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Японцы уходят в Индию | Словакия запрещает быстро ходить | Британия вводит налоги на электрокары — Transcript

by Асафьев. Жизнь · 9,576 words · 1,565 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:01The wire is sticking out. You really
0:02look like you're charging.
0:03Oh well, let the wire stick out. If at
0:06some point in this video you see a
0:08montage where I’m just, you know,
0:10like people piecing sentences together
0:12from individual words in editing, and
0:14we just have this kind of chop-up where
0:16the meaning is being assembled, don't
0:18be surprised, because I’m coming off
0:20a very exciting night. Good afternoon.
0:24This is an electric......one that
0:31didn't go according to plan.
0:35Someone just suddenly, completely,
0:37absolutely suddenly. A friend flew in
0:39yesterday whom I hadn't seen in a year
0:40and a half. And that classic thing: "
0:42What are you doing?""Oh, I'm free." And
0:44that's it. So we met up and were like,
0:46"And until 4:00 AM, until they kicked
0:48our asses out of the hookah lounge, we
0:50drank everything we could and smoked
0:51everything we could." The episode today
0:54might be a little bit relaxed, because
0:56I woke up this morning and was like, "
0:58Oh, filming, this will be interesting."
1:01I’m not even going to work by car as
1:03a passenger. I think I’ll just walk,
1:06because that’s not the kind of tip
1:08the taxi driver is expecting. Why
1:11bother with that? Better to walk,
1:13breathe some fresh air, look at the
1:15trees. It was so awesome. I won't drink
1:19anymore. That's it. I tried it once in
1:21my life, no, I won't do it again. I
1:22don't recommend it. Don't do it. Wait,
1:24as far as I know, you never get a
1:25headache.
1:26No, it doesn't hurt right now,
1:28but it just feels, well, very
1:29cotton-headed. I mean, like, I don't
1:30have any actual pain. I don't know what
1:32a headache feels like in general, but
1:34it just feels like it weighs 18 kilos.
1:37Brother, a vacuum can't hurt,
1:42you son of a [ __ ]. I’m not even
1:45going to answer you today. I can't be
1:48bothered. Are you getting a head start
1:50today? You're participating in the
1:52beating of a non-resisting body today.
1:56In short, you went hard.
1:59He’s even trying to think.
2:01And it’s clearly visible. Well, you
2:03know, I am actually trying to think
2:04right now. Usually,
2:05it's visible even without editing.
2:08Loading.
2:10Exactly that. Well, I don't know if you
2:12remember or not, this was back in the
2:13day when we drove the Grants in the
2:15Canyon Cup. We were driving there with
2:17Ruslan Zarefyanov. He's one of the guys
2:19from that actual crew. And we hadn't
2:21seen each other in, well, a very long
2:22time. And we sat there talking about
2:24Formula and all those motorsport
2:26athletes.
2:27Couldn't hear it?
2:28No,
2:28idiots. You guys were banging away
2:30without us
2:31didn't hear a thing.
2:32What was I saying?
2:34The formula.
2:35That meeting with a friend when
2:37you’re like, you can't agree on 5
2:39o'clock. You just interrupt each other,
2:41like "I have this," and "I have that,"
2:42and then by the end of it. "No, you're
2:44the best,""No, you're the best.""No,
2:45you go ahead, you get in the taxi first
2:47.""No, you get in the taxi first."
2:48Anyway, it’s really great. Uh, don't
2:50drink in the middle of the week. On one
2:51hand, don't drink, but on the other
2:52hand, these joyful spontaneous meetups
2:54are so damn good, when suddenly
2:55something happens and you find yourself
2:57off on a trip with friends, off on some
2:58exciting adventure through the night in
3:00Moscow. Yeah. You don't know when it
3:02will end, or when you'll get home. I
3:03didn't even wake up, goddamn it. Good
3:06thing I woke up at 4:00 AM.
3:07What did the cat say?
3:08What is she going to say? Meow. Like,
3:10feed me in the middle of the night. The
3:11night is here. Come on, let's go feed
3:13me. Come on, come on, come on. And we
3:19have news right away that’s related
3:20to a similar story we had on the
3:21racetrack, which we were just
3:22remembering recently. I’ll tell you
3:24now. A lost Tesla Model Y drove onto a
3:26motorcycle racetrack during a live
3:28broadcast. California's Buttonwillow
3:30Raceway is this huge complex, where you
3:32have both a racing track and a circuit.
3:34I mean, if you look at it from above,
3:36it's not far from San Francisco. Well,
3:37it's just a big, big, you know,
3:38racetrack. It's not clear which
3:40specific loop out of the whole thing
3:41the athletes were riding on, I think.
3:43Well, mostly on the one that's right in
3:44the middle, the one with the oldest
3:45asphalt and the standard racing line,
3:46if you just look on Google Maps. Anyway
3:48, there was a motorcycle race, people
3:50were right in the middle of it,
3:51fighting for positions, gaps, all that
3:53stuff. Amateurs. And then suddenly a
3:55Tesla Model Y on Autopilot just drives
3:57onto the track, because, well, some guy
3:59was on Autopilot—it is California,
4:00after all, Teslas are always on
4:02Autopilot there. And it just got lost
4:04somewhere by itself and drove onto the
4:06racing track. And it drove right into
4:07the guys heading in the opposite
4:09direction. I mean, right across them.
4:10They were riding toward it, it was
4:11toward them. Everything's fine.
4:12Thankfully, there were no casualties.
4:14And what did we call that "Mad Max"
4:16mode in that episode?
4:18Yeah, they had "Mad Max."
4:19Exactly, it was 100%on that.
4:22That was the "I hate motorcyclists"
4:23mode or something like that, or a meat
4:25grinder mode. These are actually quite
4:28common problems. Here, clearly, the car
4:30was just passing by or going somewhere
4:32nearby and simply got disoriented and
4:34turned. But when you call a taxi to a
4:36racetrack, for instance, or just drive
4:39to any track yourself using a navigator
4:41, it’s fine if it’s set up with a
4:44clear road, a dedicated parking exit,
4:46and then the track itself. But when
4:49that parking lot is inside the track—
4:51which happens, especially if it’s a
4:52big loop—or tucked away on the side,
4:54you have to figure out how to drive
4:55through. Well, you can really run into
4:58funny situations, especially if it's
5:00not a world-class track with tons of
5:02security and everything locked down
5:03where you can't get through. But when
5:06it's just a regular, local track, it
5:08happens that you can end up driving
5:09somewhere you shouldn't. We once
5:11finished a race, a winter one, in Kazan
5:14. We call a taxi. The track is located
5:16pretty far out from the city. And the
5:17taxi drivers take a long time to get
5:18there. 15 to 20 minutes is the standard
5:20. So, we’d finished the race and were
5:23getting ready, ordering the taxi in
5:24advance, waiting for a car to accept
5:26the ride. We’re just walking around
5:28inside the racetrack. We’re not
5:29standing outside because it's -10 ° or
5:31-20 °, it’s freezing with the wind
5:33blowing, so we’re inside, gathering
5:35our things. I get a push notification
5:37that the car has arrived, but there are
5:38internet issues, naturally. Sometimes
5:40the local Wi-Fi drops out, or your
5:42phone loses the signal. Basically, the
5:43SIM card doesn't get reception either.
