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On this episode, Bill dives headfirst into One Crazy Weekend 2026 and what you can expect from what's shaping up to be the biggest, baddest weekend of the year. If you're planning to attend, now's the time to start saving, booking rooms, and getting mentally prepared—this one's going to be special. Bill breaks down the latest updates, including the new Sunday Cool-Down Pool Party, presented by Spikes Restoration and Werk Restoration—a perfect way to wind down after a full throttle weekend of Volkswagens, friends, and late nights. The episode also covers Bill's road trip to the Grand National Show, where he went to support the VW community and those competing for the prestigious Al Slonker Award. Congrats go out to Buddy Hile with One Restoration, who took home the top honors. Rounding things out, Bill shares thoughts from stopping by the Doug Berg Memorial Celebration of Life, reflecting on legacy, community, and the people who shaped the VW world. Packed with updates, stories from the road, and what's coming next—this episode sets the tone for an exciting year ahead. Enjoy. https://www.letstalkdubs.com/one-crazy-weekend.html www.vwtrendsmagazine.com www.rosswulf.com
Nos sentamos para hablar de política, medios, deuda y gobierno con el exgobernador Alejandro García Padilla. Al final, Luisito le pregunta algo que nunca le había preguntado.-
This week we talk about the European Union, India, and tariffs.We also discuss trade barriers, free trade, and dumping.Recommended Book: The Kill Chain by Christian BroseTranscriptA free trade agreement, sometimes called a free trade treaty, is a law that reduces the cost and regulatory burden of trading between two or more states.There are many theories as to the ideal way to do international trade, with some economists and politicians positing that complete free and open trade is the way to go, because it allows goods and services to cross borders completely unencumbered, which in turn allows businesses in different countries to really lean into whatever they're good at, selling their cars to countries that are less good at making cars, while that recipient country produces soy beans or computer chips or whatever they're good at making, and sending those in the other direction, likewise unburdened by stiff tariffs or regulatory hurdles. Each country can thus produce the best product cheapest and sell it to the market where their products are in high-demand, while they, in turn, benefit from the same when it comes to other products and services.This theory leans on the idea that everyone is better off when everyone does what they're best at, rather than trying to do everything—specialization. But those who oppose this conception of international trade argue that this creates and reinforces asymmetries between different nations and businesses: a country that's really good at producing soybeans may be at a substantial disadvantage if the country that makes cars ever decides to go to war, because they won't have the existing infrastructure to build tanks or drones or whatever else, while the country that specializes in computer chips might hold all the cards when it comes to generating economic pressure against its enemies or would-be enemies, because such chips are in everything these days, from military hardware to kitchen appliances.This also creates potential frailties for countries that specialize in, say, buggy whips, only to have a new technology like the automobile come around and put a significant chunk of their total economy out of business.This theory may also leave local businesses that don't lean into a regional strength kind of in the lurch. If a country with a decent-sized automobile industry decides leaves their borders completely open to international competition, there's a chance that could light a fire under those local producers, forcing them to become more competitive, but there's also a chance it could collapse the market for local offerings—their cars might no longer be desirable, because the international stuff flooding across the borders from a nation that has heavily prioritized making cars are just so much better and cheaper, whether naturally or artificially, because of subsidies by that foreign government meant to help them take out international competition.This is why most nations have all sorts of tariffs, regulations, and other trade barriers erected between them and their trading partners, and why those trade barriers are ultra-specific, different for every single possible trade partner. The goal is to make international options less appealing by making them more expensive, or making it trickier for foreign competition to smoothly and quickly get their products on your shelves, while still making those things available in a volume that aligns with local consumer demands. And then ideally making it easier and cheaper for your stuff to get on their shelves.The negotiation of all this is massively complicated because Country A might want to favor their soybean farmers, who are an important voting bloc, and Country B might want to do the same for their car industry, because tax income from that industry is vital, and these two governments will thus do what they can to ensure their favored local industries and businesses have the biggest leg-up possible in as many foreign markets as possible, without giving away so much to their trade partners that they create worse situations for other industries and businesses (and the people who run them) on the home-front, as a consequence.What I'd like to talk about today is a recent, massive and potentially quite vital trade deal that was struck in early 2026, and what it might mean for global trade.—At the tail-end of January 2026, the European Commission announced that they had struck what they called “the mother of all deals” with India, this deal the culmination of two decades worth of negotiation, its tenets impacting about 2 billion people and around a quarter of the world's total GDP.The agreement, as is the case with most such agreements, is fairly complex. But in essence it reduces or eliminates tariffs on 96.6% of all EU goods exported to India, which means about 4 billion euros of annual duties that would have otherwise been paid on European products in India will disappear—a savings for Indian consumers, and a boon for European producers whose products will now be cheaper in India.This is expected to be especially beneficial for European automakers like Volkswagen, Renault, and BMW, which have long been weighed down by a 110% tariff in India; that tariff will be reduced to as little as 10% on the first 250,000 vehicles sold, following this agreement. Lower priced vehicles will still face higher tariffs, to help protect India's local carmakers, but electric vehicles will benefit from a five-year grace period, as India has been focusing on allowing as many cheap, renewable energy assets and infrastructure into the country as possible, regardless of where they come from.Tariffs on machinery, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals coming from the EU will be almost entirely eliminated, down from tariff rates of 44, 22, and 11%, respectively. Wine, which has long been tariffed at a rate of 150%, will be cut to between 20-30% for many varieties, and spirits from the EU coming into India will see 150% tariffs cut to 40%.On the other side of this deal, the EU will also open its market to Indian goods, reducing tariffs on about 99.5% of all such goods, including seafood, textiles, gems and jewelry, leather goods, plastic products, and toys. Several of these categories, like Indian seafood, textile-making, and other labor-intensive industries, have had a rough time of late, because of high US tariffs enforced by President Trump's second administration, so this is being seen as a significant win for them in particular.Interestingly, while the reduction in trade barriers is substantial here, and the number of people and industries, and amount of money that's involved is massive, this deal doesn't include, and in some cases explicitly excludes, any agreements related to labor rights, climate commitment, or environmental standards.This means that while the European Union has thus far been pretty strict in terms of ensuring incoming products align with their policies and values regarding things like carbon emissions and ensuring goods aren't produced by people laboring in slave-like conditions, this deal falls short of such enforcements, allowing India to operate with relative impunity, with regards to those issues, at least, and still sell with dramatically reduced barriers, on the European market. That's a big deal, and is perhaps the biggest indicator of just how badly the EU wanted to make this deal work.The EU was also able to keep significant protections in place for important local sectors like beef and chicken, dairy, rice, and sugar—all industries in which India would have liked to compete in the EU, but which, because of those maintained barriers, they practically can't. That would likely have been a feverishly negotiated topic, and it's likely an indicator of how much India wanted this to work, too.On that note, both India and the EU were apparently especially interested in making this multi-decade deal work, now, because of increasing pressure from China on one side and the US on the other.China has been rerouting many of its cheap products that would have previously gone to the US market, elsewhere, engaging in what's often called ‘dumping' which slowly but surely puts businesses that produce comparable products at a profit in those local target markets out of business, at which point these Chinese companies can then ratchet up their prices and profits, operating without real competition.The EU and India have both been targeted by Chinese companies taking this approach, because they're still producing at a feverish pace and because of US tariffs and the general unpredictability and irregularity of US policy overall under the second Trump administration, they've been firing that cheap product cannon more intensely at other large markets, instead—and India and the EU are the next two big markets in line right now, after the US and China.On the US side of things, those same tariffs have been hurting companies in both the EU and India that would otherwise been shipping their goods to the rich and spendy US market, and in many cases these tariffs have been fine-tuned to hurt important local industries as much as possible, because that's one of Trump's main negotiating tactics: lead with pain and then negotiate to take some of the pain away.This deal, then, serves multiple purposes in that it creates a valuable, newly polished trade relationship between a rich and powerful existing bloc and the newly most-populous country on the planet, which is also rapidly expanding economically and geopolitically.One last point to note, here, though, is that the European Union has been trying to create these sorts of mutually beneficial deals with non-US partners for a while, now, and the two most recent wins, trade deals with a South American trade bloc and with Indonesia, in early January 2026 and in September of 2025, respectively, have borne mixed results.The deal with Indonesia seems to be moving forward apace, and while it's a heck of a lot smaller than the India deal, only worth about 27 billion euros, that's still important, as Indonesia is increasingly important, both economically and geopolitically, especially in a Southeast Asia that's slowly reinforcing itself against China's economically and potentially militarily expansionist tendencies.The deal with that South American bloc, however, was referred to the EU Court of Justice in mid-January for legal review due to its lack of alignment with other EU treaties, and that could delay or prevent its ratification.This new mother of all deals with India could likewise face holdups, or could fizzle before being implemented—though most analysts who are keeping eyes on this are seeing it not just as an economic agreement, but a gesture of solidarity at a moment in which China and the US are signaling their intent to carve up the world into hemispheric hegemonies, when those who might otherwise be forced into subordinate positions are scrambling to figure out who they can team up with and create counter-balancing forces capable of standing up against current and future aggression and coercion.There's a chance that even if politics and propriety threaten to get in the way, then, India and the EU will figure out a way to work together, on this and potentially other matters of global import, as well.Show Noteshttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/27/eu-and-india-sign-free-trade-agreementhttps://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/eu-india-trade-deal-leaves-blocs-carbon-border-tariff-intact-2026-01-27/https://archive.is/20260127162349/https://www.ft.com/content/b03b1344-7e92-4d0d-b85e-5ed92fc8f550https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_trade_agreementhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_barrierhttps://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_184https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/files/document/print/en/ip_26_184/IP_26_184_EN.pdfhttps://www.ndtv.com/world-news/how-indias-mother-of-all-deals-with-eu-wipes-out-pakistans-trade-advantage-10921011https://theconversation.com/what-the-mother-of-all-deals-between-india-and-the-eu-means-for-global-trade-274515https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/economic-impact-us-tariff-hikes-significance-trade-diversion-effectshttps://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20260116IPR32450/eu-mercosur-meps-demand-a-legal-opinion-on-its-conformity-with-the-eu-treatieshttps://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/1/27/mother-of-all-deals-how-india-eu-trade-deal-creates-27-trillion-markethttps://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/27/trump-reaction-eu-india-trade-deal-fta.htmlhttps://www.atlanticcouncil.org/content-series/inflection-points/the-mother-of-all-trade-deals-in-the-time-of-trump/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/with-mother-of-all-deals-in-bag-minister-piyush-goyal-says-mother-will-be-compassionate-fair-to-all-28-children/articleshow/127821015.cmshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India%E2%80%93European_Union_Free_Trade_Agreementhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India%E2%80%93European_Union_relations This is a public episode. 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Today on CarEdge Live, Ray and Zach discuss the latest news on Volkswagen and their decisions with Scout Motors that are frustrating and scaring dealers. Tune in to learn more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Weekly Initial Jobless Claims; media analysis of the Federal Reserve's decision to leave interest rates unchanged; Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundia report 2025 sales, which company was the world's top-selling automaker and what was the effect of tariffs? Actor Edward Norton promotes ship emission-cutting technology; Omdia Automotive reported December U.S. Class 8 Truck Sales; oil prices react to geopolitical events and a weaker US dollar; Kevin has the details, digs into the data , puts the information into historical perspective, offers his insights and a few opinions along the way.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Weekly Initial Jobless Claims; media analysis of the Federal Reserve's decision to leave interest rates unchanged; Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundia report 2025 sales, which company was the world's top-selling automaker and what was the effect of tariffs? Actor Edward Norton promotes ship emission-cutting technology; Omdia Automotive reported December U.S. Class 8 Truck Sales; oil prices react to geopolitical events and a weaker US dollar; Kevin has the details, digs into the data , puts the information into historical perspective, offers his insights and a few opinions along the way. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Spike and co. discuss price manipulation conspiracies around the insane multimillion dollar Porsche and Ferrari auctions at Mecum, and review Ineos' 2026 revision on the Grenadier. Ducati NA CEO Jason Chinnock drips by the garage to reveal the company's exciting entry into Supercross racing and unveil the limited-edition Desmo450 MX Factory dirt bike. ______________________________________________
It's been a huge few weeks for the electric vehicle industry — at least in North America.After a major trade deal, Canada is set to import tens of thousands of new electric vehicles from China every year, and it could soon invite a Chinese automaker to build a domestic factory. General Motors has also already killed the Chevrolet Bolt, one of the most anticipated EV releases of 2026.How big a deal is the China-Canada EV trade deal, really? Will we see BYD and Xiaomi cars in Toronto and Vancouver (and Detroit and Seattle) any time soon — or is the trade deal better for Western brands like Volkswagen or Tesla which have Chinese factories but a Canadian presence? On this week's Shift Key, Rob talks to Greig Mordue, a former Toyota executive who is now an engineering professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, about how the deal could shake out. Then he chats with Heatmap contributor Andrew Moseman about why the Bolt died — and the most exciting EVs we could see in 2026 anyway.Shift Key is hosted by Robinson Meyer, the founding executive editor of Heatmap, and Jesse Jenkins, a professor of energy systems engineering at Princeton University. Jesse is off this week.Mentioned: Canada's new "strategic partnership” with ChinaThe Chevy Bolt Is Already Dead. Again.The EVs Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2026--This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by …Heatmap Pro brings all of our research, reporting, and insights down to the local level. The software platform tracks all local opposition to clean energy and data centers, forecasts community sentiment, and guides data-driven engagement campaigns. Book a demo today to see the premier intelligence platform for project permitting and community engagement.Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Despite a lack of payment from OEMs for all of the consulting the fellas have pushed out in these "Saving" brand episodes, the homies sit down and do their best to save VW. Does anyone actually know or care what VW makes today outside of the GTI and Golf R? Let's see what bad ideas the dudes have in mind to bail out this German icon.
