Latest / Auto Collabs / This One Stat Explains Why Customers Still Hate Buying Cars with David Thomas

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This One Stat Explains Why Customers Still Hate Buying Cars with David Thomas · Auto Collabs

0:00
Well, Sorella didn't show up again. [upbeat music] This is Auto Collabs. It's just like him. What do you think he's doing? What do you think he's doing? I don't know what he's doing.
0:14
He, like, shows up for the conversation but doesn't show up for the hangout with you and me. What is that? Dude, I have friends like that. They show up for the food, then when it's time to clean up- [laughs]...
0:22
they just disappear. Speaking of food, we've got Dave Thomas on today. Yeah. Founder of Wendy's, right? [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] No, Dave is awesome. No, no, no.
0:30
He's, uh, he's, uh, uh, w- be- become a good friend at this point. And, uh, I've gotten to know him at a couple of events. And he's just a thinker.
0:38
He's, you know, his role doesn't, doesn't require, um, uh, him to, like, operate the business. But- Yeah... running under- people understanding what's happening with inside the business.
0:49
And I think that- He's got time to think is what you're saying... that's the, that's the thing where you can kind of have that outside perspective. You can see all the data.
0:56
You can understand the moves, the conversations, the thing that the business is doing. And so I love, like, any time he comes up to me at an event, you can always see the wheels spinning, so. Yeah.
1:05
You're about to say something I wanna hear. Yes, exactly. All right. Well, we hope you enjoy this conversation Michael and I are gonna have with Dave Thomas. [upbeat music] Dave, thank you so much for joining us today.
1:18
I'm looking forward to this conversation. Yeah, it's great to be here. Thanks. We're always excited when we have a fellow content creator. Uh, you have a- True... a long history, um- Yeah...
1:28
in the industry creating content, giving people the information that they want, that they need, maybe that they don't know what they need yet.
1:35
Um, but, but give us the 60-second trip into the auto industry, 'cause you have a history with, uh, you know, Cars.com and writing about, you know, Nissan and Harleys and all these interesting- Yeah... things. Yeah.
1:46
Um, yeah, I started off way too long ago to, to say when. But I, I, I went to college- Fair enough... I went to college for a journalism degree.
1:53
That's, um, back when that was something that you could maybe make some money doing. [laughs] Um, and, and I covered entertainment and music early, early on. And then
2:02
it didn't pan out very well, so I was like, "What else can I write about that I like and enjoy?" And cars kind of fell in my lap.
2:08
And, uh, I answered a Craigslist ad and, and that, uh, became me s- uh, launching an auto blog, uh, over 20 years ago.
2:16
Um, and that's kind of where I got my feet wet and just talking about product and the industry, and blogging was new at the time. Uh, and then I went to Cars.com and really focused on the consumer, the car shopper.
2:28
And our whole job there was to arm shoppers with the best information they could to make that decision that's so important, right? The, one of the largest purchases they'll ever make. So I spent a good 10 years there.
2:41
And, um, and then went on, on the agency side and worked for OEM. So I actually worked for a number of, uh, different companies.
2:47
But in, in our world, uh, it was primarily Nissan, um, and some work with Harley-Davidson, some Tier 1 suppliers as well. Um, and a lot of that work was focused on EVs.
2:58
I worked on the Nissan Ariya, uh, be- well before it came out, which was, you know, working on that OEM side, I think that is the coolest part about working on the OEM side is seeing those cars before anyone else has ever seen them, all the work that goes into them.
3:12
Oh, I'm sure. Yeah. It is, it is really neat. Uh, as a journalist, it was very hard, 'cause you have to keep your mouth shut. [laughs] So it was very neat.
3:21
And then some of my work I, I did for Harley-Davidson was on their LiveWire, their EV, um, motorcycle brand. Um, and then I think- Did you get to ride one? Do you ride? I don't ride, no. No. I'll tell you what.
3:32
I, I ride a little bit. Michael rides. And I'm dying to ride an EV motorcycle. 'Cause I have an EV... My, I have, I drive an F-150 Lightning. Right.
3:40
So the EV experience is so, um, like try- translating that to a motorcycle sounds like, like you're in the movie Tron to me. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, it- And maybe as close to death as if you're in the movie Tron too.
