Making road-legal vehicles is generally really hard. For one, the bulk cash required to get through the difficult engineering process, establish a distribution network, and work through the pains of production on the path to profitability is simply immense, which is why so many fledgeling companies seem to have difficulties. This week, there’s drama at electric semi truck startup Windrose, with The Wall Street Journal writing “…Paychecks Are Missing—and So Is a Truck.”
Meanwhile, Bentley just released the first real teaser image of its upcoming EV, and more importantly, announced a name. It’s expected to share a platform with a model from a brand that may be cutting thousands more jobs. Oh, and if all that’s a bit too doom-and-gloom for you, I have a little tidbit of van news that ought to perk things up.
Welcome to the Morning Dump, where we serve up finger food-sized portions of the day’s important car news. I’m taking over from Matt for a few days as he’s at a water park and writing equipment generally gets a bit cranky when exposed to liquids.
What The Truck?
Despite the drawbacks of electric vehicles for high-speed, long-distance load lugging when compared to diesel, the electric semi truck race is on. From the Freightliner eCascadia to the Volvo FH Electric to the Tesla Semi, everyone wants a slice of the pie, so it’s understandable that startups are looking to jump in the pool. One of those startups is Windrose, and it already has fully-functional Chinese-built but locally-assembled trucks. Not only has it successfully made customer deliveries, it’s also been dubbed the “Tesla Semi’s biggest rival” by Forbes. While the brand has been moving fast, a new report titled “A Trucking Startup Aims to Challenge Tesla. Now, Paychecks Are Missing—and So Is a Truck” from the Wall Street Journal suggests they’re also breaking stuff. From WSJ:
By March, the company was in such disarray that Windrose’s chief executive, Wen Han, was demanding to know where one of his $285,000 trucks had gone.
Two former employees fired in January, Travis Waite and Harold Keller, refused to help locate the vehicle until Han paid them a combined $91,000 in unpaid wages and benefits. They still haven’t been paid, they say, and the truck remains at large.
The CEO disputes the reported unpaid wages and benefits, although chat logs obtained by the WSJ suggest a history of late payments. Plus, there’s the matter of an actual labor case that played out in Michigan. From the Wall Street Journal:
Last May, operations director Kyle Maki complained in a company chat about missing wages. By March, labor regulators in Michigan ordered Windrose to pay almost $10,000 in back wages and interest. Han said he would pay the money but disputes the amount involved and may file a counterclaim later.
Not a great look for a company that sponsors a football team. Also, how do you lose track of a rather distinctive aerodynamic heavy truck? It’s not like it’s particularly small or nondescript.
Alleged payroll disputes and a missing truck aren’t the only problems reportedly going on at Windrose. The company’s also reportedly drawn the scrutiny of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration due to claims of inaccurate vehicle identification numbers.
Of the four Windrose trucks in the U.S. today, at least two have Vehicle Identification Numbers assigned by Windrose that identify the trucks as having been made in Georgia. In fact, the vehicles were made in China, according to Han.
A representative for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the agency is seeking additional information from Windrose. Submitting false information could mean a civil penalty of almost $28,000 for each violation.
Yikes. I’ve reached out to Windrose for comment, and will update you should I hear back. Given how much of this is still to shake out, I’ll be following the Windrose saga as further developments arrive. While the company reportedly still has 150 orders and plans to go public via SPAC later this year, alleged payroll disputes and NHTSA issues cast serious doubt on the company. Oh, and if anyone finds the allegedly missing truck, drop me an email. I’d love to know where it’s been.
Hello Torcal
After years of rumor and a slight delay, the first electric Bentley is almost here. While we’re still going to have to wait until Sept. 23 to see the actual car in full, the crew in Crewe have finally released a name: Torcal. As you probably guessed, “Torcal” traces its etymological roots back to the latin “Torquere,” which translates as “to twist.” Rather apt for something powered by electric motors.
Don’t be terribly surprised if the Torcal shares an architecture with the new Porsche Cayenne Electric, just like how the Bentayga’s a cousin of the regular Cayenne. This should mean DC fast charging at up to 390 kW, a battery pack capacity well in excess of 100 kWh, and a load of different output options Bentley can choose from. Judging by the latest official teaser photo, cues like the taillamp detailling and rear glass treatment seem far less generic than on last year’s EXP 15 concept too. We should know a whole lot more in the next three-ish months, but for now, I’m just dreaming of what the depreciation will be like in a decade.
