Latest / Auto Collabs / A Journalist’s Perspective On Automotive with Brian Armstead | Public Policy Day 2025

Transcript

A Journalist’s Perspective On Automotive with Brian Armstead | Public Policy Day 2025 · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  Well, we're here with Brian Armstead, uh, longtime friend. Yes. Uh, independent journalist in the auto industry.
• 0:06
  And, uh, you're kind of the guy that knows what's going on, that I would say you kind of, like, hang out in the corners and the shadows, but you're, like, 6'7", so. 6'9". I can't hide. 6'9".
• 0:14
  [laughs] I can't hide anywhere. Not tall. There's no room for Sasquatch to hide anywhere, I can promise you that. [laughs] So, so, uh, a- as a freelance journalist, like, who do you write for? What do you write about?
• 0:22
  Where are you trying to find the stories right now? Well, let me give you a brief history of my, uh, road to the auto industry. Um, so I, um, I grew up in Baltimore.
• 0:32
  My mom, when I was eight years old, she, uh, uh, bought me a book called What Makes a Car Go? And- Thank her- I read that book-... for a wonderful [laughs]... cover to, you know, cover to cover.
• 0:41
  It was a little, you know, coloring type of book. Then I started building models, visible V8s, Wankel rotary engines, every tester model you could dream of, AFX, uh, race slot cars, Hot Wheels, Johnny Lightning.
• 0:57
  I was just a car freak. Uh, had bogus subscriptions to every magazine 'cause I couldn't afford to, um- [laughs]... to buy them. [laughs] So Science and Mechanics, Road and Track, Car and Driver.
• 1:08
  I sent in cards for all of them. I would read them. Uh, you know, obviously I didn't have the money to pay for them. [laughs] So when they, um, when the, uh, subscription expired, I'd just do it again.
• 1:17
  [laughs] That's right. Amazing. Amazing. So, you know, I've always been a car junkie. And, um, one day, uh, one of my friends... I, I was working with the federal government at the time.
• 1:27
  I had a 32-year career, NIH, Voice of America, USAID, State Department. Uh, been all over the world. I've been to 81 countries. Um, I, um... One of my former friends said, uh, "Hey, Brian, you know everything about cars.
• 1:42
  Why don't you pitch your, a story to some newspapers and magazines?"
• 1:48
  So I started with some small, um, Black newspapers in Baltimore, and that worked out okay, but, you know, it just wasn't building at a speed that I thought was conducive to any kind of real impact in the industry. Yeah.
• 2:00
  Then there was a gentleman named Randy Payton, who is actually at the show today. He's, uh, now a professor at, uh, UDC. Uh, he had a magazine called African Americans on Wheels, AAOW.
• 2:12
  And, um, I was at the National Press Club one day for a, uh, General Motors, uh, Chevy Corvette media reveal, and he walks over to me. This was, like, 1999 or so, maybe 2000.
• 2:25
  He walks over to me and says, um, "Who are you, and why are you not writing for me?" Yeah. So that kind of launched, uh, my entry into really gaining a foothold in the automotive media side of the business.
• 2:38
  So I became one of his, uh, senior editors. Uh, the magazine was produced twice, uh, every, bi-monthly.
• 2:45
  His son, uh, worked, uh, for the magazine, Kamati Rollins, who has a really large display downstairs called Art of Motion, Art of Motion, um, the Automotive Rhythms display. Oh, wow. He does that every year. Oh.
• 2:56
  Hopefully we'll see that tonight. I need to check that out. Yeah, it's like 50, 50-plus cars. It's- it's really- Oh, my goodness... it's- it's- it's lights out.
• 3:01
  That's one of the things they say about this show- Phantoms... there's a lot of art. Yeah, Phantoms. Um, the manufacturers are painting cars.
• 3:08
  They have these white cars that they're actually creating artwork with- Unbelievable... on the vehicles. It's really cool. Yeah.
