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Automobility LA: Why Every Car Shopper Is Overwhelmed Right Now with Jennifer Newman · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  Welcome to Auto Collapse. You're listening to an exclusive series recorded live at Automobility LA 2025 in partnership with Cars Commerce. So we are live again at the LA Auto Show.
• 0:10
  Thank you to our friends at Cars Commerce for helping us make this all happen. I'm with Jenny Newman, editor-in-chief. Hello. Hello, I'm happy to be here. Thank you. We're starting to rack up the conversations now.
• 0:20
  I know. [laughs] You're gonna get a punch card. I, I can't wait. When do I get an invite to your house? When do I- No, it's happening... when are we hanging out? What are you doing for Thanksgiving?
• 0:26
  Um, I mean, I was gonna cook- You'll never forget it... but if you're cooking I'll come over. Yeah, I'm not, no. [laughs] No, no. My wife will do the cooking- [laughs]...
• 0:33
  and that's why people will also come over next year. Nice. [laughs] Um, the, this is, the auto show energy is great because it brings the consumer and the industry very close together in a face-to-face way. Yes.
• 0:45
  And so, um, I think it's very in line with what you try to do every day through your writing, through your research- Yeah... trying to educate people.
• 0:51
  So, um, what i- what is your mindset as you come to auto shows and you think, what are you, what are you up to? What are you thinking? What are you trying to do? I, I love auto shows. Um- Yeah...
• 1:00
  from a consumer perspective, this is one of the most efficient ways to really touch, feel- Ah... experience those vehicles.
• 1:07
  And if you are car shopping, it allows you to quickly winnow that long list that you've been dreaming about into some- maybe something that's a little closer to reality and what you're gonna end up with.
• 1:19
  So this is, this is, I think, a, such an important place for car shoppers.
• 1:23
  From an industry perspective, this is a place for us to gather, to reconnect, to see what, uh, all the automakers are up to, what is the latest, the coolest technology, the newest, freshest designs, right?
• 1:34
  What is that, like, energy? There's an energy to an auto show, um- Yeah... that I think it's hard to capture, but it just fuels me. I know it fuels so many people in this industry.
• 1:44
  Yeah, we don't get out to a lot of auto shows because we focus so much on the dealers. Yeah. And being here, I'm thinking already that, like, I need to go to more auto shows. [laughs] You do. You do. It- Yeah...
• 1:55
  and I think, like, my family and my kids would have a really great time here as well. Oh, come on.
• 1:58
  Auto shows, especially on the public days, the way that they invite consumers in, the, the cool opportunities, the EV test tracks, right? Like, there's just so many different ways to engage with the vehicles.
• 2:10
  They're not just, um, static and sitting there. You get to touch and feel. It's, it- there's nothing like it. Okay, I wanna talk about a few things. Okay. Um, affordability. Okay.
• 2:20
  We've been talking about it on the morning show every week since I can remember. Yeah. And it's not getting better. No. And there's a lot of conversation.
• 2:28
  What are, what are you, how are you absorbing the customer sentiment?
• 2:32
  How are you trying to serve them, and how is Cars Commerce trying to serve them as they log on to the site, and they look at cars, and then they start to look at payments, and there's probably a feeling of anxiety a lot- Right...
• 2:41
  of the time. Yeah. What are you trying to do to, to help them in this season?
• 2:44
  I think what we're doing is we are trying to provide, um, you know, through articles, through videos, through social media content, we are trying to show shoppers that even though the average car price is about $50,000, there are vehicles, new vehicles, that can be had around 30 and maybe even a little bit lower, depending on how you, you know, pack- Configure it...
• 3:03
  exactly. But there are vehicles out there that- Yeah... that they can consider that are recommended by our editors, um, you know, that are worth their time.
• 3:13
  So we wanna remove some of the panic from, from the affordability- That's a great way to put it... conversation. I think, I think it's important to just really help continue to educate those shoppers.
• 3:22
  Uh, one of the great tools we have on cars.com is our new Carson AI assistant.
• 3:27
  So if you have a shopper who's coming in with a real clear idea of what they want, or even if it's just general, "I want, I need something that tows 5,000 pounds, but it also needs to be able to carry, you know, six people," you can start to type that in, and it's going to help you find that list as well.
• 3:43
  So it- In a conversational way. It's so great, and it connects you to inventory. I think it, that removes some of the friction points as well for car shoppers.
