YouSaid · the spoken record

Thomas Ingenlath

lines on the record: 76
first: 2024-05-06
most recent: 2024-05-06
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“We're back with Polstar CEO Thomas Ingelath to talk about how Polstar is structured today and how it's responding to changes in the EV market. Let me ask a couple more decoder questions and then I want to talk about the EV market and how it's changed. Last time we spoke, you had about 1,000 people earlier this year. You did some cuts about 15%. How big is Polstar”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Peacefully next to each other. I had that very clear statement recently, Polster 3, standing next to an EX90. Both cars very much on the same wheelbase, same Technology starting point, but so different in what it offers to the customer and visually often. I mean, if you don't see and get the difference between poster and Volvo looking at these two products, then I can't help it. I think we are on very healthy ground when it comes to brand differentiation.”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That is something that they can do as a brand that is actually that much more controversial. And having a chassis that actually... Is that much more Catered for the driver, that indeed the kids in the second row might get a tiny little bird more of a humpman cross speed bump. I mean, all these things that we can do now with Bolster in order to actually build that more driver-centric, more provocative, more power-driven experience, being as well more techie in the material expression, not all this warm and comforting, all the stuff, but if we had done it at Volvo, Hokkan would have told me, oh, you know, that's too German, too techie. That's too cold. To do that a bit more cool, cold expression in a tech way. That's why I feel we very well will position these two brands.”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“In those porti houry customer who we obfuscately cannot easily now with a volvo product address because let's face it that meets a different profile of car, different profile of attributes and that's actually one of the starting points now talking as a designer where I felt like wow this Scandinavian design world actually has as well a more techy, a more sporty corner which we at the moment rightfully should not address with the Volvo brand so reaching out to say come on that part of the premium let's create a new Scandinavian brand that is actually catered to capture those customers a bit more provocative a bit more controversial not pleasing everybody daring to do a car that has no real window but only virtual mirror”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It's for me so clear. I'm so convinced that we have a chance to actually grow significantly the reach and the group of customers that we address for a simple reason having been within Volvo working for them and I would say successfully building a lineup of cars that actually reposition Volvo in that premium segment, but with a very distinct brand being so much about an inclusive brand actually even people who don't buy a Volvo are very positive. You know, you never are offending anybody with a Volvo. It's a very inclusive, value-driven brand that is obviously centered to the original core of safety developing that into the modern autonomous drive safety kind of it's very well positioned. But how much did I see as well that there are a lot of customers for Mercedes AMG for a”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Going at it. Or you could say, this is how much market share we want for both, and we're just going to move customers between them. I don't think anybody actually ever picks the second one, but that's more companies in this situation end up moving customers between them than actually growing the total number of customers. How do you avoid that outcome? Because it seems like the goal is to grow the total number of EV market share.”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Let me give you some examples there. So I would say the ferocious rivalry between Hyundai and Kia is working for them because they are putting out radically designed cars like they're probably pushing forward more than any mass market automaker. Like they make a lot of cars, but they are designing at the boundaries, which is cool. They've raised awareness of both brands, at least here in the United States, and they're growing market share for both brands. That's working for them. Is that sustainable? I don't know. It feels like you could enter into that kind of relationship with Volva, which has a bunch of”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Friction happening, and I'm always trying to explain everywhere look, that's normal, that is the normal friction that you even have in any well-functioning family. The question is how much does that lead to a creative growth of the collective whole? Or how much is that actually disturbing the development of the individual brands? And that's, I think, the more healthy parameter as a general thing creates a positive creative dynamic for the group or is it something that is actually destructive and much more than are we all nicely boxed in into our segment.”