Get your popcorn and snacks ready! Sandy Munro has another hour-long interview about the ongoing transition to electric vehicles. There is always so much packed into these videos. Munro just has a knack for cutting right to the chase and explaining engineering, manufacturing, and business to the layperson. In the interview, Munro is joined by Mark Ellis, who is a Senior Associate at Munro and Associates.
The interview was conducted by Sean Mitchell of allthingsev.info. Congrats to Sean for landing this huge interview. Sean occasionally collaborates with a few of our other favorite YouTubers, a platform which has become increasingly useful for getting important information to the public. (Although, it does come amid a lot of noise, but I digress.)
Sean took care to timestamp the video, which is really helpful if you want to watch the video in segments. At the 5:13 mark, Sean asked what traditional manufacturers are doing right. At first, Munro hesitated and passed the buck to Sean. Sean explained that US auto manufacturers are just outsourcing everything important with perhaps the exception of FCA. FCA has been late to the game but appears to earnestly be trying to play catchup.
After collecting his thoughts, Munro interjects and just blatantly states, “you know, really and truly, all the domestics are way behind!” For emphasis, Mark Ellis echos, “WAY BEHIND.” Bear in mind, these gentlemen have extensive experience in the industry and have broken down and analyzed many EVs. Their consulting business is focused on helping manufacturers to innovate and lower costs.
On more than one occasion, Munro claims the issue with the major automakers is the number of executives with MBAs, who have a tendency to believe in outsourcing as much as possible. Maybe this a key reason why we see so many executives leaving Tesla, because at Tesla they are actually focused on innovation and not just paying some contractor or supplier to do the hard work.
We will have more on this interview in the coming days, but I hope business schools across the country are taking note. Since watching this interview, I find myself constantly thinking about this classic clip from the movie Office Space:
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