• 3:13
  So, uh, wrote for, um, Randy for a while, and, um, you know, then I, uh, met a guy named Alvin Jones, who, uh, was a big radio legend here. He was doing a show on XM Radio. So I would go on with him every Saturday night.
• 3:28
  And then finally, the opportunity for me to have my own show on XM called Auto Sense came to fruition. Uh, so that was part of the Radio One network, um, Cathy Hughes and, and her, uh, her family.
• 3:39
  And, um, then it became Washington Post Radio with Wa- Warren Brown, and, um, it became, um... You know, I've done, I've been a, a freelancer with a lot of different organizations. Um, Forbes, Wheels, um, WTOP.
• 3:56
  I freelance for WTOP. Rest in peace, Dimitri- What he's saying is he's not much-... Dimitri Soudas... he's not done much in his life. Couple things. So he's really trying to get ahead at this stage. [laughs] Yeah.
• 4:03
  He's really trying to figure it out. So, uh, long story short, um, and I, I just wanted to say rest in peace, Dimitri Soudas from WTOP.
• 4:11
  We used to do a podcast called Connected to Cars with Mike Paris, the car guy for WTOP, and, uh, Dimitri, um, would do his weekly reviews with Mike Paris, and he died unexpectedly last week. So, uh, great guy, 55.
• 4:25
  WTOP has been the, uh, top-rated station here in the area for as long as the Ford F-150's been the top-selling pickup truck. Yeah. It's been a while. Wow. Yeah, it's been a- It's been a while... it's been a while.
• 4:35
  So today I'm a senior editor with Pursuitist.com. It's a luxury website. Uh, I do cars, travel, hotels, booze, you name it. Uh, just got picked up, um, by, uh, US News and World Report.
• 4:49
  Um, I'm on WAOK in Atlanta from time to time. I'm on with Nick Miles from time to time on his radio program. So, um, and as, and as you know, I'm the voice of God for the National- The voice. You gotta say it...
• 5:00
  Association of Minority Automobile Dealers. Say it how you say it. Uh- The voice... the voice. [laughs] Yes. [laughs] I know. So, uh, NAMAD, and we see each other every year at the, uh, annual meeting. Yeah, yeah.
• 5:11
  It's been in Miami, but we'll be in Las Vegas next year. So this is how I met these guys, and, uh, always had a lot of respect for you. He's gonna start... I'm telling you, he's about to turn the interview. I think so.
• 5:20
  I'm just telling you right now. Yeah. [laughs] It's coming. [laughs] I can feel it. He's like, "So that's how I met these guys." He's the- "Paul, tell me where you're from."... journalist. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
• 5:26
  Yeah. So, uh, you know, here I am, man. I, uh, I'm, I'm blessed to be here. Well, so obviously- Yeah... you are, like... Y- you're in the pulse of it, right? From the consumer side, the actual product side. Right.
• 5:34
  You're thinking about, like, the car guy type of things, but you also are integrated into the OEMs and the dealers. Yeah, you hang out around, around dealers a lot.
• 5:41
  That is- That's, I think that's unusual for- Well, it is. Yeah. It is. And I only hang out around dealers when I'm in that NAMAD sphere. Okay. Otherwise, I- Which is usually when we see you. Right.
• 5:51
  Aside from that, you're more consumer side, writing about- Yeah... the details of the cars. You know, exactly. I, I produce their magazine, Treads, every month. Okay. Yes.
• 5:58
  Um, I for- I failed to mention I'm also one of 50 North American Car of the Year jurorsSo I'm a NATOY juror. That's why I got my fancy little, uh, NATOY pin on.
• 6:07
  And, and he stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night as- [laughs] Exact- exactly. No. So obviously- [laughs] I can, I can promise you that... there's a, you have a pulse on it, right? Yes, yes.
• 6:15
  Like, the, you have a clear pulse. You know, administration changes, EV changes, manufacturers making moves.
