Affluent Vegans Demand Leather-Free Bentley Interiors

JAMES LIPMAN/BENTLEY

We’ve all been there. You’re shopping for your next $300,000 luxury car, but just can’t find one with an interior that complies with your animal goods-free lifestyle. What is a vegan millionaire to do? Well, according to Auto Express, Bentley has heard your cries, and the carmaker is exploring alternative (but equally luxurious) materials to use in its swank interiors.

“You can’t sell an animal-containing product like a Bentley, with, 20 leather hides, to someone with a vegan lifestyle,” said Bentley design boss Stefan Sielaff at a Financial Times event. “We've been talking to these customers, in California especially, and they're asking us what can we give them. We do a lot of custom-made and coach-built solutions, and therefore we want to satisfy these customers because they are the peak of a trend.”

You might be wondering what Bentley could possibly use that could match the leather in their industry-topping interiors. According to Sielaff, “We will shortly present a Bentley with a vegan interior; it'll give you a luxury sensation but with a different way–protein leather, mushroom leather, jellyfish material.”

“Protein leather” is a fancy way of saying “pleather.” It’s faux-leather like what you’d find on cheap jackets, but presumably the finest fake leather available if it’s going to be up to Bentley standards. Mushroom leather is just that—leather extracted from mushroom caps instead of animal hides. Jellyfish material is a biosynthetic compound that may not jive with Bentley buyers who want to protect the noble jellyfish.


No word yet on when you’ll be able to get your cruelty-free Bentley. Until then, you’ll have to keep settling for cloth seats in some car for commoners...or suck it up and try to enjoy your 600 horsepower W-12 despite the leather

A REAL MESS AT SAUBER

The history of Formula 1 is dotted with people who bought teams and thought that they knew how to run them better than those with years of experience. The result is generally the same with the new owners eventually realizing that it might be a little more difficult than they imagined, but usually a large amount of money is lost before lessons are learned. It seems that this is now happening at Sauber. The team was acquired 11 months ago by a Swiss-registered company called Longbow Finance SA. The boss of this was an asset manager called Pascal Picci, who became the chairman of the team. Those without F1 experience often underestimate the job, or listen to bad advice. To be fair, it is a jungle in which it is easy to get lost, but it is usually wisest to listen, rather than thinking you know all the answers and telling people how to do things. This seems to be the problem at Sauber with CEO Monisha Kaltenborn and the chairman Pascal Picci being unable to agree on how the team should develop. Picci has been to fewer than 10 Grands Prix and appears to have made the mistake of thinking that he can do a better job than someone who has been with Sauber for 20 years, has been a director since 2001 and the team principal since 2010. The issue between the two parties seems to be over the technical management of the team with Kaltenborn keen to hire new senior technical staff and Picci wanting to stick with Jorg Zander, who was taken on as technical director at the start of the year. He has a patchy record in F1 but joined the team from Audi. He arrived too late to have any influence on the design of the 2017 car, which was designed when the team had little money, and which has not been properly developed this year because updates due in Spain failed to arrive in time and when they did appear in Monaco they seemed to make no difference to the car.

The Sauber is powered by a year-old Ferrari engine but the chassis is clearly not as good as it could be. It seems that Picci felt that Kaltenborn should stay out of technical affairs, while she argued that she is only involved because it was necessary and she has been looking for ways to step back, leaving the technical management in the hands of suitable people. Kaltenborn recently concluded an engine supply deal with Honda.

It is rumoured that Longbow is now looking for a suitable replacement for Kaltenborn but has struggled to find one as F1 people are generally reluctant to move to German-speaking Switzerland. Various approaches have been made and the favourite is Frederic Vasseur, who was briefly running operations at Renault F1. He has yet to make a decision but does not seem to want to be team principal and may end up coming in to run the racing team. Sauber is a difficult team to lead, unless you are one of "the family" but there are no obvious candidates other than Kaltenborn. Trying to run the team like any other F1 operation could create a total disaster because Sauber never been, nor ever will be, a normal team and trying to make into one is a risk.

Source: JSBM

KALTENBORN DEPARTS SAUBER

Motor racing’s Sauber have parted company with Monisha Kaltenborn, the first woman to run a Formula One team, according to multiple media reports on Wednesday.

The Swiss-based team, which had issued a sponsor announcement on Tuesday with quotes from Kaltenborn welcoming the Additive Industries as new partner, could not be contacted immediately for comment.

Many in the Formula One paddock were making their way to Baku for the weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. However, the source close to the team told Reuters the reports had substance,.

The BBC, also citing sources close to the team, said Kaltenborn had been in disagreement with owners Longbow Finance.


One of the issues was believed to be the treatment of the team’s Swedish driver Marcus Ericsson and Germany’s Pascal Wehrlein, with the owners wanting to give priority to the former.

Ericsson has yet to score a point in seven races this season while Wehrlein, a Mercedes-backed driver, finished eighth in Spain in May.

