2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E Hits Important Milestone

Why Apple Has Put the Brakes on its Apple Car; Road Tests: 2023 Mercedes-Benz C-300 4Matic, 2023 Mazda CX-9; Interview with Kia VP Russell Wager

America on the Road Radio LogoThe Mustang Mach-E doesn’t get the publicity it received when it was introduced, but it continues to have an impact around the world. As proof of that, Ford has just produced its 150,000th Ford Mustang Mach-E since starting production two years ago. And this marks a significant milestone as the automaker scales EV production to a rate of 600,000 annually by late 2023 with plans to produce two million annually by 2026.

In this episode, we’ll discuss the Mustang Mach-E, Ford’s EV goals, and what the market is likely to hold through the end of the decade. Right now Ford is the number two-selling electric vehicle brand in the U.S., and the continued strong demand for Mustang Mach-E has a great deal to do with that. Almost all of Mustang Mach-E’s growth to date is coming from customers who are replacing an internal-combustion-engine vehicle — more than eight in 10 U.S. customers and nine in 10 European customers. Ford likes those stats and wants to keep the momentum going. We’ll tell you more coming up.

Do you drive a Honda CR-V, HR-V, Jeep Compass, or Ram 2500 pickup? If you do, you’ll want to hear about the just-instituted investigation of those vehicles for safety issues. Stay tuned for that.

And Apple is hitting the brakes on its upcoming Apple self-driving car, something its occupants won’t be able to do. More details on why the Apple car is progressing slower than planned coming up.

In the road test segment, Co-host Chris Teague will take a long look at the all-new 2023 Mercedes-Benz C-300 4Matic. Mercedes-Benz has incorporated a large portion of S-Class technology in the new C-Class, and Teague will tell us if he thinks it hits the marks it should.

Mazda CX-9In the meantime. host Jack Nerad and his family spent much of Thanksgiving week driving around Southern California in the 2023 Mazda CX-9 midsize crossover SUV. The drive helped solidify the CX-9’s position as the best-handling, most-responsive three-row SUV in its class.

Our guest this week is Russell Wager, Vice President of Marketing at Kia America. As we’ve mentioned in previous shows, Kia has been on a strong roll lately and he’s been a big part of it. In the interview with Jack Nerad, he’ll tell us what Kia has in store, including the brand’s big push toward an electric-vehicle future.