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Live from IAA Munich with VW's Head Of Design Andy Mindt
309 Plays6 days ago
Paddy and Mark have been to IAA in Munich where they discuss an array of cars from Volkswagen, Hyundai, XPeng, Leapmotor, BMW, BYD and many, many more.
We have a number of guests from the event too but most notably VW's Head Of Design, Andreas Mindt who sits down with the lads for an extended chat about his life, career and his early years cutting his teeth in car design with a family background in the field.
Thanks for listening and don't forget to leave us a review!
Brought to you by DoneDeal Motors.
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction & Collaboration
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the Drivers Republic podcast brought to you in association with Dundeele Motors, Ireland's favorite car buying website with the widest selection of cars. Some certified trusted dealerships, most Irish buyers find their next car on dundeele.ie.
00:00:14
Speaker
Nobby, how are you? I'm absolutely wrecked, Paddy. That's how I am. It's Monday
Anticipation in Munich
00:00:19
Speaker
afternoon. We're in Munich. We're waiting on the new Skoda Vision O to be uncurtained. That's a word.
00:00:25
Speaker
And I've been here since last Wednesday looking at so many new cars from a new hunt Hyundai video that's gonna go live depending on when this goes live on Tuesday morning.
00:00:35
Speaker
and The new iX3, so many cars from Volkswagen Group. We had a look at a Scout. What else have I seen? um The new G9 from XPANG, what a
Motor Show Challenges
00:00:47
Speaker
car.
00:00:47
Speaker
Yeah, we're here at the side of a what is going to be the Skoda Vision O concept car, which is about to be revealed pretty soon. And and we've seen photographs of it, the covers are on at the moment, and we're waiting to see what is expected to be the real car, not the clay model, which was shown um last night.
00:01:05
Speaker
But ah yeah, motor shows, people think they're glamorous, not especially glamorous when you're doing them from ah from a content creation perspective, right? yeah Well, I mean, it's very exciting. You're walking around, the cars are spotless. There's constantly somebody with a feather duster in their hand. a little bit too much, ask me.
00:01:20
Speaker
Sometimes it kind of gets in the way, you know, the cars finally unveil. Let people actually get in action with it. Does it really matter if there's a couple of smudges on the window? There you go. You're you're literally in the thick of it now, they as you can hear in the background.
00:01:33
Speaker
and But yeah, no it is hard work, like already said today I've done, what got, nearly 12,000 steps just from walking from one exhibition hall to the next. It's like the RDS, but on multiple, multiple rooms.
00:01:46
Speaker
It's just a huge, huge space. um You've got every known brand from Mercedes to Renault to Volkswagen, who had a huge stage of fairness this year. And then you've got cars that I don't know if we'll ever even see in our in our neck of woods. And that was all going well. And then when we went back in this afternoon with our passes, we realized they were Volkswagen specific
Access Issues
00:02:09
Speaker
passes.
00:02:09
Speaker
So we've been getting in for the last couple of days and they shouldn't have been letting us in. And today they finally said, no, go away. Coming up a little bit later on the show, we have a really, really interesting interview. We've got an interview with Volkswagen's chief designer, Andy Mint, who's a really, really good good fun guy, great ah great interesting character, and he talks us through an awful lot of stuff, right?
00:02:31
Speaker
Absolutely. very Very outgoing kind of guy because sometimes car designers have a bit of a rep. Also, the other thing we should mention is at car launches like this, there's often people who wear shoes with no socks.
00:02:43
Speaker
That's another observation I've just realized, like that guy over there. Yeah, there's Lots of guys with, especially car designers with fancy watches and no so no shoes and socks. but heard No socks rather, but shoes. um I couldn't possibly do that myself.
00:02:55
Speaker
Couldn't possibly do it or comment otherwise. um ah So yeah, we'll we'll give you a kind of a little whirlwind tour of what we saw, what we were impressed with today. ah We can recommend a good German beer as well, I think.
00:03:07
Speaker
Yeah, the the beer is pretty decent. Not that we would recommend you doing that when you're driving, of course. so We are taxiing and planes and buses and the like, so yeah, no no drinking and
Skoda Vision O Discussion
00:03:18
Speaker
driving. But ah yeah, look, we will we're gonna see this new Skoda Vision O. We'll talk to you after they've revealed that, and then ah coming up later on, obviously, we'll have, and we have an interesting piece as well on the new Volkswagen T-Rock. André Schlieff, who's the um hes spokesperson for T-Rock, is gonna talk us through that car.
00:03:36
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't realize until I saw the last model T-Rock, which they sold two million units of by the way, how much bigger the new model is. When you see it you just saw, because all these car designers, that they're very conscious of evolution, so they never make massive changes to cars in Volkswagen, but actually when I saw the old one today, I was like, wow, it's way bigger.
Interview with Andreas Schlieff
00:03:56
Speaker
Another car that has been hugely popular at the IAA is the brand new Volkswagen T-Roc and I'm delighted to be joined by Andreas Schlieff who is the spokesperson for T-Roc and someone I know from a previous life as well. Thanks for joining us.
00:04:10
Speaker
Hi Paddy, thanks, good to have you here it at our Volkswagen Media Hub in Munich. And yeah, we're we're standing next to the to the brand new T-Roc which was just released um end of August so it's it's really brand new.
00:04:23
Speaker
And yeah as you said it's a really important model for our brand. um Sales wise, mean we've sold more than two million units of the predecessor and um at least here in Germany um you could say that um it's what the Golf used to be. It overtook the Golf in sales and it's exactly, yeah and that's in the A segment it's almost important car.
00:04:45
Speaker
I know it's it's not called a Golf SUV, but is that essentially what the the the idea was and originally with T-Rock, that it would would satisfy that need for you know someone who likes the size and of a Golf, the convenience of a Golf, but wants that little hire higher driving position?
00:05:00
Speaker
yes Yes, exactly. I think that's at at least part of the i idea. I mean, it's it's customer demand. Many customers want SUVs, but also if you look at the at the target group of the Golf with our Golf,
00:05:11
Speaker
um also the our customers got older and yeah they preferred the higher seating positions. So I think that's ah yeah that's an important point for for the car. Give us a brief rundown of the highlights of this new model.
T-Roc Design & Features
00:05:24
Speaker
So um we're now standing right next to the and looking at it, I think design that for us was was really, really important. um You can still see the um let's say DNA of the predecessor. um If you look at the C pillar,
00:05:39
Speaker
Then you can see um a design element which we call the hockey stick. And this hockey stick, but the C-pillar in general, looks typically T-rock.
00:05:50
Speaker
So you have the T-rock DNA, but at the same time we made it more sporty. a little bit more, let's say, aggressive and um yeah also the the stance is is more and more more grown up than the predecessor. So you can recognize it as a T-Roc, but it's a brand new car and in my opinion it looks much cooler than the predecessor.
00:06:10
Speaker
And what about power trains for this model, this new model, what whats sort of the options? So we're starting with two 1.5 TSI engines. um That's also um an important point um to mention that the new T-ROC is based on the so-called MQB EVO platform and does that gives us the opportunity to um yeah have drive trains from other models such as as Golf, Tiguan and so on.