3:53
[laughs] It, it is one of those things, like EV cars, that once the riders get on them, um, they love it. Yeah, they love the, they love the experience. So, um, but yeah, so that was a good ride.
4:05
And then I wound up at CDK where, um, you know, it's a great company, uh, a terrific research team already in place putting out some really good work.
4:14
And they brought me in to kind of, um, tell the story that all that research, um, really, really kind of would showcase for dealers. And we've, we've grown a lot in the almost four years I've been here.
4:24
And, and, you know, we put out almost a white paper a month or, you know, a really large, uh, focused, uh, research. And then we do blogs. You know, every week we're doing blogs.
4:34
We have our ease of purchase scorecard we put out every month that shows how shoppers are finding the, the, uh, car buying experience. So there's a lot going on here. Okay, I'm curious.
4:45
Um, you know, at CDK, you're taking a dense amount of data and research, and you're turning it into kind of these human digestible stories.
4:55
So how do you, how do you decide, um, how do you decide which data points will resonate with dealers and which ones are better left in the, uh, in the spreadsheets? [laughs] That's a terrific question.
5:09
Um, so our research team, you know, we'll, we'll, we'll plan a white paper or a big topic, let's say. We have, friction points is our most popular, uh, white paper we put out every year. It comes out right ahead of NADA.
5:23
And it, and it tracks the, the car buying process really, um, spec- like minutely.
5:29
And that's where we kind of come up with the average time it takes to buy a car, um, and all these other friction points in the process and how dealers are improving or not.
5:38
So when the research team does all this wonderful research and they come back with their findings, yeah, you're going through, like, 30 or 40 really interesting things.
5:45
And you can't put 30 or 40 interesting things into even a nice sized white paper. Right. So you do have to kind of select and narrow it down. Um, and it's, it's just that good old editorial judgment.
5:56
Like, what is the most important stuff here, um, that, you know, we don't wanna goFrom a 20-page white paper to a 30 page, right? You have to keep it- [laughs]... as concise as 20 pages could be. [laughs] Mm-hmm.
6:08
Um, and you know, we wanna, uh, present a lot of that data in, in a nice graphic that's easy to digest, as well as, you know, the, the lovely prose we think we're putting out there. Yeah.
6:17
I, I have a quick follow-up if I can. Mm-hmm. And, and this may be accurate or not accurate. Do I understand, are, are you a massive Pearl Jam fan? [laughs] That's where I thought you were going with this.
6:28
Well, that is a, that, that is a different, um, track, but yes. Um- Well, there, there is... E- everybody knows, I'm gonna tie this back to what I was just, what we were just talking about.
6:37
But I, I'm curious if this is, this is accurate or not. You're a massive Pearl Jam fan and a Dolphins fan? Well, uh, that's some deep research. Um, so I grew up- [laughs]... in South Florida in the '80s and '90s.
6:52
And so when I was- Yeah. Damn... um, a teenager, that's when the grunge era- Dang, Marino, baby. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So grunge, that's... It, and it just kinda stu- South Florida was not a, um, uh, it, it...
7:05
What would be the word? It's not a metropolitan, cosmopolitan place. Like, you just got what was on MTV. There was no, like, underground scene really.
7:12
Like, the only time- [laughs] Yeah, nothing besides less underground scene like South Florida. Right. You- [laughs] That's all you got. It was, like, grandparents and, and MTV. Yeah. That's all you had.
7:20
So- [laughs] And repeat. Um- Well, the... Okay. So the reason I'm asking is... Okay, I'm glad, I'm glad I, my research is accurate here.
7:29
[laughs] Because what I wanna know is, like, what, if any, inspirations do you take from those two, dare I say, passions that you've found kinda spill into or inform the way that you build content?
7:40
And the reason I ask that is 'cause, I mean, for me, it's something as simple as, like, looking at a Netflix thumbnail for a movie, and I'm like, "Oh, I take inspiration from it."
7:50
But I mean, when I learn somebody's, like, a, a Pearl Jam fan and a, and a avid sports fan, I'm like- Mm-hmm... I, I feel like there's things as content marketers that we take from,
8:01
uh, you know, whether it's audience segmentation or, or the way a hook in a song, like, inspired us to feel a way that we want someone to feel that same way through our writing or whatever.
8:11
So I'm curious how, if any, ways you've considered that spills over into your professional work and how you're building content. I would take it in a kinda different path than what you're thinking. Okay.
