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MG's sporty Cyberster, Kia Ireland's Ronan Flood & EV sales are up again!
327 Plays17 days ago
Episode 7: MG Cyberster, VW ID. Buzz, & Kia Ireland’s Ronan Flood
In this episode, Paddy takes the sleek, single-motor MG Cyberster for a spin, while Nobby revisits the now 7-seater Volkswagen ID. Buzz to see how it stacks up. Plus, we’re joined by Kia Ireland’s Managing Director, Ronan Flood, who gives us an insider’s look at running one of Ireland’s top car brands. And with Q1 2025 sales figures just in, we break down the biggest trends shaping the Irish car market. Buckle up for another packed episode!
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Theme
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the Drivers Republic podcast brought to you in association with Dundee Motors, Ireland's favourite car buying website with the widest selection of cars from certified, trusted dealerships. Most Irish drivers find their next car on
Hosts' Banter and Weather Talk
00:00:12
Speaker
Dundee. What are you smirking at?
00:00:14
Speaker
I'm just just delighted to to be able to actually see you for once. we've um we've We've manipulated the technology that we can now actually see each other while we're talking to each other. So hopefully we don't interrupt each other as much as we did. That doesn't mean there's a video version coming.
00:00:29
Speaker
People have said, oh, would you not do video? Is it really necessary? I don't know. I mean, if they really want to see us, we might look at it at some stage. But for now, no, we will ah we stick to audio, I think.
00:00:41
Speaker
Yeah, we'll see. We'll see. um Beautiful weather we're having. Beautiful cars to look at. Cars look better in the sunshine, it has to be said. They do. it's I mean, the clock's changing and the weather being a bit better. It does make everything seem a little bit rosier. So, yeah.
00:00:58
Speaker
Yeah, it's definitely convertible weather. And this week I've i've been ah and enjoying convertible weather. Oh,
Exploring the MG Cyberster
00:01:03
Speaker
yeah. What are you driving? MG Cyberster. And do you know what? I was calling it the wrong thing until I watched your video the other night.
00:01:12
Speaker
I had in my head that the car was called a Cyberster. But a Zybster. Yeah, I don't know why that was glued to my head, but um obviously it's the Zyberster. and And unlike the dual motor one that you had in your video, um I have the single motor.
00:01:27
Speaker
and And I'm pleasantly surprised. Pleasantly surprised in lots of things. like i There's obviously recency bias of watching your video, but I am totally in agreement on a whole lot of things that you said in your video, and having driven the car.
00:01:41
Speaker
and It's... It's just an odd, it's an I like it, but it's odd in lots of ways. It's it's A, for anyone who doesn't know, the Cyberster is MG's and new roadster, open top roadster. It has these amazing looking scissor doors, which are look very clever, but and take quite a while to get out of if you're in a hurry.
00:02:04
Speaker
Yes. and I was just down at my local doctor's for a checkup and and the local doctor in Ballycotton is a lovely man and and you go up and you check in at the window and then he comes out to you when that your appointment is ready.
00:02:20
Speaker
So I was parked outside and he come out and I am pressing the door, waiting for this scissor door to open up. And ah talk about him like looking at me as if, right, there's notions now.
00:02:32
Speaker
Notions. So the Cyberster is this 77 kilowatt hour EV Roadster and from MG. You've driven the dual motor version, which is 507 horsepower and and has power front and rear. I am in ah another version that MG Ireland have put on, which a single motor, which is It's red 380 or something like that. It's not, it's, it's, it's, which is loads theres which is loads and powers the rear wheels rather than, than all wheel drive, ah different alloys, smaller, yeah smaller size alloys, but pretty, pretty nonetheless.
00:03:11
Speaker
And has the, pretty much most of everything else. It's a few quid cheaper as well. So, um you know, five grand. Yeah, it is five grand. So it's under 70 grand. I think it's just a fraction of 100 quid under 70 grand.
00:03:24
Speaker
and What was your, like, sorry, for anyone who hasn't watched the video, do you go and watch Navi on cars for the full review of the dual motor version. I'll have something on car talk at the weekend um on the single motor.
00:03:35
Speaker
and What was your take on that car and for anyone who hasn't seen the video?
Design and Driving Comparisons of Cyberster
00:03:40
Speaker
ah yeah One of the most striking cars that has gone on sale in recent years. MG have put 100th anniversary badges on the side of it, which has triggered some people.
00:03:51
Speaker
But actually, I saw that car probably a year before it actually went into production. And the guy who designed it sounds like he should be in Batman. His name is Chris Gotham.
00:04:02
Speaker
Oh, what a name. Like... But that car is ah is funny because people giving out about the heritage. That car from start to finish has got British DNA all over it. The car was, I don't want to say designed in London, but that's where I went to MG's HQ in London. And that's where Chris was. And you saw the design team who'd worked on the car.
00:04:21
Speaker
just sitting there like like maybe like an architect's office. It was kind of weird just walking through we were kind of told, don't picture anything, don't look too long at anything. So they hadn't even kind of made the place a secret for us or anything like that.
00:04:34
Speaker
I just found it is an amazing cruiser car. yeah It looks like it looks absolutely gorgeous. Nothing else like it out there. Price for what it is.
00:04:46
Speaker
that had an Audi badge on us double double the price of it. Fact. Fact. and Charging speed was a little bit low, but again, like as someone who has an EV at home, charging speed is largely irrelevant because you're charging overnight.
00:04:58
Speaker
think But then the other side of it is, and you know, I've owned an MX-5, so that is still the ultimate roadster for lots of people. And compared to that, the ride height is vastly different.
00:05:10
Speaker
So as long as you go into the Cyberster, understanding what it is, and it's not a a Roadster, it's not a Boxster, it's not an MX-5, then I think you'll get on with with it very well. I just had to point out the fact that, you know, compared to an MX-5 where you're barely seeing over the top of the steering wheel, ah you your are literally, your eyeline is at the top of the windscreen in the Cyberster.
00:05:32
Speaker
Yeah, you're right. i mean, the sense of occasion is extraordinary. So, I mean, that that the whole theatre of arriving somewhere, the cithers doors coming up. I mean, I'm collecting my young friend from school at half one today. He hasn't seen it. and don't know. he's going to lose his mind when he sees it. And thiss his schoolyard kudos is going to be, you know, right up there. But...
00:05:51
Speaker
yeah A couple of things struck me, really, from the from the drop. Firstly, the interior, there's an awful lot going on. It's very, very busy. you're You're sitting, you know, it's obviously quite compact, and the screens are... There's three screens, and trying to navigate the menus are, you know, the first...
00:06:07
Speaker
while you know when you collect a car and you're a little bit right where what's where this is the longest it's taken me in any car recently to figure out what the hell is going on so and there is a there is that little bit of getting getting used to it it's incredibly fast it's it's very well behaved on a motorway as you said i found when road surfaces get a bit poor that you're you're not feeling much brake pedal. You're not feeling a whole lot from the steering, even if you put the steering feel on full.
00:06:33
Speaker
and And while it's blisteringly fast, it's something that I'm not sure I'd want to necessarily push on because you're this just you're not being told a lot. yeah know And that that was just that's my experience of it so far.
00:06:46
Speaker
i mean, funny, looking at prices of other things, because we talked about MX-5, for the dual motor, you could have two Mazda MX-5s in terms of price. i the porsche boxers what a hundred and six hundred and seven grand for that for to scrape into one now 30 about 37 grand more expensive then than than a cyberster the z4 isn't as expensive in my as i thought it would be which is that it's under 70 grand starting off for the z4
00:07:18
Speaker
And that does give you more of a, yeah it's more viser of what you're looking for in that kind of car. m Now, I actually haven't driven the single motor, Cypaster.
00:07:28
Speaker
I've driven it here. I've driven it in Goodwood on the track, not the track at Goodwood, track near Goodwood. um And, like, all those things you say, you were less confident pushing it on because things just started getting quite choppy the faster you went. Like, I brought that car up through Sally Gap, for people that know those roads.
00:07:45
Speaker
They're brilliant driving roads. Sometimes it's loose gravel, which is not ideal. But, you know, they're they're good roads, not particularly wide roads, and that is wide car. um And, yeah, i I think I'd only...
00:07:56
Speaker
I'd only just bought my 911 a couple of weeks before I drove that car. And, you know, and that is a 20 year old car. But maybe that's being a little bit harsh on the Cybrister.
00:08:09
Speaker
I just thought I'm in something that's 20 years old and it drives like this compared to this that is brand new. You can't like there's no, no there's nearly an extra ton and weight in it for starters. But in fairness, it's it's a one of one. There is no other EV roadster two seater with scissor doors.
00:08:26
Speaker
No. It doesn't exist. So no so for somebody, that they're going to love this. Like, for yeah, for someone who doesn't need a lot of space and the boot's actually all right. and for For that kind of car, the boot is. Yeah, it's about 100 litres more than Boxster or an MX-5.
Cyberster's Market Position and Practicality
00:08:40
Speaker
It's just a wider opening for for that size of car.
00:08:43
Speaker
Yeah, i think I think the world is still a better place to have it in i mean, and and it shows you what can be done with electric cars. um And if that was a V8 or a V6, even less people. I think MG have actually sold quite a few them.
00:08:57
Speaker
Yeah, i wouldn't be surprised. Like, I mean, kit-wise, it's got everything, eight-speaker, Bose audio, the roof you can open as you drive. I did tried it the other night. You can open it at speeds of about 45 kilometers per hour, which is quite cool, especially for Ireland.
00:09:10
Speaker
And and yeah i think I was doing about 40 kilometers per hour when I put the roof down. And, and ah you know, it has an arsenal of equipment, which when you go into the BMW website and start ticking boxes on the Z4, you know, you're suddenly starting on a nine.