In the 64th episode of Break/Fix's, Drive Thru News, our hosts provide a comprehensive winter recap of the automotive industry, covering dramatic changes, new car releases, and motorsports updates. They discuss the EU relaxing its 2035 combustion engine ban, Ford's mixed EV strategy, and the Audi's new diesel-hybrid. The team also covers the 2026 Mecum Kissimmee auction, including rich people's extravagant car purchases, and a humorous personal encounter at a Circle K. ===== (Oo---x---oO) ===== 00:00:00 Hosts Reconnect and Reflect on Past Episodes 00:00:57 Winter Recap: Automotive Industry Updates 00:02:38 EU's 2035 Combustion Engine Ban Relaxation? 00:03:52 Ford's EV Strategy Overhaul 00:06:04 Diesel's Comeback and Hybrid Innovations at VAG 00:08:35 Jaguar's Design Controversy and Audi's New Look 00:12:41 Volkswagen's New Models and Market Strategy 00:14:50 Jeep's Military-Exclusive Wrangler and Other Stellantis News 00:17:27 Hellcat-Powered Pacifica and Grand Wagoneer Review 00:23:30 Asian Cars: Kei Cars and Hyundai's G90 Magma Wagon 00:30:47 Future Electric Vehicles: Concepts and Controversies 00:39:22 Design Quirks: The Hoffmeister Kink! 00:40:11 The Bezos Truck and EV Lineup Speculations 00:40:45 Lost and Found: Rare Car Discoveries 00:43:40 Tesla's Cybertruck Sales in decline! 00:48:58 Rental Car Reviews: Elantra, Soul, and Altima 01:09:32 Florida Man at the Circle K 01:12:19 Motorsports News and Updates 01:21:34 24 Hours of Lemons Racing Adventure 01:23:15 Outro! ==================== The Motoring Podcast Network : Years of racing, wrenching and Motorsports experience brings together a top notch collection of knowledge, stories and information. #everyonehasastory #gtmbreakfix - motoringpodcast.net More Information: Visit Our Website Become a VIP at: Patreon Online Magazine: Gran Touring Follow us on Social: Instagram
- Trump Opens the Door to Chinese Car Plants in The U.S. - 8,000 Dealers Gone: The Brutal Restructuring of China's Auto Market - Porsche's 1,156-HP Electric Cayenne Aims to Save Its Chinese Business - India Slashes Tariffs on EU Cars To 40%—Is an Export Boom Coming? - No More Discounts? Chinese EVs Pivot to Ultra-Low Interest 7-Year Loans - China Hits 469 Million Vehicles—The Scale of The Global Leader - Why Audi Is Losing Its U.S. Plant Hopes
- Trump Opens the Door to Chinese Car Plants in The U.S. - 8,000 Dealers Gone: The Brutal Restructuring of China's Auto Market - Porsche's 1,156-HP Electric Cayenne Aims to Save Its Chinese Business - India Slashes Tariffs on EU Cars To 40%—Is an Export Boom Coming? - No More Discounts? Chinese EVs Pivot to Ultra-Low Interest 7-Year Loans - China Hits 469 Million Vehicles—The Scale of The Global Leader - Why Audi Is Losing Its U.S. Plant Hopes
In der heutigen Folge sprechen die Finanzjournalisten Lea Oetjen und Holger Zschäpitz über Shutdown-Alarm in den USA, neue Zolldrohungen gegen Kanada und was sonst noch wichtig wird in dieser Woche. Außerdem geht es um Intel, Amazon, Volkswagen, ASML, SAP, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Tesla, Ryanair, Stabilus, Steel Dynamics, Nucor, Ferrovial, Thales, Vinci, Eiffage, Fraport, Accenture, Wipro, Tata Consultancy, C3.ai, Palantir, Standard Chartered, Fujitsu, Cloudflare, CrowdStrike, Dell, Pinterest, Cognizant, Uber, Nasdaq, Qualcomm, Snowflake, Bank of America, Citi, IBM, Cisco, Krka, Ignitis, Shell, BP, HSBC, Diageo, Reckitt Benckiser, Rio Tinto, Imperial Brands, Sage Group, Unilever, Aviva, Phoenix Group, Legal & General, Vale, OPAP, National Bank of Greece, DBS Group, Oversea Chinese Banking Corporation, Singapore Exchange, Jardine Matheson, Invesco, Tokio Marine, CK Infrastructure, EUWAX Gold II (WKN: EWG2LD), VanEck Defense ETF (WKN: A3D9M1), iShares MSCI Canada ETF (WKN: A0YEDS), Xtrackers Euro Stoxx 50 ETF (WKN: DBX1ET), Amundi Stoxx Europe 600 ETF (WKN: LYX0Q0), Global X European Infrastructure Development ETF (WKN: A40E7B), SPDR MSCI Europe Industrials ETF (WKN: A1191T), iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia Capped ETF (WKN: A14ZV2) und Xtrackers MSCI EM Europe, Middle East & Africa ETF (WKN: DBX1EA). https://www.businessinsider.de/informationen/newsletter/alles-auf-aktien/ Wir freuen uns an Feedback über aaa@welt.de. Noch mehr "Alles auf Aktien" findet Ihr bei WELTplus und Apple Podcasts – inklusive aller Artikel der Hosts und AAA-Newsletter. Hier bei WELT: https://www.welt.de/podcasts/alles-auf-aktien/plus247399208/Boersen-Podcast-AAA-Bonus-Folgen-Jede-Woche-noch-mehr-Antworten-auf-Eure-Boersen-Fragen.html. Der Börsen-Podcast Disclaimer: Die im Podcast besprochenen Aktien und Fonds stellen keine spezifischen Kauf- oder Anlage-Empfehlungen dar. Die Moderatoren und der Verlag haften nicht für etwaige Verluste, die aufgrund der Umsetzung der Gedanken oder Ideen entstehen. Hörtipps: Für alle, die noch mehr wissen wollen: Holger Zschäpitz können Sie jede Woche im Finanz- und Wirtschaftspodcast "Deffner&Zschäpitz" hören. +++ Werbung +++ Du möchtest mehr über unsere Werbepartner erfahren? Hier findest du alle Infos & Rabatte! https://linktr.ee/alles_auf_aktien Impressum: https://www.welt.de/services/article7893735/Impressum.html Datenschutz: https://www.welt.de/services/article157550705/Datenschutzerklaerung-WELT-DIGITAL.html
Today on CarEdge Live, Ray and Zach discuss the latest car sales data and inventory levels. Tune in to learn more! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
- VW, Audi Dealers Sue Colorado - VW's "Slash and Burn" Cost-Cutting - Canadians Who Are Against Chinese EVs - Automakers Squeeze Suppliers in China - Used EVs Hit Market at Record Rate - Volvo Unveils EX60 EV - Hyundai Union: "Not a Single Robot" - Geely's Roadmap to Overtake GM
- VW, Audi Dealers Sue Colorado - VW's "Slash and Burn" Cost-Cutting - Canadians Who Are Against Chinese EVs - Automakers Squeeze Suppliers in China - Used EVs Hit Market at Record Rate - Volvo Unveils EX60 EV - Hyundai Union: "Not a Single Robot" - Geely's Roadmap to Overtake GM
In this episode of Disruption/Interruption, KJ sits down with Joey Coleman, two-time Wall Street Journal bestselling author and expert in experience design and retention strategy. Joey reveals the shocking truth about employee turnover—costing businesses a trillion dollars annually—and shares his proven framework for transforming the first 100 days of any relationship. From his background as a criminal defense attorney and White House advisor to consulting with NASA, Volkswagen, and Zappos, Joey brings unique insights into why companies lose employees and customers, and more importantly, how to keep them. Four Key Takeaways The First Day Crisis (10:25) 4% of all new hires quit after their first day of work globally, and by day 45, that number jumps to 22%. By the one-year mark, 40% of employees have left—costing U.S. businesses approximately $1 trillion annually. The True Cost of Turnover (13:00) Replacing an employee costs between 100-300% of their annual salary just to get someone new into the seat—not including their actual salary and benefits. For a $50,000 employee, you're looking at $50,000-$150,000 in replacement costs alone. HR's Shift from Culture to Compliance (27:00) Over the past 50 years, HR departments have shifted focus from creating great workplace cultures to managing compliance, documentation, and litigation prevention—leaving no one responsible for making the workplace the best it can be. The Remarkable Organization Test (35:31) "The way you know you're running a remarkable organization is if you announce you're hiring and your existing employees immediately recommend amazing people they want to work with. In most organizations, internal referral candidates measure close to zero." Quote of the Show (28:12):"There is no one who wakes up in the morning, looks in the mirror and says, 'My primary job when I get to work today is to make sure that this is the best place that any of these people have ever worked.'" – Joey Coleman Join our Anti-PR newsletter where we’re keeping a watchful and clever eye on PR trends, PR fails, and interesting news in tech so you don't have to. You're welcome. Want PR that actually matters? Get 30 minutes of expert advice in a fast-paced, zero-nonsense session from Karla Jo Helms, a veteran Crisis PR and Anti-PR Strategist who knows how to tell your story in the best possible light and get the exposure you need to disrupt your industry. Click here to book your call: https://info.jotopr.com/free-anti-pr-eval Ways to connect with Joey Coleman: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeycoleman1/ How to get more Disruption/Interruption: Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlDSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
When Slovakia was part of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the cars it made were noisy, thirsty and slow by western standards at the time. But when Volkswagen bought the car-maker Skoda, that was the beginning of a major change. Now, Slovakia makes almost a million cars a year and with Volvo opening a factory here in 2027, it'll be a quarter of a million more. Extraordinary for a country of five million people. We visit a factory and find out why this small nation is attracting so much car industry investment. If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.ukPresented and produced by John Laurenson(Picture: Workers on a production line in a car factory, Slovakia. Credit: BBC/John Laurenson)
