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Quest Means Business
Zelenskyy Addresses United Nations; UAW Threatens To Expand Strike On Friday; Birmingham Declared Itself Essentially Bankrupt; India-Canada Tensions; Instacart Shares Pop On First Day; Brunswick Showcases Self- Docking Boat; Dash To The Bell. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired September 19, 2023 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:25]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: It's a Tuesday. Markets are open, at least in the US for another hour or so and this is where we're likely to
end, off 150 odd points, down all day, but so those losses are being pared and there is so much happening.
President Zelenskyy is accusing Russia of using food prices as a weapon. As he speaks to the United Nations.
The UK government is moving to take control of Birmingham City after it effectively declares bankruptcy.
And IPOs are back. Instacart shares soar on their debut.
Live from New York, Tuesday, September the 19th. I'm Richard Quest, and I mean business.
A good day to you.
In the last couple of hours, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for solidarity at the United Nations General Assembly.
President Zelenskyy urged world leaders to continue their support of Ukraine. He insisted the war there has to end on Kyiv's terms rather than
Moscow's.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: We must act united to defeat the aggressor and focus all our capabilities and energy on addressing these
challenges.
For the first time in modern history, we have a real chance to end the aggression on the terms of the nation which was attacked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Richard Roth is with me from the UN. Nothing unbelievably surprising by that, but the significance perhaps is he does need to continue to keep
people on side.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UN CORRESPONDENT: He is fighting for all of his people.
The first time Zelenskyy has appeared at the UN since the war began. I personally know that there have been at least I think 75 Security Council
meetings, so normally for something that urgent after 75 meetings, they would have produced a statement, a resolution, maybe assign a peacekeeping
force so that's asking too much instead, with Russia's veto powers, nothing has gotten through.
And believe me Russia has been accused of everything from war crimes to all kinds of disfavor against the people of Ukraine.
President Zelenskyy told the UN General Assembly packed with presidents and prime ministers about what he fears.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENSKYY: Please hear me. Let unity decides everything openly. While Russia is pushing the world to the final war, Ukraine is doing everything
to ensure that after Russian aggression, no one in the world will dare to attack any nation.
Weaponization must be restrained. War crimes must be punished. Deported people must come back home and the occupier must return to their own land.
We must be united to make it and we'll do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: Now Zelenskyy said that Russia is weaponizing all areas -- food and security, energy, nuclear power plants. He says they will cause dirty bombs
to be manufactured and other country's nuclear plants.
A wide ranging speech. He'll be here tomorrow for the Security Council special meeting on Ukraine. For the first time he will be quite close to a
Russian representative in that person's remarks -- Richard.
QUEST: Richard Roth at the United Nations, grateful to you, sir. Thank you.
The United Auto Workers says it will expand its strike against the Big 3 makers if no progress is made by Friday. Day five so far of the union's
standoff with GM, Ford, and Stellantis.
Sources telling us that the top negotiators for each side don't even plan on meeting today. So the issues are wages and work hours, but underneath it
all, EVs, electric vehicles.
It takes fewer workers to make them compared to traditional gas powered cars and the UAW wants those employees to be protected by the Union as
well.
Rana is with me. Rana Foroohar says the strike is a moment of reckoning for union workers and the Democratic Party itself. She joins me from New York.
[15:05:10]
I read the article. Fascinating, because what you're saying, of course, is it is EVS. Yes, the rest is fine, but if you're talking about strategic
future for union workers, it is ensuring that they have control of EV manufacturing.
RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Absolutely. You know, if you think about what's Biden's signature piece of legislation thus far? It's
the Inflation Reduction Act, which is a climate bill. It's really about transitioning America into clean energy -- EVs, wind, solar et cetera.
Now, this is a president that has really staked his reputation on being pro-union, pro-labor. But the truth, Richard, as you know, is that a lot of
those EV jobs so far have been going to the south, to right to work states. I mean, these are states that don't have unions, by and large or are
certainly far less unionized than Detroit and the old line Rust Belt states, but this is where the jobs are going.
And Biden has to work like a president who is supporting labor if he is going to get re-elected. So these strikes really put him on the hot seat.
If you put the Democratic Party as a whole on the hot seat, is the Democratic party going to be the party of labor again?
QUEST: But how do you structure a deal whereby you want to protect the existing workers making diesel, fossil fuel cars, do you then ring fence
jobs in the north for EVs?
