The 2024 Torquies. The best cars of 2023

This is professional radio. Has front wheel drive.

Have you got anyone you want to think?

Just myself. And now we'll do the after.

Hours. Gentlemen, what would you do for

us in there? OK.

And because there's not a supercar, there is.

It's not. Ordinary perfection comes in the

form of two letters. A&U Long live MY Ltd Well, I'm

going to Car Talk. It's a New Year 2024 here.

Merry Christmas. Happy New Year to you all,

gentlemen. I'm live online with the one and

only Rizzi Ross. Actor makes his triumphant

return. We're back.

We're global. Global we're the best as I said

says is back Rizzy Ross you know spitting bars which we're going to do a big catch up with you. It's been a while and in

currently a power outage, but committed to the show because he's he's a real one. Scotty Johnson.

Howdy, howdy, I'm doing alright. You gotta fade into the into the

background very soon, because there's gonna be no light there.

Yeah, I'm going to. I'll start to disappear.

I don't have any other light source.

You become a non playable character.

That's gotta be. Yeah, if you can still hear my

voice, then I'm still here. Well, lucky this is a podcast,

so that way we can just hear your voice.

Exactly. I do.

But look, good to see you both. Hope you guys had a lovely

rested break. Hopefully you guys ate lots of

food and had a had a nice, you know, kind of break until the new year. We took some time off from the

show. So it's good to good to be back,

good to see all your face, good to see Uriz Rizzio's actor, man.

Just just, I want to put this out there, guys.

This man is probably the hardest grinding guy I've ever seen.

Like, he's, he's on, he's, he's doing, you know, a million articles awake for the driven. He's flying.

He's international, he's global. He's, he's, he's, he's national.

Flying all over the country for different launches.

He is arguably the one and only, you know, the guy that can do this in the EV space. So Ritzy Ross, man, good to have

you back. You gotta fill us in, brother.

What's been happening? I'm glad to be back now.

It was nearly over 12 months ago when I think I I rocked up in a I think it was a was a Mercedes EQ, EQ a or something that Maddie got a chance to have a have a bit of a sit in.

And since then it's yeah been just lots happening of every pretty much every month, I mean one to two states just where this car launches or whatever else is going on.

But yeah lots happening in this space and you know as you guys are seeing there's just so many more EV's on the road and new brands, new models, things are just happening very, very quickly now. So it's interesting times to be

in this market and obviously at the same time seeing sort of the rise of you know the the I-20 ends, the I30 ends, there's a lot of them now. There's a bit of a community

going on. So even even in the sports, you

know, petrol car world, there's a lot happening.

So yeah, just just good to be part of it.

And, you know, apologies for not being able to make it on regularly. Usually there's something always

on on a Tuesday night, but you know, taking a couple of weeks off from riding, writing articles and doing some of the other YouTube stuff. So, you know, I thought it was a

good time to come in, check in, see what the, what the cruise up to and yeah, just happy to be here.

It's good. Good to have you here, man.

I just want to say dude, I'll be coming up with your articles and having a look and your your your writings.

Just it's actually really, really good.

And if anyone wants to check you check you out.

You know, like we always give you a plug on Carly but also on the Driven where you're writing is.

But I'm gonna ask your question is Rose, have you have you driven the Ionic 5 in yet? That's a car.

I'm actually really keen. On no Those long term listeners

of the show know that affinity or the arch rivalry that the end badge has with with Rosie Rose. And once again Hyundais left me

off the list, that crazy look. On a serious note, Hyundai has

been awesome. They've lent me the Ionic 5, the

Ionic 6, the Genesis, because they also manage the Genesis brand. They've been awesome and they're

they're really serious about sort of this electric transition to a stage where they basically want I think 70% of all their models, all their sales by 2026 or 2027 to be fully electric.

So they're very serious about this and the upset in the the Ionic 5 N I've covered it a lot. They had it at.

What is it? Good Speed, Festival of Speed

and a couple of other locations. It was at the Melbourne EV Show.

But I think the official deliveries are sort of pencilled in for February and March and it's only custom orders, there's no pre made cars. If you place an order on one,

that's the only one you're gonna get expensive 120 + 1000 dollars. Same price as the Genesis GV 60

sport, but it it looks cool and I think.

It's. Very.

It'll be a very rare car when it does come out.

But I'm hoping that once it's been out for a couple of months then they may have a spare one that, you know, I could I could I could people If if I do pick one up then we'll have to do a bit of a Car Talk meet up to check out what you know what the performance Rizzy Roses archrival signature and EDITION brand is up to. But now they're they're the

Hyundai have been awesome. I think they're they're really

serious about this and as soon as they get it, the first thing they want to do is to get, you know, someone who understands this space behind the wheel of 1.

So soon as it happens, I'll let let let the team here know.

How do you like, how did you find the the general the just the standard ionic 5 like in terms of in terms of the electric space do you think it's a really good electric car like if you had to pick one to be up there or.

I think if I had to pick one, I guess it depends someone who likes sports cars. I think I'm not a big SUV fan

from that point of view. But having said that, the

foundations of the car really, really good.

It's very comfy car. If you were looking for like a

cruiser and just to do Rd trips in, it's really good, really premium build stuff. Hyundai has taken that to like

another level with their premium trims now.

But if I was to pick between that, the V6 and the Genesis GV 60, and if money was no option, like money wasn't a barrier, then the Genesis is a fun sport here, nicer looking.

But the foundations of the batteries are the same, the motors are the same, Honda knows how to build stuff, so infotainment is roughly the same.

So yeah, I think they've they've got, they're doing a lot of good things and yeah, like the Ionic 5N and Ionic 6 is a good car as well. It from the back obviously it

reminds me of a bit of a bit of Porsche 9/11 from the front, obviously the iconic AU Falcon. So that's what it's all about.

That that's awesome to hear. Man.

Look, it's it's cool to to get to keep up with what you're doing and like what we, we always talk and stuff you know, around the show, show hours. Because I know you're a busy

man. But look, it's good to have you

here, man. And good to hear your voice on

the show again because a lot of our listeners how I just said oh it's Rice come back. I'm like, yeah, he's coming

back. He's coming back.

So, so, so they know who they are.

And then. We know what we're doing.

You know what about always, always appreciate touching base and just trying to, you know, I'd like to think that with the way Caleb's going for 2024, I'd like to think I can make more time. But you know if it's on the fly,

if it's popping in 1520 minutes, I'll try my best to do that and make it happen. Look, you know, there's no

obligation here, as you know, man, So always just happy to see you on the show, buddy. Thanks.

Scotty Doe in the land of no electricity currently.

Yeah. Are you OK?

Is do I need to send, you know, like a rescue search team to come get you? Is the 31 safe?

Is the big question, And it has some.

I'm, I'm fine just getting a bit dark.

You can it's probably send some candles.

If you could, that'd be great. I'll do some Ruby Candles.

The the R 31 is fine. It's not here, it's at my

parents place which actually isn't that far and they have power so lucky them car wise I guess it's been a couple weeks.

I actually have done some bits and pieces that you guys will already know about. I did finally do the brakes.

Nice. That is done.

It was a bit more of a headache to begin with at first because I thought I needed that special tool to wind and push the piston back. Big shout out to the R31 forums.

I know they don't really get much love forums and stuff anymore, but yeah it helped me big time with this.

Turns out all I had to do was remove the is a clip on the back for the for the handbrake because it's connected with the whole brake calliper on that which how it works.

So I took that off and there's a little pin that it sits on.

So all I had to do was get some pliers and wind that pin back in and then I could actually just use my normal clamp, put on there and push the piston back. Perfect.

And the pin winds back out again.

So that worked perfectly. Now Zara checked the pads in.

The funny thing is I guess considering it is connected to the handbrake, is the inner pad was actually a lot more worn than the outer pad. The pad that you can see, you

know one was a lot more worn. Yeah, so that was interesting.

But that's all done, swapped over.

I did the sway bar link bushes while I was under there too just to finish it off and then took it for a little spin around the block and it felt solid. To have all the bushes and

everything done on it. It felt really, really good to

drive, really good on the road breaks.

Typical what you'd expect late 80s.

So it's it's fairly spongy. When you feel it and you press

down, it's like considering what I've got and what I'm used to, So didn't really bite the way that I was ready for, but other than that, really, really good. It was extremely loud.

