'Auto Trends' Kicks Off Black History Month With A Former Rainbow PUSH Automotive Activist: Where Do We Go From Here?

Change agent Glenda Gill (Photo Credit: GG)

Over the past week or so since Trump took office, he has been issuing out nonstop signed executive orders from The White House and Mar-a-Lago like a level 5 tornado tearing through an urban area during a busy workday.

As expected, there have been some immediate casualties, non-life threating injuries, uprooting, angst and mental frustration. Overall, as expected, there has been pure chaos and confusion.

'Auto Trends' Goes Behind The Scenes Talking To The Host And EP Of The Program

It's been eight years since Auto Trends with JeffCars.com landed on the airwaves. For the first time, Jeff Fortson, the host and executive producer of the only syndicated multicultural automotive program in North America, allows the listeners to go behind the scenes, learning more about him and his program. 

The President Of Toyota And Lexus North American Design Talks To 'Auto Trends'

Kevin Hunter, who is wearing the blue sweater, gathers with a few members of his design team to examine the all-new 2024 Tacoma. (Photo Credit: TMC)

Kevin Hunter, the president of Toyota Motor Corporation's U.S. design studio, California's Calty Design Research, talks one-on-one with Auto Trends with JeffCars.com, the only multicultural syndicated automotive program in North America. 

Hunter, a Michigan native, also oversees production and advanced designs for one of the world's top automotive manufacturers, at studios in California and Michigan.

Hunter, who is the first and only American to head TMC's North American designs, has served as president since 2007. For over four decades, he has been imagining concepts and creating final production ready vehicles both as a designer and a leader for Toyota and Lexus.

Automotive News Discusses The UAW Historic Contract Negotiations On 'Auto Trends'

Michael Martinez is an automotive news reporter.  (Photo Credit: LinkedIn)

This year could be dubbed as the year of the workers. Everyone from the railroad laborers to Kaiser Permanente healthcare employees to UPS workforce have stood up to their employers, demanding that they be fairly compensated, after years of sacrificing, as the companies they have worked for racked up record profits.

The automotive industry also joined the fight this fall. Since 2009, assemblers have made major sacrifices, saving 'The Detroit Three,' General Motors, Ford and Chrysler during the Great Recession. Automotive News reporter Michael Martinez talks to Auto Trends with JeffCars.com about the United Auto Workers (UAW) historic contract negotiations. Martinez, who is based in Detroit, has been covering the UAW extensively for the past 10 years. In an eye-opening conversation, we'll examine the pros, cons and more of the historic UAW Stand Up Strike. 

'Auto Trends' Talks One-On-One With One Of The Leading Black Voices In The EV Battery Lane

 

While the world is familiar with Elon Musk and his line of mass produced, all-electric Teslas that achieves just over 200 miles on a battery charge, Denise Gray, who's a much quieter player in the hybrid and electric battery field, is one of the pioneers revolutionizing the industry, too.

Gray and her team are directly responsible for designing and developing battery packs to fuel, no pun intended, such vehicles as GM's new Tesla fighter, the mass-produced Chevy Bolt. Like the California built Teslas, the all-electric Bolt also has a driving range that surpasses 200 miles on a full battery charge. Conversely, unlike the pricey Teslas, the Bolt is currently one of a handful affordable EV alternatives on the market today to Musk’s luxury electric vehicles.

Acura's Jonathon Rivers Talks To 'Auto Trends' About How The Brand Has Found Its Lane Again

 

Acura's portfolio of vehicles (Photo Credit: JeffCars.com)

Jonathon Rivers joins Auto Trends with JeffCars.com, a syndicated multicultural automotive program, giving us a behind the scenes look at how the Acura brand had to find its way again, determining if it's a luxury brand or something else. Rivers, who is bilingual, gives us an inside peek as to the process the Japanese brand makes in terms of pricing, competitive research and the like when the company executives determine what vehicles are included in Acura's portfolio. 

Former High-Achieving Black Global Car Designer Talks Steering Into His True Purpose With 'Auto Trends,' While In The Midst Of Covid-19

 

How many times have you thought about changing careers or jumping into the world of entrepreneurship, but self-doubt and fear kept you from shifting gears?

 

With America being in the throes of a pandemic, a recession and been forced to reckon with social, economic and racial justice from the African American community, Brian Peterson, who was a member of an elite club, as one of thirty Black car designers in the entire world, decided to listen to his ‘Father,’ as he finally drummed-up the nerve to step out on faith to pursue his purpose, which centers around the homeless, his love for people and using his God given artistic gift.