Latest / In Wheel Time Podcast / UAW Strikes, Electric Mobility, and the Impact of Work-From-Home and a review of the Kia Telluride!

Transcript

UAW Strikes, Electric Mobility, and the Impact of Work-From-Home and a review of the Kia Telluride! · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:03
  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 11am.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Central Podcast Channel.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: It's the In Wheel Time car talk show Coming up.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: My microphone just sounds so far away.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Is it this thing here?
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Oh, you got to get the microphone to your mouth.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: It's a knob that never gets used and it's got all that scratchy here.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: There it going on in there.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: We don't need to hear about your personal life, my personal, don Busy, twisting the knobs, twisting the knobs away.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Coming up.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: We're going to talk, hopefully, with Jill Trotta, a veteran of the auto industry.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: She's going to talk about the EV biz and expectations about the immediate future.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: I got to drive the 2023 Kia Telluride.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: I'll give you my thoughts on that.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Conrad has the cruising calendar and this week in auto history and later we talked to Robert Hatfield about the UAW strike.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Plus, we'll bring you the stories making automotive news headlines just ahead on the In Wheel Time car talk show.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us, howdy, along with Mike out of this World, mars King, conrad DeLong.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: We need more.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Jeff Zekin.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: I'm Don Armstrong, glad you could join us today.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: And while we wait for Jill, of course we may be waiting until the cows come home.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: They've been called, but they're still out in the field and they ain't coming home any time soon.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: I have a feeling we're going to talk about the UAW strike.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Oh, I have some ancillary stories about the strike.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: Of course, we've been talking about it this morning, on and off, and yesterday they Didn't he take all those pictures, the black and white pictures of California ancillary?
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: No, that's Ancill Adam, I'm sorry.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: This is why we have you on the show.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: No, it's not.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Well, I have been talking about the lower tiered suppliers.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Now this particular one is not so low, but they, you know, it's the just in time delivery of parts to the factory, because the factory is just an assembler.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: All they do is take all the parts that they've designed, that they've sent out to all of these other companies, vendors, and then they Put them together and bring them to the assembly plant, more as a component that the assembly plant puts in the vehicle.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: And Mike just had a.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: Moroni for the car he reviewed On that.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Moroni, doesn't it have where the parts are coming from or where it's assembled?
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Well, it gives you the percentage of.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: American parts, but the other thing that it does, it has the assembly part of it somewhere.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: So to that end, you're familiar with ZF, a company called.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: ZF yeah, they build transmissions for Chrysler products.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Rear ends.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: All sorts of components, major components.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: They do the eight speed for it.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: If the strike against ZF forces vehicle assembly to be shut down or reduced at Mercedes, it would create a historic situation in which UAW actions caused production to be impacted at four automakers simultaneously.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: Uaw early Wednesday struck a ZF group plant in Tuscaloosa, alabama, roll Tide that builds front and rear axles for Mercedes-Benz being built nearby at a factory there, raising the prospect of vehicle production being affected there as soon as Thursday.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Mercedes builds the GLS SUV, the GLE mid-sized crossover that both Mars and I have had, the GLE Coupe, in addition to the EQE electric crossover and the EQS electric SUV, according to automotive news data, and so again.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: So that's a shot across the ballot, mercedes, correct.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: It's.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: UAW, but Mercedes assembly is not UAW.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: This is a component supplier to Mercedes assembly.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: And guess what?
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: They ain't making any vehicles without a rear axle or a front axle.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: It's a truth, period In that note.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: In that same vein, General Motors idled its Chevrolet Malibu assembly plant in Kansas on Wednesday.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: They're selling so many of them.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: On Wednesday after running short of stampings made at a Missouri plant where workers are on strike I'm not talking about.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: It doesn't really make any difference what they build.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: It's the fact that these companies are suppliers to the big three that are being struck by the UAW, so the suppliers are in on it as well if they're a UAW factory.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: And the UAW knows the inner workings of that network.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: They know who's supplying what to who and how that will impact, be it Stellantis, gm or Ford.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: You know all of that.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: They know how their strike choices are impacting production.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: Automaker said in a Wednesday statement that the roughly 2,000 UAW representative employees at Fairfax assembly will be off work because of the ongoing strike targeting GM's Wentzville assembly plant.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Still on Wednesday, Stellantis had 68 employees at its Toledo machining plant in Perrysburg Ohio, Ohio, were temporarily laid off because of the strike at the nearby assembly plant that builds the Jeep Gladiator and Wrangler.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: The automaker said it also expects to lay off 300 employees at its transmission and casting plants in Kokomo, Indiana.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: Gm Fairfax plant builds the Malibu Sedan and the Cadillac XT4 Compact.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: Crossover, the Wentzville plant, which builds vans and mid-sized pickups for Chevy and GMC, makes deck lids for the Malibu that ran short, according to a spokesperson.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: So what I'm getting at is that all of these little bitty suppliers that have UAW workers that they're striking that supply the overall bigger picture of the assembly plants.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: Well, even the assembly plant that's not shut down will be shut down because they're not setting the parts to complete the so they're all taking shot.
