Latest / In Wheel Time Podcast / Navigating Trump's Tariffs; Impacts the American Auto Industry?

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Navigating Trump's Tariffs; Impacts the American Auto Industry? · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast, a 30-minute mini version of the In Wheel Time Car Show that airs live every Saturday morning 8 to 11 am Central.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: This is the only place to go for all things automotive the award-winning In Wheel Time Car Talk Show, just ahead to the West Coast, and Mr Fabulous and car potentate Jack Nerad standing by, and we're going to talk about Trump's tariffs and what they mean to all of us out there trying to buy a new car.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Later, jeff has the racing calendar, mr Mars has this week in auto history and I'll get you caught up on the stories making automotive news headlines.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Howdy, along with Mike out of this world bars.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: We always need more.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Jeff Zekin.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: I'm, don Armstrong, so glad that you could join us on this Saturday for our live broadcast and if you're listening to a podcast, hey.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: We really appreciate it.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: So we'll start off with this story, okay?
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Us President Donald Trump said he would impose reciprocal tariffs as soon as the evening of February 12th.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: I don't think that that's happened on every country that charges duties on US imports in a move that ratchets up fears of a widening global trade war and threatens to accelerate US inflation.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: He said I may do it later on or I may do it tomorrow morning, but we will be signing reciprocal tariffs.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: That's what Trump said to the reporters at the White House.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Trump's latest round of market-rattling tariffs comes as Indian Prime Minister, narendra Modi, is due to visit the White House.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: The Trump administration has complained that India has high tariffs that lock out US imports.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: Has complained that India has high tariffs that lock out US imports.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: The news sent industries reliant on steel and aluminum imports scrambling to offset an expected jump in costs.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: The EU will prioritize negotiations over retaliatory countermeasures for now in an effort to avoid a damaging trade war.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: So we're going to talk to Jack Nerad.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: He's our man about town and also the host of America on the Road.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: He joins us, jack, it's always a pleasure to have you with us, sir.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: Such a pleasure to talk to you guys.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: Thank you, happy Saturday.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Happy Saturday.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: What's the gas prices out there in California these days?
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: $5 a gallon oh my God, $4.99 for regular.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: I drove past the Chevron last night coming back from the desert.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: Well, I'm not trying to make you jealous, but over by where I work, $2.39 a gallon.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like we're in a different country here.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah Well, we'll vouch for that.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: On many levels.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: It's like a different country that's going to war with the United States right now.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, pretty much.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: It's like a different country that's going to war with the.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: United States right now.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, pretty much Very bizarre.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: So I thought today that we would talk about tariffs.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: Let's talk about that A lot of people are yeah.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: So Canada and Mexico are big, actual exporters to the United States of cars that we all buy, actual exporters to the united states of cars that we all buy, even american-made cars.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Well, american-designed cars, american brands have factories that turn out cars that well, chevys, you name it.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they build them.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and so a 25 percent tariff, that's an awful lot of money.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: It's a lot of money.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's a bargaining chip too.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: I think a lot of this is tempest in the teapot.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: A lot of this is the art of the deal.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: I mean, there's one thing that our current president knows how to do, I think, is make business deals, and what he's seeing is that we have trade imbalances with many countries, including both Mexico and Canada.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: I think this is going to resolve itself in a different way than a lot of people are panicking about, but I think one of the things you do when you're negotiating any kind of business deal like if you're buying a building or selling a building is you start at a particular place and you end up somewhere else.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Right, you don't end up where you start in terms of making a deal.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: So I think that's largely what's happening.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: He also ran on creating jobs in America for American workers and not Canadian workers, not Mexican workers.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: We've seen a lot of factories fly out of the United States, particularly south of the border, you know, south of where you guys are not too far, I guess because of, uh, the situation that we put together, uh, two different deals actually, with mexico and canada that basically treat those countries essentially as the united states.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: Um, although their workers don't pay taxes in the united states, they're not citizens of the united states and um other workers.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: Are you workers in both of those countries?