FOROOHAR: You can't do that. You cannot be perceived, particularly when you're trying to bring along southern states into a new coalition as
picking one region over the other, but the President has a very tricky needle to thread here and the way that I think you could thread it is by
saying, look, this transition isn't just about EVs, it is about the infrastructure that's going to build the new cars. It's about what else
we're going to do at home. It's about wind, it's about solar.
I think that you could transition some of those old line jobs and you could also start to talk about changing the entire labor paradigm in the US. You
could start to talk about a grand bargain with Europe.
These are easy things, but I think the president has to avoid being pulled into kind of a Hobbesian, are you with the UAW or not -- and those are the
only stakes here. It's really a broader conversation.
QUEST: Let's go up the chain a bit, and I understand that different industries, different issues, but the screenwriters and the actors on
strike. Now pay and conditions, yes, but it's AI that's really the issue for them.
You now take the UAW, and yes, pay and conditions, but it's really EVs and digitization. AI in another sense for them. Should we go expect --
FOROOHAR: No, you know --
QUEST: Go ahead.
FOROOHAR: No, you go ahead. You go ahead with your question.
QUEST: Well, what I'm fascinated by these strikes, is once you strip out the bogs and the drains of paying conditions, these are classic Industrial
Revolution strikes.
FOROOHAR: You know, that's actually a brilliant point, because in some ways, EVs and cars in general are giant mobile data structures at this
point. You know, I mean, it's all about intellectual property. If you think about what our economy is made up of, increasingly, value is held in
intellectual property, be it the data that is collected from your car, EV or not, or the ideas that are going from knowledge workers, people like us,
but also the Hollywood writers. Who owns that? Is it going to be a handful of companies? Or is it going to be labor and this is what's really unifying
all of the labor actions that we're seeing.
You know, they are fragmented in some ways, but at core -- look, there is a shrinking pie of value and jobs in the future. Who's going to own it?
QUEST: Finally, you're a woman of taste, and I always liked you, you like the good things in life.
So, the Senate Majority Leader has quietly decided that the dress code will no longer be enforced, quietly, to an informal. He will allow Senator
Fetterman to favor gym shorts and hoodies and it goes into effect this week.
I mean, what do you make of this? Do you think --
FOROOHAR: Well, I am -- Richard, I am all for loosening the dress code in Washington. I mean, you know, this is a place where really until quite
recently suits and you know toast colored stockings for women are so much to work for.
[15:10:07]
I often feel a little outre coming from New York in a wrap dress if I'm going to go to Congress. So I'm all for loosening the dress code.
Now, shorts and a hoodie, I don't know. You know, I haven't quite even myself moved on to sneakers yet with my suit. But, you know, some loosening
probably a good idea, sartorially in Washington.
QUEST: I think it's the end, the end as we know it. I foresee a slow slide to Sodom and Gomorrah.
FOROOHAR: Well, hopefully we'll be enjoying it in running shoes. I don't know.
QUEST: Good to see you. Thank you.
FOROOHAR: Thank you.
QUEST: I'll have some more thoughts on that in the profitable moment, as you might have expected.
The British government is to take control of the UK's second largest city, Birmingham after the local council effectively declared itself bankrupt
earlier this month.
The UK says it will appoint commissioners to take over the city's daily operations, overseeing a financial recovery plan that most likely will
involve job cuts and tax increases.
Michael Gove, the Minister responsible for so-called leveling up, it is a role created to improve regional equality. He says Birmingham's problems
call for drastic measures.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL GOVE, SECRETARY OF STATE LEVELING UP HOUSING AND COMMUNITIES: I believe strongly in local government, local decision making, and the
devolution of power to local communities. But I also believe that when failures in local government occur, we must act.
As we devolve more power to local government overall, so we must demand sharper accountability and the need for action in Birmingham is pressing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Anna is with me. I mean, in the US and elsewhere, local areas have gone bankrupt. They can't technically go bankrupt, they just basically have
to say they haven't got any money for bills.
It's a bit embarrassing for the leadership of the local council. What's gone wrong?
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Quite a lot has gone wrong with this council specifically and this was two weeks ago when it effectively declared
bankruptcy. One of the key reasons is an historic equal pay claim that's been hanging over it since 2012, it's already paid $1 billion; $1.4 billion
in fact. It still has a little under a billion dollars owing. And that's of course increasing as interest rates go up.
So this city council, Birmingham, being the second biggest city after London, in Britain, has effectively declared bankruptcy. It's also though,
Richard facing some other issues as well that is common to local governments.
