Season 2, Episode 115 - Truck News! RAM Truck Quality?

 

 

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Sean P. Holman (0s):

Hey, Lighting Have You Heard

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (9s):

No

Intro (10s):

The truck show. We’re gonna show you what we know. We’re gonna answer what The truck Truck rides with The truck show. We have the lifted We. have the lowered and everything in between. We’ll talk about trucks that run on diesel and the ones that run on gasoline. The truck show, The truck show, The truck show. Whoa Whoa. It’s The truck show with your hosts Lightning and Holman.

Sean P. Holman (47s):

This episode of The Truck Show Podcast Have You Heard. It’s proudly presented by Nissan with the Frontier Titan and Titan Xd. Nissan has a truck for every need, along with the legendary Nissan durability. Test Drive. your next truck at a local Nissan dealer today, Or point your browser to Nissan usa dot com where you can use the build and price tool to configure a Nissan truck that fits your lifestyle.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (1m 7s):

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Sean P. Holman (1m 30s):

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Jay “Lightning” Tilles (2m 0s):

EGR now celebrating their 50th anniversary as a leading manufacturer of truck and SUV accessory products With headquarters right here, the good old EGR USA as an Australian owned family run business with humble beginnings, EGR is now a global leader in the automotive accessory industry. If you’re looking for window visors, fender flares, tono covers, lights, hood guards and more, you’ll find ’em all at EGR USA dot com.

Sean P. Holman (2m 22s):

Hey, Lightning Have You Heard.

Intro (2m 25s):

Oh hell no. Oh

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (2m 28s):

No. I have not

Sean P. Holman (2m 29s):

That hit my brainstem. I like to apologize for all of our listeners who are just subjected to that horrible noise.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (2m 35s):

No, that’s great. I love that guy.

Sean P. Holman (2m 37s):

Alright, we got a lot to cover here in news, so we’re gonna knock through the list pretty quick here. Did you know that there were too many RAM trucks that aren’t coming off the production line in good shape and they have to go back to get quality controlled and fixed in quarantine?

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (2m 52s):

No. What years?

Sean P. Holman (2m 54s):

Oh, new one. Like right now they’re making, right now

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (2m 56s):

What? So wait a minute, Ram is not known for the quality and you’re, you’re telling me it’s getting worse.

Sean P. Holman (3m 0s):

I mean they’re not, they’re not bad quality. I mean they’re, they’re, and by the way, they’ve been winning JD Power the last couple years, so have Oh, their quality’s way up anyway, but, but

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (3m 9s):

JD Power is like the first year of like Well.

Sean P. Holman (3m 10s):

It depends. Nah, that, that’s just one thing that’s initial quality. They have other ones too. Gotcha. All right. Anyway, Carlos Deve, CEO of Stellantis said, sorry, it has been No, he is been fairly open to different discussions. He made a disclosure, I guess it’d be a couple weeks ago now that he was talking that too many brand new trucks have to be repaired before it goes to the dealer. And he said that the, what they call the direct run rate at some stellantis plants is quote unquote not good. And that’s not great. What the direct run rate is, it refers to the total number of vehicles that get the seal of approval from the quality control people without having to go back for anything. Whether it’s a paint blem or like a badge that’s crooked or engine that won’t turn on or, or whatever.

Sean P. Holman (3m 51s):

The ones that are in perfect condition go straight to the dealer. Other ones go in quarantine. They’re having too many that get pushed aside to, to get fixed. So, okay.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (3m 58s):

So these are not necessarily ending up in customer’s hands? No, no,

Sean P. Holman (4m 1s):

No. They get fixed before they go there. Okay. But what it does is it slows down the production line. It makes it inefficient. Gotcha. Vera said that there are a bunch of different issues that could be causing this and it’s, it’s a problem like the, the increase in manufacturing costs, the delays in delivery, all sorts of stuff like

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (4m 16s):

That. Every single time a human or a robot has to touch a vehicle in its build process or after the fact, it adds to the cost. Yeah,

Sean P. Holman (4m 24s):

Absolutely. What’s also interesting is he said this, he says, quote unquote, we have not always been able in the production planning to make a production mix that aligns with the sales mix. If you don’t do that, if you don’t align the production mix to the sales mix, at one point in time, your inventory is distorted against what the real demand is. If it’s distorted, some of the models and versions and trims, they stick in the dealer yard and then you have an inventory problem. And I don’t know if that is partially ’cause people want the High Zoo limited production trucks like A TRX and they’re like, no, no, you also have to buy work trucks. And then the fleets are like, we’re not buying work trucks right now. And if you go down to the local dealer, there’s a lot of stuff just sitting right now. So anyway, sounds like they’ve got some work to do over there.

