Latest news with #PrasSubramanian
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Bentley is in limbo as tariffs remain unclear: What to know
The EU is looking to enact a 10% tariff across the board. Additionally, Bentley (VWAGY) is holding back inventory as tariff uncertainty clouds US import plans. Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Pras Subramanian explains how this affects automakers and how the lack of a finalized US–UK deal is forcing Bentley to go month-to-month on its pricing strategy. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination here. Meanwhile, the European Union weighing a 10% tariff deal as President Trump's July deadline now looms. For more what this means for carmakers, let's get to our senior autos reporter, prize Sumerian prize. Yeah, I mean, this is kind of a big deal for European automakers like BMW and Mercedes, that that to bring that down the sector tariffs is 25% to 10% will be a huge deal for them, uh, based on the fact that so many of their cars are sold here. Uh, I mean, but, you know, the UK has a deal already supposedly with, with, uh, with the US and I spoke to the Bentley CEO about this, and they said, hold on, there's actually no details yet. Uh, the deal is supposedly been agreed to, but, uh, the UK government's still waiting for paperwork and an actual deal terms from the US government and, and, uh, UK government said it might take a few weeks still. So I spoke to the CEO about this, and he said, basically, since we don't have the deal actually, the terms yet and signed So he's saying I don't know. He's saying I just have a world of uncertainty I'm navigating. Yeah, so they, exactly, because they, they, you know, last month, they made the deal, made the announcement, but the deal has not actually been hasn't been signed yet, or come through yet. So he told me a few things they're doing, basically they're working month to month here on policy, uh, price protecting through the month of June, uh, people who have custom orders in place, they'll they'll honor those pricing agreements and they'll bring the cars in, but further inventory is going to be held in the UK until, uh, until further notice and, and basically, they just can't bring those vehicles in until they know what their exposure is going to be, because it could be a lot more, it could be a lot less who knows. So keeping it there, uh, they won't make any more decisions till next month. So month to month, we'll keep an eye on that, but they also have a new car out, new Bentayga Speed, SUVs are top selling SUV. I mean, the speed version is a VA powered truck. How much is that going to run us? Yeah, that's a big question. Around 300 grand, probably, but it's going to be only gas powered. It's just a change for them because they've been going heavily into hybrid, but they say, hey, you know what, our buyers want this option, and it'll be a very special car. So they're going to do it. I would assume that Bentley has a decent amount of pricing power at that level of customer that if they do end up if they get more clarity around the effect of the tariffs, if that's going to increase their costs that they can pretty easily pass that on to their customers or I mean, 10% is not that big of a jump from, let's say, 25. So a $300,000 car, you're talking about $30,000. So how much of that's going to go to the client and versus them? Half, uh, more than half, and that's part of the question they have to sort of answer themselves. But I think you're right, I think they, it's, it's, it's not a, it's not a fully elastic good, right? There is some, uh, ability to kind of waver here with pricing, but they can't go too far, right? Because margins are, I think the last, last year, they were around, uh, 14%, right? So there's only so much you can play with. And that's been coming down from 20 the year before. So that's the big question. Even if you're rich, you still want to feel like you're getting a good deal. That's why you have all the money. You don't pay, you don't need to. There you go. All right, thanks so much, Pras. Inicia sesión para acceder a tu portafolio
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Waymo cars will be hitting NYC streets
Waymo, the self-driving car company backed by Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), applied for a special permit to bring its cars to the streets of New York City. Yahoo Finance Senior Autos Reporter Pras Subramanian reports the latest on Waymo and VW's (VWAGY) electric ID. Buzz. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination Overtime here. Well, Waymo is doing what was once unthinkable, bringing its robo taxi service to the streets of New York City. Yahoo Finance's Pras Subramanian here with more details in the story. I I mean, just personally, I can't wait to get in a Waymo and take it around the city. So is it how quickly is this happening? What's the steps, what are the steps that have to happen? So, you're saying they apply for a permit to begin tests next month. Now, there'll be a safety driver in the driver seat, so you're not going to be alone in the car, but it should ostensibly drive on its own, like it has in LA, San Francisco, Austin right now. Uh, it should be I mean, I'm I was surprised to hear that they're going to be doing this this soon. I think it's kind of shows you how far the technology's come and how confident they are that they can come to New York City where you have cyclists and pedestrians and just people and you know, bikes everywhere. It's just a kind of a wild scene to think about. But yeah, it's coming here next month and it kind of speaks to their global or their continue expansion, uh more places in LA, more places in San Francisco. So, yeah, this is the next big step for them. Do we have any line of sight, by the way, I'm just curious, what regulators would have to see, Pras, to get comfortable getting that human out of the car, going full robot? Yeah, I'm not sure. I believe it's it's that New York does not allow a car to be operated without a driver in the seat. I think it'll kind of maybe show a decent record of safety that'll allow them to change regulations to