The Ford Maverick is a small pickup truck that is easy to drive and good on gas. It's great for people who want a truck but don't need something really big or expensive.
The Ford F-150 is a popular large pickup truck that many people use for work and recreation. It's known for being tough and having a lot of space for carrying things.
The Rivian R1T is a new electric truck that can drive off-road and has some cool features. It's part of a new trend of electric vehicles made for tough use.
The Hyundai Santa Fe is a medium-sized SUV that has a lot of room inside for passengers and cargo. It's designed to be comfortable and practical for everyday use.
Mid-size pickups are trucks that are not too big or too small. They are a good choice for people who need a truck but want something easier to drive than a large one.
The Ford Escape is a small SUV that is good for families because it has a lot of space for people and their stuff. It's easy to drive and has a nice mix of comfort and utility.
The Ford Lobo is basically the same as the Ford F-150 truck, but it's sold in Mexico. It's a strong truck that can do a lot of work and is very popular there.
The Tesla Model S is an electric car that has been around for over a decade. It's known for being fast and having a long battery life, making it popular among electric vehicle enthusiasts.
Car
Rivian
Rivian is a new car company that makes electric trucks and SUVs. They are known for creating vehicles that are designed for outdoor adventures and have some unique technology.
The Volkswagen ID. Buzz is a new electric van that looks like the old VW buses from the past. It's special because it's good for the environment and has a fun, classic design.
The Ford Mustang is a famous sports car that many people love for its speed and style. It comes with different engine choices, including a turbo option.
The Mazda RX-7 is a fun sports car that uses a special type of engine called a rotary engine. This engine design makes it lightweight and gives it a unique driving feel.
A rotary engine is a different kind of engine that spins instead of using pistons like most cars. This makes it lighter and can give the car a unique performance.
An internal combustion engine is a type of engine that burns fuel to create power. Most cars on the road today use this kind of engine, which runs on gasoline or diesel.
Synthetic fuels are man-made fuels that can help cars run cleaner. They are created using special processes and can be used in regular engines without needing to change them.
Porsche is a famous car company from Germany that makes fast and luxury sports cars. They are also working on new fuel technologies to help cars be more environmentally friendly.
Formula One is a type of car racing that takes place on tracks around the world. It's famous for fast cars and exciting races, and it's considered the top level of motorsport.
Extended range electric vehicles are cars that can run on electricity for a while but also have a gas engine to help them go further when needed. This makes them more versatile for drivers.
The Hudson Hornet is an old American car that was made a long time ago and is famous for being fast and stylish. People love it because it's a classic and has a cool history.
The Dodge Ram is a big truck that's great for carrying heavy loads and towing things. It's popular because it's tough and can be very comfortable inside.
The Ford Mustang GTD is a super-fast version of the regular Mustang that is built for racing. It has a lot of power and special features that make it really exciting to drive.
LIVE
He is Robin Leach. He is Jada Markin. This is Car Keys.
Good morning to our audience for Car Keys of this week and Jada Markin and Robin Leach and
We are going to talk about
The motor trends car truck of the year awarded. I am absolutely thrilled to pieces
That motor trend has finally come to its senses and not had to figure out what the biggest most powerful
Pickup truck which or with it had a lot of other things that other these that the this year's pick
Has but it isn't a great huge
Expense item for the American public to consider. I think the Ford Maverick, which is what it picked as the truck of the year
Is a fabulous pickup truck and I've been reading about it for a long time and
Reading the motor trends reasons for it all make more sense than
Many truck vehicle year of the year choices. It's made in many years before this one
The for our listeners who are truck people. They will all know what the more Ford Maverick is about probably
Many of them have the great big Ford 150s Dodge
Rams
Chevrolet Silverado's and GMC's versions of that
All with big pickup beds
Luxury interiors and large price tags the Maverick goes completely
Against that with the price tag but not without some of the features of the big boys and
It is a truck that is gaining visual recognition in our northwest
Corner as I drive around and see more and more Maverick showing up on the road
And I just love every one of them that I see Jay. You have any
Comments before I continue
Sure, I
Think the Maverick is a
Is a is a good product? I think it's a cool truck
It we have to say it came out four years ago. This is a midlife
Psycho refresh and yes, they came up with with a bunch of things that that make it better
Than it was originally but it was already very good when it came out the year it came out
I guess it lost to the Rivian
R1t that was then well that was a truck. Yes
Totally different but they would you know as we know these truck of the year or truck of the or car of the year just compare
vehicles within
the the same category and also the requirement is I believe that the truck has the vehicle has to be if
Not completely new a pretty
revamped version of an existing