5:45And it's possible that the app image is
5:47glitching. This was back in pre-war
5:48times. Meaning, it wasn't common yet to
5:50have no GPS, where the car could show
5:52up on another continent in the Yandex
5:53app or anything like that. And I open
5:55my phone, seeing that the car isn't
5:57really in the parking lot, but
5:58somewhere nearby. Then it starts moving
6:01in a strange way. I'm like, "Well, it's
6:03probably just glitching, no big deal."
6:05Then a call from the taxi driver comes
6:06in. I'm like, "Yeah?" He says, "Listen,
6:08where exactly are you guys?" I was like
6:10: "Well, we’re here, this is the
6:12track building, the road is right here,
6:14so we’ll just run out and find you."
6:15I’m just driving around somewhere and
6:17I don't really get where you guys are.
6:19We’re looking out the window. A
6:20fourth-gen RAV4 is coming down the hill
6:22from the fourth turn. The guy there is
6:25like: "Where the hell are you guys?"
6:28One of the parking gates was just open,
6:30the pit lane was wide open, everything.
6:31Just go ahead and drive in. So, this
6:33guy just drove onto the race track and
6:34started looking for us, wondering where
6:36on earth we were. Something doesn't
6:37make sense here. Yeah, the road you
6:38have is somehow strange.
6:39Right, I checked, there's no mention
6:41that the Tesla got lost because of
6:43Autopilot. It's quite possible it was
6:45just the driver.
6:45Could be, right? I mean, that wasn't in
6:47the news report itself. They just drove
6:49out by mistake, the race was stopped,
6:51they cleared the car, and then
6:52continued the race. Nobody was hurt,
6:54the competition went ahead, everything
6:55is okay.
6:56Lewis Hamilton was at the wheel, and
6:57his engineer said: "Lewis, it's Hammer
6:59time."
7:01And he was like: "Absolutely useless."
7:02And the head of Ferrari told them from
7:04above: "Stop the [ __ ] chatter."
7:06Those are just scripted jokes, pay no
7:07mind. You’ve got a bottle in the shot
7:10, but like
7:10What, Baikal? Just water,
7:12not Shishkin Les, thank God. Yeah,
7:13thank God, yeah. Anyone who drinks
7:15Shishkin Les, you’re a pervert.
7:17You’re straight up
7:18You hold that same opinion too.
7:19Not with him. Whoever drinks it,
7:20whoever makes Shishkin Les. What the
7:22[ __ ] are you even doing with that water
7:23? Why is it like that? You know,
7:25Shishkin Les is the kind of water you
7:27want to wash
7:30or run through a filter.
7:31Yeah, you need to do something to it
7:33because it’s some kind of blasphemy.
7:35I imagined the race directors standing
7:36there, one says to the other: "Tesla,"
7:38and the other goes: "Yes." And he says:
7:41"Why?" And he’s like: "I don't know."
7:44Model Y. It was like a joke about that.
7:46Like
7:47I got it, yeah,
7:47damn, that's clever.
7:53Two news stories that should be read
7:56together and enjoyed. First.
7:59Mercedes-Benz profits have halved since
8:01the start of the year, while nearby,
8:03BMW profits have grown 3.6 times. Well,
8:06the data isn't entirely comparable,
8:08because in the case of Mercedes it
8:09refers to the first three quarters from
8:13the start of the year. And for BMW,
8:14profit grew significantly relative to
8:17the third quarter of 2024.
8:18And I have their presentation right
8:20here. If needed, I can compare, well,
8:22find data for the three BMW quarters.
8:25Let’s do that. How much did Mercedes
8:28earn in net profit? I'll find it right
8:30now. And how much did BMW earn in net
8:33profit for 2025? Mercedes earned 3.8
8:36billion euros over three quarters,
8:39while BMW earned 5.7 billion over three
8:43quarters.
8:44Also, by this time last year, Mercedes
8:47had earned seven billion. Their net
8:50profit has fallen significantly,
8:51while BMW earned six back then. Yeah,
8:54and the guys, well, BMW still has a
8:56more or less stable situation. They are
8:58still profitable, they are still doing
9:00well. Looking at just one quarter isn't
9:01entirely effective, because you have to
9:03look at the whole year. But the fact
9:04that Mercedes won't catch up to their
9:06numbers this year is for sure. And the
9:08fact that their net profit has halved
9:10is a serious threat to the group. But
9:12that’s because they’re like, "Here
9:14is our new strategy. We are going to
9:16redo everything completely, we are
9:18reinvesting money. We are trying to
9:20develop here, we are trying to develop
9:21there." We realized our previous
9:23strategy of selling a small number of
9:24cars for a lot of money isn't working.
9:26We are losing the Chinese market, and
9:28we are losing Europe. Everything is
9:30really bad for us, sales are falling,
9:31we need to do something about it. And
9:33it seems like out of all the news and
9:34reports from absolutely all German car
9:36companies, BMW seems to be doing the
9:38best at the moment, if you can say that
9:40, because in general, they are doing
9:42poorly compared to what they had, say,
9:44in the early twenties or the late tens.
9:46But if we take the situation at
9:47Volkswagen, Porsche, and Mercedes, all
9:49three of them are doing very badly.
9:51Opel, well, let's just pay our respects
9:53.
9:53But Opel isn't in Stellantis.
9:55Well, yeah, but it’s unprofitable.
9:56Meaning it just exists as a badge
9:58inside Stellantis.
9:59Uh-huh. No, why? They have their own
10:00cars, they have everything there. I
10:01mean, well, Opel,
10:02they are platform-shared, I assume,
10:03aren't they? Or
10:04Yes, yes, shared platforms.
10:05Excuse me, please, who likes Opel there
10:07?
10:07Well, you know, it’s like having a
10:09hybrid of an Opel and a Peugeot—
10:11it’s bad from both sides. What is it?
10:13Is it an original Peugeot refined by
10:15Opel or an original Opel refined by
10:16Peugeot? It’s not better from either
10:19side. Opel
10:20PSA, basically. Unclear. Opel.
10:24Opelot.
10:25Peugeot.
10:26Well, Peugeot, yes. Peopel, yeah,
10:28that’s a classic, yes.
10:30And guess what, the car that is inside
10:32Mercedes this year, firstly, is growing
10:35, and secondly, is steadily bringing in
10:38money, and they tried to kill it off.
10:42The G G G-Class,
10:43yes, that’s right. Not the electric
10:44one, the gasoline one. In the first 9
10:46months of this year, sales are up by 30
10:48%. By this time last year, 26,900 units
10:50had been sold, while now it’s 35,100.
10:54A logical question arises: if you
10:56hadn't, damn it, made an electric
10:58G-Wagon, and had invested that money
11:01into refining the current one, maybe
11:03you could have offered something there,
11:06maybe made it a bit more refined, maybe
11:09worked on production to lower the cost
11:11a bit? They wouldn’t have had to drop
11:13the price tag, but they would have just
11:14earned more on the car itself. The idea
11:16, in general, isn't bad, but we have an
11:18electric G-Wagon that nobody needs. And
11:21thank God there's a normal human
11:23gasoline G500, G63, which brings money
11:25to the company and allows them to at
11:28least exist a little.
11:29And that’s the entire G-Class volume
11:32sold. Don't they have an off-road
11:35version, or do they not make it anymore
11:37?
11:37Yeah, they sell about three of those a
11:39year or
11:40the off-roader, the boxy one. No, no, I
11:43mean, I think they released it back in
11:452013.
11:46Those are special versions. Everything
11:47you're talking about is a limited run.