00:06:34
Speaker
So were we're starting with two 1.5 liter TSI mild hybrids. um Later on we will have a 2.0L TSI which then also will be a mild hybrid and um we are really looking forward to two brand new HEVs that will be a complete first for Volkswagen so no plug-in, a real hybrid version and on top of that there will again be an R version, so the most powerful one.
00:07:01
Speaker
Is it fair to say that there might be an electric version of this at some stage? um I mean, we are now looking at the MQB EVO platform, so that ah will be kind of ah of of a challenge, but I think parallelly, um yeah, if we look towards the end of the decade, i'm I'm pretty sure that we will have something electric in that segment as well.
00:07:24
Speaker
Thanks very much for joining us. Welcome back to the Drivers Republic podcast brought to you in association with Dundee Motors, Ireland's favourite website for car buying with more certified, trusted dealers than anywhere else.
00:07:35
Speaker
You're sure to find the right car for you on dundeeel.ie. So Mark, we are now in the airport. we have And put our feet up. There'll beer in front of us. My name is... Now, this is the worst airport in the world for public addresses. Yeah.
00:07:51
Speaker
I was here on Saturday. It was non-stop. It seems to be a bit quieter tonight. The airport is definitely quieter. and So, if we get interrupted, apologies. and So, we're ah barely an hour out from the Skoda Vision O scrub fest.
00:08:07
Speaker
You haven't done them in a while. No. Muscle memory was gone. um and i probably dressed, had too many clothes on. we We had the CEO, Klaus Zellma.
00:08:19
Speaker
He was doing his little bit and then he literally said, right, the stage is yours, everyone, and there's just a scrum. And I normally wait and hang back. We didn't have the time today to do that, so we had to get to the airport, so I just got stuck in, elbowed my way in, and got enough with the car. So the other thing, though, like we may not see that car until 2030.
00:08:40
Speaker
Right, that's a long time. And what was striking me about it is, right, it's the electric Skoda Octavius Date. There wasn't a huge amount of leg room in the back. no And the boot wasn't, what you call, enormous. so and that's i mean, obviously it's a prototype, but those two things alone tell me the car is going to be quite different. I mean, visually, externally, it might resemble that car.
00:09:01
Speaker
But there's no way Skoda would put a a production car with that rear leg room. And it's meant to have 650 litres boot. That boot was just way too high. Yeah, it was. But like again, I think it's probably more of a style and showcase rather than anything else.
00:09:16
Speaker
so So look, but you know if people want to see the full content, they can go to Nobbyoncar to see the the full video on YouTube.
Reflections on Skoda Vision O
00:09:23
Speaker
YouTube is there. um But look, on reflection now, and and obviously we'll we'll talk to to Andy Mint later on, um What were your highlights over the course of the the last few days?
00:09:34
Speaker
So for me,
Impressions of XPANG Models
00:09:35
Speaker
it started with the new version of the XPANG G6. I know we only got one in Ireland, but there is a new version on the way. had quite a few people DM me about this saying, oh, I was just looking at that car in MDL.
00:09:45
Speaker
There are very subtle differences in the exterior of the car. It's more what's underneath um and some subtle changes to like the headline and the bep the A pillars and stuff like that. So if you want the new, new version, you're going to have to wait. so and Then I moved on to the G9.
00:09:59
Speaker
Blown away by that car. Blown away. It's 58,000 euro in Europe. The top spec is 68. Wow. dc Sorry, 525 kilowatt DC charging. Is there a charge on the market currently for that? No, 350 I think the biggest we have currently. If that's putting out 350. they've got the 400, but they're split. So someone comes along and plugs in, you're getting 200 max. Yeah, and I think that's... Well, Ionity is supposed to be 350 now, I think in Cashel and other places. Now, whether...
00:10:26
Speaker
I would be interested to see if it is putting out that much. but um so So there was, I mean, I've never driven one. I haven't driven one, an Xpeng or Jaupeng, as they say call it. Yeah, I mean, I am aware, and some people corrected me on it. You know, it's Xpeng, but it's it's not X either. It is Jaupeng. Yeah, that's what they call it in Ireland anyway. So they the brand themselves in Ireland call them that. so We it Peugeot Puget, or Renault.
00:10:52
Speaker
So let's not get too bogged down on it. But the version I had had an air suspension. And I drove down a road I probably shouldn't have driven down. It was Google Maps' fault, but like this thing was like, there was a bit of grass in the middle, there was stones on either side, and I'd swear i was driving on a motorway.
00:11:09
Speaker
Right, okay. was just, looks like a mini Range Rover. Some people are calling it a Chinese Range Rover. They don't know yet what they bring to Ireland, but just incredibly flying cars. There's no doubt they're getting money.
00:11:21
Speaker
They're states so busy. You can't make those cars to that standard, i I don't believe. So, you know, it comes up a lot as well, people saying, you know, okay, well, are you happy to support the Chinese regime and happy to support, you know, human rights of a country that, you know, don't reflect what's going on in Europe?
00:11:36
Speaker
People can obviously make their own decision. Ultimately, people, I think, will vote with their pocket. Yeah. I mean, and but and also, it's just, it's amazing now the breadth of choice, sudden breadth of choice that's available, especially with brands like this.
00:11:48
Speaker
Yeah. where like Just in on that brand, for you know where are their dealers? Are there many dealers? So they have ah currently where, as far as I know, South Dublin they bolted on another showroom basically there. Or did they did he move
Dealership Expansion
00:12:06
Speaker
them in to another one?
00:12:08
Speaker
But basically during the week anyway, North Cork got one. So MDL appointed another Cork dealership basically. it's um I'm sure a lot of people will be familiar with it. Newmarket Motors. yeah They were Audi, Volkswagen. Still are?
00:12:22
Speaker
and They are. Yeah, new market focus. Actually, I bought an Audi S3 from that garage years and years ago. and And I drove from Clare at the time. I remember just zipping through. Limerick wasn't hard to get to.
00:12:35
Speaker
So, yeah, that that does come up a bit. Like, people wonder, you know, where will I get my car serviced? So, if you buy an X-Pang at the moment or a X-Pang, you don't have a huge amount of choice.
00:12:46
Speaker
I'd say they'll roll out more. So, then there was the BMW, the iX3. ah Very fast charging again. Priced at 73,000 for the 50 version.
BMW iX3 Highlights
00:12:58
Speaker
A range of over 800 kilometers WLTP.
00:13:01
Speaker
There's a smaller battery version coming, which is going to be about 63,000 euro. That won't be in production until July next year. But I was just looking at places like boards.ie.
00:13:11
Speaker
And yes, 73 grand is a lot of money. But a new BMW is never a cheap car. No. And to have the level, like so it has this head-up display right across the bottom of the windscreen, interior's better than the X3, you've got a frunk, you've got a big boot, you've got a nice interior. It's all quite white, the steering wheel is very different to what we've seen before.
00:13:30
Speaker
Some people, they won't like it. um There's a lot of screens and and whatnot, but um and have a new way of opening the the doors. um But 73 grand for ah potentially 800 kilometer car?
00:13:43
Speaker
car Yeah, and and look, the big talking point, of course, was the styling, the design. BMW grilles got a bit crazy for a while. They were enormous, but this harks back to it another period, the old BMW 2002. Yes.