So that muffler is done and dusted and I found that you can still buy them. Awesome.

Not factory in this and ones, but just a aftermarket brand that makes the exact same copies.

So ordered that and that should come soon.

Ish. Hopefully it's not coming from

too far. They're based in Victoria, but

it's just about when they get back to work to be out of packet and send it and then I'll put that muffler on and I'll be ready to go straight in for a roadworthy.

Excellent. It should fly.

It should pass with flying colours this time.

Scary. It's the whole car has been

republished. Yeah, there's no suspension

under there. That's is old.

Everything is all new. All the breaks in new, all the

pads in you. Everything is new, new, new.

So yeah, I don't know what else. I'm sure they might be able to

find a couple little things, but it's not gonna be anything overly See for something that will take forever to fix.

It'll be basic on, I'd presume. Yeah.

Yeah, that's that's how things are going this way About you.

My entered just uh, I've serviced by sister's forester serviced on Saturday and that was pretty much it.

I found out that there was that rattling noise that was in the front end. She's chosen to hit the she's

got a rash my wheels horribly and she's she's hit a curb really hard that it's taken a check out of the tyre but it's also damaged the brake calliper underneath and like the pins are just kind of kind of warped in that was rattling the clips rattling. So we're under the car prying

things and pushing things and I'm like, where is this noise coming from? And rather just comes and hits

the tyre and we just see the callipers.

OK, so the calibre stuffed. So I've gotta order.

I forgot to order it today. Actually I'll I'll have to order

it tomorrow some some new Calliper pins and then we should be all good for that. But but that's pretty much it on

my end. I'm going to do some more stuff

around the house, but that's it for me.

What about you is your boss has your cars going along?

You still got the Teslas and and all that.

The Salario, the Big, the big, the big Point car.

It's you know, you've obviously Scott.

He's seen the rear end of that beast going up Arthur's Seat as as, as in it the other day and I just looked out and I said that's too much performance for me.

I couldn't keep up with it. This is what I'm thinking.

I'm thinking if I tollgate Legend, the one and only some may call him the R31 Drift King couldn't keep up, then I'm just too much power for me. I couldn't keep the water in my

cup. Yeah.

That is, that is the key challenge.

You know, there's always a line. There's always a line.

That you've. Got you've gotta make sure to

look at my cars are alright I've so you know as as we know alum Deep Singh recessionary times he's the man when you true you have to listen to to get some advice especially when you want to get some stuff done on your car and things are a bit expensive for brown man. Nothing's better than a Black

Friday sale, so I saw that my car had 50% off Pirelli tyres and and I so my red performance managed to get nearly 70,000 K out of the first set of Michelins low profile.

Very impressive. So and they still were OK, but I

thought not going to skip this year went in as soon as they opened my local my car I said hey 4 tyres.

Is and a Chinese dude. He's like, oh very good dear,

you will never get deal like this in the world.

I said OK, so he ordered the tyres.

Eventually they arrived. So.

Booked it in, goes in, the guys do what they've got to do, I get the car back, that's OK and I wanted to keep the older tyres, so I kept him anyway. Couple of days later I start to.

See these little chips on my wheels?

No, no. And I was like cause you know,

there's there's sort. Of black or grey coated wheels.

And I was like because I know I've only accidentally clipped the curb about 18 months ago, and I know there's only one real, but anyway, it's on all of them, so they've used.

I don't know. Screwdrivers or pliers or

whatever they've used. Anyway, longer.

The short of it is, I'm not. Too.

Too upset by it, like my fault, I went for the half price tyres and although there are 340 a pop instead of 680 or whatever they are, but that's sort of happened.

So a bit of veal. Repair later on when I do decide

to part ways with the car, but overall very happy with the no issues with that car or the white car that I've had.

And All in all, I still on the hunt, though I'm still on the hunt for I've narrowed my search from the Hatsu Kopins to the Hatsu Midget, but there's no midgets around, you know?

I'm saying. So if you guys see one, let me

know because I think they're super cool.

Have you guys seen many on the road?

I haven't. I've every time I do see and I'm

like oh I'm is it you know and and and they they're so cool but but yeah I haven't I haven't seen one on the road in in in a long time but I do know a guy that's selling a Honda N1.

It is. Is he?

Is he a gentleman like a Honda? God, some may call him.

He is the. And he's also a Prince.

He is a Prince. He's he's, he's not a Saudi

Prince. He's he's nosy Prince.

He's a Fresh Prince of Hondas. So he's selling his car, if

you're interested. I'm supposed to go and see him.

I should go and see him. So yeah, that's.

Cool. So he's got, he's got that up

for sale I think obviously you guys earlier or well sometime in 2023 you all went to Japan. And obviously he's he's, he's

probably seen something else that he likes now, so it's time for parties with the N1. He has it's it's a it's a new

one but it's it's the manual like turbo IRS model which is really really cool so. Yeah, awesome.

But it's like I've gotta get rid of this one first, so if you're interested you can have a look. And have actually have a coffee

with him. And.

I I guess. While we're talking cars, how is

your Fiesta St Mum man? It's going great, man.

Like I'm, you know, I'm really enjoying drawing.

I mean, Steph, Steph loves it like 2 jobs and more more than more than me. So but yeah that look it's it's

it's doing great. I took it for a job the other

day and it's just it's just fun like it's it's hard to get in a car that you just hop in and go and just instantly from the first like turn you turn your fuse you turn the wheel.

It's fun, you know. So it's I'll have to let you

have a drive of it reason and you will definitely say.

They are not very, very fun. And, you know, it's well, I

think I was telling you when we had a quick call last week, Maddie, that you see I-20 ends and you see some of these warm hatches around. But it's not the same like the,

you know, the the, the 4th, the Fiesta St is the last generation. It's it's a rare car.

So yeah, and definitely, like put smile on my face every time I see one on the road. And I think of the main man, you

know, I'm saying. It's it's fun.

Yeah. It's it's a it's a fun thing.

It's a fun thing. But yeah, I gotta get gotta get

you into it into the driver seat mate.

And you can you can have a drive.

Well John, tonight's topic is we.

It's like the Oscars, the Car Talk, Best cars of 2023 awards.

The talkies. Yeah, the talkies.

There you go. It's it's the talkies.

Thanks Scott Patton pending on that.

It's. It's the talkies where where we

discussed the cars that were released or were quite new last year like obviously these are these are new cars best cars of 2023 and and and we've put them into categories and then the the categories are small, medium, large cars at the SUV.

So small, medium, large, electric.

And now also part of this rule is that the, the electric cars can come under the other, the other, the other ranges as well.

That's totally fine sport. And then we didn't want to talk

about like trucks and things because at this point in time everyone buys a Hollister Ranger.

So yeah, or cyber truck which, which, which are getting released in there, which which is on South America currently.

I can see yourself truck in the background.

There there is. You know I'm saying.

So well how how it's gonna work is I'm gonna read you some nominees and then we're gonna have a discussion about which one we think is the best one. If you got if you got any others

to add we can add them in and then basically come to a discussion of what you should buy going forward if you wanted to get the best one for the for the coinage.

So this is the talkies guys welcome to the first ever ever talkies. I should, I should, I should

insert here some, you know, 30 music.

Now let's get straight into it. So this is we'll start with

small cars. Now Scotty, you've put you the

you you you put in a a car. So will add that into our list.

So the the small category of cars the nominees are the Hyundai I30, the Kia Picanto with the facelift and the Yaris hybrid. Look I've I've my pick was going

to be sort of key up Accanto because there's not a lot of cars in that space there's the MG3 and the you know but overall that's small segment is shrinking and I think I heard the news that the Kia Rio is going.

So the Cheerio is pretty much finished, but which which is really sad because it's been here for over 20 years.

It's been since 922 year 2000. I believe so, but alright, so

the nominees are for small Picanto Facelift, Hyundai I30 and the Yaris Hybrid Judgement. Your thoughts please before we

pick our winner. I do like the Picanto.

It's a nice small car and they're getting really GT One though, aren't they? They are and and that's that's

for me was probably the the one down on that card is they getting rid of the GT which is the three cylinder turbo manual rule fundable car. 1. And it looks, it looks like a

really angry little cartoon. It looks like it would be fun to

drive in. From all accounts it's it's

really good to drive really well built.