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: Are they members of the united auto workers union?
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: No, they're not.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: It's one of the reasons that, um, that they moved down.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: The big three have gone down to Mexico.
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: I mean low labor costs also but they are not unionized in the same way that through the United auto workers, so that's essentially been a giant loophole where jobs have drained out of the United States and South of the border.
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: For the last probably 30 years We've had two different deals, including a deal that Trump renegotiated essentially in his first term, and now I think that he's likely to want to negotiate that one more time to make it even more favorable to American workers and less favorable.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: The overall goal here is to build America's industrial base to keep people working in manufacturing in the United States.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: He ran on that.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: It's not surprising that he will do things to put that into effect.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: Well, I read a story just this past week that United Auto Workers and I assume that it's under this new contract are going to be getting a $10,000 bonus, at least with one manufacturer this year, because of the profits that I think it was General Motors is going to reap this year and that does not bode well for me as a consumer that's going to go and buy a Chevrolet and know that here's a guy that's probably making $100 an hour screwing a car together and he's going to get a $10,000 bonus.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: And here I am don't even get a pay raise of 2% this year.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: I think what bodes well for all of us as car consumers is the fact that there are 30-plus brands out there that compete tooth and nail against one another and there's a limited number of people who can buy new vehicles.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: They just have the income to buy new vehicles and they have to interest those people in buying their vehicles.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: So I don't think we're going to see 25% price hikes and that kind of thing, even if we were to see 25% tariffs.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: One of the things people don't realize is the tariffs from other countries, not necessarily from Mexico and Canada, because it's a different situation.
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: Basically we're kind of treating one another as the same, but for the European countries the tariffs are, I think, three times or five times what they are, four times maybe what they are on our goods going there.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: Their goods coming here are taxed much less, which doesn't seem fair.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: I think what is being looked at is quote-unquote reciprocal tariffs.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: So if our tariff on them is 2.5%, their tariff on our stuff should be 2.5%, not 10%.
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I saw something about where the imports the automotive imports coming from the European brands.
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: It's like three to one for what we export to them because of the pricing difference and the tariff they have on us so it doesn't sell as well over there and they have less tariffs coming in so we buy more of them because they're cheaper, Right.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: And you know, we've seen all these import manufacturers BMW builds here, mercedes-benz builds here, toyota builds here, nissan builds here, honda builds here.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: So I think the goal, I guess again, is to employ Americans in manufacturing, which I think we all would agree is probably a fairly good thing.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: Well, they've also stopped building EV factories with the batteries.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: I think that there are plenty of idled plants waiting for something to go in there.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: This would be an opportunity to bring back some of that manufacturing from, say, canada or Mexico to the United States, especially with the American brands.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: I know Belvedere up in Illinois.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: There's a plant right there that Stellanus has teased us with that they're going to build something there, but it's still not operational.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean they've got their own issues, of course.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: But a big problem with the auto industry and it has been a big problem for probably 30 to 50 years is there's more production capacity than there are people to buy new cars and as cars get more expensive that becomes even more of a problem.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: So you're going to see idled factories but at the same time I just returned from a Hyundai event factories.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: But at the same time, you know, I just returned from a Hyundai event.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: Hyundai has built a multi-billion dollar plant in Savannah, georgia, that's just come online and, you know, has the capacity to build probably something like half a million cars again in Georgia in the next few years.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: So we'll see what happens with that.
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: But we've seen a lot of the import manufacturers come here to build cars and we'll probably see more of that if there are higher tariffs on imported, imported vehicles let's take that to another level and let's talk about hyundai versus, say, chevrolet.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Are they price competitive for what you get out of their brands?
