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One of the places I ride...not my video...but where I roll....

I’ve been busy, and it’s a few days late, but here is what will probably be the penultimate edition of “Cheers and Jeers.” Next year will be the 25th edition, and that seems to be the right time to put this to rest or for someone else to carry on with it. Cheers! For the first time in the history of the United States, a convicted felon was sworn into office as President, and he wasted no time on his priorities of revenge, retribution, illegal immigration, dirty energy, and gutting DEI policies and subsidized healthcare, and generally making people sicker. With tariffs used to punish perceived enemies and the longest federal government shutdown in history, chaos and economic uncertainty reigned. The Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, was a bust, with either miniscule savings or net cost increases. Worldwide turmoil continued with wars in the Middle East between Israel and the Palestinians, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict continued. In the beginning of the year, the Palisades fire in the Los Angeles area destroyed nearly 7,000 structures, and resulted in 12 deaths and damage in the $100 billion range. Towards the end of the year, the horrifying Wang Fuk Court fire in a Hong Kong apartment complex killed 161 people. 2025 will not be the warmest year on record, but the second or third warmest, as the El Niño conditions that contributed to the record heat in 2024 was not replicated for 2025. Prominent passings included actors Robert Redford, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Diane Keaton, and Gene Hackman, director Rob Reiner, and musicians Ozzy Osbourne, Roberta Flack, and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. Other passings included conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, former Vice President Dick Cheney, Pope Francis, fashion designer Giorgio Armani, primatologist Jane Goodall, wrestler Hulk Hogan, and boxer and kitchen appliance spokesperson George Foreman. In automotive news, the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit expired at the end of September, and fines for not meeting Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards were eliminated. Against the EV headwinds, automakers made significant adjustments to their future product portfolios by substantially scaling back EVs and investing instead on hybrids and range extenders. Tariffs resulted in some production being shifted to the U.S., and some prices were raised, but manufacturers for the most part absorbed the tariffs and will take major earnings hits. Stellantis brought back the Hemi V8 to the RAM pickup, due to popular demand, after the Hurricane inline-six that had replaced it a couple of years ago did not catch on. The Hemi will also be brought back to the Dodge Charger. With great fanfare, Tesla debuted robotaxi service with safety drivers in downtown Austin, Texas in June. There were at least eight reported crashes over the next 6 months, even with the safety drivers. Lucid is busy getting their midsize EV offerings ready to market, and Rivian likewise with the more affordable R2 model. Toyota repositioned the Century model into an ultra luxury brand above Lexus to be sold in select Lexus dealerships. Jaguar fired their lead designer, Gerry McGovern, one year after their bold Type 00 concept reveal and heavily criticized rebranding effort. In December, Mercedes-Benz announced that their Chief Design Officer, Gordon Wagener, is leaving the company the following month after 28 years with the company. In a rare instance of the Chinese government taking the lead on a vehicle safety issue, with some occupants unable to exit Teslas and Xiaomis on fire, backup mechanical mechanisms will be mandatory for electronic interior or exterior door handles in 2027 and 2028 in the Chinese market. With globalization, that will likely lead to changes to EVs sold elsewhere. Vehicles canceled prior to the New Year include the Acura TLX and ZDX, Cadillac XT4 and XT6, Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Escape and related Lincoln Corsair, Infiniti QX50 and QX55, Kia Soul, Lexus RC, Nissan Versa, Porsche Boxster and Cayman, Subaru Legacy, and the Volvo S60 and S90. The Ford F-150 Lightning made it to the 2026 model year but is already out of production for good as a fully electric pickup. There were several concept vehicles in 2025, but none was particularly notable. New vehicle introductions were sparse. Against that backdrop, here’s the 24th annual edition of Cheers and Jeers for the best and worst things automotive in 2025: Cheers to BMW for the Best New EV with the iX3 for providing class-leading technology and a reset to BMW styling. The “Neue Klasse” design dials back a lot of the excessive surface excitement of recent years. Honorable mention to GM for bringing back the Chevrolet Bolt with more modern technology, faster charging, and an affordable price in a familiar package. The vehicle will be a limited edition offering, but it was also revealed that there will be a family of Bolts, without further elaboration. Jeers to the Tesla Board for Worst Corporate Governance for failing to rein in Elon Musk, who seems to be doing a good job of making people not want to buy Teslas, and for providing an absurdly excessive pay package. Tesla is losing the carbon credits paid for by other manufacturers, who have previously provided billions of dollars of revenue, and future profitability is uncertain. With an aging lineup and the spectacularly unsuccessful Cybertruck, Tesla is betting it all on autonomy. Jeers to Mercedes-Benz for the Worst Luxury Vehicle Interiors with their focus on massive screens rather than cohesive style, material quality, or build quality. Mercedes-Benz has become a shadow of its former self when they used to be “Engineered like no other car in the world.” Cheers to Kia for Best Non-SUV Introduction with the K4 hatchback, which makes the compact K4 much more attractive and functional than the awkwardly styled sedan. Kia is on a roll with record-breaking sales the last three years. Honorable mention goes to Honda for the Prelude in the near-dead sports coupe market. The new Prelude has not been embraced by performance enthusiasts, but the Prelude was never about all-out performance. The Prelude is being marketed to middle aged to older buyers wanting to relive the glory of their youth. Jeers to the Honda dealers who have been tacking on $15k market adjustments. Cheers to Cadillac for the Best Luxury EV Lineup with the Optiq, Lyriq, Vistiq, and Escalade IQ. Cadillac has been successful reinventing itself. The lineup is far from perfect, with charging speeds that are not class-leading and excessive heft, but the vehicles are proof that a legacy automaker can be successful in the EV realm, at least until Chinese EVs are unleashed on American soil. Cheers and Jeers for the Best and Worst Rebadge Job with the Nissan Rogue Plug-In Hybrid. Mitsubishi has only about 300 dealerships in the U.S, compared to Nissan with about three and a half times as many. The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is a decent 7-passenger SUV with about 7,000 sales in the U.S. every year. Nissan is broke and desperate for fresh product to fill gaps in its lineup. The Outlander is based on the Nissan Rogue, but Nissan chose to take the cost-effective move of making only minor trim changes to the Outlander PHEV to turn it into a Nissan. It will serve its purpose. Jeers to the Federal Government for the Most Regressive Sustainability Move by attempting to pull back National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) funds and removing EV chargers from federal government facilities in their all-out quest to promote the consumption of petroleum. As the rest of the world electrifies their fleets, the long-term competitiveness of the American automakers will be diminished. Wishing everyone a safe, healthy, and prosperous New Year.