In this episode of The Loveall Sales Podcast, I'm coming to you fresh off the NADA Academy in McLean, Virginia—an experience fewer than 1% of people in the automotive industry ever get to have. What I learned reinforced one powerful truth:Everything in sales—and in life—comes down to your foundation.I break down what a real foundation actually is:SkillsetMindsetWork ethicProcessDisciplineWillingness to invest in yourselfI share my journey from making 300–600 cold calls a day, hearing dozens of no's daily, eating mac and cheese for months, and staying up until 2–4 a.m. mastering the phone—to becoming a top performer who sold 50–60 cars a month, hit a 64.5-car record, and earned over $400,000 at a small-market Volkswagen store where most people said success was impossible.We talk about:Why most salespeople stay reactive instead of proactiveWhy excuses kill careers faster than bad marketsHow phone mastery changes everythingWhy great managers build people up—not tear them downHow investing over $40,000 in my own education allowed me to give back and change livesI also open up about battling cancer, walking away from dealership life, and why building a sales training company became my mission—to help more people faster, with zero excuses.If you're a salesperson, manager, GM, or dealer, this episode will challenge you to take ownership of your results, strengthen your foundation, and go all in on becoming the best version of yourself—inside and outside of work.Because at the end of the day, hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard… and imagine if you had both.Believe in yourself—because I do.
This week on America on the Road, host Jack Nerad flies solo as co-host Chris Teague tends to a sick dog. Jack brings you road tests of two standout vehicles–North American Truck of the Year Ford Maverick Lobo and Mazda CX-30–and the latest automotive news. Among the stories we cover California Governor Gavin Newsom is making a new EV push; Volvo is targeting range anxiety, and Lucid is unveiling a new robotaxi. Our special guest interview looks behind the scenes at the all-new 2026 Volkswagen Tiguan.
In the agricultural flatlands of southern Hungary, the soil tells a story. For generations, these fields produced paprika and wheat. Today, excavators carve the foundations of an industrial revolution.Trenches now stretch across the landscape—not for irrigation, but for the utility infrastructure of a battery plant that will consume as much water as a town of 50,000 people. The land, once sold for a pittance, has been revalued at seventeen times its purchase price to accommodate the Chinese guest.Eight hundred kilometres northwest, in the exhausted industrial heart of Wolfsburg, Germany, a different excavation proceeds. Production workers at Volkswagen face the incomprehensible: the company announced the permanent shutdown of its Dresden plant, as the final car rolled off the production lines in December, marking the first factory closure in its 88-year history. The crown jewel of German manufacturing shutters domestic factories.These twin excavations—one rising near Budapest, the other crumbling in Wolfsburg—reveal how electric vehicles reshape the automotive industry. The European automotive sector, long the engine of continental prosperity, faces an existential reckoning. China's undisputed champion, BYD, has a lot of say in how this all turns out.Welcome back to a bonus edition of the podcast. My name is Martyn Lee and over the last few weeks I've been looking into the future of Chinese-made, or European-made but Chinese-funded EVs. I'll have a look at some of the big names over the course of the coming months, but today we'll start at the top – BYD. A reminder you can get the podcasts ad-free supporting my work on Patreon.
In der heutigen Folge sprechen die Finanzjournalisten Daniel Eckert und Lea Oetjen über den Kampf um Warner Bros. Discovery, die neue Bestmarke von BlackRock und das große Coinbase-Chaos. Außerdem geht es um TSMC, Lam Research, Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom, Aixtron, Suss Microtec, PVA Tepla, Siltronic, Volkswagen, Paramount, Netflix, Adidas, Aker ASA, Thales, Leonardo, Hanwha Aerospace, Saab, RTX, iShares Core MSCI World (WKN: A0RPWH), Vanguard FTSE All-World (WKN: A2PKXG), VanEck Morningstar Developed Markets Dividend Leaders (WKN: A2JAHJ), VanEck Defense (WKN: A3D9M1), Xtrackers II EUR Overnight Rate Swap (WKN: DBX0AN), L&G Cyber Security ETF (WKN: A14WU5), VanEck Space Innovators ETF (WKN: A3DP9J), Amundi Stoxx Europe 600 Insurance ETF (WKN: LYX02M), WisdomTree Strategic Metals and Rare Earths Miners ETF (WKN: A3EKKT), Xtrackers MSCI EM Europe Middle East & Africa ETF (WKN: DBX1EA), Xtrackers Vietnam Swap ETF (WKN: DBX1AG), EUWAX Gold II ETC (WKN: EWG2LD), Xtrackers Physical Silver ETC (WKN: A1E0HS). https://www.welt.de/premium/plus255274882/90-Minuten-Kurs-Sieben-einfache-Schritte-zum-erfolgreichen-Depot.html Wir freuen uns an Feedback über aaa@welt.de. Noch mehr "Alles auf Aktien" findet Ihr bei WELTplus und Apple Podcasts – inklusive aller Artikel der Hosts und AAA-Newsletter. Hier bei WELT: https://www.welt.de/podcasts/alles-auf-aktien/plus247399208/Boersen-Podcast-AAA-Bonus-Folgen-Jede-Woche-noch-mehr-Antworten-auf-Eure-Boersen-Fragen.html. Der Börsen-Podcast Disclaimer: Die im Podcast besprochenen Aktien und Fonds stellen keine spezifischen Kauf- oder Anlage-Empfehlungen dar. Die Moderatoren und der Verlag haften nicht für etwaige Verluste, die aufgrund der Umsetzung der Gedanken oder Ideen entstehen. Hörtipps: Für alle, die noch mehr wissen wollen: Holger Zschäpitz können Sie jede Woche im Finanz- und Wirtschaftspodcast "Deffner&Zschäpitz" hören. +++ Werbung +++ Du möchtest mehr über unsere Werbepartner erfahren? Hier findest du alle Infos & Rabatte! https://linktr.ee/alles_auf_aktien Impressum: https://www.welt.de/services/article7893735/Impressum.html Datenschutz: https://www.welt.de/services/article157550705/Datenschutzerklaerung-WELT-DIGITAL.html
In part 3 of our Pre NADA AI Spotlight series we break down why call handling is still broken, and how a new generation of agentic AI is changing the equation. Today, Sam sits down with Chris Murphy, General Manager of Volkswagen of Oakland and Monik Pamecha, CEO of Toma. We explore how forward-thinking dealers are reallocating human talent away from low-value phone work and back into high-impact, in-store customer interactions. The conversation also tackles a harder truth: as AI becomes a true operational layer, GMs are now managing AI agents the same way they manage people—training them, auditing performance, and holding them accountable. This episode is brought to you by: Toma - Toma builds AI agents that protect dealership revenue, retention, and reputation by automating communications and workflows with safeguards that protect the customer experience. If you're evaluating AI at NADA, see what thoughtful deployment actually looks like by pre-booking your demo at: http://toma.com/nada-2026 Check out Car Dealership Guy's stuff: For dealers: CDG Circles ➤ https://cdgcircles.com/ Industry job board ➤ http://jobs.dealershipguy.com Dealership recruiting ➤ http://www.cdgrecruiting.com Fix your dealership's social media ➤ http://www.trynomad.co Request to be a podcast guest ➤ http://www.cdgguest.com For industry vendors: Advertise with Car Dealership Guy ➤ http://www.cdgpartner.com Industry job board ➤ http://jobs.dealershipguy.com Request to be a podcast guest ➤ http://www.cdgguest.com Topics: 02:41 What is the biggest challenge in call handling? 04:54 Why transition service advisors to AI? 08:17 How to implement Toma AI? 14:03 How does AI enhance the customer experience? 24:34 How does voice AI improve customer interaction? 27:11 What was the biggest AI integration challenge? 36:59 How can dealerships use AI for outbound communication? 41:11 What is the future of AI in dealerships? Car Dealership Guy Socials: X ➤ x.com/GuyDealership Instagram ➤ instagram.com/cardealershipguy/ TikTok ➤ tiktok.com/@guydealership LinkedIn ➤ linkedin.com/company/cardealershipguy Threads ➤ threads.net/@cardealershipguy Facebook ➤ facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077402857683 Everything else ➤ dealershipguy.com
Le 13 avril 2021, le visage de Mia Montemaggi, 8 ans, est diffusé dans tout le pays. Le dispositif Alerte Enlèvement est en marche. Le matin même, deux hommes se présentant comme agents de la PJJ sonnaient à la porte de la grand-mère de la petite fille, chez qui elle vivait depuis quelques mois. Derrière cette affaire se cache une véritable entreprise conspirationniste, un piège idéologique dans lequel Lola Montemaggi, la mère de Mia, a plongé tête la première.Les faits, déroulés sans heurt ni violence, ont eu lieu le matin même, aux Poulières : un village de 250 habitants, perdu dans la vallée du Neuné, à une trentaine de kilomètres d'Épinal, dans les Vosges. Il est 11h30, lorsqu'un fourgon Volkswagen, type transporteur, couleur gris anthracite, s'arrête devant une maison implantée à l'écart de la commune.Crimes • Histoires Vraies est une production Minuit. Notre collection s'agrandit avec Crimes en Bretagne, Montagne et Provence.