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: I think so.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: I mean, I think Hyundai is doing a remarkable job in terms of providing value.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Again, I just drank the Kool-Aid a little bit, being on one of their events, so I got some information from them, but they've grown something like 33% in the past five years in terms of volume.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: Their volume is up around 750,000 cars and units you know, cars, sport utilities, et cetera.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: In the United States.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: That's a heck of a lot of new vehicles being sold and a significant portion of those are being built in North America or being built in America, in the United States of America.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: So that's certainly good for workers.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: Those are not United Auto Workers, union workers.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: But they jack up the price of the car to the point where you know that's one of the buying things about going for instance this Hyundai plant.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: They don't have to pay the UAW exorbitant amounts of money in amounts of money, which is yeah and which is why we've seen plants being built in Mexico, where they can avoid that, where we've seen General Motors and Ford plants being built in Mexico Certainly Stellantis builds vehicles in Mexico too, volkswagen does, so we're seeing a lot of production in Mexico, again avoiding the unions, avoiding that labor rate.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: You can certainly argue that it's not good for American workers right?
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I think that it's going to raise a red flag, I think, with UAW and going hey, you know what?
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: We're going to pay our workers this much money.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: Congratulations that you won all of these wonderful pay raises for everybody.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: But it's also going to wind up killing you in the end when they start closing factories because they're not selling cars built by the UAW.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I'm old enough to remember when General Motors had 50% of the market in the United States and now they're under 20% of the market.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: Well under that.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: Now they're under 20% of the market, well under that.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: The imports have eaten the domestic manufacturers' lunch for years and years and years, and some of it with American workers.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: I mean a significant portion of the vehicles that Toyota and Honda are selling, for example, are built in the United States by American workers.
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about Stellantis and kind of move the candle along here a little bit, in the fact that Stellantis, I think, is heading at least in a different direction and hopefully in the right direction, bringing back maybe some internal combustion engines and some horsepower, the stuff that I went.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: Why are you throwing away this entire audience that you spent decades building, talking about horsepower and and all of the almost a cash cow you know, you know you're going to sell every one of them, and so why yeah?
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: talk to me being slow to go to uh, to electrics might turn out to be a great thing.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: I mean, a lot of people were slamming stalantis for not having electric vehicles, not having battery electric vehicles the way General Motors did and Ford.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: Ford seems to have lessened their emphasis on electric vehicles too, but maybe that's a good thing.
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: I think I've talked to you guys about the Dodge Charger Daytona that I drove late last year, which will then have internal combustion and not the Charger Daytona itself, but that same platform is built so it can accept internal combustion engines and we're going to see that.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's in the plan and that seems like a really good idea based on what we're seeing going forward.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: You know I floated the idea that we've seen peak electric, at least for the time being.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: I think the electric market share for 2025 is liable to be no higher than it was in 2024 and might be lower, and I think if we see the $7,500 tax credit go away and we see fuel economy regulations change, that's what has driven a lot of manufacturers to build electrics is to to match those fuel economy requirements.
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: If those are lessened, I mean all bets are off.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: I think internal combustion engines could be with us for many, many years to come, and I've always thought that I've always thought that you know, the ev stuff is great for some people, it's not for everybody and I think it's just another offering that manufacturers need to have for everybody.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: So you know grandma and grandpa that really don't travel that much.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: All they do is, you know, church and grocery store, typical stuff that we all have heard for years and years and years.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: The hybrid, the full electric, might be perfect for somebody like that, and they should have the opportunity to do that.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: But for all of us to be forced to go to electric and especially in Houston, texas, that covers tens of thousands of square miles, I mean it just doesn't make any sense for a lot of people.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: And to do away with the combustion engine doesn't make any sense.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: Matter of fact, I know that you've driven some cars that are now getting 40 miles to the gallon in a hybrid, and I'm going, I'll take that.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: I think these hybrids are terrific.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: I think we're seeing great efficiency out of just more conventional internal combustion engines.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: They work pretty well.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: I mean, we've really gotten good at that, yeah, and I think those are cool things.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: I'm a little concerned about all these turbocharged engines that we're seeing in terms of longevity of those vehicles going forward, and we're seeing a ton of vehicles that are nothing but turbo or nothing but turbo and then hybrid and plug-in hybrid and you know, as a guy who keeps his car way too long, you know I'm concerned about that.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: I'm a keep it and I'm a buy it and keep it for a long time kind of guy when it comes to vehicles.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, and not only that Financial decision.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and we've also seen some real problems with some of the turbocharged engines and, in particular, ford.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: There's been a lot of failures at Ford with their twin turbos, v6s, ecoboost, all that stuff A lot of the turbo.