Maga Florida would become the new crappy Capital of Crappy USA Idiots.

East Coast. West Coast. Northern Border. Yeah. All of it!!! Canada!!! East Coast: New York State + Vermont + Maine + New Hampshire + Massachusetts = Canada. These were all French colonies at first anyway, minus Massachusetts and the lower part of New York. West Coast: Washington State + Oregon + California = Canada Because why not???!!! These states do not want to be part of the shythole country that has become the usa so...they might as well join Canada. Northern Border States: Minnesota = Canada Michigan shall be Canadian BECAUSE Detroit was founded by a French guy by the name of Cadillac. Reparations are owed... Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas were also founded by the French but they have become such shytehole areas, mainly the reason that america has become such a shytehole country. america could keep that shyte all to themselves. Canada will happily have California, Washington State, Oregon and Minnesota instead. 4 states versus 4 states. Anyway, those Canadian states I proposed to become Canadian, the people living in these states are normal people and they think alike as Canadians do. Makes perfect sense that these states become Canadian. Oh...we could give you Alberta and Saskatchewan in exchange for New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Illinois, Delaware and Maryland. New York and New Jersey go hand in hand which also includes Rhode Island. Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts go hand in hand with Connecticut. Delaware and Maryland go hand in hand and since District of Columbia will be under Canadian rule when Canada burns down the White House again... The new usa could have a new capital city somewheres in the shytehole areas of the usa.

I saw a Subaru Outback with personalized plates saying "B O X L N C H" . . . . now that I have your attention ... j/k

Good morning, folks ... Happy Nixon's Birthday!

With Boeing having signed a 20yr agreement with Canada and moving R&D and Manufacturing to Canada, I can easily see this flip back to Boeing as Canada is going to want to support business and jobs that are based in Canada. I would not say this is a done deal as the bulk of the order with Airbus is Options, which are easily canceled. Boeing started with a $240 Million Investment in 2024 in Canada. Boeing to Invest $240 Million CAD in Québec Aerospace Innovation Then added $85 million more in early 2025. Boeing Commits $85M To New Canadian Innovation Zone Espace Aéro Then came the big bomb shell at the end of the year that had Idiot47 going off as $5.4 Billion will now be spent in Canada rather than the U.S. In 2025, Boeing is significantly expanding its footprint in Canada. While it is not moving its entire operation, it is shifting more manufacturing and research capability there as part of a $5.4 billion investment obligation (ITB) linked to Canada’s purchase of P-8A Poseidon aircraft. Where the Manufacturing is Moving/Expanding: • Winnipeg, MB: In June 2025, Boeing opened a 12,000 sq. ft. expansion to its composite plant. This doubled its capacity to build parts for the 737 MAX and 787 Dreamliner. • Montreal, QC: Boeing is investing $240 million into the "Espace Aéro" innovation zone. This includes manufacturing and R&D for next-gen landing gear (with Héroux-Devtek) and autonomous air taxis (Wisk Aero). • Parksville, BC: A $13 million investment in COTA Aviation has funded new advanced manufacturing equipment and a training facility for aerospace production. • Mount Pearl, NL: A $10.3 million investment in Solace Power is establishing a new electronics production facility for aerospace parts in Atlantic Canada. • Alberta: A $2.7 million investment was made to create the Xpand™ Canada Commercialization Centre, focusing on manufacturing technologies for aerospace and energy security. The stories are all small parts of what adds up to be billions as Boeing cancels expansion and updates for Washington State and North Carolina manufacturing and R&D. Boeing Invests $110M In Espace Aéro - Canadian Manufacturing So many little stories that make up the whole. This all started with the original big investment back in 2020. Boeing set to boost Canada's economy with $61bn investment | Manufacturing Digital

Yeah, I don't love the idea of axing the full BEV Lightning. I thoroughly believe it will only be temporarily anyway but still feels wrong to get rid of it now. I understand the whole "extended range" thing is a steppingstone into a full BEV... but it feels unnecessary. Just make an EV with the proper technology to get 300 miles for the small battery and 400-450 miles with a larger battery. Be it battery chemistry (or all of the technology that goes into various things such as the elements and solid-state technology), battery size and/or aerodynamics, but that's what needs to take a leap forward. Maybe more importantly, price. They need to keep prices in check. Only so many people can afford near-100k vehicles regardless of how good the vehicle is.

So the Lightning was too expensive and the solution is to add an ICE motor and more complexity on top of that. Can't wait to see the $99,995 F-150 XLT EREV.