S16 E01: Kristie D'Ambrosio-Correll, CEO and Founder of Dacora Motors

[Music] You're listening to the luxury item, the podcast on the business of luxury and the people and companies that are shaping the future of the luxury industry. Here's your host, Scott Kerr. Up until now, the only American automaker to have taken electric vehicles to the status of ultra-luxury is Cadillac, with the Celesteak. But there's another American automaker that's trying to challenge Cadillac's position in that space and its name is D'Cora. D'Cora Motors is a new startup hoping to break into the ultra-luxury market with an electric vehicle that's designed and engineered in the United States. In fact, D'Cora is America's first ultra-luxury vehicle in nearly a century. Handcrafted in New York's Hudson Valley and designed in partnership with a legendary Italian firm, Penin Farina, the new EV Channel's 1930 Streamliner Elegans, recalling the golden age of Coach Building. D'Cora blends classic design with cutting-edge performance and deep personalization. The vehicle will sell for somewhere between $500,650,000 with the delivery date of 2020-88. My guest on the luxury item is Christy D'Ambrocio-Corelle, CEO and co-founder of D'Cora Motors. Christy brings a 15-year track record of building and scaling innovative consumer products across hardware and software. She is the first woman to found and lead a car company, and aiming to make D'Cora one of the world's most iconic auto brands. Prior to founding D'Cora Motors, Christy was the chief technology officer at Mirror, where she helped lead the company from prototype to a $500 million acquisition by Lulu Lemon. She also held leadership roles at both high growth startups and Fortune 500 companies. Welcome to the luxury item, Christy. Thank you. Thanks for having me, Scott. Thank you so much for joining me. I've been really excited to speak with you. So before launching D'Cora earlier this year, you were the CTO of Mirror, the Add Home Fitness Tech Company acquired by Lulu Lemon for $500 million in 2020. And it mirror you led the company's technological vision, engineering and product development and help take it from prototype to successful scale and exit all informed by your MIT training and early experiences in consumer electronics and software. When did you first become interested in starting a luxury EV company? Actually, my love of cars came long before my formal engineering training. So it's actually what inspired me to become an engineer in the first place. So I grew up under the hood with my dad, wrenching on our old family forwards. And he was a strong lover of American cars. And we spent countless weekends in the garage together, fixing what needed to be fixed, listening to the car doctor on the radio. And I got to hear stories of his muscle car youth. And it was in that time that I fell in love not only with the act of engineering and building with your hands, but also with car culture and American car culture. So for me, those early memories I would sparked my love and my deep respect for the car industry. And I can remember specifically one day, I was about 12 or 13. And I asked him, if I ever become very successful and I can buy any car I want, what is the best American ultra luxury car? You know, I know with the British one, you know, I know what the Italians do, but what's ours? And you know, after some discussion, he basically said, you know, we don't have one. You don't have a global counterpart to those brands. And more banter back and forth, you know, eventually he looked at me and just said, well, I don't know, maybe one day you'll build it. So here we are to you, I'm sure he didn't expect me to do that, but it was, you know, kind of that that quiet permission that allowed me to think about what ultra luxury in the American market and, you know, for this country would mean. And I thought about it ever since. He didn't think like Cadillac or Lincoln were luxury automobiles. We certainly had a discussion around, you know, Cadillac and Lincoln and the reality is when you're talking about competitors like Rolls Royce Bentley Ferrari. You're talking a different global, a different global stage. Not only a different price point, but a global respect that those brands unfortunately don't have as much as I love forwards as much as we love Cadillac. And, you know, there's a lot of beautiful American car history there. They just don't compete at the same level. And, you know, we really haven't had a car company at that price point since Dusenberg. Dusenberg is obviously still very well respected in the collector space, but we needed a modern alternative. And it's interesting. Most startup founders are motivated by solving a problem in the market. When you were in mirror, it was created to solve the problem of making high quality, interactive fitness experiences accessible at home for busy people. So what was the problem? You were setting out to solve with Decora. Yeah, you know, obviously my love for, you know, building this brand started very early, but the decision to actually sit down and start this business came from a problem that my husband and I experienced ourselves, you know, shopping for a car. We were looking in this market segment and were shocked by how limited the choices were. And none of them offered the same