Chinese Cars in Canada, RAV4 Review, Looking at Kia's Newest Rides
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Car
Chevrolet Trax
The Chevrolet Trax is a small SUV. “Active” is a specific version (trim) of that model, and it changes the features and price you’re looking at.
Company
Stellantis
Stellantis is a big car company that makes and sells lots of different brands. When Stellantis changes what it builds, it can impact jobs and production in factories in Canada and the U.S.
Car
Dodge Charger
The Dodge Charger is a long-running American nameplate that has been sold in multiple generations as a performance-focused sedan/fastback. In this segment, it’s used as an example of how sales volume can influence where production is allocated.
Company
Leap Motor
Leap Motor is a Chinese company that makes electric cars. In this episode, they’re talking about how Leap Motor’s cars are getting sold in places outside China.
Term
idle
Idling means leaving the engine running while you’re stopped. The point here is that if you idle a lot—especially to warm up—you may not actually save as much fuel as you think.
Concept
remote start
Remote start lets you start your car from a distance—usually with a key fob or an app. It’s handy for warming up or cooling down, but it depends on whether your car has the right connection.
Concept
take home pay
Take home pay is what you keep after taxes. Saying gas is a percent of take home pay shows how hard it hits your budget.
Concept
complete redesign next generation
When people say “next generation” or “complete redesign,” it usually means the car is basically a new version, not just a facelift. Sometimes it still looks similar from the outside, but the important stuff underneath can change a lot.
Car
Volkswagen Atlas
The Volkswagen Atlas is a family-sized SUV with three rows of seats. They’re talking about how it feels to drive and how the interior and design were updated.
Concept
on sale in other markets
That phrase means the car is already being sold somewhere else first. When that happens, it can take time before the same car shows up in your country.
Term
electric range
Electric range is how far an EV can go before it needs charging. “Up to” means the maximum estimate—your actual miles can be less depending on how you drive and the weather.
Concept
hybrid powertrain
A hybrid uses both a gas engine and an electric system. That usually helps with efficiency, especially in city driving.
Term
infotainment system
The infotainment system is the touchscreen and menus in the car—things like music, maps, and phone connections. If it gets a new operating system, the menus and features can feel smoother or work differently. It’s basically the car’s “computer” for entertainment and settings.
Term
powertrains
A powertrain is what makes the car move. It includes the engine or electric motors and the parts that send that power to the wheels. New powertrains usually mean the car’s “moving system” is updated or redesigned.
Term
back seat
The back seat is the rear passenger area. Comfort there depends on things like how firm the seats feel and whether there’s enough space for your legs.
Term
leg room
Leg room is how much space you have to stretch your legs in the car. If there’s more leg room in the back seat, it’s usually more comfortable on long drives.
Term
seats are a little firm
Seat firmness affects perceived comfort and fatigue over time. Firm seats can feel supportive for long drives, but if they’re too hard they may become uncomfortable before the trip ends; some people also expect the upholstery to soften slightly with use.
Term
fuel economy
Fuel economy is basically how many miles you can drive on one gallon of gas. Higher MPG means you spend less on fuel.
Term
miles per gallon
MPG tells you how far you can go on one gallon of gas. More MPG usually means you’re getting better fuel efficiency.
Term
electric only driving
Electric-only driving means the car can move using electricity alone for a while. It’s one reason hybrids can get better mileage in certain conditions.
Term
off-roading
Off-roading means driving on rough roads or trails. These cars are usually set up with tougher tires and more clearance so they can handle bumps and uneven ground.
Term
ground clearance
Ground clearance is how high the car sits off the ground. More clearance helps when you hit rocks or ruts, but it can make the car less efficient and cost more at the pump.
Concept
plug-in hybrid version
A plug-in hybrid is a hybrid car you can charge at home or at a charger. That can let you drive on electricity for part of your trip, which may improve mileage.
Concept
Perception often lags reality
It means people’s opinions about a brand can be slow to change. Even if the cars get better, some folks still think of the brand as it was before.
Brand
Hyundai
Hyundai is another big car brand in the U.S., and it’s closely related to Kia. They’re talking about Kia and Hyundai competing for the same kind of customers.
Concept
EVs
EVs are electric cars that run on electricity from a battery. The speaker is saying Kia’s EVs helped the company’s image and sales.
Concept
electrification
Electrification means cars are shifting toward electricity instead of only gasoline. It can include hybrids and fully electric cars.
Term
A pillar
The A-pillar is the vertical support at the front of the car, right by the windshield. It affects how the car’s front shape looks.
Concept
bumping up capacity
It means the company is trying to build more cars than before. The goal is to get enough vehicles to dealers so customers can actually buy them.
Concept
CGI
CGI (computer-generated imagery) is used in advertising to create scenes that are difficult or expensive to film in real life. The speaker emphasizes that the Telluride footage is real driving rather than CGI, to support the claim that the vehicle can perform as shown.
Concept
Muscle car engines
Muscle cars are famous for their powerful engines, usually big V8s. People associate them with strong acceleration and a loud, exciting driving feel.
Car
Hyundai Santa Cruz
The Hyundai Santa Cruz is a small “truck-ish” vehicle from Hyundai. It’s not a full-size pickup, but it has a bed like a truck while still feeling like an SUV.
Concept
body-on-frame
Body-on-frame is how many trucks are built: the “cab and bed” sit on a separate metal frame. It’s often chosen for pickups because it’s sturdy for work and towing.
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Join Jill and Tom as they break down everything that's going on in the auto world.
New car reviews, shopping tips, driving green, electric cars, classic cars, and plenty of
great guests.
This is the Consumer Guide Car Stuff podcast.
Alright, this is the Consumer Guide Car Stuff podcast.
I am Tom Appel.
Thank you for joining us today.
When you have a moment, check us out at ConsumerGuide.com.
All sorts of good stuff there, including our 2026 Best Buy Picks and my latest reviews.
I just reviewed the Chevrolet Trax Active, which is a hell of a lot of vehicle for 30
grand.
There's a lot there to like.
If you think that cars have gotten too expensive, there is stuff to look at and one of the things
you should be looking at, Chevy Trax.
Alright, on the phone, too lazy to drive in, Jill Siminello, she is contributing editor
here at Consumer Guide, North American Car of the Year juror, and a prolific freelancer.
How are you, Jill?
Good, good.
It would have been a little bit of a commute today since I'm currently in Indianapolis.
Yeah, you could have made it.
Yeah, three hours to then turn around and come right back to Indianapolis so that we
can go to the final game tonight for NCAA Men's Basketball.
I'm just boning it in today.
So I don't know how that works.
You went to the final four.
Did you go to both of the final four games?