One is a massive cut from government spending in terms of grants that they've received over the last well, since the Conservatives frankly, were
empowered in 2010 and remained in government. Also issues including increased social care spending for adults, business rates have gone down,
the High Street has declined, inflation, wages are going up, you name it.
Essentially, less money coming in and too much going out, and for Birmingham, there's big legal issue as well.
QUEST: Right. So what happens? I mean, the commissioners will come in and they have certain statutory duties, and they'll get on with them. But at
some point, it will necessarily have to transfer back them.
Are we expecting more English cities to go this way?
STEWART: This isn't the first council that has gone bankrupt, it probably won't be the last. I think this will be the biggest concern for the UK.
This is not a small council. This is responsible for many, many people living in the city of Birmingham.
What's interesting is they're saying that commissioners will take charge of all functions relating to governance, strategic decision making and
finances. They don't put a timeline on for how long that will be for. Obviously, the council will still be responsible for the glamorous tasks of
taking out the bins and all the daily activities.
They could look, these commissioners, to cut jobs, to increase taxes also, perhaps to sell some of the assets that Birmingham City Council owns.
And I was quite interested, Richard to look at their portfolio. Take a look.
QUEST: Yes, forty percent -- apparently, Birmingham owns about 40 percent of the land.
STEWART: Yes, 26,000 acres, which you're right, it is about 40 percent of all the land within the city boundary. Also 2.4 billion pounds I think
that's three billion in property. It makes about 32 million pounds in revenue each year and it has libraries, it has museums, it has galleries.
It has a stake in Birmingham City Airport.
So you could, of course also see a sale of assets to try and at least, catch up on its repayments, owing to this massive equal pay claim.
QUEST: But according to the leadership of the council, don't sell the Town Hall or the art gallery.
STEWART: I think from here, can we have some more money from the government and listen, Richard, this story landed two weeks ago. There has been a lot
of finger pointing. It's a Labour-led council in Birmingham. It's a conservative central government that has cut spending and grants, local
government.
You can see where this goes.
QUEST: Badly. Thank you.
Anna, good to see you.
[15:15:09]
Coming up, the head of Wagner, of course is dead, but his influence is living on in Central African Republics. CNN's Clarissa Ward has been to the
heart of the operation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Almost a month since Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner chief died in that still unexplained plane crash. Russia has been moving to consolidate
the Wagner's operations across France.
Our chief international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, has now been to the Central African Republic, which is one of the poorest nations and one of
Wagner's first operational sites on the continent.
Clarissa saw Wagner's work, Russia's influence, and the change since Prigozhin's death.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the Central African Republic, the message from Wagner is clear. It's business
as usual.
Less than one month after their boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash, mass mercenaries still guard the president and cut an
intimidating figure on the streets of the capital.
Faces covered, as Wagner protocol dictates, they are unapproachable and untouchable. These are the first images of Wagner fighters in the country
since Prigozhin's death.
WARD (on camera): It's clear they still are very much a presence here in Bangui.
WARD (voice over): That presence runs deep. The markets are full of cheap sachets of vodka and beer made by a Wagner-owned company. The locals seem
to like it.
WARD (on camera): (Speaking foreign language).
They say they don't drink French beer, only Russian beer.
WARD (voice over): We've come back to the center of Prigozhin's empire in Africa right as his death raises questions for the regimes he protected and
the mercenaries whose loyalty he inspired.
Our last visit was in Wagner's early days here -- run like the mafia, providing guns and fighters, and propaganda in return for gold, diamonds,
and timber, using intimidation and brutality along the way.
[15:20:06]
WARD (on camera): That car full of Russians has been following us for quite some time. We don't know why. We don't know what they want.
WARD (voice-over): But in this lawless war-scarred country, one of the poorest in the world, that ruthlessness and the security it brought is
celebrated by many.
FIDELE GOUANDJIKA, SENIOR PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: Welcome to Gouandjika's Palace.
WARD (on camera): Wow. That is quite the t-shirt.
GOUANDJIKA: Yes, a beautiful t-shirt.
WARD (voice over): Presidential adviser Fidele Gouandjika says the nation is in mourning for Wagner's dead leader.
GOUADNJIKA: He was my friend. He was my friend. Best friend. A friend of all Central African people.
WARD (on camera): Why exactly was Mr. Prigozhin so popular here, in your mind?
GOUADNJIKA: Because our country was in war, so Mr. Prigozhin -- Mr. Putin give us soldier, Mr. Prigozhin.