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: the UAW and GM and Ford and Chrysler are all taking shots at each other.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: With you know, uaw shuts down a tier three or tier two supply, maybe even a tier one supplier that shuts down an assembly plant, gm goes oh okay, we're gonna close the plant, lay all those people off, which now means immediately those employees' incomes are no longer funding the strike fund.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: So GM's trying to reduce the UAW strike funds and their ability to pay people out on strike.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: So you're talking about tiers.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: Well, the big three cannot agree what tiers are or how to end them.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: According to this story, I think they know.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: I think that's the pay scale within the UAW.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: So.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: GM, ford and Stilatis each say they're offering to stop having multiple wages for hourly workers.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: But the union wants to go further and have all workers earn equal pay after 90 days on the job.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: It's an issue so central to contract negotiations that UAW President Sean Fane has taken to wearing a red T-shirt, demanding it in big bold letters across his chest end tiers.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: But the union in the Detroit three can't seem to agree on what those two words actually mean.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: The company say tiers refer to multiple wage structures that top out at different levels, while the union believes it's a broader definition.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: That includes, among other things, starting new hires at a pay rate that starts lower and rises as they gain seniority.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: For example, at Ford's Rossonville Components and Sterling Axel Plants worker hourly pay tops out around $24, versus $32 at other plants.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: At GM, some workers at Aftersales Parts Distribution Centers and GM's Components Holdings Plants receive lower pay.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: So do workers at Stilatis' Mopar Parts Division.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Uaw has so far rejected the company's proposals which would eliminate those different pay rates, saying they don't go far enough.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and Ford has avoided additional strikes because the company has met some of the union's demands during negotiations over the past week.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: So that's why you're watching.
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: The UAW is focusing a little bit more on Stilatis' and General Motors.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: Oh and, by the way, Joe Biden stated on X, or what used to be Twitter, that he's gonna visit Michigan on Tuesday.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he's supposed to be picking up a picket and joining the picket line.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: I wonder who's gonna hold him up and point him in what direction to walk.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: No wonder he'll probably get hit by a car.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, goofy, ha ha ha ha.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: But we found the banjo player from deliverance.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: He's now the president of the United States.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Ha ha, ha ha.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: Look at the side-by-side picture.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: Look at Mars.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: Mars, you know I will say this what, wait, wait, say again.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: I'm not gonna answer any emails this week.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: Mars, you know I am proud to say I have heard of the movie deliverance.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: Honest to God, as I'm sitting here right now, I have never seen the deliverance.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: But I have an idea what's going on there.
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: Conrad's got it on the loop at his house.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: Squeal like a pig, that's all I know.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: There's the scene in deliverance, with the kid on the porch, the banjo player and then the guy that's friends with Bert Reynolds and they sit there, he plays the guitar and the kid on the porch.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: The guitar Plays the banjo the guitar.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: They have this little banjo duel.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: It's a pretty famous piece of music, mars.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: Where's our guest?
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: Oh, I don't know.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: I've got two different numbers and I get voicemail on both of them.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: She's watching and we've scared her off.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, she's in California so Well, there's that.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: There's a problem.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: I wanna divide off here and go in a different direction.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: All right, I thought this was interesting and, conrad, I know that you probably know more about this than I do, but I just find it interesting.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: Autonation Incorporated and Hendrick Automotive Group Now, these are big groups of automobile dealers, huge.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: They topped their respective dealership group peers for a second straight year in a reputation study released on Monday.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: Reputation, which aids dealership groups and automotive brands in managing online customer reviews and feedback, said in its 2023 study that AutoNation ranks first among US public dealership groups You're good for them While Hendrick is number one among the country's privately held groups.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: So here are the groups by numbers Top five public US dealership groups, starting at number five, asbury Automotive, then four is Penske Automotive, three Sonic Automotive, two Group One Automotive and number one is AutoNation.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: Now Group One is somewhat based out of the Texas area, as well, yeah, I think they're out of Austin originally.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, it was actually Mike Smith out in Beaumont and a couple other dealers got together to create Group One.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: Okay, top five private US dealership groups.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: Now, some of these you won't recognize.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: I didn't Five Napleton Automotive Group, four, holman, three, ken Ganley Of two, west Hur Auto Group and number one, hendrick Auto Group.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: That's Rick Hendrick.