00:09:24
Speaker
and so So, look, like you said, I think you summed it up perfectly. ah you know I love that it exists. it's it's you know It's nice that it m it is around. ah It's nice to see cars like this.
00:09:35
Speaker
and But fear for me, I'd still think I'd have an MX-5 and a few quid change because for the experience that you're buying this for, which is roof down, bit of crack, a drive potentially without even any music on,
00:09:51
Speaker
It's still from probably MX-5 for me. You can get easily the same experience. It doesn't look as flash, I'll give you that. But you can get the same, sorry, I would say a better driving experience driving an MX-5. Even my MX-5 was an so it was like 20, 21 years old or something.
00:10:09
Speaker
twenty one years old or something um But look, an older car comes with other problems like maintenance and stuff of that. So yeah, look, it's it's a striking looking car. I would like to try. I just, I didn't want to book into this one you've been driving because some people haven't driven that car at all. So I didn't want to go block booking another week in the, in the,
00:10:29
Speaker
the Cybershopper maybe for later on in the summer or something when it's more available. But um yeah, I think a very affordable, and know 70 grand is a lot of money still or 75 for the, but still for for that for what it is, it's very affordable.
00:10:42
Speaker
I'm sure a lot of people won't be driving in the mountains or on those kinds of roads every day of the week. And, you know, you can still have lots of fun and look great. But as you say, an MX-5 will give you a... What what I would say is the single motor one does appear to be quite efficient. And and I did Dublin to...
00:10:59
Speaker
where I live in East Cork and I still had like 20% battery left. And that was, you know, 120 kilometers per hour in the motorway and, you know, a little bit of fun on a squirrely road coming back. So, you know, it did prove quite efficient. So I think if you were concerned about range, single motor might make sense. and But then again, if you're buying it I know it's a lot of money, but five grand over the course of three years in the PCP is probably going to be very little. So you probably should, you know, you might just end up going for the dual motor version because it's probably secondhand going be the one people want.
00:11:32
Speaker
Possibly. Also, by the way, not to be pedantic, but I'm nearly, you said three screens. I think it has four. So am I right thinking there's one to your left, the middle and the right on the driver, but then you have to climb it. If you consider they're broken up into three, then there's the one with the gear, the transmission one, not the transmission tunnel, but but then with the gear lever.
00:11:50
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, look, again, just to summarize, one of the most beautiful cars, modern cars that you can lay your eyes on. Yeah, really impressive. And as I said, we love it exists.
00:12:02
Speaker
ah Yes, we do. and It's been a big week for bosses of car brands. We don't really know much about either story, but the boss of Cupra has departed and the boss of Volvo, who's a Scotsman, has departed.
00:12:18
Speaker
Yeah, it's um it's an interesting in one. and And, you know, we are and we have an interview with with the boss of Cooper Ireland next week, but unfortunately we recorded it um a couple of weeks ago, so we didn't get the chance to ask him about this. but and It was not news then.
00:12:35
Speaker
It was not news then. Yeah, I've seen reports, and and I don't know, i can't remember the guy's name, but it seems like Volvo's old boss is going back to replace... and and to replace the the guys left.
00:12:47
Speaker
And then in terms of Cupra, I don't know, that's an odd one. and I would have thought that he, you know, that was a, he was flying, the sales seemed to go well, maybe they weren't quite good enough, but, and but yeah, it's a, it's an unusual one.
00:13:02
Speaker
So that's Jim Rohn, who is his legacy would probably be making Volvo a software company that builds cars. ah That was one of the headlines this week. um And he's been talking about the challenges that we'll face into cars, car brands over the future.
Industry Leadership Changes and Car Impressions
00:13:20
Speaker
only did that in the the last couple of days.
00:13:22
Speaker
yeah I don't want to make any, you know, sweeping statements about his age, but I would say Jim Rohn is like he's well into his 60s. Maybe he just, you know, It's time to retire. Yeah, I'm seeing here report that ex-boss Hakan Samuelson is due to return as a CEO.
00:13:42
Speaker
Sometimes when they bring back people like that, it's like an interim boss. Yeah, potentially. Potentially. and But, and you know, if if you look at Satan Cooper, I mean, there was a lot of the work done there by Luca De Meo as well and in the background before, you know, you could say that arguably he was the person who brought those brands to where they are before he departed um so who will replace Wayne Griffiths I don't know who will be that long term but um watch this space I guess Wayne was there for five years at the at the top of Cooper anyway um yeah Audi before that I remember him and the Audi brand
00:14:22
Speaker
and He always wore jackets with four stripes on the arm. And and i I asked a few people, what's the story with the stripes? Like every event he would have this on. And apparently was ah clothing that one of his friends, it was a clothes designer.
00:14:35
Speaker
So he would support his friend to that way. Fair enough. I always thought, was he trying to show that he's the captain with his four stripes? Maybe. I wasn't sure where the subliminal message was going there.
00:14:48
Speaker
um What have you been driving this week? Driving this week, I spoke to you about the XC90. In fact, we recorded some of last week's episode on that. and Got on well with that car. I do find the range is a little bit lacking in it.
00:15:03
Speaker
ah You will be charging it every other day because I wasn't doing big mileage school runs and those kind of things and still needed to top it up at nighttime. It's claimed 70 kilometers. It's probably...
00:15:15
Speaker
It's probably 50, but I even gave you a lift in during the week, Pat. A very comfortable, solid car. And I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one anybody if you have the funds or the means. um This week, the Volkswagen ID Buzz long wheelbase.
00:15:31
Speaker
I've been driving that for last couple of days. i and I was looking at their product guide recently, and I think I said it to you. The five-seater is gone now, right? Volkswagen Ireland can still get you one.
00:15:43
Speaker
Yeah, that's a bit like, do you really want one? you goingnna are you going to be ah Are you going to be a pain in the ass and ask us to get you one? and Because the price has gone up significantly. Like the five-seater one, I think you could scrape in with starting with a four somewhere, was it? Was it? well Yeah, I think it was i think it was a smidge under 50. I think it started with a four.
00:16:02
Speaker
and But now it's quite like quite a bit more. It's mid-60s now, and there are some GTX versions with like 1,000 kilometers on them on Dundale for about 70.
00:16:14
Speaker
Now, the GTX, I have driven it, um and it is it's very, very fast a straight line. i just i think it's really too fast. to Why would you want to carry that many people that quickly? I think it will give you more towing capacity in the four-wheel drive version.
00:16:31
Speaker
That might be a reason. Right. Yeah. Like the GTX looks really good. It does. As you said, want to bring sick bags with you if you're bringing ton passengers. There's enough pockets in the seats to to store a sick bag, in fairness.
00:16:45
Speaker
But it i take it looks like, look, it's I really like the buzz, seven teats. And presumably it's this this is slightly longer, so that gives you seven teats and a bit boot space, right? Yeah.
00:16:57
Speaker
Still boot space. ah Yes, it's got a lot ah larger battery base in the long wheelbase because there's there's more room to fit more in. So it'll do just shy 300 miles or just shy of 500 kilometers on a very good day.
00:17:09
Speaker
ah But, as you know, if you do put seven people into it and and some luggage, obviously won't be used as well. It's still as aerodynamic as a brick. Unfortunately, when I did collect this, it was it was it was really good. It was doing 15 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometers.
00:17:22
Speaker
And I noticed someone had turned off the AC on the climate menu. So I flicked that on just to see. Now, I don't know if it's attributed to it. I mean, it's effectively not quite doubled, but and particularly when it's cold in the mornings, it's soon like 40 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometers it takes.
00:17:38
Speaker
Now, the newest versions, so this is a larger battery. You do a battery preconditioning. Now, I know someone ah who definitely wouldn't appreciate me giving their name out, who's been running one for the last couple of years, that they bought it a very early buzz and also were one of those people that,
00:17:53
Speaker
it was 10 grand cheaper overnight, but they had paid there the higher price, but they do still love it. And it it does also Dublin the Cork regularly. um So, I mean, I'd imagine it's a car of people who, who have them one, they're probably married to them for a little while, but they, they do genuinely like ah enjoy driving them. Like they're good to drive there for people who don't know, like it's an ID four underneath, which is probably a bit mind blowing to think that it's on the same platform, but that means it, it it drives more car like than a van, which,
00:18:22
Speaker
you know, essentially it is. and Like I was going through a toll yesterday on the way to a Enfield and it clocked through with like five euro something on the toll.
00:18:33
Speaker
Oh, because like the weight? I don't know. ah Well, sometimes, like, I know the Eastlink, when it miscalculates your reg, that night will credit you back the difference. I need to check because, yeah, it was down as a commercial vehicle. And I just thought, like, this is hilarious. It's it's a zero emissions vehicle.
00:18:50
Speaker
And right now, anyway, I'm getting charged five euro plus to drive it on the road. it's like, yeah, I i don't know why I think the Port Tunnel one has has some sort of a weight measurement on it. and But. Future proofing maybe.
00:19:03
Speaker
Yeah, maybe. But and that is, ah ah look, it's ah it's I've been looking at the used car values on those and they're not, there's no cheap ones yet. And, you know, you you can get cheap ID.3s, ID.4s, but there's no cheap bus models.
00:19:16
Speaker
and And it would be quite a buy in a couple of years if you can find one, but they're they're really holding their value pretty well. I had noticed that as well. Not sure why that is. Is it because there's not an abundance of them? um Well, they didn't sell very many five-seaters. You know, yeah they that was sluggish at the start and that's gone.