00:13:55
Speaker
and The cars in the 1960s and early 70s. So it's like they've had a proper reset of what the styling is going to look like. They couldn't keep continuing because was just going to be two enormous grills and and with wheels attached. They're just going to get bigger and bigger and bugs, bunny teeth and all those comments. Now, I did find the boot is 520 litres. It's very, very shallow.
00:14:13
Speaker
I don't know where Car companies are now starting to make, don't know where they're doing their literage from. They're including different sized boxes or something. Yeah, I mean, I saw your video um and the boot space didn't, I'm not disputing their numbers before they,
00:14:27
Speaker
writers with legal letters, but it just didn't look like a very big boot space. No, it didn't. um We then had, ah well then we'd have some previews, we had the reveal Firstly, of the Volkswagen T-Roc.
00:14:41
Speaker
um yeah have to stop there, Paddy, because before that, I went to the Hyundai. Oh, of course. Launch of the Concept 3, which will probably be known as the Ioniq 3. Okay, my apologies. Now, the embargo is now lifted.
00:14:53
Speaker
Radical design. Looks like an old 2008 Honda Civic in the back, Kia EV6 in the front. Again, a bit like the Skoda Vision 7, this interior that you kind of wonder, what will it actually be like?
00:15:05
Speaker
and didn't
Hyundai Concept 3 Introduction
00:15:06
Speaker
know a huge amount about the car even in even in terms of batteries obviously there's a long range and an a normal range in the EV3 they share the same platform and that was but was a very striking looking car has this huge what I call is like the cone of shame for your dog as a spoiler on the back again will that actually but that actually make it into the production and then where do they where did I go after that Sorry, so BMW was after that. We did that for a couple of days and blah, blah, blah. Then I went home for like seven hours.
00:15:38
Speaker
No one spoke to me. And I came back in a plane to Munich again. And that was for our friends in VW. Yeah, because we've seen the T-Roc. That was one of the ones that was previewed beforehand. A lot of them, you know, you're not actually sitting waiting for the reveal that previewed in advance of that.
00:15:56
Speaker
T-Roc's been hugely important for the Volkswagen brand. And, you know, look, it's a golf SUV. They don't really like that. naming but it's pretty much what it is. For a man who left Volkswagen quite a few years ago, you still remember a lot of people and they remember you.
00:16:12
Speaker
either you left a big impression on people or there's very little turnover of staff. A lot of people stay there a long time um and i can see why. There's good career development in Volkswagen and especially in the communications area, you'll find people who were, you know, once assistants to this are now head of comms for India South Korea or something. So,
00:16:33
Speaker
So there is good career progression there. and And yeah, hopefully I didn't dirty my boot too much. So I still know some people there. um So yeah, look, T-Roc is is it's a big car for Ireland. It's new engines, new look. And and you said to me as well when we were walking walking out of the building earlier on how much bigger...
00:16:50
Speaker
it looks than ah a current generation one. And it's only when you see it side by side because there there's a lot of evolution and Andy will be talking about that. um You know, that's that's that's how successful cars evolve. They don't do radical changes, I suppose. um But when I saw the small, the previous version, it is a lot smaller. looks It doesn't look as tall, doesn't look as strong, the shoulder line, this looks like a strong car.
00:17:13
Speaker
So look, lots of big news from Volkswagen and look, there's plenty content online. You've lots of videos up especially on socials, Dundeal has as well, looking at the new ID Polo, new ID Polo GTI, new ID Cross, which is the SUV version of the T-Cross.
00:17:29
Speaker
However, what we will do is bring now the interview with Andy Mint. Andy is the chief designer for Volkswagen. Really, really interesting guy. You've you dealt with him before, I think, haven't you?
00:17:40
Speaker
Yeah, I interviewed him on camera when the ID.2 GTI was revealed. And he's just a very approachable, friendly kind of guy. You know, he's very honest. he gives you straight answers. Some car designers, apparently is one well-known who works for a famous off-road vehicle manufacturer, and they don't walk on stones.
00:17:59
Speaker
Right. They don't walk on gravel. So Andy is the... Opposite of that. i don't know what day it is. And we're in the company of... Sunday. Sunday. it's sunday Andreas Mintz, everybody calls him Andy. Mr. Secret Sauce. Yes. The head of design for Volkswagen.
00:18:17
Speaker
ah It's been a long day for us, so I can only imagine how long it's been for you. so I'm ready to do this podcast now.
00:18:25
Speaker
And thank you to Stepan, who works very closely with you for organizing this. um So um first of all, we were only talking about him a few minutes ago. Thomas Schaefer is, I suppose, he's the CEO of Volkswagen. He has a little bit of an Irish connection. But I suppose he's the guy you maybe you work sometimes closest with. You seem have a very good relationship. Yes, yeah, absolutely. no I love absolutely to to work with him because he's super relaxed, you know, and as long he told me, you know, Andy, when I'm not around, it doesn't matter, you know, just move keep on doing this, yeah what you do.
00:18:57
Speaker
And so he comes only when when there's a problem or something, and this is really, really good for us because we have we have some sort of trust, you know, you trusting us.
00:19:08
Speaker
to deliver the right things. And we do this constantly, and not only once or twice. So we have in Volkswagen 50 model lines. Just imagine how much work that is. So globally, Volkswagen has 50 models, and that results in a lot of work and then a lot of design work.
00:19:25
Speaker
you So sometimes we we think our design department is like a bread factory. This is really doing one after the other. yeah But that is yeah really entertaining as well. There's a lot of things to design.
00:19:41
Speaker
He recommended a book to me before called Car Guys vs Bean Counters. yeah And it it tells a story obviously of of in the past in some car companies where Everyone else worked on the car and the designers would nearly be given the car at the end and just say, can you just do something with the headlights? Can you ever imagine having been a car designer in that era?
00:20:03
Speaker
I mean, there I know exactly how it was at that time. And have high respect for what the people have done in that time. doesn't matter in which time, you can find in any era, in a...
00:20:15
Speaker
ah convinced about that in any era like pre-war I mean ah first world war you know you find beautiful cars amazing proportions fantastic things there's a there's a direct car with a V8 in it ah from pre-war first world war and it looks fantastic yeah it's spitting fire and and there's a long dash to axle and you have wooden wooden rims and and I love to see this you know in Goodwood they had some display runs and It's fantastic. you know it's I like the Edwardian cars. It brings me to Ireland, ah which is the first car race ever was done in Ireland, wasn't it?
00:20:55
Speaker
ah so believe, yeah. And the F really was a Gordon Bennett race yeah know in in ah in Ireland. And I loved all these things. you know They are beautiful. And so in each and every decade, you had beautiful cars, standard cars, OK, but interesting ones and and beautiful ones. and I know exactly how the designers ah developed their design there.
00:21:18
Speaker
ah For instance, in the 50s, when you have the Ferrari GTO, that was the most beautiful car, some people say, no or the E-Type. They had no clay. They developed that on on on draft paper you know and had a lot of knowledge how to make the body, you know to create the body. Pininfarina in the early age, you know what whatever they did with the superleggera kind of technology to design.
00:21:43
Speaker
It's really amazing. And it goes up up until our time, when we have now printers, milling machines, CAD data. It's completely different tool sets.
