I want to say about the Range Rover. I took it to a cars and coffee--
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, nice.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: [INAUDIBLE] over the weekend. A couple of Range Rover fans came up. And they said, is that the new one? And they were all excited.
The one thing they all said to me, those guys were like, yeah, I used to own a Range Rover. And I sold it right before the warranty ran out.
[LAUGHTER]
Like, they knew. Like--
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --I do not want this thing. So that's a problem, right?
GREG MIGLIORE: Good move.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, they were afraid, deathly afraid of that.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, no, that's a good move. Well, should we talk some news?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, sure, sure.
GREG MIGLIORE: All right, let's jump in. You did a piece recently on Bentley, and just what's kind of going on with them. We've got three different brands here in the news segment. Rather than just run through different little nuggets of news, we've both-- Autoblog's been covering some of these things. Polestar just did an IPO.
Ferrari's made some news about mainly being-- like, they're still going to offer you some ICE options under the hood for a while. And of course, the Purosangue is coming up, too. We could probably riff on that.
But let's start off with Bentley. When you look at their lineup, and just in some of your reporting, where are you thinking they stand, just real quick, in that kind of State of the Union for Bentley?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: You know, they've been really hitting their mark in the last few years with great design, the kind of vehicles that people want with the Continental GT. And even the Flying Spur, at that level of where you want to be chauffeured and stuff like that, in places like-- and Bentayga, right? So doing well in North America, Europe, and also Asia, which is pretty big for them-- China with the Bentayga and the Flying Spur.
You know, I spoke to them. Went to the factory, actually, Greg. Toured-- I went to Crewe, of all places.
GREG MIGLIORE: Nice.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: They have a great facility there. Like, 3,000 factory workers making these cars. About 100 a day-ish they're making there, which is pretty nice.
And I saw the Mulliner division, too. And the big news--
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, that's nice.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --there is-- Mulliner, you know, is like their coachbuilding, their custom shop. They want to basically make Mulliner a brand of Bentley, where all the highest-end cars, I think like the M cars or the AMG cars will be the Mulliner of Bentley cars. So they're sort of differentiating their brand in new ways, and thinking about expanding the brand.
And of course, they're going to go all electric, right? They're going to-- that's their goal. And I think it works well for them when you're talking about performance, and comfort, and quiet-- a very, very kind of quiet ride.
And so for the Rolls-Royces and Bentleys of the world, maybe electrification works. Because it's sort of, like, where you want to be as a ultra premier brand. So I think they're in a-- it's a good spot. The driver's seat-- great place for them right now.
With VW ownership, they're going to have the money to invest. And people are-- they told me people are excited about an EV future, too.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, no, I think that's true. I drove the-- we talked about this a couple of shows ago-- I drove the Rolls-Royce Cullinan recently. And I tended to think, talking about magic carpet ride, it-- that's another brand that I-- like Bentley, I feel pretty optimistic about their future. And they just-- they live in these places where-- like, the business case, as long as you sort of have it, and you have the identity and the vision, you just kind of got to plug in different things.
Like, OK, we're going to go EV now. We're going to do this. We're going to do an SUV finally, for both of them.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Mm-hmm.
GREG MIGLIORE: But yeah, I mean, it's-- and yeah, just as a side note, the Cullinan was pretty awesome. That was-- have you ever driven a Rolls-Royce? You probably have.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I have, yeah. And I drove the-- I've driven the Cullinan, too.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: You know, I've taken people in it. And they're like, what's the big deal? It's Rolls-Royce. So why so much money?
And if you-- first, you ride in it. And you're like, oh my god. OK.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I understand. I can't hear anything. It's completely cocooned. You're floating everywhere. This is how motoring is? You can't believe it.
And if you drive it, then you're like, whoa, this car's actually fun to drive. I mean, it's just so laid back.
GREG MIGLIORE: Totally shocked by that, but exactly.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: And I even did some of the black badge cars, the ones that are a bit more heightened. And they do the right mix of, we'll give you a little bit of performance, but it still a Rolls, right? And you just-- you can drive the car eight hours and not feel fatigued at all, right? You just get out, and you're like, oh, no big deal. Now, you're paying for it, but it's just such a world of motoring that only they kind of occupy, right? It's just unbelievable, to me, at least.