allow full robo taxi deployment, or as they call unsupervised, uh in in New York. You know, so, as Waymo does this in New York City, Tesla is beginning their robo taxi tests in Austin, but unsupervised, meaning there will be no safety driver in the driver's seat. There'll be a person sitting in the passenger seat and tell operators in case anything needs to be done. So, it's a little bit of a distinction there. A little uh a little odd kind of change, because think about Tesla hasn't proven anything yet from a robo taxi point of view. Where Waymo is being extra careful, uh with that right now. So you'll get in the car in for the Tesla and somebody will be in the passenger seat already. In this small test they're doing, yeah. Interesting. Wasn't there other autonomous tech news today, a Volkswagen backed company? Yeah, earlier today Volkswagen, uh has this startup called Mio, I think they're called. And basically they came up with this uh, you're looking at it, it's an ID version of their ID Buzz minivan, electric minivan, but but fit for robo taxi use using using um uh different software suite plus sensors, uh plus a sort of bespoke mobility platform that allow operators to buy these vans in bulk and and then then deploy them as robo taxis and Uber will be their partner initially for some parts of the US. So, yeah, this is an interesting concept here. Or it's an actual vehicle that VW is using right now in Hamburg, Germany. And they want to bring it around to the US too. I like the the paint job on the outside of this. Pras, thank you. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Formula 1 gains US popularity ahead of F1 movie: What to know
International racing car championship Formula 1 is gaining popularity in the US ahead of the F1 film hitting theaters later this month. Yahoo Finance Senior Autos Reporter Pras Subramanian joins Wealth with Allie Canal to discuss the details and share his recent interview with Williams F1 Racing Team principal James Vowles. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Wealth here. Formula One is gaining popularity in the US. The 2024 championship reached about 30 million viewers across ESPN's platforms with an average of 1.1 million viewers per race during the season. Now, the fast-paced sport is taking on Hollywood with a new F1 movie out June 27th. Yahoo Finance senior autos reporter Pras Subramanian joins me now. So, Pras, you got to speak with someone from F1 and obviously, this comes at a time when there's a lot of anticipation for this movie, too. I mean, big time, right? Amongst fans, we're talking about this movie for a long time. I think now it's kind of gotten into the mainstream. People are excited about it. They want to see it. They've seen, you know, that that you just saw a little clip of that high-paced action filmed at actual races. A big deal. So I spoke to Williams F1 team boss, James Vowles. This is one of the most like famous teams in the sport. They were in town to kind of promote the movie. The big premiere was in New York a few days ago. I spoke to him about why this movie is getting so much buzz, what he thought of it, and also sort of the juggernaut that is F1 in the US. I had the pleasure of seeing it in Monaco a few weeks ago. The drivers and team principals were there. Here's how I'd describe it. It's not a documentary, but it is authentic to us as a sport. They that Jerry Joe and the team were really, really impressive at integrating themselves across 23 and 24 such that, as far as I went, we had an 11th team alongside us. It was really seamless in terms of integration. And for most of those that understand how movies are made, typically, you'll get 20 takes. They didn't. You would have one take as we're leaving the grid and that's your take, and you're going to work with it. And they did impressively well when you see the final product. Really well to integrate effectively into our world across that two-year period. You know, we saw footage of the production at different actual races filming alongside you guys. Lewis Hamilton was a part of the production team. But also shooting a lot in America, too. And I want to talk about America here. So F1 effect here has been tremendous. I talk to fans all the time that I never thought would be interested in the sport, following you guys across the globe. How do you explain that sort of the juggernaut of F1 in this country? Good question. I've seen the same thing you have. I would say probably line in the sand around about 2019. It started to grow and expand. And I'd say in the last three years, it's near enough doubling every year if we just look at base numbers in terms of growth. So roughly putting some numbers to it, fan base across the world, over 800 million. Fan base in the US, 50 million. But the really important thing is doubling year on year. So great trajectory. Commercially, if we look at all of the partners and sponsors that we have, a third of them are from the US, which just tells you how important it is. Now, here's the real kicker for me anyway. We have Miami, we have Austin, and we have Las Vegas. And those three are crown jewels in our calendar. They're the ones that when you go to your partners and say, "Where do you like to come to?" They select those three. And that's just how important I think we've become for each other at that point in time as a commercial success. But I think what we've done really well and it's a combination of Liberty, combination of Netflix, and I think the Formula One film as well, is actually portraying how much of a team sport it is, how much we've got a thousand people behind the scenes working every hour they can to develop the car, every single race to be different. And it's made us into this product that you can really get behind. You mentioned Netflix. James, you were probably one of the stars of one of the last Drive to Survive season with the negotiation with the Carlos and things like that, bringing on really two world-class drivers to your team. Talk to me about the brands. You mentioned the big US brands. You know, we talk, you know, Oracle, people like that. Duracell on your chest, right? How did how do you I