00:21:54
Speaker
ah But it's it's ah still the same challenge. you know However you do it, it's it's just a tool. But in your head, you have a beautiful car, and you want to create a vision that is amazing.
00:22:07
Speaker
this is what I like. Andy, take us back to your own at the start of your own career. Firstly, you grew up in a household with car design very at the forefront. Give us ah an insight into that and and how that yeah shaped your early career.
00:22:20
Speaker
yeah yeah there Yeah, it does, of course. Because my my father, Udomint, he was ah used to work for Opel in the beginning. And I was born in this area and then he moved to Volkswagen when I was five years old.
00:22:33
Speaker
So I grew up in Wolfsburg among all these things, you know, happening from 1974. So a lot of Beatles at that time and then ah the Golf Mark I came and I remember this as a kid when I saw first time the Golf Mark I, you know. and There's a lot of this, you know, and my father used to work in the design department. He was a designer on his own.
00:22:54
Speaker
And he, because he told me there was a job like that, i i really like this, you know, and I was drawing cars as ah in early age. So when the kids went out, let's go football playing. I said, no, no, no, no I want to draw cars. yeah I was really like this kind of guy who always wanted to draw cars all the time.
00:23:13
Speaker
And then my father brought me to the cinema. yeah And the first time ever in my life being in a cinema with a big screen was a Beatle movie you know in Wolfsburg. Can you imagine this? ninety seventy four 1974. I was five years old.
00:23:26
Speaker
And since then, i love this Beatle. And it's crazy. I have a screw in my head since that time. It's funny, Volkswagen, we think of Volkswagen design over the years having evolved slowly, but those early Volkswagens were quite radical at the time, weren't they? Yes, yeah.
00:23:42
Speaker
Yeah, they were actually super radical in all the ages, you know. And, um yeah, the Volkswagen made a certain mistake. They produced the Beetle for too long because it was too successful.
00:23:53
Speaker
Nobody wanted to stop it because it was running in high numbers. and then they came very late with a Golf Mark I. That was like a transformation which was crazy at that time. you know Going from so from super round to super square, going from rear engine to front engine, what are there was a lot of risk in there. yeah And this is why they did the Chirocco before because they thought let's do niche car and test out how it works. you know and And then if it's successful we go to the big Golf and then kill the Beetle. That was super scary for them. yeah and so
00:24:27
Speaker
it's It's unbelievable the the times, you know, and Volkswagen was really in ah in a bad condition at that time, yeah because they made this mistake. yeah They produced it for too long time. I think Ford T-Model was the same thing. They produced for too long and they had no development and they almost went bankrupt. no bankrupt the That's really interesting, these mistakes that you can do when you are too successful.
00:24:50
Speaker
It's really, really interesting. you So you literally, from from day dot, you've been surrounded by car design. Sometimes, maybe unfairly, car designers are a little bit off limits. They can be a bit precious.
00:25:02
Speaker
Yeah. You've never seen to be like that. No. um Like, where did you get that, I don't want to be a difficult car designer? Yeah. attitude from? No, it's part of my education. came from my parents as well. know I grew up in ah in a, let's say, problematic area there in Wolfsburg. I had a lot of brothers and sisters. I grew up in a big family.
00:25:24
Speaker
And so there were a lot of social struggles all around us. And and my parents there were doing a lot of social things. And I was ah part of that, you know, they and and they they taught me how to do this, you know, to be nice to everybody. It doesn't matter where the people come from.
00:25:41
Speaker
And so this is my education, actually. And I think, you know, even if I'm now in this big role, you know, sometimes we have this joke, you know, i I'm standing on the big stage, you know, a thousand people listening, and I'm the little Andy from Westagen, you know, this is my, the place where I'm from, it's called Westagen, you know, this high-rise building.
00:26:00
Speaker
this ah You know, it's it's it's some sometimes we have this joke and I don't understand how I came to this position because I was always interested in a mission and never in an ego.
00:26:13
Speaker
You know, I think that is that is the biggest difference. You know, you you you can divide the world between ego and mission. yeah And lot of people are driven by ego, and but I'm one ah i'm not 100% mission, but you have a certain percentage. Everybody has. yeah So do you suffer from imposter syndrome?
00:26:30
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know whether it's a syndrome or something, but but I believe, I really believe, you know, especially as a designer, when you have big, big success, the next day you are nobody, you know, because you have to do a new car. You have to do and the next big thing.
00:26:48
Speaker
And when you are super self-confident, or so or when you when you're arrogant, and you when you think, I know everything, then you lose, you know. You should bring you back yourself back down to the earth,
00:27:01
Speaker
and and be humble and try to take a look on the world with with with fresh eyes and and not think that I achieved so many things, now I'm done. you know It's not.
00:27:14
Speaker
You always have to start by zero. and this is I try to do to act like that. you know And I think that is maybe a part of the success to say, let's go back to zero, like the feeling I've never done something before and now I do the big thing. you know this And I like working from garages as well, you know. I see some really good and bad places and the best things were done in bad places.
00:27:36
Speaker
You know what I mean? This is in in all teddy garages. Sometimes you do the best work because you want you you want to work your a way out of it, you know. and And that is a vision of the future that is better than we have now.
00:27:51
Speaker
This is could be a driving element, you know Give us a snapshot of your career from the early days, how you got started, and and give us some highlights as you've moved through the early part of your career. Yeah, know it's it's it's interesting. you know When I was a student in in southern Germany, there was a design school.
00:28:10
Speaker
And so um I had, a let's say, a sponsorship from Porsche. I did my diploma work there. And I was pretty much with on the way with Porsche.
00:28:21
Speaker
And I liked it a lot. you know I liked the brand a lot. it's really fantastic. But then because of my big family, ah no, then I have to have to tell you that had a sponsorship for and ah um additional studies in in California, you know, there this school there, and had the chance to go there, Simi Valley.
00:28:40
Speaker
And I was, my parents said, no way, we have so many, you have so many little brothers and sisters, you have to finalize now. And then I did a competition, I was winning the competition, and there was Mr. Vakus, was the boss of Volkswagen, and he gave me a job straight away. no no application, nothing.
00:28:57
Speaker
You said, like, you can start tomorrow, and I did. You know, I started at Volkswagen. Then I had a phone call two years later from the Porsche guys, and they said, like, oh, no, we have a job for you. So I went there straight.
00:29:08
Speaker
yeah And then i was working on the Cayenne interior, first generation. yeah I can talk two hours about that, but this is only a second now. So I did this in the beginning, and then I was a little bit bored by doing interior design, yeah and then I heard the stories from colleagues.
00:29:25
Speaker
It was Mr. Peek who was new there and he was doing all these crazy projects, and I was really tempted. i was very young and so I said, like, I go back to Volkswagen. And so I did. yeah That was in the year 98. And so I arrived there in in October, and in October Volkswagen bought Bentley, you know, the the brand Bentley.
00:29:47
Speaker
And because at that time, Pich was collecting all these brands like you know like crazy. And there was Bentley. And they said, now we need a show car like this Bentley. you know the yeah yeah Which is the one meter high, two meter wide, Le Mans winning car. What is it for the future?