GREG MIGLIORE: I was honestly-- like, you are totally correct. I couldn't believe how easy, I guess to say, it was to drive. Like, you could see out of it. The steering is, like, basically kind of light. So it wasn't intimidating.
And this is something that is like-- it's, like, basically Chevy Tahoe-sized. And the Tahoe is a little bit of work to drive. I think it's actually bigger on-- I forget if it's four inches wider, I want to say.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Mm.
GREG MIGLIORE: So it's a big vehicle, the Cullinan is. So yeah, I don't know. This is hilarious. I almost am looking forward to driving a different Rolls to see if it has that same dynamic.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, and the Cullinan has that sort of, you know, the split back where you can--
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --set up the seats and watch the polo match, or whatever people do with those cars. So it's all a lifestyle.
GREG MIGLIORE: Did yours have the whiskey decanters?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: [LAUGHS] It did not, unfortunately. But I heard you got that, you can get the-- do the champagne thing in the middle, in the back, right? It's all-- I love the fact that you can push the button to close the door, though. To me, that's--
GREG MIGLIORE: Super cool.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: After that, I never once pulled the door. I just pushed the button.
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, 100%. Yeah, my kid knew how to do that. He was just like, no, I got it, dad. Hits the button. Like, OK, cool.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: [LAUGHS]
GREG MIGLIORE: We had a Maybach, S-Class Maybach a while back. And that has silver-plated flutes in the back, too. So if you're at a certain income level, you can really get some nice drinkingware in your cars. The problem is, is the flutes were-- they took them out because of COVID. Like, just a couple of years ago, they were like--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Mm-hmm.
GREG MIGLIORE: --we decided there's, like, some liability in sharing cups, literally, with world-traveling automotive journalists. Plus, it's silver. You can't just throw it in the dishwasher. So those are a little tough.
I remember a few years ago, we had one of these-- and by few, I mean, like, eight. And I got in the back of one. I opened up, like, a La Croix, and started drinking it. And I remember-- this was, like, 2014.
Our video guy was like, sure you want to drink out of that? Like, you don't know who drove this thing last. And so-- totally different world on so many levels.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: [LAUGHS]
GREG MIGLIORE: Anyways, let's talk Ferrari. I don't know if they come with flutes. They probably do if you ask them and you're rich enough, right? But just some news there. I mean, they're going to stick with some ICE options under the hood for a while.
And we also know the Purosangue is coming very soon, which is sort of their version of-- I'd say it's more of a crossover than an SUV. But I think they're in a solid spot, too. So what do you think?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, you know, they had their Capital Markets Day earlier, in June. And they talked about, like, they want to aim for 80% battery EV sales by 2030. And they had some very loose sort of guidelines about, you know, we're going to release an electric car, I think, in 2025, right? We're going to show it to you guys.
But they're really dragging their feet in terms of-- if anyone knows their customers, they know what their customers want. They want those stonking engines that-- I think Benedetto, the CEO at-- Benedetto Vigna, the CEO, talked about how, like, some guy-- I'm gonna butcher this, but he told a story about how he delivered a car to one of their owners. And the guy cried, literally cried after hearing the engine. So it's like, you know, these people are so passionate about these cars.
And I think there's freaked out about, if we go all-electric, we're going to miss that-- that sound and emotional part of our ownership experience. That being said, they got to go electric. They've already been doing that with hybrid supercars, right? They're already adding hybrid technology, so they'll do that for a long time, and maybe throw a bone to the EV people, and-- hey, here's your EV whatever. Maybe it'll be, like, a Grand Touring car. I have no idea.
But the Purosangue, I mean, that's been-- you tell me, right? Why is it taking so long? Like, they're just losing out to their competitors at this point, right?
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, it's-- it's interesting because I think they-- it's like anything, where there's like, people have different priorities. I sort of feel like it's not a huge priority for Ferrari. I feel like they--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Mm-hmm, exactly.