You get a really big warranty seven years on that unlimited kilometres Kia, offer that that warranty with them And from all accounts everybody that has a Picanto loves it.

So I've never driven one, but my buddies got on and a few other people. A few other people I know have

have have driven him and really, really liked them.

The new Yaris hybrids come out which has been a bit of a OK seller, not as good as like your coral across and your and your rough for hybrids, but it's been there because it's it's it's a hybrid and it uses next to no fuel at all.

The I30 is a strong contender. Scotty, you get him in a few

different flavours, obviously the hot one, but we're just, we're just clarifying the CNA ones here.

So again, you get 5, you get 5 years warranty with the Hyundai.

Was it five or seven years with lyrics I think still fighting.

Maybe it is still five. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So five would that five with the Yaris, 7 with the Picanto, but no more GT after this year. So gentlemen, if you had to pick

one, what would your pick of the nominees be?

Alright, I'm going to flip my decision on I-30 and actually go for the Picanto. Only probably for this year,

because it's, but you still can get the GT for this year.

Hmm, I I think mainly because they're still making something that's fun, enjoyable, priced. Well.

I think about the warranty. Also starting to see more of

them on the road, which is good to see too.

Yeah, I think I'm gonna go with that one.

And Ricky Ross? Yeah, I'll go for the Picanto as

well. I think there's not not many

cars like it. 33 is in a different segment.

And yeah, I I think it's a, it's a fun little car.

Hopefully some other brands see value in bringing those small cars into the market. Obviously I think the idea would

be something like Anniston Sakura one day, but at this stage you know that's what we've got.

So there is a BYOD BYD C goal. That is that.

Is that coming though? I don't think it's coming.

To, I don't think it's coming, but not for next year or not for not for 2024, but I think possibly next year and 2025 they're selling so many. They launched it in April 2023,

Yeah. And I think by October they had

the 200 thousandth car rolled off the line.

Like that's how quick they make those things.

So until then, the Kia Picanto is an awesome choice.

Yeah, yeah, I was gonna say well, if if there were, if these companies are gonna get, you know, you know, legit about, you know electric cars, I need to bring you into like smaller segments. And I from what I've seen the

governments wanting to change some laws about emissions, but I want to bring us up to to to labour standards.

So all these companies are, are basically you know they've got a scramble. So that's gonna, let's see,

let's see how what happens and if that changes the tide with all these SUV's and yeah, joke about.

So we're gonna ask the winner. The winner of this year's 2023

small car talkie goes to the keeper.

Canto uh next. Next meeting.

Next. 12. Yeah.

Well why don't you get the next one is our media manager.

Now medium cars again this is something the small one like I know MG3 and all that they could have come under that segment, but I was just trying to kind of put them all together in the issues of time but medium cars. So we've got the new Subaru WRX

Waggon which came out and which I had a driver actually really impressive, not as far as I thought it would be or as quick, but a solid drive and I drove at TS top of the range run and that had the adaptive suspension and everything and it was quite good. The the manual only comes with

40 in the sedan, which I think is a bit of a bit silly.

So that's A and against it. The next nominee is Scott is on

the BMW 3 Series that the new the new 3 Series that has come out which is surprising that that you've mentioned BMW Scotty because of your love hate relationship with the company.

They've got quite a big selection to choose from and they got hybrid and electric options I believe now too so.

So they've got plenty of options there.

That is our that is our second nominee.

Any other nominees you wanna add in there, boys, before we discuss and choose? Could you repeat the first one?

You're kind of dropping out for me because of my Internet.

The Subaru WRX Waggon. OK, yes.

Yeah. From mid spec sort of a car,

we're talking like the BYD seal. That's that was in my list of

fully fully electric thing. But, but, but that can be put in

for the medium one as well. I'm happy to put that in for the

medium, yeah. But yeah, I think apart from

that there. Wrestled the brands haven't

really released anything that's been too exciting in 2023 on that front. Any waggon always is a, it's a

good thing. I think that, yeah, Subaru is

doing, you know looking at that segment because we keep dropping waggons out of old market segments, so.

Well, VW got rid of the golf waggon, so so that that so that if you if you wanna fuck kind of a fast waggon, you can have to go Subaru. Really.

MMM. But yeah.

So we'll also add in there the B1 seal as well.

Actually, yeah, we can put that one in there too.

I think the BDC is a good looking cars.

Yeah, it's a lot more spacious than I thought.

I test drove the BMW I5. I had it for a week.

It was a fun car throwing up and loving the five series and the rest of it. But it's.

Too cramped for what? How much space there is in

normal electric cars. So bit of a disappointment, but

the BYD CEO doesn't seem to have that.

It's like 1/3 of the price because the I5 is like nearly 180 grand or something and then this.

Is sort of starts at under 50, so and how much was the Subaru?

Do you remember top, top specs Subaru, I think it's getting into just under you're in the 50s I.

Think from memory. Yeah, cool.

Yeah, awesome. But like, that's for your top

spec TS. But if you go for a sedan, you

can only get there's only two specs of this and I believe.

And then you can get that as a manual, but you can't get the waggon as a manual, which is a bit of a disappointment.

So that kind of goes against it. That's tough.

Out of those ones, I would probably be leaning towards Subaru. UM.

I'm just thinking price, practicality, warranties.

They've moved away from the EJ motors now, too, and I've heard good things about Here's what the F.

Series. Yeah, the FA series have been

fine so far with anything you want to do, so that would probably be my pick. The only reason I threw that

three series in there was I just thought looking at some higher end mid sized cars it's actually not too bad for bang for buck compared to your normal Merks and and Audis and things like that. So kind of just threw that one

in the mix to see what you think?

I I would have, I would have a new three series over a new sea glass currently. Yeah.

Yep. Likewise, price better, take it

to actually be MW. The new one looks a bit better

now. They're kind of fixed the front

bit, so it's not as huge. They've taken it up a bit.

So yeah, and at least if you're buying new, it's got a warranty because you'll need it. So Scott is going to Scooby.

What about you, Rosie Ross? What do you?

Gotta go down the same path, always supporting waggons if there's one available. I reckon.

You know, with some so much practicality and I think what a lot of people buying SUV's are missing out on.

Actually, I did see. Not changing the category or

anything, but I saw the the Volvo.

What's their waggon? The.

The X XC60. No.

So that's their that's their SUV.

But they've got a what? Must be the V50 or V60, yeah?

Yeah. I mean they they look really,

really good and but you know, they they'll be pricier.

But any waggons are good. So yeah, Subaru around 50 grand

sounds good. I was going to say that Subaru

purely for the fact that the US people having a waggon.

I think we're gonna we're gonna get to a point we're gonna be like actually you know why is really really practical in the booth space is quite cabinets and it's actually not bad for it's for its size and it's you can see what they didn't do with hash. This generation that they went

they went back to the waggon and I think it's a great idea.

I think that that extra bit of space and everything definitely definitely comes up and sugar and theories have improved immensely. So I think they're onto

something good there I would say followed by the the, the seal and then the three series because I think that I think this still looks really, really cool and I think that it's a it's a good value EV next car. So the next space was the large

category but the large category is quite a hard these days because there were large cars for sale anymore.

It's like they knew, like unless it's like an 8 or something.

Yeah, I couldn't think of any. But I put down for a large car

that's I still can fit people in it as a people mover and the updated Care Carnival came to mind this year as very important Sir. But but before we get to that

the the the talking for the medium car goes to the Subaru WRX for the large car the nominee is the key a carnival.

Any other ones you wanna put in there guys?

Any other nominees you wanna put in before we give it to the OR by default? So where does sort of.

I don't know. We're talking large cars then

Hyundai Palisade. Palisade I put in the large SUV

category. OK, so this is just large cars

in. Charge.

Yeah. So because the the carnival

wasn't an SUV, so I mean we could put the new 5 Series or and stuff in there as well. So it's up to you.

So the palisade is coming up in the in the large.

Categories. Yeah, yeah, the five series was

one and then the Mercedes, the the new E Class as well.

The. That's sort of done.

OK. But yeah, most of the larger

cause as we said, you know, Rolls Royce.

But you know the, the they don't really, they don't really count in that category that they're sort of in a category of their own. Yeah, yeah, I'm pretty, pretty

happy with that. Yeah, Scotty.

Uh, yeah. I honestly couldn't think of

anything else in in that category.