• 6:24
  Like, where, uh, where are you feeling and sensing, like, the consumer is moving right now as we head into 2025?
• 6:32
  Well, the biggest change, and I'm sure you guys are all over this, is the move away from full electrification to whatever comes after the goals of manufacturers moving towards full electrification.
• 6:47
  Cadillac, Audi, Volvo, Mercedes, BMW, General Motors, they all threw their hats in. "Oh, we're gonna be full electric by 2030. We're gonna be full electric by 2035." Screech. I just did an article for Pursuits.
• 7:02
  Uh, it's called, uh, it's about the Volvo XC90 and the XC90 T8. The XC90s are hybrids. The T8 is a plug-in hybrid.
• 7:11
  And Volvo has kind of tamped down a little bit their goals of full electrification by 2030, and now they'll have mostly hybrids. Toyota, you saw the madness on the stage in there.
• 7:23
  Toyota, no full EVs really, uh, to speak of. Uh, so, um, you know, with the new administration, you have to kind of go with the flow.
• 7:32
  And, uh, most manufacturers have dialed back their full EV expectations for several reasons. Consumer demand, everybody who has an EV generally has one. First and foremost, right. [laughs] Yep. Uh, the cost of insuring.
• 7:44
  And it, uh, and it's not just they generally have one. They're, by and large, they are still third cars. Exactly. Because of the next point I bring up, the lack of infrastructure. Right.
• 7:56
  And then, you know, you got Teslas catching fire in water. You've got people who go to a electrify whatever station, and half the machines are broken because some yo-yo stole the copper cables- Right...
• 8:09
  out of the, uh, charging, uh, area. Yeah, we heard a stat la- uh, the other week that 20% of attempted charges fail, right? Yeah. For whatever reason. Maybe it's not available, or it's- Right...
• 8:19
  not accessible, or the- Cable's gone... machine is down or things like- Right... like imagine going to one out of five gas stations and being like, "Didn't work," you know?
• 8:25
  Imagine trying to get to New York in an EV, and you have that, you're faced with one out of five stations that don't work.
• 8:32
  I envision if they, if the manufacturers had continued with this madness in my expectation to go full electric, I envisioned, you know, a trip from New York to Baltimore or to Washington, DC.
• 8:46
  You would have, even if you built 1,000 space EV charging stations along I-95, you'd still have people waiting out on the highway to get charged. That's a terrible vision. Come on. Terrible.
• 8:59
  And then, and then, you know, look, I grew up in Baltimore, okay? And it wasn't the greatest part of town. All I can think about is being in a charging station- Having to hang out for 30 minutes...
• 9:09
  in the middle of the night, and some yo-yo comes and tries to jack me in the middle of the night. Right. So I don't want any parts of it, you know? Right. And I think- Yeah. Give me a hybrid. I'll put some gas in it.
• 9:16
  It's, it's a great middle- Give me some juice. Yeah... it's a great middle step even to get used to the technology. Exactly. Uh, all of that being said- Yes... do you have a favorite EV? Uh.
• 9:27
  You've probably driven quite a few. I would have to say, and you know I'm kind of fancy, so I would have to say it's the Rolls-Royce Spectre. We saw that car actually- That's one I haven't rented yet... last year. Yeah.
• 9:37
  Yeah, we haven't rented that. [laughs] I had a chance to, uh- It was like, it was that close. It was like the EV6- Yeah. Right? The Model 3. The Rolls-Royce was the next. Well, and, and- I was trying to staircase...
• 9:45
  I had a chance to drive the, uh, Spectre twice- That thing is beautiful... in Las Vegas... last year. And, uh, actually drove it in the parade for the, uh, Vegas Concours this year- Oh, man. Wow. Yeah.
• 9:52
  Which is really cool. Check it out on YouTube. That's awesome. [laughs] Uh, but if I had to, uh, bring myself back to reality- Yep... uh, any of the Kia- Oh, yeah... or Hyundai products, um- Oh, my goodness...