Sean P. Holman (5m 6s):

That has

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (5m 6s):

Just gotta be a brutal job. I know from just a small aftermarket parts company how hard it is to predict how many you’re gonna sell. Yeah. And you might do something you never know. It could be one of a thousand market forces that like push sales beyond what you expected. God, they could have a YouTuber, the greatest thing ever. Everybody all of sudden they sell like, yeah. A thousand extra vehicles and it, and it just devastates their inventory. Conversely, if someone says it’s crap, then they just all sit there and collect dust. So

Sean P. Holman (5m 34s):

Tava the 65-year-old Portuguese businessman, he said that quality’s improving, but the process has been quote unquote painful after they had to quote unquote clean up the mess. And it says there’s been supply chain interruptions along with quality issues at other factories beyond where they make the ram in Sterling Heights. He said some of the other issues were the RAM 1500 mid-cycle facelift launch. So things are swapping over right now. And so it slowed down production to swap over to the new model year with the mid-cycle action on it. Another interesting thing is, back in 2021, he did say that Stellantis would keep all 14 brands for 10 years and they would invest in all of them. And whichever ones were profitable at the end of 10 years were the ones that were being kept.

Sean P. Holman (6m 17s):

So, you know, Ram is in no danger. But so on the European side, brands like Lancia DS Auto and a bar, if they’re not doing great, and then over on our side of the fence we have brands like Chrysler, other than the Pacifica, everything else is dead. So sucks what’s happening over there. Ugly and dead. Yep. And then, you know, not that Jeep is in danger, Ram’s a danger, but their sales are definitely down. What happens to dodge if the new charger doesn’t take off? So they’re in a world of hurt, especially with the heads of state over there are basically kicking out all the Americans and

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (6m 45s):

Make some fricking more v eights

Sean P. Holman (6m 47s):

And they’re, well, they’re draining. It’s almost like what happened with Daimler Chrysler when they came in and bought, or Daimler when they bought in and made it Daimler Chrysler and said, oh, it’s the merger of equals, and instead they sucked them dry. I feel like they’re doing that. Stellantis is doing that to these great American brands and there’s a world of herd over there and a lot of my friends aren’t there. And it’s, it’s sad to watch, to be honest with you. All right. Too much on that? Hey, Lighting Have, You Heard. No.

4 (7m 10s):

Oh

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (7m 14s):

No I haven’t.

Sean P. Holman (7m 15s):

Speaking of Stellantis, they have begun offering buyout packages for US employees. So You know what that precedes

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (7m 22s):

Massive layoffs.

Sean P. Holman (7m 24s):

Well I mean if, if not enough people take ’em, you know, that’s step one. Yeah. Step two, steel underpants, step three profit. If you’re familiar with South Park. Hey, Lighting, Have, You Heard.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (7m 35s):

Yes,

5 (7m 35s):

Yes, yes, yes.

Sean P. Holman (7m 37s):

No, no. Apparently dealers are desperate to sell Chevy Silverado Evil ranches.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (7m 44s):

Well, the only one that I have seen on the road with my own eyeballs

Sean P. Holman (7m 47s):

Was the one that was brought to your work location that we drove.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (7m 50s):

Nope. Had a SoCal Edison logo on the side. Oh, there

Sean P. Holman (7m 53s):

You go. So right now, apparently there are discounts of up to $16,000 under MSRP and they’re trying to do a undercut competitors by cutting that 20% chunk off. So that’s, they didn’t look too good. Think people want their trucks to be trucks

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (8m 12s):

Just saying they want, they’re just, and they’re also not great looking. No. Like they’re

Sean P. Holman (8m 18s):

Ish. Not I mean. I saw it early and I was like, eh, guys. Sure.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (8m 21s):

Yeah.

Sean P. Holman (8m 22s):

Anyway. Hey, Lighting, Have, You, Heard.

4 (8m 24s):

No,

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (8m 25s):

No.

Sean P. Holman (8m 26s):

Apparently Rivian is no longer giving you a standard physical key or fob. Now you gotta pay, it’s an accessory now.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (8m 34s):

No way. So it’s all through your phone.

Sean P. Holman (8m 35s):

All through your phone.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (8m 36s):

That’s super lame. Yeah,

Sean P. Holman (8m 38s):

You can use the app or you can use the key card, but no key key fob. You gotta pay extra. Hmm. I don’t know if I

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (8m 45s):

Like that. No I mean, I know some people that do, like they use remote start on their phone and they use it to unlock and unlock and whatnot. But I just, I think most people do need some, I, I don’t physical object.