GREG MIGLIORE: Since we first saw it, if you will, or learned of it, how many things have they rolled out in the interim?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I can't even keep track of all the cars they have out.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, and that's good for them, right? You know, you're Ferrari. Like we talked about with Jaguar a few minutes ago, where are the cars with them? With Ferrari, they're like, yeah, yeah, we're working on the SUV, don't worry. Here's the latest version of our mid-engine sports car, which I'm actually kind of OK with.
I'm not necessarily sure, from an enthusiast standpoint, the world needs a Ferrari SUV. I do think the Ferrari customer needs an SUV, though. I think they are leaving money on the table. They're leaving some chips on the side.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: A lot.
GREG MIGLIORE: I think they got to get there, you know?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I mean, the Chinese market, the West Coast-- I mean, I bet Europe probably doesn't give a-- [MUTED] I'm sorry, [LAUGHS] give a hoot about that. But America and China? We talk about it endlessly. Like, they are missing out there, right? And they're a public company.
GREG MIGLIORE: Well if you look at, like, the Macan and the Cayenne, I would argue if Porsche can do an SUV-- and they were among the first, too--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
GREG MIGLIORE: --Ferrari can do one. I mean, like, Rolls-Royce is doing an SUV, you know? And arguably, they have more of a business case with, like, the people riding in their cars, and Ferrari probably doesn't. That's, like, the last thing people want to be thinking.
But I mean, they're like-- I kind of wonder, too, if they're a company that's a little hamstrung by their history, you know? A few years back, I went to Maranello and toured the factory. You know, Luca Di Montezemolo was actually--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: That's amazing.
GREG MIGLIORE: It is.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: That's amazing.
GREG MIGLIORE: Di Montezemolo was still in charge at that point.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Mm-hmm.
GREG MIGLIORE: And a guy who-- you talk about these, like, iconic CEOs. I mean, he was a guy that was rumored to maybe run for Prime Minister of Italy. He was-- like, he was literally, I think, Italian royalty.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Mm-hmm.
GREG MIGLIORE: So then Marchionne took over. I'm not sure di Montezemolo left voluntarily, so to speak. And now they've definitely-- yeah, I don't know. I feel like again, maybe their history is sort of slowing them down. Maybe there's a reticence there.
And it does take time to develop cars. I'm sure they've got to make this one-- this one has to be perfect. They can sort of miss on a sports car, and we're all going to still think it's pretty good. If they miss on their SUV, well, that's going to be kind of a fried egg across the forehead, right? Like, you can't miss on this.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, just a couple of points I want to make about that. So the SUV-- I was going to say, look at Aston Martin with the DBX, right? I think that's a very-- one of the most sportiest, if not the most sporty SUV I've ever driven in my life, right, in terms of it drives like a car. It--
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --has the utility that you need. It looks and, I think, feels great as a car.
GREG MIGLIORE: Mm-hmm.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So there is the opportunity to go in that direction and be like, this is the Ferrari of SUVs. You're going to know what you're in. This thing is amazing.
But so the new CEO, Vigna, he's from a chip company, a computer chip company, right?
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So they're hinting-- like, when they hired him, this is where we're going to go, is-- the technology is our future. And that means-- maybe means more-- we are going to go with the EV at some point. But that's part of where they see-- they're not talking about, like, we'll just bring in a car guy. They brought in a chip guy, you know?
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Like, they're really leaning in on the electronic part of it. And so they kind of see the future of the brand as high tech. Maybe he'll take them there kicking and screaming. But I don't know, I think-- we're sort of going to see where they're going to go by just who they have in charge.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, I think that's interesting. And it's worked with, like, Alan Mulally of Ford. You know, he was an airplane guy who came in--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Mm-hmm.
GREG MIGLIORE: He was great at, like, setting a vision. He was a good CEO, you know? You don't have to be an expert to be a good CEO. In fact, sometimes it helps if you're not.