00:19:34
Speaker
So now you can only get ah an expensive one. So the older ones are, the smaller ones are probably holding their value really, really, really well. Yeah, and As a seven-sealer, okay, you can get a 5008, also fully electric, for low 50s.
00:19:47
Speaker
Or you can get an EV9 that is quite a bit more, ah which will drive probably a little bit better. but And I've driven the left-hand drive ID Buzz, and the the turning circle on it is brilliant.
00:19:59
Speaker
It's not actually as as small on the right-hand drive version. So it's sitting between 5008 or EV9, somewhere in the middle. I mean, it's a car that will put smiles on faces every time you drive. People look at it all the time.
00:20:14
Speaker
and The other thing that I don't... i remember like doing the launch of that car in Copenhagen, and they had like the green and white colours and the green and white dashboard, and it all looked very, very funky. The one this week, it's all black on the outside with the the largest wheels and it looks cool.
00:20:27
Speaker
But on the inside, everything's black. And the seats, ah it's not that they're not comfortable, but the pattern, the design of the seats, I swear to God, you could put it in a Datchez Stepway and no one would know the difference. And I just thought, really, VW, is this is this the best effort for the seat design on such a cool looking vehicle?
00:20:49
Speaker
It's just that trim, obviously. but That is a shame. Yeah, I mean, I think, yeah, I would like it in black and with the the you know the black wheels. and But yeah, I wouldn't probably go for something like a burnt orange, brown interior or something like that. And also another thing about the seven seater, you now get climate control in the rear and you can open the chip van style windows on the side.
00:21:11
Speaker
Yeah. And can you remove the third row seats or fold them at least pretty flat? You can fold them flat and I need to double check. Can you lift them out? I think think you can. Like the appeal for me would be something like a five seat or one of those with the boot space.
00:21:28
Speaker
You know, if you were able to, that would be a properly cool utility vehicle, you know, put a bike in back or whatever else. Yeah. And there's a cool kind of folding part of the boot so you can tilt it up or you can have it flat. So there's like two layers of a boot, even with the third row up. So, yeah, it's very practical.
00:21:43
Speaker
um And yeah, like does decent charging speeds. Yeah, it's it's not as aerodynamic, but lots of cars that size aren't aerodynamic. Well, it is you're pushing You're pushing quite a brick through the air there. right. Yeah.
00:21:56
Speaker
yeah And the the other cars that you're in this week? I will have a Cooper Taviskan. Right. um Picked it up probably the end of the week because after this podcast, I have to go and collect the new Model Y. Ah, great.
00:22:11
Speaker
so very Controversial. with this Controversial Model Y. Yeah, controversial Model Y. And Stella Lee, who's the VP ah of BYD, was interviewed two weeks ago by the Sunday Times in
Politics and Controversies in Car Sales
00:22:24
Speaker
the UK. And she, not talking about Tesla in particular, but just BYD tariffs, Trump, the whole lot. She said, you know, why should the customer, who's the one paying, ever have to get involved in politics when buying a car?
00:22:40
Speaker
It shouldn't matter. Yeah, that's very benevolent of her. I'm not sure so Mr. Musk would be the same. But yeah, look, at it you know, we joke about that. the The car itself is, I believe, really good.
00:22:50
Speaker
You know, I haven't done the new why yet, but the the reports I'm reading are that it's excellent. And and I don't know if that will stop some people buying it, especially in Ireland where it's done quite well.
00:23:02
Speaker
and we with Ireland and the UK are kind of booking the trend when it comes to sales of Tesla since the start of the year especially Germany. So, I mean, you can understand why if he was perceived to be doing something that German people would be deeply offended by. You could understand why that's happened.
00:23:18
Speaker
I think one of the reasons here as well is our cars and and the UK also are are, you know, they're dearer than in Germany. So, there's more of an incentive for an Irish person to go, okay, well, he I might think Musk is a Muppet, but I can buy the new Model Y for 44 grand.
00:23:34
Speaker
The car has not gone up versus the last model. That's unheard of. Now, was that always going to happen or was that to try and just kind of deal with the PR crisis right now? I don't know. It's a strange one, really. and So yeah, it'll be interesting to see how you get on with that. like The thing is, but you get into a Tesla, everything works really well. The you know the charging is excellent. The the The technology just works. that you know Sure enough, maybe they've gone a bit of too far in removing buttons, but but look range-wise, performance-wise, they are incredibly good. Sometimes the build quality doesn't feel quite up to scratch, but um but look, ah you know ah I think it could be a temporary measure. we People might forget, people do forget, and maybe in a year's time, people will be back buying Teslas to to the degree they were.
00:24:20
Speaker
And they've taken the badge off the front of it. Yeah, exactly. i've seen them with Honda badges on them, moon which is which is pretty impressive. and So that's, yeah, three cars this week, which is always a challenge. But look, when an email comes along saying, look, you can have the Model Y for two days initially. We're trying to move it around to everybody. Would you like to take it? So I was like, yeah, OK, look, some things yeah you've got to do.
00:24:43
Speaker
True. And Dasia Spring for me next week and Hyundai Insta. So um I think we might ah need to put our heads together now. Yes, there's ah there's another potential twin test. Also, the in Insteroid, that what it's it's called? Yeah, I haven't seen that yet.
00:24:58
Speaker
Some people were flown to um Korea to have a look at this car during the week. um ah So it's it's two meters wider than a normal Inster. ah you know, again, the the likes of the Renault 5 WRC car that we saw.
00:25:17
Speaker
i think that's kind of what I don't know if um what are the benefits what's the benefits of brands of doing these cars? Is it just to keep the name out there? Yeah, it's look ah PR exercises and and it also gauges certain design themes as well. So it might be that, OK, well, have people really gone nuts about you know, this wheel design or the fact that it's a bit wider or whatever, whatever.
00:25:43
Speaker
But it would also possibly indicate that there is a potential for an Insta N at some stage and gives you the gives you the know the full cartoon flavor of what this car would look like. And then when it comes to reality, and you know, you would have to think that other brands are start are looking at the huge, huge reaction to Renault 5.
00:26:03
Speaker
and And, you know, across the board, they must be looking and going, right, okay, right. Renault have produced this cartoon version of ah of an old Renault 5 that's an electric.
00:26:14
Speaker
We would like a little bit of that. And i start I think we will start seeing a lot more brands coming out with kind of Hot Wheels versions of off cars because they're they're so and they're so appealing. so So, yeah, I would say maybe it points towards an Insta N at some stage. and bor But, yeah, it's it's, look, we're talking about it now.
00:26:35
Speaker
We're not the only ones. Yeah, I was at the, also the Irish launch of the BYD Sea Lion 7 yesterday and someone had the the five there in navy, which I wasn't sure on
New Releases and Market Trends
00:26:47
Speaker
paper. was like, navy, oh, no, it's green and yellow, surely, or maybe white.
00:26:50
Speaker
But actually in the navy, all that's missing are some gold wheels and would look like a Cleo Williams, kind of. Oh, good point. Yeah, very good point. Yeah, i'm looking forward to the driving that car in a couple of weeks and and you are in it soon as well, I think, aren't you?
00:27:04
Speaker
I am, and I was looking through the details. I i originally was told that Renault wouldn't have any yellow cars on the press fleet. I think there are some yellow cars in Dundrum, but I think maybe common sense has prevailed there because I was looking through the finer details of the next few weeks, and the car I'm in, and I even i think I checked on Cartel as well, is yellow, which is good.
00:27:22
Speaker
Yeah, I was listening to ah Dave Humphrey's podcast, 50 to 70, and he was in the car, and he was in a white version, but like if you if you listen to his... he waxed lyrical about that car. He just said, like, you know, they've really nailed it.
00:27:35
Speaker
Everywhere he went, people were smiling at him. Everywhere he went, people were asking questions. So it's it's one of those cars that I think, look, I think I saw the the concept of years ago. So did you, i think we all knew that this was going to be popular. But, you know, I think this is going to be really plentiful sight on Irish roads in the next 12, 24 months. so And if Dave liked it, well, that is high praise indeed. It is indeed. Yeah, exactly.
00:27:57
Speaker
Because Dave can be a hard man to please. yeah Right. Coming up on Drivers of Public Podcast. And and we don't forget to our email address, driversofpublicpodcast.gmail.com.
00:28:12
Speaker
ah We will be talking to another... another managing director of a very successful Irish story ah in Ronan Flood, who has been managing director of Kia Ireland for, going to say, maybe four years now at this stage.
00:28:29
Speaker
ah He's still friends with his predecessor as well, which is always a a good sign in this business. Although, it you know, Ireland and Kairos, it is a small business. And later on in this episode, and you could have said the sales of EVs being up was just a fluke. It now seems to be ah trend.
00:28:47
Speaker
Yeah, and a really interesting conversation. Ronan is ah is, you know, obviously a guy who has been at the coalface of the Irish industry for a long time, but he speaks with such passion and he also speaks with a very grounded nature. And I think that comes across comes across in the conversation we have.
00:29:04
Speaker
Straight talker and a big Dubs fan. He is next on Drivers Public Podcast. Welcome back to the Drivers Republic podcast brought to you in association with Dundeele Motors, Ireland's favourite website for car buying with more certified trusted dealers than anywhere else.
00:29:19
Speaker
You're sure to find the right car for you at Dundeele.ie. Paddy, we are on the road again. Yes, we're on the road and we are here in Dublin and we're joined by Ronan Flood who's Managing Director of Kia Ireland.
Interview with Kia's Ronan Flood
00:29:30
Speaker
Hi Ronan.
