Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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All investing is subject to risk. Vanguard Marketing Corporation Distributor. Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio. News. An iconic American luxury brand is joining Formula One next year. GM's Cadillac team will make its debut with two superstar drivers, 10-time Grand Prix winner Valtteri Bottas and six-time Grand Prix winner Sergio Checo Perez. Here with us now is Cadillac F1 CEO Dan Tauras.
Dan, it's great to have you here with us. I'd love to first just get a little bit of a background check on how you got into this business from running GameBridge, from being an insurance executive, to now running teams across NASCAR, IndyCar, and starting next year, Formula One. Yeah, so it really started in sponsorship with the team and a partnership with Andretti.
But then kind of when we look at TWG Global, the parent of our company and what Mark Walters built in a sports media company, we saw a thesis in motorsport to get involved and to really focus on Formula One, but not just Formula One. It's really every major motorsport globally from Australian V8 supercars to sports cars, NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula E, and now Formula One.
So we're very excited about that. So it's, I think, really cool that you have the resume you do because I always, when I talk to Mark Royce, I ask him, how do you convert motorsports fans into buyers of Chevys, Cadillacs, Corvettes, what have you? You know because you run this insurance company and that's how you get your start here.
I guess you've had great experience in doing those conversions. Now you hire people like Valtteri Bottas. I want to take a look at the tweet that he put out this morning. This is a guy who not only is he an incredibly talented driver, obviously a Grand Prix winner, but he knows marketing too. This is what he posted this morning, I guess. He gets it. His dedication to an American brand here.
Yeah, we're so excited about these two. I mean, they're both, you know, characters. You know, they have storied careers in Formula One, but they're not done. This is the next chapter. You know, they're the chosen two for the Cadillac Formula One team to hit the grid in 2026, and we're super excited about them.
So how long are you giving the team before you expect that you're going to win a race or a championship? It is gonna be a process. Formula One's the pinnacle of motorsport. It's so difficult. The smallest difference can make a huge difference on track, but I think that's where their experience comes in.
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Chapter 2: What motivated Cadillac to join Formula 1?
You know, we have over 600,000 square feet of manufacturing under roof in the U.S. between Indianapolis and Charlotte. between the team and the power unit company and all those people working together. We also have a base of operations in Silverstone. So this is a global operation for Cadillac Formula One.
Chapter 3: Who are the superstar drivers for Cadillac's F1 team?
And so really when we hit the grid, it's a new chassis and a new power unit next year. So it kind of mixes up the competitive landscape in Formula One. And so we get to figure out where do we stack up against these teams. None of these cars will have been on the track you know, together when we get there. And then what I'll be looking at is what is our, you know, what does our progress look like?
What's the upward trajectory of that team? Because that really gets to the question of how long till we run a race? You know, how long till we get on a podium? But the ambitions for this team are high and the resources are tremendous.
And so together with General Motors, with Mark Royce and the tremendous team there, Mary and Mark, you know, we're going to be working hard to make sure that we're competing at the top of the food chain in Formula One. I wonder what this means for the Cadillac brand because, all right, they have had in the past, I guess, the monster in the 1950s at Le Mans.
And, of course, I just went to Le Mans this year to see them with Team Joda and their hypercar is amazing. But you don't. You hadn't previously thought about them as a sports car brand. Obviously, they had the CTS-V, and now they have the Blackwing, which are, you know, creme de la creme. But what do you think this does for Cadillac sales?
Chapter 4: How did Dan Towriss transition into motorsports management?
Well, I think it's really pushing technology and innovation, you know, with this new series of cars that they're coming out with. Cadillac continues to see their market share increasing quite rapidly. So I think it's the perfect time for Cadillac to come into Formula One, to really even start to push a younger demographic that we're seeing the growth in Formula One.
And so I think, as I've talked to fans, everyone has a Cadillac story. And so there's a strong connection to that brand. So combined with the new products that Cadillac's coming out with, and then the relevancy of being in Formula One, competing against Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin, and the likes. I think it's a good combination for Cadillac.
And going to be an amazing rivalry with Ford. I mean, I was thinking at Le Mans about how cool it will be when Ford goes into the hypercar, but that's only for niche, totally dedicated car freaks. This is F1 now. I mean, one of the most... Popular in America, it's up there with NASCAR now, I think. And Ford's going to enter F1 next year, too.
So how do you feel about that crosstown rivalry, GM versus Ford? You know, it's interesting. It's very different. I think Ford's partnership with Red Bull is at a much different level. I think what we have with GM here is an equity partnership, not a sponsorship partnership. They're integration. They're leading the power unit development. They're not assisting in the power unit development.
So the participation of GM and Cadillac in this versus Ford and Red Bull, very, very different. But yet you still have these American motorsport powers, automobile powers going head to head. But then when you think about it, you've got one in seven that identify as a fan in Formula One. So that's over 50 million Americans say they're a fan of Formula One, but they're not yet watching races.
So the real key is gonna be how do we convert those fans into race watching fans? How do we convert them into Cadillac fans? Which I think will then, they'll see the bump in car sales. All right, I'm pretty excited. I know you are. Can you tell, Katie? I can tell, yes. Dan, thanks so much for joining us. Dan Tauras there of Cadillac F1. I'm Carol Masser.
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