Yes.
Okay.
So, yeah, we were there for the first game and then the abysmal loss of Arizona to Michigan,
and so tonight we'll see Michigan and UConn play.
Okay, so UConn beat the Illini.
They did, they did.
And we were literally sitting in a sea of orange.
There were so many Illini fans at the same.
The Illini, the Illini travel and they show up.
I've been to a lot of Northwestern games and when the two play each other, that stadium,
I forgot the name of the stadium at Northwestern, it's all Illini.
Despite the fact that students get free tickets, it's all Illini.
Yes, I mean, and it was, it was, it was a sea of orange, but it was, you know, I mean,
they were both interesting games to watch.
It's great to be there.
I love watching sports, you know, in the actual like venue that they're being played at.
So do my special Illini friends, Sarah, Susan, Ted, I'm sorry.
I stay local, like, like I just always want the most local team to win.
And I have nothing but respect for the Illini.
So, all right.
Anyway, so you're still down there.
You're going to one more game and then you'll be here next week.
I will.
I'm like, what's next week?
Yes, I will be there next week.
I will be in studio next week.
Sounds good.
I would like to talk a little bit about China and Stellantis.
Are you ready?
Sir, what do you got?
So we've got two factories that Stellantis runs up in Canada.
All right, there's Brampton and Windsor.
Windsor is humming.
They're going to still win the Windsor plant right by Detroit.
There is going to continue to produce minivans moving forward.
However, Brampton's future has been in doubt because of Stellantis Chrysler Dodge
not selling a lot of the new Dodge Charger.
And that was going to go there.
Additionally, the Jeep Cherokee was going to go up there.
And now that's going into Belvedere down here in Illinois.
So we have a factory up in Canada not doing anything.
Or maybe it is.
Are you ready?
OK, I'm ready.
Here's the deal.
Stellantis has a joint venture.
We don't hear about it a lot in the U.S.
with a Chinese company called Leap Motor.
LEAP Motor One Word.
Leap Motor builds only EVs.
And Stellantis is selling and distributing them in Western Europe.
So part of what we hear about Chinese EVs making their way into Europe
is actually being facilitated by Stellantis and this joint venture.
And Stellantis moved 67,000 Leap Motor cars in Western Europe last year.
So not a small amount, not a huge amount, but they're working together
and they're building this thing up.
But Leap Motor would like desperately to build vehicles outside of China.
Fill in the blank now.
OK.
So Brampton looks like it could be.
Maybe this is all just rumored at this point.
Nothing confirmed.
The future home of Leap Motor.
Stellantis will be building cars for Leap Motor there for distribution
in Canada and probably in Western Europe and thus avoiding
an awful lot of tariff action in either direction.
OK. Leap Motor currently sells three different vehicles,
a small city car, a compact crossover and a midsize crossover.
They seem to be well reviewed.
I couldn't get too much information about these vehicles
in terms of how much the public likes them.
But Stellantis did manage to move almost 70,000 of them.
So they must be, you know, viable.
So we'll see where this goes.
It's an interesting story.
And we will probably be talking about this more in the future.
Yeah, I mean, definitely.
I mean, I think we're going to be talking about a lot of Chinese cars
in the future. Yeah.
But Leap Motor, watch that name, because we haven't talked about them before.
Really interesting thing I heard on AutoLine and I forgot who the source was.
But Americans allow their vehicles to idle twice as long as do Europeans.
Just saying.
So if we're looking to save gas, we're not actually doing it.
Now, this isn't entirely fair comparison,
because it does get hotter and colder here and we do idle to warm things up.
Do you ever use the remote start on a vehicle when it has it?
Definitely on electric vehicles, because usually we have app access
and I will, you know, start things from the app.
OK, but we don't often have app access and my parking space is not within
like Bluetooth distance from my apartment.
Yeah. So if I don't have an app, I can't do remote start.
OK, my daughter has remote start on her gasoline powered Mazda CX-30.
She hasn't used it yet, and that's free for a year.
And then after that, they want to charge you every month for it.
So maybe it's best she not get used to it.
That is true. All right.
Real quick, I heard another number also on AutoLine
and I also forgot the source, but it's interesting.
Currently, Americans are paying about 3.2 percent of their take home pay
for gas at current gas prices, 3.2 percent.
The magic number apparently is about 5 percent.
That's the pain point at which point Americans start to make decisions
about doing other things, you know, riding an Uber,
riding their bike, buying a hybrid or even considering an electric vehicle.
So we'll watch gas prices from here.
They seem to be climbing still, but 5 percent is apparently the magic number.
Now, no American sits there with their calculator
trying to figure out when they hit 5 percent.
It's obviously something that they feel, but it's an interesting line in the sand.
And it seems crazy that five cents out of every dollar you earn would go to gasoline.
Yeah, yeah, it really does.
And, you know, I feel bad for people who make their living by driving.
I mean, including the Uber and the Lyft drivers,
because that really cuts into their income by having to pay for the gas.
It does, and they don't have a lot of power to do much about it, unfortunately.
So speaking of idle time, you've you've you've probably seen this
and people in Chicago know this, and I'm sure that this happens at airports
elsewhere, too, as you drive to the airport and you get into one of the access
roads that takes you into the airport, it's just lined with Uber drivers.
Right. And they're just sitting there and hopefully their engines aren't running,
but they probably are. And that's expensive.
Well, it's not only Uber drivers, but it's also people who are going to pick up
you know, people at the airport.
And I'm like, there's a cell phone lot and it's actually not awful.
Yeah, the cell phone lot at O'Hare Airport in Chicago is a bit of a pain
because you have to actually go back around.
It's not that bad.
No, no, I know what you're talking about.
It's not super convenient, but it's better than driving around.
I think you're thinking of the old cell phone lot.
But at any rate, I digress.
Maybe. But anyway, you were at the Detroit Auto Show.
New York Auto Show. New York Auto Show.
Thank you, which generated way more news than an auto show has in a while.
Yeah. Now, we're going to be talking to the good folks at Kia in a little bit.
But do you want to run through this real quick and just let us know what
showed up there and what you thought?
Yeah. So the night before the auto show media day,
Volkswagen actually did the reveal of its 2027 Atlas.
Oh, I have a question about Atlas. Go ahead.
I have a question, though.
I was going to say, we have a story and photos on ConsumerGuide.com
right now. And it's I want to say it's like just a little bit bigger.
But it is a complete redesign next generation.
But to me, it looks more like an evolution.
And you're going to see the biggest differences at the front
and the back of the vehicle in terms of design changes.
And the interior is completely reworked and totally upscale.
Well, that's cool.
I always thought of the Atlas as slightly upscale.