kind of seamless, all-encompassing experience and technology that I would expect from quite honestly the most expensive piece of consumer technology I would ever purchase. You know, at that level, I wanted Apple like innovation paired with AirMez level craftsmanship and, you know, Ritz Carlton level hospitality and nothing on the market even came close to that. So, you know, we set out to really change that problem and, you know, there is, what we found when we started to have this conversation with more clients was that everyone is seeing the same problem. Clients are ending up down market because they're looking for something technologically different. They're ending up going to custom shops looking for customization and personalization they could get from a manufacturer. And ultimately they're purchasing, you know, secondary care and service from companies like AAA because they can't rely on their manufacturer. And so that was really the problem we set out to solve. Do you think when you were looking at the luxury on a motor market that do you think there was also a lack of emotional connection to some of these luxury brands as perhaps they were 20 years ago? Absolutely. I think they're, I think that's rooted in one of our big core beliefs, which is that this is a distribution problem. And so when you look at going to purchase a luxury car today, typically you'll walk into a showroom or a dealer that sells every brand. And that showroom and that dealership is not specific to one brand. And so they don't have a personal emotional connection to the brand that they're selling. They'll sell you the car what they think fits you and your family and your lifestyle. But it's the difference between walking into a best buy versus walking into an Apple store. You instantly know that you've stepped into an ecosystem that you stepped into an environment and a brand that cares deeply about what it's delivering to you. Best Buy is a very different experience. I'm in a different consumer. So we really did think about this product, brand and product hand in hand because they go together. And when you're purchasing a car, it's an extremely emotional experience. Not only are you buying something that's going to be part of your life, but you also rely on it for the safety of you and your loved ones. And so that emotional connection really requires you to trust the brand, the manufacturer and the people selling it to you. And so it's one of the things that we've been we've been integrating into the brand from day one. We started with brand first and really product emerged from it. And you obtained funding through several rounds primarily backed by venture capital with a significant focus on female investment firms and individual angel investors. Starting a car company is very different than most technology businesses or traditional venture back businesses because even the whole venture space is designed around the idea of being able to launch your minimum viable product. Was it hard to pitch with no capital, no product design, no technology or factory? It is always hard to be the first. I'm the first woman to found and lead an automotive company. We'd be the first American ultra luxury brand in nearly a century. And so being the first always comes as its challenges. And certainly in the beginning, as is true for most hardware businesses, if you don't have something to show, it is challenging. That said, we did find venture funds and angels and partners early that believed in the vision and saw the white space very clearly. So they knew the pain points and they recognized that there was a really strong opportunity here. Additionally, my background definitely helped. I obviously have a track record of bringing products to market quickly and the lean teams and on budget. it and I'm a technical founder. So that also definitely was in my favor. I'm able to draw on my engineering expertise to ensure we deliver what we promise. And our early investors did believe in that vision. Now we certainly have more tangible evidence, strong market demand. We do have our prototype completed that's a driving operating prototype much more than a concept car. So there's a lot more to pull from. But early on just like with most companies, it is always challenging. - And as the industry's first female founder of a luxury automotive brand, could you describe some of the challenges and barriers you faced with potential partners, investors, and industry insiders? - Raising capital as a woman in any industry is challenging. Women receive two percent of all the venture funding every year despite consistently outperforming and returns and founding significant share of all the new companies annually. So throughout my career, I certainly experienced systemic challenges with being a woman in a male dominated field. That said, within the automotive world itself, we've actually found that passion for this industry and for cars transcends gender. Car people recognize other car people and what matters most to them is authenticity and expertise. So they want to see a result and car people love car people. So for us, the biggest thing that we've struggled with is that the industry is a whole often overlooks women as drivers and decision makers in the car buying process. So even something as fundamental as crash