It's nothing like a large car like I mean the it's quite a big car like it's I wouldn't say to van, it's more of a it's more like a in between a mini van and a car kind of thing.

So that's why I put the, I put the carnival in there and I think it's a worthy when again good warranty and everything.

So do you know if there's an electric version of that coming out? Cause that'd be a big seller is?

Yeah. So the Carnival LV has their

MIFA 9, but that's been around for about 18 months now and it's very expensive. There aren't a lot of people

movers that are sort of in that, but it's a growing category in China. It seems to be.

Like booming at the moment, people move as and pickup trucks seem to be starting out as well where a lot of people are finally looking at their lifestyle.

Pickups. I know we've been on talking

about pickups here yet, but they, you know, we've had some big ones launch to compete with the likes of Torch, Ram and you know, the F-150 and the rest. But anyway, it's a different,

different category. So the winner by default for the

large category of the Talkie is the Kia Carnival, now moving through the small SUV category. And your nominees are the new

Hyundai Kona which has just come out the ZRV by Honda and HIV by Honda. Also the new mission Mission

English Today Nissan Mishmash Nishan.

What would the mission mission the new Nissan Kashkai which was for which was your entry and that's that is the and the MG Zydis electric because that was that was a release of last year so they are your picks gentleman why is your money going and why?

What was the first one, Manning? The new Hyundai Kona, the ZRVHV

Nissan Kashkai and the ZMG Electric.

The new Kona is pretty cool. They've got quite a few

different variants depending on the type of performance or range or whatever you're looking for. Yeah, I think, I think the

Colonel would be the pick for me.

Scully. I do like the Conor, but I think

the only one I like is the end version really.

And there's there is no end currently to be to be made as of yet for the new for the new ones, so.

Yeah, yeah. That is tough.

I know recently the Kashkari did win.

Um, I can't remember it was at wheels or one of them of their car of the year. Gosh, I'd probably have to think

about again practicality, pricing, warranties.

I would probably again have to go for the Kona.

I was gonna give an honourable mention to the Zeta RV.

I think Hondas made a real strong comeback.

I think their latest range of cars have how would you explain, have made a really good comeback for the brand because they've been a very kind of nowhere brand for the last few years and and last year was a big year for them and the new Zelda VI mean it's it looks a bit dull and Vader on the outside but to drive it's brilliant. Technology is great.

You can get as a hybrid you can get it with all the different options and they're probably gonna let one at some point.

So I think that is a really, really good car that I was that really surprised me, you know, I think looks pretty cool.

It's actually a lot bigger than the old corner.

I don't know if you've seen them side to side.

When I was there with my brother at Hyundai when he was when he was looking at buying a car they had one near next to it next to the old next one looks all current in that are in line new version and are gonna end of the outgoing model and yeah it's a lot bigger it's it's a bigger car.

I think they've addressed a lot of the issues people had.

I was too small Dakota but I think the the new kind is pretty epic. So for me it's out of those two

and seeing as you but you guys have both picked the the coder that gets the vote from from us. So the the, the, the talkie for

the for the small SUV goes through the new Hyundai Kona and we've lost Scotty who's who's out of electricity.

And anything's possible, Paul Scotty.

Hopefully they get the power back.

Some stormy weather everywhere. I've had, you know, colleagues

in, well, ex colleagues from Gold Coast that haven't had power for over 7 days. And.

Yeah, yeah. It's not good up there.

Power lines, trees, everything, tornadoes, floods, you name it.

It's all happening. And I think we're getting a

little bit of that. And, yeah, power outages.

Real. Yeah, so we've had actually

quite a crazy day in terms of the weather here.

It was hot this morning, really muggy.

And then it just then it's just it's just bucketed down and the Thunder and lightning, My dog's been going crazy.

So anyway, we'll move on to the SUV Medium Talkie which is now the Kia Sportage, Hyundai, Tucson and the the Model Y Tesla. So they are, they are three that

are I think have been a bit of a standout in the in the category from what I saw the COV is classified as a large even though even though I think it's more of a medium but but we'll keep it with what it's classified as as a large.

So they didn't, it didn't make this category because only thing I think the new server is really good.

So they are your 3 picks now. The Sportage and the Tucson are

virtually the same car underneath, just in different bodies. And the Model Y is basically

just a higher version. It looks really similar to a

Model 3, but obviously people choosing it, they're selling it.

What was the top 10 seller this year I believe is it's really doing well in the market and it's really put Tesla out.

Like every day I drive I see one or two of them, like regardless, they're freaking everywhere. So tell us about a little bit

about the about the Tesla and and and what you see in in this category and and if you think that that's a deserving well.

I think it's it's getting closer to those other two cars in terms of pricing. So used to be you know 70,000

plus on roads, it's gotten to about 64,000 plus on roads.

Now some of the higher end sort of Kia and Hyundai models are sort of in their early 50s. So they're getting closer in

terms of the pricing. What's actually interesting

though is that if you can lease a vehicle, our model why, we'll be a lot cheaper on your monthly repayments than our Kyle or Hyundai products purely because an electric car and it has no fringe benefit tax. So there's been some crazy

examples for some people to buy a Volvo XC40 Recharge, which is about $75,000. It's Their monthly repayments

are lower on the Volvo than they are on a Rav 4 hybrid.

That's insane. So that's what that's what

people are sort of because they use your pretax income and you know this is officially not, this is not financial advice or anything like that. She got talk to your leasing

companies and the rest, but that's part of the reason why they're selling so well. Also, just the cost of, you

know, filling up and the rest is just a lot for some.

There's some electricity companies offering EV plans so you can charge your car from midnight to 6:00 AM for like 5 bucks empty to full. That's pretty good.

And five bucks worth is filling up every 100 odd dollars or whatever it is. So there are few advantages, but

it's not for everybody and that's why I think there's still a space for you know the the Kia and Hyundai products are particularly they are cheaper still to purchase, but there's arrangements that you can have. But then it's a different

category, a slightly different category because it's the Tesla is slightly more premium for some people, whereas the the Kia and I guess the Hyundai products are standard sort of SUV's, but you get a lot of kid in all of those cars.

So out of those 3, where's your money going?

I I think the Model Y are very compelling argument it's it's it shows how compelling it is by the amount of cars that they're on the road and I see them I see them like the amount the same amount as gonna care support I was like I see quite a few of them. Well, like for example November,

there were more. Basically the model why was the

best selling car in the country? Petrol, electric or diesel If

you don't count the Ranger and the Hilux, Yeah, so that's not a Ute. It's the best selling car in

2023. There's going to be a bit of

time before they're crunch all the numbers for globally, but Model Y is looking likely to be the best selling car all round.

So over the F1F series trucks in the US, over Rav 4 Corolla, this is a car that cost nearly seventy 6570 thousand Australian dollars. So that's part of where the, the

value is for a lot of people that are looking at that sort of segment. Yeah.

And it's, you know, lots of space.

Tesla has a supercharging network and the rest of it.

But yeah, like I said I. Think if if you're thinking

about, you know, looking at something maybe a hybrid equivalent of, you know, a Honda hybrid might be a good option until there's more options for electric cars as such, but the Model Y works for a lot of people.

I think that's the compelling and that's why I think we're going to give it the the medium SUV talkie this year.

So congratulations to to the Model Y largest Uvs.

Now this is a quite a competitive market.

Now the one that one I think was the year was the the new Ford Everest. So that's one that can do off

roading. The other ones that I'm gonna

add in here. So the other nominees, so the

first nominee, but the other nominees are the new Honda CRV and the new Miss Mazda CX-90 because you can get an inline 6 with that and the with with hybrid powertrains, the Hyundai Palisade, so they are that is the next range of cars.

So you've got your Everest Palisade 690 Honda Civic, very different cars, all different cars, all kind of slightly different in size, but all kind of like a large category in the SUV world landscape Palisade for we'll start with the Palisade Palisade, a massive car. It's a, it's a huge car.

I said in one of the at the dealership and they had a really lovely dark green one there. I've never seen one that colour

before. And the finish on that Hyundai

was unbelievable. It felt like a Pre, it felt like

a Mercedes, like it felt really, really good.

Every possible thing you could think of, it's got so, but again it's reflected in its price tag. It's, you know, $100,000 or

thereabouts with, depending on what you put in it, CX-90 again getting up there, there's no more CX9 anymore.

So that takes over that that role.