Kaltenborn, who had worked with the team since the late 1990s, broke new ground when she was promoted to team principal and chief executive officer when Peter Sauber retired five years ago.

It is reported that terms of Kaltenborn’s departure were still being worked out. Kaltenborn, an Indian-born Austrian citizen, took over from team founder Peter Sauber in 2012.

The sport’s first woman team principal, and the second Indian-born after Force India’s Vijay Mallya, Kaltenborn joined Sauber in 2000 to run the legal department and took over as chief executive in 2010.

The team fell on hard times in recent seasons, struggling to score points last year, but the financial problems eased when Longbow, a Swiss-based investment company, took over in July last year.

Kaltenborn’s departure will leave former champions Williams as the only team with a woman in charge. Claire Williams is officially the deputy principal to father and founder Frank but effectively runs the team day-to-day.

New feature film: Life of Alain Prost

The Cannes Film Festival provided the backdrop for an announcement about a new feature film that is to be made in France about the life of Alain Prost. The film is to be made by Labyrinthe Films, which is company run by director, screenwriter and producer Julien Leclercq and producer Julien Madon. The film, to be called Prost, will also involve another production company called Mars Films, which will oversee French distribution of the film, while TF1 Studio will handle international sales. The film has a budget of $19 million and will tell the story of Alain Prost's life, with the focus being on his relationships with his brother Daniel and his rivalry with Ayrton Senna. 

The French actor Guillaume Gouix (left) has been chosen to play the role of Prost. The role of Senna has yet to be cast, while Olga Kurylenko and Ana Girardot will play the women in his life. The film is due to begin 13 weeks of shooting at the end of August at Magny-Cours and is due to premier in May 2018. 

Elsewhere, the Formula One group is believed to be planning to use the opening of the new Cars 3 movie as a means of promoting the British Grand Prix. The film, made by Pixar, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company, is due to open in the United States on June 16 and will open in the UK on July 14, the Friday of the British Grand Prix. It is therefore logical that the activities will centre on Silverstone. The film will have its UK premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 25 and will go on general release three weeks later. Mercedes driver and three-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton will provide the voice of Hamilton, a voice command assistant used by a trainer who will be trying to help the hero Lightning McQueen return to the track after

The auto industry is losing its head over Uber

Though a student of philosophy, Sergio Marchionne gets right to the point when it comes to one of the big trends sweeping the auto business:

“Contrary to what some of my colleagues believe, we are not in the mobility business. We don’t move people around... At the end of the day, we are only building the tools that allow people to be mobile. I don’t want to buy into the distribution machine like GM did by paying $500 million for a 10-percent stake in Lyft.”

I disagree with the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO about many things, but he's right to be dubious about his industry’s splashing of cash on "mobility services": a catch-all for stuff like ride-hailing and car-sharing. While the shift from combustion engine to electric vehicles is happening and autonomous driving will come too, in time, we’re a long way from automatic car capsules.

Yet carmakers have been at it again this week. Jaguar Land Rover disclosed a $25 million investment in Lyft, while Daimler AG took part in a $500 million funding round for Careem, a Middle East ride-hailing service. Toyota Motor Corp. last year handed an undisclosed sum to Uber Technologies Inc., while Volkswagen AG plowed $300 million into Gett, an Uber rival. There are plenty of other projects.

You could argue that these investments might give carmakers access to a new sales channel, by leasing cars to Uber drivers for example. Plus they're a hedge against people dropping car ownership entirely.

Still, Uber’s governance meltdown is a reminder of ride-hailing's immaturity as a business. The company lost almost $3 billion last year. Peugeot and Daimler, among others, earned record profits as U.S., U.K. and Chinese car sales hit fresh highs.

Regardless, many automakers have convinced themselves that making vehicles is no longer enough. In their rush to "mobility" they're chucking around money, hoping something sticks. Bernstein analyst Max Warburton says Ford Motor Co.'s ambitions to make 20 percent margins in mobility services are "patently nonsense." Yet he worries that "strategies are anchored on this stuff."

In fairness, it’s not surprising automakers feel under pressure. Most trade on anemic earnings multiples. Even BMW’s market capitalization is smaller than Uber's purported value. The recent ousting of Ford CEO Mark Fields shows what happens if executives move too slowly.

Still, corporate boards are in danger of ignoring history.

As Fiat chairman and Agnelli family heir John Elkann has pointed out, back in 1999 Ford had hopes of tripling its price-earnings ratio from 10 to 30 times by becoming a consumer products and services company invested in Hertz, satellite radio and Kwik Fit. Today, its forward PE is 7 times. Fiat made similar expensive mistakes in so-called "value chain extension" too, but it seems to remember them better than some rivals.

Ford’s chief problem now is weakening U.S. sales, not a failure to match Uber. Ford makes most of its profit from trucks and SUVs, so arguably it would be better focusing on that, not shared shuttle-van services.

