Small Car

This small electric SUV is serving as a signal the South Korean automaker could create a dedicated sub-brand for its XRT line of off-road-themed vehicles. Such a move has been successful for other car companies, including GMC and Subaru with their Denali and Wilderness models, respectively. Hyundai offers XRT versions of the Palisade, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, and Tucson so it would make sense for the company to attempt some kind of spinoff.  

The Polestar brand may not yet be familiar to you, but we hope it will be soon. The start-up spin-off of Volvo, now dedicated to producing only premium electric vehicles, is owned—more or less entirely—by Chinese carmaker Geely. And though not well known in the U.S., Geely owns Volvo, and also sells vehicles—mostly in China—under the Geely, Zeekr, Proton, and Lynk & Co. brands. Geely also now owns British design and engineering firm Lotus.

Jill and Tom welcome movie reviewer and podcast host Nick Digilio into the studio. Nick’s newly published collection of movie reviews, 40 Years, 40 Films, cover’s each year of Nick’s career, and is available now in time for Christmas. 

We’re big fans of the Ram, and have named the big pickup to our Consumer Guide Best Buy list again for 2026. We find the Hemi engine something of a silly distraction, however it’s still an excellent truck motor, and if you enjoy the exhaust note…why not?

The hosts welcome TJ Campbell, Tire Rack Information and Testing Manager, to the show. TJ talks about general winter-driving safety, and makes the economic case for Snowbelt residents to own a dedicated set of winter tires to swap on and off their vehicles seasonally. It’s a great conversation you don’t want to miss.