11:49Are you talking about the 4x4?
11:50No, no. The 4x4 is lifted. And there
11:54are those rugged, army-khaki ones that
11:57were
11:58purely for off-roading.
12:00The "Classic" or whatever it's called.
12:01Hard to say. I understand, yes. The
12:03ones prepared for special services,
12:05honestly, it's hard to tell. It’s not
12:07written there. There is no distinction.
12:09Maybe it's not even listed in the
12:10passenger car division. Maybe, they do
12:13have a Mercedes commercial and truck
12:15division,
12:16where it could all be assembled. Yes.
12:18Yes, yes, yes. Well, that's just a
12:20theory. I haven't often seen that from
12:22them.
12:22Well, that's not the point. Anyway,
12:23it's selling. Fact.
12:25The G-Wagon, yes.
12:26And it brings in money,
12:27yes. And China is ceasing to bring in
12:29money for Mercedes. The company
12:31basically has two big challenges. The
12:32first is that they are losing the
12:33Chinese market. It has dropped by a
12:35third this year. -27%. The second. is
12:38that the US market is closing off, well
12:40, because they're imposing protective
12:42tariffs, so you need to move more
12:44production inside. The US market is
12:45becoming more expensive for Mercedes
12:47because moving production increases the
12:49cost price, well, blah blah blah, and
12:50so on. It's unclear where to press,
12:54what button to push, where to dump the
12:56money, where to steer R&D, and which
12:58country to target to get a profit with
13:01a high degree of probability. As far as
13:04I understand, management doesn't have
13:05such a strategy yet. I wonder how many
13:08were sold in Russia in pre-war times?
13:10The G-Wagon is quite popular here.
13:13I think news about the disposal fee
13:14came out, and that's why the statistics
13:16grew, it’s not really like that.
13:19That's within the whole year, and a
13:20small volume is coming to us.
13:22Well, there is statistics—again, out
13:25of 35,000 units sold worldwide, 1,304
13:28ended up in Russia.
13:30Not many, yeah.
13:31Damn, somehow there seem to be more of
13:33them on the road.
13:34That's just because you live in the
13:35center of Moscow. I saw an electric
13:37G-Wagon once. Damn, it looks so hideous
13:39with that charging box on the back
13:41instead of a spare wheel.
13:42Uh-huh. With the square one. Yeah.
13:44Uh-huh.
13:44Total garbage, a fact. As for BMW,
13:46specifically in the third quarter of
13:47this year, there was 9%growth in Europe
13:49and a whopping 25%growth in the USA,
13:51but that’s just a deviation for that
13:52specific quarter. Plus, government
13:54subsidies were canceled there, and new
13:55tariffs were introduced, so it’s the
13:57same kind of local spike in demand as
13:58we had with our disposal fee. In China,
14:00they were down 11%for the first 9
14:02months of this year, but during that
14:05time, BMW sold 465,000 cars in China.
14:08Wait, I just saw that. And meanwhile,
14:11Mercedes sold something like 350,000
14:13cars in China. So, like, BMW is
14:14significantly beating Mercedes inside
14:16China. And what’s most surprising to
14:19me is that the head of the company
14:21comes out at this report and says, "
14:22Look, we showed our Neue Klasse, this
14:24iX3 and all that new, ugly stuff, and
14:25so on." We have tons of pre-orders.
14:29Everyone liked it so much. Everyone
14:31wants to buy this new thing so much.
14:33That's why everything is absolutely
14:34wonderful for us. We'll open an
14:35assembly line now, start normal
14:36production, and there will be a lot of
14:37these cars. Everything will be just
14:39fine for us.
14:40I think people went in like, "Is it
14:42really going to be like that? I've got
14:43to see it." And they order it.
14:45But it would be surprising if this car
14:47really has high demand and sells for a
14:49long time, consistently, stably, and so
14:51on. Honestly, I would be really
14:53surprised. Those nostrils look like
14:55when they stick together in the cold,
14:56you inhaled sharply and they stayed
14:58that way.
14:58It looks like it constantly wants to
15:01sneeze.
15:03No, if it sneezes, it will be oil and
15:05pistons.
15:06That's not there. They removed that.
15:08It's a BMW, man. You don't understand
15:11how it works. You're going to open the
15:12trunk anyway, there's definitely going
15:14to be a quart of oil in there.
15:16And possibly some piston sealing rings
15:18are definitely sitting in there too.
15:20It's
15:22it's an X3, yes. Battery might sputter.
15:24I don't know.
15:25Yeah, a pack of Duracells, you know,
15:29like a pack of cigarettes, but a pack
15:30of Duracells.
15:32You walk up to it in the parking lot
15:33and there's a pile of batteries lying
15:35under it. They spilled out, damn, and
15:38you're like: "Where from? Where from?"
15:40There was that Mercedes ad, I think,
15:42where you open the car and batteries
15:44start falling out. Well, like, with
15:46these EVs, there was a time they were
15:48advertising chargers or electric cars,
15:50something they were promoting where you
15:52open any crevice and regular
15:53lithium-ion batteries just fall out.
15:55A strange concept, need to find it.
15:57It happened, it happened, it really did
15:58. And the Japanese have their own take
16:03on things, because China is out, the
16:05Japanese are investing billions into
16:07Indian auto plants. According to
16:10Reuters, Toyota, Suzuki, and Honda plan
16:12to invest billions of dollars in Indian
16:13production. Not only are they planning
16:16to invest in factories, but they're
16:17also planning to invest in automotive
16:19infrastructure. Toyota and Suzuki alone
16:22plan to invest 11 billion euros to
16:24increase their production capacities.
16:27Toyota plans to reach 1 million
16:29vehicles produced within India in the
16:31near future, and Suzuki plans to
16:33increase its volume from the 2.5
16:35million cars they produce now to 4
16:37million cars a year. In case you didn't
16:39know, Suzuki assembles 2.5 million cars
16:40a year inside India.
16:41Inside India?
16:42Yeah.
16:43Yeah, not over
16:45seen that Suzuki with that tucked-in
16:47rear?
16:48Well, they're almost all like that.
16:50No, no, that's specifically for the
16:51local Indian regulations.
16:52Up to 4 million, that is.
16:54Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes. And they really
16:55do assemble a lot of cars there. Plus,
16:57they get shipped all over Southeast
16:59Asia later.
17:00Oh, you mean the sedan with the
17:02tucked-in rear.
17:02Oh,
17:03damn, well, that's always, of course,
17:05they're always very funny little cars.
17:06These ones, they're like, well,
17:08the first Kalina was like that too,
17:10looked like it tucked its butt in so it
17:12wouldn't get rear-ended.
17:14It's like, you know, the car didn't
17:15come off the assembly line, it was
17:16sculpted out of some kind of tube, and
17:18they were like: "Yeah, snip here, lower
17:19this, like something like that." Or is
17:21it, you know, like that meme? I get it.
17:29So, the most important thing: some time
17:31ago we discussed the news that the
17:33Japanese are gradually either closing
17:35production or losing the Chinese market
17:37, because a large number of car
17:38manufacturers have emerged inside China
17:40that are squeezing out the Japanese and
17:42offering cheaper, more interesting cars
17:44for their domestic consumption. And
17:46apparently, Japanese automakers are
17:48like, "Well, there's also plus-minus
17:501.5 billion people right next to you,
17:52if anything." You can also make a
17:53certain amount of money there.
17:55Especially since India and China have
17:57certain frictions, and their borders
17:59are heavily closed to each other.
18:01Therefore, there are simply no Chinese
18:03car manufacturers in India.
18:04Some are there. There are,
18:06well, BYD sells some cars there.
18:08Some, yeah, well, like MG is one,
18:10that’s British-Chinese, that sort of
18:12thing.
18:13Well, Chinese, completely Chinese now,
18:15yes. Well, originally British. And
18:17India was also originally a British
18:18thing, in general, as a phenomenon,
18:21damn, how the Indians are kicking ass
18:23here. And now Britain is an Indian
18:25thing. Just look at who the parliament
18:27consists of and who is at the head of
18:29the country. There are a lot of Indians
18:31there.
18:31London is the capital of Britain. You
18:35saw those memes,
18:37as they say in London, there’s an
18:39Arab connection.
18:40Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it is obvious
18:42that India will be a slaughterhouse for
18:44automakers in the near future, just as
18:46China was at one time. Everything will
18:48depend heavily on what policy the
18:50government adopts regarding how they
18:52will let automakers in. China made a
18:54very right move at one time by stating
18:56that you can only build a factory in
18:58partnership with our automaker,
18:59transferring all technologies
19:01completely. And for a very long time,
19:02car companies wouldn't agree to this
19:04because they were afraid—and quite
19:05rightly so—of giving away their
19:06technologies, that they would simply
19:08raise competitors and then get kicked
19:09out. Well, in fact, this process took
19:1120 years to complete here. And it will
19:13be interesting to see how automakers
19:15will now try to negotiate with India,
19:17because the Indian government will
19:18obviously say: "Come, make investments,
19:20build factories, and give us all the
19:22damn technologies so we can, if
19:23anything, Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V." You'll
19:26earn money here for 10 years, and
19:27during that time we will develop the
19:29automotive industry and kick you the
19:30hell out of here. Automakers won't be
19:32interested in this, they will try to do
19:34it differently, but still, one and a
19:35half billion people, whom they need to
19:37make money from, aren't going anywhere,
19:39and they will reach some kind of
19:40agreement. Suzuki is also partially
19:42owned by Toyota, right? They have some
19:44stake there.
19:45I think they have a joint venture.
19:46Suzuki cooperates with Toyota, they
19:48have similar models, but specifically
19:50in India, Suzuki cooperates with Maruti
19:52. Actually, the local giant there is
19:54just such a joint venture. Maruti
19:56Suzuki.
19:56Uh-huh.
19:57Uh-huh. Interesting.
19:58It’s like a carbon copy of VW with
20:01FAW and SAIC inside China. Exactly the
20:04same thing. Well, since we were passing
20:08by Britain, they want to introduce a
20:10tax on electric vehicles there.
20:15Not only do they want to introduce it,
20:17but first of all, the justification is
20:19magnificent: look, due to the green
20:21transition, we have fewer gasoline cars
20:24, and we have a tax on gasoline cars.
20:26Treasury revenues have decreased, there
20:29are many electric cars now, so they
20:31need to be taxed as well. What are they
20:32doing there? And it's not just the idea
20:34of taxing the electric car, they also
20:36want to tie it to mileage. Like, if you
20:38drive up to 8,000 miles, you have one
20:40rate. If more than 8,000 miles, you
20:42have a different rate. The question is:
20:44how to control how much a person has
20:46driven the car? "He will honestly write
20:48it in his statement himself," says the
20:50British government.
20:51Hello, Ahmed, can you roll back the
20:53mileage? Not too much? Yes. Yes. So
20:55it's a very dubious story that, well,
20:57naturally, suddenly all electric cars
21:00will start driving 7,900 a year. Well,
21:02obviously, just instantly. Especially
21:05since rolling back the mileage on an
21:07electric car is quite a task.
21:08It should be added here that we are
21:10talking about an additional tax,
21:11because they already introduced one
21:12since April of this year.
21:13They already introduced it, yes,
21:14naturally.
21:15Damn, how everyone who supports this
21:17green agenda will be fuming now.
21:19They are already fuming. They are
21:20already like: "What are you doing? This
21:23will slow down the growth of our
21:24electric vehicle market, it will
21:25complicate our transition to electric
21:27vehicles." Moreover, the ban on
21:28internal combustion engines in Britain
21:30hasn't gone anywhere. It is still here.
21:32It is still in place, but people still,
21:34even with all the efforts, well, are
21:36not switching to electric cars en masse
21:38. That is, gasoline cars and hybrids
21:40are still mostly being sold there. Or
21:42Britain was one of the first to try to
21:43roll back government subsidies. But
21:45after they rolled it back, they looked
21:47at how much the market collapsed, plus
21:48the government changed there, a new
21:50government came and brought the subsidy
21:51back. So there is currently a subsidy
21:54of 3,700 pounds per car for now.
21:57Well, it still doesn't cover how much
21:59more expensive they are. it opens, but
22:01it still provides a competitive
22:02advantage, a strong one, if you're
22:03fighting in the budget segment. But
22:05there is another thing, the UK's budget
22:07doesn't add up as a whole. Their budget
22:09situation has been very grim for many
22:11years in a row. Ever since the pandemic
22:13, they’ve had serious mental troubles
22:15, and the same goes for the budget.
22:16They jumped out of the European Union
22:18before the pandemic,
22:19a long time ago. Brexit was in 2012,
22:212010.
22:22No, I think it was later.
22:23Or later? Sixteenth. Well, whatever.
22:25The tens,
22:26I'm telling you.
22:27Years
22:27twentieth. Twentieth.
22:29Termination of EU membership on January
22:3131st to February 1st, 2020.
22:33They held the referendum in 2016, and
22:36officially left on January 31st, 2020.
22:38Yes,
22:40how ill-conceived, right before the
22:43pandemic.
22:44Well,
22:44Ctrl Z, Ctrl Z.
22:47The most important thing is that they
22:48currently have a very high debt burden.
22:49The budget has no revenue in general.
22:51Things are getting sadder and sadder
22:52with the economy. Internet screws are
22:54being tightened hard there now. If you
22:57start saying the wrong things on the
22:59internet, regarding what you should say
23:01, you can end up in the slammer very
23:03quickly. That the guys can't make their
23:04budget add up, that doesn't really
23:05matter, and they deserve it. But what
23:07will happen to the electric vehicle
23:08market after, first of all, they
23:10introduce the exact same taxes that
23:11currently exist for gas cars, and that
23:13will definitely happen. And after they
23:15finally remove the government subsidies
23:16, then we'll see. But, naturally, as it
23:19was clear a long time ago, initially,
23:21as soon as this whole thing started,
23:23where there were no taxes for electric
23:25cars, free parking, and so on. It's all
23:27temporary, to lure these hamsters with
23:31this little flute. To lure them in, and
23:33then immediately, as soon as there's a
23:34noticeable number of electric cars,
23:36naturally, all taxes will be introduced
23:37. Unlikely for us, because there are
23:39just too few electric cars, but for
23:41them, considering they're becoming more
23:42and more common, naturally, everything
23:44will be exactly the same regarding tax
23:46money and the tax base as it is with
23:47gas cars.
23:48Well, that sounds like electric cars
23:50are causing some kind of imbalance, but
23:52I understand that in any country, even
23:54if there are no budget problems, this
23:56will still happen in stages, following
23:58the British scenario regarding electric
23:59cars. Well, except maybe,
24:02look, you have to have a road tax
24:03anyway, regardless of the engine,
24:05because you're still using the
24:06infrastructure. You,
24:08well, you're wearing down the road at
24:09the very least, right,
24:09at the very least. And plus, with this
24:11whole green transition and so on,
24:12you’re breaking the power sector over
24:14your knee, you’re breaking the
24:16economy over your knee, you’re
24:17breaking your industry, business
24:18processes, and everything like that.
24:20Well, that’s what we’ve been
24:21talking about here for a very long time
24:22. And so these guys will slowly, slowly
24:24reap the rewards of their foresight,
24:26like in Germany. Let’s switch to
24:28electric cars and close the nuclear
24:30power plants,
24:31yeah. And now here we are sitting with
24:33gas cars in coal mines. There. That’s
24:35exactly what happened, perfectly.
24:41Toyota has created a competitor to the
24:43Rolls-Royce coupe.
24:44Whoa. Show us.
24:46Whoa.
24:47Bring in the goods.
24:48Show it.
24:50This is old news. We are talking,
24:51naturally, of course, about the Century
24:54coupe.
24:56Nipples got hard. And, well, first of
24:59all, if you look at it from above, in a
25:01photo, it looks like—I don’t know
25:03if you’ve seen it or not—at car
25:05dealerships, whenever you’re ordering
25:07a car, building your trim level and so
25:09on, they have these examples, uh, of
25:11what the paint looks like, well, like a
25:13bunch of little models, basically,
25:15painted in different colors. And it
25:17looks exactly like one of those little
25:18models. Usually, you just have some
25:20little car there, you know, just
25:22something that has a generic silhouette
25:24of some pretty sports car. That is
25:26exactly what it reminds me of. But
25:27let’s think about this once more.
25:30Toyota as a competitor to Rolls-Royce.
25:35Doesn’t that bother you at all? Fine.
25:40Century as a competitor to Rolls-Royce.
25:44Well, look, if
25:45it all adds up, right? Do I understand
25:47this correctly? Wait, hold on, hold
25:48your horses. Look now. If you take the
25:51Century that had a V12,
25:54which was around in the nineties or the
25:56aughts, and compare it to a Rolls-Royce
25:58from those times,
26:00yeah,
26:00it would be very, very close to it. It
26:02would be very close to it.
26:04Why?
26:05In terms of comfort,
26:06in terms of build quality,
26:10in terms of all the metrics for which a
26:11Rolls-Royce is valued. I agree with
26:13Axar, because in this case you are just
26:15triggered by the brand, by the fact
26:17that the Century doesn’t have the
26:19same image as a Rolls-Royce, so it
26:21can’t be a competitor. But
26:23it’s not a competitor, it’s just
26:24it’s not a competitor, it’s in a
26:26different price niche and in every
26:27other way. And again, I am not the
26:28target audience for Rolls-Royce, I can
26:30only talk theoretically about what it
26:32is and why people buy it. People buy
26:34Rolls-Royce primarily because of the
26:35brand, because it’s this recognizable
26:37thing that signifies you have a lot of
26:39cash, and you think, “I want to buy
26:41the best of the best of the best of the
26:42best.” And that, naturally, is a
26:44Rolls-Royce. Well, simply because
26:45that's how it happened historically.
26:46And moving on, if you want some sports
26:48cars, that's Ferrari, Lamborghini,
26:50something off in that direction. That's
26:52just from my imaginative head. Just a
26:53strange perspective from a village boy.
26:56Perhaps, perhaps there are guys sitting
26:57somewhere saying, "I've made a lot of
26:59money, I want the best of the best,"
27:00and they bought themselves a Toyota.
27:02That is not a Toyota. Look, the Century
27:04was originally, like, well, marketed as
27:07a separate sub-brand essentially
27:09because
27:10Yes, that's right.
27:10they produced it for
27:12pensioners, this mini...
27:14For what pensioner? That's a car for
27:16the Emperor!
27:17Well, he's an adult, Parisian...
27:18Right? The Century, the Century for the
27:20Emperor is a slightly different car,
27:22but it started as a symbolic car in
27:24honor of the Toyota founder's
27:25centennial. They made this car back in
27:28the 60s something. Then, yes, then they
27:30started offering it to the Imperial
27:32Court. Before the Century, by the way,
27:34there was the Nissan......President or
27:35something, although it...
27:36There was an even cooler one, a cooler
27:38President. The President was for prime
27:40ministers. Uh-huh.
27:41There. But there was an even cooler
27:42Nissan for the Emperor.
27:43You won't see a position like that. At
27:45least here's a President car for you,
27:46damn it.
27:47Well, my point is that originally it
27:49was like the top-tier Toyota
27:51specifically for the domestic market.
27:53It wasn't a separate brand, it was
27:54precisely a Toyota.
27:55Fine, but isn't it now, like, separated
27:57into its own brand? Right now, this
27:59concept is a manifesto of their desire
28:02to turn it into a separate, high-level
28:05brand.
28:05Well, at the moment they made the SUV,
28:07they were already aiming for the
28:09premium segment.
28:11It's even luxury, it's no longer just
28:12premium, it's the luxury segment.
28:14It's just that, in short, as I
28:16understand it, in Japan there's an
28:18audience of very wealthy and very old
28:21grandpas who need a specific East Asian
28:23kind of status and all that. You have
28:26to have that sliding door so it's easy
28:29for you, gramps, to throw your diaper
28:31in there. And inside you have a big
28:33comfortable chair, you just sit down.
28:34Well, it's like an Asian style, it's
28:36important to them to have a big boxy
28:38vehicle, either a minivan, or a big
28:39healthy SUV, or some long sedan. There
28:41has to be a lot of space in the back,
28:42all beautiful like that. Here they show
28:45this one too, like a cross-coupe sedan
28:47crossover. What the hell is that? I
28:49don't know. You've got a cross-coupe
28:51crossover sedan, who the hell knows.
28:53This sleek sliding door of yours, with
28:55a recliner for a retiree, yes, and a
28:57very stylish driver's seat, with a
28:59steering yoke that makes it look like
29:01we’re about to shake the last of our
29:03grandpa’s nerves out and make him
29:05sick, it’s going to be such a rocket
29:07ship.
29:07Well, in this case, it’s a concept,
29:09just a designer’s fantasy on how to
29:11transform a coupe, because coupes are
29:13dying out.
29:13It doesn’t look like a luxury car.
29:15Well, that’s because it’s in a
29:16modern style with monitors and all that
29:18junk and stuff. But if they made it as
29:20a production model, it would look like
29:22a proper car. This is just a show piece
29:25,
29:26right? They most likely won’t release
29:28a car like this.
29:30This is, well, just their vision of how
29:32it will be, how it could be.
29:35What’s more important here is how it
29:37looks, because this specific design is
29:39exactly what will appear on future
29:41Centuries, under a separate brand. That
29:44exact four-section headlight setup.
29:47I’m just saying, when Hyundai first
29:50jumped into the premium segment,
29:53everyone took them completely
29:55unseriously. Before Genesis appeared,
29:58they made the Hyundai Equus first, as
30:00far as I recall,
30:01which was a flop,
30:02yes, and then came Genesis.
30:04It’s the exact same story. Hyundai is
30:06the largest automaker in its home
30:08Korean market. Uh-huh. And accordingly,
30:11even before the Equus, they started
30:12making the most luxurious models for
30:14local officials and politicians. So
30:17those were their Centuries for the
30:19Korean market. Then they decided to
30:21take it to an international level, and
30:22then they gave birth to the separate
30:24Genesis brand. Yes, essentially, Toyota
30:26is doing the same thing right now. They
30:28have an internal brand for very wealthy
30:30Japanese people, and they want to take
30:32it to a more international level and
30:34turn it into a standalone luxury brand.
30:37The only difference is that here, these
30:39guys are positioning themselves with
30:41the attempt to compete with Rolls-Royce
30:43. But when they were making the Equus,
30:46Genesis, and all that stuff, they were
30:48also aiming at premium, like, we’ll
30:50compete with the Germans, maybe we’ll
30:52compete with the British in luxury, and
30:54all that. In the end, Genesis survives
30:57in the American market, partly because
30:58it’s simply cheaper than the Germans.
31:00It’s something in between the
31:01Japanese and the Germans, or the
31:03Koreans. The Germans.
31:04It’s like Lexus, a sort of
31:06second-tier premium.
31:07In the end, it turned out to be a bit
31:09like the Chinese unique selling
31:10proposition, where it’s very cheap,
31:12but comes with power features, leather,
31:14and all the bells and whistles. It's
31:16exactly the same thing, you just have
31:17the whole set of options a bit cheaper
31:18than normal patients.
31:20Yes, but look, why shouldn't Toyota
31:22succeed? They actually have the Lexus
31:25experience, when they did succeed.
31:26They don't. They might succeed, but not
31:29with a Rolls-Royce, it seems to me.
31:30I'm more than sure that this headline
31:33is just clickbait and that's it. No one
31:36there, in reality, is most likely
31:38planning to compete directly with
31:39Rolls-Royce.
31:40Maybe they're targeting the audience
31:42and price bracket of Maybach, because
31:45Mercedes once got burned with Maybach,
31:47failing to sell it as a Rolls-Royce
31:49competitor. But now Maybach has
31:51occupied a niche between the S-class
31:53and the Rolls-Royce. There is, well, a
31:56large space there, because a
31:58Rolls-Royce costs so much.
32:00Well, yes.
32:01And this could cost, say, somewhere in
32:03the middle, so instead of looking at
32:05some strange Chinese premium, you have
32:07a clear Century. Well, clear, I mean,
32:09with
32:10history.
32:11Well, yes. There. And this could very
32:14well sell.
32:15And the S-class is clear. We'll see. It
32:18seems to me that it's, well, strange.
32:21But on the other hand, Toyota is doing
32:23so well right now, they have so much
32:24money, and they’ve done a great job
32:26over the last 10 years, so let them
32:27play with the Century, no problem. At
32:30least, even if they sink a certain
32:32amount of money into it, make the car,
32:33and fail, it won't hurt the company at
32:35all. They will keep selling their cars
32:37just as they have been. They will keep
32:38earning money just as they have been.
32:39And if they suddenly make a couple more
32:41pensioners happy with their cars,
32:43that's all for the better. And at the
32:46very same Japan Mobility Show, Lexus
32:49turned the LS into a six-wheeled, damn
32:51it,
32:52LS,
32:52as well as a cross-coupe and a
32:55micro-shuttle.
32:56Not an LM, but an LS.
32:59And so yeah, they are fantasizing from
33:01the LS that we'll create a brand. Like,
33:03it's, you know, we're showing models at
33:05the LS level. It's like, there's an LS
33:08audience, there's the LS, there is.
33:10There, this is also for you. If you're
33:13a grandpa, grab your diaper and get the
33:15hell out through that door. Convenient.
33:17Entry.
33:19Wait, hold on. Do you really think
33:20you'll be young forever? You'll also
33:22need a diaper and a sliding door, and
33:24you'll be talking about these cars in a
33:25completely different way then.
33:27Yes, yes, yes. When I get old, I'll buy
33:29a Toyota. What is it?
33:32As long as I still care about life and
33:33pleasure, I won't buy a Toyota. Where
33:35exactly is the contradiction with
33:36everything I said before? I still don't
33:38have enough wrinkles on the back of my
33:39head to buy a Toyota. And I still have
33:41hair.
33:42It suits me just fine. Yeah, so,
33:45in this case, Lexus just doesn't know
33:47what to do with EVs, so they presented
33:49three concepts. Besides this unusual
33:52six-wheeled minivan, they showed some
33:54kind of crossover,
33:55yeah, the one that looks like its rear
33:57end fell off. That's also strange. I
34:00mean, like, we know your boats value
34:02that yacht wood. So, look, we're
34:05opening up the rear a little bit.
34:06There’s some yacht wood in there. Why
34:08would you need that in a compact
34:09crossover? Hell if I know, just because
34:10they can.
34:11Well, it's a concept, they're
34:12fantasizing, trying to figure out what
34:13they can come up with. And the third
34:16concept is this single-seat capsule. If
34:20you didn't know from the start that
34:22it's a micro-drone or a single-person
34:24pod, you might think it's a coffee
34:26machine.
34:27I mean, they have no clue what to do
34:29with EVs and are trying to come up with
34:31something, anything. And does it lag
34:34far behind in sales? Compared to the 7
34:36Series and S-Class.
34:36Yeah, they want to bury it already.
34:38That's it, it's lost the competition
34:41badly, everywhere.
34:43Just one car in a huge lineup. And, oh
34:46God,
34:47and it's not even just one. There's the
34:49Century, which competes with it in the
34:51domestic market. There's the Crown,
34:53which is starting to fade in China.
34:57Well, the Crown isn't really that, it's
34:59more of an intermediate luxury option.
35:03Well, in modern times, in the 21st
35:05century, it never sold in volumes
35:07comparable to the S-Class, 7 Series,
35:09and A8, which it was supposedly
35:11competing against to show them all how
35:14it’s done.
35:15Well, exactly, it started off very cool
35:18, because
35:19yeah, the initial momentum
35:21the first LS beat everyone, again,
35:23because it was cheaper but offered the
35:25same set of options; now, in the 21st
35:26century, yes, it has gradually lost its
35:28audience. And why buy an LS now, it's
35:31absolutely unclear. On the used market,
35:34if you are that very specific type of
35:36person, you can snag a good one,
35:38because the problem with 7s, A8s, and
35:40S-Classes is that while they can be
35:42fine on the used market, most of them
35:44are used as fleet cars, taxis, and so
35:46on. The LS is a rarer car overall, and
35:49it’s harder to show off with, so
35:51people usually buy it specifically for
35:52themselves, just to actually use it.
35:55And with a lot of pain and a huge pain
35:56in the ass, you can dig one up on the
35:58used market, and because the demand for
36:00it is low, you really get, well, like,
36:02a lot of car for relatively little
36:03money. If you compare it to the 7
36:06Series, the S-Class, or the A8.
36:07Absolutely all modern generations of
36:09the LS, like, you know, cars from the
36:112010s and the modern ones. I’ve
36:13ridden in all of them. You can’t
36:15really nitpick the car overall; it’s
36:16actually well-made. Everything is fine
36:18with it, everything is in its place,
36:20but I just wouldn't buy one for myself.
36:22It just doesn't get you excited. And a
36:24certain number of people are okay with
36:25that too. Lexus doesn't suffer because
36:27their LS isn't selling well.
36:29I mean, they have the LM, and those
36:31sell well.