00:29:31
Speaker
Hello, thank you very much. Thanks for having me. It's good to see the two you. Is it really though, Ronan? Oh, well, there you go. I have to say that all the time. That's part of my job. Now, if well I don't know about, I would probably sound maybe more comfortable talking to you than some of our other guests because we've been away so much on our travels. yeah The last time was the EV3, which is now here and present in Ireland. Let's chat about that first of all, and then we'll talk about your career.
00:29:55
Speaker
um Is it a bit like the, well, maybe not so much like the EV9. I think even maybe you were surprised by the sales numbers at EV9, but it's it's a car that's going to do well. Well, EV3 and EV9, I'm a little bit surprised, but not really. Product is brilliant. And when you right product, you do the right things. I would always say the 4P is product price, people, and place.
00:30:20
Speaker
It's very rare that you get all four those items aligned, and we don't. I'm not saying we have all four aligned, but we're we're getting close to it now. You get three out of four generally, and you have a good return. Our EV3 is a fantastic car.
00:30:32
Speaker
The product is good, the range is good, the styling is nice, customers seem to like it. and Our network is very strong, the people that work here are good. So we've everything, all the stars are aligned to push the car.
00:30:45
Speaker
The bit of pushback against electric vehicles that was ah that was there last year seems to be abating. People are becoming more knowledgeable in what's available and what the cars can do. And once people understand what you expect from electric car what it can give you,
00:30:59
Speaker
Air EVs do all that and more, I think. So for for the customer wants to go electric and wants to buy the car, we have a fantastic offering. So our sales volume so far have been very strong.
00:31:10
Speaker
EV3 has had a fantastic start. EV6 probably started it, then the EV9 was continued on. And EV3 is a car for the masses, I'd say, more. it's it's It's at a price where more people are comfortable investing their hard-earned money to buy an electric car.
00:31:24
Speaker
So listening from the outside, you might think, plain sailing a Kia, easy brand to work with, great sales figures. Was your career always this easy then? Start from the start. I wouldn't for a second say it's plain sailing with Kia and it's easy going. But but yeah.
00:31:43
Speaker
It all comes through from hard work and we're in the good position the moment. I started, I'm an accountant by trade, qualified accountant, did tax exams so I had them as well although I probably can't remember a tax code anymore, I haven't been worked there for so long. I've worked with it about four brands, I've worked both retail and distributor level so I kind of have a little bit of everything. worked with Rover back in the day in 2000, 1999, 2000 I started.
00:32:12
Speaker
So a bit of work with Rover, Land Rover, did a bit Volvo, yeah and it just keeps going. it It's ah at a retailer, so it wass vol on landro about retail was and since 2008.
00:32:28
Speaker
So I started here as financial controller and had a very good group people working here. du the This company in its in its current existence was started in 2005. So I came in just after the initial tranche.
00:32:41
Speaker
I mean, I've been here ever since. I think when we started, we sold 3,000 cars, maybe we were lucky. 2009 was probably a black spot for everybody that I never forget. and And since then it's been not much enough, which we've done really, really well. But it but it is true that hard work, not for me. I used to add great team of people work here.
00:33:00
Speaker
They're all very passionate. They're all motor people. And our philosophy here as a group is that the hardest thing has got to be is to sell the car, to get the dealer, to get to the customer to sign the dotted line to commit to buying the car.
00:33:14
Speaker
And after that, you have to try and make things everything as easy as possible. So it's delivery, it's the the warranties, it's the finance packages. It's everything after that has got to be a little bit easier. and that's So we try and make the sale to be the hardest thing and everything else to be easier. Some places I've worked with, the red tape gets in the way sometimes and that gets a little bit harder.
00:33:34
Speaker
The Kia story has evolved greatly over the number of years, especially since you've been here. Talk us through the difference for people who don't know between early days of Kia in Ireland and and where we are now and and the differences.
00:33:46
Speaker
but when When I started in 2007, the Kia brand in Ireland was a Sportage and a Sorento. They were the two cars that we sold, both diesel, both heavy industrial workhorse of vehicles, brilliant vehicles. and Always since I've started, I think just after I started the Kia launch, their seven-year warranty.
00:34:07
Speaker
So we don't discuss it now too often, but people would always say to me, well, you have a seven-year warranty because you don't trust in the product. It was actually the opposite way around. had a seven-year warranty because we trusted in the product.
00:34:17
Speaker
They didn't give trouble. So you could afford to give a seven-year warranty, and and the odd car that gave you the issue, we could always fix and handle and keep our customers happy. and And we've evolved from from being a predominantly 100% diesel to then we start to bring in some Pocantos and some Rios and some Stonics and some different types of care. So we kind of offer... it something for everybody we don't promote all it we've too many kia is a worldwide organization that sells cars everywhere and we we try and just keep our customer base happy and and i'm i'm a firm believer in and slowly but but steady increments and and keeping your offers continually the same year on year so when your customers return for the second and turn purchase a kid they kind of know what they're going to get
00:35:03
Speaker
they don't get The customer that buys a Kia today won't get a vastly different offer from the offer they got four years ago. The terms might change and the interest rates might change. But in general terms, we'd like the customers to know what they can expect when they go into a garage. And it's worked very well.
00:35:18
Speaker
Do you think there was a particular tipping point where you saw a change in Kia? I would have said there's been two tipping points. that did I think we brought out the second generation Sportage in about 2011, which And that brought this part harsh on being a working vehicle.
00:35:36
Speaker
a working SUV-type vehicle to a very desirable, comfortable and compact SUV. And our sales in that vehicle just went through the roof. And that was that was a major change. And after that then, the product just... Every every time they bring out a new product, it just seems to improve.
00:35:54
Speaker
and And the crane production facilities, they tell you they're going to do something and they deliver. that There's never a mistake. so So certainly when the Sportage, the second-generation Sportage, around about 2011, 2012, I'll say...
00:36:06
Speaker
that That brought our numbers and and our customers to a different level. And then certainly the EV6. The EV6 has taken the customer base and and the Kia perception nearly to a different level completely. what did The trade-ins, the customers we get for that EV6 and EV9 and EV3, they're a different class of trade-ins, a different class of car.
00:36:29
Speaker
Our network has to deal with trading in heavier metal, more expensive vehicles than we ever have in the past. Just in relation to the EV6, and obviously you're coming from a financial background, something I've noticed is is how well that car is holding its value.
00:36:44
Speaker
and you know for for There was a lot discussion over the last couple of years about you know e values, but in particular EV6 has remained very strong. What do you think that is? Well, I am biased, so you have to accept that first and foremost. But i I do believe, and i'm ah I'm open to be contradicting because contradicting all the time,
00:37:00
Speaker
But the EV6, to my mind, is the first electric car that actually can just be affected by car. It doesn't have that electric look, that aerodynamic that's required. It just looks, the styling on the car is something second to And it stands up. And and the car, you wouldn't believe, i identityt think the cars are out now since 2021, I think.
00:37:21
Speaker
It's out three years and and the demand for it is on the increase. we With all the the problems and with all the EV uncertainty at kind to this time last year, when there was so much bad press and so much negativity around the cars, we knew we had a very strong product. And I believe we did a test drive campaign just to just to to break.
00:37:41
Speaker
There's a big thing about myth busting on electric cars, but just to get the honest answers out there. We wanted people to drive that car from because it's such a good car. and and And we honestly believed that people took the car for two days and drove it for two days, they'd actually understand what electric driving was all about and how good the cars can be.
00:37:58
Speaker
and i And I can say the the only stipulation I put on the campaign was that we didn't measure sales volumes from it. I didn't want it to be a sales tool. I wanted to be an information tool that everybody learnt about the car.
00:38:10
Speaker
And and it it it did so much more than we expected. but But you can do that from a place of confidence when you know the car is so good. That EV6, I am, it's a cracking car. Just on the 48 hour test drive that you're talking there. So talk us through, that there was a I don't want to say a challenge is the right word, but essentially you could go to a dealer, take a car for 48 hours. But did did you guys have to step in when it came to insurance? We had we had to do all of that. we we would We were doing everything that has never been done before. So if we if we did thousand test drives, remember what we did. I think we did 2,000 test drives.
00:38:42
Speaker
and or 2000 inquiries, and we did well over a thousand test drives, but we had to actually nearly take out a thousand separate insurance policies for those people. But it it was a piece of work that was worth doing, and I think we're reaping the benefits now with our EV sales because and let we we specifically wanted people to get the cars, drive them with their cars.
00:39:02
Speaker
We actually didn't want them to get the cars fully charged. We wanted them get them to get the cars kind of halfway charged so that they had to go and either charge it at home or if they didn't have a home charger to use the public network charging because we gave them a card.
00:39:14
Speaker
And and just just to live to learn with an electric car. The only stipulations we put in was that it was a 40-hour test drive campaign. The 48 hours are for either pick it up on Monday and drop it back on Wednesday or collect it on Wednesday and drop it back on a Friday. We didn't want it over the weekends for people they just going to weddings and and and abusing the offer that was there. But it there was everybody, I think without question, nobody took the car and said they wouldn't buy one.
00:39:40
Speaker
Some people took because they didn't like it. For some people's driving styles and some people's needs, an electric car didn't suit them at the moment and that confirmed that for them, which is fine. But nobody took that electric car and said, don't like it.
00:39:52
Speaker
Everybody, without doubt, thought it was just cracking car. Two things spring to mind with with Kia and the recent storm, the the last one. I can't remember already what it was called. Storm Eoin, wasn't Oh, Eoin. That was it.
00:40:04
Speaker
So two things happened. war I think an electrical engineer plugged his EV9 into his house, which, don't try this at home, kids. He knew what he was doing. He was essentially doing car to house, not quite car to grid.
