Category: Autos

46. CES 2025, Marinated

46. CES 2025, Marinated

By |

With the advantage of letting a few days pass before collecting my thoughts, two themes came into focus.  First, the rise of Chinese auto companies, and the mainstreaming of electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles and IoT were starkly clear.  Second, I explain why there seems to me to be a correlation between exhibitor behavior and their business prospects.  This isn’t investment advice, of course.  

Host: Ali Tabibian of GTK Partners.  

Other posts regarding CES: Chris Stallman, VC; Marc Amblard, Mobility Adviser.   

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

45. Everybody Still Hates Tesla, Part 2

45. Everybody Still Hates Tesla, Part 2

By |

Has any company made a bigger impact on the automotive sector in the last decade than Tesla? Love them or hate them, in electrification, auto dealership structure and passenger car autonomy Tesla has masterfully used the extraordinary latitude it’s been afforded by investors to disrupt of the industry.  We revisit and offer updated commentary from our original Everybody Hates Tesla episodes of a few years ago.  

Note the “skip to” audio time stamps below.  You can read the related article here in 1 minute.      

Host: Ali Tabibian of GTK Partners.  

On some podcast players you can click to jump to the timestamps below. 

(0:00) Updated introduction 

(4:41) Beginning of “Everybody Hates Tesla, Part 2”  

(5:08) Supply chain 

(17:41) Dealerships 

(21:39) Self-driving 

Link to Ben Thompson’s Stratechery article on Waymo vs Tesla approaches to self-driving.  

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

44. Everybody Still Hates Tesla, Part 1

44. Everybody Still Hates Tesla, Part 1

By |

Has any company made a bigger impact on the automotive sector in the last decade than Tesla? Love them or hate them, Tesla has masterfully used the extraordinary latitude it’s been afforded by investors and customers to disrupt the profit, supply and dealership structure of the industry.  This latitude is also potentially the Company’s biggest weakness, contributing to Groundhog Day execution problems and unnecessary “self-driving” claims. We revisit and offer updated commentary from our original Everybody Hates Tesla episodes of a few years ago.  

Note the “skip to” audio time stamps below.  You can read the related article here in 3 minutes.     

Host: Ali Tabibian of GTK Partners.  

On some podcast players you can click to jump to the timestamps below. 

(0:00) Updated introduction 

(6:27) Beginning of “Everybody Hates Tesla, Part 1”  

(10:00) Electrification 

(15:40) EVs are inherently premium vehicles

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

43. Georges Massing, Head of Automated Driving, Mercedes-Benz AG.

43. Georges Massing, Head of Automated Driving, Mercedes-Benz AG.

By |

Can your AI make life-and-death decisions? Mercedes-Benz’s Drive Pilot can.  Does your AI vendor take legal responsibility for those life-and-death decisions? Mercedes does.  Drive Pilot is the only certified Level 3 passenger car system globally.  Georges Massing, global head of the company’s automated driving and cabin technologies, tells us how.  We hear his thoughts on how the technology ecosystem can work with Mercedes.

You can read the related article here in 3 minutes.

Mercedes-Benz’s global website is here.  Host: Ali Tabibian of GTK Partners.

On some podcast players you can click to jump to the timestamps below.

(0:00) Introduction to Mercedes

(4:05) Introduction to Georges Massing

(12:50) The Mercedes brand

(17:42) The user interface

(23:25) Autonomy

(44:38) Mercedes & the ecosystem

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

42. The Future of Transportation: Insights from Reilly Brennan of Trucks VC

42. The Future of Transportation: Insights from Reilly Brennan of Trucks VC

By |

Reilly Brennan, author of the must-read Future of Transportation newsletter and partner at Trucks VC, returns to Tech Cars Machines for a discussion on recent trends in transportation investing. We discuss financing round sizes and valuations, AI in autonomy and robotics, the promise of hydrogen combustion engines, the EV market, and much more.  

Host:   Ali Tabibian of GTK Partners 

Timestamps:

  • (0:00) Introduction 
  • (2:35) Overview of Trucks VC and market trends 
  • (9:19) Discussion on capital investment dynamics 
  • (12:00) Private and public market investment trends 
  • (20:00) Insights on AI and robotics 
  • (27:00) The rise of hydrogen combustion engines 
  • (36:00) Predictions and industry insights 

Links: 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

41. Marc Amblard, Managing Director, Orsay Consulting

41. Marc Amblard, Managing Director, Orsay Consulting

By |

China, EVs, vehicles that are too big and too heavy, autonomy, the future of transportation and lessons from history.  We cover hot news and trends in all these sectors with Marc Amblard, Partner at Orsay Consulting, the well-known San Francisco-based advisor in automotive technology.   He is the author of the widely read Mobility Revolution monthly newsletter. Host: Ali Tabibian of GTK Partners.

Note the “skip to” audio time stamps below.  You can read the related article here in 3 minutes.     

On some podcast players you can click to jump to the timestamps below. 

(0:00) Introduction to Marc  

(4:31) Introduction to Orsay Consulting  

(6:45) The Mobility Revolution newsletter 

(11:39) Electric vehicles 

(24:15) China auto makers 

(34:00) Autonomy 

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

35. Paul Mitchell, Chairman and President, Indy Autonomous Challenge

35. Paul Mitchell, Chairman and President, Indy Autonomous Challenge

By |

Cars that drive themselves not enough for you? How about when they do it at 192 MPH? And head-to-head on a racetrack. With no remote intervention. In total darkness.

Paul Mitchell, Chairman and President of the Indy Autonomous Challenge, and I talk at the Las Vegas International Speedway. He tells me how this is possible, what it means for all of us, and what’s next.

A raw transcript is here.  More information on your host Ali Tabibian and GTK Partners.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

34. CES 2024: The Inside Scoop

34. CES 2024: The Inside Scoop

By |

A summary for executives, capital allocators, technologists, geeks and generally enthusiastic people.  A behind-the-curtains view of trends in M&A, financing, AI, autos, autonomy, electric vehicles, and the Internet of Things.

A raw transcript is here.  More information on your host Ali Tabibian and GTK Partners.

Links to mentioned companies: Torc and Daimler Trucks; Indy Autonomous Challenge; Mercedes Benz in-vehicle NFT (no joke); L’Oreal’s generative AI; Foretellix’s ADAS development platform; wireless charging:  WiTricity and Ossia; accessibility tech: Gryogear hand stabilizer and Xander audio captioning glasses.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Archives

Categories