Things are getting presidential on this week’s episode of The InEVitable, as we sit down with Dimitris Psillakis, the president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz North America. And there is much to talk about, including the three-pointed star’s recent capture of MotorTrend’s Golden Calipers with the E-Class, our 2025 Car of the Year award winner. From there, the conversation moves to the newest EV on the Mercedes block, the mighty G580, aka the electric G. The supremacy of off-roading with four-motors is discussed, though Psillakis stays quiet about the idea of a range topping 1,000 horsepower G65. Also discussed is how much of a natural fit electrification is with luxury, though society moves more slowly than some would like.
Next, the conversation moves on to autonomy, specifically how Mercedes has been the first to market with an honest to goodness Level 3 product called Intelligent Drive. Why was Mercedes first? How come no other brand has caught up?And how is Intelligent Drive being used by customers? From there the storyline shifts to Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes for Ferrari, how much Hamilton has meant to Mercedes, and where F1 is moving beyond the Drive to Survive bump. Next up, why didn’t the AMG One hypercar come to America? Why was car so ridiculously complex? Then the discussion moves on to artificial intelligence in cars, both what Mercedes learned from its ChatGPT experiment as well as what consumers should look forward to coming soon.
This conversation with MB USA’s president and CEO, Dimitris Psillakis, is both wide ranging and fast moving. Want to listen? Or better yet, watch!? Why not both? You can watch the vodcast right here or on our YouTube channel. If audio is your thing, download the podcast here or wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you like it, please tell your friends, share us on social media, like the video, and don’t forget to give us a five-star review. Better yet, ask us a question, and if we use if on an episode, we’ll send you some MotorTrend/The InEVitable swag. We hope you enjoyed catching up with the current state of Mercedes-Benz in America, and remember Ed and Jonny will be back next week with another new episode of The InEVitable!