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Because it's an interesting story We tend to always categorize it, oh, yeah, there are this companies where there's very clear structure, and then there is this where you feel like, okay, are the borders a bit fluent and stuff? And yes, there might be that generalization you could maybe apply having said that and having worked in a Volkswagen group for a long time, for two decades. I was within the Volkswagen group when actually a lot of brands were bought. I call it now this German rationalism and you want to put it all in a box. And there was a big effort to structure it and to a high degree it has been structured and there was a very clear brand mission stuff. Having said that, was there not friction and discussion between the brands and stuff? Of course there was. You could see that between Volkswagen and Skoda, you could see this between Audi and Porsche. So even if you try to do that, there will be some kind of”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“One thing I think about with all of the car conglomerates is there's an element of brand segmentation within them. And then there's some of them that are just sort of open competitive friction. So I would say GM does a very good job of just very crisply segmenting its brands. You buy a catalog at the top in the market, you buy a Chevy at the bottom. That's it. Hyundai and Kia seem to be locked in ferocious sibling rivalry, which I think is making them both better. How does that feel for you inside of J Lee with Fulvo? I want to point out this is a radio show. Thomas is smiling. He smiled a lot when I asked that question. He's still smiling.”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, but I mean, clearly the rear windowless, virtual real window poster for, yeah, it's a first product where I think it becomes very tangible how that technology is very, very good base for us to actually develop a very Pulsed up interesting for the consumer, amazing product on it”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“There's technology that we use, for example, building a poster for technology that is coming from the Chile group. There's elements like electronic architectures where we definitely can harvest things that are developed in the Chile group and that we take as the starting point, for example, for the poster five to then develop the electric architecture on the poster five on this basis. That's where the speed is here, the key point. It's not necessarily just that there's some genius element in it. It is just that how fast you can move things forward, how quickly you get to a product. The openness to actually implement change and react on the demands into which that we have as a brand and to incorporate that. That's really where we benefit in working together.”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah. You've hit on almost every single thing I want to talk about. So let's take them in order. The thing you're mentioning, right, the furious rush in 2021, 2020 to electrification, all these announcements, and then the pullback. Definitely want to talk about that. Just the financial climate back then with low interest rates, lots of free cash, people made very different kinds of decisions. That has obviously changed now as well. But I just want to stick on Vovo and Gili for one second. You mentioned something really interesting here, which is the Chinese EV market has not developed because of just state subsidies from China. There's technical superiority in some of the products. Obviously, Julie is a Chinese company. I believe right now they've passed BUID, at least in some months, for total EV shi shi shi shi shipped in China and the world. That is a furious battle back and forth. What are you pulling from their platforms, from their technical development?”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Technical superiority of the electric drivetrain and the necessity to reduce CO2 will naturally, you have to focus on that long term thing. And that is electrification will be the enabler to be innovative. keep people actually interested in cars because that's where the tech is happening and make us make progress on the journey of decarbonization.”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Have seen within that time, 22, 23, big wave. Yes, electrification, all the OSM suddenly saying, oh, yeah, we will do it till year X epsilon. And now within that short time there's a swing back again. I mean, you can see how fast these things are happening. Having witnessed that the last three years, I'm actually not that worried about what is talked about today about, oh yeah, it's now hybrids and let's stick to the iStream card. You know, that is going backwards and forwards so quickly. I think the conviction that we have about this”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Together Knowledge together is Reduction of ownership of Volvo from something around 48 to this 18% actually do something very in the long run beneficial for Polster and that is increase our free float and that was almost a promise to when we listed company that would be an effect that the big main owners would actually let go of some of the ownership in order to increase the free float and let other people participate in it so in a way you can read it we might have even talked about it in 21 that was that was always a story but turbulent times of course this is a world which is of course in a lot of developments we have seen the AV market and that's a strange thing 21 if we would have talked we still had to actually talk about the conviction that EVs would be that that's the technology and then funnily enough we”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“A European OEM, I mean, poster is here in Sweden, a very European company, we are harvesting and using that technology as well to go forward. The ownership structure, my God. One thing is Volvo is reducing, but 18% stake that they keep. Certainly not. It's beyond whatever you would call a strategic partnership. That's heavy involvement. That is a strong ownership still. And the relationship that we have in terms of producing”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“About now a lot is how much indeed innovation speed, relevant electric mobility, relevant technology, of course has accelerated, developed momentum and dynamics within the GLE group in other brands where it is of course relevant for us to actually broaden our way of using the brand portfolio, technology portfolio and actually hooking up and doing things on a broader range within the GLE group. I think that's reflecting what's happening in the world, let's face it. China EVs did not become such a competition and you could call it threat to the OEM. In this world because of subsidies. I mean, Jesus, they are technically competitive, highly competitive. That is what makes them a threat. We should be a little bit more honest about that. And for that reason, the advantage for us to hook up to that technology.”