I don't know why they've just didn't call the CX9, but that again is another really impressive car Inline 6, Ford inline 6 back. But they're doing what what

Mercedes has done and brought back in 96 because of because of efficiency and smoothness, Honda CR V is the next one.

Again, the small, the probably the smallest of all of them, but a really nice looking car and drives really well.

Like the road banners are unbelievably good.

There's a couple of important features like 360 camera and stuff like that but everything else it's pretty much got.

So it's it's a it's a you know it's a compelling compelling drive. In terms of the ones that drive

us with the one, the best one to drive the Everest, I think it's just too big and it's pretty much a Ranger anyway and it's it's a cool car. It's it it does.

If you go if you wanted to go off roading that's your pick.

But for me, I I think from the processor virtually 100 grand for that as well. Anyway, I would much rather have

a palisade if that's if that was my money because I'm probably not gonna do it Friday. But if I'm going to do a Friday,

I I wouldn't want to use $100,000 car off road.

I'd buy a I'd buy a cheap car to do it.

To be fair, there is what's what's your opinions on that on those on that selection, the CR V, the CX9 of the Palisade and the Everest? Look, the Everest by far is so

commonly used, but you see a whole lot of people towing caravans and whatever with them. So you know there's there's a

place for that car. Obviously Ford is doing

everything they can to use the range of platform in whatever capacity. So, yeah, so.

So that's Everest, and then you've got. 90 I've heard a lot

of good things about the car. I just think that when it's

funny, like 10 years ago, if we would have said that Hyundai would be selling $100,000 cars, we'll all laugh.

Mazda was slowly getting there, but then never really got there in the end and now they've got to see X 90.

So it's it's it's alright. But I think the preference would

my preference would be probably the CRV in this case, because Honda has done a lot of good things over the years.

Obviously with their fixed pricing, it didn't go all too well. But if they're launching new

products that are compelling to people, then I think, yeah, the Honda CRV deserves to be on that list.

So Rise, you're picking the CRV out of out of that list.

OK, for me, I think the CV is a compelling argument because I think on the server is a compelling argument.

It is by far the cheapest car in this category and it's to get the hybrid options only $2000 extra and that's for that's for the Rs model So I'd probably go I'd probably go that because and I think that makes it a compelling argument because it's you know for what you get for the price it's it's quite good Palisade on the other on the other end is just is an awesome car but I just it's a lot of money and I'm like yeah you know it's it's a lot of money for a car like that you can either get a diesel or petrol in but there's no we don't have any

electrical options on that just or again hybrid options on that as of yet and I think that you know it'll probably rule that out the 690 is kind of your middle ground because it's got it's got that inline 6 and it's got you know your hybrid powertrains as well but I'm I'm with you is I think the CR V gets it for me I think I think that's I think that's a worthy manner. So the the talk you have the

largest TV goes to the Honda CRV.

Yeah, who is we're getting to, into your into into your section, getting into the electric space which is well one of the reasons why we got you want tonight again Ricky Ross is the electric cars that were released last year, these well specifically that have been speaking being on sale properly in Australia since last year. We mentioned the bottle, so

that's on this list, the BYD seal, the Hyundai ionic 5 slash ionic 5 N if you want to incorporate that into the list as well. And I think those ones are like

you probably you probably your main select few that are really that are really you know pick of the bunch for for this for the for this year. So give us your opinions on all

of them. Are you being the electric guru

that you are? And where would you put your

money? So as a sort of sports car piss

and sedans I think the the BYOD seals quite a quite a good car, lots of space. I think the pricing when they're

sort of announced it starting at under 50 grand, it's a lot of car it's and and and Maddie you've had a chance to sit in the adult 3 and that's premium car basically take that out of three and sort of you know give it that Mercedes feel.

Yeah. And it's they've done a lot to

the interior and it feels very, very premium with a lot of features in that car as well. So the body seals very, very

compelling. Behind Ionic 5 is a good car if

you're looking for a touring sort of vehicle that stands out a bit in the way it looks so that they're they're very comfortable you know very nice car charges very quickly as well. And you know if we look at just

the other categories there's one car that I think are real worth adding. The MG 4, the new MG4, it's it's

it's quite a fun car. It's rear wheel drive.

It's sort of mid spec or that they've got the all wheel drive X power bit of a pocket rocket if you just want to do you know as a as a daily driver as such. But out of those, I think my

pick would be the BYD CL, just because of the feeling that it gives you in terms of how much space is in the car for the starting price and it looks apart.

I think it's a very good looking car.

I think it's a sexy looking car. I think it's you know it's it's

giving like I'm going to put this out there for for what baby why did the body seal and what how you have done with the ironic 5. They've made electric cars can't

look cool. Like as much as I kind of like

Tesla respect and respect you know what they do their cars kind of all the same and they're and they're a bit bland on the outside. That's that's not, that's not

saying it's a bad thing or anything.

It's just it's just kind of like Oh yes, the Tesla.

But every time I see like a body sealer and Ionic File like oh that's that's like it's got presence.

And even general Ionic Ionic 5 is just, it's it's a cool looking car. It's something that hasn't been

done before, like when Hyundai showed off that concept with the Vision 74 or whatever it was. I think it was.

Let me double check that. Yeah, that's got that.

You know, the Japanese sports car, look to it.

But it's very it's sort of a 2 door.

Yeah, sort of a concept car that looked really, really cool.

Give the lorean but yeah but like a modern day DeLorean and it looks epic like like I'm looking at the photos of it now it is a cool looking car like how you know you need to bring that out like that's a that that has to happen But yeah if that if that's if that's a vision of where Hyundai's going.

I'm on board. Like I think I think that's I

think that's a you know I would happily happily happily by by one by one of those because I think they look great.

Even the Ionic 5. I think the Ionic 5 looks epic.

I think it looks really really good.

I think you know it's a very classy looking car and a love to see one in more detail and that's that's really peaked my interest because it's because before the seal this we got the Ionic 5 here in Australia I think and and there was the first kind of Thomas Edison electric guys like whoa that's actually a really good looking car So I think for me that's really could change the stigma of like electric cars look like I mean cause like the auto three like it it's it's cool but it's just a bit of a yeah it looks good but it's it's yeah it's just it's a bit messy V where's the only 5 isn't a TV but it's

it looks good you know and it's it's got presence and and the YDC does the same thing it's got a sleek body the front end looks looks really alright it looks a bit Mercedes Benz it looks you know you can see they've taken their stocks from it and I think it's going to be quite well. And the MG4 again you know real

drive and and exciting and I I think that's I think that's a really, really cool thing. So my money was going to be on

the only 5 but I can see what you put on the on the BAC and you being the the, the, the, the guru when it comes to EV's I'm going to kind of give the the electric torque to the BYD seal.

Well done. And for anyone that hasn't had a

chance to either see one in person, they they aren't quite a few locations now they're even in Chadstone.

You can go and look at them in person, Braybrook for those investor, Melbourne and Danny down here in Southeast and just in general across Australia, there are many showroom and experience centres as well. They won't sell you anything,

just go on and have a look. It just, it doesn't.

What it shows is how close these manufacturers are to sort of, you know, the top spec Mercedes and BMW sort of thing.

You can sit in a top grade BYD seal and you can sit in a BMW I5 which is 180 odd grand where it says 6570 grand for OBGYN seal top spec and genuinely you can see if you were blindfolded and you didn't know which brand you were in.

You genuinely think the seals are Mercedes in terms of just everything that it offers, the material, the build quality, the just just the whole car. So it's just for anyone that's

interested, just worth having a having a sit in one of those just to see what it's like. And it is quite different, very

spacious, which a lot of the converted cars like the I5 or the I4, they've got the transmission tunnel in them, It makes the driver seat quite cramped.

But yeah, for those that are interested, just worth checking out there. Different cars, ionic fibres.

Well, every dealer pretty much has one now and you can go and sit in them. They don't have the support,

they don't have the shortages they used to, where people are waiting 12 months to place an order on one online.

So you can go and check those out at most dealerships across the country now. I am.

I'm a big fan of that and and all the ones in the in in that list, but especially those two. Like if if that's the future of

Evies, I'm down for it. Also again, Hyundai, you need to

make that Vision 74 in Vision 74 reality because it's A1 cool looking car and I know it's a concept car, but you can see whether there's some of the design cues have been put into the Ionic 5 with that car like the square head lice and and stuff like that. So they're doing cool things.