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: I mean, this thing's spinning at thousands of RPM.
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: And my brother's truck, he's got a truck, he's got 180-something thousand miles on it, turbocharged V8, diesel actually and there's something wrong with the turbocharger.
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: The code says there's something wrong.
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: Well, they're not sure what's wrong with it, so they're just going to want to replace it for six thousand dollars because they can't fix it.
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: I mean, it's a unit and that's that's a diesel.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: That's not even the little small motors that are working their tails off jack.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: What's coming up on america on the road this week?
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: uh, really good question.
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: Uh, we test a lot of you're bad, as us can I.
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: Can I remember that far back?
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: Uh, actually, I drove a mazda 3 with a manual transmission, a six-speed manual transmission, which I think is a terrific car, and it wasn't the turbo, basically almost a base car.
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: It had kind of premium features inside, but it had the base power plant, which is 191 horsepower.
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: And I was remarking on the show five years ago, 10 years ago, this would have been the sports model.
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: This had plenty of pep.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: I love the Mazda 3.
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: You guys probably do too.
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: It handles terrifically well.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: I like hatchbacks because they're very versatile, and so we stuff a lot of things in it, and my wife and I drove up to Central California, where my youngest daughter is going to school, and spent some time with her and then drove back.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: So that's one of the things we talk about on the show.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: We talk about tariffs on the show a lot too to tell you the truth, no doubt.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: yeah Well, jack, it's always great to talk to you and thank you so much for joining us on a Saturday out there on the left coast.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: It's great to.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: I see you've got the tan working and it's been a little bit rainy out there, so I hope all is well for you and your family.
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, we had all kinds of weather.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: Yesterday I was on an event where it was sunny, it snowed, it rained, and so I had it all.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: It was crazy.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Well, you take care of yourself.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: And thanks again.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: We appreciate you, sir.
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: Thanks, Enjoy your weekends, guys.
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: Thanks, jeff, you too weekends.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Guys jack knee red america on the road just ahead.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Jeff has the racing calendar, mars has this week in auto history and we'll also bring you some auto news headlines.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: The in real time car talk continues after this break guys.
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: Well, I don't know what's going on over here.
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: I can see the picture, but I can't hear the audio, and that doesn't surprise me.
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: Well, there's Lupe Tortilla.
• 19:14
  Speaker 4: There's a picture of the outdoor of the building.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: Well, why don't you switch it over to us, because that's not going to cut it right now.
• 19:19
  Speaker 4: I didn't want to narrate it.
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: Huh, I didn't want to narrate it.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: No, I don't want to narrate it.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: I think it's a great place to eat.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: I hope that everybody went over there for Valentine's Day, yeah, alright.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: So while we work on that, let's do Jeff's Racing Calendar, sponsored by Texas Muscle Car.
• 19:35
  Speaker 4: Challenge.
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: Thank you for that.
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: Tomorrow big day Daytona 500.
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: We're talking about Florida, of course.
• 19:44
  Speaker 4: You had the duels last Thursday, I believe.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: The Tex-Mex dining experience.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry, no, no, no, no, we're good, you continue on, all right.
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: Daytona 500 is again, like I said, tomorrow the duels.
• 19:57
  Speaker 4: On Thursday the truck race ran, the Craftsman truck race ran yesterday.