8:22
But sports especially taught me, um, how burned out you can get on a topic. Um- [laughs] You know, I used to be the most avid NFL fan there was. Like, I listened to every sports radio show, did fantasy football.
8:38
Um, and then it just started, I don't know at what point, um, where if you listen to talk radio or you listen to some of the... It's just guys shouting. Yeah. [laughs] Right?
8:48
And they're just shouting, and they're shouting about something that hasn't happened yet or- [laughs]... has not happened or no one knows- It became a soap opera. They don't know.
8:57
They don't know the next thing that's gonna happen You just, you just explained, like, every 72-year-old coffee drinker at McDonald's in the morning. [laughs] Ex- exactly.
9:03
So, you know, they can call themselves professionals. So I couldn't listen anymore. [laughs] Um, I needed, I needed substance, and there is no substance in that, right?
9:13
Like, even hearing interviews from athletes now, it's just like they're all gonna say this. What are they gonna say? They're not gonna- Yeah. They're all- "We'll give it 110%. Gotta leave it all on the field." Right.
9:21
So, uh, it's- Yeah. He's like, "Yes, exactly." So the inspiration, [laughs] Michael, to get to the, your point is- That's right...
9:29
when I put something out, I want it to be meaningful and impactful to the reader and to that audience. If I don't, if we don't have something worth sharing
9:38
that they can, like, look at, absorb, and go, "That's interesting", or, "I can, I can maybe..." Um, a lot of the stuff we put out isn't something to implement in your store that second. Yeah.
9:47
It's to, uh, help you have that, develop that strategy for what you're gonna implement, right? Right.
9:53
Well, talking about, talking about the substance, right, and tying that back, we're, we're in an era when technology is so rapidly evolving in front of our eyes that it really is those who have the best technology or the best understanding on how to leverage that technology to get those actually substantive insights out into the world are the ones that are getting ahead, that people do look like.
10:18
So, um, maybe you can tell us a, a little bit about what you all are doing with your tech and how you're, um, using that to leverage into real insights that dealers can use to ra- make real decisions to make a real meaningful change to their, you know, to their P&L, to their team, you know, engagement and training, et cetera.
10:36
Yeah. I don't like to... And this is where I kinda draw a, a little bit of a line, 'cause my job is mostly, uh, research and insights. Mm-hmm.
10:43
And our product and our product specialists, they will inform the dealers on how best to use our tools. I don't wanna... I usually don't wanna play in that field too much. That's, that's fine. That's fine.
10:53
Um, but our- But from your lane, right? Like, you're still driving the insights... but on the insight, yeah, on the insight side, um, what we're trying to do is really connect, um, consumer trends with dealer operations.
11:05
So if we're, if we're telling... And, and a little, we're expanding into, we just started, um, last year doing a workforce study to, to connect dealers to their workforce, and our new one's coming out soon.
11:16
And so some- something like that is probably the best illustration. It'll be a sneak peek for you, 'cause it's not out yet.
11:23
I hear a lot, listening to shows like yours, being at ASOTU CON, listening to other dealers talk, um, th- they often say the same thing, that they don't focus on things they can't control.
11:37
Meaning, mainly they're talking about the economy at large, tariffs, things like that. They don't like to focus on it, um, impending recession. They focus on the controllables and, and that's great.
11:49
The number one thing employees in this new study that's coming out say is, that they're worried about, that stresses them, is the economy. So if you have the dealer principal and the GM saying, "I can't worry about that.
12:00
I've gotta worry about, you know, my operation," but their team, that's what-... is stressing them out the most. The number two thing was customers. It, [laughs] I mean- Whoa...
12:10
number one is supposed to be customers stressing you out. Right. As employees. Right, right. [laughs] Um, so now it is the economy, and that was a change this year.
12:18
So that's kind of the stuff I'm talking about, where we're trying to connect to, to s- to bridge the disconnect, whether it's with the employees, whether it's with the consumer. Because dealers,
12:29
um, whe- whether they're getting the most out of their software or, um, they use our solution consultants to get the most out of their software, or however you wanna put it,
12:37
it's, um, th- there's other things that, that are going on that can impact the business as well. So that's, that's really what we're, we're trying to do in, in my team, in our group.
12:47
Can we talk more about what you just said about... I mean, 'cause this- that's, I think, a very valuable even insight that people can just take away from this, right? You published this report.