00:40:17
Speaker
The other thing that happened was someone rang in to Joe Duffy and explained how she was keeping her router and a few other bits going, plugged into her, think, an EV6. EV6, yeah. that I listened to that interview live.
00:40:29
Speaker
and And, I mean, how does that work? Does someone say, Rowan, put on Liveline? No, I wish I thought of it. I didn't. That was actually, actually, I was going to Donegal to meet a dealer in my electric EV9. I was somewhere over the mountains in my car, and Pat Kenny was on, and he and was a there was a and another brand had just launched a big recent EV study on how people were buying the cars. So I listened to that because I was interested.
00:40:52
Speaker
And in the middle of disc discussing a different brand, this customer came on singing the prayers of EV6, which was nice for me, but but that's just the it goes. We had many people, and I believe you need to get a breaker in your house just when you're charging your home from the car, and I think there's a bit of an issue there, and I'm not complimenting to do that, but just be careful when doing it.
00:41:10
Speaker
But we had an awful lot of people use our EV cars, particularly our EV6 and maybe our EV9, to run their houses in the west of the country for nearly a full week. I mean, I think the air air batteries on our EV6, if I'm not mistaken, but an 80 kilowatt battery, I think they said normal house uses 11 kilowatts a day.
00:41:28
Speaker
So doing the maths, it will run the house for three or four days, most of your appliances. The battery won't work when it goes below 20%. It'll cut out to make sure the car can be driven. So you never fear running your car out. If it goes below 20%, drive it to your nearest fast charging station, bring it back full within an hour, and you're ready to go again. It keep a kept people's goods in their freezers, fully deep not defrosting, so they didn't lose was money there.
00:41:52
Speaker
It kept the heating on. More importantly, kept the lights on. It kept the water running. jesus it's's It's certainly something you wouldn't think about. Kia, both domestically and internationally, have seem to have managed the move and transition to EVs really well.
00:42:06
Speaker
And what do you, certainly domestically you can speak from from your from here, what do you think is that the reason for that? I can only talk about Kia and I can only talk about what we try to do. and As I mentioned a couple of times already, product is the start of it. When you have good product, a love of yeah a lot of your job, it's it's not done, but you have a good base to start from.
00:42:26
Speaker
So we have good product. we We put an awful lot of training into our dealer network. Our dealer network has got to buy into the electric evolution and how things are going. and I mentioned that at a couple of our dealer conferences with the way Kia are bringing out cars. Now things can change, but at the moment, unless you buy into the electric vehicle range, you're kind of with the wrong brand.
00:42:46
Speaker
because that's where a lot of the vehicles are coming from. That that could change in the future, we don't know, but at the moment, their investment is, and what we see coming down the tracks, are quite a few new electric models in a few years. So we do have products to offer all our customers. Where we've been so successful and the in the medium term is we offer good diesels, good petrols, Kraken hybrids, Kraken plug-in hybrids, and good electric. So we offer...
00:43:10
Speaker
all things unique to all people and that does open your customer base an awful lot. and But it comes down to the product and and and the network that you have because you can have good product and a bad network which gives bad customer experience.
00:43:22
Speaker
You won't sell too many second it cars after that. It's funny and you we get the same sort of feedback from talking to other manufacturers. The early people who were buying EVs came in and knew exactly what they were talking about. They were well researched. They were EV evangelists themselves.
00:43:37
Speaker
We're at the stage now that a lot of customers come in and are still, are for the first time considering EV and may not have even thought about it. Are are there still challenges in education there? course there are. And it takes an awful lot longer to sell an electric car to a customer than it does to sell a traditional ice car because it's new technology.
00:43:54
Speaker
And you have to manage people's expectations and explain to them how things change. I wouldn't say there's any disadvantages to an electric car but there are differences that you have to be aware of and it's why you need people in the garages now to be expert on the product and that's why you run so many training courses here.
00:44:12
Speaker
You are right, the people that came in first knew more about electric cars than are salesmen selling, that's not the case anymore but but a customer comes in looking for answers, they have to be able to trust that the person talking to them knows what they're talking and isn't just trying to sell them a car for the sake selling them car. The worst thing I want to do is sell somebody any car that's not suitable to their needs. just doesn't work.
00:44:33
Speaker
In the long term, they'll be w upset. they' They'll feel that they didn't get a proper deal and and they won't do the brand any good. Korea is a long way from Ballymount, where we're sitting today, and Kia HQ.
Kia's Cultural Influence and Future Plans
00:44:46
Speaker
That's not to say Kia aren't involved, even at at an Irish level. It's a little bit of a unique structure in how this business works. Yeah. How does it work? Well, I have a Korean president. All all and distributors, actually, there's one exception in Europe doesnt as a UK president, but but but most most national sales companies will have like They all have a Korean presence in the office. That that goes without saying.
00:45:11
Speaker
and But but it's it's a Korean company. The Korean culture is true the company. But what's more important is I need to be able to communicate to the factory very quickly if have a problem or if I want something changed or or they need to communicate with me.
00:45:25
Speaker
So I don't speak Korean. I don't know good your Korean is, mine isn't brilliant. Worse than yours. So I've learned a few words now. You'd be surprised what you pick up. So I have a Korean president here who's basically factory-facing.
00:45:37
Speaker
and and And I'm in charge of all that the comp the country operations here. I'd be involved in everything to do what with Ireland and my team would be here. But if we have an issue going back towards the factory, I have two extremely competent and helpful Koreans in the office.
00:45:52
Speaker
and One in the product the end of it and one as a president. So any issues come up, I talk to them They can talk back to the factory in their own language and and try and get problems resolved as quickly as possible. And it also it also shows the investment that that that the Koreans have in their country. So they they invest having somebody sitting here all day that potentially won't sell an extra car, but it's their just-and-sort problems if there is.
00:46:15
Speaker
Is there any part of Korean culture that you wish ireland people Irish people had little bit more in their lives of? m They are very disciplined. they they yeah well We both like a fizzy drink.
00:46:29
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. I can't get down that road because I could get a columnist in a problem with stereotypes. But no, they certainly are very social people and they enjoy a good night out.
00:46:40
Speaker
And they have a good balance. They they do they do tend to, they what's the phrase, work hard and play hard. And they certainly do do that. I'm Irish. I will never say that anything is better than we do. I think we do most things okay. We're not doing too badly.
00:46:53
Speaker
Does that a buffer, I suppose, if for want of a better of word, does that help? Like if you want to react to something... on the 1st of May, because one of your competitors has dropped prices. The way this business operates, is it much easier for you to, if you had to do something like that?
00:47:09
Speaker
It would be worse if my president wasn't there. and always you would You would always like to react to issues quicker than you went than you can, and we try to do our best, but but it certainly does no harm that I have a direct line to the factory. of and it's not a you It's not only with pricing, but if there's an issue with a product or if ah if I need a different colour or if I see that there's one colour not selling enough, I can cancel that order, make a different colour, bring them in for me, and we get that done properly.
00:47:33
Speaker
much, much quicker. it's It's more product delivery we change. but like Pricing, you're kind of left to your own here too to to balance the market and and and they there's a team here that hope that know what they're doing, they can make those decisions themselves anyway.
00:47:47
Speaker
Turning to the market, we've seen a reasonable period of stabilisation over the last couple of years. The numbers for registrations have been stabiling up. How do you see the next few years as we approach 2030 panning out?
00:48:00
Speaker
Well, again, I'll talk about Cade because that's all... This year... I think the market's going flat and it's going to be up one way or the other. we We have a a range of products coming and that that's very exciting. As I said, we have we have kind of five or six new models before the end of of of of this year.
00:48:19
Speaker
Cottle, my head of marketing, going have a difficult job promoting all those products and getting them out there, but that's his job. And then we're moving into the the commercial vehicle sphere, which you haven't been in before. and So I think we will probably naturally grow our business with the new models gradually as we go.
00:48:35
Speaker
And then the commercials are going to bring a new spring trubo that we've never used before. um you have to We're all a little bit worried because we don't have the expertise in that. put But like everything we try to do here, it's slowly but surely do it gradually. Let's not try and break records and let's try and do it the right way.
00:48:50
Speaker
How are you going to operate the commercial vehicle side of the business? Will every dealer sell them or is it a certain few? No, you you need expertise. We believe you need expertise. and We're probably going to let pick about a third of our network. we We'll focus on the main urban areas and and it's it's a about it's about having enough stock to sell first of all and then having a service area for our customers to come to as well. So I think we'll have about a third, probably nine or ten dealers, focus on the urban areas and then we'll we'll build it gradually from there and see how we go.
00:49:20
Speaker
Some of that arsenal, because I've been lucky enough to see it already this year, the PV5, the new EV4, which in the hatch is really good looking car. The sedan version, we don't we don't have that many sedans in Ireland anymore. It's a bit of a more polarizing design.
00:49:35
Speaker
But one that really got me was the, I don't know people call it the the Wave, the WAV, it's wheelchair accessible vehicle, which is the PV5. And I loved the kind of, the back end of it was essentially, if I interpreted it correctly, was Kia had probably done focus groups for people that might have had a child, that might have had a family member.
00:49:54
Speaker
And essentially he said to them, okay, right, you can you can roll a wheelchair in through this ramp with a a really decent capacity load on it. But stuff like, there's a seat beside where that person would sit.
00:50:07
Speaker
it's like if someone said, okay, well, like if you do need a parent to hold your hand in a wheelchair or whatever, I just thought that was incredible. What I like about the likes of those designs and what Kia thinks about is it's not all about sales volumes because how many people are actually going to... That's that's a vehicle you need, for unfortunately, for a need for a wheelchair or something like that. and it's great that they think about cost the need of the customer and the need of the wheelchair user.