WARD (on camera): So aren't you nervous now that he is dead that things might change?
GOUADNJIKA: Mr. Putin call our president. He told him that everything will be like yesterday. Nothing will be changed -- nothing.
WARD (voice over): But according to a diplomatic source here, hundreds of Wagner fighters left the Central African Republic in July after Prigozhin's
failed mutiny. Those who remain, including his top lieutenants, have agreed to work for the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Fighters have already been pulled back from frontline outposts to population centers in an effort to cut costs, the source says.
What's less clear is what becomes of Wagner's civilian presence here. This is one of the last places that Prigozhin was seen alive during his final
tour across Africa.
`It's called the Russian Cultural Center, only it has no connection to Russia's official cultural agency and was run until recently by Prigozhin's
closest associate here. Photographs taken on that visit show a new face -- a woman known as Anfisa Kiryanova.
After days of asking for permission to visit, we decide to film covertly.
WARD (on camera): So, but you were here then when Yevgeny Prigozhin -- when he was here -- in the photographs. There's the photographs of you with
Prigozhin together.
ANFISA KIRYANOVA, APPEARS IN PHOTOGRAPH WITH PRIGOZHIN: Oh my God. Can you show me that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
KIRYANOVA: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was just over in that corner.
KIRYANOVA: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you are.
KIRYANOVA: Hmm. Okay. Okay. That's good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this is Mr. Prigozhin, no?
KIRYANOVA: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How was he?
KIRYANOVA: Normal.
WARD (on camera): Do you think he knew they were going to kill him?
KIRYANOVA: My gosh. What is the question there? Who knows such things?
WARD (on camera): What does it mean for your work here? Does it change anything?
KIRYANOVA: Does it change anything if, I don't know, the president of your country dies? Does it mean that your country stops to exist?
WARD (voice over): She shows us one of their daily Russian classes. As we step back outside we see a Wagner fighter.
WARD (on camera): Hi. Who are you?
(Speaking foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's getting (INAUDIBLE).
WARD (voice over): You can just make him out retreating to the back of the center where, according to the investigative group The Sentry, Wagner sells
it gold and diamonds to VIPs and manages its timber and alcohol operations.
WARD (on camera): Who is that?
KIRYANOVA: A personnel.
WARD (on camera): A person? Can we see what's there? That's weird.
KIRYANOVA: Actually, we saw -- well, what are you going to see there?
WARD (voice over): Like most of Wagner's activities here, it is clear there is still so much that is hidden from view. We've pushed the visit far
enough. It's time to go.
No matter who takes over here, Western diplomats say they don't expect much to change. At the local Orthodox church, the Greek lettering has been
painted over. It's allegiance now is to the Russian patriarchy and even in the skies above the empire Prigozhin built, Russia's dominance lives on.
Clarissa Ward, CNN, Bangui.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Canada's Prime Minister wants answers. Justin Trudeau says his government is investigating credible allegations that links the Indian
government to the murder of a prominent Sikh leader.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down in his truck by two masked gunmen outside of Temple in British Columbia, back in Canada in June.
The accusation has prompted both Canada and India to expel senior deputy diplomats from the other country.
Paula Newton is in Ottawa with me now.
[15:25:13]
Canadians don't get hot under the collar over much, and the way in which they have drawn lines here suggest that they're really pissed off about it.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Richard, this was just astonishing. The fact that the Canadian government would go to this
lengths it really speaks to the -- one would think character of the evidence that they've had, but think about this, they sent their top
intelligence officials to India weeks ago to confront them with the intelligence and when India decided to do nothing about it, Canada claims
it had no choice left. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON (voice over): In a startling accusation, Canadian officials say the killing of a prominent Canadian Sikh leader in the province of British
Columbia in June may have been an assassination carried out on the orders of the Indian government.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between
agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
NEWTON (voice over): Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he confronted India's prime minister with the allegations in a face-to- face
meeting just last week as Narendra Modi hosted the G20 Summit.
TRUDEAU: Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our
sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open and democratic societies conduct themselves.
NEWTON (voice over): The killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar remains unsolved. Royal Canadian Mounted Police say Nijjar suffered multiple gunshot wounds
while sitting in a vehicle outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Colombia.
Homicide investigators say two masked suspects described as heavier set males, fled on foot and then possibly in this 2008 silver Toyota Camry.
In the earliest days after the homicide, protesters demanded justice, saying the killing was politically motivated and chilling retribution for
Nijjar's activism and support for Sikh independence in India.