• 10:02
  Chevy, uh, the Chevy, um, Equinox EV is really nice. I've heard good things about that. Yeah. Um- Have you driven the, what's the, the, the Sierra Denali EV? I'm sure I have. It's kind of similar as the Hummer.
• 10:12
  There's, there's a couple of cars in my driveway every week. I lose track sometimes quite frankly. Oh, yeah. You just, they just drop them off. Oh, I forgot to mention one of my biggest affiliations.
• 10:19
  Uh, I'm on every week in, on KCBQ in San Diego on Dave Stahl's You Oughta Know program. So I've been doing that for about 12 years every Sunday, and it's a great program.
• 10:29
  We talk about everything, including- Do you ever sleep? I, well, yeah, yeah, of course. Occasionally. He's like, "Once in a while." Dave St- Dave Stahl doesn't sleep. He's like, "I ate last week." Yeah. "It was great."
• 10:37
  [laughs] So it's, it's been a lot of fun, man.
• 10:39
  I, um, you know, when I was, uh, doing projects for state and USAID, I did some really great things to try to help, um, help people around the world and help, uh, democracy around the world.
• 10:50
  Not that we need to force-feed democracy, but sometimes you just try to give people a helping hand when they want to go in that direction. So, um, yeah, I've be- I've been blessed, no doubt about it.
• 10:59
  Man, I, I'm like, the, the onion just keeps peeling back. It's, it's so good that we know you, I feel like. I didn't know how good it was. I know. Yeah.
• 11:07
  We're gonna be calling you every once in a while, like, "Brian," yeah, go ahead. Yeah. I want to give a shout-out to Damon Lester. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Please do. Damon was, uh, president of NAMAD at the time.
• 11:15
  And, and maybe, I, I guess I've been with NAMAD for about, I guess about 10 years now. I k- again, I kind of lose track.
• 11:22
  And, uh, Sheila Vaden Williams had recently passed, and Damon became president, and I saw Damon in the hallway at one of these shows or something like that. He said, "Hey, why don't you come work for me?"
• 11:33
  And I, I didn't really take it seriously when he first asked me, because I had so many- Things going on?... affiliations on my plate. Sure. I mean, I literally had, like, six or seven affiliations.
• 11:44
  You know, the, there's the whole print media thing. You know, I used to write for the B- the, uh, Washington Times, the, uh, Washington Post.
• 11:50
  I mean, the whole thing about, uh, print media is that it's, you know, uh, Black Enterprise magazine, Atlanta Tribune magazine.
• 11:59
  Um, it's kind of whittled away because of great content creators like yourselves, and I'm okay with that.
• 12:06
  But, um, I finally said yes, and that's how I got to become involved with NAMAD, an outstanding organization of African American, Asian American, Native American, and Latino American, um, Hispanic American dealers.
• 12:19
  So that, I've learned a lot working with NAMAD, and again, I want to give a shout-out to, uh, Damon for bringing me in, and to the, uh, current president, uh, Perry Watson IV, and to, uh, all the people who have served as chairman- Legends...
• 12:31
  over the years. Damon is now chairman of- Legends everyone. That entire organization is full of legends. They really are. Absolutely.
• 12:35
  If you get to know them, you go to that event, if you haven't been to the NAMAD event- Yes. It's, it's quite something... it, it is a special event. It really is. It is really special. Yeah.
• 12:44
  Well, Brian, always good to sit down. Yeah, you guys are great. This is probably the longest we've gotten actually to sit down. And talk to you. This is great. [laughs] So I know we're always running to and from. Yeah.
• 12:50
  So thanks for giving us a few times. Let, let's not make this the last time. And thanks for creating, uh, We're Here for NAMAD, uh, Damon Lester's podcast- Amazing show. Yeah.... that you guys, uh, put together, so.
• 12:59
  Oh, yeah. Amazing show. Oh, good. That's just getting started. Thanks, guys. Thank you, sir. Pleasure being on.