Porsche’s Reportedly Cutting Thousands More Jobs
Speaking of Porsche, the marque continues to find itself in a tight spot, and it’s been responding with austerity. After culling 500 jobs in May, more cuts are reportedly on the way according to Manager Magazin.
According to information obtained by the Handelsblatt newspaper, up to 4,000 more jobs could be lost in the announced further job cuts at sports car manufacturer Porsche . The report states that employees in management and administration are particularly affected. Around 30 percent of the capacity at the Weissach development site is to be reviewed.
A Porsche spokesperson declined to confirm the specific number of job cuts when asked by the German Press Agency (dpa), but referred to a comprehensive restructuring plan currently being developed to streamline the company. The plan is expected to be presented by the end of July.
This certainly isn’t the first time in history that Porsche’s found itself in a tight spot. Around the turn of the ’90s, the marque found itself in a serious profitability crisis, eventually rising from that so monumentally, it attempted to eat Volkswagen. Now though, the challenges are different than they were back then, as are the opportunities. Porsche’s last comeback was aided by new currency, a period of free trade expansion, the ability to find huge operational efficiencies, and getting in on the ground floor of an extremely profitable new segment, the luxury SUV. This time, the world is now a very different place.
Van Time
That was a bit depressing, so how about some slightly uplifting news? Kia has announced pricing for the 2027 Carnival minivan and it’s only $100 more than last year’s model across all trim levels. This means the base LX starts at $39,035 including freight, a pretty good deal for a practical family hauler. At the same time, mid-range EX and SX trims gain optional second row captain’s chairs, and while red is no longer on the color palette, EX-and-up trims get a fetching shade called Iceberg Green.
On paper, the sweet spot of the range is likely the EX Hybrid, which combines the 32-combined-MPG hybrid powertrain with hands-free power sliding doors and sunshades for $45,235. That’s a solid amount of van for the money, an honest machine at a rather sensible price tag.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
Man, 112 is fantastic. I know “U Already Know” probably isn’t a song you’d play around your parents, but in a drop-top on a summer’s evening in the city, it’s a feeling.
The Big Question:
Let’s say that you were given the keys to the Porsche kingdom with the mission of turning things around. How would you do it?
Top graphic image: Windrose
TBQ: I actually don’t particularly care much for Porsche but I do respect the brand, its heritage, and especially its accomplishments on the race track. What I’d do is:
Simplify the 911 lineup, instead of 411 variations make it about 4-5, however the RS models can be ordered as a street focused, track focused, or competition model.
Unleash the Cayman. If they tried just as hard as they do on the 911 I’m convinced this would be their better performing car. Give it the same options and price it similarly. It’s no longer the “cheap Porsche” like it was when it came out, but by not offering their top tier features it’s still viewed that way by customers.
Create a proper cheap Porsche that out-Miatas the Miata in every way but has AWD for about $50K
Use the above platform to make a small but bad-ass Baja / Dakar race style version of an SUV. Closest thing that comes to mind is something between a Pajero EVO and a Local Motors Rally Fighter. Target 60K.
Cayenne / Macan, personally I could care less about them but I do think they’re some of the most attractive SUV’s and also have great performance behind them so I’d just leave that team alone and tell them to keep doing what they’re doing.
Company wide I would put a ban on plastic fluid fittings, hose connectors, or barbs with the exception of things like the washer fluid tank, evap canister, etc. that are entirely made of plastic and can be cheaply replaced and accessed. Instead everything must use one of those single use style metal hose clamps that you crimp, however they have both the Porsche logo laser etched into them and a date code much like your tires have. Sell these aftermarket but never with the laser etching so it’s immediately identifiable to potential buyers whether or not it’s been serviced by the dealer, someone that does it properly, or some random guy like me.
I wish I could spend $50k on anything new, never mind a toy
The Cayman has ALWAYS been intentionally sandbagged from the very first generation to keep it from beating the big-dog 911. Which it absolutely would, given it’s fundamentally superior layout.
Can’t disagree about the plastic, but that is NOT how you build a car to sell it cheaper these days. And affordability is very much part of Porsche’s problem. New car buyers could not care less about that stuff, and Porsche doesn’t care about them once they are sold.
It isnt so much the plastic connectors, Toyota uses them and they hold up. Its using the wrong type of plastic, using platic in an application where it will not hold up, inferior design of the fitting and not holding your suppliers accountable when they deliver parts that do not meet spec.
Basically sweating the details and doing durability testing on a plastic fitting costs $$$ The Japanese get it, I dont think the Germans give a damn, as long as it isnt a warranty cost
Difference between Japan and Germany is that the Germans calculate it, while the Japanese actually test it.
You are not wrong and I have to give credit to the fuel line connectors that domestic brands like Ford and GM used in the late 90’s as well. They still work perfectly despite 30 years of fuel exposure. Of all the German manufacturers we see here in the US, Porsche seems to care the most about their quality. It’s still not good enough in my opinion and incremental changes can snowball into something massive later on. Just look at where Hyundai went from the 80’s Excel, essentially a buy 1 get 1 free dollar store car to what they have now.
I disagree, one of the reasons for them to be where they are is because they did exactly that, they did Cayenne and Boxter as “poor man’s Porsche” in 90s and this worked because they were too exclusive with 911s being too expensive but the brand loyalty was strong. they grew into a mainstream luxury brand but guess what, there are others here and they do offer quite competitive product.
Porsche is always about Mechanical and Combustion. Unfortunately that is exalcty opposite to where the technology is going. to the young 20-30 years old wealthy or ambitious individual today: what is Porsche? just another brand if you look at Taycan or Macan…there is nothing that distincts them anymore.
I know I will get a lot of hate for this. they did what they had to and it helped but it also sent their brand recognition down the toilet
I suspect the Bentley is named after a mountain range in Andalucia.
Is it?
Yes.
Amazing. I didn’t know that. Thanks!
it’s also remarkably close to the name of a pokemon.
250px-0324Torkoal.png
As I understand it, nobody operates trucks without a location tracking device, so maybe Elon felt threatened and disabled their starlink?
Also, Bentley would have been wise to look up turkle. Funny how they let that one slip.
I would bet the employees who *borrowed* the truck also know how to disable the tracker.
Nah, most likely a tongue in cheek from a Final Fantasy fan who ended up in the name selection commitee and replaced a G with a C.
Windrose has fascinated me for a while. It appears like a good fairly well executed idea. The whole price parity per market thing seems smart but also probably subsidized. Burning though capital like that can’t be good. Wan coming from Stanford business and working for a PE firm for a while also might be problematic and responsible for his thinking. He seems to have that startup tech bro mentality burning though money and thinking more will come that causes so many startups to fail. He is probably between a rock and hard spot now. Can’t really get Chinese money (if there is any) without getting flagged. Has to separate as much as he can. Doubtful any euro money will appear. Maybe the anti Tesla pro bev people can put up some money if they have any.
The legacy truck brands can all procure BEV trucks through their sister companies. The engineering has been done and the product exists elsewhere, the biggest challenge seems to be how and when to enter the U.S. market.
Well I know International has canceled their future class 8 EV plans and I doubt any competition has sold many either assuming market shart for heavy duties is probably less then 1%. For the price of them vs the diesel equivalent it is hard to justify the cost difference for fleets.
Price is definitely the issue. That’s really where windrose shines. I think Volvo / Mac is going ahead and the Freightliner is still a thing. I wouldn’t be too surprised if whatever VW commercial is calling its self now brings scania back in to be the bev brand.
Still convincing companies with razor thin margins to change everything and spend a lot in infrastructure isn’t going to be easy. l’ve heard the instability of diesel prices has made some of the bean couters try to push for bev trucks and the battery reefers as their costs could be more predictable.
Windrose is focusing on mid to long haul that’s not something the western companies are really doing yet. They are also significantly cheaper then those Western brands. There are some Chinese class 8 trucks that might fit in to that. Most of European companies that own and control the American companies are focused on how European trucks operate that will probably keep them as day trucks in the us until they see a reason to invest in engineering a solution. Wan has said they are aren’t looking for vendor lock in and realize day trucks will probably be another (established) manufacture.
TBQ: Hire Toecutter to make a superlight high-performance city/quadracycle EV; respin the Boxter as a hybrid with EV mode for city use; keep a mid-range stickshift in the lineup and promote it as an attainable “analog” halo car.
(Note: I’m kinda blasé about the survival of Porsche.)
You really need to stop with the clickbait headlines.
Windrose is not a primary competitor to anyone and Tesla is a rounding error in the Class 8 market.
Agreed. The headline is convoluted and click-bait.
Just because a little-read one-off article in Forbes apparently referred to it as “Tesla Semi’s biggest rival”, doesn’t justify saying anything about Tesla in the headline.
This had nothing to do with Tesla.
Why oh why put that in the headline?
Why is the Wall-Street Journal, as a source, in the headline? You quote other articles all the time without putting them in the headline.
And why not just say Windrose?! Is this one of those headlines where they avoid saying the main thing so that it forces people to click through?