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“At that point in time, that from a very early poster one, even poster two, still tight relation to Volvo to a poster three and a four growing a bit more into an obvious, the products show it, independent company is part of the long plan. But I would love to point out what actually was not as visible in 21. Maybe it's really different now where we find us now in 24. One element that we have been talking”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It's still a relationship. It's still family. You can do whatever you want once your family, your family. But you grow up and you move out and you become... More independent, you might as well, you know, that happens in families. There are periods of bigger distance, periods when you find together again a bit closer. Having said that, compared to what 21 was laid out as a plan, it's really that is not that much of a change that we would, and let's face it, the cars, for example, that are testonomy to that growing up were in the development.”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Let's start with Polestar itself. There are some fundamental structure changes that I think will help me understand everything else. Decoder is a fundamentally a show about structure. Polstar just went through some big structure changes. The last time you were on the show, the majority owner was Volvo. That's changed. Volvo has stepped back. It's a thing, it's 18% ownership stake now. Geely, the parent company of both Volvo and Pulsar is more funding Polestar. I have a quote from you from last time. This is one of the reasons I love that episode of the show because it's such a good quote. I asked you to describe the relationship to Volvo and you said Volvo is our parent company. Polestar was born there. Volvo has raised its baby. It's growing up and becoming an adult. We are in the process of moving out, earning our own money. We will always be some kind of family. But of course, we will develop our own life. That appears to have happened. Like you've moved out of Vulva. What is that relationship like now?”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Years ago was a long time ago, but also the whole car market has changed in those three years. A lot of things have happened. And the assumptions, I think we were all making about the car market in 2021 have radically shifted. EV demand has changed, demand for hybrids has gone back up. The competition has changed. Your big competitor in Tesla has really changed. And Polstar itself has changed. I hope you're ready for this conversation because we've got to cover all of it.”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I am very excited to talk to you again, your first conversation with us in 2021 was like a highlight. We just started the show and you were one of the first car CEOs to come on the show with us. You took a risk. Thank you so much. I look back on that episode fondly.”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Opportunity. Polestar cars today run the Android Automotive OS in partnership with Google, and in China, Polestar just partnered with Zinji Meizu, another geely company, to use a platform called Flymy OS. You'll hear Thomas talk about that partnership and where Polstar is comfortable seeding control of the NCAR experience to Apple, Google, and others. At his heart, Thomas is still a designer, so I had to ask him about the recent trend in car design, which is going in two directions. On the one hand, you have some retro future ideas from Rivian, Hyundai, Kia, and others, and on the other hand, you have the triangle aesthetic of the cybertruck. I gotta say, Thomas's response to the cybertruck, one of the best I've heard in the industry. Okay, Pulstar CEO Thomas Ingelet. Here we go.”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Does it mean for Volvo to have stepped back its investment and how much can Pulstar take from Geely's various platforms while still remaining distinct from other brands in the portfolio? Thomas actually has a refreshingly candid perspective on why people pick certain cars. He thinks it's desirability, which he rates is the number one factor for Polestar, and that affects how he and Polestar think about its relationship to Volvo to other luxury carmakers, and to the EV market in general. And make no mistake, Polstar is trying to grab more of that market, the first time Thomas talked, Polstar's only mainstream car was the well-reviewed Polestar 2. But this year, Polestar expects to start delivering the Polestar 3 SUV to customers, and it will debut the crossover Polestar 4, filling out the model lineup and hopefully competing for more attention from car shoppers. Of course, it wouldn't be a decoder car episode if we didn't talk about software in the cars and how it's changing. Unlike so many of the car executives I talked to, Thomas doesn't really see software as a big revenue.”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Welcome to Decoder. I'm Neil Lapatel, editor in chief of the Virge, and Decoder is my show about big ideas and other problems. Today I'm talking with Polestar CEO Thomas Ingelath, who I first interviewed on the show back in 2021. Those were heady days 2021, especially for upstart EV companies like Polestar, which all seemed poised to capture what felt like infinite demand for electric cars. In 2024, the market looks a lot different, and so does Polestar, which is no longer a majority owned by Volvo. now a more independent sister company which sits next to Volvo under Chinese parent company Gili. You know, I love talking about structure shuffles here on Decoder, so Thomas and I got into it.”
2024-05-06 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT