Chinese electric carmaker BYD finally got its annual beat of Tesla in the electric car market, which is neither that surprising nor even that interesting. Both Tesla and BYD had worse years than they projected, and both face some serious hurdles in the new year.
Not like they’re alone. While Rivian met its expectations for the quarter, those expectations were lower than Q3 by a large margin. Rolls-Royce, once a brand that was promoting EVs, is shifting focus back to milking as much as possible from its customers with fancy features and V12s.
You know who is killing it right now? Kia. Specifically, Kia is killing it with minivans. The Morning Dump is a pro-van organization, so it’s nice to see that happening.
BYD Thumps Tesla
It was clear as late as Q4 of 2024 that, unless something dramatically changed, Tesla was going to finally give up its EV sales crown to Chinese automaker BYD this year. While Tesla sells cars pretty much everywhere, including in China, that advantage was only going to last so long. BYD has long made more cars and more “electrified” vehicles thanks to its large stable of PHEVs, but hasn’t quite been able to put together a full calendar year of higher pure BEV sales.
The total numbers are in, and Tesla sales dropped about 8.6% to 1.64 million global sales, compared to 2.26 million for BYD. In Q4, Tesla put out its own weird public estimate of quarterly sales. Some thought this was because it wanted to set a lower number that it could beat, but it couldn’t even top its own diminished target. There is an argument out there that comparing Tesla and BYD sort of misses the point, and I accept that there are big differences, but it’s still notable.
A big drop came in Europe, where, other than in Norway, people don’t seem to be that jazzed about buying Teslas. Here’s Bloomberg with an explanation:
Demand for Teslas slumped across most of Europe throughout last year, in part due to blowback over Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk throwing his support behind right-wing politicians and parties in countries including Germany and the UK. While the CEO has predicted sales will improve once Tesla is able to offer the driver-assistance system Tesla markets as Full Self-Driving, or FSD, the company has yet to obtain regulatory approval from authorities in the region.
Most notable is that, unlike the United States, EV sales in the EU were up about 28% for the year, whereas Tesla sales dropped by roughly the same amount. Not great.
Would you rather be BYD? Ehhh… not really. The company has the same massive overcapacity issues that other Chinese automakers have, was clearly juicing its sales with zero-mileage used car schemes, and is only surviving the country’s brutal price war because it’s the biggest. The company just dropped a ton of cars in Mexico to get ahead of tariffs there, but that was supposed to be a big export market, and now it’s less clear how competitive it’ll be.
If BYD has an advantage, it’s in Europe, because most Europeans seem to be willing to buy a cheaper car from a Chinese brand than a more expensive one from Tesla/Musk. Except Norway. Norway DGAF.
Rivian Did Fine, It Was Fine
Rivian also saw a decline in Q4 sales, but it was about what the company had expected, so that’s something, I suppose.
Per the WSJ:
The company said it produced 10,974 vehicles at its manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois and delivered 9,745 vehicles during the fourth quarter of 2025. That is down from 12,727 vehicles produced and 14,183 delivered in the fourth quarter of 2024.
For the entirety of 2025, the company produced 42,284 cars and delivered 42,247. In 2024, the company totaled 49,476 vehicles produced and 51,579 delivered.
The R2 and R3 really can’t come fast enough.
Rolls-Royce Has An EV If You Want It, But If You Have The Money, You Want The V12
The irony of the ultra-wealthy not buying EVs is that the ultra-wealthy, generally, have so many cars that range anxiety couldn’t possibly be an issue for most of them.
While the EV Rolls-Royce Spectre has done well enough, what the people really want is apparently V12s, at least according to this Bloomberg article:
In an interview at Rolls-Royce’s Goodwood base, Chief Executive Officer Chris Brownridge said the brand would cater to what buyers want – all while ramping up customizations, including putting more resources into a global network of private offices for one-on-one client meetings.
“We will launch more electric-powered Rolls-Royces, but they’re Rolls-Royces first,” said Brownridge. “We see very strong demand for V12 — where the client demand continues for that engine, we will continue to produce Rolls-Royces as well.”
It’s cool that RR builds an EV coupe, as there are too few of those.
In addition to more V12s, the company is also doubling down on customization, which allows RR to grab bigger and bigger margins.