“Doctors say to never eat this one food!”
Why not, “EV Semi Startup Windrose allegedly owes employees money, and may have lost a truck”?
Or, since Morning Dump usually refers to many topics,
“EV startup Windrose and Porsche are struggling, Bentley shows their EV!”
Or something like prior headlines?
Top gear music playing and narrated by Jeremy Clarkson:
Today’s Morning dump features the hide and seek truck champion, a picture of an Ass, Weissach getting Wies-sacked, and a Carnival!
I could read it with Jeremy’s voice in my head…
I too can hear Clarkson!
Dumb idea but get Amazon to sponsor “The Grand Turd” series of articles / videos. I think Jason, David, and Matt are about as far apart from each other as possible while still being friends, and it only gets worse from shower spaghetti when confined in a small country.
That headline was just due to a sleepy editor over at Forbes. It was supposed to say, “Tesla’s semi-biggest rival.”
Forbes has nothing to do with Autopian headlines.
TBQ: Grab the keys to a GT3 and do donuts until I got bored and/or nauseous.
Oh, you mean “turn Porsche around” in a business sense…
My answer for almost any failing company selling luxury products is right sizing. Porsche tried being a volume brand and it apparently didn’t work, mostly because Porsche as a brand no longer feels the slightest bit special. As a kid I really wanted a Porsche and just seeing a 911 was fun. Today, I see regularly see Porsches in the drive-thru at McDonald’s and they don’t even draw my attention away from the dollar menu. Porche is a great cautionary tale for brand dilution.
I don’t know if a smaller Porsche would be wildly profitable, but I suspect they could justify their existence by selling two “volume” models (the 911 and Cayman/Boxster) with high-margin special editions thrown in the mix. Plus, they could copy Harley-Davidson and Ferrari by selling a bunch of random, highly profitable merchandise to people that can’t afford the cars.
I’m not sure this would work, but I think it has a better chance that the current Porsche strategy of attempting to simultaneously be exclusive and a high-volume manufacturer.
This is essentially my thought too: downsize staff, push upmarket, build a luxury/super-performance brand identity.
Become a German Ferrari – Porsche Design is already doing this. Porsche Design toasters, Porsche Design vacuum cleaners, Porsche Design laptops.
Sell the brand, not the product, because 85% of the people are buying the name. When I can get essentially the same object from Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche at the same time – where’s my exclusivity for the price I just paid?
All the brands are doing this……only so many rich people
Yes, but they are so very rich right now, and only getting richer.
And for everybody else – Porsche Design cologne and sunglasses.
I think the context is Porsche is not in the Good Times right now
my response to another comment above i exactly the same, just worde differently. I AGREE
I don’t think the trouble with Porsche is in the 911 range, much less the specialty GT cars or fancy editions.
The problem is the weirdness around the entry points to the brand, the 718 and the Macan (will they be all EV, will gas still be offered, etc) and consumers pulling back because of it. They are also losing Taycan sales fast, amid the general EV pullback.
Ultimately their reputation may depend most on the range topping 911s, but the success of the brand is going to be driven by the vehicles that relatively normal UMC professionals can afford. And right now there just isn’t a lot of clarity around what those offerings are and will be.
It’s an affordability problem as well. There was a time when a Porsche could be a stretch purchase for an upper middle class professional. Even the basest Macan you can find available on a lot is a $70,000+ proposition at this point. My wife and I/pretty much all of our friends are dual six figure income households at this stage and a $70,000 luxury car is what I’d categorize as a frivolous at best, reckless at worst purchase for any of us.
Whether or not you find $70K cars affordable as a $200-400K household really all comes down to housing prices I imagine.
The Midwest is full of Yukons and Platinum trucks that cost more than most non-911 Porsches, but maybe a Macan badge just doesn’t carry the same weight around here.
That’s part of it, but so are the other things that factor into the cost of living, and those are totally out of control pretty much everywhere right now. Gas, groceries, insurance, you name it. Too goddamn expensive…and all of that factors into whether or not people want to take big or even medium sized financial swings. During better economic times I might say “fuck it” and go for a stretch purchase, but right now? Absolutely not….
It’s a fair point. A Porsche, even an SUV, is a fairly easy purchase to put off. Frivolous, as you said.
I wonder how boat, RV, powersports, etc dealers are feeling right now. Likely a good time to buy if one’s financial situation can handle it, and/or one’s risk tolerance is higher than normal. I’d say the same about a Boxster, but you can’t even buy a new one right now.