They're doing cool things. And they are trying to bring a

lot more of that stuff in even in the petrol car world, The new, I think the new Santa Fe, it's you know, it's it's it's more blockier and they've taken that block approach and sort of bringing it to a fair few of their vehicles.

So really cool to see. I think loving the design

language coming out of Hyundai and Kia recently.

So yeah, that's what the future holds, then yeah, it's it's pretty, pretty cool. Absolutely.

And I lost category guys for tonight is the sports category.

So is the sports cars or performance cars that have come out this year or I'm sorry last year now that of the here, here market, some have been released overseas and we we're beginning.

So I'll put them in this list. So let's crack on with that

list. The nominees are the Hyundai

Hyundai, the Honda Civic Type R, the Ford Mustang Dark Horse, the Key EV6GT, the Hyundai Ionic 5 N and the Nissan Z and also the Toyota Supra Manual which came out as well.

So quite a quite a big list. So we've got Civic Type R,

Mustang Darkhorse, every six GT I think 5 N this and Z and Supra Manual. Where's your ass actor?

You had an instance in order and then you found the price and you were like. Still won't be getting.

The thing is they didn't deliver any so they you still wouldn't.

I mean they just started to do a few deliveries but it's very rare to find them. And look, my pick out of all of

them would probably be the Honda Civic type.

RI think it's a fun car. The last generation FK eight was

an awesome awesome car. I've been in a fair few times.

I've been a passenger on track days with that car and it is a really, really fun, genuinely nice car.

Even to this day of 2018. Model car which is nearly six

years old, now five years old. Is a very, very good kind and

the new generation is just taking it to another level.

And yeah, I think for myself it would be the Honda Honda Civic type. I I think it's probably one of

the last few vehicles to get a bit of a makeover and get released and it's in its form. The future ones will be

different powertrains and all the rest of it.

So it's a it's sort of a last hurrah from Honda on that front and back quite like it. Well, Honda did say that this is

not, this is the last type art with you know combustion engine, combustion engine only. So this is going to be the full

hybrid which is exciting because it's probably going to make them go all drive because this they've all five is still there's still front wheel drive. But my money was on that car as

well purely for the fact that it's an engineering marvel like it's it's it's Honda. You know kind of getting their

gear back into order. Everything's been only done it's

you know it's basically you know so precise and like to have these little Japanese guys work on it work and work and work and work on it to get to get it to be.

It's the best thing here. I'm under $100,000 like in terms

of in terms of driving experience and it's the and the a lot of journos say that it's the you know the closest thing to to an 11 GT 3 in terms of like performance and performance in terms of like handling in a complete package which is a big thing to say about $70,000 Honda.

So for me that's first I had I had the Ionic 5 second because I think the end just ridiculous that yeah and the you know it's it changes gears like like a combustion car it's it's it's unbelievably well well done. I sort of while Larry Chen he

test drive one at Sydney motorsport Park when he was here and you know pages to share the the the drift King Rizzy Ross actors could mate you know it was was having one very sideways going around corners and stuff and and I was like well that is that I said if that's like the future of EV Cami and man I'm 100% so yeah that were my 2 picks and I was really funny got to pick pick between the two but I'm going to type R because it's I've driven one and I think I think it's bloody epic and it's it is as I believe the hype like it is one of the most planted

cars I've ever driven It just feels like it you could drive like a cock and you and you'd still wouldn't stuff it up like it feels that planted so that's why pick as well.

So the winner for the Sport category of the Talkie for 2023 is the Honda Civic Type R Azuras.

Any other categories or anything you want you want to mention before we finish the talkies? Um, look, I think like obviously

the Type R itself is one of those cars that Honda has perfected over many generations. In many ways it is similar to

Porsche 9/11, but obviously you're not, you know, having a starting price or 300 grand versus 70 or 75, whatever it is.

So yeah, I think it's a lot, it's a lot of car for anyone that does not have 75 grand laying around and still wants that experience. If you can find a FKA, the last

generation model, if you could find a one price around 40 to 50 grand that's all that's basically in my opinion 90% off the new car. So so you know I think it's

quite, quite good to see that Honda still is produced one and I'm actually surprised at how quickly they're delivering it.

It's a lot quicker than one. This ended with the Z and yeah I

think that's that's that's great.

The only other sort of I guess category, not saying it's a it's it's a category that is growing in Australia for the right or wrong reasons. I'm not sure.

And that's the large truck space, the Dodge Rams, the Ford F-150. And I'm maybe I'm wrong, but I

overheard Toyotas bringing the bloody tundra.

I've heard that as well and and Raven wants to get on board with that as well in the States. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And you know, there's there's a whole lot like there's a large truck space and it's very popular in the US and that's all good. But with word, a stage now where

you've got those large trucks with basically no emission control at all to, you know, Dodge actually dodged last week was fined 1.5 billion U.S. dollars.

Well, for emission issues. And this thing never this story

didn't even make any news because they were and there was because of the comments injuries they used they were cheating on emissions. So basically diesel gate but all

of that sort of stuff. So it's it's a it's an

interesting trend I guess. Obviously it's people in

Australia that want that sort of stuff and these companies are saying well why wouldn't we sell these products for 100 and what's an F-150 hundred plus grand?

120 grammes on yeah. Yeah, 120 hundred, 50 grand.

We sold in 2023. I think we sold over 5000 Dodge

Rams. So you know the market is

growing. It is a different segment, but

I'm not sure if if this is a long term type of a segment where, you know, I have a feeling that in about 5 years time there'll be a whole lot of very cheap Dodge Rams and F1 fifties and tundras because these companies will be forced not to sell them anymore. Well that's that, that's one of

the things I've been reading as well.

Like, you know, it's the fact that they they're saying that Australia is going to try to get to emissions level Euro 6D.

None of them, not even the Ranger or Hilux.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, can can match that currently.

So that's why they're, you know, it's a they're living on borrowed time. And to answer your question

about the F1 fifties, they start out for an XLT 101 hundred and $16,000 approximately top of the range they go from 1:49 to the Lariat. So like they're not cheap.

Like they're expensive as hell. None of none of this stuff.

And I think that this is going to be the concern that if if Rivian or someone decides to bring low or no emission large trucks into the market, fair enough.

Because you know, I guess people can power them with cheaper electricity made here. But as long as they functionally

operate the same as those you know some of those larger trucks but at the same time we have to be we just don't want graveyard of these cars or these trucks in five years time.

In some ways it reminds me of LPG conversions.

We converted every 4 Falcon and you know Commodore we could find and now you can't find any of them in LPG tanks and stuff are still sitting at petrol stations.

So interesting times, but you know if that's where the market is going, we just have to make sure that this is there for the long term. But you know the car industry,

another quick trend isn't just disappointed with the number of sports cars that are just not there anymore.

You know we we talk about the MX Fives of the world and we just gave the Talkie to the Thai baht.

Hopefully more of those sort of cars make comeback under there as trying with the GR's of the world, but you can't put a GTR badge on everything. It's like AMG sticking an AMG

badge on everything and then everything is an AMG.

So interesting times in our industry, Medi.

Yeah, it's interesting that you say that like freezing, like you can get gaol levels of high LAX gaol levels of Corolla, Corolla, Yaris Cross and and it does kind of cheapen the brain, right?

It cheapens the mystique of of of what the car and what the brand stands for. You know like the reason why I

really like what Hondas done with Type R is that to get the Type R badge it has to be a Type R Like there's no other line there's no St line there's no none of that no GRE yeah it's it's you you you don't you don't get it a type or you know you don't get anything with the R badge on it You know unless it's unless it's an R And then for me that that that's the reason why you in particular the typos are very special car because it's you know it's it's a bespoke Virtually the only panels out of the same to that on a Santa Civic is that the front doors

and the roof like the rest of it bespoke the type I like that's that's when you make sure that well that's actually our proper car so so you're like M Sport parks and virtually everything like it just cheapens the brand and and AMG packs on everything cheap into the brand and and just lines and our lines and yeah it's it's not it's you know you should you should keep them separate and this is and that's that's another reason why I think you know car companies and I said before the show with you

is like the car industry is quite often sheep.

You know, they're kind of lemmings.