DHZ-favorittene Deniz Undav og Haris Tabakovic skyter seg til rundens lag i årets første fotballkamper. Er Kristoffer Ajer neste nordmann i Tyskland? Nordmannen har besøkt Volkswagen-laget. Eivind er endelig tilbake på Bundesliga-jobb for Viaplay, feirer med seks scoringer. Kevin Behrens spiller rolig treningskamp, men synes likevel medspillerne er misfoster som må fyres i bakken! Alexander Nouri har vært trener i Werder Bremen og Hertha Berlin, men tar tatt et nytt, stort karrieresteg når han overtar en gjeng i rødt og gult.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're sharing an episode from another Pushkin podcast, Business History. Hosts Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith examine the surprising stories of businesses big and small, bringing to life the greatest innovations, the boldest entrepreneurs and the craziest mavericks in the archives of commerce and finance.The VW Beetle was the biggest selling car of all time, and it found particular favor with people like hippies and surfers. But this icon of the 60s counterculture had its roots in Nazism. The Volkswagen—the People's Car—was an obsession of Adolf Hitler. He wanted to transform Germany into a land of drivers—and needed an affordable, but reliable automobile. Germany's private auto manufacturers knew the project was doomed to failure. So Hitler assembled a team of designers and factory managers to enact his vision - even if that meant enslaving workers and committing murder. This is part 1 of a two-part series on the VW Beetle. Find part 2 here next Wednesday. Find more episodes of Business History on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- GM Says EVs Still the End Game - GM Moving Into New Headquarters - BYD and Geely Overtake VW in China - Robots Help Boost Hyundai's Market Cap - President Trump Visiting Detroit - Renault Reveals New Geely-Based SUV - NEVs Drive Sales Growth in China - Ferrari Patents Predictive Active Aero
Interview withStefan Gleason, CEO of Money Metals ExchangeNick Smart, Director & CEO of ValOre MetalsRecording date: 7th January 2026Platinum group elements have emerged from years of undervaluation into what industry executives describe as a fundamental supply-demand inflection point. The second half of 2025 witnessed platinum prices nearly double, driven by structural changes across industrial, jewelry, and investment demand against severely constrained supply. For investors seeking precious metals exposure with distinct fundamentals from gold, the platinum story presents a compelling case rooted in geological scarcity, industrial necessity, and market imbalances forecast to persist through 2030.The supply challenge stems from extreme geological concentration combined with economic realities. While platinum occurs in earth's crust at similar abundance to gold—a few parts per billion—concentrated economic deposits are far scarcer. Global primary platinum production totals just 6 million ounces annually versus 120-130 million ounces for gold. More critically, 90% of platinum reserves sit within South Africa's Bushveld Complex, where aging deep-level underground mines face rising costs and operational difficulties. Outside South Africa, platinum production occurs primarily as a mining byproduct, meaning supply cannot respond to price signals. As Stefan Gleason, CEO of Money Metals Exchange notes, even prices ten times higher won't trigger meaningful supply responses given massive underinvestment and geopolitical constraints.Demand dynamics have shifted dramatically across three sectors. Industrial demand is strengthening contrary to earlier electric vehicle projections, with 75% of new US vehicles remaining internal combustion engines while hybrids—which consume more platinum and palladium than conventional engines—represent the fastest-growing automotive segment globally. Major manufacturers like Ford and Volkswagen are shifting production lines toward hybrids due to superior profit margins and customer acceptance. Nick Smart, CEO of ValOre Metals and a 21-year Anglo American veteran, emphasizes this durability stems from infrastructure limitations and automotive economics.The jewelry sector presents another growth vector as gold reaches twice platinum's price—a relationship inverted only in the past decade. Manufacturers and consumers in India and China are shifting to platinum for cost relief while maintaining luxury appeal, with platinum offering white gold substitution at less than half gold's cost. Investment demand, while currently small at roughly 1% of precious metals sales, is maturing rapidly. China has opened platinum hedging markets, creating what Gleason describes as "a three-way pull" between London shortages, US inventory builds, and new Chinese infrastructure.Physical market stress signals are acute. Above-ground inventories have fallen below six months of supply—what Gleason characterizes as "totally unsustainable." London financing shortages have driven lease rates to 12-15% annualized, creating cascading effects across refineries, users, and producers. The entire above-ground platinum supply could be absorbed with just $6 billion in capital.Looking forward, market forecasts project persistent deficits of approximately 700,000 ounces annually through 2030 against total production of 6 million ounces, even accounting for all known development projects. Ivanhoe's Platreef Mine represents the only recently commissioned PGE project, taking decades to reach its 300,000-ounce phase one capacity. Smart acknowledges the difficulty: "It's very difficult to see how that deficit gets bridged."For investors, the investment thesis centers on structural supply-demand arithmetic rather than speculative narratives. The combination of geological concentration, years of underinvestment, resilient automotive demand, jewelry substitution, and emerging investment infrastructure creates conditions for sustained revaluation. Recommended allocation strategies include 1-2% of precious metals holdings through physical platinum for long-term holding or mining equities focused on projects outside South Africa for geographical diversification.Learn more: https://cruxinvestor.comSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com
- GM Says EVs Still the End Game - GM Moving Into New Headquarters - BYD and Geely Overtake VW in China - Robots Help Boost Hyundai's Market Cap - President Trump Visiting Detroit - Renault Reveals New Geely-Based SUV - NEVs Drive Sales Growth in China - Ferrari Patents Predictive Active Aero
In der heutigen Folge sprechen die Finanzjournalisten Daniel Eckert und Lea Oetjen über einen Dämpfer für Kreditkartenanbieter, einen Kursrutsch bei Abercrombie & Fitch und die Edelmetall-Rallye. Außerdem geht es um Beiersdorf, Fresenius Medical Care, Fresenius, Symrise, TKMS, Thyssenkrupp, Renk Group, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, BMW, Alphabet, Apple, Duolingo, Ani Pharmaceuticals, Lululemon, American Express, Visa, Mastercard, Capital One, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, iShares Core MSCI World (WKN: A0RPWH), FTSE All World (WKN: A1JX52), Xtrackers MSCI World Swap EUR Hedged ETF (WKN: DBX0KQ), WisdomTree Cocoa (WKN: A1ELLY), Xetra Gold (WKN: A0S9GB), Euwax Gold 2 (WKN: EWG2LD) und WisdomTree Core Physical Silver (WKN: A4AE1X). Link zum Business-Insider-Artikel: https://www.businessinsider.de/wirtschaft/ende-von-hoss-hopf-was-wirklich-hinter-den-kulissen-passierte Wir freuen uns an Feedback über aaa@welt.de. Noch mehr "Alles auf Aktien" findet Ihr bei WELTplus und Apple Podcasts – inklusive aller Artikel der Hosts und AAA-Newsletter. Hier bei WELT: https://www.welt.de/podcasts/alles-auf-aktien/plus247399208/Boersen-Podcast-AAA-Bonus-Folgen-Jede-Woche-noch-mehr-Antworten-auf-Eure-Boersen-Fragen.html. Der Börsen-Podcast Disclaimer: Die im Podcast besprochenen Aktien und Fonds stellen keine spezifischen Kauf- oder Anlage-Empfehlungen dar. Die Moderatoren und der Verlag haften nicht für etwaige Verluste, die aufgrund der Umsetzung der Gedanken oder Ideen entstehen. Hörtipps: Für alle, die noch mehr wissen wollen: Holger Zschäpitz können Sie jede Woche im Finanz- und Wirtschaftspodcast "Deffner&Zschäpitz" hören. +++ Werbung +++ Du möchtest mehr über unsere Werbepartner erfahren? Hier findest du alle Infos & Rabatte! https://linktr.ee/alles_auf_aktien Impressum: https://www.welt.de/services/article7893735/Impressum.html Datenschutz: https://www.welt.de/services/article157550705/Datenschutzerklaerung-WELT-DIGITAL.html
We went over to the Grimmel's and met up with a few friends. We talked VW, nostalgia, and the future. Check it!
Primer Mercado del Trueque del año llega al Bosque de San Juan de Aragón Sedema recuerda separación de residuos reciclables los domingos en CDMXAlmanaque: UNAM identifica cuatro coloraciones del ajolote en XochimilcoMás información en nuestro podcast
The baddest "Kat" in the Chevy truck world might surprise you—because it all started with Volkswagens. In this episode, we sit down with "Dino Battilana, the mastermind behind the world-famous Dino Git Down Chevy truck show in Phoenix, Arizona, one of the largest and most influential classic Chevy C10 events in the country. For more than 10 years, Dino Git Down has drawn Chevy pickup trucks from all over the United States and international visitors, growing into an absolute monster of a show. With over 13,000 trucks attending last year, it has become a must-attend event for classic truck enthusiasts, custom builders, and C10 fans worldwide. But before the C10 fame, Dino's automotive journey began in the Volkswagen world. In this episode, we dive deep into his VW roots, his passion for air-cooled Volkswagens, and how that foundation shaped his approach to building, design, and community. We also break down his latest personal build—a jaw-dropping 1960 Volkswagen that defies categories. While it looks like a convertible, the window channels have been permanently sealed, making it a true open-air cruiser with a unique custom twist. This VW features air suspension by Levi at Pan Draggers, traditional styling mixed with modern creativity, and even subtle Chevy-inspired interior details—a perfect crossover of two iconic automotive worlds. We talk shop on custom fabrication, air-ride setups, vintage Volkswagen styling, and how his love for VW culture helped influence the growth of one of the biggest classic truck shows in the country. If you're into classic Volkswagens, Chevy C10 trucks, custom car culture, air suspension builds, automotive event history, or the evolution of car shows, this episode is a must-listen. We cover Dino's full journey—from air-cooled VW beginnings to building an automotive empire—and how Dino Git Down became the global phenomenon it is today. Enjoy
https://bbvproductions.co.uk/products/Faction-Paradox-The-Confession-of-Brother-Signet-AUDIO-DOWNLOAD-p389922366 The first season of the American science fiction horror drama television series Stranger Things premiered worldwide on the streaming service Netflix on July 15, 2016. The series was created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. This season stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono, and Matthew Modine, with Noah Schnapp, Joe Keery, and Shannon Purser in recurring roles. The first season of Stranger Things received critical acclaim, in particular for its originality, homages to the 1980s, characterization, tone, visuals, and performances (particularly those of Ryder, Harbour, Wolfhard, Brown, Heaton and Modine). Premise The first season begins on November 6, 1983, in a small town called Hawkins. Researchers at Hawkins National Laboratory open a rift to the "Upside Down," an alternate dimension that reflects the real world. A monstrous humanoid creature escapes and abducts a boy named Will Byers and a teenage girl. Will's mother, Joyce, and the town's police chief, Jim Hopper, search for Will. At the same time, a young psychokinetic girl who goes by the name "Eleven" escapes from the laboratory and assists Will's friends, Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair, in their efforts to find Will.[1] Cast and characters See also: List of Stranger Things characters Main cast Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers[2] David Harbour as Jim Hopper[2] Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler[3] Millie Bobby Brown[3] as Eleven ("El") Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson[3] Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair[3] Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler[3] Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers[3][4][5] Cara Buono as Karen Wheeler[6] Matthew Modine as Martin Brenner[7] Recurring Noah Schnapp as Will Byers Joe Keery as Steve Harrington Shannon Purser as Barbara "Barb" Holland[8] Joe Chrest as Ted Wheeler Ross Partridge as Lonnie Byers[9] Rob Morgan as Officer Powell John Paul Reynolds as Officer Callahan Randy Havens as Scott Clarke Catherine Dyer as Connie Frazier Aimee Mullins as Terry Ives[10] Amy Seimetz as Becky Ives Peyton Wich as Troy[11] Tony Vaughn as Principal Coleman Charles Lawlor as Mr. Melvald Tinsley and Anniston Price as Holly Wheeler Cade Jones as James Chester Rushing as Tommy H. Chelsea Talmadge as Carol Glennellen Anderson as Nicole Cynthia Barrett as Marsha Holland Jerri Tubbs as Diane Hopper Elle Graham as Sara Hopper Chris Sullivan as Benny Hammond Tobias Jelinek as lead agent Robert Walker-Branchaud as repairman agent Susan Shalhoub Larkin as Florence ("Flo") Episodes See also: List of Stranger Things episodes No. overall No. in season Title Directed by Written by Original release date 1 1 "Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers" The Duffer Brothers The Duffer Brothers July 15, 2016 On November 6, 1983, in Hawkins, Indiana, a scientist is attacked by an unseen creature at a U.S. government laboratory. 12-year-old Will Byers encounters the creature and mysteriously vanishes while cycling home from a Dungeons & Dragons session with his friends Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson and Lucas Sinclair. The following day, Will's single mother Joyce Byers reports his disappearance to the police chief Jim Hopper, who starts a search but assures Joyce that almost all missing children are quickly found. The lab's director, Dr. Martin Brenner, investigates an organic substance oozing from the lab's basement, claiming that "the girl" cannot have gone far. A nervous young girl wearing a hospital gown wanders into a local diner. The owner, Benny, finds a tattoo of "011" on her arm and learns that her name is Eleven. Brenner, monitoring the phone lines, sends agents to the diner after Benny calls social services. The agents kill Benny, but Eleven manages to escape using telekinetic abilities. Joyce's phone short circuits after receiving a mysterious phone call that she believes is from Will. While searching for Will in the woods, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas come across Eleven. 2 2 "Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street" The Duffer Brothers The Duffer Brothers July 15, 2016 The boys bring Eleven to Mike's house, where they disagree on what to do. Mike formulates a plan for Eleven to pretend to be a runaway and seek help from his mother, Karen. Eleven refuses, however, revealing that "bad men" are after her. Will's brother Jonathan visits his estranged father Lonnie in Indianapolis to search for Will, but Lonnie rebuffs him. Hopper's search party discovers a scrap of hospital gown near the lab. After recognizing Will in a photograph and demonstrating her telekinesis, Eleven convinces the boys to trust her, as they believe she can find Will. Using the Dungeons & Dragons board, Eleven indicates that Will is on the "Upside Down" side of the board and is being hunted by the "Demogorgon" (the creature). Mike's sister Nancy and her friend Barbara 'Barb' Holland go to a party with Nancy's boyfriend Steve Harrington. Searching for Will near Steve's house, Jonathan secretly photographs the party. Joyce receives another call from Will, hears music playing from his stereo, and sees a creature coming through the wall. Left alone by the swimming pool, Barb is attacked by the Demogorgon and vanishes. 3 3 "Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly" Shawn Levy Jessica Mecklenburg July 15, 2016 Barb awakens in the Upside Down: a decaying, overgrown alternate dimension. She attempts to escape but is attacked by the Demogorgon. Joyce believes Will is communicating through pulses in light bulbs. Hopper visits Hawkins Lab, and the staff permits him to view doctored security footage from the night Will vanished, leading Hopper to investigate Brenner and discover his involvement with Project MKUltra and that a woman named Terry Ives alleged years earlier that Brenner took her daughter. Eleven recalls Brenner, whom she calls "Papa," punishing her for refusing to hurt a cat telekinetically. Steve destroys Jonathan's camera after discovering the photos from the party. Nancy later recovers a photo of Barb, simultaneously realizing that Barb is missing. Returning to Steve's house to investigate, Nancy finds Barb's untouched Volkswagen and encounters the Demogorgon but manages to escape. Joyce paints an alphabetic board on her wall with Christmas lights, allowing Will to sign to her that he is "RIGHT HERE" and that she needs to "RUN" as the Demogorgon comes through the wall. Believing Eleven knows where Will is, the boys ask her to lead them to him. Eleven leads them, to their frustration, to Will's house. From there they follow emergency vehicles to a nearby quarry just as Will's body is recovered from the water. 4 4 "Chapter Four: The Body" Shawn Levy Justin Doble July 15, 2016 Joyce refuses to believe that the body found at the quarry is Will's. Mike feels betrayed by Eleven until she proves that Will is still alive, channeling his voice through Mike's walkie-talkie. The boys theorize that Eleven could use a ham radio at their school to communicate with Will. Nancy notices a figure behind Barb in Jonathan's photo, which Jonathan realizes matches his mother's description of the Demogorgon. Nancy tells the police about Barb's disappearance. She later fights with Steve, who only cares about not getting in trouble with his father. Hopper has suspicions regarding the authenticity of the body found in the quarry when he learns that the usual coroner was sent home. Hopper confronts the state trooper who found it and beats him until he admits he was ordered to lie. The boys sneak Eleven into their school to use the radio, while Joyce hears Will's voice through her living room wall. Tearing away the wallpaper, she sees him. Eleven uses the radio to channel Will talking to his mother. Hopper goes to the morgue and finds that the body is a fake, and, suspecting that Brenner is responsible, breaks into the lab. 5 5 "Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat" The Duffer Brothers Alison Tatlock July 15, 2016 Hopper searches the lab before being knocked out by the lab's guards. The boys ask their science teacher, Mr. Clarke, if it would be possible to travel between alternate dimensions, to which he answers that there could be a theoretical "gate" between dimensions. Hopper awakens at his house and finds a hidden microphone, realizing that Joyce was right the whole time. The boys follow their compasses, searching for a gate that could disrupt the Earth's electromagnetic field. Eleven recalls memories of being placed in a sensory-deprivation tank to telepathically eavesdrop on a man speaking Russian; while listening, she came across the Demogorgon. Fearing another encounter with the Demogorgon, Eleven redirects the compasses. Lucas misinterprets this as an act of betrayal, leading Mike and Lucas to fight and Eleven to telekinetically fling Lucas away from Mike. While Dustin and Mike tend to the unconscious Lucas, Eleven runs off. Nancy and Jonathan formulate a plan to kill the Demogorgon. While searching in the woods, they come across a small gate to the Upside Down. Nancy crawls through it but inadvertently draws the Demogorgon's attention. Jonathan unsuccessfully tries to look for Nancy, as the gate to the Upside Down begins to close. 6 6 "Chapter Six: The Monster" The Duffer Brothers Jessie Nickson-Lopez July 15, 2016 Jonathan pulls Nancy back through the gate. That night, Nancy is afraid to be alone and asks Jonathan to stay in her bedroom. Steve, attempting to reconcile with Nancy, sees them together through her bedroom window and assumes they are dating. Joyce and Hopper track down Terry Ives, who is catatonic and tended by her sister Becky. Becky explains that Terry was a Project MKUltra participant while unknowingly pregnant and that Terry believes Brenner kidnapped her daughter Jane at birth due to her supposed telekinetic and telepathic abilities. Nancy and Jonathan stockpile weapons to kill the Demogorgon, theorizing that it is attracted by blood. Steve is brutally beaten up in a fistfight with Jonathan after he insults Will and calls Nancy a slut. Jonathan is arrested and held at the police station for beating up Steve and inadvertently punching one of the responding officers in the face. Eleven walks into a grocery store and shoplifts several boxes of Eggo waffles. Searching for Eleven, Mike and Dustin are ambushed by two bullies but are rescued by her, as she uses her powers to break one bully's arm after he attempts to kill Mike. Eleven collapses and recalls being asked by Brenner to contact the Demogorgon and, in her terror, inadvertently opening the gate. She tearfully admits to Mike that she is responsible for allowing the Demogorgon to enter this dimension. Lucas sees agents, who have tracked down Eleven, preparing to ambush Mike's house. 