Ferrari has all the money in the world. But I honestly-- like, I don't know if they needed to go with a chip guy to be their CEO, you know?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: They could go buy whatever they need to get their cars where they need to be. Like--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: I don't know. And plus, they have the whole Formula 1 thing where they're making and spending gobs of money over there. The team's finally competitive this year for the first time in, like, years, basically. So we'll see. In some ways, I think I could see the F1 team maybe wagging the tail of the dog a little bit there, too. Because hey, it's F1. Not like there's no politics there, right?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I think you're absolutely right. This is the one car company in the world that's so tied to its racing team, that's so strongly tied to it and the performance of the team, that--
GREG MIGLIORE: Mm-hmm.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: The DNA is so race-oriented that it's almost like-- that's why we're having these issues with why are they not-- where is the SUV? Where is the EV game plan, right? It's because hey, we still race cars. And that's where we want to be, and that's where our clients want us to be.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, no, and I think it's great to have that kind of-- those traditions, you know? It's almost like-- I don't know. I like football. I've been to Notre Dame Stadium.
Like, when you walk in there, it's like that's a historic place for football, you know? And that's kind of how they are. But then in this new era of, like, you can pay your athletes in college football, and the conferences are doing all these things-- not to go too sportsy here. But it's, like, the times are changing.
And sometimes, you wonder, like, if that prancing horse is going to go in a new direction.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So I wanted to ask you about this. So I was in the Bentley factory. And I kind of felt that history. And they-- they took me in a-- I got a ride in one of these 1929 race car-- M Bentley racing cars, right, with the open top.
And I'm sitting next to the driver. We're like-- our shoulders are butting against each other. And it--
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --you really felt-- we drove in the English countryside-- really felt that, like, this is what the company is about. Did you sort of feel that history the moment you walked through the gates and heard-- maybe the church bells? No, I'm just kidding, but in Maranello.
GREG MIGLIORE: Definitely. It was very historic. And I mean, even to the point of-- it reminded me a little bit of some of the things around Detroit, where they've been making cars for, like, 100 years. Like, historic is a nice way to put it. Old is another way to put it too, you know? Like, they look like a place that's been making cars since a really long time ago.
So yeah, so that's history. Company that has very little history, Polestar, they did their IPO this week. They are on the cutting edge with their Android Auto infotainment system. It's all electric except for the Polestar 1, which was randomly a hybrid, and super expensive, and super limited edition. But the 2, all these other ones we've been hearing, that's what's coming up next.
I'm really intrigued by this company. I drove the 2 and thought it was a really credible, credible kind of sports sedan. Really an interesting alternative to Tesla.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, a very intriguing company with regards to ownership, right? Geely and Volvo co-ownership. They just went public a couple of weeks ago. They closed their SPAC merger on the-- so they're trading on the NASDAQ now. So they're a public company. Stock's not doing too well, it's doing OK.
But I got to tell you that the portfolio of cars they have going on, really compelling. The P1, I drove that, too, a year or two ago. And I thought that car was-- the hybrid, I thought it was amazing. Design-wise, it's amazing.
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: P2, a great what-- $56,000 car, in that range, you know, like a mix of a crossover with a sedan. Does a great job, gives you all that you need. And then we're seeing the-- the P5 and the P3, the other cars that are coming out-- that Grand Touring. I saw that at Goodwood, too-- beautiful. I mean, if that car comes out anything looking like what they had there going up the hill, that's a really compelling sedan-type looking, sporty car with that full EV powertrain.
And you got to be excited for the company that are putting those kinds of cars out like that. The EV sort of evolution is still on the way. And they're really kind of there from the higher end point. So that's exciting stuff. And it's an interesting company with a great, as they call it, asset-light model where they're able to use Geely and Volvo to help them build these cars.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, no, it's interesting the way they have grown. And Polestar is, of course, like a motorsports, essentially, heritage background. They've really evolved it. I think it's been-- I was very skeptical about this kind of spin-off, make them their own brand.
But I think they're kind of doing it, you know? I think their portfolio is going to be ambitious. Been impressed with the two models that I've been able to drive.
I actually did a column on the Polestar 1 just saying, hey, this is actually the way to start, you know? The powertrain did not line up with their stated mission. But that's OK because it was gorgeous. It was limited edition. And you put yourself on this plane of luxury.