And I think I liked it more than other people.
They recently made that move to just four cylinder power.
It's terrible for and that four is a little bit high strung,
maybe not ideal for a heavy vehicle, because it always seems to be working hard.
But I like the feel. I like I like the zip.
I like I kind of like the sound, actually.
Yeah, you know, I mean, we're a Volkswagen owner, my family is.
And so, you know, we we definitely like how Volkswagen's drive.
And I would say if you're looking for something that is sportier and fun to drive,
but it's not going to cost, you know, have a BMW or Audi price tag,
you know, the Volkswagen Atlas is a nice option.
You know, I'd say Volkswagen or Mazda or my two, like if you're looking for
something sporty, those are the two SUVs I always recommend.
And Volkswagen makes good use of space.
Like when you when you get in there, you're like, oh, this is airier and roomier
than I expected.
Did they mention I forgot to ask this question and I edited the piece you posted
and it didn't even think of the question at the time.
What about the cross sport?
They did not mention the cross sport at all.
I am going to make an assumption that they will do a reveal of that at a later date.
Yeah, but I don't imagine that it will like, I mean, I don't like the exterior
in interior design. I don't imagine it'll be that different.
It's just going to have two rows.
I'm like 50 50 on predictions right now for the year, but I doubt they're dropping it.
And I think it does pretty well for them and it hits a different price point.
Yeah, so that's their fastback vehicle.
Yeah, I think that'll just come later.
So for now, you're buying either the new Atlas or the old Atlas cross sport.
Yeah, and they didn't.
I don't think the new Atlas is on sale until this fall.
That's why I think there's time for them to also reveal, you know, the cross sport.
You know, maybe maybe they drop it at the LA auto show and then it goes on sale
shortly after that. Good.
But I don't they haven't released any pricing information or anything on the
new Atlas. So I don't think this is an imminent, you know, for sale vehicle.
Gotcha. All right, Kia EV3. What's that?
Yeah, so new electric SUV from Kia.
I it was really funny because when I was last seeing the the Kia folks,
I asked them about the EV3 because this has been on sale in other markets for,
I want to say, about a year now. Yeah, this is their Europe. Yeah.
Yeah. Is it coming? Is it coming?
And they're like, and they wouldn't give me an answer.
But alas, here it is.
So it was kind of a surprise when they they dropped the EV3 because I wasn't
sure it was going to make it stateside.
But, you know, smaller version of the EV9, essentially, you know,
more upright stance to it.
So you're not like the EV6, which to me looks more like a wagon.
Yeah. So has more EV9 design cues.
And, you know, that is supposed to be on sale this fall as well.
And it has up to 320 miles of electric range.
So, I mean, there's some interesting and I want to say it also has a Naxport.
So there's some some good things coming from the EV3.
And it should hopefully be more affordable.
So I don't know.
I don't think it'll be like 30,000 affordable, but, you know,
I think it'll be maybe in the mid 30s.
So we'll see.
So the Naxport, for people who don't know, that's the Tesla setup.
Yes. All right. The Kia Seltos has been redesigned.
This is Kia's small crossover.
There's almost crossover in the U.S.
And it's closely related to the Hyundai Kona.
This is pretty much like a heavy refresh.
I think they're calling it a new generation.
OK. Because it is it is very, very different.
And it will also be getting a hybrid and that the current Seltos does not have a hybrid.
And, you know, again, the interior completely refreshed.
The exterior looks like I keep calling it a baby telluride.
It has the much more upright stance to it.
The new lighting signatures are taking a page from the telluride book.
It's very handsome.
You know, I liked the Seltos before, but I love how this new Seltos looks.
I think it's very handsome.
All right. We talked a little bit about this before.
We were more or less right than the Subaru getaway.
We're going to talk about the Hyundai Boulder, I think, after the quiz.
OK. I want to talk about that at length.
And I've got TBD.
I've got to stay tuned to the end.
I've got my doubts. I've got my doubts.
I want to address those doubts.
But the twenty twenty seven Subaru getaway.
What's that?
You know, as we've discussed, it's essentially the three row SUV EV
built on the same platform as the Toyota Highlander.
It will, at least in some trim, get more than 300 miles of range.
It also has the North American charging standards for the next port
with the Tesla charging and four hundred and twenty horsepower.
It as a Subaru, it's designed to be a little bit more off-roady
and it'll have eight point three inches of ground clearance.
But it has, like, if you look inside, eight point three inches.
OK, a little bit. Yeah.
But if you look inside, it looks incredibly similar to the Toyota
Highlander that they revealed.
So the big difference here is the Highlander that's becoming electric
is two row and this is three row.
No, I think the Highlander is still three row.
The Toyota Highlander EV. Yes.
Is three row? Yes. Oh, OK.
I'm sure I'll get a text message from Sam Fiorani soon,
who I did see at the New York Auto Show.
I have a photo to send you. Good. Of us.
But no, I'm like ninety nine point nine percent sure that it's also three row
because I remember thinking, oh, they only put two seats in the third row.
Right. OK.
All right, we're going to talk.
We're going to talk with the Hyundai Boulder after the break,
but that was introduced in New York as well.
But right now I want to talk about something you drove that I have not driven
and I'm dying to drive.
And that is the new all new redesigned RAV4, which is now hybrid only.
Yeah, so all new for this model year.
And it is hybrid and plug-in hybrid.
I have the hybrid version and exterior completely new,
interior completely new.
It has a new operating system for the infotainment system.
It has some some interesting features, clever features.
So it has like the armrest that you can flip over and it turns into like a tray,
but you're not supposed to eat on it,
which I would probably eat on it anyway if I were turning it into a tray.
But they have, again, completely new powertrains.
So I drove down to Indianapolis in it,
and it was me, my husband and one of my husband's fraternity brothers,
who was, I think, six four and we relegated this poor guy to the back seat.
Was he drunk?
He was certainly drunk after the Arizona game where Arizona lost
and we took him back to his hotel.
But on the way on the way here, he sat in the back seat
and he actually sat behind my husband and I was like,
you may want to sit behind me.
You're going to have more leg room.
And he got in and he was like, no, he's like, I'm perfectly comfortable.
I have a lot of room back here.
I'm asking about a sobriety just because anyone who's referred to as a frat brother.
I just assume is not sober.
Well, no, he was sober, at least for part of the way.
We've got the good leg room. Go ahead.
Yeah, so good leg room.
And he said he was really comfortable.
The seats are a little firm, but, you know, I think that would probably loosen up over time.
They weren't uncomfortably firm, so I didn't get out and feel stiff.
But, you know, so comfortable for the long haul.
You know, it was quiet.
It was good on the highway.