7 7 "Chapter Seven: The Bathtub" The Duffer Brothers Justin Doble July 15, 2016 Lucas warns Mike that agents are searching for Eleven. Mike, Dustin, and Eleven flee the house. Eleven telekinetically flips one of the vans that block their path as the kids escape. Lucas reconciles with Mike and Eleven, and the kids hide in the junkyard. Nancy and Jonathan reveal their knowledge of the Demogorgon to Joyce and Hopper. Hopper also learns that Eleven is with the kids. The group contacts the kids, and everyone meets at the Byers' house. Joyce and Hopper realize that Eleven is Jane Ives. The group asks Eleven to search for Will and Barb telepathically, but her earlier feats have weakened her. They break into the middle school and build a makeshift sensory deprivation tank to amplify Eleven's powers. After telepathically entering the Upside Down again, Eleven finds Barb dead and Will alive, hiding in the Upside Down version of his backyard fort. Realizing that the gate is in the basement of the lab, Hopper and Joyce break into the lab and are apprehended by security guards. Nancy and Jonathan sneak into the police station to retrieve the weapons they purchased previously, planning to lure and kill the Demogorgon. In the Upside Down, the Demogorgon breaks into Will's fort. 8 8 "Chapter Eight: The Upside Down" The Duffer Brothers Story by : Paul Dichter Teleplay by : The Duffer Brothers July 15, 2016 Hopper, haunted by the death of his daughter Sara from cancer years earlier, gives up Eleven's location to Brenner, who in exchange allows Hopper and Joyce to enter the Upside Down to rescue Will. Nancy and Jonathan cut their hands to attract the Demogorgon at the Byers' house. Steve, intending to apologize to Jonathan about their fight, arrives just as the Demogorgon appears. Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan fight the Demogorgon and light it on fire, forcing it to retreat to the Upside Down. Meanwhile, Eleven and the boys hide in the middle school when Brenner and his agents arrive to kidnap Eleven; she kills most of them before collapsing from exhaustion. As Brenner and his remaining agents pin Eleven and the boys down, the Demogorgon appears, attracted by the dead agents' blood, and attacks Brenner and the remaining agents as the boys escape with Eleven. Hopper and Joyce enter the Upside Down's version of the Hawkins library, where they encounter several corpses of the Demogorgon's victims, including Barb, and find Will unconscious with a tendril down his throat. Hopper revives him using CPR after removing the tendril. The Demogorgon corners the kids, but Eleven recovers from her exhaustion and disintegrates it, causing them both to disappear. Will recovers in the hospital, reuniting with his family and friends. One month later, it is Christmas and Nancy is back together with Steve, and both are friends with Jonathan. Will coughs up a slug-like creature and has a vision of the Upside Down, but hides this from his family. Production Development Ross (left) and Matt Duffer, the creators of the series Stranger Things was created by Matt and Ross Duffer, known professionally as the Duffer Brothers.[12] The two had completed writing and producing their 2015 film Hidden, which they had tried to emulate the style of M. Night Shyamalan, however, due to changes at Warner Bros., its distributor, the film did not see a wide release and the Duffers were unsure of their future.[13] To their surprise, television producer Donald De Line approached them, impressed with Hidden's script, and offered them the opportunity to work on episodes of Wayward Pines alongside Shyamalan. The brothers were mentored by Shyamalan during the episode's production so that when they finished, they felt they were ready to produce their own television series.[14] The Duffer Brothers prepared a script that would essentially be similar to the series' actual pilot episode, along with a 20-page pitch book to help shop the series around for a network.[15] They pitched the story to a number of cable networks, all of which rejected the script on the basis that they felt a plot centered around children as leading characters would not work, asking them to make it a children's show or to drop the children and focus on Hopper's investigation in the paranormal.[14] In early 2015, Dan Cohen, the VP of 21 Laps Entertainment, brought the script to his colleague Shawn Levy. They subsequently invited The Duffer Brothers to their office and purchased the rights for the series, giving full authorship of it to the brothers. After reading the pilot, the streaming service Netflix purchased the whole season for an undisclosed amount;[16] the show was subsequently announced for a planned 2016 release by Netflix in early April 2015.[17] The Duffer Brothers stated that at the time they had pitched to Netflix, the service had already been recognized for its original programming, such as House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black, with well-recognized producers behind them, and were ready to start giving upcoming producers like them a chance.[15] The brothers started to write out the series and brought Levy and Cohen in as executive producers to start casting and filming.[18] The series was originally known as Montauk, as the setting of the script was in Montauk, New York and nearby Long Beach locations.[17][19] The brothers had chosen Montauk as it had further Spielberg ties with the film Jaws, where Montauk was used for the fictional setting of Amity Island.[20] After deciding to change the narrative of the series to take place in the fictional town of Hawkins instead, the brothers felt they could now do things to the town, such as placing it under quarantine, that they really could not envision with a real location.[20] With the change in location, they had to come up with a new title for the series under the direction from Netflix's Ted Sarandos so that they could start marketing it to the public. The brothers started by using a copy of Stephen King's Firestarter novel to consider the title's font and appearance and came up with a long list of potential alternatives. Stranger Things came about as it sounded similar to another King novel, Needful Things, though Matt noted they still had a "lot of heated arguments" over this final title.[21] Writing The idea of Stranger Things started with how the brothers felt they could take the concept of the 2013 film Prisoners, detailing the moral struggles a father goes through when his daughter is kidnapped, and expand it out over eight or so hours in a serialized television approach. As they focused on the missing child aspect of the story, they wanted to introduce the idea of "childlike sensibilities" they could offer and toyed around with the idea of a monster that could consume humans. The brothers thought the combination of these things "was the best thing ever". To introduce this monster into the narrative, they considered "bizarre experiments we had read about taking place in the Cold War" such as Project MKUltra, which gave a way to ground the monster's existence in science rather than something spiritual. This also helped them to decide on using 1983 as the time period, as it was a year before the film Red Dawn came out, which focused on Cold War paranoia.[14] Subsequently, they were able to use all their own personal inspirations from the 1980s, the decade they were born, as elements of the series,[14][22] crafting it in the realm of science fiction and horror.[23] The Duffer Brothers have cited as influence for the show (among others): Stephen King novels; films produced by Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Robert Zemeckis, George Lucas and Guillermo del Toro; films such as Alien and Stand by Me; Japanese anime such as Akira and Elfen Lied; and video games such as Silent Hill and The Last of Us.[21][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] With Netflix as the platform, The Duffer Brothers were not limited to a typical 22-episode format, opting for the eight-episode approach. They had been concerned that a 22-episode season on broadcast television would be difficult to "tell a cinematic story" with that many episodes. Eight episodes allowed them to give time to characterization in addition to narrative development; if they had less time available, they would have had to remain committed to telling a horror film as soon as the monster was introduced and abandon the characterization.[15] Within the eight episodes, the brothers aimed to make the first season "feel like a big movie" with all the major plot lines completed so that "the audience feels satisfied", but left enough unresolved to indicate "there's a bigger mythology, and there's a lot of dangling threads at the end", something that could be explored in further seasons if Netflix opted to create more.[32] While explaining their intentions for the show, the Duffers adamantly stated their intentions to not explain the mythology in the show so they could leave a mystery and lot for the audience to speculate over their lack of understanding by the season finale, which they accepted but asked to be explained about at the very least, which they found like a really good exercise as they spent quite a bit of time with their writers' room figuring out exactly what the Upside Down would actually consist for, writing a 20-page mythology document whose details wouldn't be clarified for the audience until the show's fifth and final season.[33] Regarding writing for the children characters of the series, The Duffer Brothers considered themselves as outcasts from other students while in high school and thus found it easy to write for Mike Wheeler and his friends, and particularly for Barbara "Barb" Holland.[21] Joyce Byers was fashioned after Richard Dreyfuss's character Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, as she appears "absolutely bonkers" to everyone else as she tries to find her son Will Byers.[34] Other characters, such as Billy in the second season, have more villainous attributes that are not necessarily obvious from the onset; Matt explained that they took further inspiration from Stephen King for these characters, as King "always has really great human villains" that may be more malicious than the supernatural evil.[35] Casting The Duffers cast David Harbour as Sheriff Hopper believing this was his opportunity to play a lead character in a work. In June 2015, it was announced that Winona Ryder and David Harbour had joined the series as Joyce and as the unnamed chief of police, respectively.[2] The brothers' casting director Carmen Cuba had suggested Ryder for the role of Joyce, which the two were immediately drawn to because of her prominence in 1980s films.[14] Levy believed Ryder could "wretch up the emotional urgency and yet find layers and nuance and different sides of [Joyce]". Ryder praised that the show's multiple storylines required her to act for Joyce as "she's out of her mind, but she's actually kind of onto something", and that the producers had faith she could pull off the difficult role.[36] Upon being offered the role, Ryder felt intrigued at being given the pilot's script due to know knowing what streaming was and finding it "terrifying", with her sole condition to the Duffers for accepting the role being that, if a Beetlejuice sequel ever materialized as she and Tim Burton had been discussing since 2000, they had to let her take a break to shoot it, a condition the Duffers agreed and ultimately proved to work out when Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was greenlighted years later.[37] The Duffer Brothers had been interested in Harbour before, who until Stranger Things primarily had smaller roles as villainous characters, and they felt that he had been "waiting too long for this opportunity" to play a lead, while Harbour himself was thrilled by the script and the chance to play "a broken, flawed, anti-hero character".[21][38] Additional casting followed two months later with Finn Wolfhard as Mike, Millie Bobby Brown in an undisclosed role, Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, and Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers]].[3] In September 2015, Cara Buono joined the cast as Karen Wheeler,[6] followed by Matthew Modine as Martin Brenner a month later.[7] Additional cast who recur for the first season include Noah Schnapp as Will,[3][5] Shannon Purser as Barbara "Barb" Holland,[8] Joe Keery as Steve Harrington,[39][5] and Ross Partridge as Lonnie Byers,[9] among others. Actors auditioning for the children's roles read lines from Stand By Me.[14] The Duffer Brothers estimated they went through about a thousand different child actors for the roles. They noted that Wolfhard was already "a movie buff" of the films from the 1980s period and easily filled the role, while they found Matarazzo's audition to be much more authentic than most of the other audition tapes, and selected him after a single viewing of his audition tape.[15] As casting was started immediately after Netflix greenlit the show, and prior to the scripts being fully completed, this allowed some of the actors' takes on the roles to reflect into the script. The casting of the young actors for Will and his friends had been done just after the first script was completed, and subsequent scripts incorporated aspects from these actors.[32] The brothers said Modine provided significant input on the character of Dr. Brenner, whom they had not really fleshed out before as they considered him the hardest character to write for given his limited appearances within the narrative.[34] Filming The brothers had desired to film the series around the Long Island area to match the initial Montauk concept. However, with filming scheduled to take place in November 2015, it was difficult to shoot in Long Island in the cold weather, and the production started scouting locations in and around the Atlanta, Georgia area. The brothers, who grew up in North Carolina, found many places that reminded them of their own childhoods in that area, and felt the area would work well with the narrative shift to the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.[20] The filming of the first season began on September 25, 2015, and was extensively done in Atlanta, Georgia, with The Duffer Brothers and Levy handling the direction of individual episodes.[40] Jackson served as the basis of the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.