12:57
Um, or is this a sneak peek? Did you say you put it out already? Sneak peek. Yeah, yeah. Sneak peek. Yeah. Okay. Well, let's talk about it still. Yeah. Um, so
13:05
the people and the teams, the number one concern is the economy. Now, does that...
13:10
Are they wor- Do you know if they're worried about that because they're afraid business is going to dry up, or they're having personal concerns about being able to buy a house or a car or... Like- Yeah...
13:19
dive into that a little bit. It, it's tied into... And we can talk about other stuff, like, uh, another disconnect is on the EV side. But in this case, um, they're worried about, like, this just general, um,
13:31
economic possible recession. And we also saw, um, that their job satisfaction is high. Um, and- Okay...
13:38
but, and they're, but the number that wanna stay where they are in their job that they are increased, and we also think that's because they're concerned. That they're not looking- Right...
13:47
around as much because they're in a place that's stable, they're gonna stay. Mm-hmm. So yeah, it's, um... And, and the job market is another issue that, that gets, um, talked about quite a bit.
13:57
No matter what the job numbers are- Mm-hmm... I, I have kids going into college and figuring out a major, and you'll see lots of headlines about kids coming out of college, uh, without jobs. That's for sure. Mm-hmm.
14:09
And so a lot of the people we survey for this, uh, workforce study are younger. Um, that's the bulk of the employees. You know, it's the bulk of the sales staff are on- Yeah... the younger side. Mm-hmm.
14:20
Um, and so it's, it's more prevalent in their generation that their friends, um, are, are having trouble getting jobs and that they're seeing the dealership world as a great place to have a job.
14:30
And, and so they're, they're saying this might be more stable than they were thinking a year ago, where they might try something different, that where they are might make more sense. For sure. Interesting.
14:39
Now, we talked about it all the time. Okay, so you, you, you brought up EVs because that's always something that, that... It is now, like, an undertone to [laughs] so many conversations.
14:49
If we're gonna get a reality check here, you've, you've talked about, um, you know, how Tesla's polarizing buyers and the EV world or, or market, and how they face the uncertainty due to tariffs and the, this tax credit stuff and the new bills and all those sorts of things.
15:06
So in an ideal, uh, in an ideal world, how, how would dealers balance stocking EVs with meeting current customer demands? Yeah. I think here is a really good, um...
15:18
It, it's similar to the I can't control what I can't control thing, or I can control what I can control idea from dealers.
15:24
The other broad way of thinking at, at, at the dealer level, and we did a study on dealer perception of EVs last year, um, is that EVs are f- you know, forced down the throats of buyers. Um, and that is just...
15:39
An- and that's anecdotal. That, but that is kind of the broad thing that, you know, buyers don't want these things. Well, 9% of buyers do, you know, nationally. You know, that's- Mm...
15:49
that's kind of the number that's locked in last year. You said nine, right? Nine. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, minivans are 6%, you know?
15:57
So [laughs] it's like, are you gonna stop selling minivans 'cause only 6% of people buy them? [laughs] Um, and there have been discussions, and some automakers have stopped selling them, right? So,
16:07
um, s- so if EVs are 9%, and then we have this, this real rush right now, uh, and last month it went up to its highest level ever, almost 11%- Oh...
16:18
uh, of sales were EVs, 'cause people are rushing to beat these incentives- Mm-hmm... going away.
16:23
Um, that number is gonna probably go under 9% next year after the incentives go away, 'cause we have so much pull forward demand right now. Mm-hmm. B- but it's not going back down.
16:35
It's, it's, you know, will drop, and then it's gonna be a steady climb back up. Mm-hmm. Um, you just heard Ford, and I know this is gonna be taped for a few days or, or whatnot, but Ford just announced
16:46
a new factory, a new low-cost platform for EVs, and- Yeah... that'll come out in a few years.
16:52
Now, automakers like to announce lots of things lots of times, and who knows how, how far they get or, or what they decide to change. And I think they even [laughs] said in the announcement, "It's a bet."
17:03
[laughs] They used the word- Right... bet, which I, I've, I've never heard, uh, an automaker say. Well, that's exactly what shareholders wanna hear. [laughs] Right. It was a very odd- They want you to take a bet...