They just they just follow one another and it's interesting to see that Hyundai is doing something different by by, by, by by doing. And you know the the end Vision

74 and and the and the Kona North and the end and the whole end division is great. But I know they got in line

versions as well. But like they've also got, you

know, cars like the Ionic File, which is just completely looks awesome, you know, and they're not following trends.

They're they're being different like the Ionic 5.

And you know, it's it's like it's like you're driving a combustion car even though it's electric, you know?

And then the fact that they've done that like no one else is doing that in this space and then no one's trying to like you say Oh well look you know if you're if you're a bit unsure about about you know electric cars what are you try this because it's kind of like in between cause you still get the feeling of shifting gears and you still get the feeling of the emotion of of of of a combustion engine and and no one's doing that. You know and and because

everyone else is just scared let's just make it my lectric which is fine but the you know it's it's kind of a sheep thing like if you look at the SUV side on pretty much everyone's SUV in white side on they look the same.

You know, like there's it's, it's, it's kind of worrying trend risk. And this is the thing.

I mean like this. This is where we've got

polarising designs, you know, that are sort of, you know, like like we've got this cyber truck behind me.

It's polarising and its sense. But anyone that tries to do

stuff differently, you know one thing actually is the kind of cars coming out of China are very, very unique now like BYOD will in the last 12 months, there's at least four new models that I've covered very closely on the driven they're just every every three months they're launching a car and walks waggon and everyone's taking years to do it.

And this is what's the and Volkswagen's biggest market was China and they're losing market share like no tomorrow.

Just to put give you an idea, Walks Waggon recently announced the ID 7 which is like like a Volkswagen RT on more larger per sat there. This is going to be their

flagship car. Flagship electric car in the

world's biggest electric car market which is also the biggest. Volkswagen's biggest customer

base has been in China. Three days of pre sale.

So in China it's very common to do pre sales of cars. 3 days of

pre sales they've got 300 orders.

BYD launches are shooting break type of an SUV called the the saw, the Sea Lion. Yeah.

And within three days they got you know nearly 30,000 orders.

Well, and it just goes to show that, you know, technologically how far behind Reed Dubs is and how quickly are new models being rolled out of these new brands, new automotive brands like BYOD and the rest. And there is, you know, nearly

hundred companies that are doing the same last week.

Xiaomi, you know the. Yeah, the phone company.

The phone company, yeah, they've got, they've got a car that's you know going to be faster than Porsches, taking a lot of inspiration from Porsche. But they reckon they'll be able

to manufacture that very and they'll unveil a car and within three months customers have their first deliveries.

That's how quick that's happening.

And they're making sports cars, they're making, they're making sports sort of hybrid cars and in general like they're learning very quickly. So the future of sports cars

will be coming from China? So why do you think that's?

Why do you think they're able to produce these cars and like design them and create them so quickly yet yet the ID Buzz and stuff has toilet 20/19/2018 and we still haven't got one.

Like, you know, like how does that, how does that even make any sense? Volkswagen hasn't delivered a

single electric car that customers can buy in the country. The only car that is even

remotely Volkswagen that's electric is the Cooper Born.

It's a fun car. It was released just before

Christmas 2022. Nothing.

So, you know, they've sold 800 Cupra bones, but there's nothing else in the market. This is what's scary as to how

quickly things happen in China. There's so much competition for

these companies to survive, they have to export cars.

China now is the biggest exporter of vehicles globally.

Are you serious? I didn't know.

Biggest exporter of vehicles globally.

And this is not electric. This is everything.

You were seeing our market with MG's and you name it, Everything's coming here and they're able to create and produce cars so quickly and they're designed by people that know what they're doing. The chief designer of BYD is ex

Audi head designer X Lamborghini.

So you know these, these guys know how to design cars, they know how to manufacture cars, They make a lot of the components themselves. BYD makes their own motors,

their own battery packs like Tesla.

They do a lot of their stuff in house, so they're not paying 30% margin to a battery supplier, you know cause they ultimately the customers paying that 30%. So they're able to design these

cars and they're able to mass produce them so quickly.

That's what's going to be the biggest, you know, sort of issue that a lot of the industry sees. And for us car people, I think

that's where the future cars are going to come from.

Sports cars, I think Lotus had their mirror.

Lotus is also Chinese owned now. So everything that they do will

be coming from their poll star Chinese owned or has Volvo heritage. Volvo Cars, Chinese owned and

they know how to make sports cars.

They're making their own brands. BYD's launched like 3 brands in

the last 12 months, Denza, which is their luxury brand.

Then there's Yang Wang. Funny name.

They've got like $150,000 US 150,000 U.S.

Dollar 4 wheel drives off roaders, you know this is and that's that's how quickly things are moving over there.

Those cars are made for global markets including ours.

So we will be, we'll be seeing a lot of these cars that will look different, quality will be up there with the Japanese and you know if they can give customers what customers are looking for in all different segments, then I think there'll be a clear winner while the rest of the industry is is struggled.

So if I look at the top top, let's top 30 EV sales for models in Australia for 2023, there's only two models that are Japanese, the Nissan Leaf. Well.

And I think there's Alexis in there somewhere and they are right at the bottom pretty much. So everything else is either

made in China, including the Teslas and the pollsters and the Volvos and the BYD's and MG's, or a few, not too many are made in Korea. So that's the Hyundais and the

keys of the world. Our European guys are catching

up, but they're still, you know, large volumes are not there.

Like Volkswagen doesn't even have a car.

BMW and Mercedes seem to be doing OK.

So exciting times because we'll have new brands entering our market, but at the same time, I think we can't have too many expectations from existing brands.

So what's your take on Cherry coming back?

I think that people are talking about it.

Yeah, that's last time Cherry was here.

Nobody was talking about it apart from Oscar.

People were just saying, hey, you can buy that car for like $12,000 or whatever. It was like the Hyundai gets.

Yeah. But now I think this time

they're coming back with a well designed product price right and they will be able to sell, they're already selling quite a few. The reason I was like my

cherries back, like I knew they were back, but I didn't expect to see so many of the cows in the road.

Yeah. And another reason why I think

they're so well is because they're is they're coming out so many cars that they've got stuck, you know, So, So, like, you can just go. Like you walk into a VW dealer.

Have you got this? Sorry.

You're gonna be waiting 12 months walking next door to Mji.

You're 50 here. Pick one.

And that's the way anymore. Well, this is the thing, you

know, like we're talking about COVID and supply chain issues and people waiting months and months for their cars and some people now return to cars think it's a joke.

BYOD and these guys be you know BYU is building its own ships Seriously car transporting ships and one one of them that has capacity of 7000 cars at a time is gonna be just dedicated for Australia. So this is this is how seriously

they're taking this stuff they're building factories in Thailand produce right hand drive cars only those cars are coming right here So it's it's going to be quite an interesting thing to see because the rest of the industry is very slow and it's not moving. You talk to the forward guys and

they're just launched their Mustang marquee that's like 3 year old car in our market. Volkswagen this year will launch

their ID 4 and ID 3, which is two or three year old product.

So why should we get the scraps and pay a premium for them?

The marquee starts at about 80 grand or whatever it is.

They've just reduced the price before they even delivered any.

So you know what I mean? Like that's and when you compare

that to a Tesla model, why you think, well that's a current sort of car, It's for more space, it's got a charging network everywhere. You can do a whole lot of

different things and so cheap to fill up at home.

That up over the air updates every month you get something new and you know the kids have, if you have got kids, you can, you know, play games and do whatever.

You just can't do that in a Mustang monkey.

And the costs, you cost more. And and Senator Markey, they had

one at the at the high Point couple couple weeks ago and I walked in there and I had a look at it and and the guys were talking to the guys that were Ford were talking to another customer and playing with some buttons and everything.

I'm like Oh my God, yeah it's alright then.

But then I'm like, I look at the price and I'm like, this is for the price. Yeah it needs to be 20 grand

Jeeba. Yeah.

Yeah. Like for it to even compete

because it's just doesn't have the tech doesn't have the even the fit and finish was not right because it's an American made car. They're not great.

So compared to compared to like your Tesla is like your Tesla Chinese made one. I was like yours.

Yours ones kills it. Well, this is the thing.

I have both. I've got an American night one,

which is my daily driver and then I've got the other Chinese made one which I drove on the weekend and the fit and finish is, you know, just the Chinese made products a lot of people are driving round of the BMW IX3 comes from China.