The Success Of The Carnival Shows Some People Have Taste
It’s fairly obvious that I like the Kia Carnival, which isn’t the best minivan in every way, but has enough going for it to make it extremely appealing. It’s probably going to be the Kia vehicle that grew the most in sales in 2025, having already grown nearly 50% through November.
While Kia dealers are worried about having too much inventory in certain areas next year, that doesn’t include the Carnival, according to this Automotive News interview with Jeffrey Hinchliff, the head of Kia’s dealer advisory council:
The Kia Sorento was the only model “that really probably got over its skis this year” in 2025 with oversupply in both his Omaha market and nationally — but it was simply a victim of the Telluride’s success, Hinchcliff said.
“It’s not that Kia is losing the business; it’s just those customers are buying Tellurides,” he said.
[…]
Conversely, both his store and dealers nationally in 2025 at times found themselves with too few Kia Carnival minivans, he said.
“Carnival’s story is really just beginning,” he said. “It’s still growing fast.”
Kia must immediately increase the strategic supply of Kia Carnival vans.
Honestly, Kia out here wiping up with a minivan (it’ll probably sell more Carnivals than all its EVs in the United States this year) is just proof that there’s a large contingent of buyers that, given the choice, will buy the right car.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
All this EV talk has me thinking about AC/DC, so it’s time for some “Dirty deeds done dirt cheap.”
The Big Question
Which brand that doesn’t currently offer a minivan should bring one to the market?
Top photo: BYD/Tesla
With all the “we need an AWD minivian” comments, it’s clear Subaru needs to build one. I don’t know how you get the low floor, but those DINK couples with three Newfoundlands and a Frenchie are crying out for it.
Everyone. Everyone should offer a van
Minivans for everyone:
Dodge needs a Caravan
Ford needs an Aerovan
Chevy needs an Express jr. that Cadillac can badge engineer to the Cadillac of Minivans.
And all minivans need a hybrid drivetrain (looking at you Honda).
Hey now, that was Oldsmobile’s space…
“Ford needs an Aerovan”
Aerostar.
“that
CadillacBuick can badge engineer to the Buick Silhouette… the Cadillac of Minivans.?”There… fixed it for you.
“most Europeans seem to be willing to buy a cheaper car from a Chinese brand than a more expensive one from Tesla”
Couldn’t a good case be made to replace the word “willing” with the word “able” just as would be the case in the US? It’s not like Europeans don’t have any affordablity issues of their own EXCEPT that Europe (and other places) actually has cheap EVs available that may well do the job and fit a limited budget.
An interesting and perhaps useful bit of journalism research/news would be to actually compare the EVs that are actually in the same class from different manufacturers. BYD has multiple small EVs that are priced FAR below what any current Tesla costs and well below even the mythical $25k Tesla of years past, my guess is they sell quite well. Compare Tesla and whatever BYD models are analogous to their offerings. Same with Nissan, Ford, Hyundai and all the others. A Hyundai Inster for example looks like a great little EV but they aren’t realistically cross shopped against either a BYD Sealion or a Model Y or a Mustang Mach-E. Just like you wouldn’t likely cross shop a Hyundai Venue against a Honda CR-V.
Given a choice of EVs but a limited budget, it doesn’t really matter how much you want something, if your budget only allows a certain subsection then that’s what you can afford/buy.
The ultra rich that are likely to buy a RR are doing it as a display piece and an investment. They don’t actually care how it’s motivated, only how collectible it will become.
That’s why the V12 is hot right now, the applause sign is flashing, but the stage director is getting the out hook.
Woo, it’s finally happening.
Previously, we had a generation of people who went “ew, I don’t want a minivan, my parents drove one of them” so they bought SUVs.
Now the opposite is slowly coming around!
I have rented Pacifica/Voyager twice. Each time they were EXCEPTIONAL for the task at hand.
We own a 2020 AWD and it is great. Drove it around all in the last week on Ice, then in a blizzard, and days of snow on the ice. Handled the snow over Ice better than my JKU.
Tesla’s success is Norway for the last two months could be because they just happen to have the cars available for sale. Demand is higher because of the credits expiring, and Euro manufacturers are keeping EV production tight. With Tesla overproduction and sales down in other markets, they had plenty of supply to offer.
That’s a great point.
Cadillac needs a minivan.