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: You got Xfinity today at 4 o'clock and then the well Xfinity today is on the CW Network and then tomorrow it is on Fox, I believe, for the big event for Daytona 500.
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: And then you've got a couple other things going on.
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: You've got NHRA, of course.
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: We just had Courtney on there, courtney Enders on there, talking about the NHRA, gator Nationals, her events, things going on with her life, and then you've got some some soapbox derby events coming up in march and you got imsa coming up in march.
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: So a lot of these things are building, the pre-event stuff is happening and then, of course, we're going to get into full-blown racing next couple of weeks, mr mars yes, sir, this week in auto history this week in auto history we had a few things that were rather interesting.
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: that came up, uh, in 1893 thomas B Jeffrey and Charles E Duryea received oh, I remember that very well.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: You were there?
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: I know I was there.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: Yep, we should have got your pictures.
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: They got the first US patent for the first gasoline-powered automobile.
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: It was basically a lightweight gasoline-powered engine mounted on a carriage, making the milestone in automotive history.
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: Now, this patent laid the foundation for future automobile manufacturing, influencing people like Henry Ford to build upon this first idea.
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: Also this week, in 1931, the first highway median was introduced out in California.
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: Of course, now, this was a safety feature.
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: Why do they call it a median Median?
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: Well you're median In the medial.
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: It's a mediation between lanes, this way and that way.
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: A medial Did you just?
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: You just said that word.
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: I did.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: I just made that up.
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: Now, it was designed to reduce head-on collisions.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: There you go.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: It was installed on a stretch of us route 99 near bakersfield that separated the opposing traffic lanes, which improves road safety.
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: Now in the united states, this type of road may also be called a divided highway, a boulevard, a parkway, an expressway, a freeway or even an interstate, and it has a grassy median or a jersey barrier separating the traffic.
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: A jersey barrier.
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: I have no idea what that means.
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: Forget about it, forget about it Choisy.
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: Also this week, the Mazda Miata MX-5 debuts.
• 22:13
  Speaker 3: Now, this was a very important car because when it was introduced at the Chicago Auto Show it was actually reviving the lightweight roadster concept 1.6 liter engine, 2,500 pound vehicle with a 50-50 weight distribution which created some seriously agile handling, and it was actually inspired by the classic British sports cars.
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: But it also combined reliability, affordability and just fun to drive.
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: Now also this week, in 1908, the New York to Paris race begins.
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: Now, just that caught my attention.
• 22:47
  Speaker 4: There's Don Armstrong.
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: The guy's wearing his underwear out.
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: He's got it on the outside.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Is it an operating uniform?
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: The surgical?
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: thing I don't know, tub it out.
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: In 1908, spanning 22,000 miles and taking 169 days.
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: It began in New York.
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: Sure, of course.
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: Now, of course, they had to go across different terrains.
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: Six teams from the US, germany, italy and France competed in this test of endurance.
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: Three entries finished the race, with the American Thomas Flyer, driven by George Schuster, winning after 169 days, facing snow, mud and political tensions.
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: The race and no roads.
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: No, no roads.
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: The race showcased the automobile's potential for global travel.
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: On February, the 12th 2014, a massive sinkhole collapsed underneath the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, kentucky, swallowing eight rare Corvettes.
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: Security cameras captured the shocking event during the night, as the 40-foot-wide, 30-foot-deep hole opened up inside the Sky Dome, where they had a lot of the cars on display.
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: Among the damaged cars was a 1962 Corvette and the one-millionth Corvette ever made.
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: Some of these cars have been restored.
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: Some others still remain on display as part of the museum's exhibit, turning the disaster into an unexpected attraction for visitors.
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: That's this week in automotive history, thank you.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: We're going to try once again to make this all work and we'll see if this happens.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: Hold your mouth right.
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: The Tex-Mex dining experience is defined by Loopy Tortilla, your destination for Texas's best beef fajitas and frozen margaritas.