New RV sales numbers are down, especially in A class vehicles. New trailer sales numbers are down, too. The only sales increases are in used units.
Good question, I wonder how the 6 figure wakeboard boats are selling these days.
Go check Marketplace! Deals!
I suspect one could ‘justify’ a high-end domestic truck/SUV under the guise of practical transportation (but nicer), whereas an entry-level Porsche sports car still very much carries the vibe of ‘toy’.
Then there’s just the aspect of a sports car not retaining the social cues of success in the same manner as before.
An (admittedly lower class) example: Pony cars were once the aspired goal of a large portion of the 20-something guy crowd. Hundreds of thousands of Camaros and Mustangs rolled off the assembly line in the 1980s.
Now that demographic goes truck shopping when they get some money.
In the same way that personal coupés have disappeared.
God I miss coupés
It also can give off a social impression that people don’t want. I tried to put my wife into a CPO Cayenne for less than we paid for a new Mazda CX9, however she did not want that image portrayed. “It probably wouldn’t be the best look to be the new teacher at the low-income school in our area rolling up in a Porsh”
Similar comments were said when her dad bought a very used, 10 year old, Audi Q5, family completely oblivious to the fact it cost less than my also recently purchased used VW Golf.
This is a real thing. My dad drove Acuras for almost 20 years, but when it came time to replace his second one, a Lexus was “too fancy”, so he bought a high-trim Toyota.
I am single six figure income household with a very stable housing situation.
Could I afford a Porsche? Probably yes. Actually three years ago I cross shopped a Cayman with an A110. Ended up with the French car.
However that also meant spending a large chunk of my money just on a car I didn’t drive that much and that felt more like jewelry or an asset rather than something I enjoyed driving.
There is also the not irrelevant issue of the crusade against the car and driving in general.
In essence, I bought a cheap runabout and spend the rest in my (other) hobbies.
Torcal is Lacrot backwards…so let’s get one up to the salt covered roads of the northern US and see how it lives up to it’s name.
“Let’s say that you were given the keys to the Porsche kingdom with the mission of turning things around. How would you do it?”
Play the typical CEO cards. Fire a bunch of people, close some factories, make crazy promises, cut a bunch of programs in the name of austerity, hope those will jack up the stock price for a quarter then quit, leave, or get fired with a giant multi million dollar golden parachute and not care what happens with Porsche and then do it again someplace else.
this has been happening for the last 2 decades straight
“Torcal” traces its etymological roots back to the latin “Torquere,” which translates as “to twist.”
Word of Jason’s phenomenal record breaking run has traveled fast. All are clamoring to steal some of the valor that is Torch.
TBG – more licensing deals, whore the brand out to every developer and hospitality company that wants to pay an upfront fee + a percentage of gross receipts in perpetuity. Porsche Mini Golf & Family Fun Centers, Porsche Bowling Centers, Porsche Hotels & Resorts, Porsche Residences, Porsche Retirement Communities, Porsche Cafes, and then quickly retire before any of the negative results from that begin to surface, so it looks like the next guy’s fault the brand equity goes to shit and is no longer worth anything
Oh, and maybe explore the 911 platform a little more, why does the Panamera have to be the only sedan? Stretch that and make a rear engine Tatra tribute, also maybe do a slightly longer wheelbase coupe option with a tad more rear seat room and optional minibar
Porsche needs a new 914.
An Everyman Porsche!
Or a truck.
Yes this. And a 916 and maybe just for the fuck of it a 918. That said, my recipe would be to split the SUV/Truck/Minivan side of the biz from the sports section. Say like this: Porsche and Por-cha
That’s what the 718 was.
Until it wasn’t.
Proportionally they are about the same.
A 1970 914 was 60% of the cost of a 911.
A 2025 Boxster was 62% of the price of a 911.
The 718 was around both before and after the 914, apparently.
They need to raid the VW parts bin and just put Porsche handling into it.
An EA888 mounted in the back of a basic chassis. A Porsche MR2, basically.
Or just slap a Porsche badge on an Amarok with some crazy handling package or engine package and call it a day.
they did that with Boxter and Cayenne back in the day and they ended up here today
The Cayenne saved the company back then, though.
yes, that Touareg in disguise worked well wehn Luxury SUVs were still somewhat a niche. My buddy had a 3.6 V6 Cayenne and it was an absolute dog, it was a beautiful dark blue with nice light brown leather interior but when you step on it, it was funny slow
Porsche coined the idea and headed the development, VW joined to share the platform and democratize the development costs.