• 3:51
  So there's a variety- Right, every click that you have to make... of way to do it. When you said- Yeah... you used the word panic, I don't think panic is an overstatement. I don't think so either.
• 3:58
  Because the, the reality is people in this trade cycle, specifically in the trade cycle that has been, like, the last nine months to the next few, it's a bit of a shock.
• 4:08
  Because even the type of vehicle and the level of vehicle you've been driving, when you say, "Oh, well, maybe that's been your pattern for the last few trade cycles where I'm just gonna get a new," fill in the blank.
• 4:16
  Right. Yeah. And then you say, "Let me just get a new," fill in the blank, and you're like- Wait a second... how is this $200 or $300 more a month? Mm-hmm. Interest rates- Yep... you know, just rising costs in general.
• 4:25
  Oh, insurance. We haven't even talked about insurance, right? Like- Yes... y- you know, and that's sort of an afterthought. It needs to be, honestly, it needs to be- Right, you don't-... part of the consideration.
• 4:33
  It real- that's, I mean, it's tough because when you make it part of the consideration from the retailer side- Yeah... it makes it more difficult to make a decision. Oh, yeah.
• 4:40
  But it is a, a surprise that already if you're stretching- Yes... to get in a vehicle and then you get the surprise- Yeah... 30 days later- Right...
• 4:48
  or whenever, when the insurance company says, "Oh, here's your adjusted rate." Yeah. I didn't even think about that. Yeah.
• 4:53
  I think, you know, what we're seeing with affordability is it's, it's, the difficult part is it's not just car shopping. It's not just the insurance payments. It's, right now it's every aspect of our lives.
• 5:02
  There's not relief in a lot of places.
• 5:05
  And so, you know, what, when I think about how the dealers need to navigate that, right, it's recognizing that this is, this is, can be a challenging time for, for any shopper right now, but for car shoppers as well.
• 5:17
  And, you know, connecting those shoppers with vehicles like the ones we're recommending at cars.com, with the editorial team, trying to make those connections that there are vehicles out there that could fit, um, fit exactly what you're looking for in your life at maybe a price that makes you a little bit happier.
• 5:33
  So coming back to Carson. Yeah. Um, right, like, being a more frictionless way- Yeah... for people to look in an era when people are using Gemini, ChatGPT- Mm-hmm... and Claude, getting much more comfortable.
• 5:45
  And I think the expectation is changing as well, that they'll be able to interact with their world that way.
• 5:49
  And I think that that's great that now you've made a tool that allows them to do that instead of going to one of these other tools that's not connected to inventory- Right...
• 5:57
  that, that is taking general s- advice-And so tell me a little bit more about Carsyn. So you go on the site. Is it like a little click on this and- That's right... you can just start talking to it?
• 6:06
  So you're gonna go to cars.com. You're gonna see it right at the top of the homepage, and it is, it's a little, you know, it's a great little chatbot that you can start filling in. I like your example. So let's- Yeah...
• 6:15
  chatbot, you said, "I need something that, you know, tows 5,000 pounds and still holds six Rugrats." Exactly. Right? And so- Exactly... you say that, and what do you get?
• 6:22
  You're going to get, um, you're gonna get a list of, uh, vehicles in our inventory. That's my favorite- They exist... part about it. In real life. They're actually real. You can buy this one.
• 6:31
  [laughs] And you're gonna see, okay, here's the price. Here's, uh, these are the things I want. Do I need to adjust that price, talking about affordability?
• 6:39
  Do I need to adjust sort of my list of wants to get what I really need? Um, you know, but it, it's a great way to sort of root the dreams that you have when it comes to car shopping- In-... into reality. [laughs] Oh.
• 6:50
  Into that reality of inventory. Isn't that the story of life in general? [laughs] Yes. Sorry to be real. [laughs] I- Little bit realistic.
• 6:55
  [laughs] So I, I recently heard this little, little-known secret that you are on the jury of the World Car- Yeah... what? Awards. The World Car Awards. So I'm on the steering committee.
• 7:06
  I'm one of the, I represent the United States. The whole country. And the jurors... Yes, I do. Oh my goodness. Yeah. I know, it's really cool. A dignitary. Yes, yes, yes. That's brand new.
• 7:14
  But yes, I'm a World Car juror, and what it is is it is a group of roughly 100 international, international journalists, automotive, of course.