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: Since 1983, loopy Tortilla has served authentic and time-tested recipes made with the freshest ingredients.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: Atmosphere is part of the award-winning experience at Loopy Tortilla, all developed in a little house near Highway 6 and I-10 in West Houston.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: Visit any of the Loopy Tortillas and you'll see the same attention to detail in each and every location.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: Start your Loopy experience with queso flammeado and guacamole, along with a classic frozen margarita.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: Dine on famous Lupe beef and chicken fajitas or pepper shrimp brochette or a fish or vegetarian entree, and finish with a scrumptious flan for dessert.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: Find Lupe Tortilla in Houston, college Station, beaumont, austin, san Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: There's a Texas location near you.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: The recipes are authentic and time-tested, the ingredients always fresh.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: Loopy Tortilla it's pretty good.
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: You own a car you love.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: Why not let Gulf Coast Auto Shield protect it?
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: Houstonian John Gray invites you to his state-of-the-art facility to introduce you to his specialist team of auto enthusiasts.
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: We promise you'll be impressed.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: Whether you're looking to massage your original paint to a like-new appearance, apply a ceramic coating, install a paint protection film, nano-ceramic window tint or new windshield protection called ExoShield.
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: Gulf Coast Auto Shield is where Houston's car people go.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: Curbed your wheels Instead of buying new, why not have them repaired?
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: How about a professionally installed radar detector?
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: Gulf Coast Auto Shield does that too.
• 25:50
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• 25:56
  Speaker 1: Better yet, stop by their facility at 11275 South Sam Houston Tollway, just south of the Southwest Freeway, and get a personal tour.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: Gulf Coast Auto Shield is your place to go for all things exterior.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Call them today 832-930-5655, or gcautoshieldcom.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: Hey, going to the Hot Rod Tour of Texas, whether you're going on it or not, you can join us by following the In Wheel Time team as we join over 300 other enthusiasts beginning April 24th.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: Get the info link at inwheeltimecom and our In Wheel Time Facebook page.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: Some of the headlines making stories this week ZF, lifet I'm sorry, lifetech has introduced a heel airbag that is designed to reduce the risk of severe ankle and foot injuries to front seat occupants in the event of a crash.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: If there is a frontal collision, the airbag deploys near the passengers' and drivers' feet, cushioning the impact and providing stability to reduce the risk of harm to the lower extremities.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: According to ZF Lifetech, which is a standalone ZF group unit that was previously the German supplier's passive safety systems division, the airbag, which the supplier says is a world's first, will be available starting in 2028.
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: Airbag for your feet.
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: That's pretty cool If you could get them on your platform shoes that way whenever you're up there.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: You know you would have the platform shoes and they're probably in your closet where this whole conversation needs to be and probably originated from they're in his truck.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: What'd you say?
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: They're in his truck.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: In his truck, there you go.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: Platform shoes.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: I want to see those.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: Bring them out.
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: No, you don't.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: A Chinese lead-acid battery manufacturer with a North American base in Michigan is suing the US government after being blacklisted over allegations of using forced labor in China.
• 27:52
  Speaker 4: No US.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: Department of Homeland Security and US Customs and Border Protection are among the defendants listed in a lawsuit filed last month by Camel Group in the US Court of International Trade.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: Camel, which opened a $20 million factory in Battle Creek, michigan, 120 miles northwest of Detroit, a year and a half ago, was added in 2023 to the Forced Labor Prevention Act list, essentially a scarlet letter prohibiting the automotive supplier from doing business in the country, according to the lawsuit.
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: We'll see what happens there.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: I'm going to kind of finish.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: We'll see what happens there.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: Yep, I'm going to kind of finish this segment out with this story.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: Go ahead, okay?
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: Yep, it's a Saturday morning.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: We're going to the 11 o'clock hour, so it's between breakfast and lunch.
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: I want to preface the story with that, so it's time to start drinking.