I will say the vehicle that I am driving right now only has like 400 miles on it.
And I feel like I put like 250 of those miles on it.
So, you know, I can't.
I don't think I can give an accurate representation of what the fuel economy is,
because it hasn't really been broken in yet, because I'm only getting like 32, 33 miles per gallon.
And you should be getting 43 in the city and 37 on the highway.
And, you know, we did pretty much all highway driving.
But I think I, you know, I'll zero it out on my way back to Chicago
and we'll see if I if I do any better now that I it's got some more miles on it.
But, you know, it just it's comfortable, quiet.
I love the Toyota powertrain, which is very seamless
when it goes from gasoline engine to, you know, electric only driving.
And the power boost is nice.
You can hear the engine a little bit under hard acceleration.
But overall, like I I've thoroughly enjoyed it.
And, you know, for road trip purposes, we fit like three carry on suitcases,
three backpacks and, you know, a couple of other little catch all things in the back.
No problem. Could have fit more.
Yeah. Now the Toyota is forcing you into the hybrid.
Just sit back and take it. It's yeah, it's a perfect.
Every hybrid I've driven from Toyota in the last couple of years has been fantastic.
Yeah. And they get they get the mileage.
Now, you're not seeing the great mileage, but you drive fast on the highway, too,
which can cut into a hybrid fuel economy.
But I've got hybrid fuel economy range here as a combined from 38 to 43.
The low end is the woodland, which which has a woodsy thing going on,
the off-roading thing and different wheels and tires and little bit more ground clearance
and ground clearance will hurt your fuel economy.
Yeah. What trim level are you driving?
I'm in the limited. I'm in the limited trim.
Top trim level. OK. That gets pricey.
Yeah. Yeah, it does.
This is like forty seven thousand dollars.
It's forty six thousand eight hundred and eighty three dollars.
Yeah. A bunch of money.
Here's the bad news for people who are thinking about a RAV four right now.
They have a supply issue and they're having a hard time
turning over from the old version to the new version.
And there's about half as many available as they need.
So sales are way down in the first quarter, not because people don't want them,
but because they can't build them.
They can't build them fast enough.
No, no.
And again, this was the best selling non pickup truck in the US last year.
It won't be just because of these early sales issues or production issues.
I'm sorry. Yeah.
But but yeah, good stuff.
So just overall as good as the old one, better than the old one.
You know, so far I'm going to say it's better than the old one,
but there's one glitchy thing that is driving me nuts on the vehicle.
The driver distraction monitor.
So there's a camera on the steering wheel that monitors driver distraction.
Every time I like look into my rear view mirror to see like where traffic is behind me
or if I'm like checking the infotainment screen to look at the navigation system,
like it's like squawking at me, telling me that, like, you know,
you need to look forward, you need to look forward.
So I ended up turning off the driver distraction detection
because it was literally squawking at me every two seconds.
And if you turn off that monitor,
you cannot use traffic jam assist, which is an available feature on this vehicle,
which allows you to drive hands free in stop and go traffic.
So it's like if you're going to be in stop and go traffic,
you maybe want to turn that monitor on so you can drive hands free.
But if you're driving around and long distance and you're not going to be using it,
you're probably going to want to turn that off because it is very sensitive.
It's funny. In most cars I drive, I have trouble with the drowsy driver function.
Yeah.
Part of the issue is that I spent a lot of time in Northwest Highway.
And if you take Northwest Highway, it's just a route from the city
to the Northwest suburbs of Chicago.
But if you take that route, you find out it's not very straight.
There's a lot of gentle curves and bends and I'm obliged to ignore them,
especially if the traffic isn't around me.
And also in the little coffee cup shows up suggesting that I either need a rest or to sober up.
Neither of which is technically accurate.
All right. So the new RAV4 is on sale now.
You're saying it's good, the hybrid fuel economy we don't know about yet.
What else you got?
Overall, I think it's a great vehicle. It's comfortable.
It's a good highway cruiser.
I think it will be a really good city cruiser.
Like as I've been driving around Indianapolis and, you know, Fishers, Indiana,
like my fuel economy is going up, but, you know, speed limit on Highway 65,
heading down is 70. So I'm not driving 55.
As you pointed out, I'm driving faster.
And, you know, but overall, I think this is I think it's a great vehicle.
And I just I can't wait to try the plug-in hybrid version.
Yeah, I'm dying to drive that thing, too.
All right, we're going to take a break.
When we come back, we talked to James Bell,
head of corporate communications and public relations at Kia Stick Around.
Questions or comments?
Drop us a line at carstuffatconsumerguide.com.
That's carstuffatconsumerguide.com.
Welcome back to the Car Stuff Podcast.
And we're back. This is the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast.
I'm Tom Appel. She is Jill. Jill, how's it going?
Um, it's still good. Still in Indianapolis.
Sometime in the 90s.
And I can't remember exactly when my sister-in-law moved out to LA.
And she she called me once from LA to ask me what a Kia was.
And at the time she was watching ads on TV for the Kia Sophia,
which was arguably one of the worst cars in the United States at the time.
Kia's coming off a long way, say it's that.
That they have to be cars that I absolutely want to buy and own.
On the phone with us is James Bell.
He's the head of corporate communications and public relations for Kia.
James, how are you, sir?
What an intro, right into Sophia.
You have three in your garage. You're restoring a fourth.
You know, we have been, if anybody has one,
we are sniffing around and kind of building up a bit of a
historical legacy collection. So so take that.
All right. James, Kia's had a spectacular last year.
They've got a lot of stuff going on this year.
Talk a little bit about the brand itself and how it's doing in the US.
There's a lot of momentum here, and it's kind of exciting.
And people now talk about Kia like, you know,
that's that's front and forward on the list of things they want to buy.
Perception often lags reality.
Yeah. We are the kind of an neck and neck race
of which we've been beating as of late Hyundai for the top five or top six.
Yeah. Or in the top five or top six car companies in the US,
which is pretty incredible. When I joined Kia little, almost 10 years ago,
we were kind of scraping around eight or nine.
And so that's that's real change.
That's that's taking share from other manufacturers whose names will go unspoken.
But I'm sure Jill will tell us who they are.
Well, right now my lips are sealed to a 20, 25 or 20, 25.
Kia moved 850,000 units and Hyundai just 900,000.
So that gap is very small now, 25,000 units.
You guys can make that up this year.
Oh, we will, especially if you look at retail.
Wink, wink, if you know what I mean.
I think we're we're in a much better situation in retail.
But yeah, I think, you know, your little intro story about Sophia makes sense.
Kia was a brand that for the first 20 years of its existence in the US
was very happy to be a use car alternative.