guess my question is, have you seen that explosion coming on with more US brands in the sport with Williams? Without without question, fundamentally, if I compare back to so as as Williams, there's even names that I mean, you've got Stevens, which is just near the Cycracken as well on their particularly Duracell you've already mentioned, Brillio, which is there as well as a part of it. These are large mixture of tech and otherwise, but large names that are US-based. And they've kind of boarded in the last 12 months, really as part of our journey. Duracell a little bit longer, but fundamentally, for all the other ones, they've really joined us and our journey. Now, there's two things attracting that. One, Williams is you used the word juggernaut. I'd describe Williams as one of the sleeping giants of the sport. We're still today the third top three most successful teams in the sport. We have nine nine constructors' world championships and seven drivers' championships. And for transparency, that's why I joined Williams. It's this incredible brand. But there's no doubt about it for the last 20 years or so, we haven't had success. And that's why I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to have the opportunity with the right investment, which we have from Dorilton, to bring this sleeping giant back to the front. And I think this year, the journey is one that people can really start to see that we are serious. We are meaning business. This is a serious bid to start winning multiple championships again. It will just take time. And what we've seen as a result of that is there is commercial success that follows. There are individuals that I'd almost describe as challenger brands in their own right that want to be a part of our journey. And that's really that sort of meshing together that's working pretty well. So he mentioned some US brands like Duracell's a big sponsor for Williams, but also Dorilton Ventures, which is a big VC firm based in America. They were the big equity owners in Williams. So you're seeing not just brands, but professional money, all kinds of stuff happening because the sport is just growing so much, and people are just sort of getting on board, especially in the US. Yeah. It's crazy the fan base for this sport. I'm wondering if you think this movie is going to attract maybe new fans after they go and watch it. You know, why not, right? Because we saw I'm still amazed at the Netflix effect, the show Drive to Survive brought so many fans. Now, look, there was a captive audience. We had pandemic, people were stuck at home. They thought, "What is this sport? What is this show on Netflix I can watch?" And they binged it. And then people start watching the actual races. So why wouldn't the movie maybe catapult a bit more fans on board? I mean, maybe we've already hit critical mass. I'm not sure, but I don't see how this is a bad thing. The movie seems from what I hear, movie's very exciting. It's really good. It's not very realistic from like a racing fan point of view, but I It's authentic though, as a sport. I'm willing to check my fandom at the door just to have a fun movie, popcorn movie in summer. And we have Brad Pitt. Who doesn't love Brad Pitt? And he does, I'm excited. I'm excited to see it. I think we're going to go see it, Scott. Love it. Go F1. Pras, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Yahoo outing. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Formula 1 gains US popularity ahead of F1 movie: What to know
International racing car championship Formula 1 is gaining popularity in the US ahead of the F1 film hitting theaters later this month. Yahoo Finance Senior Autos Reporter Pras Subramanian joins Wealth with Allie Canal to discuss the details and share his recent interview with Williams F1 Racing Team principal James Vowles. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Wealth here. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Waymo applies for special permit to bring its self-driving cars to New York City
Waymo is doing what was once unthinkable: bringing its robotaxi service to the streets of New York City next month. "We've applied for a @NYC_DOT permit to drive autonomously with a specialist behind the wheel while we're in the city — a key step to one day serving New Yorkers," the Alphabet-backed (GOOG, GOOGL) company said in a post on X. Waymo said it is also advocating for changes to state law to bring its fully autonomous ride-hailing service to the city in the future. New York's busy streets, with vehicles, pedestrians, bikers, and all sorts of delivery drivers, are seen as one of the most challenging terrains for a rototaxi operator. Waymo's announcement of a future New York City-based service comes amid a planned nationwide expansion. The company operates in parts of San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin, and just announced it was expanding service in greater Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. Tesla (TSLA), which is slated to begin its robotaxi testing in Austin starting next week, will not use safety drivers in its cars when its test begins but will have remote teleoperators available. Two Tesla robotaxis were seen testing in Austin last week, but Tesla employees were sitting in the passenger seat. Waymo, the leader in the robotaxi space with 250,000 trips per week, counts competitors like Zoox (backed by Amazon (AMZN)), China's Pony AI (PONY) and WeRide (WRD), and of course Tesla, though none operate in as many regions or perform as many autonomous rides as Waymo. Volkswagen's MOIA revealed its ID. Buzz AD robotaxi in Germany this week. However, its vehicles plan to use other operators' platforms, like Uber, to deploy its vehicles. Waymo's expansion counts on its ability to manufacture more vehicles, which the company said will expand to 2,500 vehicles in the near future. Though that production is much smaller compared to what a traditional automaker like Tesla or VW can produce, Waymo is countering that issue by partnering with manufacturers like Toyota and China's Zeekr. Pras Subramanian is the lead auto reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram.