36:32So, as a company, they’re doing fine,
36:34everything is great, but I don’t
36:36think anyone would be offended if the
36:38LS still competed with the 7 Series and
36:40the S-Class.
36:45Slovakia is introducing speed limits
36:48for pedestrians. Running around like
36:51crazy, damn, no joke. Hey guys,
36:54starting January 1st, 2026, officially,
36:57no kidding, they're introducing a speed
36:59limit for pedestrians. You won't be
37:03allowed to walk on sidewalks at speeds
37:06over 6 km/h, or else it’s a 50 euro
37:08fine.
37:09How much?
37:10That much.
37:11I mean, I just, well, walk at a casual
37:14pace at about that speed.
37:16So, look where your walking got you,
37:19being Slovak. No, what’s the point?
37:22This is a case where the bureaucrats
37:23clearly don’t understand reality, or
37:26something, it’s unclear. There is an
37:28objective problem. Those damn scooter
37:29riders and all that. And the
37:31bureaucrats are working on, well,
37:32probably needing to make sure no one
37:34crashes into anyone or anything like
37:36that. And instead of banning electric
37:37scooters, they’re just like: "Let’s
37:39put a limit on everyone." Like, in all
37:41pedestrian zones where people walk, no
37:43one can move faster than 6 km/h. And
37:46cyclists are like: "How the hell are we
37:48supposed to ride anywhere at all?" We
37:50can’t even keep our balance at 6. And
37:53what now? Hello, you idiot, where the
37:55hell are you going? The opposition's
37:59comments are hilarious because the
38:00current government passed this law, and
38:02the opposition comes out like, "We,
38:04damn, don't even know how to criticize
38:06such a stupid law, like, it's just pure
38:08stupidity, look at who you've got
38:09sitting in there." They're just, like,
38:12totally gone. I’d also be curious to
38:14see how, you know, the traffic cops
38:15would actually enforce this. Like,
38:18picture a cop with a radar gun
38:19targeting people rushing to the office
38:21from the subway, going: "Hey, damn, oh,
38:237 km/h. That's it." He’s got that
38:26thing on his head. He’s in a 8 km/h
38:28pursuit himself, catching him, like, 50
38:30stick to the curb.
38:31Yeah.
38:32Yeah. By the way, after the huge
38:34backlash on social media, the local
38:35police chief came out and said: "No, no
38:37, this is only for those riding
38:39scooters, bikes, and so on." Yeah, that
38:41we won't be shooting pedestrians in the
38:43legs.
38:436 km/h on a bike, well, like
38:47that's slow,
38:48it's hard to keep,
38:50yeah, balance. That's right.
38:52Keeping your swear words inside, is
38:54that what you mean?
38:55And why not, you know, just stack
38:56bricks instead?
38:57Because, right, we’re switching to
38:59three-wheelers, apparently, I don't
39:00know, that's the logic. Like that.
39:03Damn, am I the only one who used to
39:05weave through people when riding the
39:07subway?
39:07Of course, everyone did. What are you
39:08talking about? Everything, everything,
39:10some granny in the left lane, damn, 5
39:12km, 3 km/h.
39:13And you're like: "And then there's that
39:17acceleration lane, when the crowd is
39:19moving and you're just zooming between
39:20the people and the wall, tearing down
39:22the shoulder." I realized I have a
39:25built-in automatic braking system when
39:27you're glued to your smartphone and you
39:28brake automatically when a person
39:29suddenly appears in front of you like,
39:31"Oh, wow, I didn't know I could do that
39:32." And you absolutely have to, right
39:36when the train stops, you need to know
39:38exactly where the stairs are so you can
39:39pass them quickly on the stairs,
39:41because if you're stuck in the crowd,
39:42you'll lose a lot of time on the stairs
39:44. We're in a race, we need to make up
39:46positions.
39:47What are you talking about? When was
39:48the last time you were actually in the
39:49subway?
39:50Damn, Stason rides the subway, can you
39:51imagine? I was shocked myself. He’s
39:53doing reviews of 964 BMWs and taking
39:55the subway. I don't understand how he
39:57does it.
39:57My subway station is in the building
39:59next door. It’s very convenient.
40:00Did you build a subway right into your
40:02house? I drove myself, yeah, literally
40:06had a train in my bedroom, damn.
40:08No, no, listen, in fall and winter I
40:10take the subway a lot, because, well,
40:12it’s just way faster. The city
40:15traffic just gets so backed up that,
40:17well, you can't get anywhere at all.
40:19And meetings, food, all that stuff. You
40:21always have a high season in the fall,
40:23busy with work everywhere. Everything
40:24starts getting all frantic and crazy.
40:26You have to get so much done, and in
40:27the subway, there are zero chances of
40:28missing out. Well, you have to give
40:30credit where it's due to the Moscow
40:32Metro, because it's
40:33trains every single minute—it's
40:35just a level of organization that, well
40:37, deserves to be noted and praised
40:39every time, yeah,
40:40it's not Stas praising it, it's us, the
40:43subway users, we're the cool ones. The
40:45subway is just super.
40:46Send him a suitcase, come on, go ahead
40:50a suitcase full of Troika cards.
40:53We're gathering them for the third
40:55review. Man, seriously, a third review
40:58of the Moscow 2024 train.
41:02Oh, it’s a total spaceship.
41:04The first electric train on the channel
41:06.
41:08Yeah, inside I'm like: "Electric trains
41:10are crap, damn, where's the V12
41:11internal combustion train?" Yeah.
41:15I want to breathe coal in the subway.
41:18Steering wheel in the center. Ugh, damn
41:19.
41:21But getting back to Slovakia, well,
41:23they passed the stupidest bill. We'll
41:25see how strong the cycling lobby really
41:28is. I think that, well, really, they'll
41:31just cancel it later, or reclassify it
41:33for e-scooter riders or something else,
41:35because in reality, they’re just
41:36banning all two-wheeled transport
41:38inside the city. It’s doubly insane
41:42because all modern European cities have
41:44been adapting to bicycles, saying we
41:46need bike lanes, we need to relieve the
41:48city center, we need to move more
41:49people to public transport, to all this
41:51two-wheeled pedal power, and now they
41:53just go and kill it. A very strange
41:57move.
41:57And why does it surprise you so much
41:58that I take the subway? Like, I’m
42:00just a person, exactly like anyone else
42:02. If it's in the next building, no
42:04questions. Since you opened the door.
42:06I often took the subway from
42:08Alexeyevskaya. Well, like, it's the
42:09subway, it's convenient.
42:11Well, the subway is convenient. Fact.
42:13Super. Especially when the whole city
42:14is at a standstill.
42:15I mean, I don't really care what I
42:16drive, the most important thing is to
42:17be on time.
42:17And what if it's a Tesla?
42:18And why would you drive a Tesla?
42:20Well, you could be on time
42:21to where?
42:22To the afterlife.
42:24Only if you want to be on time to meet
42:25a guy in one.
42:27Your car works for a guy too.
42:34Ford wants to discontinue the F-150
42:36Lightning electric pickup. Well, Apple
42:38discontinued Lightning. And, well, Ford
42:40is also kind of like, well, now
42:42there’s going to be a Ford Type C.