Because the tagline writes itself.
Scarily it is now a 30 yr old tagline…
Can we stop using the term “minivan” for the current crop of MASSIVE family wagons? I recently experienced a Sienna and it **barely** fits in my niece’s (texas) garage, with about 11″ to squeeze past. The last true “minivan” in the US was the Mazda5. So yes, we need more minivans. And a rebirth of the Previa (admittedly full-size). Lord I miss the Previa.
Toyota would do well to bring back the Previa as an EV.
The original form was compromised by the limitations imposed on it by the ICE powertrain. Get rid of that and it’s a perfect people mover.
Give me Alphard or give me death!
A minivan is a van that is smaller than a BOF van. That’s the only context in which it would be ‘mini’, but it’s correct. The Mazda5 was a compact van, or compact MPV if you wanna be global about it. It’s a shame there’s nothing in the US in that spot anymore, I had a Mazda5, it was great.
I do remember the Dodge Caravan / Plymouth Voyager coming in both long and short versions. Anything today is like the long version only.
I had a short Caravan and then a MPV. Upgrading to a full sized minivan (Sienna) was the right call.
Yes, I think either the long or the short can be the right call for different people.
The problem with the short was that the cargo space behind the seat was limited. When you have enough family members to need a minivan, you need a significant amount of cargo room, even for the basics.
I agree that there is no “mini” with a minivan. But I would argue it’s right size.
Ever put 7 people in a minivan. It works, no question. Assuming that some are kids, everyone has plenty of room….
As long as there isn’t a lot of luggage. If you have an infant with a rear-facing seat, which means you have a giant diaper bag and a stroller as well, there isn’t a ton of room behind the rear seat for anyone else’s luggage. If you are doing the trip in the winter where winter clothing is involved, it gets a big cramped. It’s doable, but it isn’t nearly as roomy as you would think. We just loaned our hardcase car topper to some friends in a Pacifica because of a trip involving 4 adults and 3 kids plus winter clothing plus presents for Christmas.
Me, I’m too old for 7 person driving. However, I have just last year carried 10 2x4s and 150- 6 foot high fence pickets in my van. Even a long bed Full sized truck would have struggled for room with that and unless it’s a standard cab truck, a pickup is bigger than my minivan.
So, Tesla is #2. I know a lot of people that feel that way.
Ford. Though I’m thinking more Mini Van than Minivan.
Bring back the Aerostar!
We were supposed to get a new Transit Connect to be built alongside the Bronco Sport and Maverick. Only those sold better than expected and exceeded initial plant capacity. Now that they have added shifts and could build it they backed off again due to the Tariffs. It was even supposed to be available in a Hybrid version but the success of the Maverick Hybrid probably made that unlikely even if they do eventually bring it to market.
Also a Mini Van is one of the “future” vehicles for their “universal” platform. I don’t expect it to be an early addition as I expect a CUV to be the second vehicle on that platform.
Man, AC/DC just hasn’t been the same since Bon Scott died. Somehow they lost the edge that made the music great.
That being said, Shoot to Thrill is still the best AC/DC song, even though it’s a Brian Johnson.
I recall Big Balls everytime I hear about the White House renovations.
Yeah, but his balls aren’t “always full”.
NO band is the same after a frontman change. I used to think they should change their name, so people don’t get fooled into buying something that doesn’t meet expectations. But then I decided that is stupid, because a band (or a capital A Artist) SHOULD–or at least, should be expected to–change. Grow. Evolve. Or de-volve, if they want. So while I don’t disagree that ACDC is different with the new singer, I do think Back In Black is great. And while it’s been a long time since I listened to Razor’s Edge all the way through, “Thunderstruck” and “Money Talks” are pretty damned great, too.
I [steps behind chicken wire] think Sammy Hagar was a worthy replacement for Diamond Dave, too.
Different Van Halen, and they were smart enough to realize this. A Hagar song is clearly NOT a Roth song, and they adapted. Gimme Roth.
OMG they were so different it wasn’t even funny. I was less of a fan than I was of either VH (because Roth was the best frontman ever) or Sammy (I remember the VOA tour where he had stairs come down from the light rig and would run up there and sing with a wireless guitar/mic- way before anyone else did it).
The sum did not equal the parts.