00:50:29
Speaker
You're going to build those cars. We're never going to sell an awful lot of them. But they've spent the investment to make it more comfortable for that wheelchair user and their parent, etc. And it's lovely to see. and And it is something, instead of just rolling in the back and leaving sitting on their own, we're trying to make it more comfortable for for those people. And, and you know, ah please please God, when it comes out, I saw it too, I was very impressed with with with the vans when when we saw them.
00:50:51
Speaker
So we are all excited about what the future holds for that for that those products. and I know it's a tricky one to answer, but of the key present Kia lineup, do you have a favorite? And outside of the Kia brand, is there any car from history or a classic that would take you asking me pick one of my children.
00:51:09
Speaker
And I only have two, so I love you both equally. um
00:51:14
Speaker
i do I did fall in love with the EV6 from the time that I saw it. and i thought it was something special and i still do believe that i like the sportage i think the sportage is so reliable and it's a stylish car that that that gives people what they want so they they would probably be my my two favorites other other cars are niche the ev9's a niche product like you can go down the mall ev3 is so much going for there's so much back in but if i if i if i had my own money and i was picking a car I would be hard to pick between an EV6 or a Sportage, one of those two probably.
00:51:48
Speaker
so i Sorry to rest my family. With your ah previous role here, would you have had to be across the decision to put a Kia Stinger petrol on as a press car or were you just told?
00:52:00
Speaker
That was me. know so That was you. Look, if the Stinger... The EV6 petrol engine car. Now, if you're going to ask me what cars I miss the most, I do miss my EV Stinger because I loved it.
00:52:13
Speaker
and it It was a cracking car, but it was always going to be a niche product. And unfortunately, tax changes just made that car unsaleable really in Ireland due to road tax, not even just VRT. Great fun car though. But yeah there is a place for fun stuff as well. And that's ah never going to be a big seller. But it was good fun to try it.
00:52:30
Speaker
It was. Very, very tail happy. But equally, the EV6 GT, I remember you were one of the first ones. And I don't know if this is state secrets or anything, but even some of our defense forces, shall we call them, were road testing that car it was so quick. Yeah, they told us. They were impressed with well.
00:52:49
Speaker
And um I think they said, just not quite yet. But yeah, it's possibly well for the future. But does an EV... EV9 GT due to come out in Europe and next year where we probably won't bring it into Ireland because again the the the brand is so successful at the moment you get a limited supply of stock so we have to decide how many we're going to take of each model we probably won't go for the GT because I think that there's more to offer for the GT line or just a normal air that people will take but they they they make some cracking cars and they are good fun to drive
00:53:26
Speaker
And does that mean if you wanted a special order when you could? I can. If somebody actually specifically wants one, we can go down that road and get one. But I'm not going to bring in a stock of them that will only fit a niche customer and then take out a stock that I've got to buy somebody else a more appropriate car sometimes.
00:53:44
Speaker
You're a big Dubs fan. Six in a row. Don't ever forget it. ah And again, there was Bolly Awe Clea on number plates. Yeah. Was that all Kia cars or just marketing cars?
00:53:55
Speaker
No, all Kia We did the promotion with our Dublin dealers. So and so when the Dublin dealers sold the car, I didn't put Polly O'Haklea onto the redge plates. was good. It was a quirky little thing.
00:54:06
Speaker
It wouldn't work a Mayo, but it was... there No, and and, you know, we have been approached several times to to sponsor different things and and and that sort of stuff. And I ah i do think, you know, if you're if you're ever going to sponsor a team or something, you need to go for the league.
00:54:23
Speaker
rather than a team because I might sell to sponsor Dublin to lots cars in Dublin. I won't sell many in Kerry or Cork. You know, you have to just bear in mind all sorts of things. Because i was going to say, would would it be a proud day if you had the Kia Lago on the Dublin football team jersey? I'd love that it. It's a lot of cars in Dublin, but i'd I'd upset probably 3,100 counties. I can't be doing that.
00:54:41
Speaker
Okay. I often did wonder would people like as you say you wouldn't maybe think but what about someone in you know Kerry, Wexford, whatever suddenly you're associated with one particular team. If people in a show people come into a showroom and they say I don't want a red car because I'm a Leeds fan or I want a red car because I'm a Liverpool or United fan give all those little idiosyncrasies that you have to think about sometimes.
00:55:04
Speaker
Okay. Well Ronald I don't know if I'll see you on a trip again before the end of the year um maybe before actually We've a lot come before the end of the year. Right, okay. You're never someone who's looking for your wallet anyway, so thanks for ah thanks for looking after us whenever we're away. You're more than welcome, not panic at all. And thank you very much for chatting to us on Drivers Republic.
00:55:23
Speaker
Enjoyed it. Anytime you need to come in again, you're more than welcome.
Listener's Car Purchase Dilemma
00:55:26
Speaker
Cheers. Cheers.
00:55:35
Speaker
the right car for you is on don deal dot i e Also, good news on Dundeele. We were talking about the the euro pound price thing that people do to to go up the top because they won't pay for the more expensive ads.
00:55:48
Speaker
Dundeele are working on a solution to that. Thank you, Leah. ah Yes, that will make, it'll just make those Muppets have a more difficult life. Well, I mean, like it's not just painful to to go on and search and then suddenly it's,
00:56:03
Speaker
There's eight cars for a pound or euro. or Or one, two, three, four. and like Just pay for the extra ad. It's not that more expensive. Come on, guys. You know, it works. But thanks thanks to Dundee for taking some action.
00:56:16
Speaker
They're listening. Yes, that's good know. Good know. Right, a little bit later on, we're going to be discussing the latest ah batch of Simai sales figures for Ireland for 2025 in general. I think it's good news.
00:56:31
Speaker
ah But first of all, we have an email. We get emails. Driverspublicpodcast.gmail.com. Yes, we have an email from Colin Murray and um I will read it it to you now. Hi, guys. Absolutely love the podcast. Really interesting, but I'll admit I am a bit of a car junkie. Hope you don't mind the email, but I'm kind of stuck.
00:56:48
Speaker
Basically, both my parents have passed away. My dad passed away five years ago. and at that time I got a Skoda Octavia 1.6 diesel. Great car. I live in Clendalkin but work over in the airport as a police officer, so I'm over and back on the m fifty a couple of times a week.
00:57:01
Speaker
Unfortunately, my mom passed away last year and the house is in the final stages of probate. Once sold, I want to upgrade my car, say to a 2021-2022 model, but which way which way do I go?
00:57:13
Speaker
Is there any future in diesel? Will government try and hike all costs associated with diesel to try and decrease the market as such? Do I go hybrid, Toyota, etc? Or do I go full EV? Everyone warns me about EV and especially the cost of replacing a battery should I need to.
00:57:28
Speaker
Any thoughts, guys? Well, first of all, Colm, whatever you buy, it has to be quick because the amount of time it took the airport police to get to that looper. It was smashing up the gate a few weeks ago.
00:57:39
Speaker
Come on. Jesus. Yeah, I did see that. I did see that. ah and Well, sorry for your loss, first of all. um That is ah commute, but not really, ah not a big commute if we're going to say Clendalk into the airport every day.
00:57:56
Speaker
um So, I mean, yes, you could buy a diesel, but do you need a diesel? I would probably say no. No, and and look, he probably had that car in a number of years and and and look, at the time it was fine. And and look, there's nothing wrong with a Skoda Octavia 1.6 diesel. It is one of those cars that does everything. but But look, I mean, there's lots of questions and this applies to anyone who's listening. There's lots of questions when when you're considering choosing a car and especially when you're choosing a powertrain.
00:58:24
Speaker
and Diesel always suits people who are doing a little bit of mileage because These have diesel particular filters on them. Those don't like short journeys necessarily. You need to blow that blow the dust out of those now and again with a longer drive. So if your commute is quite short, it's not especially wise to and and drive a diesel every day. So a petrol or a hybrid or an EV will work better for that.
00:58:49
Speaker
and In terms of Colm, if his daily commute is Tlondolk into the airport and back, and if he doesn't do a huge amount of mileage, I would say, okay, maybe it's time to move on from diesel. and Whether to go into hybrid, like standard hybrid, like a Toyota will do a lovely job, that you know the sales of those are flying.
00:59:09
Speaker
m you know Is there an equivalent to an Octavia or if he wanted something like that? Probably not. you know Initially, if you're taught you know if you're going EV, my head would be probably Skoda Elrock if he was coming out of an Octavia.
00:59:27
Speaker
and Yeah. i don't Maybe he doesn't want to go quite new-new with the... Sorry, apologies. He does say 2021-2022 model. So yeah, that does give
00:59:39
Speaker
and I'll tell you wherem where my head went straight away, but i'm I'm quickly retracting. I just thought, went on to Dundale, had a look, Audi A6, 2021 to 2022 models only.
00:59:49
Speaker
ah They are, there was 150 cars came up. Guess what fuel source? Every single one of, oh, hang on. Sorry, I found one. ah Okay, this could be interesting.
01:00:01
Speaker
Every other fuel source is diesel. yeah ah Now look, this might be a bit too dear, but there is a 300 brake horsepower Quattro S-line petrol plug-in hybrid with only 100,000 kilometres on it ah in an Audi dealership which means you're going to get a one year warranty minimum for 37 wow but maybe that's too much money money the same money would buy you a new version of what you're driving now Colm maybe a little bit yeah you could be in an Octavia and and look if you're into an Octavia you could be you know at the entry level petrol is a lovely thing i you know totally fine especially for that sort of drive it's now 1.5 I think they've discontinued the 1 litre engine but 1.5 TSI is a great engine yeah
01:00:45
Speaker
Yeah. Used to be a bit jumpy, but they they addressed that. Yeah. Probably after listening to a knobby video, was it? I don't know. but My parents had a T-Roc with that 1.5 engine and it was just...