17:13
way of putting it. But at the same time as they, you know, they, they planned this for a long time. They've seen the last seven months play out. Mm. They didn't change their mind. Yeah.
17:24
Um, so, so- And then, and also, uh, alongside of that, um, some people missed this in the, in the meeting, is that they also announced that their loss per EV on Ford Blue... Or not Ford Blue. What's the, what's the...
17:41
Is it Ford Blue? Yeah, the Ford E... You got me. It's [laughs] the one that's electric. Yes. I think it's Blue. Yeah.
17:48
They, they said their loss per vehicle was cut in half last quarter from 44,000 to $22,000, which also is an indicator that, okay, like, what you're saying is making sense and tracking. Yeah. You know?
18:03
And the bet, I guess, it's, it hedges the bet a little bit when they're saying, "By the way, we're doing way better."I love the- It's, it's- I love your thinking face right now. You're like, "Eh" Right?
18:13
It's not, it's not great. Yeah. It's still not great. Um- You could still give the car away and probably save money, right? But, but some automakers are doing better than that, right? Yes. Oh, of course.
18:22
And some are doing- Of course... and some are doing worse. Mm-hmm. Um, but the EV as a platform, it- it's, it's not going to stop, and dealers can't, can't dismiss it- Mm... anymore.
18:34
Um, a- and, and I know they, they aren't, but it's not something that, "Oh, now that the incentives are going away, I, I can stop considering EVs forever." That's not the track to take just because this change is coming.
18:47
It's, I mean, you'll probably only see a drop for three or four months in terms of overall sales. Um, and, and I like to explain, too, it's the product mix is not there i- in the US for EVs- Mm-hmm...
19:01
um, to get the most uptake. So it's still way heavi- heavily, uh, weighted on the luxury and expensive side of things. That's right.
19:08
So, you know, the, you, you put a few players in the market like Honda's Prologue and the Chevy Equinox. Mm-hmm. You're gonna have a new Nissan Leaf. You're gonna have a new- Mm-hmm... um, affordable Kia.
19:22
The numbers will go up because the, the pricing is gonna come down and the, and the available products are gonna be more, um- Yeah... affordable just by, of what they are. Um, and so the number will go back up.
19:33
It- it's just gonna take a while. But the, we can't think that this is... It, it is not a fa- a fad. EVs are, are, are going to come, and they're, they're gonna keep coming. All right.
19:44
Last question because we're, we are running out of time, but, um, can you talk about, uh, this, this area of, of insight around the importance of inventory and how- Mm...
19:55
what dealer inventory is and how that i- impacts a customer's perception? Because I don't think I've ever thought of tying those two things together before, but you're saying that no, it's tied together.
20:07
It's, it's really interesting. It's one of the things I've learned since being here. We launched, uh, our ease of purchase scorecard, um, shortly after I came on board.
20:16
At the time, we did it to track how people were buying in an inventory-strapped environment, right? Were they buying more from the factory, in transit? How are they buying, uh, because we are in this unique space.
20:29
Well, we've kept it going. So what we've seen as inventory's been, uh, stable, relatively, is that the more inventory that is out on lots, the easier people said it was to buy a car.
20:42
Finding the vehicle they wanted, they ha- we have a score there. It kept going up. You know, it was easy to find the vehicle I wanted. People still want to find the car on the lot.
20:52
Um, it is, it, it is, it is a clear, it has been clearly indi- expressed across this study month after month that a strong inventory level means people say it's easier to shop. Mm-hmm.
21:04
We track, was it easy to take a test drive? They are tied together. Um, people that say it was easy to get that test drive, and that is the number one reason people go to a dealership, for the test drive.
21:15
Um, the easier it was to, to get a test drive was because there was more inventory. So it is, it is...
21:21
O- obviously every dealer knows inventory's important, and they see it in the sales numbers, but it's part of the customer experience as well.
21:28
Um, and it's one of those things where you talk about direct to consumer, uh, an agency model in Europe and things like that. I do often s- say the American consumer is just different. Mm-hmm.
21:42
They, they've just- [laughs]... they are used to what they're used to, and there's nothing wrong with that, and they're used to a lot of cars on a dealership lot.
21:49
So, you know, there are certain automakers like Toyota that's keeping very lean inventory, and they're doing great obviously.