Sean P. Holman (8m 59s):

I, I hate having to go through menus to do something. Simple task like opening my door, like on the aria I have the key in the pocket. I walk up, it unlocks, I get in it, I walk away, it locks. I don’t even have to ever touch it. And

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (9m 9s):

You know what else too. If you’re wearing gloves, you’re in the Midwest or the East and it’s free. You what do you with your phone?

Sean P. Holman (9m 14s):

Well, half the time your phone goes, it’s too cold to operate. Yeah. It’s mad. So, or

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (9m 17s):

If it’s too freaking hot. Yeah. Have you had lately I’ve had that happen twice. Again. It’s got that thermometer on the front says I’m too hot and shuts off. Guess

Sean P. Holman (9m 25s):

You get the key, the key card one. But eh, I still like having a fob salt. I’m old school. Hey Lighting, Have You Heard. What you talking about was apparently Arizona is suing FCN Cummins for fraudulent diesel emissions claims and defeat devices. Who? Who? Arizona. Man, that place is lurching purple.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (9m 46s):

Yeah, that makes me uncomfortable. It’s

Sean P. Holman (9m 47s):

Seeking penalties from both companies. Arizona’s attorney general claims FCA and Cummins falsely advertised diesel ram HD trucks to more than 23,600 buyers in the state. So according to this, it says that it’s the same thing with the illegal defeat devices falsely showing lower NOx levels under EPA emissions testing. Yeah. Than what the 2,535 trucks actually emitted a normal operation So. this is the conversation that we’ve had on the show before. It also says that the defendants allegedly knew the conduct placing the higher emitting trucks with these defeat devices in the state of Arizona. So I don’t know, said there was deceptive practices that harmed our environment and deceived customers than they will not be tolerated according to Attorney General May.

Sean P. Holman (10m 29s):

So who knows? It just sounds like that that is the story that won’t go away. Hmm. Hey, Lighting, Have, You Heard? No.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (10m 36s):

Wait, no, I don’t think so.

Sean P. Holman (10m 39s):

Apparently all the Ford recalls that have happened lately, the billions of dollars that we’ve talked about over the show is now up to about $25.5 million a day to Ford

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (10m 50s):

Whoa

Sean P. Holman (10m 51s):

In recalls

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (10m 52s):

$25 million

Sean P. Holman (10m 55s):

A day

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (10m 56s):

A day. Let let let that sink in for a second.

Sean P. Holman (11m 1s):

It says that recall and warranty costs hit $2.3 billion of the last three months costing 25 and a half million dollars a day. That’s up 800 million compared to the first quarter. So

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (11m 14s):

We’re gonna pay for all that

Sean P. Holman (11m 15s):

Ford has,

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (11m 16s):

You know, in new and new vehicle sales, we’re gonna pay for that. Well,

Sean P. Holman (11m 18s):

Ford has implemented several initiatives to improve the quality. So hopefully they turn the corner on that. ’cause that is a wild number. I

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (11m 26s):

Wonder how much of this stuff is caused by human error, robot error, design error. Like is it, does it start all the way fire

Sean P. Holman (11m 34s):

Issues

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (11m 35s):

With the mechanical engineer or the electrical engineer? No. Or is it just a numb nut on the, on the, you know, assembling the thing that just puts the wrong torque spec on the

Sean P. Holman (11m 43s):

Nah, they, they can’t do that line or something. No, there’s no way to do that. They every like gun and every tool is computerized and records every process according to every vin. So when you pick up your Lugnet tool and you, you go b, it stops at exactly the torque and it records it. So you could go back in time and go, these were the values on this singular truck that was assembled.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (12m 1s):

So then, so it’s what you’re saying then is a defect in design?

Sean P. Holman (12m 5s):

I don’t, I’m not manufacturing. No, I’m not saying anything. There’s lot That could be a supplier. Yeah, it could be manufactured incorrectly. It could be cost cutting, it could be somebody skipping a step. I don’t know. I’m just, I’m just reporting the news. I’m not a commentator here. I’m, I’m just, I’m just a straight newsman. Okay. Sometimes when I wanna be. Okay. Hey Lighting, did you hear,

6 (12m 25s):

How about No,

Sean P. Holman (12m 27s):

You’re a beloved Ricardo filed for bankruptcy.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (12m 32s):

Yeah. How and why, how are they over leveraged

Sean P. Holman (12m 37s):

Something? Well, check this out. According to the German outlet auto build, the trade union got the announcement as a surprise. Ouch. And didn’t even know it was coming.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (12m 53s):

Ricardo’s are in the new Ford Raptor R, correct?