Even then, Cayennes were produced in an entirely different factory than the Touareg and Q7.
Calling it a Touareg in disguise is a bit disingenuous, especially since the VW model is gone while the Cayenne lives on.
Porsche at the time was in financial trouble for about a decade. they would do a lot of works even for Vaz for ther Lada Samara. Or W124 Mercedes 500E. they would take whatever job comes their way and when VW took over of course they used available resources for development. Everythign was done with Vws approval and supervision so in a way it is a fancy VW
As is a Bugatti and a Lambo these days.
Look! It’s the new Honda CR-V…oh wait, that’s a Bentley? Meh, everything looks the same these days.
Also, no red is surely a sign of the ends times.
Indeed. When Mazda is crushing Soul Red…..
TBQ:
Porsche needs to step away from it’s 1 of 4 spec chasing fanbase of 1%ers and build something the middle class can afford and aspire to.
Sure the GT3 Cars are amazing, but I’ll never afford one, and a base spec 911 is still far to expensive. The Corvette (I hate to say this) is eating their lunch in the US on price/performance. Cut 30K off of the sticker price of everything and print money. I know this is unreasonable, but that’s what it’d take to get me into one.
You said this far more succinctly than I ever could
Ha!
I got beat up on the shareholder comments the other day, but companies are chasing margin, not volume. Repercussions up and down the line. I don’t have $50k to justify a daily, never mind a toy, and we are not doubling 6 figures, but close. Everything else has jumped
It would be a really interesting study to see how much money is spent VS earned on some of these specialty cars. Every company needs a halo car, but Porsche has way too many.
I’d say they need to do the opposite. Porsche needs to stop competing with Audi. They should move upmarket and drop the Macan.
Two former employees fired in January, Travis Waite and Harold Keller, refused to help locate the vehicle until Han paid them a combined $91,000 in unpaid wages and benefits. They still haven’t been paid, they say, and the truck remains at large.
Given the striking similarity to the plot of “Airwolf” I really hope these two guys have the truck painted black and are stashing it in a hollowed-out mountain, only going to get it when they need to be champions of justice for the downtrodden.
As a life long Airwolf fan, I support this message. I can see it now as the new “Highwayman” TV show. They are secretly receiving funding to transport cargo various clandestine locations across the US. Instead of the original Highwayman chopper, Airwolf comes out of the back. In this version, Airwolf has AI and is voiced by William Daniels.
My notes on your pitch: Love William Daniels, but think about going in a different dirrection. How about Marc Maron?
Nice
Even as a kid I thought the most unrealistic part of that series was how Hawk and Dominic could drive from LAX to Monument Valley in like 10 minutes.
Yeah, honestly it’s impressive they squeezed four (ish) seasons out of “Let me run to the Nevada desert and get my super helicopter so I can fix this real quick.”
Right? And all those bullets ain’t cheap, nevermind the missiles. Who covered THAT budget?
The firm managed to slip missiles to String and Dom by continuing to cut the budget by not providing Archangel with a glass eye.
Anybody else wonder how the hell the firm never located Airwolf in season one even though Dom kept driving to it in a white Jeep painted like the American flag?
I thought it was because Archangel and the guys had a gentlemen’s agreement that as long as they did the agency’s good guy wet work the search for the missing helicopter would be a token effort at most and I assume would include materials like missiles and bullets for the helicopter. So they were hiding the helicopter from the general public and baddies, not the agency (who probably provided the lair, after all mesas tend not to be naturally hollowed out like a tree trunk).
Agency support answers a LOT of questions.
In the first season, String takes Airwolf and holds it hostage to force the firm to keep looking for his lost brother and the show goes as far as opening with a narration that tells us our mission is to find Airwolf. The second season softens on this a bit, but keeps with continuity. By the third season they seem to be less concerned about getting it back, probably because they made it clear that Hawk, Santini and Caitlyn are the only people capable of flying it. I can’t believe I’m trying to make sense of this by the way. So yeah, you’re right when it comes to season 3, but season one they were actively trying to get it back even though Dom kept driving out to it in a Jeep that was so obvious that Stevie Wonder could have found Airwolf.
Maybe season 3 was the real plan all along and the narration was just the official story. Lets face it, even without following that Jeep the helicopter would have been out of ammo midway through the second or third episode. It’s not like they could have reloaded those guns and launchers with ammo from WalMart.
So glad that Kia understood the assignment. Those Carnivals are everywhere and I am looking forward to getting possibly the Hybrid one in the future.