Vehicle, okay, and I guess let me go I guess for this Ford has done quite a bit of
Revamping for Ford has done a great job of that, but for our listeners
I want to say that it is a hybrid power crane
Which means it's got both battery and electric and that is I believe the standard way it comes
It also has not grown. I believe in length which is another plus for Ford and this truck
The maverick is small. It's more like those
The height the Hyundai Santa Fe pickup size and maybe to a certain degree the Honda pickup size
But the Toyota
Mid-size pickups and the Ford mid-size and the GM as well as the big ones are considerably larger in
Both weight and price
Again cost
But this is really keeping to its original four-year-old design as far as size goes and I hope it
Sticks to that
A for a the hybrid private
I have recently run into a new a brand-new owner of a Ford maverick and I ran into this woman
In a gas station in our listing area and I asked her
It looked brand-new to me
So I asked her how she liked it and she is absolutely thrilled with it and I said what did you drive before and
She said I traded in a Jeep Wrangler and
Well, you know, she loves the mileage
She's getting between 30 and 40 miles a gallon in the limited time. She's owning it. She's learning about it
She says it's got a pickup bed. It's adequate for any needs that I need it for
It is certainly not probably good for the contractor sector of
Pickup truck owners that need more
Load carrying capacity and room for whatever they put in the back of those pickups
But the maverick does everything probably
95% as well as as it all that's larger brethren and it's a lot less expensive
I
Agree, I think it's a great. I mean, I read diagonally through that article of motor trend
It has a tow in all-wheel drive and I think it
Can be had in front wheel and all-wheel drive I believe but in all-wheel drive the tow package
allows for a
4,000 pound
Towing capacity which is which is good for a smaller vehicle. You have to remember that the maverick is built on the Ford escape
SUV, you know small SUV platform, so it technically is a front-drive
Originally and and front-drive all-wheel drive with like you said a four-cylinder
Hybrid powertrain
Interestingly, they compared the the various capacities to the Toyota Tacoma
Saying that there was more leg room or more head room basically that they did the yeah that that the
Cabin was as comfortable and as large as a Tacoma and so was the bed when in fact a Tacoma is more
Comparable in size to a Ford Ranger, which is a step up in size from that from the from the
Maverick
Yeah, I thought it was great article. It's a great validation of
Ford's
small pickup truck it also sells I think three or four times as well as
And they're Hyundai Santa Fe right which for some reason although it does look very good
You don't see many of oh, yeah, it's a cool spot. Yeah to our listeners
You mentioned something about front-wheel drive. I know didn't the article that the two-wheel drive
Version I believe or maybe it's only in the four-wheel because you say it's front wheel
But it says it lobo's ability to lock its twin clutch rear axle adds to its capability and
And low low ground height doesn't it limits its ground clearance capability
But otherwise it is just a remarkably well engineered vehicle that does yes, it shows me for
Our audience who like pickup trucks that did why get the big one when you can have such and
Are you apparently fun time owning this vehicle and Toyota's coming out with it
I'll have similar sized one because they realize that the Ford has really struck a a
A note with the people with its Maverick
Sales of I guess exceeded a half a million since it came out four years ago
I wasn't aware that the sales were that
Strong but that it that is a pretty good
Run for a limited. I think it's probably the
Manufacturing plan is limited in the capacity to put out more at the moment given what I think is happening to the success of this truck
So let's say if you don't need a gas guzzling
Large version of a pickup truck the Maverick will do an awful lot for
you with fun
economy power and
Basically all-around pickup truck type capabilities without but if you don't want to spend a lot of money on gas
You can also buy a verivian R1 T which is
top gears
Pick up for SUV of the year and and the argument behind
their pick for the
Rivian is that
The quality of the interior has been upped quite a bit apparently
And and Rivian is making
really
In rose
In rose and and in developing their their proprietary software
Which seems to be pretty sophisticated and is getting better by the day for and I know as you noted a AI
Inspired capability for maybe the right free driving and all that is that what that is that what that there's some of it
Is that I I'll be honest I I just glimpse at that article
I'm just happy to see that the Rivian is is you know, it looks the same a lot of these a few
You know these electric car manufacturers like Tesla like Rivian are
Maybe not going to have that same
Obsession but and you should be happy about that of changing the model every four years and making it look totally different
We know that Tesla's gone, you know, we're going on 12 13 years with the model s and I know I'm going on a tangent with this
but
Rivian
Seems to be improving their vehicles year after year
But in a way that's not necessarily visible to the eye
Again the power trains the electric motors have changed quite a bit. I know and
And again software is a big is a big thing for Rivian
Remember I had read elsewhere that
Rivian is going to be supplying their software to companies like Volkswagen. I mean, we're talking major
Manufacturing like yeah, so anyway, hey, I like and it doesn't take anything away from the from the Maverick
Now Maverick is a great little truck