00:30:04
Speaker
So i was that was my first job to do back at Volkswagen. Can you imagine this? that the Flying Spur? No? No, that was the Unodier, you know, that is a sports car with a mid-engine from the late 90s, yeah, and we went to Geneva. It was shown there and it was the base for the design of Bentley for the Continental then later, yeah, with the double lights and some elements were similar.
00:30:26
Speaker
But it was the first Bentley on its own, you know, not ah being a batch version of some Rolls-Royce. yeah So after the start-up time in the beginning, they went to bankrupt in in the year 31 when there was the economic crisis in the world.
00:30:42
Speaker
So they went bankrupt and Rolls-Royce took over. And then there were an appendix of Rolls Royce, more or less. yeah And then this car, the Bentley Union Year, was the first car on their own, you know, and on their own regime, let's say. And then ah start they they didn't they were unsure where to go first, so they thought about the mid-engine car as ah as a main project, but then they went to the Continental GT, which was a very good decision.
00:31:10
Speaker
Because of that, they ended up with really high numbers of production. yeah They produce 15,000 cars a year now, which is ah three times more than the other British companies in this area. you know Really, really successful.
00:31:24
Speaker
And so I was part in the in the starting point there. I really liked the Bentley stuff. I fell in love with the brand and so on. But it was only one project. so Then I moved on ah to do other things for Volkswagen.
00:31:37
Speaker
Then I went in the year 2014 to Audi as the as the head of exterior design for seven years. And then I had a call to go to crew, ah back to Bentley, and as a design director um in the year 21, I think. was Yeah, 21.
00:31:56
Speaker
So I was there for two years, did the Bentley Batur and the facelift of the Continental GT. And then I went back to Volkswagen, and there I'm now.
00:32:07
Speaker
ah And you were involved in the Mark 7 golf. Yes, I did. Yes. I think yeah time will be very kind to that mark of golf. I think for a lot of people, obviously the early ones aside, yeah a lot of people say yeah golf marks. Yeah, we we um um we ah when we did it, when we developed that, we were together in a group of we had a team.
00:32:29
Speaker
um which was run by Mark Lichter. I was there as well, and Philip Römers. And we had a lot of talk about what is the golf, you know? We discussed all night long ah having a ah beer in the pub and discussed what it should be.
00:32:44
Speaker
And we found out the strongest golf actually was Mark I and Mark IV. And what can we do to turn these two into ah into a proper golf? So take the best elements of all the generations and turn it into one.
00:33:00
Speaker
And that was Mach 7. yeah And I can point out every single line, every single surface, how we transferred those two cars into the 7. yeah And this this is how I believe you are building a brand.
00:33:14
Speaker
Golf is a brand for me. That you take the best, that you distill the best elements from all the generations and then you put it in one car. And then you have the best of the best. Yeah, and this is it like a best of album, yeah hello all the or the best its you know, you know.
00:33:31
Speaker
And then you turn it into something modern, of course, you know. You cannot live with the old stuff. you You have to turn it into modern things, which helps a lot. In your job, you have to look back sometimes to look yes forward. Exactly. With heritage. Yeah, you need to know your history, your values, why you are there, what is the reason to exist.
00:33:51
Speaker
You have to go down to this and then you develop a strategy for the future. I'm convinced. ah For a brand, you need to do this. Otherwise, you don't you have to design with your brain and not with your hand, you know, drawing, just draw something.
00:34:05
Speaker
You know what I mean? Something that's been really important about Volkswagen design over the years is that there's always been a thread of commonality yeah through the design. No previous car has looked crazily different from the previous generation. I think it's very important. How important is that to Volkswagen and into the future?
00:34:23
Speaker
i can i can tell you, it's is a clear answer for this. yeah There's a financial reason for this. Because for Volkswagen, we always try to keep the... the the value of the used cars high, not to lose them, because when you sell the leasing cars as a company, you you get a lot of investments, you you you buy the value, you give it to people for three years, then you sell it.
00:34:49
Speaker
And when this price is higher, then your leasing rate is lower. and Then you're in the business. You know what I mean the the timeless design is mega important for the business case Yeah, because you don't lose money on this car, you know and we we have been really true to that Yeah, and maybe I explained in history, you know the the big change from beetle to golf was a big risk Yeah, it was a big step but but then you know what was done with the golf mk2 was big big interesting time and very clever way to make a not ah evolutionary design, not revolutionary.
00:35:27
Speaker
and I think it was very smart to do it this way, just like a Porsche 911. You create a certain iconic brand because you develop that.
00:35:38
Speaker
yeah when you When you go back in time, the Golf Mark IV, for instance, when you imagine all the competitors at its time, you know, all the Japanese, French, whatever, you put it next to it,
00:35:49
Speaker
And then you have a look on that. The others look mega old and the Golf Mark IV looks mega modern. And ah at its time, everybody said it's too boring. What is the story? What what do you talk ah do you tell hear us? no But it was mega, mega good for the company.
00:36:07
Speaker
And sometimes we have the highest selling at the end of the production. you know And it's not like a hill you know where sometimes if you have a certain fleshy design, the the production goes up.
00:36:18
Speaker
on the hill and then goes down. And then for the success, it happens the same. And then the quality is suffering as well, because you produce too much or not enough. is both bad for quality.
00:36:30
Speaker
And so we are super steady with the quality, with the amount of cars we produce. I had a Mark IV Golf GTI, and and the build quality, the blue dials with the red needles, the dashboard, you could sink your feet your fingers three inches into the dashboard. it was that soft.
00:36:46
Speaker
I mean, it was particularly Yes. Foamy. Yes. ah yes Will we ever see those days again? I mean, that that was... yeah With the accountants less in control for the Mark IV.
00:36:58
Speaker
No, we have the... let's Let's build the bridge to the show car right now. no We have on-the-door design panel. ah yeah we had In the past, we had ah we had a door opener device. We had a grip handle, a grab handle, and we had an armrest. And now we brought all the three parts together into one.
00:37:17
Speaker
The door opener, grab handle, and armrest is one piece. So you pull it up. Yeah, you pull it up, you pull it up, but you have an armrest, and you can grab in it to to close the door.
00:37:28
Speaker
So we turned three pi parts into one. What does it mean? It's way ah ah more affordable to produce because you have less screws, better quality because less screws, less rattling, less...
00:37:42
Speaker
black cheap plastic is all gone. And then we invested the money we saved into the fabric that runs around you. So when you when you have a look on the show car, a little bit of imagination, we turn this into reality.
00:37:56
Speaker
We have this this modern living room feeling in the car. The black plastic is gone. And we have really nice material all around you. And that is a kind of very good step forward into quality. But in the in a certain way, in reducing elements to deliver higher material quality.
00:38:16
Speaker
yeah That was our aim. yeah And when you look at the shoka, you discover that. I can point out way more elements, but I only have this limited time now. I get the sense you were a little bit frustrated with a lot of touchscreens and haptic buttons. Yes, yes.
00:38:32
Speaker
Yeah, there is the customer satisfaction surveys we have and polls and whatever, you know, that really went down with the with the sliders. Now we are going back to the physical switch packs and the people just love it, you know. We come back to the old measurements and it's a super easy thing to do, you know. The the customer is telling you we want this and we we listen, we understand and we deliver. It's so easy, no?