My sister and her husband, who are high earners that are very image conscious, just bought a Telluride. They didn’t even look at anything else (I suggested a certified MDX to no avail), they were like “this is what we want” and went out and bought one. I haven’t driven it yet but it sure looks great and they got a decent deal on a barely used one.
I found this fascinating. For context they’re in their mid 30s. I really don’t think millennials and younger have the same anti-Korean car bias that older folks do, and I’d imagine that’s where Hyundai and Kia are doing a lot of their damage. Hell I bought one in 2022…
Gen X and older remember when the movie Gung Ho could have been a documentary on Hyundai quality.
We do, but times change.
Porsche has too many fucking cars. I’m a dyed in the wool Porsche sicko and even I can’t tell you which 911 variant is which anymore…and if every one of them is special than none of them are special. Every time I see headlines about some new 992 variant I roll my eyes, as I do at every stupid “(insert 911 variant here) is THE 911 for the discerning enthusiast” take.
The boutique market is wildly oversaturated because there’s never been a better time to be wealthy, and while I understand the capitalist death march of doing everything to make line go UP, as I’ve said a few times Porsche has pushed their luck too far. The average person who wants a 911 already has one or several and they’re all grayscale because of MUH RESALE! It’s become the doctor equivalent of MY CORVETTE IS BEST CORVETTE!
While Porsche would take one look at my bank account and proceed to refuse to piss on me if I was on fire, they need something cool that’s vaguely attainable. Before the usual suspects go “if you factor in inflation they cost the same as always, work harder pleb”, wages have been stagnant for the last half a decade. There was a time when a Porsche was something an upper middle class person could aspire to and that’s no longer the case…and the volume models are what allow them to keep making 1,233,427 different 911s.
I really think they should make something on the same platform as the A5/A6 that starts in the low 60s. Make it look like a mini Panamera. Hell, just rebadge an S5 if you have to, it’s a Porsche engine anyway. That would at least give the people who are stretching to afford a Blackwing, M2/3, base C8, etc. something to consider…then they can subsidize leases a bit to make them $999 a month or whatever because Porsches don’t depreciate as badly.
Then put your industry leading certification program behind them once they come off leases and sell them to enthusiasts that’ll keep them long term. Porsche needs another Cayenne, badly…and unfortunately for their bean counters it’s going to have to be cheaper in practice than that car was, because people don’t have that kind of money anymore.
Your comment is my comment written with thought an clarity!
Not to mention the Corvette absolutely destroys the performance of many sport cars for way less money. Not saying the Corvette is everyones ideal sports car, but why does a base 911 cost so much more?
A C8 is still (barely) within “if you work hard and play your cards right you can aspire to one” range as well. No Porsche other than a base Macan is, and they’re working to do away with that as we speak.
It certainly didn’t use to, but, like a lot of vehicles, Porsche seems to have discontinued the idea of an “entry” trim level and starts 911 pricing about where the middle of the range maybe should be, and excuse it by pointing to everything that’s standard now
This whole ‘pure performance’ angle is moot unless you make your living from racing.
If you buy a sportscar as a ‘civilian’, then crow about “my DSG is 5ms faster to shift, that’s why I only bought the 2-pedal car”, you’re just not willing to admit your knee replacement is giving you trouble in your old age or your shortcomings when it comes to using a clutch pedal in traffic. People either buy a sportscar for driving enjoyment, where a manual gearbox is far more engaging, or to show off, which is when you don’t really care about any of that, so you buy the easy to drive one.
All this is just a roundabout way to say the Corvette only comes in handicapped-version gearbox (no manual), while Porsche still makes those.
My only problem with owning a Corvette is that I don’t own any New Balance shoes, nor any khaki shorts, so I just don’t have the right uniform.
/I agree with all issues with Porsche.
Jorts. Not khakis. You are required to have a Rt66 “Hawaiian” shirt too. Ball cap brand should be Chevy or Margaritaville
https://imgur.com/gallery/how-corvette-owners-dress-when-wife-tells-them-theyre-going-to-fancy-restaurant-7Pw5lGq
Well said!
Average wages of American workers have actually been declining when adjusted for inflation nearly every year since the mid 1970s.
Is the truck really “lost” or is that Mercedes has been reviewing it for the last nine months like that electric motorycle from last year that they never picked up either? Someone needs to check her storage lots…
TBQ: Ruggedize the Cayenne and the Macan, but actually give them off-road chops. Copy the G-wagon’s homework.
Obviously, those two ex-employees who won’t help look for the truck have hidden it in a secret location until they get paid.