testing still relies primarily on anatomically male crash test dummies, not female anatomically female crash test dummies. That is a clear example of how deeply designed by us the industry is. And we see that as a very, very important opportunity to do things differently. So to design and engineer vehicles that reflect the full range of human experience in anatomy, not just the most convenient version of it. You said in an interview that the first thing you took away is your experience from mirror was building immersive technology and really thinking human first. Immersive experiences was something mirror was known for. How to do that in a way that didn't feel like technology was breathing down your throat, but rather it was about human connection. How did you apply that idea around technology enhancing the human experience to your design philosophy? - That design philosophy while certainly developed during my time at mirror actually began back when I was in college and I was studying early artificial intelligence at MIT under a famed AI scientist known as Patrick Winston. And his view of AI wasn't truly about replacing human intelligence. He sought to understand it and work with it and augment it. And so I really took that philosophy a step further and beyond intelligence thinking about the human body, human anatomy and how to understand it and keep it comfortable in this space and to have technology work with it. So at Dacora, we apply that same principle. We ensure that our technology becomes nearly invisible. So a natural extension of your body in mind. So for example, the car doesn't have a touchscreen in it. It truly allows you to disconnect and focus on what matters most. So we know that screens take your eyes off the road. And that is probably the most important thing when you're driving. We also know that blue light from screens can disrupt sleep and cause fatigue. So not great as you're driving home after a long day at work. So instead we use natural materials like wood and tactile controls, analog style that feel more intuitive and grounding. And actually operate the, what we call our infotainment system. You can operate it by feel relying on muscle memory rather than additional mental effort. So we reduce your cognitive load. Focus comes back, calm comes back to the experience. And then we take that same thinking and we apply it to something traditional like an HVAC system. So traditional heating and cars was designed around waste heat from a combustion engine. Very clever. But not necessarily human centered. It was technology centered. So forced hot air convection heat is great, but it dries out the body. And actually radian or infrared heat is much more natural and comforting to the human body. It's the feeling we get from fire or from the sun. And so that is more biologically natural and comforting for us to experience and actually produces, I think it accounts for 60% of our total warmth. So we've gone and actually rethought our HVAC system to incorporate radiant heating only, to allow for this experience to be more natural to the human body because we're an electric vehicle. We don't have to abide by the same traditional rules that we used when HVAC systems were first developed. So when we talk about building around human experience, that's what we mean. We kind of started with anatomy, psychology, how people feel, and then design technology that would quietly serve it. This is not an obvious time to get into the luxury electric car industry. Despite the global surge in electric vehicle sales, the segment meant to redefine prestigious having its challenges. The old electric Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon arrived with a lot of fanfare, but the vehicle failed to resonate with consumers, legacy automakers like Ferrari, Porsche and Audi have all collectively stepped back from producing high-end electric vehicles. Where do you see the opportunity for decor to succeed in this market? - So we've actually found that, you know, over the last two years during this journey, we found that the ultra luxury market has actually become much more ready for the electric vehicle. And then, you know, we saw the Rolls-Royce Spectre debut last year. It actually became their best selling model in Europe and they're second best worldwide. So there are certainly bright spots, I think, for the ultra luxury electric market. I think Rolls-Royce alone represents a remarkable signal for how strong the appetite is for electric at the highest end of the market. But quite honestly for us, we set out to just produce the best luxury car. Silence, precision, those things come standard with an electric vehicle. We are offering hybrid power trains for those that are interested for extended range. But in all honesty, it's become much more conversation of when, not if, the market will shift there. And who is going to be in that seat? And who will be, you know, developing the best technology at the time in our opinion will be the winner. - So when you were building your company, how did you go about recruiting talents with a symbol, high performing team, who shared your same vision and values? - We knew from the start that we wanted a team capable of moving fast and executing it at an exceptionally high level. We know that this industry is littered with, you