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: Stellantis officials are trying to solve the case of the Kokomo contaminator.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: Stellantis officials are trying to solve the case of the Kokomo contaminator.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: Bathrooms at the automaker's Kokomo engine plant in central Indiana repeatedly have been smeared with fecal matter.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: According to a memo posted on social media, the plant makes four-cylinder engines called the Stinkies at the Jeep Wrangler, compass and Grand Cherokee Assembly Plant R.
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: Tyler Adams, the plant's well-being, health and safety manager, said the company has directed its janitorial contractor not to clean up after such events and mourned that the bathrooms found in this grotesque state would be closed.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: But Stilettos said it would continue to ensure that plant workers have access to clean bathrooms and my take on that would be porta potties outside.
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: Exactly.
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: Well, that's the true meaning of opus opus.
• 29:40
  Speaker 4: Go on, continue what you're going to explain that, no, it's actually nasty, but obvious it's a nasty story.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: He said alternate methods may be used to help pinpoint the culprit, but didn't elaborate what those would be.
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: I can only imagine that's a story.
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: Yep, hey Joe, I do do a wire.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: Hey Joe, I do do a wire.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: State Department's procurement forecast removed the mention of Elon Musk's Tesla in relation to a planned $400 million armored EV purchased after reports emerged about it on Wednesday.
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: An armored Tesla budget item that would span five years and start in 2025.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: However, the document was revised to remove Tesla's name.
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: This followed reports of the company's moniker on the procurement document from DropSite News whoever that is and the New York Times.
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: Well, whatever, Okay, An armored Tesla truck, All right.
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: Well, why not I?
• 30:43
  Speaker 3: thought the Cybertruck was bulletproof oh, never mind.
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: They proved that that was wrong.
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah, why not?
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: I thought the Cybertruck was bulletproof oh, never mind, they proved that that was wrong, yeah, and they're supposed to be redesigning that.
• 30:50
  Speaker 4: I saw some kind of rendering on one of the channels that's allegedly going to redesign it.
• 30:57
  Speaker 4: It looks kind of different, a little bit more modern, like an American car.
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: Not like a soapbox, derby car.
• 31:02
  Speaker 4: No, nothing like that.
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: All right, hey, soapbox derby car?
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: No, nothing like that.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: Alright, hey, we'd love to hear from you.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: Shoot us an email.
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: The address info at inwheeltimecom.
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: Back after this.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: Pro-am Auto Accessories has been serving Houston's auto enthusiasts since 1984, providing world-class products for sports cars, european sedans and American muscle.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: Pro-am is known as the place to go to find exclusive and hard-to-find parts and accessories.
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: Pro-am is one of the very first distributors in the USA for brands such as Recaro, redline, momo, corbo and Simpson.
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: Located in the heart of Houston's premier retail and service corridor, the Galleria area, pro-am's walk-in storefront includes an 8,000-square-foot warehouse, showroom and installation bays.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: Pro-am not only sells parts and accessories, but also offers installation and service.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: Pro-am is now reaching a worldwide audience through Pro-Amcom, taking its local reputation to the rest of the world.
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: At Pro-Am Auto, you'll be dealing with a small group of professionals who truly want to help you with your automotive needs.
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: If you don't see what you're looking for on the website, call and Pro-Am will lend you a hand.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: Pro-am Auto, 6125 Richmond at Greenridge in Houston's Galleria area.
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: Call them at 713-781-7755.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: The award-winning In Wheel Time Car Talk Show now reaches 5.3 million folks each year.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: Check us out on InWheelTimecom, the Odyssey Radio app, youtube, facebook and just about every other entertainment source out there, including our live broadcast every Saturday, 10 to noon Central Time.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show.
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: I'm Don Armstrong, inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning on Facebook, youtube, twitch and our InWheelTimecom website.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, spotify, stitcher, iheart Podcast, podcast Addict TuneIn, pandora and Amazon Music.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: Keep listening and we'll see you soon.