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, hendrick, huge in the Southeast.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: Yes, Big NASCAR guy.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: Top five non-luxury brands Okay, non-luxury, non-luxury brands.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: Number five Volkswagen, four is Honda, three is Nissan, two is Subaru and number one Mitsubishi.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: Ah, oh, really.
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: Mitsubishi.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: I haven't heard of that name in what the?
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: Are you kidding me?
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: When was the last time you were in one.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: Have you seen one?
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: Have you seen a new one?
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: No, I'm waiting for a.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: Suzuki to come back.
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: Absolutely Wait for.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: Suzuki.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: Ogliest car, I think, I've ever seen.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not a Mitsubishi fan.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: Anyway, top five luxury brands, five Porsche, four Acura, number three is BMW, number two is Lexus Cadillac and number one Mercedes infinity.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: I want to recount infinity.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: Dettroit based seating supplier L M Manufacturing is temporarily laid off 650 workers due to the UAW strike shutting down.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: It's customer, the one that they have company, a joint venture between Canadian auto supplier giant magna International and minority owned L A N Manufacturing, made the move in response to a work stoppage Friday.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: That's halted production of Ford Motor Company's Bronco, among various other makes and models by the Detroit 3 is that Lear?
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: is that who that the Provided is the supplier?
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: magna.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: Matt, yeah, I think I think Lear is a portion of magna.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: But boy, they do a lot of seating for many manufacturers.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, lear company has been competing with crosstown competitor Lear and other suppliers for employees.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: It's not, it's bizarre, because they can't get employees Because they're all out on strike.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: Besides that, I mean in the regular everyday world, because I'm sure that they're not paying as much as some of the other ones are and so they can't get.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and if they raise the rate of these hourly employees?
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: raises the price of everything well, and they've already got a contract with it will make this widget for X number of dollars, and if they go over that then it's out of their pocket.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: But they've got, you know, all the the insurance benefits and medical, and that's part of it too.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: But I think that's part of what UAW is striking for is to get some of their medical benefits after Retirement back because GM has dumped all of that couple of Non-related stories that I wanted to tell you about.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: Morelli Sounds familiar.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: Morelli parts supplier, mopar right, will shut down one of its Italian plants producing components for internal combustion engines, as the business has become Unsustainable due to the transition to electric mobility.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: I forget about it.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: I.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: This is from Italy.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: This is not from New York.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: Oh, okay, I know a guy.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: The plant currently employs around 230 people or manufacturers, plastic components and processes, aluminum components for internal combustion engines.
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: It's aluminium from alley alley aluminium.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, aluminium.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: North America Mars, You've been up there to Auburn Hills Stellantis headquarters, yeah, yeah, yeah, north American COO Mark Stewart says the company is not leaving the headquarters complex in any shape, form or fashion.
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: But the areas he says we're not using, we're looking at some different Repurposing for those and it is a complex.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: It's, yeah, it's, yeah, it's.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: But they've also, you know, several years ago, shut down the museum.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's right out there on the edge so I could see that would be an easy peel off to turn into a restaurant.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: Turn into a restaurant, yeah well yeah, there's not much out body shop out there.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: Where it's located is kind of in the beautiful hills of Auburn, yeah, and I mean to drive up there beautiful.
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it would be another you know office complex type thing like many office buildings around town, including GM's Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit, the hulking complex and Auburn Hills, is set underutilized.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: Since the pandemic ushered in the work from home era for many companies, solanas has maintained a flexible hybrid work approach, even as some other companies have asked employees to return to the office full or part-time.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: No-transcript.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: Well, and think about what that's going to do to property values everywhere.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: You know, they say you know, and not from a fan of San Francisco, but San Francisco office property values have plummeted, though housing values are still climbing, but because all of the work at home, stuff, all of these offices are virtually empty, which is what you know still ends up.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: Well, here's an idea.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: So if you're looking for housing, go to the office building that's looking for tenants and go up there and say I'll take I don't know really 484, 4500 square feet over there and move you and tournée of your friends into it.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: Put up some dividers.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: I have my little little king sheets, like the girls did before, from the revelry.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: There we go.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: Well, why not?