• 7:23
  And we come together, and we just spent a couple of days in Pasadena, California, driving really cool, amazing cars. From all over the world. Yes. So they brought in some brands that you can't sell here. Correct.
• 7:36
  But you got to drive them on US soil. Yeah. Yeah, so in fact, I was able to drive, um, an EV from BYD, which is a Chinese EV, uh, automaker, uh, taking a lot of the world by storm with their, you know, affordable EVs.
• 7:50
  Of course, they're not here in the US, uh, by design. But, um, yeah, it was a great opportunity to experience these difficult, different vehicles, um, and really get a sense of what's going on around the world, right?
• 8:00
  We've, we are very focused on what's happening in the US, and this is a certainly an important automotive market, but there's a whole world out there, and there are a whole lot of different cars out there that are fitting these different countries and their needs.
• 8:12
  And so it, it's a great opportunity. Also, just so amazing to meet these other automotive journalists. It's a wild group. It, amazing. And so- Amazing people... and so you got together, you drove the vehicles. Yeah.
• 8:23
  You voted. And w- I haven't voted yet. Oh. Oh, I gotta, we still- You took notes. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. You know- Lots of notes... Kyle and I, a few weeks ago, were actually in the country of Kazakhstan. Oh my gosh.
• 8:32
  And we got to visit, I mean, probably two dozen brands that aren't in the US. Right? We drove a BYD. Yeah. We drove a Tank. We drove a, a, uh, seven GA, uh, GAC, uh, Geely.
• 8:43
  And, um, one of the things that we came away with, I mean, this is part of the narrative, like the level of quality is very high. Yeah. And the cost because of all of the things like the subsidies- Yeah...
• 8:54
  appears to be very low. Mm-hmm. Um, what was your biggest like thought when you drove some of the Chinese brands that you talk about, write about? When you sat in them, what did you think?
• 9:03
  I, I mean, I was, I was blown away by, by what I was experiencing at, at, you know, the relative prices as well. It was like this is a lot of car- Yeah... for not a lot of money. Yeah.
• 9:14
  And so, um, and a lot of luxury as well. I was surprised at how nice some of these vehicles were. Um, so it, it was, it's eye-opening. Yes. Um, and I, I think it shows you what's possible.
• 9:25
  And also, of course, these are US automakers. We know they're paying attention- Yeah... to what's going on around the world, right? And very vocal about it too. Absolutely.
• 9:31
  Like Jim Farley, when he drove, he drove Chinese vehicle for, I can't remember how, and he said- Week or two, yeah... he's like, "We need to get our stuff together- Yep... or they're just gonna eat our lunch."
• 9:39
  Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Did- So it's important... did you talk to it, the BYD? I, [laughs] I probably mumbled something as I was trying to figure things out, but [laughs]...
• 9:47
  I mean, this is something that I don't think is like because of, um, a, a miraculous ability to manufacture materials and put them together. But when you say, "Hi, BYD"- Yeah...
• 9:56
  and you give it a plain language command, basically back to what we were talking about with Carsyn. Yeah. How do we interact w- with our world in a plain language way? Yeah.
• 10:02
  And you say, "Hi, BYD, open the sunroof halfway." Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And it does it. Yeah. As opposed to a lot of the talking to systems. So it'll be, I think it'll be very interesting to see how those develop.
• 10:11
  Um- I think so too, yeah. It- Did you test a lot of like talk to car systems, or is it more like driving quality? I'm so focused on d- the drive, honestly, because we, we have a very limited amount of time.
• 10:20
  We wanna make sure that these vehicles are getting through to- Yeah, you got 100 people. Hundred, yeah. You've got a lot of people, and s- not as many cars, of course, as you want. And so you need to be- Yeah...
• 10:29
  efficient with your time. Um, so really for me, it was about the driving, the comfort, the handling, you know, those experiences. Really the basics of a car. Because if you can't nail that- Yeah...
• 10:39
  the rest of it- Absolutely, doesn't matter... it doesn't matter. Well, Jenny, thanks for s- being such a great bridge between the consumer and our industry.
• 10:45
  I can't wait to see the results, and, uh, we'll get back with you and ask how you voted. Anytime. I'll, I'm waiting for that Thanksgiving invite. Okay.
• 10:51
  [laughs] [upbeat music] Thank you for listening to this LA Auto Show Session, brought to you by Cars Commerce.
• 10:58
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• 11:06
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