Motor Trend's "The Inevitable" Pod Cast Interview of Derek Jenkins

[DJL]

Today Motor Trend put out their latest podcast called "The Inevitable" . In it, they interviewed Derek Jenkins, Lucid's Sr VP of Design and Brand. It's a bit over an hour and the first 15 or so minutes are such that you really need to be a car junkie to appreciate but once they pull in Derek, it gets pretty interesting. I walked away with a bit better insight into what is driving Lucid and I better understand the lust Peter and his team has for efficiency, quality, and giving the best they can to their customers. Once again, my patience factor has been restored, knowing that I will be receiving a brand new car, from a brand new company, using a brand new factory, with brand new employees building it with the understanding that Peter and his team are striving to give me the very best they can. I know that sounds corny, but I truely believe that efficiency and quality are driving their decisions, not profit. At least for now.... To watch the interview, just click HERE.

 

[Parachute Adams]

I've long thought Jenkins is a better "face" for Lucid than PRow. But their roles (design and engineering) are in the (digital) rear view mirror.

Lucid is now all about Sales/Marketing and Manufacturing. The people in charge don't appear to be experts in these disciplines.

Stay tuned for the "earnings" call...and more important, the actual numbers...

I love the car, but need to love the company behind it. I'd be long gone without the Saudi angle...which is itself a bit scary

 

[Rob Stark]

Peter's role is CEO.

That is never in the rear view mirror.

 

[limtless]

Today Motor Trend put out their latest podcast called "The Inevitable" . In it, they interviewed Derek Jenkins, Lucid's Sr VP of Design and Brand. It's a bit over an hour and the first 15 or so minutes are such that you really need to be a car junkie to appreciate but once they pull in Derek, it gets pretty interesting. I walked away with a bit better insight into what is driving Lucid and I better understand the lust Peter and his team has for efficiency, quality, and giving the best they can to their customers. Once again, my patience factor has been restored, knowing that I will be receiving a brand new car, from a brand new company, using a brand new factory, with brand new employees building it with the understanding that Peter and his team are striving to give me the very best they can. I know that sounds corny, but I truely believe that efficiency and quality are driving their decisions, not profit. At least for now.... To watch the interview, just click HERE.

Thanks! I am always looking for good podcasts!

 

[dawktah LucidGT]

Today Motor Trend put out their latest podcast called "The Inevitable" . In it, they interviewed Derek Jenkins, Lucid's Sr VP of Design and Brand. It's a bit over an hour and the first 15 or so minutes are such that you really need to be a car junkie to appreciate but once they pull in Derek, it gets pretty interesting. I walked away with a bit better insight into what is driving Lucid and I better understand the lust Peter and his team has for efficiency, quality, and giving the best they can to their customers. Once again, my patience factor has been restored, knowing that I will be receiving a brand new car, from a brand new company, using a brand new factory, with brand new employees building it with the understanding that Peter and his team are striving to give me the very best they can. I know that sounds corny, but I truely believe that efficiency and quality are driving their decisions, not profit. At least for now.... To watch the interview, just click HERE.

Link not working

 

[rbbarry]

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The InEVitable Vodcast Episode 7: Derek Jenkins of Lucid Motors

The leader of Lucid's design team has spent his career shaping cars for some of the most iconic brands and nameplates in the world.

www.motortrend.com

 

[SDHacker]

I've long thought Jenkins is a better "face" for Lucid than PRow. But their roles (design and engineering) are in the (digital) rear view mirror.

Lucid is now all about Sales/Marketing and Manufacturing. The people in charge don't appear to be experts in these disciplines.

I'd agree that Jenkins seems to be a better talker than Rawlinson but the core of what Lucid is, what they want to be known for is all Rawlinson. Efficiency through miniaturization which drives the "space concept". Given how the CEO of a multi-national company defined his job to an audience at a conference, Peter has done a good job as CEO. The definition he gave was that a CEO has to have a vision for what the company needs to be in the future and hire the leadership team to make his vision reality. Peter had a vision for what he wanted Lucid to be. He personally recruited several of his C level execs. He knew design and engineering had to work together to build a car rather than a design team telling engineering to make their design work. He worked to get funding, he got the car built. That's all CEO stuff. Maybe he's not the best choice for "face" of the company but he' done a pretty good job as CEO.

Engineering and design will never be in the rear view mirror in building/selling automobiles. They are absolutely front and center. You might have a very narrow definition of engineering while I have a broad definition. Drive train, battery tech, suspension, electrical, ADAS, metallurgy, and software all reside under the engineering category. And when you're the new kid in town and no one has ever heard of you, your design better not be known as the upside down bathtub or beaver teeth. An established brand with cachet and fanbase might be able to get away with it but not an unknown.

Don't know who would be more qualified in auto manufacturing than Hochholdinger with over 20 years in different manufacturing roles at Audi then VP of manufacturing at Tesla. I think the problems boil down to 2 things - what Elon warned the new EV companies about production being way harder than building prototypes and the manufacturing team putting a process together that was different from others and having to train all new employees (with experience doing it differently at other companies). Also, the feedback loop between manufacturing and QA totally failed. Rough start to manufacturing? Really looks to be the case. Can and have they adjusted? These latest VINs getting ready to ship will tell that story.

From a consumer viewpoint, I agree that we are focused on manufacturing. When is my car going to be built, can they ramp up adequately, and what is the quality going to be like? But from Lucid's viewpoint, that's not what they are all about.

 

[limtless]

From a consumer viewpoint, I agree that we are focused on manufacturing. When is my car going to be built, can they ramp up adequately, and what is the quality going to be like? But from Lucid's viewpoint, that's not what they are all about.

They need to focus on this for 2 key reasons: It generates revenue and the market is driven quarter by quarter (unfortunately).

The key takeaway is scale is hard then you realize. Quality is expected by consumers and customer experience is everything, including brand loyalty. Tesla has brand loyalty with $0 spent on marketing. It's a culture, a lifestyle, a religion for most. When you can't get people a car they will buy something else with options, they will find a reason to flee. How does Lucid create brand loyalty? We are an "I want it now society."

I like the tech talk videos. They need more of these.