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: I mean, I'm game.
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: Would you do that?
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: It would be the public restroom on the floor might be a little crowded at a time, but that is to a degree.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: That is what has happened in some parts of some cities.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: What they call the gentrification of the city is, you know, some of these warehouse districts.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: People have gone in and bought up and built lofts and condominium complexes.
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: So makes total sense.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: Well, I will say this.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: You know where we are speaking to you from.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: Over here in the sugar land area of Texas there is the old sugar mill, Imperial sugar mill.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: It's the building that's left because the company is long gone out of here.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: They've moved over to Louisiana anyway.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: So they're trying to repurpose all of that and a new company that goes in and buys property or renovates properties, and so they've got their eyes set on the old, what they call the char house, which is the red brick building out here at the end of the street.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: And so I think what they're going to do is is that I think they're going to turn those upper floors of that building into logs.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: How many years has this been discussed?
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: Well, yes, many, many years, that's true, but they're, they're in the process.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: It's going to happen, and already already people are bitching about the fact that all the traffic that it's going to bring to the area, because right behind it, if you look at it, especially if you fly over it, that's the ballpark back there, and so it's all coming this away and that's actually a historical marker too.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: It is.
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: And they also have the what's the the towers there from the chimney towers.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: Oh, the those chimneys, the stacks.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: I don't know what they use those for.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: They're still there, yeah, and the old water tower is still there, although it's not used.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a marker, basically, but it's a.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: It's an interesting proposition, but Well, I use the red building as my mark that I need to turn before I get to it.
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: And there's also a neighborhood back there too, there is a neighborhood back there, a very strange neighborhood, yeah, if you've ever driven through there.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it's different.
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: That's where you hear the banjals Ding ding, ding, ding, ding.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Time now for the cruise in calendar.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: Conrad cruise in calendar.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: Well, we got.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: Woody's waterfront.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: Woody's waterfront Well, it's not a cruise in, that's an event Nifty fifties tonight up off of Buckthorn in the Woodlands classic cars only.
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: H town showdown at Lake Houston Parkway in Houston.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: The Buddha show and shine at Cabela's in.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: Buddha Texas.
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: Buddha Texas.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: You just, like it could be, say it could be buta, but it's not yeah.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: Dust to dawn car meat at a copper ass.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: Copperous C O P E.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: R.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: We are not going to any dust to dawn, anything cradle to grave.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: Maybe, but I've seen that movie.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: It does not end well.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: Well, the route 71 car crews meet at Bucky's and head out from Katie on a car cruise roll out at 10 AM.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: Chaos car crew meet at hometown sports bar in Pearland is tomorrow, starting at 10 AM, the Lake Houston brewery show.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: Why do they all have all these meats at the related without booze?
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, the Lake Houston brewery show in Huffman, texas, starts at 11 AM.
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: Cars and cars, the whiskey and women show.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: That's what I want to know Cars and cocktails at Little Woodrow is at 11 to 3 PM tomorrow and the Arabia shine show motor, auto truck and bike show in Harwin Drive in Houston, harwin Drive.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: Are you kidding me?
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: The Arabian horses, the Arabian horses.
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: No on Harwin, I'm going to say, all I can think of is you go down there and buy your rip off purse or something?
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: Well it could be in the shape of a jacket, maybe $10 Rolex and the Poo.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: Box cruisers mate, because he told me I wasn't allowed to say shit anymore.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: Well, you did tell him that.
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: Inviter Texas, so Mars can go get his EV charged there.
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: Inviter, think of all these things that are happening out there in the Golden.
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: It's happening in place.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: There's only so much control I have.
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm going to think about what are we doing next Saturday morning.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, more off the air.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: Time now for this hour's car review.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: The 2023 Kia Telluride comes in these trim levels the LX, s, ex, sx, sx, prestige, with subsets of X Pro and X Line.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: I know it's very confusing, I agree, but they do this.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: So they package up all of the trim levels with the different stuff that they put in them.
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: All right, what size?
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: This is a standard SUV.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: I'm going to call it a mid-size, but it does have three rows of seating in there.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: How many passengers Total of seven if you can squeeze them in the back?
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: There are changes from last model year and none.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: Exterior features proportional upper and lower grills with modern and unique headlights.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: You know that this is IKEA coming at you.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: Black wheel opening moldings.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: From the side, it looks like all other SUVs in its class.