I agree. A lot of my Bon Scott nostalgia was because my tune shuffle stumbled upon several old AC/DC songs that I haven’t heard in a long time.
Jailbreak
Ain’t No Fun Waitin’ ‘Round To Be A Millionaire
It’s A Long Way To The Top If You Wanna Rock & Roll
For whatever reason, tune shuffle seems to hit on DT and Thunderstruck on a regular basis.
Surprisingly Scott and Johnson at least sound similar enough to carry on the ruse.
Yeah, I should look for a recording of Sammy singing Dave songs. I’m sure it’s on a live record, somewhere. Now that I think about it, I’m curious about RJD singing Ozzy songs with Sabbath…
Re: RJD
How did such a tiny man have such a booming, stellar voice?
Yeah, nothing like when the deep cuts cut deep! I tend to thumb-down the hits, just because I can get them all the time on the radio. I don’t need to hear “Hell’s Bells” for the nine-hundredth time on my home system (no matter how good a song it is)!
Ford and GM both used to sell large numbers of vans. Ford had reliability issues with the Windstar/Freestar vans. GM more or less phoned it in on their last two generations of vans. But they haven’t always been that way. The dustbuster vans were innovative, and the Astro/Safari/Aerostar vans carved out a much larger niche than I would have expected given their mini-truck origins.
Enough time has now passed for most buyers to forget the past issues. A new, clean-sheet effort from either of them just might work. Scale up the EREV drivetrain from a Volt (or from Ford’s new skunk works project).
The new Sienna feels pretty different from the old one, and that turns off a percentage of buyers. Some folks miss the higher roofline and ability to carry 4×8 sheets. Most of those buyers are probably moving to Kia or Honda, but Ford/GM might have captured these buyers if they had entered the market at the correct time.
If only…
Ford has
dreliability issueswith the Windstar/Freestar vans.FIFY
I have an ancient Sienna with nearly 300k miles, it’s been missing the middle seats for a decade or more, which allows me to transport about anything with those tumbledown backseats.
When it is finally time, Honda is about the only game in town. Toyota’s not-easy to remove center seats is a show stopper, the Chrysler PHEV reliability issues is a problem, and the iBuzz is WAY over priced. Since I keep vehicles forever and a week, I trust Honda more than Kia.
So, while the Kia Carnival is for those with taste…. the RR Private Experience Centers cater to the nouveau riche and those without it.
Remember when stealth wealth was a thing? That was cool…but at least now it’s not hard to find the people that are actively eroding society and destroying the world.
I’ll be 50 this year. Pepperidge Farm remembers. Quality was true luxury.
Makes me think of the W123 and 124 Benz cars, even the low-trim ones used for taxis. That kind of solidity and over-engineering was a pleasure. They’re basically the last gens of MB that I’d ever consider owning now, after having been burned by the unreliability of their later models.
Our next door neighbor traded cars like playing cards. Even as a little kid, I saw his W122 Mercedes and later Audi 5000S as real quality, not the garish glitz of ths Cadillacs.
The Carnival needs to offer all wheel drive. Neither the V6 nor hybrid (the one to get) are available with anything but front wheel drive. Do I personally think it’s an issue? Not at all, I’ve long contended that the vast majority of people would be fine with front wheel drive so long as it either includes a differential or good tires.
But for family hauler buyers all wheel drive is very important because they’re convinced they need it. That really seems like the Carnival’s only miss to me, because other than that it’s attractive, well equipped, and well priced. Anyway an American manufacturer that isn’t part of Stellantis needs to offer a hybrid minivan.
GM and Ford’s unibody offerings in this space really kind of suck. They’re way less efficient, they’re way less reliable, and in typical American manufacturing tradition they’re the same price or more. I cannot even begin to fathom why someone would choose a Traverse or Explorer over literally anything else unless they refuse to buy anything that isn’t American.
You’re going to spend so much more money on one of those over time than a comparable Asian family hauler it’s not even funny, especially now that the Koreans have hybrids in this class. If Ford or GM offered a hybrid Sienna alternative I think it would be surprisingly successful, because it wouldn’t be tariff’d, people that care about buying American would gravitate towards it, and they might be able to actually have something in this class that’s…you know, decent?