Sean P. Holman (12m 55s):

Yeah. They’re in the ZL one. They’re in all sorts of stuff.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (12m 57s):

All sorts of amazing high-end build’s a great

Sean P. Holman (13m 0s):

Seat. How could a, how could a, a company like that founded in 1906 that has been, you know, it has been Ricardo since 1963 and has done automotive seating, you know, and some of the greatest brands in the world be here.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (13m 18s):

I think

Sean P. Holman (13m 19s):

That’s

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (13m 19s):

Sad. It’s like,

Sean P. Holman (13m 21s):

If not Ricardo, like who there’s lots of seat manufacturing, but you, you very few out there that have that name cache that an OE is gonna place their

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (13m 29s):

Vehicles. There’s no like, no one’s racing out to get a Corbett You. know what I’m saying?

Sean P. Holman (13m 32s):

Well, maybe in the aftermarket, but it’s, you know, nothing wrong with

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (13m 36s):

Corbett. I’m not saying Okay. Yeah. They just don’t have the cache in the name. I am wondering if this is like You know what can take down a company

Sean P. Holman (13m 44s):

Private investment firm.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (13m 45s):

So that for sure. Do we know who Ricardo’s owned by?

Sean P. Holman (13m 48s):

Well the seeding firm ENT sold Ricardo Automotive four years ago to Raven Acquisitions. So,

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (13m 54s):

Oh no, I just I mean dude. Have have you seen what’s happening in the aftermarket? I mean all of these acquisitions, they’re just bonkers ruining a bunch of companies. It’s crazy. There was a time that I think like these big investment firms didn’t really understand the aftermarket. Yeah.

Sean P. Holman (14m 10s):

They still don’t.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (14m 11s):

And now they’re just coming in and they’re like, I own a steel mill so I’m gonna buy things that are made out of steel. Right. So I can sell my own steel to the Wheel company or something like that. And they don’t understand wheels and they just destroy it. Yeah. They thrift it and they ruin the brand That some, that sucks. Some dude, some entrepreneur created Sorry, tangent. Go ahead.

Sean P. Holman (14m 33s):

Hey, Lighting Have You Heard. No,

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (14m 36s):

Haven’t heard.

Sean P. Holman (14m 37s):

You’ll be happy to know that the Ram HD trucks that are getting a mid-cycle refresh for 25. Are we ready for this? Yeah.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (14m 47s):

Waiting

Sean P. Holman (14m 48s):

Regular cab coming back.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (14m 53s):

Wow.

Sean P. Holman (14m 54s):

So that’s cool,

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (14m 54s):

Right? I was walking down the block the other night and I go look at that regular cab Chevy Silverado. My wife’s like, so what? I go, do you understand how rare those are?

Sean P. Holman (15m 3s):

No. It’s awesome.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (15m 4s):

They’re only in like racetracks. Do I see those things? I I I

Sean P. Holman (15m 8s):

Would love to get just a regular cab long bed, just pickup truck. I was, I’d love just like a little seven three with a stick. Yeah. Just to move a tractor around

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (15m 16s):

Or something. Yeah. You know what I want. I want a 66 Chevy C 20. Patine it out with like a cool three 50 in it.

Sean P. Holman (15m 22s):

You ruined that magic Anyway. The latest spy photo. Oh, I

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (15m 25s):

Didn’t tell you the, remind me to tell you something off air about this Oh. my God

Sean P. Holman (15m 31s):

Did. You’re gonna leave that in the recording? Yeah. Okay. Woo. All right. So. this is a doozy. The latest spy photos show that the 2,500 Bighorn regular cab long box four by four Yep. Is, is happening. And so the regular cab continues to be part of the lineup for 25. So Ram Enthusiast should be extremely happy ’cause you still can’t get a regular cab 1500 unfortunately. So I’m interested Truck show podcast at gmail dot com. Who out there still loves regular cab pickup trucks and maybe even has non-work truck regular cab Long Bed. I wanna hear about it. What about the well, why’d you choose it? What

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (16m 5s):

About the dudes that are turning TXs into short bed? That’s single cab short beds. That’s cool. There’s like five of ’em now.

Sean P. Holman (16m 11s):

Yeah, there’s a few of ’em out there. I think that’s, that’s pretty awesome. Py photos say regular Cab Ram people be happy. Hey, Lighting, Have, You Heard. No,

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (16m 20s):

No.