know, companies that were not able to succeed and come to market quickly burned capital. So we do have deep industry expertise on the team and all that's valuable. We also wanted to bring in creative thinkers from outside the automotive space. We've actually seen the most successful car companies succeed in early stages with industry outsiders. So those that would challenge convention and inject fresh ideas and think about how to develop a product quickly, efficiently, more like a consumer product than a traditional automotive brand. So our early hires came almost entirely through trusted personal recommendations. So ensuring alignment of values and work ethic, that was sort of table stakes. Today we definitely have a more rigorous screening process design, not just to identify top performers, but also to ensure that every new team member fits our culture. I am certainly a forceful but a transparent leader. So anyone who works for a knows that I'm clear about my expectations, despite them being extremely high. So if you're up for the challenge, we'd love to have you, but I don't mean swords. And I don't play games. We're here to do something no one's done before. And with that, we expect excellence. The decor of vehicle itself is a large sedan with retro styling developed with renowned Italian design house and coach builder, Peanine Farina, with a physique clearly inspired by pre-war sedans from the 1930s. When you sat down with the design and engineering team at Peanine Farina for an initial consultation, how do you describe your concept to help them fully understand your vision and expectations? I think Peanine Farina often gets approached to do a very futuristic concepts. And so when we sat down with them, I think they were a little taken aback at first. So what we asked them to do was actually look back, look back at early Peanine Farina masterpiece's, those that actually created the brand that we know today, and think how we would reinterpret that spirit for a modern era. So the goal wasn't to build a retro car. It was to have a balance between something that felt contemporary, yet had an nostalgia and an elegance that harkened back to a day long gone. So it is certainly its own distinct identity and point of view. And they embraced the challenge wholeheartedly. The team was fantastic. We certainly created this together as a collaboration, but they did a beautiful job bringing an art deco inspiration into a modern era. And I will just say that everyone who sees the car, no one mistakes it for a retro car. They all know that it's not a remake of something that has already happened. They know it is modern and I would say 90% actually guess that it's electric. So Pinn and Frina did a beautiful job bringing all of that through in their design. Personalization plays a big role in the brand, of course, as it wants owners to have a personal connection with both the car and the company. I will deliver a level of customization not even available in the early days of coach building. Could you talk about what clients are able to customize and some of the bespoke features offered to them? Yeah, so one of my biggest frustrations with today is luxury and ultra luxury brands. It's just how disconnected they become from the owner after purchase. So my husband and I have owned a Jeep for 15 years and the culture around the Jeep's and aftermarket world is massive and owners are well known for personalizing everything. Right. It was to fit their adventures and their identities and their families. But that effort having lived it takes so much real effort to research suppliers that their quality, install the upgrades yourselves, deal with the fact that none of that's going to be covered under warranty. And in many cases, your modifications will avoid your warranty altogether. So all of that really inspired our desire for a car that would that would evolve with you. So ownership at the core doesn't end at delivery. It actually just begins there. So we designed our vehicle to evolve with each client's life and lifestyle style over time. Our seating configurations are fully modular and reconfigurable. You can switch from an executive lounge layout in the rear, which is a single seat and two consoles, one on either side to a family, friendly, three seat bench in literal minutes. If you also have the opportunity to swap your poultry. So if you prefer leather in the winter, but really want a breathable linen in the summer, we can swap it. So our poultry is actually designed to be interchangeable and seasonally rotated. So we'll be releasing semi-annual interior collections, much like a luxury fashion house, will be allowing clients to refresh their consoles as well. So let's say you are taking a long road trip and you might need a refrigerator or a food and beverage station in your console or your front console. Great. Swap that in. If you're attending a wedding, you can replace it with a vanity that has temperature and humidity control makeup storage. If you have a family and you have a new child born, you don't have to sell your car. You can swap in a three seat instead of a two seat. This car is meant to be functional as a daily driver and evolve continuously. So again, it's about investment. And for us, that's a big part of luxury. Function is actually a big part of luxury. So