It is and it will stay that way if Ford doesn't make it bigger and that's basically all they have to not do is not
Redesign it adding two inches to the wheel base or two inches to the pickup bed
Keep it as it is and just keep the technology up to date
Keep the power trains low one of the engineers
Cited oh, wouldn't it be nice to have the Ford mustangs turbo for as a power crane option for it
That's not what this truck needs
And you can use for Terminator or whatever they call their high performance. I don't know which engine it was
It's the one thing that the one engineer decided, you know, everybody wants more power in these small
Vehicles the Mazda MX-5 for example get a bigger engine get more
power performance
It's not necessary some of these smaller vehicles
Are more fun to drive as they originally came out
The Mazda RX-7 that I have an 84 had the bigger of two
Rotary engine options. I think for a while before it went extinct
But the Mazda
But
It's now it's an MX-5 it was what was it the original one
Came out with me out of four cylinder engine and it's more fun to drive
It's as fun to drive today as it was when it came out what 15 years ago
No, it's more like 30. You're aging yourself. Okay
Anyways, you have another thing on your list, which is interesting
For maybe those of us who follow the congestion pricing thing
It's it's actually preserving in New York City, which is the first city. I think in the country to
Institute and put congestion pricing
Tariffs I guess you could say into effect and it's as as the headline says in your list
It's increasing foot traffic and helping businesses as opposed to those who opposed it
Simply on the form of that it costs the user the driver more money if you enter the city
It's nine bucks. Yeah, when you go in
nine bucks
yeah
and and I guess so the the the
I read two articles about this one was about the one you did that
We're referring to here. There was also an article with a study
Made by corn done by Cornell about Cornell University about
The effect on the air quality and that air quality air pollution had gone down pretty significantly
Not only in the air in lower Manhattan where the
Pricing is in effect congestion pricing is in effect, which is I think below 60th Street
But throughout the five boroughs and beyond so and you know, I know we you know
The naysayers are going to say well, you know
Who who ordered these studies and you know the city's padding itself on the back?
I do think it is beneficial and and I do believe it is a smart thing and I personally have noticed
less traffic
In downtown Manhattan
And and congested cities around the world have done the same thing, you know
And and it's being it's also being looked at by American cities and people have been watching it
I think that there may be more of that
To try to stem the congestion traffic that exists in in major American cities on a daily basis
Even if it's a small amount
New York's experiment is showing the positivity the positive aspects of it
Despite the objections of people who complain it's costing them more money to come into town
So you're talking about it. You're talking about American cities
I happen to be in Europe right now and have driven in in in two major cities
in Brussels and last week I drove a
bit in in and around Paris and
France and
Just couple observations
even this what they call the periphery that the the the
Loop around the city of Paris
Where people used to drive like like like mad men and women
Is now limited to 50 k's an hour so 30 miles an hour
Radar and speed camera enforced and everybody is just driving at the speed limit
Which is like I said 50 k's 30 miles or 32 miles an hour, whatever that equates to 31 miles an hour
It is kind of relaxing it works you slow down traffic and the traffic flows
There seems to be less accordion effects
Well, you're saying the traffic flow steadier
It does
Flow more steadily and I have noticed that you know it has nothing to do
But I noticed that in and around New York City around Thanksgiving
I'd mentioned that a couple weeks ago or maybe last week that that you know
Because there were out of towners driving through and around the city
Traffic was driving at a slower pace and it it just seemed to be flowing better
So it's amazing how much how a little time you lose by only going
30 miles or 35 miles an hour where you've tried once before to go 50 or 60
In getting to your destination
Simply because as you're noting the traffic doesn't have the accordion effect of racing along at 50 or 60 or sometimes more
And then crumb into a crawl as
Somebody up in the front lines of all the vehicle lines in the in the road
Have brought it to a near halt where you may go along at five or ten miles an hour for
five minutes or so before you can speed back up and
If you did if you were really doing math about it, you'd find you probably didn't actually get to your
appointed destination a whole lot later by being in this new sort of
Speed managed
Alternative driving program that's being instituted around in the cities
One of the things that's interesting. We've been talking on this show for years now about the
Longevity or the survivability of the internal combustion engine ban in Europe was way ahead of the US and
Theoretically trying to eliminate it
Your headline in one of your list says
The Europe gives up on it
2035 internal combustion engine ban hallelujah to that I guess
It's just well I'm going to tell you the reality of the impossibility of their
Improbability of actually being able to succeed at that at that goal. I would say
Yeah, and we kind of knew that the day they they implemented that and and
Well, we had to find the thing of California or some of the other states trying to get rid of
Internal combustion engine sales in but in somewhere in the 2030 era, right?