Can't afford the new car I want. Don't want to use car.
I'll get a Kia and going back, you know, 10, 12 years ago,
the company said no more of that. We want to be aspirational.
We want to bring we want to make value valuable again.
We want to make just redo this brand and especially
it seems to me like it was this really nice kismet between
the move towards electrification and Kia coming with some award winning EVs.
And then the rebranding and the new logo at the same time
that other brands were a little stagnant, maybe a little complacent.
So it's just been a wonderful combination of factors.
And I don't know.
I couldn't be happier than being at this car company right now.
I can assure you of that.
I completely forgot about the new logo.
I've gotten to completely accept it. So that worked.
Well, Tom, you know, I can tell you, we were very worried about you.
So I'm glad you found acceptance.
Well, I do have to say my husband is always like, oh, the KN brand.
And I was like, yeah, come on, let's let's get over it.
It's Kia. Well, we get either KN, which is fine,
because the people Google search KN car. Well, guess what?
It goes to Kia. So we're pleased with that.
Or the nine inch nails brand, which I don't mind that at all.
OK. I mean, I only reported as I hear it, Jill.
Trust me, I can't make up all this stuff.
There is a this is an absolutely fact, too.
If you live in the Chicagoland area and you somehow score a car from your parents,
the first thing you do is slap an NIN sticker on it.
It's like a rule.
It's I don't think we're just trying to help people in advance.
How about that?
I don't think the kids listen to nine inch nails.
They just slap the stickers on the car.
Also, it's cool.
So James, you guys made some noise.
We were going to talk about the telluride, but you guys made some noise in New York.
You want to walk us through that?
Yeah, I mean, I think that's a great segue into what we're able to do now,
especially in the electrification space.
We introduced we had already shown the EV three.
It's already on sale in other markets around the world.
In fact, I was speaking to my associate at Kia UK last week and he said,
since introduction, it's been the top selling affordable EV in the UK market
and doing equally well across Europe.
So we knew we had a kind of a winning combination there.
But as we all know, quite well, we're living in interesting times.
And it seems as if the US market is kind of standing back from the future a little bit.
And not incentivizing electric vehicles
and, you know, kind of putting a focus back on gasoline power,
which is unfortunate because the world is going electric.
So it was fun to be in New York and roll out a nice shiny new EV three
and have media come up and scratch their head and say, well, wait a minute,
we thought EVs were dead.
And my response was you're not paying attention.
No.
And so that's what I love about this company.
If in the US market, as we have a new kind of interest,
let's put it that way, in gasoline powered cars, we have a collection
of very efficient fuel, you know, four cylinder turbocharged four cylinder
engines ready to go.
So we can stay in the gasoline space.
No trouble.
Meantime, we can't not we cannot make enough hybrids,
especially with the impact of the current situation in Iran.
We're seeing some interest in better fuel efficiency.
Again, hybrids coming right into that space.
And then on top of it, unlike some of our competitors, we're still bullish
in the EV space, because inevitably what happens over these next couple of years
in America, eventually America is going to have to catch back up with the rest of
the world. Right. And he is ready to help that make that happen.
You know, the strange thing too, James, and then talking about electrification
was people probably don't remember.
And even I don't always remember that the public was super reluctant
to adopt hybrids, and they had all these fears about hybrids and now
can't build enough of them.
Now, you mentioned that you guys are selling a bunch of those right now.
Have you already seen measurable increase in a measurable increase
in hybrid interest since the beginning of the war?
Oh, well, hybrids were really it became a big focus for us.
And we cranked up production of all of them from the carnival hybrid
down to the sportage hybrid.
Like immediately after the current administration started making their moves,
we could see that that EVs for that for that customer who is ready to go
gasoline free, but maybe still a little skeptical.
A hybrid would have been a great choice before the incentives were taken away.
Maybe EV was that next step.
Now it slid back to hybrids.
Fine. We're ready.
We've got some award winning hybrids, so we were ready to go there.
Now that to your question about the war and the impact on fuel prices,
we're seeing a just skyrocketing interest, especially in the telluride hybrid.
It's only been on sale for what two or three weeks now.
Yeah.
In combination with EVs getting back on people's shopping lists,
we're seeing on our website a lot more interest in the EV6, the EV9
and now with the EV3 starting to make some noise, which which is interesting
because that kind of goes against what the administration is trying to accomplish.
But well, we can leave that for another conversation.
Yeah. I'm just going to toss this out there.
The EV9. So good. So good.
Yeah. If you need a big three row crossover, that's electric.
Man, that's the way to go.
Speaking of electrification, all the Celtos redesigned for 2027.
And you guys are adding a hybrid, but not right away.
Well, not far off.
OK. Yeah.
The gasoline powered version will be out first.
I think the hybrid follows, I'm going to think 60 to 90 days there.
Oh, OK. I thought it was like next year. OK.
Oh, no, no, nothing like that.
No, this is Kia, Tom. We go fast, man.
Hashtag Kia speed. We roll.
No, you know, I'm glad you brought up the Celtos because
the first generation Celtos was a fine little machine.
It was the definition of what we would call a launch and leave
where marketing didn't really put a lot of financial support or ad
campaign dollars towards it.
And the darn little thing did great.
I mean, 40 to 45,000 of them a year with really little push, I guess you could say.
So we knew we had a good combination
size there and value proposition that was just finding customers on its own.
So what if we made it look cool, gave it a hybrid powertrain,
loaded up with all the technology that you see in the EV9 and the Telluride
and then make it available in a, you know, an entry level, affordable crossover SUV
and look cool as the key part.
You know, the design is really draws in a lot of kind of a downsized DV9
with the A pillar kind of kind of front of vehicle work of the Telluride.
So it's it's very clear when you see it that it's a Kia,
but it's a Kia done in a completely different way and in a very different footprint.
And well, let me just say, I sent a photo to my 23 year old daughter
when we launched the car and she rode back immediately.
Dad, I'd like to have that.
So I guess it's good.
Yeah, it was on my daughter's shortlist, too.
And we test drove the previous generation.
But wow, that presents well.
Yeah. Launch and leave, by the way,
is going to be the name of my book about Saturn.
Thank you for that.
There's the Tom that we know and love, right, Jill?
Exactly. Launch and leave. Got it.
So let's talk. Let's talk some Telluride.
One of the things I didn't know about the Telluride,
and I thought it was just selling well and that's great because it's a great vehicle.
It was a great vehicle. It's been redesigned.
But one of the things I didn't realize is that it was capacity constrained.
You guys actually weren't building enough of these things for US dealers.
I should know stuff like that, but I miss things.
So for 2027 vehicles been redesigned
and you guys are bumping up capacity, too, right?
