Brands, Experiences and The Future of Mobility

Pete Bigelow, Senior Reporter, Automotive News, and Host of the Shift Podcast joins Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss brands, experiences, and the future of mobility.

In this episode, Grayson and Pete explore how autonomous vehicles will create new opportunities for brands to develop and curate bespoke frictionless experiences.

From sports to outdoor adventures to luxury experiences, in the future, you will no longer have to worry about forgetting to pack an item for your trip.

If you are taking a branded self-driving car to a football game, the vehicle will be stocked with all of the items you need for tailgating experience. No more worrying about who will be the designated driver, no more worrying about traffic or who is going to go to the store. The entire experience will be managed by the sports team.

Continuing on the brand theme, Pete and Grayson discuss how FCA created shareholder value by spinning out Ferrari as a publicly traded company. The conversation then veers into the value of the JEEP brand and if FCA might spin JEEP out as a separately publicly traded company as well.

Could FCA make the decision to spin-out JEEP and then announce and all-electric JEEP to capture the market’s excitement for electric vehicles and better position the company to compete with Rivian?

The conversation then evolves into a deep dive discussion around electric vehicles, the EV supply chain and the current state of the EV market. What automaker will make the most strategic move to capture market share? Did GM outmaneuver Ford on electric vehicle strategy? Pete and Grayson debate and discuss EV strategies and how these strategies will effect the future of autonomy.

Rounding out the conversation, they discuss the industry’s desire to have passengers face each other in SAE Level 4 autonomous vehicles. Where the autonomous vehicle industry is heading and what the future holds for autonomy.

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Recorded on Wednesday, September 2, 2020