00:38:59
Speaker
And the the good news is the switchback you discover in the show car we just did is going to be a carryover part for all the Volkswagen's in the future. So whatever Volkswagen you drive, you always have the same interaction concept.
00:39:13
Speaker
So you you you have a rental car in the middle of the night from the airport, you step in, and immediately you know where the knobs are. You know, this is how it should work. yeah This understanding of...
00:39:24
Speaker
and and always the same interaction concept. You need to deliver that. It's so easy. yeah you can You can save money. we we you You mentioned this. you know you You have to save money. How do you do that?
00:39:35
Speaker
you know You can scale then this element, this switchback, you can scale it like hell, and then you end up with very low single-cost price. And this is amazing for for us as a company and for the delivery for the customer as well.
00:39:50
Speaker
So this is how to save money, and this is how to make things better and so in spite of that. Everybody wins, maybe. How has your job changed given the onset of electric vehicles? How does car design change as a result of Yeah, it's it's a lot of change in this. um There are good things and bad things. So the good thing is because of the the battery cell packs, they are very long, you need a long wheelbase. And the overall length is not getting bigger. So the overhang in the front and in the rear is getting shorter. So the wheels are getting bigger for lower lowering ah rolling resistance, which is giving you more range.
00:40:28
Speaker
So the wheels are bigger. The wheelbase is longer, the car needs to be wider for the for the battery pack in the in the floor. Actually, that's very good. But then, of course, you sit on the battery pack and that makes it worse. yeah It's getting higher.
00:40:42
Speaker
So people have the feeling, oh, would the cars get huge. But there's a natural reason for that. yeah There is a logic reason. And especially for the car with this ID Polo and so on, going to have the even the LFP version and an NMC, and that that means you you have a different chemical which needs a bigger space in there.
00:41:01
Speaker
And so it stays like that. it will that's That's an electric car. And that is not so bad as a result, you know, for me as a designer. And obviously it goes without saying you are a car fan. And when you look at things like the Polo GTI that was unveiled with a slightly different name in the last week,
00:41:20
Speaker
Is that, obviously cars cars have to be mass produced for families, yeah but also Volkswagen is famous for the GTI name, for example. yes how How do you now make those cars as fun when they're electric? what is where There's the secret, so what is it? Yes, I can tell you. We're we're going to have, for instance, one example.
00:41:42
Speaker
on the On the screen concept, yeah we have ah we have um we have a um ah let's say ah skin, yeah which is a standard of one, and then we have a vintage skin. yeah yeah And you can swap to the vintage, you can go back to the 80s, you have the old...
00:41:58
Speaker
uh um dials in the middle and you have a cassette player on that so you have on the on the modern screen you have a vintage cassette turning you know you when you switch on the music it turns the cassette and people you know when we show this two people visiting us they're all smiling they are laughing they love this you know and it's so again it's so simple yeah and you can switch it on and off as you like you know and And, yeah, it's it's maybe a stupid joke, you you may say, but on the other hand, it's giving you a lot of ah room to play. yeah And this is possible with the ah future electric cars, with all the software we have here. We can do so many things.
00:42:37
Speaker
You know, the... the We have one vision for instance to turn your favorite song into all the noises that a car is doing. you know For for instance instance, just imagine ah you are you're a fan of Foo Fighters or something and the indicator is making the sound of the Foo Fighter. you know like ah Or some some some drum, whatever, or even classical music. yeah You can turn all this into into the world around you and this is so much more powerful than the ancient elements. Inspired, I love them, you know.
00:43:09
Speaker
This old relay like I had a, used have Beatle with a six volt system and the relay was doing ding dong, ding dong, you know, and and was so entertaining.
00:43:20
Speaker
ah But you can you can do this, you can do all of it, yeah, it's endless. yeah What do you think of fake... engine sounds and gear changes and will they play it yeah of course yeah i i was running i was driving a lot of electric cars and for me it's rather annoying to be my personal taste i switch everything off if they do something if if possible because i love the quietness of electric cars yeah you can really um enjoy this as well yeah the silence ah you can listen to music and You can talk to people in the car as well. and yeah
00:43:53
Speaker
and on ah On a normal level, you don't have to shout. you know you yeah And and this is you you can have really good kind of conversations. that But i I think there are so many opportunities. i rather see it optimistic because there are so many opportunities in the future.
00:44:09
Speaker
Yeah. If you had to pick a Mark I or Mark II Golf? It's Mark I, for sure. like one why Why? Because it's this super simple Giugiaro surfacing. I love it completely because I was i was a big fan of Maserati Boomerang.
00:44:24
Speaker
I had a little plastic model when I was a kid, and for me it was this spaceship. And I believe that the Golf Mark I is related to that. yeah When you analyze the Maserati Boomerang, you see it's a... Giugiaro did it very often. yeah He did the same design for everybody.
00:44:39
Speaker
And so there's a connection between Maserati Bumerang and the first golf. And this modernity, this visionary of that, when you discover this once, I fell in love with this. It's really nice.
00:44:50
Speaker
and And so, yeah. Obviously retro design is is very en vogue at the moment. Do you see that continuing for some time to come? Yes, of course, yeah, because people think like the past times were the best and if remembering everything was better in the past and so on, and then they always have wish for this, I'm sure.
00:45:09
Speaker
But it's fine for me, you know, the world is colorful. it should not be black and white. And I can can imagine that we mix all of it, you know, why not? yeah And from those old designs, do you have a handful of favorites from for yourself, you know be it Vogue's Ride Group or other brands?
00:45:26
Speaker
but yeah Yeah, I have. i have i can yeah There are so many of that. you know I love a lot of things. yeah And the same with I like motorbikes as well, and I like all of them. you know Everything's attractive for me.
00:45:38
Speaker
I like Italian cars, British cars, French cars. The DS is fantastic. yeah Or the E-Type. The E-Type is such an icon. Or the Mini. The Mini is fantastic. You know, when you... What what I like, for instance, is welded outside. The welding seams are outside the car to make the production process easier.
00:45:57
Speaker
And when you understood this, it's such a beauty in that. Such a strong character. ah You have the roofline, or the floating roof comes from this idea. To have the welding seams outside, not inside, to make it easier to produce.
00:46:08
Speaker
I love these things, you know. when When you go back to... The Citroën 2CVs for instance, fantastic design, it's amazing. And there's so much, i cannot say this is good, this is bad.
00:46:20
Speaker
I just love all of it and you can learn everything from, you know, I used to have a Saab 900, I love this car, the front screen was
Aerodynamics in Car Design
00:46:29
Speaker
an airplane, the curvature was so round, you know, had the feeling you're flying in a plane.
00:46:34
Speaker
um where Where do you stop? You know, is all of it is fantastic. and And how with so many cars being affected by aerodynamics now, you know, how will we start to make cars maybe down the road?
00:46:49
Speaker
Because there's so many SUVs that people say that looks like this and that could be that. how How do we make cars unique going forward? um I'm pretty convinced it's possible.