Yeah. When we first launched that car in 2020,
I think we were able to do forty six thousand,
forty seven thousand per year, quickly exceeded the market demand,
bumped it up, bumped it up, bumped it up to where now we're doing
about one hundred and I'm going to say one hundred and thirty thousand
out of our factory in West Point, Georgia.
The goals for the new Telluride, I'd get in trouble if I told you what they are,
but they're much more and it's off to a fantastic start.
The only thing that kind of bumped the launch a little bit
was not having the hybrid and the gasoline version available at the same time.
There was a short, I don't know, five, six week gap there.
And we had people come in and say, I really want the new Telluride.
When's the hybrid coming? Oh, it's coming on this day.
I'll be back on that day.
And that's now what we're seeing.
Either people were buying the gasoline powered because that's what they needed
for their life or they were holding for the hybrid.
But more importantly, they were buying a Telluride.
And so, yeah, we feel really good.
You know, our sister company at at Hyundai with the Palisade is off to a good start.
That only bodes well for what we're going to do
since we consistently beat them down into the dirt every year.
No, out of curiosity. You guys play rough.
I do. They don't.
Sorry, Joe. No, no, that's OK.
I was just wondering, like, what the thought process was to
skip the 2026 model year because you went from 2025 straight to 2027.
You know, this is a classic thing, Jill.
As you know, I was once on the media side of fence,
and I know how y'all like to pontificate and speculate on how certain things are done.
There's no master plan to that.
That was strictly an issue of looking at the phase out of the current 25 model,
how production and sales kind of were both dialed down.
Well, sales stayed up, but production dialed down at the same time
that the new 27 was coming on.
So it was just a it was just a clean break, really.
So there was yeah, there's no there's nothing devious there.
It was just looking at the calendar, looking at production scheduling and said,
let's just move right on.
So yes, a 2026 Kia Telluride will be forever unobtainium like a 1984 Corvette.
You beat me to it, Tom. Oh, no, that was 1983 Corvette 83. Oh, yes.
You're right. You're right.
Producer Randy's correct in me.
Yeah, I think there were two 1983 Corvettes
and one of them had the rare rare 15 inch wheels.
But we don't need to talk about that now. No, no, no.
James, there's a Telluride stop sale or there was one briefly.
Is that going to affect shoppers much?
No, so I think for bringing it up, actually, I'd like to make sure
everybody understands that as well as possible.
So there was a situation with our sister companies, Palisades.
The power operated third row
is an issue with a child that was trapped in that very, very, very bad.
We looked quickly immediately as this company does and said, well,
do we have anything that has a similar exposure that could hurt our customers?
We do not have the power operated third row.
So we knew we didn't have that issue, but we do have a similarly
on very high spec trim level, a power operated second row.
OK, so we issued a small, it's only on 568 vehicles.
It's a very small recall for the second row, which again, doesn't have
the real perilous nature that the third row could have.
But to use the word, which is actually absolutely true in this case,
out of abundance of caution, we decided to recall that 568.
But to answer your other question there, Tom, the vehicles that are on hold
from being sold is just the very top trim level of the hybrid version.
It's it's not the rest of the Tellurides are flying off the shelves
as quickly as we can make them.
And speaking of that real quick, because we're running out of time.
OK, if I am shopping for a Telluride hybrid right now,
I suspect that interest has increased because of gas prices.
What is your advice to customers looking for one?
Can they get one right away?
Should they try to get an order in?
How should they proceed?
If you don't mind the color, you could probably find a couple of them
at your dealer local dealership now.
If you want something specific, I would recommend getting in for
for an order. But no, there I mean, we just put out our sales release
for the month of February last week.
And they're already selling at a great clip.
So no, no worries.
If you're interested in it, head on down to your local Kia store.
And you're in really good shape.
If you want white, gray or silver.
Well, that always goes to stand a saddle in American market.
James, what else should we know about the Telluride?
I think probably there's an ad that was started running during the Olympics.
And now there's some new versions of it going on again,
with some of the basketball playoffs starting to kick off.
When you see the Telluride looking real tough and mean,
climbing over mountain ridges and around sand dunes and all that,
there's no CGI there.
That's that machine really doing the job.
In fact, we had to, but with partnership with our lawyers,
we wanted to add some of that really aggressive footage
into the final production.
They weren't so excited about it.
But that's the vehicle doing its job.
Now, I'm not saying the Telluride is ready to go conquer Moab
or King of the Hammers or something like that.
It's not, but that's also not how they're being used.
It is the perfect vehicle to be comfortable, smooth, efficient, luxurious.
You know, to go to the grocery store, load up on camping goods
and then take that stuff anywhere you want to go.
So I think we have a special little skunk works team here inside
Key America, who got their hands on the engineers for the new Telluride
very early and pushed forth some pretty aggressive suspension
and capability tuning.
So it's it's a real machine.
And so when you see that ad, it's that's that's that's our baby doing its job.
All right.
James, we run out of time, but the key at Telluride is on sale now.
And the EV3 and the Celtos go on sale.
When a little bit later this year, the Celtos by late summer
and the EV3 not long after.
James, thank you so much for your time today.
Always a pleasure. You too. Thank you.
All right. That was James Bell, head of corporate communications
and public relations at Kia.
We're going to take a break.
And when we come back this time,
questions or comments,
drop us a line at carstuffatconsumerguide.com.
That's carstuffatconsumerguide.com.
Welcome back to the carstuff podcast and we're back.
This is the consumer guide carstuff podcast.
I'm Tom. She is Jill.
Joe, are you ready for the quiz?
I am not, but I never am.
So here we go.
You're not going to be ready for today's.
OK.
You should just you should seriously lower your expectations on this one.
OK. All right.
OK. You want to talk social media first?
Sure. Yeah.
I would love to talk social media.
I know you would. Yes.
So you can find me on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube,
LinkedIn, threads, Blue Sky, all the things at Jill Siminello.
So J-I-L-L-C-I-M-I-N-I-L-L-O lots of eyes there.
Or more simply, you can just search for the hashtag card is your.
And on any social media, I typically tag my stuff with that.
And you should be able to find me there.
I load new videos to TikTok and YouTube every day.
Wow. I don't do anything every day.
Yep. Nope. I do that.
Except for, you know, yesterday was Easter.
I did shower. I shower every day.
Well, that that's good.
Your wife, I'm sure, thanks you for that.
All right. It is quiz time.
Oh, I'm Car Guy Tom on Twitter and X.
I don't think I mentioned that earlier.
You did not. I was just thinking you didn't mention your social media.
Yeah. Yeah. Lots of fun lately on on Blue Sky.
All right. Are you ready for today's topic?