Sean P. Holman (16m 21s):

Remember how I’m like, Hey Lighting, this new Grand Wagoneers is pretty awesome. And you’re like, no, I hate it. It’s ugly. It just

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (16m 28s):

Kick up. You’re not a fan. No, it’s a, it’s a big, it’s it’s a suburban wearing a top hat.

Sean P. Holman (16m 33s):

Well the 2024 JD Power US automotive performance, execution and layout. The appeal study, yeah. Has a couple wins. And in the large SUV segment it’s the Jeep Wagoner. Why are you buzzing that? It’s awesome.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (16m 48s):

Didn’t you see that guy trying to change like an AC vent and he had to take the entire interior part. So

Sean P. Holman (16m 53s):

That’s Yeah. That, that wasn’t solid.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (16m 54s):

That’s some bogus

Sean P. Holman (16m 55s):

Ram is five years in as the second ranked mass market brand in US Peel study. So people still want Rams and they still want Grand Wagoneers despite what Lighting thinks. Hey, Lightning, Have, You Heard.

7 (17m 10s):

9 9 9 9 9.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (17m 12s):

No,

Sean P. Holman (17m 14s):

You love the Cadillac Escalade, don’t you?

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (17m 16s):

I love the one that GA’s daughter Liz, who actually runs the day-to-day of our company. Yeah. She has got this crazy like pearlescent

Sean P. Holman (17m 27s):

Deep green. You’re going on a tangent

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (17m 28s):

Again. No, I’m telling you that this is freaking, freaking we’ve talked about it.

Sean P. Holman (17m 31s):

Lighting. I’m holding up the stop sign. Stop. I’m holding up the stop sign. I’m

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (17m 36s):

Pointing the Lighting. I like the Escalade. Thank

Sean P. Holman (17m 38s):

You. The can I That’s not the, the setup. You’re not, you’re not good at this. Let me say Lighting, do you like the Escalade, right?

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (17m 47s):

Yes, I do. You

Sean P. Holman (17m 48s):

Like diesel engines, right? I sure do. Holman No, that Diesel Escalades great vehicle that was well received by the buying public. Right?

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (17m 54s):

Please don’t tell me they’re getting rid of it. Mr.

Sean P. Holman (17m 56s):

Holman? No Diesel Escalades going forward. Oh, panic. 2020. Cadillac Escalade will not have a diesel. So. this is why our shows are eight hours long. Is it hard

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (18m 7s):

To play along with me?

Sean P. Holman (18m 8s):

It’s it’s hard to do a lot of things with you some days. It’s definitely, it’s it’s not easy. Hey, I’m running off steam here. Lighting Have, You Heard. No. God

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (18m 19s):

No. No. I haven’t heard you sure? No, I’m not sure.

Sean P. Holman (18m 23s):

Of course you’re not. No, I’ve heard a lot of these stories.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (18m 26s):

I just play

Sean P. Holman (18m 26s):

Along. Well, you know the story ’cause you said it to me and it’s the fact that old GM put a patent in for having some sort of drone stuff with your truck. Oh

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (18m 36s):

Yeah. If you break down, they come and find you with a drone. No, no, no. It launch the drone launches outta your own vehicle. Which is weird, right? It’s like a, it’s like, like a, it’s part of the vehicle. It det attaches. It’s like Mr. Roberto or Mr. What is it? What’s that? That flying robot? Yeah. It’s Johnny. So, and the flying robot from the seventies.

Sean P. Holman (18m 54s):

Do you think our listeners are done, are done with us at this point? We’re like, Hey, we’re gonna do it 15 minute episode. They tuned

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (18m 58s):

Out 20 minutes ago. All right. Right after the Intro

Sean P. Holman (19m 1s):

On that. And then, no, let’s, let’s end it. Feel I mean. We just, we we failed. What about the,

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (19m 6s):

What about the drone? You gonna say about,

Sean P. Holman (19m 7s):

I don’t know, we failed to lower the suckage on this one. Sorry. The only drone we have in this podcast is us going on and on.

Jay “Lightning” Tilles (19m 15s):

The Truck Show Podcast is a production of truck famous LLC. This podcast was created by Sean Holman and Jay Tillis with production elements by DJ Omar Khan. If you like what you’ve heard, please open your Apple podcast or Spotify app and give us a five star rating. And if you’re a fan, there’s no better way to show your support than by patronizing. Our sponsors

9 (19m 38s):

Giant robot, go.