Um, and yeah, I think they've got back off of that too because it's just not going to be a
Goal that can be reached anywhere any time in the near future as it
You can't be forced to get rid of your internal combustion engine vehicles certainly. Okay, so I I
I I agree and I think that it was an optimistic
Goal and like a lot of goals it was not going to be reached
But I think we have to not give up on the goal just like no I agree giving up on on the average
Gas mileage, you know the corporate gas mileage averages for manufacturers of cars sold here in the US
Which is being relaxed. I think is that it is they a
Is not a good idea relaxing him is one thing
Getting rid of them all together is just another thing relaxing him because those are difficult to meet and become very expensive for
Manufacturers is one thing you don't want those come art, you know
You don't want any legacy car manufacturers to go under they're already have a tough having a hard time fighting
The the the new power problems
So I think in Europe what happened is that you know amongst the 27 countries
part of the EU
Germany was you know
the first to to
Want to put a the kibosh on on on these
3035 deadlines and of course what Germany
Wants being the most powerful, you know economically most powerful country in the EU
You know things went their way
It's interesting to know that you know they also are
You know, I would say in Europe
Pretty much ahead of the game as far as the electric vehicles
But also in looking for alternative fuels, we're looking at synthetic fuels as a possible
Savior for the internal combustion engine and Porsche is very active in working on that and
Actually starting next year
Formula one
You know Grand Prix racing
World championship will be
Fueled by synthetic fuels. So I know the production of synthetic fuels is is is again is is it's very hard to
To scale
So it's just another it's just another avenue. I think also
companies like Volkswagen are looking at
What do they call them?
E-Rex
Extended range electric vehicles, which I guess the Chinese manufacturers are starting
So basically you're looking at adding an alt a generator
To your electric vehicles so that the engine is not necessarily
Part of the power unit. It's just a generator to to general electricity, right?
I think the doubt isn't the scout going to be
Depending out may have that power train
System is part of its optional situation. I I'm not sure but I think that might be the scout way of doing
It to adding a generator
booster for the electric battery
power train
Yeah, and I think it makes a lot of sense and you know, it was kind of you know
There were means a few years ago where you saw generators
Attached to the roof of the roof of Tesla's, you know, you could see pictures with a pretty
Simple generator sitting on the roof of a of a Tesla as a way of charging the vehicle. I mean it's
But the idea makes sense. I mean I I'm kind of
Kind of you've already you've always been advanced in your positivity aspect in this kind of thing
It's not happening that way as fast as you might like it to be it
But the idea of a generator on top of a non
commercialized vehicles
Doesn't do much for the visible design factor
Because you can't really put a generator
Substantially you got to produce substantial electricity and these sloping roofed
So Dan type vehicles for sure. I would I think nobody took that seriously
I think nobody took it seriously. I would agree
We could move on
We have you brought up something about
Stalantis because I didn't realize that they had 14 brands of this trying to survive economically with but
As the article you supplied says most of them are probably being considered for cutting in Europe
European area. I was looking at the list
Jay, you've always said fiat was a key fiat was going to die in our country and guess what?