I think that a lot of the Volvo, pretty much all of Volvo Cars, all the Polestar cars, they're really, really well built.

Basically you can't help, you can't tell the difference anymore and you can't get like companies can't get away with making cars that are not quality.

We just don't look at the American stuff with the same lens as we look at the Chinese stuff, which is Chinese stuff is far superior. Everything's made there, so they

should know how to make things. Like, I think the stigma of arts

Chinese is rubbish. It's it's kind of going out the

window now, isn't it Really. Well, in most things that people

use are made there. So it's not really like people

have no issues picking up a phone call or computer or whatever with it. So it it's going to be quite an

interesting time moving forward. But as car people, I think

there's a lot more exciting stuff happening in China than there is in the US, which Japan at the moment.

And that's what I think is going to be once they sort out or once they get the, you know, the popular stuff, the SUV's or the world out, then they'll start to focus on some of their other other products. So there's a company that's also

owned by the same company that owns Volvo and Polestar to G Lee. Gillette also owns Lotus.

They've got a different brand called Zika.

Is that E KRK? They have, They've just recently

launched into Europe and they have a car in China called Zika 001 and that car has a top spec performance quad motor version that is able to do zero to 100 in two seconds.

And it has, the seeker has basically hired Kimi Raikkonen as their advisor. And in this card they have in

this car they have a Raikkonen mode.

What the hell? So you take the Ionic 5 in and

basically put it on steroids and that's what you get out of this car. So there's they're starting to

produce that car now. So you know, these guys know how

to produce stuff. They are able to hire the best

of the best to make it happen, whatever their vision is.

And I think that's the stuff that the Japanese used to be able to do but just don't do anymore.

And and Hyundai, they did that with the Rosner, Alex Bierman.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, like you know the the BMW

M guy they got, they got him involved in getting their end brand off the ground and that's where the Chinese are quite happy to do. They're happy to go out there

and say these guys know how to drive fast cars, they know what's needed. So we're going to just get that

and make it happen. So just a lots going on in this

space at the moment. I think, I think money talks

there is as well. Yeah.

So like if if they can say look we'll give you X amount just come to us and we'll give you what you need.

And these companies got nothing to losers like you remember like they're they're they're backed by such such strong it's just such strong backing that they can just do it.

You know what I mean? So I said it, I said it a brand

new XC40 recently and what it works go on.

And it's unbelievable. I really, really nice car and

it's Chinese made and I'm like yeah the the that stigma behind Chinese is just forget it now. Like it's their there, they're

just they're they're what we used to laugh on.

We'll be all driving Chinese because we are.

It's happening. Just waiting.

As you know you and I remember keep being politically correct, but you and I remember seeing on the back of Holdens build with spanners, no chopsticks. I think the holders are the ones

that are falling apart at the moment and not so much the stuff coming out of China at the moment.

It's just at different level. And these companies are not

scared to use new manufacturing methods and technologies like Xiaomi come out of nowhere and they're going to be using giga castings and things that Tesla sort of worked heavily on to make sure the cost to produce the shell of the body is just, you know, as affordable as it can be, as efficient as it can be. So some of these newer companies

as well, Ziker as well, they've got in their manufacturing facilities, they have these big casting machines as well.

So they're basically don't wait around and see what the new thing is. They adapted and used it

straight away. Yeah, none of the Volkswagen

plants have anything like that. None of the Toyota stuff has

anything like that. So when these guys see something

good, they fare the best and they make it happen.

And that's what we're going to get in a lot of our future sports cars and stuff that, you know, us car people can look forward to. Exciting because you know, like

I'm actually excited to see to see all these cars come alive.

And and you're right the Japanese have kind of been stale stale, but like just they're kind of out of stalemate.

Like they they they still do like what we're gonna do what we know and we're gonna keep doing it and we're going to double, but we're not going to fully venture.

So like, like like for example companies like MJ have got like they're electric but still with their combustion cars as well.

You know so I it always feels like Toyota and and these companies are waiting it out to see how it plays out you know and and and and they're they're like they're they're they're a bit afraid to take the gamble to to do some full electrics that's the. Problem because that because

what's happening to Toyota at the moment, and not many people are seeing this, is in China, they can't compete anymore.

So in China now you can buy an electric car that's cheaper than a petrol car. So when that happens, why would

anyone buy a petrol car? Because you, you know, you pay

so much more for fuel, and in the world's biggest now market, that's what they want. And also the resale values are

plummeting rapidly. Nobody wants.

It's like couple of years after the iPhone was released, nobody wanted a flick flip phone anymore.

So why would people want a flip phone, which is what Toyota is offering now? So what they've done is they've

gone to BYD to say, hey, supplies the battery and supplies that the drivetrain or the motors and make a car for us. We're just going to stick a

Toyota badge in front of it. And that's happening is.

It yeah, it's called that. If you look up Toyota BZ three,

yeah, which is like the BZ 4X, the big flop electric car that they put up. Everything in the BZ 3 is all

BYOD under the skin and that's what they have done.

They've gone and they've said we we can't compete in this.

Mitsubishi pulled out of China last year, so all the big guys can't compete anymore if you haven't got a product and you you can't. Like for example, in cities like

Shanghai, if you buy a pure petrol or diesel car, you can't get a number plate to put on the car because the city won't allow you to have a number plate unless you go into a lottery.

But if it's a electric car, they'll give you a number plate straight away that you can stick on a car that you buy.

And that's been going on for nearly ten years now in Schlage cities like Shanghai. So they have a real pollution,

that issue that they need to solve.

And the best way to do that is to reduce the number of petrol and diesel cars out there. And they're doing it.

They're doing it big, like it's at scale.

So a lot of these Japanese car brands can't compete.

They're waiting for hydrogen, They're waiting for solid state batteries, No, But they're realising that it's very difficult. Nissan, you know Listen produces

so many leaves, right? Yeah.

They launched area, which is their SUV equivalent of an electric car and now apparently they can't produce any out of the US plants because they didn't realise how difficult it was to make electric cars. Well, the Japanese are.

I don't know what they're going to do.

And now the Hatsu thing which you.

Must have. Heard about right.

So it's it's not looking and I had to did a big deal at the end of 2022 with CI TL, which is the biggest maker of batteries globally. They also supply batteries to

Tesla. A lot of the base model Tesla

cars have the CTL batteries, but they did a deal with the Hatsu and I thought this was going to be a good turning point for them to make smaller electric cars. The small segment, you know we

have the K cars, the Chinese equivalent of K cars go gangbusters. There's just such a huge market

for them round. Yeah, we the Japanese aren't

producing anything apart from maybe.

Then listen, Sakura and the Mitsubishi E KX or whatever it is. See what was in Japan, I was

expecting to see a lot more, you know, electric caves.

But they don't really dawn like, like, you know, I mean I saw a few saccharides, but that was it.

Like I was like that's surprised me that that the Japanese, you know leaders of technology for you forever essentially.

And you know which brand is doing big in in Japan at the moment? BYD wants to open up like over

100 showrooms by the end of 2024.

Well, and they only entered the market last year.

Wow. So this is going to be quite

interesting to see how if people want electric cars and the only ones they can get are made in China or made in Thailand that BYOD will produce, then what's the difference between them and Honda? Because Honda produces cars in

Thailand and since sells them everywhere.

So yeah, very interesting times ahead in in our industry.

Percent should look forward to seeing what happens in in.

I think 2024 and 2025 are going to be two very big years for the industry. So you know keep your eyeballs

there. Where's your Ross?

Thank you for joining us tonight.

Thanks Maggie for having me on. We'll try and make this happen

more often. 100% man. Well, that was tricky back in

and and we'll try to catch up in in in due course.

Rizzy Ross, Where can people find you in your writing?

So anyone's interested, I'm on our website called thedriven dot IO and and it's Australia's sort of #1 electric vehicle publication. Yeah.

So the bit of my writing there and yeah, otherwise you can reach reach out to me through kaloob.com dot AU covering

electric vehicle market trends and what's happening in the space. Absolutely.

He's the guy to know like your Facebook page is car, talk to you. IQ with major.

If you send me a previous officers all up on iTunes, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasting apps and you can don't don't forget to subscribe and view to us there checking out teaspoon still got a teaspoon.com type in cattle

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The 2024 Torquies. The best cars of 2023

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