basically you can't outgrow the vehicle based on life stage changes or things like that. It just, you can reimagine it and repersonalize it based on where you are and what you want to do. And our clients are so excited by that idea and in that it will be almost an heirloom and they'll be able to have it, have it be a treasured piece of their life. So you don't have to think about getting used to a new car every three to five years if you're lucky eight years. You can truly have this appreciate over time and become a treasured and appreciated part of your life. And for many wealthy individuals, personalization has emerged as a counterpoint to the prevailing culture of flamboyance and commodification. For others, it's the pleasure of putting their own personal stamp on an object that has great value or more to do with a private appreciation for qualities such as artistry, craftsmanship and attention to detail than it does with a desire for public display. You secure to think maybe 80 reservation agreements or pre-orders. Ultra wealthy buyers have placed a significant deposit for this bespoke commission-built car. What's the profile of these buyers and what's driving their desire for bespoke coach-built luxury vehicle? Yeah, we get asked a lot about who our client is and they span a wide range of ages, careers, geographies. But the common thread is that these are exceptionally savvy individuals. Many are self-made. They know the value of their time and they know the value of their money. They're not chasing flashy displays or status. They're seeking something very purposeful. They want performance, they want functionality, they want craftsmanship, all in equal measure. Most importantly, they want to be serviced and cared for. A car that fits seamlessly into their lives reflects those values. That is truly what is missing for them in the market. This isn't a collector's piece meant to sit in a garage. Our clients do intend to drive or be driven in these cars every day. They have definitely grown frustrated with the sameness of today's market. We definitely represent something quite different. A return to innovation, authenticity, a quiet confidence that comes from doing something very unique. That return and that feeling of authenticity, I think, is what they're looking for most for us. You've emphasized about building a lean motivated team with a client-first approach. When I think about client-first approach and luxury hospitality or luxury retail, it means prioritizing each guest or customer's unique needs, expectations and emotional experiences at every single touch point. Right now, the Cora's clients are just reservation holders, awaiting their first deliveries. What are some of your client-first strategies for earning and retaining trust with them while their vehicles are in production and even after their car is delivered? We're so excited to be on this journey with our clients ahead of our first production deliveries. As mentioned, I'm a transparent leader and we do keep our clients updated on our progress, inviting them to come along for the ride and take part in this experience with us. Not many folks have the opportunity to be a part of the emergence of a new brand. Additionally, Decora Garage, which will serve as our heritage home for the brand and our future manufacturing site, is set to break ground next year. Our heritage home will be the anchor where we will entertain and bring experiences to our owners. We'll be hosting curated community events, ultra-luxury road rallies, other things that simply can't be experienced outside of our community. We want, from our clients, us for them, to get a true sense of our hospitality commitment, an insider view of the product development process and ultimately gain a deep connection to our brand over the next few years. How many expecting Decora's first vehicles to reach these reservation holders? Reservation holders are being told that first deliveries will begin in 2028. We're tracking well to that. And while other circumstances may accelerate the timeline, we've set 2028 as our official delivery to year. Decora prize itself as 100% American made and we're seeing a desire for American made products not a passing trend, but a profound shift in consumer values fueled by a desire to support local jobs and industries. And by concerns about global supply chain and tariffs, we've seen video ads from Ford, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Stellantis, which produces Jeep and Ram, all released ads with increased patriotic themes, emphasizing American production facilities, etc. How important is the made in America messaging and positioning Decora to its customers? For us, made in America is not just a label. It's actually a way of life. So, you know, the shift we're seeing amongst consumers goes far beyond geography. It's about a renewed belief in local craftsmanship in creating high quality jobs and building stronger small communities. And when we invest in American manufacturing, that money doesn't just build product. It actually circulates through towns, families and future generations. So I come from a family of immigrants. My husband is actually a pot of water, a me native American. And we both believe very deeply in the promise of the American dream. So then the idea that through skill, hard