The fiat what is the smallest fiat in Europe apparently is coming to the US
The I can't even remember the name of it for our listeners this week
But I couldn't believe it when the it's a micro mini and
Fiat apparently is adding it or Stalantis is trying to add it to the US bound
Hold on hold on hold on hold on. I think you know fiat is a
Mainstream manufacturer in Italy the mainstream brand
With in competing in size with I looked at the numbers with their with their
Siblings Pujo and Citroen but and and a head of opal Vauxhall which was surprising
But probably far behind Renault and certainly the Volkswagen group
And also what what happens with these
European what happened historically with these European car manufacturers that like like in in our country, you know
Everybody's strong in their own backyard fiat was number one in in Italy and and and
Renault were strong in in in in France
Opel Opel Vauxhall Vauxhall in in in the UK and Ford of Europe were very strong in in in the UK
But now that this is all one big market
Some brands are emerging and others are are fading very the the brands that
Stalantis is
Thinking or should think about axing are the ones that were actually models that became brands like
DS was a
Model of Citroen's then they turned it into a luxury brand. Well, guess what it's going nowhere
Same thing with a bar at Lancia. Well, that's dying already
So that's that's probably one that is going to go
So but in the states we have the same problems to land to have the same problem
It's killed a few brands and it has done nothing to
Consolidate their their sales. They've kept losing sales
You know, we don't have Chrysler anymore. Do we have Chrysler? It's hard to tell well
We have the cry for Hornet, I believe
That was but it's no longer being imported into the US because of tariffs
It came out what two years ago. I panned it in in this house. I panned it in this show
It's built in Italy. I panned it more for its colors than anything else that I first saw
I have seen a couple of Hornets running around our listed corner and I actually like what it is
It was a fully loaded
version of one of the Jeep
Brands now no longer
Imported and it looked more like a sedan, but it had all the capability off-road and all that
Four-wheel drive all-wheel drive it that kind of thing as the smallest Jeep that is no longer around and I can't so it's so long
So long gone that I can't remember its actual
I think I just think marketing geniuses are just not there all I don't think they're very genius
I gotta say I'm not impressed by the marketers of many of these manufacturers
understanding what exactly the
The future for some of these models that they bring out forth to us
Look at Dodge and Ram. I mean, you know, they are they spun off the the the Dodge trucks
rams and
Ram was a model of the Dodge truck and what what it did. Yes, the Ram brand name is
Is is is alive and well, but the Dodge brand of cars is
it kind of
Gone well it's not gone, but it's it's it's certainly in survival mode as far as I'm concerned
Yeah, what do they have the charger?
and
But in both electric and fossil fuel be over yeah, so my my my point is that you know
Stellantis is looking mostly at European brands setting European brands
I think that they have some cleaning up to do over here, too
But that's just my opinion. I'm not a big fan of the company
I'm not a big fan of the company either
I should not have bought in the Chrysler Dodge Jeep and put their name on them on the dealership
signs
Taking away from the strength of the Jeep name and the Dodge name and the and for a while and a long time ago
The Chrysler name and when the 300s were around and they had and they were you know well thought of by owners
All right enough about bashing Stellantis because I'm not being objective anymore
This top gear came up with
A best
Manufacturer of the year and also a hypercar of the year so hypercars are the you know
The super fast super cars and they compared the 1,000 horsepower
Corvette ZR1 to the new Mustang GTD
Which is like a race car version of the Mustang and
Anyway, they're two extremely stupidly fast cars and they're
The Ford was aimed squarely at the Porsche GT3 RS and it kind of
Does about the same thing and the Corvette is even faster. So two great, you know
really fast super cars from Ford and GM and
And they have they named Cadillac the manufacturer of the year and
Cadillac has come out with some pretty interesting product
I mean, I'm not a huge fan and as a manufacturer. They're also going into Formula one, which is
brave
If anything else a money pick for sure and
We'll see what the outcome is when they start competing in 2026 with that till next week
This is car keys with Robin Leach and
J. DeMarkin car keys with Robin Leach and J. DeMarkin is produced at the facilities of
WHDD 91.9 FM Robin hood radio comm sharing Connecticut
About this episode
Robin Leach and Jay de Marcken dive into the recent MotorTrend Truck of the Year award, celebrating the Ford Maverick for its affordability and practicality compared to larger pickups. They discuss its hybrid powertrain, towing capacity, and how it competes with traditional trucks. The conversation also touches on the Rivian R1T, New York City's congestion pricing, and the future of internal combustion engines in Europe. The hosts reflect on automotive trends, including Stellantis' brand challenges and the emergence of electric vehicles, while highlighting Cadillac's recent accolades.