The industry has enough challenges without frittering away cash on nice-to-have services for pampered city-dwellers. As a consumer, I’m delighted BMW and Daimler have parked hundreds of vehicles around my home town (Berlin) for when I can’t face cramming myself onto a subway carriage. But is it a money-spinner for shareholders? Almost certainly not.

Amid all the mobility hullabaloo, remember Uber doesn’t sell cars and neither does Google or Apple Inc. Even if their efforts are very successful, people's attachment to private cars won't vanish overnight. The auto industry shouldn't lose sight of how its bread is buttered: selling more vehicles.

Source: Automotive News

COTA BUILDS THE FUTURE

As Formula 1 moves to expand in the United States, with more potential races in the years ahead, the folk at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin are investing to create new attractions that will help grow Grand Prix racing in the United States, and to create a better business model for the circuit to improve the tracks' sustainability. This includes two Driving Experience programmes to allow fans and businesses to experience the thrill of being a professional race car driver for a day. 

The first programme will be an Audi Driving Experience to enable customers to discover a whole new dimension of style, technology and dynamic driving techniques. This will be retailing from $595 per person, for those about the age of 18. The Formula Americas Experience is a single seater programme, inspired by Formula 4, allowing visitors to try out open-wheeled racing cars, under expert guidance. 

The goal is to inspire a new generation of racing drivers to get excited about the sport. At the same time there is to be a CIK-spec international karting facility built on the site, giving youngsters the chance to experience kart racing and to watch the best talents racing in Texas. There are plans to develop a programme of motorsport summer camps to allow teenage to be fully immersed in the racing world. 

There may be other circuits that join the F1 calendar in the years ahead, but thus far none of them see to be permanent facilities, but rather street races in urban areas such as New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Miami.

MCLAREN-HONDA SPLIT IS A DONE DEAL

A British newspaper is reporting that McLaren have decided to ditch Honda as an engine supplier and revert to Mercedes customer engines starting in 2018.

The Daily Mail writes: “Sportsmail understands McLaren will drop their current engine partners, Honda, after patience with the Japanese manufacturers’ uncompetitive and unreliable engines finally ran out.”

The report adds that the move may cost McLaren close to €90-million and the deal with Mercedes, which is in the last stages of being finalised, will be announced before the Formula 1 summer break at the end of July or early August.

The ‘divorce’ from Honda comes after three years of sheer frustration and dogged disappointment for the McLaren team, who have been reduced to a shadow of what they once were.


The second most successful team in the sport’s history have become the laughing stock of the paddock thanks to the way under powered and constantly unreliable Honda engines. And the problem is that there is no light at the end of this long tunnel.

Most recently in Canada, their star driver Fernando Alonso retired with yet another power unit failure and declared that the speed deficit to his rivals posed a danger on track.

Last month Alonso made it clear that if he does not have a winning car by September he will quit the team. It is highly unlikely, if not impossible, that Honda will be able to meet the ultimatum.

McLaren do not want to lose Alonso who they rate very highly, and a move to Mercedes power is their only short-term solution which could pacify the Spaniard and convince him to stay.

Meanwhile in recent weeks, McLaren chiefs Zak Brown and Eric Boullier ramped up their criticism of Honda.

Brown said before the race in Montreal, “Honda’s working very hard but they seem a bit lost. We were only told recently that we wouldn’t have the upgrade coming (for Montreal)…and we don’t have a definitive timeline, which is concerning because the pain is great and we can’t sit around forever.” 

With Boullier adding after the race in Canada, where Alonso looked to be on track for a top ten finish before yet another failure, “After so much toil and heartache, even that single point would have felt like a victory. And then came yet another gut-wrenching failure.”

“It’s difficult to find the right words to express our disappointment, our frustration and, yes, our sadness. So I’ll say only this: it’s simply, and absolutely, not good enough,” added the Frenchman.

Indeed the team’s long-standing owner Mansour Ojjeh, who this season has been a more visible figure in the McLaren pit garage in the wake of the departure of Ron Dennis, was seen in lengthy talks with Mercedes chief Toto Wolff and chairman Niki Lauda in Montreal.

Much was expected of the McLaren-Honda reunification, as the partnership enjoyed one of the most successful stints in Formula 1 history, winning four drivers’ titles and four constructors titles between 1988 and 1991, during the Alain Prost Ayrton Senna era of the team.

But at the same time McLaren also have impressive history with Mercedes, winning two drivers titles with Mika Hakkinen in 1998 and 1999, as well as the constructors title in 1998 – which they have not won since.

The Woking team claimed their last Formula 1 title, with Mercedes power, when Lewis Hamilton won his first drivers’ championship in 2008.

Jenson Button scored the team’s final F1 victory at the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix with Mercedes power, but their final year as a Mercedes customer team in 2014 resulted in only two podiums, when both Kevin Magnussen and Button finished second and third in Australia that year.

Since 2015 the team have been using Honda engines, but have never finished higher than the top five until now. This season they have yet to score a point and lie last in the championship standings after seven rounds.

When approached for comment a McLaren spokesperson said: “Nothing is decided is the truth of the matter.”