Kia’s Veteran Tech Program, Not So “American-Made”, Vibe Codex-ing

Automotive State of The Union

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Episode #1047: Kia’s veteran apprenticeship program is creating certified techs and stronger stores, while “American-made” is a lot harder to accomplish than it sounds. Plus, OpenAI is taking on software engineering with a new update.

Show Notes with links:

Kia America’s Veterans Technician Apprenticeship Program is helping dealers find, train, and retain top-tier tech talent by giving veterans a fast path to certification—and the results are showing up in the service drive.
- Launched in 2023, the program combines mentorship, on-the-job training, and a 30-day certification bootcamp.
- Approved by the DOL and VA, it offers tax credits and GI Bill stipends to offset dealer costs.
- 462 Kia dealerships have enrolled; 278 veterans—including 16 women—have been hired so far.
- Participating stores report higher appointment volume, productivity, and lower tech turnover.
- Speaking about program graduate Caleb Samsel, Anthony Catalanotto of Generation Auto Group said “He’s a leader. He says the right things. He does the right things. He’s always in his uniform. He’s always working hard. If someone can’t figure something out, he’s right with them.”

Despite political pressure and patriotic branding, building a truly American-made vehicle is still more fantasy than factory reality. Ford’s latest Expedition highlights just how global even U.S.-assembled vehicles remain.
- The Expedition is assembled in Kentucky, but only 58% of its parts are North American, with key components like engines and semiconductors still coming from overseas.
- Automakers say sourcing 90% U.S. content could raise vehicle prices $10K–$20K, pricing out many buyers.
- Past vehicles reached 90%+ U.S./Canada content; today’s tech and globalization make that rare.
- “We can move everything to the U.S., but if every Ford is $50,000, we’re not going to win,” said Ford CEO Jim Farley.

OpenAI is expanding its capabilities in one of AI’s most competitive frontiers: software engineering. Its new Codex agent is designed to handle complex coding tasks autonomously and at scale.
- Codex performs tasks like writing code, fixing bugs, running tests, and reviewing codebases.
- Built on the new codex-1 model, optimized from OpenAI’s o3 reasoning architecture.
- Available to ChatGPT Pro, Team, and Enterprise users during a research preview.
- Competitors like Anthropic’s Sonnet models still lead developer adoption, but the field is evolving quickly.
- “It is a fundamentally new way of working,” said OpenAI VP of Engineering Srinivas Narayanan.

Join Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier every morning for the Automotive State of the Union podcast as they connect the dots across car dealerships, retail trends, emerging tech like AI, and cultural shifts—bringing clarity, speed, and people-first insight to automotive leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry.
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