At the time, RCMP would not comment on a possible motive for the killing, but now Canadian officials are taking swift action based on their
suspicions.
The head of India's spy agency in Canada, one of India's top diplomats there has been expelled. In a statement, the Indian government responded
saying the allegations are unsubstantiated and accused Canada of sheltering terrorists.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: So Paula, two democracies within the G20, very, very nasty spat. I mean, you know, I think back to the Huawei executive who ended up getting
locked up in extradition on the west of Canada, which enmeshed Canada in issues for months, if not years. How does this play out?
NEWTON: Well, in that case, Richard, basically it set back Chinese-Canada relations for years. That is also likely to happen here in Canada.
Think about it, Richard, Canada just put on hold what they wanted to be a very expansive trade deal with India. India is part and parcel of the Indo
Pacific Strategy that is not just a White House project right now, but also a Canadian one.
And Richard, there you have your answer, right? Trudeau was sure -- to make sure that he spoke with US President Biden about what he was about to
disclose, before he disclosed it. He knows the White House is looking to India to really try and be a counterbalance to China's weight militarily,
economically and this poses huge problems.
Basically, Trudeau is accusing Modi of being nothing more than a rogue actor, and by basically carrying out state terrorism on Canadian soil.
This also I should add, Richard, does bring in so contentious Indian politics on Canadian shores and that's something that no one wants.
QUEST: Can I just jump in? Can I just jump and ask, is he going as far as to suggest, the prime minister knew or authorized such a thing. I'm
thinking of course of Turkey and Khashoggi and MBS.
NEWTON: He has not gone that far yet. But to actually name the Canadian and pardon me, the Indian government, you know, Richard, it's quite a serious
accusation. The thing though, during the G-20, which Canadian officials say a really made them wonder if Narendra Modi was committed to trying to solve
this crime was the fact that they were given absolutely no agency whatsoever, not in pull asides, behind-the-scenes, not in public, nowhere
know how.
Modi pushed back hard saying that it was Canada that was harboring terrorists, that were intent on breaking up India and he did not want to
see any evidence and would not give it any credence whatsoever. And that's why Canada decided to take this step.
You also wonder, Richard about the kind of intelligence that Canada has in its hands. We have seen intelligence at times be mistaken. So there are a
lot of pressure right now on the Trudeau government to disclose something that it likely cannot disclose. And that's going back to your original
point, who ordered this and how do you know who was involved in this?
QUEST: Paula, great, thank you. Come back when there's more to tell us.
And when we come back, Brunswick is showing off itself docking boat at New York's Chelsea Piers. I suppose if you've got the boat, and you need to
worry about how you're going to park it, well, the Brunswick chief exec will tell me in a moment.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
[15:34:13]
QUEST: Shares in Instacart are higher on the grocery delivery company's first day of trading. And, look at the numbers, that's where we are at the
moment, up 15 percent. I believe that's a nice pop. That means it was properly priced at the upper end.
And you still have a nice stag for those investors and apparently it's about 8 percent of the total float that's gone on to the market.
So Insta will be pleased to see that. However, they will have wondered what would have happened if they had gone to the floor sooner. In 2021, that's
been traditional, they have managed to get a good old-fashioned big box. The whole thing was worth $39 billion.
Now however --
[15:35:00]
QUEST: -- toot, toot, toot -- well, they've got to settle for a little less, a third of that even with today's gains. So let's not worry about
what might have been or could have been, focus on what is today and how the company's going to trade in the future. Clare's with me now. Clare, in New
York.
First of all, to Clare, conflict; do you use Instacart?
I don't but do you?
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: I have, Richard, a couple of times but I like to pick out my own produce. I don't know about having somebody going
to the grocery store and picking out my produce for me. That's my challenge with Instacart.
QUEST: I agree with you. You have got to feel a tomato yourself.
Next, what do you think of where they stand?
So the float's gone; it's gone well and now they have to continue to battle against Amazon and Whole Foods, Insta, all the other -- Walmart has it's
own stop-and-shop, all the others that are in the same market.
DUFFY: Yes, Richard, lots of other grocery companies are moving in this direction. And this is something that Instacart talked about in its
prospective. It said the grocery market is worth $1.1 trillion.
And only about 12 percent of sales are happening online so the company is saying there's a big runway for it going forward.
It is interesting, you know, the grocery delivery market has changed in the past two years since that big $39 billion valuation market. People during
the pandemic were ordering groceries online a whole lot more than they are now.