01:00:58
Speaker
It was like it ah it had kangaroo petra in it. was the The clutch was just odd. And and it was it was a known kind of ah VW issue across the group. And they obviously did some tweaks to and sorted it out.
01:01:11
Speaker
and So, yeah, I mean, if you fancied a bit of flash, if there was a few quid left from probate there, um obviously a car is a depreciating asset. not saying go and spend all your inheritance on one.
01:01:22
Speaker
But... Yeah, it's a nice kind of three, four-year-old, fresh enough A6 in S-line is a beautiful looking car. Yeah, it is. Look, bear in mind servicing costs could be bit juicy at some stage yeah and and always budget.
01:01:35
Speaker
ah ah always budget some money per month if you can for for servicing costs so you don't get a ah fright when when you do need to replace something major. and he He does ask a couple of questions here, which I think we should we should look at. is you know Will government try and hike all costs associated with diesel and decrease the market as such? Is diesel on the way out? you knowll We'll talk about the sales later on, but we know diesel sales are down 25% this year so far and for the first quarter.
01:01:58
Speaker
and And look, the taxation has always been aimed at you know, in more recent years getting rid of diesel and making diesel less attractive. So I think that's the direction travel is is there.
01:02:09
Speaker
And so we would probably see in the future, and ah you know, some further increases on CO2, you know, figures or emissions. I would imagine that we there will be less incentive to to buy one and possibly more taxation on the fuel at some stage. But and it depends what we say about the future. i mean, next four or five years, I wouldn't see anything massively dramatic.
01:02:35
Speaker
I think as well, if you're in that position in in government, you risk really upsetting a lot of business owners and people who are driving for a living ah doing something drastic with diesel. So I don't know, like hauliers, you don't upset hauliers, but can you give an exemption that, you know, they wouldn't be penalized but your private motorist would be, i don't know.
01:02:59
Speaker
Yeah. it's It's a very hard one to say, really. um I suppose the reason that would make me still buy a diesel was if i'm I'm doing enough mileage and I'm going to flip that car in the next three years anyway, I wouldn't care because the fuel savings for you will be...
01:03:15
Speaker
probably worth it. Yeah, exactly. I agree. i mean, I don't think he, I don't think from, from the mileage that he's doing, unless there's some other stuff that he needs to go into a diesel again. And I would imagine if he's been happy in a Skoda Octavia, i would be, you know, obviously your Audi suggestion is very, is very nice, but if you want something a bit more sensible, it would probably go Octavia again. And if he does want to go EV, which is of course an option,
01:03:42
Speaker
plenty of options of 21 22 you know you could be in a volkswagen id3 for 20 grand you'd be in a you'd be in an id4 for 27 28 perhaps um for a pretty nice one so if you wanted to go in into that ev route for a few years old you'll get plenty for that money for for you know for decent money in a 21 22.
01:04:08
Speaker
Yeah, and I think, what year is the car he's driving now? um Well, he didn't say because five years ago we got Octavia, so it's at least 2020 anyway. So, yeah, I mean, if you were not buying new then, you may not want to buy new now.
01:04:23
Speaker
um yeah Look, I think you're in the position where Klandalkin to the airport, if that's your your daily commute or five days a week commute, that will cover whatever fuel you have. It doesn't really matter. You can got you can't go electric.
01:04:35
Speaker
um You could just go more of the same. um this Or as you said, go bananas and buy an AIDA6. Yeah. Is that bananas? No, it's not. Is that wilder? It's the less sensible approach. But I do like thinking.
01:04:54
Speaker
Yeah. um I do know someone who has 1.6 Octavia diesel and also doesn't do really big miles. And they're quite often getting that diesel light coming on that the car needs to brought up the M1 and kind of ragged. They need mileage. Yeah.
01:05:09
Speaker
um So, yeah, i i i probably I probably would steer away from diesel just because there's no real great benefit to you getting it. If you're living in Carysavine to Clendalken every day, I'd say go diesel all day long.
01:05:23
Speaker
um But you're not. So I think... Either go used petrol or have a look at some of the the newer, more affordable electric stuff. And again, we don't really know about space. you Do you need a big boot? Look, I think if you have an Octavia, you're used to having a big boot. If you don't have a big boot, you'll probably miss it. Yeah. look, in general terms, is diesel going to disappear in the next four or five years? No.
01:05:45
Speaker
um not necessarily but there might be some taxation measures but as mark said i don't see them being radical because there's too many stakeholders who would be out with placards at the site leinster house so i don't see that i don't see that in the immediate term um and and look the sales figures suggest that and that's you know that's the direction travel lots more hybrids lots more evs and fewer diesels so so watch this space Or have a look at a Ford Focus.
01:06:12
Speaker
Yeah. You know, get one of the get one of the last focuses. Yeah. Or a Golf. Or a Golf. Yeah. You know a dying breed of wonderful car. I know these are all kind of boring answers, Colin, but ah they're they're kind of, you know, you're going from a sensible car. You probably want another sensible car.
01:06:31
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. You know. So this week, Simai again released figures um because it was the start of a new month. um And those figures were released on April
Car Sales Trends and Market Insights
01:06:44
Speaker
Fool's Day. But there was no tricks up there.
01:06:47
Speaker
um what are the i mean, you're such a numbers nerd. You love this stuff, you weirdo. Yeah, I do like the stats. Yeah. Well, firstly, we had an email from a previous, or a WhatsApp message, sorry, from our previous guest, Alan Bateson, wanted to point out that the ID.4 is the number one in the fleet market, irregardless of ICE or BEV models in Q1. And Volkswagen is the biggest winner overall in terms of market share in Q1.
01:07:12
Speaker
And he said, this has to be newsworthy. So, there you go, Alan. And it's not new news because the ID.4 has... I mean, it hasn't been toppled from the top, really. No, but I think his point is that it's the biggest now fleet winner, regardless. And, you know, previously would have been a diesel of some sort.
01:07:32
Speaker
and What I thought was interesting was, I think um there's been obviously a lot of talk about the Haiyanai Insta, and rightly so. And this could maybe be more of a they can't get enough of them problem. But I think there was one more Ford Explorer registered than Insta's. Nowhere was the other way around.
01:07:48
Speaker
um I need to drill it down to that. I went I went I went deep diving down into the figures. is like We're talking about 170 instars or something like that. And I do know from from people messaging me who are waiting on them.
01:08:00
Speaker
ah There is definitely definitely a delay. and Oh, yeah. Ford Explorer. There has been 225 of them. um so it's I mean look they're pathetic numbers if you were in the UK or Germany but I really like the Ford Explorer though I didn't think I would but I thought ah I think it's a lovely world repacketed it's a huge car mind you but it it is it is an impressive thing um And, you know, it's a it's a positive story where Ford are... Any Capris in there?
01:08:34
Speaker
Any Capris? I'll be scrolling right down the list now. I mean, there'd have to be some registered because, you know, we know some exist. but ah I'll tell you now in two seconds now what the Ford Capri weight filter results. And then we have...
01:08:49
Speaker
Some of the other non-surprising stuff while Paddy's looking. at The Tucson is still the best-selling model overall. Then the Toyota Yaris Cross. The Toyota RAV4. Toyota have four models in the top ten. They usually have five. What's going on, Toyota? 54 Capris since the start of the year. And look, this was, i mean, whatever about the fact that we have seen March figures out, it does mark the end of the first quarter. And that for manufacturers is a big deal because...
01:09:14
Speaker
Pretty much and not much will happen in in April and May um and June. So the first three months are really crucial. So it was interesting to see um that sales are up 3.7% in the first three months of 2025 compared to the same period. In 2024, there were just under 65,000 cars registered in Ireland. That's underlying registered.
01:09:37
Speaker
But March was a busy month, up 18.4% in the previous March. So February was quite poor. And then March was quite good ah compared to last year. And as you said, Mark, totally lead the pack as usual. Nothing new there. Just over 15% market share, followed by Volkswagen in second and Hyundai in third.
01:09:55
Speaker
As we'd said, Skoda are down 13% on last year. And um a lot of that is accounted for by a quite a big drop in sales of the Octavia. Now, perhaps fleet deals, but yeah,
01:10:08
Speaker
We must try and find out the reason for that. Possibly a supply issue. and But we've spoken about this before in the podcast. The Hyundai Tucson, again, remains the top selling model. No sign of it budging.
01:10:22
Speaker
Followed by the Toyota Yars Cross and Toyota RAV4. and significant numbers there I think they're all examples of cars where if you owned one of them you would go back to the same dealer probably the same person maybe if you're feeling brave ask for a different colour this time and you just keep going and my own personal experience in my house was I think there was four Cachecoys in a row and then eventually we broke the mould and went for an Aria wow how have you found saying that car actually I've not never asked you about that
01:10:55
Speaker
i think we went for you drive it much? Not really, no. um If I do have a spare day to try and drive something, there's something else on the driveway that I'd rather take out. and I have driven it a bit. I've been a passenger in a bit. you know, it's it's absolutely ah fine.
01:11:13
Speaker
if I think it looks all right. It's it's quite a big car. from memory ours it's not quite a year old but it was 42 I think after Grants and there there are definitely other cars with faster charging speeds again it's not relevant because it sits on the drive and gets charged there and certainly the software in it looks very very dated the graphics look very dated but the interior is nice you get the kind of half leather on it we went for that emerald green colour it's kind of it looks black one minute if the sun is shining it looks like a really deep green um
01:11:46
Speaker
the hope the the The wheels are hubcaps, but they look like alloys. So if you do whack one off a kerb, it'll cost you nothing to replace. That's a good idea because it does happen.
01:11:59
Speaker
But they don't look like upcaps. It's funny how it works. like they They are plastic. um But yeah, overall, it's it's been fine. Not the most efficient car in the world. It's a smaller battery.
01:12:10
Speaker
um But again, for for our needs. It's perfect.
Luxury Cars and Electrification
01:12:14
Speaker
It's perfect. A good sign of the economy is Porsche figures, which I have been looking at. The McCann.
01:12:21
Speaker
Yeah, well, the Cayenne. Cayenne is the number one. 89 units of Cayenne. um There's 67 Macan, as you say, 40 Panamera, which is 166% more than this time last year.
01:12:36
Speaker
Taycan figures are down significant significantly, minus 60%, which is possibly indication. Huge jump in the new model price. Yeah, and obviously people are still a bit spooked about the residuals in those. 13 911s, so hot tip to ah those 13 people.
01:12:54
Speaker
Carrera GT4, and and zero Caymans. But the Cayman doesn't exist anymore. It's a 718 Cayman. But yeah, interesting figures to see to see that. and And, you know, a sign that there's still potentially a little bit of money around.
01:13:14
Speaker
and It's also, I think, a sign of plug-in hybrid and electrification. 100%. and maybe it maybe, you know, I know Porsche have had significant struggles this year in terms of lots of things and one forecasting and and profitability. But um and will electrification give leases of life to these brands? Because I know, for example, from talking to people from MDL the other day, there are some G-wagons sitting out on the Nays Road now that are electric.
01:13:45
Speaker
Yeah, they're quarter of million quid, I think, aren't they? They're still very, very expensive. Yeah, £2.23 or something. which is yeah People that would have had that money anyway don't really care. exactly But yeah, that blue you'll see more of those what because of that. I wonder, and it's a complete sidebar, are we at the stage where the environmental, you know, people who are very environmentally conscious and protest with black arts stuff, are they going to be getting upset about...
01:14:14
Speaker
you know, the likes of G-wagons that are electric because it it it it it goes against two sides of their minds. One side of them says, okay, I don't like this thing, which is probably what, three tons, must be more.
01:14:25
Speaker
and and ah But it's fully electric. And physically big, you know, and and isn't needed for probably 90% of the journeys it's doing, if not more. I mean, the the only person, I don't even know this person, but the only person i know of in Ireland who has or had one of these was a big time,
01:14:41
Speaker
hotel property developer you know with the means to do it and you'd often see this car on Camden Street and stuff like that and people take pictures of it it all looks great and look I think if you have the you should be able to buy whatever you want whether it's a big car or a small car um but there's no denying um when it comes to the tailpipe part of something like a G-Wagon it's far better than yeah it was 100% and yeah enormous power in that the electric version and ah and the potential to spin on its own axis I believe with you Yes.
01:15:11
Speaker
you put the shoe down. At the other end of the size scale, I was looking at Citroen and um their diminutive AMI. So 18 of them have been registered so far this year. and um If you were to break that down,
01:15:25
Speaker
into whether they're actually in customers' hands or in dealer forecourts. I'm not sure, but um and it is, yeah, it's a decent enough figure. i've ah you know i've I haven't spent any much any time in the enemy. I drove it a couple of years ago when they had one over in Ireland. and I wonder, you know, for somewhere like me where I live, I could drive one comfortably, and you know, to the shops and back.
01:15:52
Speaker
Behind the old guy in the Focus ST. But, and but. Kind of give you a toe back. Yeah, I just don't i know where or when there is a ah really, useful you know, usable case for it.
01:16:07
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, if I was if i was Amazon with that huge factory plant out in Rathcool, I'd buy them for that. If I was in the DAA, I'd buy them for the ramp. Makes perfect sense, yeah.
01:16:20
Speaker
I drove one in Trim on the main road and there was a an oil tanker behind me. and That was intimidating. That was intimidating. ah But i are there 18 Citroen dealers in Ireland? So that is kind of... ah No, they're sorry, some of them few of them do, for sure, have have made a made into customers' hands or coffee shops or whatever else.
01:16:42
Speaker
and I was talking to a call from Citroen the other day and He was saying that there's a newer version coming. and So that should be coming reasonably soon and has some sliding changes and other features as well. so and So it doesn't go any faster or further. No, no.
01:16:58
Speaker
um You would need to push that downhill for that. but um But, you know, I am looking to maybe do something on there on driving around East Cork and in ah an army coming to you soon. Please do not take an army on the road from Dublin to East Cork. No, well, I i need to leave now for July. think we'd have to get to. I was in Shireen a few weeks ago and I saw a lot of them on the street.
01:17:20
Speaker
In Turin. And were they in the Fiat form or the Topolino or were they in the Citroen? No, they were just on the street. The same with that modern take on the bubble car. Who makes that again? It's got like the LED lights on the front of the I don't know.
01:17:34
Speaker
and Anyway, yeah, I mean, that those things probably work better. And and ah people in those cities are probably more tolerant of ah small little cars. We're just not used it here. I think having been, well, tried to be bullied off the road um in ah in a datchets spring,
01:17:47
Speaker
by some landscape gardener who has a death wish. and i I can't imagine driving something like that no around here. No, no. So, yeah, interesting
Vehicle Sales Shifts and Podcast Finale
01:17:56
Speaker
figures. I think, you know, I think the main headline is, okay, diesel is down 25%, or EV is up 25%. So, you know, crude beer mats is that the diesel drop is being replaced by EV.
01:18:10
Speaker
and You know, there's not much fluctuation from the other segments apart from PHEV, which has really and jumped a huge amount. PHEVs are 60% last year, which is quite significant. Hybrid, of course, is up because Toyota numbers are always strong. So it's up 20%.
01:18:29
Speaker
and And petrol, while it's number one, has dropped 11% in the first quarter of 2024. But it's that it's that interesting sort of diesel's down 25%, electric is up 25%. That's the interesting headline from that.
01:18:42
Speaker
I do wonder, though, is it direct? Like if ah if you're someone who was able to get 11, 1200 kilometers out of year your diesel Audi A4, is the natural place for you to go electric? No, it I don't think it's that simple. I would imagine that and Toyota has has, you know, over the last number of years, soaked up a lot of the diesels to hybrid conversations.
01:19:02
Speaker
and But i would I would imagine that there's there has to be a huge portion of that. and Just like basic maths, there must be a huge proportion of it. And because there's been such a drop on diesel and such a jump in and passion. Yeah. And look, I know there's obviously the VAT back and stuff for for businesses. But if you are someone who has a a company car and someone else is is putting that charge card in your sun visor for you, ah you're going to have to stop to check emails laptop anyway. So weirdly, actually, maybe, you know, people who do the length of bra the country are actually more suitable for.
01:19:33
Speaker
Electric once is fast charging available than a lot people. Yeah, 100%. And, you know, by, as we've said earlier on, but looking at ID.4 as being number one in the fleet market, that would indicate that those, those are, those were once diesels for sure.
01:19:47
Speaker
Yeah. So, um look, it's it's good that it's up. It's a continual positive story about sales, sales overall this year. think our reasons be strong. Look, we're still a very small country. We're still, our car park is 120,000-ish new cars a year.
01:20:02
Speaker
we'll get a deeper We'll get a deeper insight next season when when we talk to Emma Mitchell from SIMI. He's going to join us on the show. as well um just to you this is this is episode seven and next week is our last of this season yeah and then we'll take a we'll take a few weeks break to um rejuvenate you guys rejuvenate ourselves and then come back with some some pretty interesting guests and seeing too so so yeah we will we look forward to speaking to emma who will give us some really really good insights into into the industry from her perspective And I know she, for some people, is very controversial ah personality.
01:20:36
Speaker
But having met Nadia Adan last week at a Symi aftermarket conference, she has told me she would love to have us over to her new premises on the next season. and Great. Yeah, looking forward to that. um And we also have Volkswagen's chief designer.
01:20:52
Speaker
uh andreas yes mint is ah joining us and andreas mint uh who is who's the smiliest car designer because i think they have reputation as being you know godlike and difficult and uh yeah he's aloof he's a very down-to-earth guy especially someone who came from bentley as well so uh he's in ireland we'll have to teach him about notions but i don't think he has notions No, he's the guy who keeps talking about the secret sauce. Yeah. um So he's he's promised us a full hour episode. So we we need to do our homework for that one.
01:21:27
Speaker
That's great. Well, look, as ever, if you haven't subscribed to the podcast, please do so wherever you get your and
Future Episode Teasers
01:21:32
Speaker
podcasts. And next week, Mark, what do we got? and Next week, I will just have been back from the international drive of the new Ford Puma Electric, which has been a ah Phenomenally successful car in the UK and Ireland over the last few years. Can it replicate that success with an electric version of it?
01:21:51
Speaker
um Also, I'm trying to think, what else am I... Oh, the new Audi A6. So you've had it. I'm looking forward to driving that. I'm also in the Capri next week, so it's all working out well with Ford. Great.
01:22:02
Speaker
And I'll be able to give you a few more thoughts on the new Model Y. Should it be a car you just go straight and order? I was going to say you go straight to jail and order. Yeah. But yeah, will it get the thumbs up from little old me?
01:22:16
Speaker
We'll find out. Well, that's it for this week's episode of the Drivers Republic podcast. If you want to email us, you can do on driversrepublicpodcast at gmail.com. And until next time, ciao to then.
01:22:27
Speaker
Bye-bye.