We already established that I am not.
All right. Muscle car engines.
OK. I figure this is one you would love.
You may not know that I will not know any of. Yeah.
But muscle car engines also have colorful, colorful names.
They do. I'm going to give you an engine.
You just have to tell me if it's real or not.
This would be an engine with a colorful name.
The muscle car era, of course, from the 60s to 1971, really.
Seventy two being the beginning of the Mali's era,
where low lead fuel and a bunch of other things,
including the mission equipment, just kind of put the kibosh on the fun.
But for you're not going to count any current day muscle car names.
No. No. OK.
I don't, you know, almost nothing that was built
after the original muscle car era was really a muscle car.
I know we call things that, but whatever.
All right. OK.
So five questions plus the bonus question.
You need to get three total for a victory.
The bonus question, as always, related to the topic of the day.
All right. Are you ready?
Number one, is this a real muscle car engine?
The Mopar 426 Hemi.
Well, that's not a very fun name.
Mopar. Mopar. 426 Hemi.
Do you know what Mopar is?
In a vague sense, yes.
Mopar was basically the collection of Chrysler brands at the time.
So it was Chrysler, Plymouth and Dodge.
And they had a lot of Mopar.
Yeah, they shared drivetrain issues.
Chrysler not involved in the muscle car era,
but Dodge and Plymouth were big time involved.
So Mopar, 426 Hemi, you can drop the Mopar.
It was really the 426 Hemi. Was that a real engine?
I'm going to say yes.
The 426 Hemi, yes.
That was a real engine, and it was a bad boy, too.
Interestingly, at the time, Mopar buyers
had a choice between the 426 or the 440.
Sometimes the 440 was called the wedge.
The 440, the lower horsepower was the better streetcar.
It was a little bit more drivable around town.
The Mopar was very ready and hard to drive.
You have one point. Are you ready?
I'm ready.
The Mercury 401 Whomper, W-H-O-N-P-E-R.
Whomp Whomp Whomper.
Mercury 401 Whomper.
You're saying no? No.
No to the Whomper?
I'm saying no.
There was no Whomper.
You've got two points.
Oh, wow.
OK. All right.
The Ford Boss 429.
Oh, Boss 429.
Was that a real thing?
The Boss. I'm going to say yes.
It was. You've already won.
Oh, how did I?
How did I pull this out?
I don't know. OK.
We've got more to go, though.
I don't know either.
I must have heard it somewhere.
Must have.
All right. I read it somewhere.
The AMC, the American Motor's 399 Fire Dog.
Oh, I see.
And now I'm less familiar with AMC.
Everyone is.
Yeah. Except Joe Ligo.
Exactly who we've had on a couple of times.
I need to finish watching Joe Ligo's
the last independent automaker documentary,
because it's very good.
You guys are quite a filmmaker.
AMC 399 Fire Dog.
Fire Dog. I'm going to say no.
No. No. Fire Dog.
Wow. I can't believe this is the topic.
You might clear the board. Wow.
OK. Me neither, actually.
Finally, the old remembered more than I forgot, apparently.
Apparently.
The Oldsville 525 thruster.
Oh. Oldsville.
Yeah.
Their big car during that period was the 442.
The Cutlass 442.
I'm going to say yes.
To the 525 thruster.
Yeah.
No. No. No such thing.
Made it up.
OK. OK.
You got four. OK.
Nice job.
Bonus question.
You ready for the bonus question?
It's Easter related.
I'm more ready for the bonus question.
than I was for the quiz.
So here's to hoping I get this one.
Well, this is Easter related.
OK.
The United States Department of Agriculture was signed
into existence by Abraham Lincoln in 1862.
One of the things that they regulate is the sale of eggs.
Oh. OK.
You use eggs.
Happy Easter.
I do use eggs.
Happy Easter.
I need you to tell me which of the following is not
a USDA grade of egg for sale in America.
Are you ready?
Yes.
All right.
3d triple a double a a or b.
This is the least exciting bonus question ever.
A, A, A, A, A or B.
Oh god.
One of those...
Like I know grade A.
One of those is fake.
Was this grade B?
I'm going to...
He's also been flying flashlight batteries.
Yeah.
I'm going to say B.
No, B is real.
Huh.
Yeah, AAA is the fake.
Is it AAA then?
Yeah, that's the fake.
Okay.
So I've got this.
I think our listeners are going to want to know this.
Grade AA is a clean-
They definitely want to know this.
Clean, unbroken shell with thick, firm egg whites at round yolks.
Ideal for poaching and frying.
Grade A, similar to grade AA, but with reasonably firm whites.
The standard quality found in grocery stores.
And finally, grade B, thinner whites and whiter, flatter yolks.
Shells may be slightly stained.
These are often used for liquid, frozen or dried egg products.
Huh.
You know, I've never heard of B, but then I'd never heard of AA either because I knew
A was the thing.
I think this quiz, we lost like 5% of our listeners.
They're probably like, but no, I told them to stay tuned to the end for Boulder.
Yeah.
Worst quiz ever, but we are talking about the Boulder and I want to talk about that.
Tell us about what that is.
And then I will share with you my skepticism.
Okay.
Which I know you're looking forward to.
You are a skeptic and I always look forward to it.
Okay.
So the Boulder, going into the New York auto show, we knew Hyundai had a launch.
I knew it was a design concept, but we didn't know what that design concept was.
You know, Hyundai famously does a lot of design concepts at auto shows and you will see things
from the design concepts that filter into future products.
But going into the show, we, I would say we as a journalistic media, you know, organization
all were assuming that they would reveal the pickup truck body on frame that Hyundai has
said is coming to market by 2030.
So I feel like this was Hyundai's big April Fool's joke, because it was on April 1st
and it was a global launch.
And so there was no embargoed information.
Nobody knew what was coming out until they lifted, you know, the cone off of the car.
Even the folks at Automotive News had no idea.
No, no, no, no, no.
Or they said they had no idea.
No, they had no idea.
Because I like was, you know, doing the nod, nod, wink, wink at the Hyundai folks.
And they're like, no, we are telling nobody.
Does that ever work?
Because this is a global reveal.
The nod, nod, wink, wink.
Yeah.
Sometimes.
Yeah.
That's how you get out of tickets.
I won't say anything.
Yeah.
So tell us about what the border is.
Yeah.
So then it was really funny because they even as they were getting ready to reveal it,
they're like, you know, we're coming out with this new pickup truck in 2030, you know,
and since, you know, we've let go of the Hyundai Santa Cruz, you know, this,
this is what we are revealing.
And they pulled the cone up and it's an SUV.
And the design director gets up to talk about it.