And if they really haven’t been paid, then I support them in that endeavor, and i would add that if someone finds the truck, don’t snitch.
This is their leverage to get their back-pay.
Obviously the moment you found you were fired, you shouldn’t move the truck, but I don’t see an issue with immediately parking it in the nearest safe, legal, location.
After that, I’m not on your payroll and I have no obligation to help you find your lost stuff.
One cannot regard the issues with Porsche without looking at VW Group as a whole.
VW can’t seem to get a grip on it’s issues with quality and design – it needs the new EV Golf stat, and to spin the Jetta off that.
The Jetta brand in China – who thought that developing different styling of Skodas and Seats for China was a good way to spend money? Why not just change the badges from the underlying Seats and Skodas and call it a day?
Audi lost its chief designer to Genesis – and it shows. It too struggles with quality – since many of its systems are derived from VW. Ditch the A8.
Cupra should never have been spun off of Seat.
Skoda needs to be a world-car brand – sold in North America as a budget brand to compete with Hyundai and Kia.
Once VW gets the rest of it’s house in order, Porsche will fall in line – as every model that isn’t a 911 or 718 shares systems with VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda, and it needs those lower-cost models to sell to make Porsche’s limited and higher-end sales profitable.
However the Panamera – I think that line is toast. Time to discontinue it.
Of course discontinuing the A8 and Panamera means rough times for Bentley – Perhaps going all EV in the coming years would make the most sense there too.
“Skoda needs to be a world-car brand – sold in North America as a budget brand to compete with Hyundai and Kia.”
Volkswagen IS and always has been the budget brand, never mind their delusions of grandeur. The sooner VW corporate realizes that again, the sooner their fortunes will improve. Provide a quality vehicle at a very fair price and people will buy it.
OK, then, rebadge Skodas as Volkswagens for markets where the Skoda name is unknown/unestablished
Does Skoda have any model that isn’t already sold as a VW?
I don’t believe any of them share much, or any, sheet metal with VWs. Platforms, drivetrains, and switchgear, sure, but that’s not the same thing as badge engineering
It is still competing with oneself. Skoda and VW are both budget brands that compete for the same customer.
The price difference between a Skoda and Volkswagen in Europe is much smaller than you think. The days of the Favorits and Felicias are long gone.
Cupra is quite possibly the greatest scam in the history of motoring.
DS over at Citroen would like a word…
At least they had no concurrent Citroen badged clones…
Cupra is intended to completely replace SEAT, the way Pontiac replaced Oakland
It seemed to be the case, but apparently now Seat is refreshing current models and getting new cars. It’s a bit of a mess…
I would say VW has too many brands – period. They are like the old GM with brands competing with each other. Does VW really needs to sell the same crossover under the SEAT, Cupra, Skoda, VW, and Audi brands?
Completely agree – but more successfully.
And they’re adding Scout, which makes things even more complex.
Oddly, Cupra outsells Seat, and Skoda outsells them both by double.
…. and VW outsells Skoda almost 5 to 1. Looking at VW’s 2025 sales numbers the gains buy Skoda, Seat/Cupra almost exactly match the drop in sales from VW’s other brands.
TBQ: Bring back the 924/944 and boxster. Make a Dakar edition of the SUVs and go racing with all of them.
Bring back the prestige and glamor and sales will follow.
People have been lamenting how fast businesses move in China compared to the West. Perhaps it’s because they don’t give a f*ck about laws. Which I guess makes them like Silicon Valley.
https://youtu.be/6iLf2h_fo-w
This is a much watch for anyone who’s still on the fence about the ghouls in Silicone Valley and how they’re ruining literally everything….
James Bond should have let Max Zorin finish hit master plan…
But the plan didn’t make any goddamn sense, there was virtually no microchip production in Silicon Valley, and relatively little manufacturing of any sort, vs R&D, he wasn’t actually taking out any competition at all, but more likely damaging a lot of his own potential customers, if anything
Well…none of the James Bond supervillain plans made a lot of sense. They were clearly already wealthy and powerful (Volcano base, city sized underwater habitat, etc.); they just needed a hobby, like running hot laps in a 2CV with a grandfather clock in the back.
The dude had racehorses, a French Chateau with a gymnasium setup in the ballroom, some Russians friends to sell stolen secrets to, Grace Jones, and a fucking blimp.
How many hobbies does it take to be satisfied?
I’ve heard The World is not Enough.
Narcissistic psychopathic-sadistic megalomaniacal sociopaths seldom make sense to people who can think for themselves.