00:47:00
Speaker
and know that the aerodynamics make them a little bit more likely, because there's a certain physics behind it, and you when you follow that, you're ending up with similar solutions, but you have so many chances. You can do so many things. Even with aerodynamic shapes, you can do a lot. yeah i um I'm convinced. and And so know for for instance, Golf Mach 7 was a big aero effort. you know We made it 10% better because at its time we we said, um if you save 10% for such a big um amount of cars, we do a lot for the environment.
00:47:35
Speaker
So let's make it 10% better. And we did. and that was the result. And it had tons of character in spite of that. We found out what to do to make it aero and what to do to give it character. Yeah, it was really great.
00:47:47
Speaker
I really enjoy this topic. Andy, I remember at the ID.1 World Premier, you made a point of introducing all the journalists to the younger designers who I assume are are working under you. How important are they to the whole process going forward?
00:48:04
Speaker
I think it's very important yeah to to... I'm in a role there as well, and what what I like is open conversation dialogues. yeah I want to train them these things, you know, to to say let's have an open dialogue to consult ourselves yeah and and have this... kind of um this this This talks about it and not that one guy is doing the order they the others have to follow.
00:48:29
Speaker
I think this is really stupid. let's Let's rather discuss things, then you're not alone on the planet. Barack Obama said this once, when you have no consultants that say their opinion, then you're alone.
00:48:42
Speaker
You sit there alone. yeah There's nobody helping you. and And I see it very, very similar to to say, um ah let's have a proper dialogue. We learn from each other. And have no problem to listen to anybody. you know Even the youngest designer can express their opinion.
00:48:58
Speaker
i I have to make it fit in my head, and they have to do it the same. yeah but but then I have a lot of experience but they have some fresh ideas and the mix of it, when you make a proper mix you have a great result and this is the idea one. yeah We are young designers with fresh and and fantastic ideas.
00:49:15
Speaker
I brought my experience maybe you know and and ah gave them a stage and so we have a great result. That's teamwork. Final question, I'm sure people can hear your enthusiasm, your zest for the job. Are there ever tough days? Ever?
00:49:31
Speaker
No, it's it's ah up and down, of course. there's of course there is no ah Today I'm up because yeah a couple of hours ago we had the show on the stage, everybody was watching, we had good feedback on social media. so for me it's a great day today and ah but there are bad days as well yeah when project gets cancelled or when you when you feel you cannot act on something you know this is happening of course there's frustration but the the miracle is or not the miracle the
00:50:03
Speaker
the The thing you have to know is you you have to stand up, you know. When you're on the floor, just stand up, you know. I like this, there's a Churchill saying was, if you go through hell, just keep on, you know. Just keep on walking.
00:50:15
Speaker
yeah You know, just go on, you know. And I like this attitude, you know. is is These things are happening, but just move on. will be another day, yeah. And I like this attitude.
00:50:28
Speaker
The saying of Churchill is good. I think you were very, i had a lot of fun with you guys and discussed this. Thank you. Welcome back to the Drivers of Public podcast, brought to you in association with Dundee Motors, with Ireland's widest selection of cars for sale from certified trusted dealers. The right car for you is on dundeele.ie.
00:50:45
Speaker
We also, Paddy, missed, ah well, one big launch in Ireland because we're in Munich currently waiting on our plane. and It was another BYD, the Dolphin Surf, which I think was called something else elsewhere, but we don't like seagulls or something. It was the seagull and yeah we don't like seagulls and for good reason.
00:51:06
Speaker
Now 17,985 for the entry version five star NCAP four-door four-seater vehicle um it's putting right up to the Insta isn't it?
00:51:19
Speaker
It is and and we were chatting today earlier about the fact that there were probably not very many sub 20 grand new cars maybe you know a year and a half, two years ago, and now we've seen Dassey Spring, Inster, which I know has creeped up, but it was 18995. We now have this, we've now the Leap Motor T03. Citroën C3. Yeah, all.
00:51:43
Speaker
The ID Cross just announced. Sub-20, which is incredible. So um there' now you know there is a really good it's a really good time, and it's almost like there is a little bit of a price war emerging on the small so so EV models, and and that can only be a good thing for now for the consumer.
00:51:59
Speaker
Yeah, it definitely can. Now, the problem is that if it gets very competitive with people who have bought these cars experience some... price cuts after they've bought. I don't believe, you know. no I think it's down to the bare bones. i mean, if you consider, and I i know I bang out a bit a lot, but I i paid 30 grand for an E-Up.
00:52:15
Speaker
yeah These are the equivalent cars to those, and they're sub-20. you know so So that's only a couple of years ago. So things have changed quite a lot. So I think these cars are down to the bare bones. I think, you know, from looking at Dundeele data at the moment, the the used EV prices are certainly stabilizing.
00:52:32
Speaker
so And is that across, like I noticed Taycans and either E-tron GTs were doing that. So is that across the board? Yeah, absolutely. but Because the manufacturers weren't sure what to do with the pricing and you saw massive cuts, ID Buzz, other brands, Tesla Model 3s, etc.
00:52:49
Speaker
And that's going to affect the residuals. So, you know, I think those but now that that has stopped, we're starting to see the prices stabilizing. And there are still some incredible bargains out there. and Yes, for an e like ah friend of mine is looking at a four year old EV at the moment and I send him on, he doesn't particularly like Teslas, but you can get a 2020 Model 3 now, but not ridiculous mileage for 17 grand.
00:53:10
Speaker
So BYU's Dolphin Surf is is you know it's a small city car? Small city car, but I mean, the the ah highest spec is Boost model, which is 24,113. Sorry, that's the comfort version. The the Boost is 22 and a bit.
00:53:24
Speaker
um It's got an LFP battery, so cobalt-free, which is important for for some people. and Battery packs, sorry, 115 kilowatt-dc charging. The press release actually says kilowatt-hours, which is obviously...
00:53:41
Speaker
it A simple typo. You're talking about 300-ish range. Now, the only thing that doesn't mention, it has vehicles load. It doesn't mention the MDL delivery charges, which can sometimes be a little bit spicy at sort of 1,500. Now, don't know if they're 1,500 on this car.
00:53:57
Speaker
Yeah, we haven't seen that detail yet, but um we we will know in due course. But look, the sticker price is seriously impressive. like I don't know what their finance rates are like or whether they... Worth a look. and And then the other launch, well, price announcement today was another vehicle from Leap Motor. They did say they were going to hold back on C10 pricing.
00:54:16
Speaker
ah Today they've announced 38,995, including grants and VRT rebates ah for the fully electric entry-level style BEV. And then if you want the...
00:54:27
Speaker
the range extender essentially it's 45 and a half that's a lot of car for the money isn't it like it really is a big car that green we saw is lovely it's uh 4.7 meters long it's not a small car 20 inch alloys all the other stuff you want 360 cameras sat nav over the air updates um there's a camp mode vehicle to load There is just a lot. I mean, it's people's heads must be spinning trying to decide what do I need to buy.
00:54:58
Speaker
And this follows on from the T03. But what we don't have yet is where you can go and buy one. No, I imagine it's going to be now soon. But also when I was in the show hall today, I met some of the guys from Leap Motor Ireland who were over there.
00:55:10
Speaker
They four more models coming before the end of 2026. There's a B, what's ah they call it called? So I saw the the the B, let me just double a check. now I actually thought it was BO, but the name is actually not BO. So first of all, you have the Laffer 5, not a bad looking thing. And then have the not the B10.