I’ll agree AWD is not essential, but boy is it nice to have here in Western PA with all the hills and mountains and unpredicatable weather. I drove RWD and FWD cars solely until I bought a well used XJ Cherokee in my mid 20’s. One thing we forget is older cars had narrow tires that would actually cut through the snow. One of the best winter cars I ever owned was FWD with a manual transmission. My Camry Hybrid is great as well, it allows me to control power delivery with precision. A few years ago I was able to keep it moving in a surprise blizzard at rush hour when lot of other FWD cars got stuck.
The Traverse is perfectly decent. The hate for them is so overblown. I actually liked it more than a Grand Highlander when I was shopping for a family hauler. The biggest downside was that its fuel economy wasn’t all that great, but most of its competition also gets crummy fuel economy like the Pilot, non-PHEV CX90, Telluride, etc. Is it the best option of the big 3 row unibody SUVs? Probably not. But it’s certainly not the worst. Honestly, it probably has one of the best buying experiences because Chevy dealers are everywhere and so are Traverses, so it’s easy to get, easy to get with sizeable discounts, and easy to find a not shit dealership. Have fun getting good pricing on a Grand Highlander or just dealing with a Kia/Hyundai dealer. I totally get why non-car people get them. They have more room than anything else, the driving experience blends into the background, the interiors are competitive, they look pretty good, they have decent tech, and they have a good mix of options/trims.
You know, this caused me to actually look at current-gen Traverses and I have to say while I haven’t given that vehicle a thought until now…it looks pretty good inside and out. Pilots are pretty easy to get into with decent pricing though so I’d probably still go that direction. Food for thought though
I had an Acadia rental a couple months ago and did not care for it* – but I agree with you. GM had the early mover advantage among the bigger CUVs with the original Lambdas and that gave them staying power in the segment. There really isn’t an enormous difference across the segment entries outside of some outliers like the hybrid offerings and I tend to think people that wouldn’t have touched a GM car (when they made them) are more open to their truck/SUV offerings.
*It didn’t do anything wrong and was the right tool for the job I needed. The biggest surprise was that the seats weren’t all that comfortable, which was something I felt about the original Lambdas (which now is hard to believe was about 20 years ago).
I actually quite like the current Traverse and Acadia, they are a solid option in the 3-row suv market.
As a non-PHEV CX-90 owner, I will argue that it’s mpg is significantly better than all the competitors you just mentioned. We’re averaging about 25 mpg and that’s mostly city driving.
We just made (2) identical trips for Thanksgiving and Christmas:
C&D only averaged 23mpg on their longterm CX90, which is similar to the 22mpg they saw on their short review of the Traverse and inline with the last gen Pilot they had long term 10 years ago. My poor fuel economy comment was more meant to say that it isn’t one of the few that get substantially better fuel economy like the hybrids from Toyota or the new Pallisade hybrid; it’s more or less with the bulk of the pack.
C&D also had a Turbo S, which gets worse fuel economy than the standard CX90. They’re also automotive journalists who beat the ever living piss out of everything they drive, so I don’t really take their observed fuel economy that seriously because half the time it’s some 30 something male enthusiast who didn’t get the CT4V BW for the road trip and is trying to make the CX90 do the same things.
I don’t take their fuel economy numbers as gospel. I do however look to see how their numbers compare against other vehicles they test and get long term results for. It doesn’t look the CX90 is doing much better than the competition from that standpoint while also I think being the only one in the class wanting premium fuel to get the stated numbers.
For what it’s worth, Fuelly (awesome database) is tracking a real world average of 25.4 mpg for CX-90’s vs 19.7 for 2025 Pilots and 19.9 for 2024 Tellurides. Looks like the new Travers is around 22, but there are very few vehicles tracked so far. That’s a pretty decent improvement for the CX-90 over the competition.
Only the Turbo S requires premium. Ours doesn’t.
I don’t know why they averaged worst than we’ve gotten over our year of ownership. I would say the CX-90 falls somewhere between the non hybrid suv’s and the full hybrid ones on mpg.
I’d say that is probably fair. Do you have the S or the non-S? Does premium vs regular fuel affect fuel economy?
We have the non S which doesn’t take premium. I think the S model is rated 1 mpg lower for city.