He's like, surprise, surprise, surprise.
You all thought we were launching a pickup truck today.
And so what this is, it's a body on frame SUV, very upright stance, you know,
has a little bit of a Ford Bronco look to it.
I had some people in my feed say it looked like a Land Rover Defender.
I had some people in my feed say it looked like a Hummer.
And so, but, but very upright off-roading SUV.
It has very flared out, you know, fender flares.
It has 37 inch tires with, I think they were 18 inch wheels, but very big, beefy, like,
I think they're mud terrain tires.
You've got, you could not see the interior.
They did show pictures of, you know, an interior online, but we as the media could not see
on the inside.
So it was primarily an exterior design concept, but, you know, steeply raked approach
and departure angles, lots of skid plates everywhere.
So definitely intended to go off-road.
And the one thing that they did tell us is that this would have a body on frame architecture,
which is, you know, a typical architecture you would find like a pickup truck or off-road vehicle on.
So they did say this is a design concept.
They did not say that they're bringing out this SUV, but that this will set the stage
for the pickup truck that we will see in the next four years.
Yeah.
I mean, they're feeling, they're feeling around to see if there's some demand for this.
And I think maybe there isn't.
Part of what's going on here, as you noted, this is body on frame and body of frame architecture
is for serious trucks.
It helps you tow, it helps with payload, and it's good for off-roading as well.
The problem with body on frame architecture is that the vehicle ends up higher and you
end up with a more awkward set of design parameters.
So you can't make things as low or sleek as you might want to.
But should Hyundai or Kia want to get into the small pickup class with this, not a bad way to go.
As for the truck itself, this is direct competition word to launch with the Wrangler and the Bronco.
And right now, you've seen this happen.
When the Bronco first launched, it seemed like there was almost all this new interest in going off-road.
And the Wrangler thrived, and the Bronco thrived.
But since then, both of them are dying.
Sales are slipping.
They have to incentivize them.
Jeep is doing crazy things.
They're launching new trim levels every month for a year.
The 12 for 12?
12 for 12.
Yeah, trying to keep interest up in this vehicle.
And the Wrangler's as good as it ever was, and the Bronco is very good, and I fit better in the Bronco.
And they're both extremely capable off-roaders.
But the problem is they're fighting...
They're very expensive.
They're very expensive, and they're fighting for the same audience, and they divided that audience in half.
And dividing that audience again would be tough, and there wouldn't be enough sales, I think, for Hyundai
to really crack into that unless the vehicle was spectacularly good for some reason.
Well, so I don't see them launching the SUV.
I literally think this is just a design concept for the pickup truck that is coming out.
And if you follow global automotive stuff, Kia has the Tasman, which is a mid-sized pickup truck in other markets.
So, I mean, they already have the architecture out there.
Why have I forgotten this?
Where is that at?
South Africa and Australia, right?
I think so.
I just wrote about this, and I forgot.
Okay.
Yeah.
So, they already have the architecture out there.
So, I mean, what they would need to do in order to make this a viable product in the United States is they would have to build it here.
So, we're looking at them at a plant, and, you know, they would have to make it, you know, cool enough and competitive enough
to be able to beat, like, the Ford Ranger and the Toyota Tacoma.
So, here's the thing about this.
They need probably to build that vehicle here, as you noted.
Were they to build a body-on-frame factory or an assembly line at a factory that could build something like this or the pickup?
They would probably try and build both, I think, just to amortize volume, cost with volume.
So, we'll see where this goes.
It's interesting.
It's cool-looking.
And I'm going to get a picture of that.
You wrote me, for Consumer Guide, a very nice summary of all the vehicles that were launched at the Auto Show.
I'm going to get that put together probably tomorrow, which is Tuesday.
Okay.
Yeah.
But, you know, I just, I was really impressed with the quality of the launches and the things that they did at the show.
One thing that we, when we talked about the Subaru getaway, you know, they also launched the Subaru Forester Hybrid Wilderness,
or I guess I should say Subaru Forester Wilderness Hybrid.
And their presentation, their Auto Show reveal, was probably the coolest reveal I've ever seen.
They had, like, little drones with lights on them that mimic stars or fireflies kind of moving around in the air.
And, you know, it was a really cool presentation.
And I, like, that was probably one of the best, like, reveals I've seen at an Auto Show in a while.
All right.
Guess what we did?
We had another really great show.
We did.
Real quick, for people who get this in time, I joined John Records Landecker on WGN Radio tomorrow, Tuesday at 8.30, if people want to listen in.
Big thanks to James Bell, the head of corporate communications at Kia.
Thank you, Jill, for phoning in.
Thank you to Producer Randy and the good folks here at TalkZone.
Let's talk more about cars again.
Next week.
Next week.
If you liked the show, please take a moment to rate, review, and subscribe.
It really does help the show to grow.
Thank you for listening.
About this episode
The Car Stuff Podcast covers a wide auto-news sweep: Stellantis’ Canadian plants and a Leap Motor EV joint venture that could bring more Chinese EVs to Canada/Europe while dodging tariffs, plus practical talk on idling, remote start, and how gas prices push buyers toward hybrids and EVs. Jill reviews the redesigned, hybrid-only 2025 Toyota RAV4 (with a quirky driver-distraction system) and previews Kia’s EV3, redesigned Seltos, and Telluride hybrid momentum with guest James Bell. The quiz ends with muscle-car engine myths and a deep dive on Hyundai’s “Boulder” concept SUV.
Original notes
Tom opens the show with news regarding Stellantis' joint venture with China's Leapmotor. Stellantis currently distributes Chinese Leapmotor-built electric vehicles in Europe, and may be looking to build Leapmotor models in its idle Brampton, Ontario factory. Listen in for more details.
Jill gives a quick rundown of the new-product reveals seen at this week's New York Auto Show. A number of noteworthy introductions are covered, including models and concepts from Chrysler, Hyundai, Kia, and Subaru.
Still in the first segment Jill reviews the redesigned Toyota RAV4, which is now offered exclusively with a hybrid powertrain. With gas prices rising, will the RAV4 Hybrid be in especially high demand?
In the second segment, Jill and Tom welcome James Bell, Kia Head of Corporate Communications, to the show. James discusses the new Kia products seen at the New York Auto Show, as well as the redesigned Telluride midsize crossover. James also shares some insights regarding Kia's sales success in the U.S.
In the last segment Jill is subjected to Tom's "Muscle Car Engine" quiz. Jill also discusses in depth the Hyundai Boulder off-road concept vehicle seen at the New York Show. Tom has some doubts about the show car's viability as a production model.
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Car Stuff Podcast
Consumer Guide Automotive, Tom Appel, Jill Ciminillo
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