00:55:29
Speaker
not the b one oh Right, okay. Which was okay. It was like, it was not looking car. You could look inside that one. You can't look in the Laffat. I think the first time it appeared to the world was today.
00:55:42
Speaker
And that again has that EV6 look. That's the only thing, like, and I know Andy mentioned it. It will it be a challenge. Everyone has accused cars of kind of all looking very similar over the last few years.
00:55:54
Speaker
We're probably going to go through a period where that's going to be even more so the case, especially with that kind of segment of car. It's going to have a slippy nose, it's going to have a curved boot and maybe a curved roofline and it's just to get more range.
00:56:06
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. So lots to mull over.
Interview with Scott Keough
00:56:09
Speaker
Another person we caught up with when we were at the show was Scott Keough, who's the boss of a brand called Scout in the USA. Now,
00:56:17
Speaker
They are an offshoot of Volkswagen. Scout were a brand who were popular in the 1950s, 1960s. And they make sort of utilitarian SUVs. So ah Scott is of Irish heritage.
00:56:30
Speaker
And ah he caught up with Mark at the show to talk about the brand itself and to explain what guy We have to start with your surname. You sound like you should be from Ireland and kind of are. 100% family is 100% from Ireland. So my mother's side is Clark and McCluskey and they came from up in Antrim and the family farm is still there in Ballycastle and that family is still there. Let's say the McCluskey side.
00:56:58
Speaker
The Clark side is from Sligo. The house is still there. i have ah cousin who still lives there in Sligo and it can't be any more beautiful. You look up and you see the beautiful mountains, Yates country, as you guys know better than I. But what's always very touching for me is you walk up classic Irish setting and into the graveyard there and you can go back and back and back and back and look at your family. So very touching for me.
00:57:22
Speaker
Keough name we have less track of. I believe it's more down in Cork, but that side of the family came to America much sooner and they sort of got on motorcycles and went to California and kind of went their own way.
00:57:34
Speaker
But the one side of Clark and McCluskey is my grandparents, which which came over. So I'm second generation Irish American. They did, you know, grab the suitcase and and came to America. And it was a mighty struggle arriving in New York City at that time. And my grandmother was a nurse and she was a nurse in Ireland and she was a nurse in America, lived in Rockaway and then Came from New York and it's a classic, ah yeah, Irish-American story, if you will. Something I'm very, very proud of.
00:58:03
Speaker
That is the most the most efficient way of explaining a family trade in two minutes that I've ever heard. I'm New Yorker, so I talk fast. We're standing in front of one of your vehicles, the Scout Terra. In Europe, at least, this is a beast.
00:58:17
Speaker
Maybe, well, America's probably also still a beast, but um my own DMs have been hopping this afternoon. People are going, is it coming to Europe? Is it coming to Ireland? I'm like, don't think so. and What is it about these vehicles that just, is is it because they have so many uses to Americans?
00:58:31
Speaker
What is it about them? Look, I think a pickup truck is the archetype of America. It represents freedom. It represents you can go anywhere and do anything. And no matter what life, family, situation brings you,
00:58:44
Speaker
I can manage it and I can handle it. So this thing can manage an awful lot. Great ability, ground clearance, thousand pound feet of torque.
00:58:55
Speaker
2,000 pounds of payload, big bed, highly capable. And look, that's a little bit the American psyche, if you will. You may not need it all the time, but you want it all the time. And the other one is exactly what I mentioned. The second vehicle is called the Traveler. It's more of a classic rugged off-road SUV.
00:59:13
Speaker
These two segments is how you make money in America. About 50% of all profits of all the cars sit in these two segments. So that's why it's critical from a business point of view, but also from a market point of view. And as I spoke about there, you know, Americans are getting more outdoors. They're doing things again and they want a vehicle that can do it. So it's not enough just to go around the parking lots and the yoga studios. They want to get off road. They want to do it and they want a car that's that's that's capable. And that's exactly what this is.
00:59:43
Speaker
There is certainly, and this part of the world at least, and with pickup trucks and just large SUVs, some people are quite negative about them. um Is it the same in America? that people don't need to be convinced that big is good in America, maybe as much as...
00:59:58
Speaker
They do over here. don't need to think it's because this is not big. I hate to say it. This is normal. average Yeah. So ah the parking lots are created for that. The highway system was generated for that.
01:00:11
Speaker
Pickups, as you know, is not an all new thing. They've been in America since before the 50s, but since the 50s. So I wouldn't say it's normal, but it's certainly quite normal. So, no, they're not viewed in that.
01:00:23
Speaker
negative stereotype that says this is too big it's taken over the roses this it's viewed as this is my castle this is my home this thing can take me and my family and my dreams anywhere and that's what the market wants and you saw it in the chart 75 of the market so to not listen to a market would mean to not to compete in america You spoke with such conviction and passion and belief today.
01:00:51
Speaker
um Talk us to your early career. Was it always automotive? Were you always in a kind of selling ability where you could sell sell me this pen? Well, if you if you're... If you're working in America, you're selling is how is how I would say it. I think if you came with my background, yeah, you always have to have to be working hard and and selling. So I don't look upon selling as a negative term.
01:01:15
Speaker
I don't look upon a selling as getting out of bed in the morning and selling yourself and selling your kids and all sorts of great things out there. I've been automotive pretty much my entire career, nearly 30 years. So I started at Mercedes-Benz USA in the marketing department. I was at Mercedes-Benz USA for roughly 12 to 13 years, new position every two years.
01:01:37
Speaker
I then moved to Audi of America where I was head of marketing. um Proud of what happened at Audi America. Then I was also president of Audi of America. We were selling 60, 70,000 Audi's at the time. We sold 200,000 Audi's when I left, dramatically turned around the market.
01:01:53
Speaker
Then I went to become head of Volkswagen Group that's when I took more industrial responsibility, factory in Puebla, Mexico, factory in Chattanooga, supply chains, purchasing, all of that.
01:02:04
Speaker
And then got this opportunity to be CEO of From the Ground Up Company, Scout, ah three years ago. So 30 years, I've been at it a long time. Are you a seven-day, 24-hour, always-on kind of CEO or do you get is there a bit of time for you as well?
01:02:20
Speaker
Look, to be honest, yeah, I am always on. And like everyone, I try to navigate a family. I have a lovely wife and I have three young children. They are running from ages five through 14. So son in high school and a young daughter. So that's a lot.
01:02:37
Speaker
And obviously you got a job with a little bit of stress and a little bit of work tied to it. And then selfishly, you have to look out for yourself a little bit as well. So I like to garden. I like to climb big mountains. Those are my sort of things to detune a little bit.
01:02:52
Speaker
And yeah, I try with all my heart to navigate all three of those things. But am I frequently on? Yes, I am. okay Okay. Your personality probably goes hand in hand with this vehicle in in some ways. Big mountains always on, can do anything. Well said. Appreciate you talking to us today. Thank you very much. Cheers.
01:03:11
Speaker
Wow. Busy episode this week. I think we're both wrecked. Yeah. Welcome to the world of international modern journalism. Part two. 2.0 for you this time, buddy. Right. Let's go catch our flight.