[41][42] Other shooting locations included the Georgia Mental Health Institute as the Hawkins National Laboratory site, Bellwood Quarry, Patrick Henry High School in Stockbridge, Georgia, for the middle and high school scenes,[43] Emory University's Continuing Education Department, the former city hall in Douglasville, Georgia, Georgia International Horse Park, the probate court in Butts County, Georgia, Old East Point Library and East Point First Baptist Church in East Point, Georgia, Fayetteville, Georgia, Stone Mountain Park, Palmetto, Georgia, and Winston, Georgia.[44] Set work was done at Screen Gem Studios in Atlanta.[44] The series was filmed with a Red Dragon digital camera.[34] Filming for the first season concluded in early 2016.[41] While filming, the brothers tried to capture shots that could be seen as homages to many of the 1980s references they recalled. Their goal was not necessarily to fill the work with these references, but instead to make the series seem to the viewer like a 1980s film.[21] They spent little time reviewing those works and instead went by memory. Matt further recognized that some of their filming homages were not purposely done but were found to be very comparable, as highlighted by a fan-made video comparing the show to several 1980s works side by side.[14][45] Matt commented on the video that "Some were deliberate and some were subconscious."[14] The brothers recognized that many of the iconic scenes from these 1980s films, such as with Poltergeist, was about "taking a very ordinary object that people deal with every day, their television set, and imbuing it with something otherworldly", leading to the idea of using the Christmas light strings for Will to communicate with Joyce.[21] The brothers attributed much of the 1980s feel to set and costume designers and the soundtrack composers that helped to recreate the era for them.[14] Lynda Reiss, the head of props, had about a $220,000 budget, similar to most films, to acquire artifacts of the 1980s, using eBay and searching through flea markets and estate sales around the Atlanta area. The bulk of the props were original items from the 1980s with only a few pieces, such as the Dungeons & Dragons books made as replicas.[46] Visual effects To create the aged effect for the series, a film grain was added over the footage, which was captured by scanning in film stock from the 1980s.[34] The Duffers wanted to scare the audience, but not to necessarily make the show violent or gory, following in line with how the 1980s Amblin Entertainment films drove the creation of the PG-13 movie rating. It was "much more about mood and atmosphere and suspense and dread than they are about gore", though they were not afraid to push into more scary elements, particularly towards the end of the first season.[34] The brothers had wanted to avoid any computer-generated effects for the monster and other parts of the series and stay with practical effects. However, the six-month filming time left them little time to plan out and test practical effects rigs for some of the shots. They went with a middle ground of using constructed props including one for the monster whenever they could, but for other shots, such as when the monster bursts through a wall, they opted to use digital effects. Post-production on the first season was completed the week before it was released on Netflix.[14] The title sequence uses closeups of the letters in the Stranger Things title with a red tint against a black background as they slide into place within the title. The sequence was created by the studio Imaginary Forces, formerly part of R/GA, led by creative director Michelle Doughtey.[47] Levy introduced the studio to The Duffer Brothers, who explained their vision of the 1980s-inspired show, which helped the studio to fix the concept the producers wanted. Later, but prior to filming, the producers sent Imaginary Forces the pilot script, the synth-heavy background music for the titles, as well as the various book covers from King and other authors that they had used to establish the title and imagery, and were looking for a similar approach for the show's titles, primarily using a typographical sequence. They took inspiration from several title sequences of works from the 1980s that were previously designed by Richard Greenberg under R/GA, such as Altered States and The Dead Zone. They also got input from Dan Perri, who worked on the title credits of several 1980s films. Various iterations included having letters vanish, to reflect the "missing" theme of the show, and having letters cast shadows on others, alluding to the mysteries, before settling into the sliding letters. The studio began working on the title sequence before filming and took about a month off during the filming process to let the producers get immersed in the show and come back with more input. Initially, they had been working with various fonts for the title and used close-ups of the best features of these fonts, but near the end the producers wanted to work with ITC Benguiat, requiring them to rework those shots. The final sequence is fully computer-generated, but they took inspiration from testing some practical effects, such as using Kodalith masks as would have been done in the 1980s, to develop the appropriate filters for the rendering software. The individual episode title cards used a "fly-through" approach, similar to the film Bullitt, which the producers had suggested to the studio.[48] Music Main articles: Music of Stranger Things and Stranger Things (soundtrack) The Stranger Things original soundtrack was composed by Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon of the electronic band Survive.[49] It makes extensive use of synthesizers in homage to 1980s artists and film composers including Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Goblin, John Carpenter, Giorgio Moroder, and Fabio Frizzi.[50] According to Stein and Dixon, The Duffer Brothers had been fans of Survive's music, and used their song "Dirge" for the mock trailer that was used to sell the show to Netflix.[49][51] Once the show was green-lit, the Duffers contacted Survive around July 2015 to ask if they were still doing music; the two provided the production team with dozens of songs from their band's past to gain their interest, helping to land them the role.[49] Once aboard, the two worked with producers to select some of their older music to rework for the show, while developing new music, principally with character motifs.[51] The two had been hired before the casting process, so their motif demos were used and played over the actors' audition tapes, aiding in the casting selection.[51][52] The show's theme is based on an unused work Stein composed much earlier that ended up in the library of work they shared with the production staff, who thought that with some reworking would be good for the opening credits.[49] The first season's original soundtrack, consisting of 75 songs from Dixon and Stein split across two volumes, was released by Lakeshore Records. Digital release and streaming options were released on August 10 and 19, 2016 for the two volumes, respectively, while retail versions were available on September 16 and 23, 2016.[53][54] In addition to original music, Stranger Things features period music from artists including The Clash, Toto, New Order, The Bangles, Foreigner, Echo and the Bunnymen, Peter Gabriel and Corey Hart, as well as excerpts from Tangerine Dream, John Carpenter and Vangelis.[54][55] In particular, The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go" was specifically picked to play at pivotal moments of the story, such as when Will is trying to communicate with Joyce from the Upside Down.[54] Music supervisor Nora Felder felt the song "furthered the story" and called it an additional, unseen, main character of the season.[56]
Jake Raby is widely regarded as one of the world's leading experts on the Volkswagen Type 4 engine, with more than 30 years of hands-on experience building, developing, and refining air-cooled Type 4 VW engines. Since the late 1990s, Jake has been deeply involved in Type 4 engine rebuilding, performance development, and long-term reliability testing for platforms used in VW Bus, Porsche 914, and high-performance air-cooled Volkswagen applications. Over the decades, Jake has pushed the limits of the Type 4 air-cooled engine platform, pioneering advancements in cooling systems, cylinder head porting, plenum and intake temperature control, camshaft profiles, and custom internal components. Many of the bespoke Type 4 engine parts used in his builds were designed or commissioned specifically to solve known weaknesses and extract maximum horsepower while maintaining street-driven reliability. What sets Jake apart in the air-cooled Volkswagen Type 4 engine world is his uncompromising work ethic and attention to detail. Every engine is built as a custom, customer-specific Type 4 VW engine, focused on longevity, drivability, and real-world performance—not shortcuts. His mission has always been the advancement of the Type 4 VW hobby, ensuring these engines remain viable, powerful, and dependable decades after their original production. Beyond engine building, Jake has played a major role in Type 4 engine education, offering classes, technical training, and early-2000s instructional videos covering Type 4 engine teardown, inspection, and rebuild processes—resources that helped countless Volkswagen enthusiasts understand and preserve this unique engine platform. That innovation didn't stop with Volkswagen. Jake later applied his engineering mindset to the Porsche flat-six engine world, where he helped develop the widely known intermediate shaft (IMS) bearing solution, along with numerous other reliability upgrades for Porsche engines. This episode is packed with deep technical insight into Volkswagen Type 4 engines, air-cooled performance development, engine reliability, and decades of real-world testing. If you're passionate about VW Type 4 engines, air-cooled Volkswagens, Porsche engineering, or engine development at the highest level, this is an episode you won't want to miss. www.letstalkdubs..com www.vwtrendsmagazine.com www.rosswulf.com use code LTD10 for 10% off your order Info for Luft Zeigen here
We talk about this past year and look forward to 2026! Happy New Year everyone!
In this episode, Tu and Lei dive into a week dominated by autonomy, AI, and a widening gap between China's EV ecosystem and the rest of the world. The episode opens with a deep reaction to Rivian's Autonomy AI Day—why it felt like déjà vu for anyone following China's smart-EV space, and how Rivian's announcements mirror what Chinese players like XPeng, NIO, and Li Auto have already been deploying. The hosts debate whether Rivian's approach represents real leadership or simply entry into the top tier.From there, the conversation expands to L4 autonomy momentum: WeRide launching passenger rides with Uber in Dubai, Mercedes partnering with Momenta in Abu Dhabi, and Waymo accelerating multi-city deployments while publishing safety data others still keep opaque.Tu and Lei also tackle the LiDAR vs. vision debate, Volkswagen's unusual dual bet on Rivian (US) and XPeng (China), and why silicon strategy—not just batteries—will decide winners. The discussion closes with affordability: why 300-mile EVs under $40K are existential for Western OEMs, and why China's cost structure makes that challenge unavoidable heading into 2026.Candid, comparative, and forward-looking, this episode explains why autonomy and AI—not just electrification—will define the next phase of the global auto industry.___
San Leandro, California—an industrial Bay Area city shaped by its Portuguese community and a deep-rooted Volkswagen culture—holds a story few outside the neighborhood ever knew. Tucked away behind an unassuming fence was a Volkswagen collection unlike anything else in the region. For years, local kids would stop, peer through the slats, and take it all in: early Beetles, split windows, rare convertibles, stacks of glass, and parts that hinted at decades of careful accumulation. It was a forgotten archive of Volkswagen history—silent, untouched, and unexplained. Then came the revelation. The cars belonged to Stuart Alexander, the owner of the Sausage King facility and the man later convicted in one of San Leandro's most infamous criminal cases—the murder of health inspectors at his warehouse. A crime that shocked the community also cast a long shadow over what had once seemed like a harmless automotive mystery. In the years that followed, the Volkswagen hoard was quietly dismantled. With the help of a volunteer assisting the family, the cars were sold off—often at fair, reasonable prices—and released back into the Volkswagen world. One by one, these forgotten cars reentered the scene, restored, driven, shown, and enjoyed, largely disconnected from the dark chapter that once surrounded them. In this episode, we Me & John Limnios explore the intersection of true crime and Volkswagen history—how a legendary Bay Area VW stash came to be, how it disappeared, and where those cars may be today. Many of them are still out there, living new lives, their origins unknown to their current owners. If you own one of these cars, recognize the story, or have information about the San Leandro VW hoard, we invite you to reach out. This is more than a crime story—it's an unfinished chapter of Volkswagen history, and together, we may be able to trace it back to where it began. www.letstalkdubs.com www.vwtrendsmagazine.com www.rosswulf.com use code LTD10 for 10% off