Yeah the CX90 I6/mild hybrid set up is way more efficient than any of the turbo 4s or NA V6s in its class. Obviously it’s not as good as the full hybrid Toyotas but it’s rated for 24/28, which is much, much better than a Traverse or Pilot.
Is it enough to save you a bunch of money in the long run? Probably not, but if you’re looking at it from an environmental angle like a lot of young families are it’s appealing. I’d know, my wife wants a CX90 as her mom mobile, although the endless stream of negative reviews, recalls, etc. has kind of soured her on it. Would love to hear about how yours has been, because with the money Mazda puts on their hoods they’re still appealing.
You buy the Traverse because it’s the largest unibody 3-row suv option. No idea why anybody buys an Explorer.
But the dirty truth is that you still can’t fit 5 people and all their stuff for a week long vacation inside one.
People buy the Traverse because it tows 5k lbs standard. On the Pilot you only get this with the more expensive AWD trims. The top end Pilot is $5k cheaper than the top trim Traverse, so the Honda is indeed a better value if you are dropping close to $60k with all of the option boxes checked. The value proposition is way different if the cheapest Pilot can not tow your boat or camper, but the LT Traverse sitting on the lot over there can.
No one actually tows 5,000 pounds with one of these things….but the average American consumer envisions themselves as Paul Bunyan and is utterly convinced they absolutely need a vehicle that can tow 5,000 pounds up a 30 degree snow covered grade for 50 straight miles just in case, so my point is ultimately moot lol…
We were in the market summer before last. The new Traverse had just hit lots. We liked its styling the best and the space was top in class. Unfortunately we did not enjoy the driving experience and the material quality wasn’t up to par in LT trim.
The Explorer was the 2nd best to drive behind the Mazda, but the interior was so bad. If we could have waited until the new version came out, we would be driving an Explorer right now.
The Toyota and Honda were too boring and never got a 2nd test drive.
The Mazda was my favorite, but the 3rd row and luggage space did not meet our needs. And the infotainment left a lot to be desired.
We ended up with a Kia. Its pretty uninspiring, but the value is hard to beat. However, with the horrendous dealer experience we’ve both agreed that we will never buy Korean again.
“Which brand that doesn’t currently offer a minivan should bring one to the market?”
Almost all of them.
I don’t see Mazda benefiting enough from a new MPV, they would do better devoting those resources to a new 6. While I would like to see what a new MPV would look like, Mazda is already short on development dollars, the CX-30, 50 and current 3 are all being stretched out before a next gen, the Miata is on it’s 11th model year, and their hybrid offerings are limited. An MPV would be too niche a vehicle to justify since Mazda cannot just pump out new models like Toyota.
Who really needs a new minivan, or just van in general is Mercedes, the current gen Metris is getting incredibly long in the tooth.
Is the Metris still being made? I don’t think it’s been in the US market for several years.
I would think that if MB made an EV minivan that was similar in price to the VW iBuzz, it would sell since $70-80k for a MB makes more sense than a VW to many buyers.
Tesla needs new designs. The S is how many years old. The retractable door handles a safety hazard. Hope BYD EVs never come to USA. Poor quality and seem to catch on fire a lot! Burn Your Dream. Who ever thought we’d all be driving station wagons. I like my coupe. I’m keeping it!
It’s not the designs, its the styling department.
Take their cars.
2012 Model S comes out
2016 Model S update (removes grill is all I can see)
2016 Model 3 comes out (2/3rd size Model S looking)
2019 Model S update (I guess, I don’t see a big difference)
2020 Model 3 update (so Wikipedia tells me, looks the same)
2023 Model 3 new generation (big change, the headlights are different shaped!)
So, the current Model 3 is only 3 years old, but it looks like a mild facelift of a 10 year old car, which looks like a 2/3rd scale model of a 14 year old car.
Look at a 2012 Camry and a 2026 one. The difference is obvious, and there were several steps in between. But the styling of a 2012 S and a 2026 3 is too similar.
Yeah, Musk, introducing FSD into those markets will improve Tesla’s reputation.
Of course, I’m joking, since I doubt he considers reputation an issue at all. But what he is claiming is that FSD is Tesla’s killer app of sorts that will make their cars more desirable.
With their “affordable” variants of the Model 3 and Y last year, I think it’s fair to say Tesla could be doing a better job of actually “making good cars people want to buy” instead of promising everyone their magic padded cell commute of the future.