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: Tops of the rear taillights turn in at the top under the rear glass.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: But I liked about it the unique front and rear styling.
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: That's a Kia exclusive.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: You don't see it on any other vehicle and they've done it with lighting.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: It's pretty amazing.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: What could you have with?
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: The lights are off or the cars off.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: You don't really pay any attention to it.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: When you turn it on, it's pretty good looking.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: The daytime running lights have got the rectangle, the rectangle, anyway.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: What could use improvement?
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: Not sure.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: Maybe have a more blingy version, I don't know.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: Interior highlights here's where the Kia really shines.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: We had the upscale optional terracotta package with quilted upholstery, curved instrument and infotainment screen is one Easy to use, controls that are nicely labeled.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: What I liked about it Android, apple CarPlay standard.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: What could use improvement?
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: I would say an L version, a longer version.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: Give it another foot so you have all three rows of seating and they've got some storage behind it, because when they do this with three rows of seating and a size of vehicle, there's none back there.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: Engine 3.8 liter V6, which is a big V6.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: 291 horsepower, 262 pound feet of torque, eight speed automatic transmission.
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: Both two wheel drive and four wheel drives are available, depending on the trim level you choose the seating 5,000 pounds miles per gallon.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: It's rated at 18 city, 24, highway, for combined at 21.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: I got 22.6 over 333.3 miles.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: Pretty good for that size vehicle.
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: You call it a midsize.
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: I think it leans the large side of midsize.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: Probably so.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: They call it a standard SUV.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: Well, a Chevy Suburban falls into that same category and I can't compare those two.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: The Burbans bigger.
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: It is, that's what I'm saying.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: Ride and handling smooth and easy to maneuver in parking lots.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: This thing is a dream.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: What could you use?
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: Improvement?
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: I put a big question mark there.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: I don't know how you can approve on this.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: And they're selling like hotcakes.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: I can see a lot and I can see why Because the base trim value, base trim price, is 51785.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: The price is tested, which is, as you know, is top of the line 54120, base model price and winner of Edmunds top rated award 35890.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: If you're in the market for a mid to large size SUV, I encourage you to shop it.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: Go drive it, you might like it.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: Competitors include the Hyundai Palisade for 36.4.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: Built on the same platform, the Honda Pilot for 37 and the VW Atlas for 37.725.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: So they're all right in there Same range.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, shop, shop, shop.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: This is a highly competitive vehicle in its size and price range and that's what they have built this for to sell lots of them.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: And they have done an excellent job on this one.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: And I can't put down the VW Atlas or the Honda Pilot.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: Just remember that each are different.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: This one is an American design and I don't even know whether it's built in America or not.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: But Honda Pilot is Japanese designed and made in Japan, I believe, and the VW Atlas German, and 37.725 is its price.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: So they're all right in there together.
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: Shop, shop, shop.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: And don't be fooled by just the brand name.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: You know Kia's been well known for their 10 year 100,000 mile warranty and financing is available A lot of it through the actual manufacturer's leg of financing.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: Assembled in West Point Georgia.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: Which one?
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: The Telluride yeah.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: Now the Kia the key to tell you're right which I just reviewed.
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: West Point, georgia.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, okay.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: All right, very good.
• 27:09
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• 27:28
  Speaker 1: The original group of loopy tortilla restaurants will have you telling your family and friends just what the original recipes mean when it comes to the best fajitas in southeast Texas.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: Founder Stan Holt invited you to visit the original loopy tortilla near I 10 at highway six.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: Here's the original house that inspired the design of all the rest and the original charm that helped make loopy tortilla the go to destination for Houston Tex-Mex.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: Speaking of original, nothing can compete with the original lime pepper marinade that everyone will agree makes loopy tortilla award winning beef fajitas the best anywhere.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Loopy tortilla Katie is another location that gives you the same quality and service Houstonians have come to expect it.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: It's located just off it's in the Grand Parkway.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: At Kingsland Boulevard in Katie, find yourself an Aggie land head to the loopy tortilla and college station.
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: Located just around the corner from Kyle Field.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: It's a great place to enjoy those famous frozen margaritas before or after the game.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: Head to East, to Louisiana.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: Stop in at the loopy tortilla in Beaumont.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: It twos on I 10.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: You can't miss it.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: The original group of loopy tortilla restaurants invite you in for the best Tex-Mex.
• 28:26
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• 28:53
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• 28:56
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• 29:00
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• 29:25
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• 30:23
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• 30:26
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• 30:38
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