Whereas if they came out with the 2 first, well, OK, you're like a small sedan company that nobody even knows what it is? So--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Is it a Volvo? I mean--
GREG MIGLIORE: Exactly, yeah, yeah, yeah. Cautiously optimistic on that front. And you know, they have a little-- to me, they could almost be like an electric Volkswagen, you know? A little quirky. They could be-- like, they're maybe a little sportier than a Volkswagen. They're a little more expensive, but not too expensive.
So impressed with the product. And we'll see where they go next, I guess.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, I just got to say you're absolutely right. I think they've really gone hard into their design aesthetic, and we are this Nordic company.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Very clean lines, very-- even the website is very clean. And the design, it's very flat. And it's got that vibe of like, we are just the future, right?
And the other thing is-- that I want to mention's like, so they have the state-of-the-art factory in China. And people talk about, like, oh, you don't want stuff made in China. It's like, the Chinese factories are-- they are incredible. They are state-of-the-art.
And they're building these cars cheaply. And if you look at the car, it looks like it was made in Germany. I mean, it just looks insanely-- just perfect, right? So they have a lot going on for themselves. And I think they've sort of-- they're in the right sweet spot right now for that premium luxury brand that's going to be setting themselves up for the next century, right, in terms of where we are from electrification.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, and I think they're smart to focus on, like, the market in China and the market in the US, and obviously, probably Scandinavia a little bit, too. Because you got to, right, if you're Polestar. But like, that's the way to make a company be a success, is take the obvious things in front of you, you dial in there.
Don't try to sell cars everywhere and try to creep into markets where Mercedes, Tesla, GM have been dominating for years. Like, don't do that. Just find your niches and go for it. And you know, we'll see.
I mean, I think they're-- they seem to have a pretty good plan. And they seem to be getting investment. And you know, I've been hearing, honestly, more about them than Volvos lately, as far as from a news perspective. Like, when's the last time we heard anything out of Volvo?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I mean, 100%. And even from my point of view, in the Yahoo Finance area, that Polestar stock is one of the most highly tracked tickers on the site. So there's a lot of enthusiasm, not with just the car people, but also the investment community, kind of excited about another-- a pure plug EV company that's out there. So yeah, for sure.
GREG MIGLIORE: Sounds good. Sounds good. Talk some Q2 sales, and just sales trends in general here-- I think we're still seeing the effects of the chip shortage and some supply chain constraints, and a little bit of shuffling of the pecking order as far as domestically, General Motors took off. Toyota, which Toyota had picked them off for the first time in ever, basically.
But at the end of the day, a lot of these sales figures are just kind of like-- it's like baseball. It's a long season, right? You know, you win in May, you got to keep winning. So--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Mm-hmm.
GREG MIGLIORE: --I think in some ways, you're seeing that, especially among the domestics, not worrying as much about who's number one in May or June. Because whether you sold 280,000 cars or 270,000, doesn't matter as much as if you're profitable, and if you can get people the cars that they want. Just given the way prices, inflation currently are just buffeting consumers, it's kind of a weird time to buy a car, I guess, to kind of bring it all together.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, if you can, right? And it seems like the inventory situation is getting better. But just a couple of high level notes that I can-- just been following over here.
So you know, we had GM come in. They've actually warned about their current second quarter profit. They took a little dip there because of the fact that, like you said, chip stuff, component shortages.
They have something close to 100,000 vehicles sitting at the factory that they can't deliver yet because of these shortages. So they're waiting to deliver those. So that's sort of weighing on them.
But they reiterated their full-year guidance and said, we're still going to make a ton of money. We're OK. Second half of the year's going to look better than the first half.
Then you have Ford, right? They actually sold more cars than they did last year at this time, which is an improvement over the other large automakers. They actually did better this quarter than they did last year at the same time. So they're looking good.
Their EV cars are selling like hotcakes, right? Huge percentage-- double digit percentage gains across those EV cars. Plus the Lightning was on sale. I think they sold, like, 1,800 Ford Lightnings last quarter. So that's going on. And that's going to-- good for them.
On the flip side, Tesla, not necessarily the best Q2 in terms of production. They had a lot of problems in China with the COVID shutdowns. And that hurt them pretty badly.
But they still delivered 250,000-plus cars, met their inline-- met their estimates. And they had the best June ever, they said, in terms of production. Worldwide, they had the best June ever. China really ramping up. Once we see Austin and Berlin really kind of there, if the demand is still there, which it seems like it is, they're going to be firing all cylinders come Q3, Q4.
GREG MIGLIORE: And you mentioned earlier, we've talked about Tesla as kind of like a thread throughout the show. Interesting performance for them in China here in the second quarter.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, they had their-- according to the Chinese Passenger Car Association, this government entity, they--
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --Tesla had the best June-- or best month ever in June. Sold nearly-- or [INAUDIBLE] nearly 80,000 EVs, which is an astounding amount. If you think about over the course of a year, if they maintain that level, we're talking about what, a million cars? I mean, something insane like that.
But the one thing that they're going to do is in July, they're going to have to retool some of the factories they got. They're going to make some-- even more improvements. They're going to shut down Model 3 and Model Y's production for a few weeks in July.
You know, it happens all the time, right, Greg? In every factory, they do that kind of optimization, retooling. So they're sort of setting themselves up for the back half of the year.
But yeah, strong month in China. Really, they just-- Chinese, it's like-- in China there, you can just-- multiple shifts, keep going. Like, they're just pumping them out like crazy.
GREG MIGLIORE: Sounds good. Sounds good. It's funny you mentioned the way the sales are reported in China. When I covered the-- I covered the Shanghai Motor Show a few years back. And I was-- I literally had that bookmarked, all those numbers.
Just because you want-- before you go to cover the show, you want to see, well, who's selling what here? And it's a different way of reporting than anywhere else. But that also makes sense. I mean, that's kind of how it is.
And we had to get visas. It was a very complicated process, I remember. I actually sailed through customs because I wrote-- I think I put "writer" on my thing. Just that's what I wrote at the time-- or editor or something. Nobody said otherwise.
But the other guys in my traveling party, some other journalists, put journalists. And I didn't think-- so I usually put journalist on everything. I just didn't think of it. Maybe I had a few Heinekens on the flight over.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: And they were like-- they had all kinds of issues. Finally, I think the PR guy had to tell them-- he's like, look, guys, for you to enter the country, you're going to have to say you work at Home Depot or something. And like-- like, it literally-- they were like, yeah, we know you're coming to the Shanghai show. But you put the wrong answer here. We can't unsee it. You've got to do something different.
And that was-- so that was weird. But it was definitely a life experience, covering that auto show, so.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I got to make it out there at some point, yeah, for sure.
GREG MIGLIORE: Definitely worth-- definitely worth covering. Well, that's all the time we have. We don't have a Spend My Money this week. We've been talking about summer beers. Do you have a go-to drink you're sipping on during these hot July days?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: You know, don't laugh at me, but I've been loving this thing called-- have you heard of SUNBOY? [LAUGHS]
GREG MIGLIORE: No. No.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: It's a spiked coconut water drink. Let me tell you--
GREG MIGLIORE: All right.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --I'm loving this thing. It's-- tastes great. You know, coconut water, supposed to be good for you, right?
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Natural flavors, and they kind of spike it with some-- I guess some vodka or whatever they use, whatever alcohol they use. I'm telling you, man, on a hot summer day, nothing better than a SUNBOY. I'm not sponsored by them, by the way. Just letting you know.
GREG MIGLIORE: I mean, hey, if you get an affiliate link in here somehow, I don't know. I mean, that's--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: [LAUGHS]
GREG MIGLIORE: Here I am, just sipping gin and tonics like an old man, I guess. I need to try something different.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Well, you know, SUNBOYs early in the day, get the G&Ts in the afternoon. So-- nothing wrong with that.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's true, that's true. That drink sounds like something you could do some brunching with, or ease into the afternoon. And hey--
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: --whatever keeps you cool here in the summer.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, man.
GREG MIGLIORE: All right, well, that's all the time we have this week. Thanks for joining us, Pras. It's-- again, it's podcast@autoblog.com. Send us your Spend My Moneys or Mailbags if you want to jump in there during the summer months. We can be very user-driven. If you got a question, jump in there. We'd love to answer it.
Again, five stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get the show. Be safe out there. And we'll see you next week.
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