Edit: “Dirty deeds done dirt cheap.”
Is that what those lyrics are? Never managed to unpack that on the radio.
Yeah, he’s basically a mobster. He’ll rub someone out, false-flag birddog your wife, or beat up the headmaster if he gives you a bad grade.
Urban legend. The song refers to an Australian cartoon character who was a troublemaker who’d prank people for hire. His sign literally read the title of the song.
Concrete shoes, cyanide, TNT, neck ties, contracts, high voltage. Those are not “pranks”, those are whacks.
I’m not surprised at all at the success of the Carnival. Kia is pushing all the right buttons these days. The styling is “SUV-like” enough to not turn off people that don’t like the “Mom blob” look (sorry minivan stans, this represents lots of people). It’s also available as a hybrid using the older but seemingly-reliable 1.6T system. I’m hoping they put their newer 2.5T hybrid system in it eventually which should be a hoot in a minivan.
What should come on the market? A Mazda MPV of course.
Regarding BYD, you’re beginning to see the downsides of “everyone push in one direction” central planning. The oversupply problem is massive and as Europe and Mexico crack down on dumping there is probably going to be an auto market crash in China. The state sitting on the scales has its benefits, but the hangover is brutal when it comes.
I do reaaaaally hate the blocky truck nose. It seems like the high, flat nose is one of the SUV-like styling elements particularly responsible for pedestrian deaths, too…
“Mom blob” look (sorry minivan stans, this represents lots of people).”
They are what they eats, not what they drives.
Them moms ain’t blobs because of their rides.
They try to deny: “IT’S THE MINIVAN’S FAULT!” they decry.
“I nEeD a TrUcK oR SuV!!” and so instead those they buy so to themselves they can lie.
But the truth is they’d be less “mom blob” if they’d just exercise a bit more and eat a lot less pie!
Sigh.
Uh…lol…I was talking about the shape of the van…but hey go recite that bit of poetry to some moms out and about!
Of course, Kia’s styling choices for the Carnival are intended to make it as SUV/crossovery-looking as possible no doubt.
Dodge
This. And it would be so easy.
Forgive my ignorance of that market segment, but isn’t the Chrysler Voyager a decontented/less-fancy Pacifica, and isn’t it also pretty much what a Dodge variant would be?
Exactly. So they could rebrand the Voyager as a Dodge Grand Caravan, and leave the Pacifica with the Chrysler brand.
A return of a Mazda MPV would be amazing. PHEV or EREV (and selfishly AWD due to living at above 6000 ft in the mountains).
Great minds think alike. Maybe Mazda can work with their Toyota partnership and squeeze in the PHEV powertrain from the Rav4 / CX50 into it. EREV with a spinning Dorito to come later.
What brand? Mazda needs to bring back its mini mini van; the MPV or the 5.
Bonus points if they Offer it with a PHEV option with at least 50 miles battery range.
X10 bonus points if it’s an EREV,
Which brand that doesn’t currently offer a minivan should bring one to the market?
GM
Ford
Hyundai
Mazda
VW (ID Buzz doesn’t count)
Does Hyundai no longer sell rebadged Kia vans? Seems like a missed opportunity given the Carnival’s success.
No they stopped in about 2009? I think.
An ID.Buzz with a range extender or hybrid, and physical controls would be acceptable. And the price coming down with the reduced battery size. Bonus for short wheelbase version being available in the US, similar to the old Mazda MPV or Honda Element or Transit Connect Passenger.
Absolutely!
I’m legitimately surprised that Rivian’s sales numbers are so small, given that I see them all over the place.
Same here in Colorado. Rivian is second only to Tesla in terms of EVs I see in the wild, with the Nissan Ariya coming in a close third.
Wow I’ve only seen a handful of Ariyas in the Seattle area, another area that was an early EV adopter that had/has a lot of Leafs.
Rivians are quite popular around here, but the only reason they are the #2 most seen EV on the road are the EDVs as they seem to make up the vast majority of the area’s Amazon fleet.
Totally, seems like every fifth car in Seattle is a Rivian, they’re everywhere here.
Huh, I never see them in Pittsburgh metro.
I’ve seen more than one in the South Hills area.
I’m exburban now, but South Hills was my old stomping grounds.