42:44Just a joke, sorry. We discussed a
42:46while back that Ford has been slowly
42:48pulling workers back to their plants
42:50where they build normal, heterosexual F
42:52-150s, because there's demand for them,
42:54they need to increase production, they
42:56need more vehicles, and, well, these
42:57electric ones aren't really needed by
42:59anyone. And considering that the
43:02Lightning—I mean, the F-150 Lightning
43:04—is the most popular electric pickup
43:06in the world, it turns out. Not just
43:08in the USA. In the USA, I guess it’s
43:10mostly there. I don’t think there’s
43:13any other country in the world with a
43:15more popular electric pickup. I don't
43:17think so either.
43:17Wait, does it sell more than Rivian?
43:19Of course.
43:20Yeah. And more than the Cybertruck.
43:21Oh, seriously,
43:22the F-150 is the most popular electric
43:24pickup. And at the same time, it’s
43:26the most popular one here. I don’t
43:28know, surely there are electric pickups
43:30on the Chinese market that sell in
43:32larger numbers.
43:33Actual pickups,
43:34yeah. Like a Changan Radar or whatever.
43:38Well, you would definitely know, Vova,
43:39of all people, you would know if there
43:41was something more popular in an
43:42electric pickup body style.
43:44He’s our main expert on pickups.
43:49Viktoria Skladchikova, hello.
43:54Let's electrify our space, baby. Anyway
43:59, since the start of the year,
44:00Americans have only bought 23,000 of
44:02these pickups. Even more Mustangs were
44:04sold. Mustangs, which are coupes, which
44:06in general are an unsellable product to
44:07begin with, just in principle. And at
44:09the same time, normal, heterosexual
44:10gasoline F-150s are selling by the
44:12hundreds of thousands. They just keep
44:14shipping them out and shipping them out
44:16, they’ve been doing it for many
44:17years in a row, for decades in a row.
44:19And so Ford, well, according to rumors,
44:21of course, this is by no means
44:23confirmed information. But there are
44:25rumors in the press that management is
44:27thinking about shutting this whole shop
44:28down, frankly. We’ve burned 13
44:30billion dollars on electric vehicles in
44:33total. Well, to hell with it, because
44:35objectively it’s not pushing into the
44:37market, it’s not turning anywhere,
44:38nothing is working out. And maybe
44:40let’s just keep making normal cars,
44:41we’ll make money on them, which is
44:43what we were doing before. Quite
44:44possible,
44:45but at the same time they aren't giving
44:46up on electric vehicles. They have
44:48budget models in their plans, including
44:50a budget electric pickup. Those are
44:53just hand gestures, saying we aren't
44:55giving up. That these electric cars,
44:57everything is totally fine. Yeah, by
44:58the way, not a single automaker has
45:00come out yet and said that this is all
45:01just [ __ ], let me go back to making
45:03gas cars. Because, once again, you
45:05still can't fit into the standards. You
45:07can't fit in anywhere, and there's no
45:09reason to stir up hate for yourself out
45:10of the blue right now and be the first
45:12to say, "Look, you know, I'm done, I've
45:13had enough, I don't want to do this
45:15anymore." It’s just not necessary for
45:16an automaker. Unless someone in power
45:18says, "That's it, we made a mistake,"
45:21though there’s also no point for
45:23someone in power to bring such a PR
45:24blow upon themselves. Until someone
45:28publicly goes through the firing squad,
45:29no one will take on that role, as it
45:31seems to me.
45:33Well, do you think they really want to
45:34abandon all electric vehicles?
45:36I think so, yes.
45:37To me, they have already formed the
45:39market. I mean, it exists, and it’s
45:40growing, albeit slowly. There are
45:42people who want to buy an EV as their
45:44next car. Again, it seems strange to me
45:46to abandon a niche that already exists.
45:49It's clear that they will keep their
45:51current facilities, like battery plants
45:53and manufacturing factories, as long as
45:54there is some demand, and they will
45:56keep supplying some products. But I
45:59think automakers won't just throw away
46:01such huge sums on developing additional
46:03models, improving them, or inventing
46:04new motors and batteries for no reason.
46:07That’s the point. I mean, the whole
46:09cycle of production and goods,
46:10everything starts from the initial
46:12investment. If at some point you stop
46:15investing money into a sector—and
46:16this doesn't just apply to the
46:18automotive world. Take oil or gas
46:20production, for example—anywhere—if
46:22you stop regularly investing money in
46:24finding something new or developing new
46:26technologies, you just won't have a new
46:28product later on. And the question for
46:30you as an automaker is what to develop,
46:32which experiments should you pay for?
46:34Should you pay for experiments with
46:36internal combustion engines, hybrids,
46:37gearboxes, transmission stuff, or
46:39purely electric platforms? That is a
46:41big question. When I say, "let's shut
46:43this whole shop down," I mean that they
46:45will primarily reallocate investments
46:47to focus on normal gasoline cars, to
46:49direct their expertise there, to put
46:51their money there, and to shift
46:53people’s focus to: "Look, this is
46:55what we are going to develop." That
46:57remains the base. If it exists and
46:59someone needs it, well, okay, we'll see
47:01, fine. But the way things were for the
47:03past few decades, where we dump all the
47:05cash and everything possible into
47:06something, hoping to God it works—
47:07that kind of thing won't happen anymore
47:08. And that's a good thing. And that's
47:15it for this episode.
47:17Fold the phone in half like this.
47:19Damn, this isn't the right model. The
47:20wrong model doesn't fold like that. By
47:22the way, I recently stopped by an
47:24electronics store, just walking by, and
47:26saw some latest Chinese thing...
47:28I know what that is. That's one of
47:30those shops in the subway underpass. An
47:31electronics shop like that.
47:32And when do you go to the one by the
47:33metro in the next building?
47:34No, no, I went into a shopping mall.
47:36Sure.
47:37You, in a shopping mall? Hey, show us,
47:40show us how you spin your phone with
47:42two fingers.
47:43Oh, screw off, all of you.
47:45And do you whistle at girls by the
47:47escalator?
47:47I thought you only used some kind of
47:49GUM delivery service.
47:50And what's wrong with GUM delivery?
47:52Well, what about it? TSUM, GUM, that
47:53top-tier store, uh, right by the
47:56Kremlin. How does it...
47:58TSUM and GUM? Are they there? There is
47:59GUM and TSUM.
48:00Well, yeah.
48:00I've been to TSUM maybe once or twice.
48:02Well, there you go.
48:03Of course, because the delivery
48:04happened. I was walking by some store
48:06and saw this phone that unfolds, you
48:08know, all sorts of things, not just
48:10into one plane, but into several at
48:12once. Look, it's a fascinating thing,
48:13but anyone walking around with that
48:14looks so weird. Like, you unfold the
48:16screen, it's big, colorful,
48:17everything's fine, but the fact that
48:19you have those crease marks...No,
48:24that's just weird. Every time we meet
48:27with Kostya—uh, excuse me, Konstantin
48:29Sergeyevich—in St. Petersburg, he's
48:30the one with all those phones, he's
48:32been using them for a long time. And
48:33I'm like, "How do you even use this?"
48:35It's actually great pulling it out of
48:37your pocket. Here's my phone, damn it.
48:38Here's my newspaper, damn it.
48:40So that not only the sun but also the
48:41moon glares off the screen,
48:42just, yeah, which is really strange.
48:45Write in, uh, why the hell you use
48:47these, if you actually do, because for
48:50me, a screen like this is, well,
48:52honestly, it's enough. Why unfold it
48:55once or twice more? It doesn't matter
48:58for now. There was supposed to be a
49:00transition here, but we ran out of
49:02money, so people just kept going. And
49:07just so you were aware of the fines. Ah
49:09.

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