MINI x DEUS is the kick in the ass the car industry needs

Today I saw the latest upload from Harry's Garage in which Harry met up with Jeremy Clarkson. I fully expected it to be a 'old men yelling at clouds'-video, because they were supposed to talk about the rebrand of Jaguar. You'd think you could fill in the blanks, but I was pleasantly surprised by Clarksons realistic point of view on the Jaggggg, and more importantly the state of the car market.

Without spoiling what the Top Gear legend had to say about Jaguar, he and Harry ended the video on a vibe that really struck me: cars mean so much more to both of the old men (and me, a semi-old man) than just the mobility they provide. The issue is that the car industry seems to have forgotten this.

Of course the direction of the car industry is completely explainable. Mostly, I think, because of the risk analysis that kill any risky cars, and by spreadsheet warriors that get stuck in the numbers which makes them think bland mediocrity and whatever the Chinese market wants is the best way forward. There's a term for that last one: 'analysis paralysis'. This is when you get so buried in data and details that it becomes hard to see the bigger picture or make valid decisions.

Which, as it turns out, is not really all that sustainable. The market is in decline, and not only because cars are expensive and electric.

But there might be light at the end of the tunnel. Just before the IAA in Munich started MINI and fashion brand DEUS Ex Machina worked together and presented The Skeg and The Machine. Two cars that expertly show what the industry has forgotten: that cars can represent unhinged fun and have distinct personalities.

Before we continue, I'm going to pull the band aid off: no, they're not going into production. There will only ever be one of each. Exactly like there was supposed to be only one of the BMW Skytop.

But there is hope the reaction to both The Skeg and the Machine has been only positive as far as I can tell, not only online, but also at the launch party itself. None of the people attending to which I spoke had negative remarks. It might have something to do with the fact the booze was free.

This reaction is what the industry needs. It's the thing that can help get the spreadsheet warriors attention and see that there is a need for cars with personality. That there is a huge amount of people that want a car that can mean more to them than just the mobility it provides.

To add to this: check the reaction on the Audi Concept thingamejig. Also sporty, but lacking personality. It's a big sheet of stainless steel with some slits in it. People are comparing it to the Jaguar Concept and having a luke warm opinion on it. It should've been as cool as the Audi TT, maybe even the TT RS, instead we got a stripped TT. If Audi enlisted the help op DEUS, things would've been different, very different.

This reaction also gives hope to the ones that would eventually like to own a The Skeg or a The Machine, albeit in a little bit more useable form. I mean, those bucket seats are awesome, until your first drive over that cobble stone road outside town.

But what I'm trying to say here: even if BMW is saying "no production, ever", it doesn't mean that they can't change their minds. The Germans said the same thing about the Skytop until enough rich people drove to BMW's headquarters with their i7's filled to the brim with cash, asking if they could please buy the concept car.

So let's keep our fingers crossed there are a couple of MINI-fans that take it upon themself to fill up their MINI's with cash and drive over to BMW in Munich. Or that the spreadsheet warrior takes notice. I'm fine with either, but would like to see both.

In other news:

There's a new Porsche 911 that looks almost exactly the same as the outgoing 911, but it's more powerful. It's expected to beat hypercars off the line, because it's got 711 horsepower. Which doesn't sound that much, but it's Porsche, which makes sure the 911 can actually use it. But would you pay more than two grand for it? Or would you pick something more exclusive for that amount of cash?

Talking about more: can you count the amount of LED's on the front of the new Mercedes-Benz GLC?

What do you do when you're having a hard time selling your electric hypercars? Well, you try to sell only parts of them. Rimac didn't show up to the IAA with a complete car, but only some new 'groundbreaking' batteries and eAxles, which will be available from next year.

And talking about people that need a kick in the nuts: the board at Tesla. Techcrunch took a better look at the benchmarks that Musk needs to hit to get that $1 trillion pay package in ten years time. It turns out that even if Musk fell a sleep at his desk every day from now on, he'd probably even hit them. For example: that 20 million cars produced a year, turns out to be a total production number which needs to be hit over the next ten years time.