But one of the things that I think investors are probably picking up on in this IPO is the fact that the company is now profitable. Instacart reported
in the first half of this year net income of $242 million compared to a $74 million loss the same time last year.
And that's due in part to the company moving in other directions beyond just grocery delivery. One of those is advertising. The company is using
all the customer data that it has from those grocery orders to sell advertising to grocery stories, for example.
So, I think that's some of the things that investors are probably looking at, not just the grocery delivery market but where else the company might
go in the future.
QUEST: Clare, very grateful, thank you.
Brunswick is debuting a self-docking boat at New York City's Chelsea Piers. Called the Boston Whaler, now there are variety of sensors that allow it to
-- I don't know if you park it; if you dock yourself, (INAUDIBLE).
Now you can't buy this whaler yet. The autonomous boat is just being showcased for now. Innovation is what perhaps what needs. For the last
couple of years, higher interest rates have hurt the sector and Brunswick is not immune.
The company says new boat sales are down compared to 2022. Brunswick CEO Dave Foulkes is with me.
Dave, I often think, when we talk about boats, if you can afford a $100,000-$300,000 boat, are you that worried about a bit of interest rates
and a bit of hard times?
DAVE FOULKES, CEO, BRUNSWICK: Thank you for having me with you, Richard, very much. Of course, we have a whole range of boats from $100,000 to much
higher prices as you mentioned. So certainly higher interest rates are affecting a segment of the boats that we sell, more like the value boat
segment.
More impact there than in the premium boat segment but we certainly do have a lot of customers with interest rates being aloft (ph).
QUEST: This boat that docks itself -- now, I sort of think it must be quite difficult. But then I think, hang on; if a car can park itself on a busy
High Street, a boat should be able to work out how to dock itself.
FOULKES: Yes, and that's what we're demonstrating today. You know, the difficulties are higher for a boat because it has waves and wind and
current acting against it that don't really impact the road vehicle. So there are a lot more variables to play with.
And in a parking space, it's usually well-defined. There's a white line on either side of it or two cars on the side of it; whereas docking a boat,
the shape of docks are very different. It's a much less overall structured environment.
So we need more FAI (ph) to help the boat understand the environment, react to the currents and waves and winds to be sure it's successful in docking
every time.
QUEST: And I'm watching the video of it doing it.
Is it impressive when you see it happen?
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: And crucially, can it dock between two boats?
FOULKES: Yes, it can. It can dock in a whole range of scenarios. And docking can be one of the most stressful maneuvers on a boat.
[15:40:00]
FOULKES: It's one of the things that -- you don't really want to go out on a long trip and worry all the way back about the docking experience. So
it's one of the stressful things that we would like to take away, particularly for the less experienced boater.
It's not like a road vehicle, where autonomy is trying to detach the driver from the experience. We don't want to do that. We really just want to take
the stress out of a very specific situation.
QUEST: There's only one final thing you've got to promise me, because, I like boats but I'm not a boat lover. And I actually can't imagine anything
that I would rather own less than an expensive boat. So you and I need to go out on a boat and try --
FOULKES: We would love to have you, host you on one of our boats. You will love the experience, Richard, I can guarantee it.
QUEST: I shall take your word for it, sir. I shall take your word for it. Good to see you, beautiful day, I hope that your time on the boat side is
good and the boat show is good. And I'm very grateful for you. Thank you.
FOULKES: Thank you for having us, Richard, appreciate you very much.
QUEST: (INAUDIBLE) on a boat. I could get into that. Nice big boat. Staff.
Who am I kidding?
And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Top of the hour, I'll be back, I'll wrap up the day with a closing dash to the bell. Now "LIVING GOLF."
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[15:59:00]
QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. The dash to the closing bell is upon us and we're less than two minutes away.
U.S. markets are down and of tomorrow's Fed decision, the consensus is that the Fed will hold rates steady. But the warning is there. The Dow's session
is off the lows and the triple stack, well, they're all sort of in a range, looking and waiting and worrying.
Looking now at the Dow components, red is the predominant color, obviously. Intel is getting hammered after its latest chip designs. Disney is lower,
trying to double investments at its parks and cruises.
The banks and the credit card are lower as well. Tech is at the bottom. IBM and Apple both higher. You don't often see that sort of divergence in the
market but that's what we have for you today.
And that is our dash to the closing bell. In seconds, the bell will be ringing on Wall Street. Ahead of that, whatever you're up to in the hours
ahead, I hope it's profitable. The closing bell is now ringing.
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