Chinese Cars in Austria, New Jeep Cherokee, Consumer Reports Top Picks

The hosts open the show by discussing Tom's new refrigerator, and his inability to keep Subaru's suite of new electric vehicles straight. Jill agrees to help him remember the names of the Subaru EVs. Jill and Tom go on to cover a number of news items, including the discontinuation of the Volkswagen ID.4 electric crossover, Chinese vehicles being built in Austria, and Kia's plan to build a midsize EV in American by the 2030 model year. In related news, a listener from New Zealand checks in to let the hosts know that he owns a Chinese-built Leapmotor EV (discussed last episode) and is very happy with it. Still in the first segment, Jill reviews the all-new Jeep Cherokee. In the second segment, Jill and Tom welcome Alex Knizek, Director of Auto Test Development at Consumer Reports, to the Car Stuff Podcast. Alex describes the process by which Consumer Reports evaluates new vehicles, and walks the hosts through the outfit's 2026 Top Picks list. In the last segment, Jill is subjected to Tom's "Dead Brand" quiz. Listen in to hear how she scored. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.