Keywords: gym equipment, strongman training, personal stories, fitness innovation, unique workouts Summary: In this conversation, Tim Rexius discusses the innovative equipment available at his gym, including the unique opportunity to deadlift a Volkswagen. He shares personal anecdotes about the Volkswagen that was damaged by his daughters and how he incorporated strongman training into his gym by purchasing equipment from a world-class athlete. The discussion highlights the blend of personal stories and fitness innovation that characterizes Rexius's approach to gym culture. Takeaways Dumbbells in the gym can go up to 200 pounds. Unique gym features can include unconventional items like cars. Personal stories can enhance the gym experience. Strongman training equipment can attract diverse fitness enthusiasts. Innovative approaches to fitness can include creative uses of damaged items. Community engagement is important in gym culture. Personal anecdotes can make fitness discussions relatable. Investing in unique equipment can set a gym apart. Fitness innovation can come from personal experiences. Strongman training can be accessible to everyone. Titles Deadlifting a Volkswagen: The Ultimate Gym Challenge Innovative Fitness: Strongman Training and Unique Equipment Sound bites "Dumbbells go up to 200 pounds." "I bought all of his strongman equipment." "I'm still pretty upset about it." Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Tim Rexius and His Journey 00:26 The Birth of Protein Popcorn
In Episode 114 of the CarQuicks Podcast, we discuss the recent cancellation of the Ford F150 Lightning and its pivot to a range-extending model. The 19.5 billion dollar cost to Ford. Volkswagen is cancelling the I.D. Buzz and what that means for the car. Arizona introduces an Autobahn idea to the state, Toyota returns to rallying racing with the GR Corolla, and much more!Sit back and enjoy... this is CarQuicks!-00:00 Introduction01:13 VW CANCELS the I.D. Buzz10:24 Toyota brings the GR Corolla Rallying!12:53 Average Car Payments SOAR to $750 a Month16:31 Arizona wants to build an American AUTOBAHN24:41 FORD loses 19.5 BILLION Dollars41:32 GR Corolla Updates | Channel Updates45:46 Joining the TAWA Board48:02 Upcoming Autoshows | Outro-#CarQuicks #CarQuicksPodcast #Episode114 #Ford #f150lightning #F150 #IDBuzz #volkswagenidbuzz #Volkswagen #GRCorolla #gazooracing #rallyrace #autobahn -IMPROVE your audio in your car with the Beat-Sonic Amp!https://www.beatsonicusa.com/?ref=CAMERONBIGGS-Get the best dash cam on the market! | The WolfBox G900 Pro https://wolfbox.com/?ref=rwnvizku&utm_source=goaff-Check out my installation/review video here! | https://youtu.be/RrwW2WTut_0-PLUS, get 10% OFF your purchase with code CAMERON__________Keep that P1 on you!The INNOVV P1 Portable Air Inflator is a MUST for any car enthusiast or owner. Grab yours with my discount below:- Exclusive link: https://innovv.com?sca_ref=9448526.IxBuWtWjXz Discount code: CARQUICKSAmazon: - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F4XNPR3Y Discount code: QDH324GBVideo: https://youtube.com/shorts/jFdhq091ijE?si=t02l1s3er8EXQeWo__________Want better throttle response from your car? Better driveability? Better performance? Check out ShiftPower USA Throttle Controllers.-Check out my installation and review video: https://youtu.be/H9kruuEsL84?si=Ha8MBvKDQTckd1Py-If you liked it, thought about it, and now want it, give yourself a discount with this link: https://www.beatsonicusa.com/?ref=CAMERONBIGGS
Kelly might sound sick, but it's Lizz's house that has been going through it for the last week. The flu hit her house hard with three ER visits and one 9-1-1 call. Luckily, everyone is on the mend and Lizz is back to tell her tale and give you some good takeaways in case your house gets hit over the holidays. Everyone should be on the mend for the holidays and Kelly is getting really excited for the kids to open all their presents this year. She broke down the ones she is most excited about and let's just say it's going to be a good Christmas in the Stumpe household! A quick check in with Industry News has a big story coming from Volkswagen. Could this be the end of the ID. Buzz? Finally in Ditch the Drive-Thru a reminder that pigs in a blanket is a perfectly acceptable meal for the family. Today's episode is brought to you by Clean Simple Eats. Use code 'Carpool10' at checkout to get 10% off your order. CleanSimpleEats.com
Sean Jimenez is a former retailer turned wholesaler with over 25 years in the industry. He currently manages more than 40 sales reps for a multi-million-dollar novelty sock and design company based in Santa Cruz, California. Over the course of his career, Sean has built apparel programs for Fortune 500 companies, managed full design teams for large private-label programs, worked in off-price, and sold everything from Hawaiian shirts to $50,000 stereo systems. He's met more than a few characters along the way, made as many friends as possible, and lives by the rule: never say no — there's always a way; try to be kind to everyone you meet, because you never know when you might need them, and you can never have too many friends. When he's not working (which isn't often), Sean works on the house, spends time with his wife and kids, occasionally drinks and smokes too many cigars (apparently), and has been playing in a band for about 12 years. Rock and roll, baby.Rachel Blackwell has been with Socksmith for six years, leading the company's marketing efforts with a focus on building meaningful partnerships and standout brand experiences. Originally from the UK, she began her career with Volkswagen before trading British drizzle for California sunshine — thanks to a fateful trip to Las Vegas and one tall, dark, and handsome Californian. At Socksmith, Rachel oversees everything from social campaigns to retail support programs, including the brand-new Retailer of the Year (ROTY) initiative. Whether she's crafting engaging content or finding fresh ways to support stockists, Rachel brings a creative, strategic, and fun approach to everything she does.In this episode, Sean and Rachel pull back the curtain on what it really takes to build a values-driven brand in today's retail landscape. From decades of relationship-first selling to modern marketing strategies that actually support independent retailers, this conversation dives deep into leadership, loyalty, and long-game thinking in wholesale, marketing, and brand building.We are incredibly grateful for everyone who listens to and shares this podcast! If you've found value in our episodes and want to help us keep creating, we've made it easy through Buy Me a Coffee. Any contributions from $5 up to $200 help cover the real costs of podcasting—editing, hosting fees, and everything else that goes into bringing you quality content. It's a way for you to invest in the conversations and topics that matter to you. Head to buymeacoffee.com/retailwhorb, and as always, thank you for your continued support! What's InsideHow Socksmith supports independent retailers beyond discounts — from marketing assets to community-first initiativesWhy relationships, consistency, and showing up still matter more than ever in wholesale and sales leadershipA behind-the-scenes look at Socksmith's new Retailer of the Year (ROTY) program and how it celebrates creativity, merchandising, and community impactROTY Blog and Info PageBecome a Socksmith Retailer HereSocksmith WebsiteInstagramFacebookSupport the show
Jill and Tom open the show addressing two high-profile electric vehicle cancellations announced this past week. First the hosts discuss the end of production for the Ford F-150 Lighting, which came as something of a surprise to both Jill and Tom. Also covered is news that Volkswagen will not be importing a 2026 edition of the spunky ID. Buzz electric minivan. Will the ID. Buzz be back for 2027? Jill and Tom speculate. Still in the first segment, Jill reviews the Ford Maverick Lobo. Lobo is a new sporty Maverick variant, and it sounds like fun. Listen in for Jill's take on the potentially entertaining-to-drive small pickup truck. In the second segment, the Hosts welcome Rob Howard, CEO of Kindred Motorworks to the podcast. Kindred restores classic cars, some of which become battery powered in the process. Rob talks about the restoration process, and the level of engineering that is invested in each new model the company adds to its lineup. Listen in for details. In the last segment Jill is subjected to Tom's “Is it a Mercury?” quiz.
2025 was a huge year for documenting Volkswagen history—and in this episode, we take a full look back. We review the entire 2025 podcast episode list, breaking down highlights and key moments from nearly every show in case you missed an episode or two along the way. From early Volkswagen drag racing history and legendary builders, to modern VW product development, fresh builds, and stories shaping the hobby today, this year covered it all. With over 50 episodes released, there's a ton of ground to cover. This recap episode ties everything together, revisits standout conversations, and reflects on why preserving and sharing air-cooled Volkswagen history still matters. So sit back, relax, and get a full rundown of the stories, guests, and moments that made 2025 an unforgettable year for the VW community. www.letstalkdubs.com www.vwtrendsmagazine.com www.rosswulf.com use code LTD10 for 10% off www.ssaircooled.com ICON pistons
From the BBC World Service: Volkswagen has been making cars in Germany for 88 years. In all that time, it's never closed a manufacturing plant in its home country until now. On Tuesday, the last vehicle will roll off the assembly line at the VW plant in Dresden. It comes as the company struggles with the transition to EVs. Plus, the head of Ukraine's largest energy provider says his company is living in permanent crisis mode as Russia steps up attacks on the country's energy grid.
From the BBC World Service: Volkswagen has been making cars in Germany for 88 years. In all that time, it's never closed a manufacturing plant in its home country until now. On Tuesday, the last vehicle will roll off the assembly line at the VW plant in Dresden. It comes as the company struggles with the transition to EVs. Plus, the head of Ukraine's largest energy provider says his company is living in permanent crisis mode as Russia steps up attacks on the country's energy grid.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released its long-awaited data, showing mixed signals for the US jobs market. The unemployment rate is at a four-year high of 4.6%, up from 4.4%. The European Union is set to soften its planned ban on new petrol and diesel cars, giving carmakers more time to move away from combustion engines. We hear from Wolfgang Weber, CEO of German electro and digital industry association (ZVEI).And the last vehicle will roll off the assembly line at Volkswagen's plant in Dresden today. First time ever the German carmaker closed a manufacturing plant in its home country.You can contact us on WhatsApp or send us a voicenote: +44 330 678 3033.Presenter: Leanna Bryne Producer: Victoriya Holland Editor: Justin Bones
We got to sit down with John Vanek and talk a little cars, a little Christmas, and just chill. Come take a listen and have a Merry Christmas!!!
What if the Volkswagen you built as a teenager never really left you? In this episode, we get into the incredible full-circle story of David Lawler and his 1971 Volkswagen Beetle from Southeast England. David bought his very first VW at just 14 years old, poured years into building it, and saw that dream rewarded when the car landed in a Volkswagen magazine in 1995. But life changes. Priorities shift. The unthinkable happens—and the car is sold. Watching your first show-winning Volkswagen drive away is a regret that never fully fades. For decades, the Beetle would resurface in David's life, always just out of reach. Nearly 30 years later, he finally gets the chance to buy it back—only to discover it's far worse than he imagined. Rather than restore what was lost, David makes a bold decision: start over and build something entirely new. The result is a radically re-imagined 1971 VW Beetle—a modern, hot-rod-inspired machine that stands completely apart from anything else in the Volkswagen world. From extensive paint and bodywork, to chop-top modifications, a full roof conversion, and a cartoon-style window treatment, this build rewrites the rulebook. The hot-rod-meets-custom interior seals the deal as a true one-off. That risk paid off in a big way. The car was selected Top Five at the VolksWorld Show and went on to land the cover of the November 2025 Volkswagen magazine. This episode covers the emotional journey, the design decisions, the fabrication challenges, and what it means to let go of the past—only to build something even better. If you love custom Volkswagen Beetles, VW show cars, chop-top VWs, and real stories from the global air-cooled scene, this one is a must-listen. www.letstalkdubs.com www.vwtrendsmagazine.com www.rosswulf.com use code LTD10 for 10% off of your order www.ssaircooled.com ICON pistons here
Hoy arrancamos con un update del caso Valerie: ¿cuándo lo sabían? ¿Quién sabía qué? ¿Y cómo encaja el nuevo secretario Hiram Torres en este capítulo inesperado de ValerieGate? Analizamos reacciones, timelines, y lo que este giro significa de aquí para adelante. Luego brincamos a un regreso que nadie vio venir pero todos están comentando: el ELA is back, baby! La movida de Darren Soto reabre el debate, y hablamos de por qué este anuncio tiene repercusiones mucho más grandes de lo que parece. Y cerramos con la compra de Warner Bros. por Netflix. Exploramos los jugadores grandes, y qué puede significar para la industria. En el chit-chat, recordamos a Rafa Infante Torres, figura querida de nuestra comunidad. DEP. Si fueras integrante de nuestro Patreon, hubieras escuchado este episodio ayer. Únete ahora en patreon.com/puestospalproblema! PRESENTADO POR