work and integrity, we can create opportunity, not just for ourselves, but for others. So our goal for Decora is to really stand as a beacon of American luxury craftsmanship, representing the highest standards of quality while inspiring a new generation of makers and builders. I actually began my career at Northroprem in that 19 years old, working as a college intern on the island at the Beth Fage plant, which is the original Grumman headquarters. And it was there that I actually first witnessed a lot of what I've taken forward. And it was true patriotism in action and pride in American manufacturing and a company culture built around supporting families and the local community. Those lessons deeply shaped me, even as I transcended into the startup space, which has much less of that. So I deeply love this country and I believe profoundly in the opportunities it creates. My goal is to ensure that Decora not only embody is American excellence, but also actively contributes to it, creating meaningful jobs, celebrating are cross people truly setting a new standard for what American-made commune. - Many top luxury auto brands have their own owner and enthusiast communities. These communities play a central role in building customer loyalty, brand advocacy, and really create a sense of privileged access and shared ownership among their customers. How is Decora integrating community into the strategy? - Yeah, for Decora, community isn't just a marketing tactic. It's actually the foundation of our brand. So from the very beginning, our network has grown through trust, authenticity, and genuine connection. To date, there have been no mass marketing campaigns, no paid advertising. The community surrounding Decora has formed entirely through personal relationships, shared values, and word of mouth. So our Whisper campaign has been the engine and has been building strategic partnerships one at a time, connecting individuals from philanthropists, to collectors, to founders, creators, and families, all who deeply care about integrity and the legacy that we're building. So we don't actually stand above the community as curators. We actually live within it. So you'll find us at the same philanthropic gallows that our community members are attending 'cause we care about the causes that matter to them. And there will be at the same events and intimate gatherings because we care about the same people that they care about. And we participate in the same sporting events and social events. We show up and we're part of that community. So we're not just making marketing touch points. These are intimate, deep relationships. And they create a shared environment. We're belonging is the beginning of this community footprint. So what's forming is so much more than our own network. It's actually a community kind of anchored in shared experiences. And so when someone joins our wait list, they're not just waiting for delivery and then getting access to an app where they can talk to other owners. They're actually going to be connecting with other individuals in person often. And this may be a community where they meet their future spouse or they make business deals. And that's really what we're here to do. Create relationships, shared access, continuity across generations, we hope. And so at Decora, you're not just buying into ownership of a vehicle and access. You're actually choosing to be a part of a community that's getting shaped sort of organically from the inside out. - Well, Kristi, my final question is the luxury item question, which I ask all my guests. So if you were stranded on a deserted island and you could only have one single luxury item with you, what would that luxury item be? It can't be any form of air or water transportation. So you can't have an amphibious decor of taking you off that island. Maybe that'll be in the plans in 20 to 30 years, who knows? Oh, you can't have anything that requires mobile service so you can call somebody to get you off that island. It's just you on this lonely island. What would that single luxury item you would like to have with you? - Yeah, so I've had the same pair of Tiffany sunglasses since I got engaged nearly 15 years ago. And I cannot go outside without them. And so if I wanted a deserted island, it is sunny. I absolutely would not be able to function without my Tiffany sunglasses. So that's an easy one for me. - Wow, that's good. Usually it's very difficult. They said they always say that Scott this is the most difficult question of all the questions you're asking me. I love when it's easy for somebody. - I wouldn't be able to build my shelter and my getaway vehicle if I didn't have my sunglasses. - Kristi Dembrosio Carell, CEO and co-founder of Decora, thank you so much for joining me on the luxury item. - Thanks for having me. - That's it for this episode of the luxury item podcast. Thank you so much for listening. If you found this useful and entertaining, I would be really grateful if you can share it with a friend or colleague. I would love it if you subscribe so you never miss an episode. And while you're there, be sure to rate and review us on Apple Podcast. It really helps other listeners find us. The luxury item podcast is a production of silver tone consulting. I'm your host, Scott Kerr, until next time. (upbeat music)