21:57
Um, a- a- but you, I drive by giant Toyota dealerships in my area, and they are just, you just see how empty they are. Mm-hmm. Um, and again, they're selling everything that comes off a truck. That's not their problem.
22:09
But at the same time,
22:11
the customer wants to see five or six of what they're looking at in different colors and trims and saying, "Oh, I actually do like it in red," or, "I really do want the, um, the bench and not the captain's chairs," and having- Mm-hmm...
22:23
the option right there. Right? So if, uh, so we do track, like, did you pick an alternate one that you didn't want? Interesting.
22:29
And yeah, i- if that number is high, they had to pick something else, then the ease of purchase score goes down. Very, very, very interesting. Wow. I never thought of it that way. Huh.
22:38
I mean, we, we've just, I mean, you know, on the tail end of this, I, we just experienced it. I am such a lay down when it comes to buying cars. I don't want to test drive it. I feel like it's a waste of time for me.
22:48
[laughs] He is. I'm like, I feel like watching a YouTube video, I've consumed every ounce of emotional, uh, faculties I have- Oh, wow... that I'm, like, satisfied, and I'm like, "Eh, if it could just show up on my..."
23:00
But, uh, we just recently purchased this car for my wife, and she was like, "I need to test drive it. I gotta bring it on the freeway. I gotta do a brake test. I got..." I was like, "Who are, who did I marry?"
23:11
[laughs] I'm like, "What is happening right now?
23:14
It's a ca-" But to your point, it's a, it's a proof point to this, this idea of like, hey, even our generation, I think millennial, you know, we're, we're five, six, seven car purchases into how many cars we buy. Mm.
23:29
And the sentiment is still real, and we're only gonna get older, and we're only gonna want more of that experience as we get older. Yeah.
23:35
We're gonna want that reassurance, that, you know, friendly touch, that person looking us in the eyes. We're gonna be able to consume so much information about the vehicle online.
23:46
But when push comes to shove, our innate human desire is gonna be to look somebody in the eye and be like, "Y- but you think this is a good decision?" You know? Like, i- is this the right thing for us?
23:56
And I noticed it this time, um, buying a car with my wife. Well, the interesting thing to that point is that y- the younger people that we survey want that experience more. They- Gen Z wants that in person.
24:09
They want that consultant- We're back... more. Yeah. We're back. Yeah. Gen- Gen Z's probably gonna solve everything the hippies ruined. I'm just saying. I mean, let's just say- I don't know. We couldn't do it, so.
24:19
I don't know. [laughs] I mean, I, I don't know what generation you're in, but I will take credit- Yeah, we gotta have a, we need some order... I will take credit for raising some of Gen Z, by the way[laughs] So,
24:28
no, no wonder we like them. We raised them. We raised them. [laughs] We like 'em. Uh, man, David, this has been a pleasure. Thanks so much for joining us on Auto Collabs. Yeah. Thanks for having me. It's been great.
24:39
[upbeat music] Okay, I spoke too soon. I shouldn't have said, you know, didn't come to the party. [laughs] I couldn't show up for the conversation, but it's okay, 'cause I got to take a little bit of listen to it.
24:53
We are talking all the time about how we want to see more and more younger generations see auto as a viable career option. Yes. And to his point, I think we're seeing that more and more often. I'm seeing anecdotes of it.
25:07
We're seeing the culture respond because of automotive being in culture. There's, there's more of an attenuation to, "Hey, there's gotta be people that work in that industry. Can I find a path?" You know?
25:19
It really, I think this is a moment for the industry that couldn't be more of a, like, strike while the iron is hot moment, as these younger generations are seeing their friends get out of college with degrees, with four-year degrees, six-year degrees, doctorates, saying, "I can't get a job."
25:36
Yeah. We talk about it with AI taking entry-level jobs, which usually they would go into.
25:40
That sentiment turning toward the auto industry, seeing it as, like, actually this is a pretty stable career option, I think we need to double down as an industry and keep pounding, uh, the pavement on talking about the opportunity that exists, starting in high school, honestly.
25:56
Yep. Exactly. No matter where you are. Even if you got out of college and you're not sure, what a great way to entry-level people into the auto industry.
26:01
Whether you're in finance, whether you're marketing, like, there's a, there's a path for everybody. Welcome to the story of me, a music major. Yeah, a music major. Here I am. Fantastic. [laughs] Of all things.
26:11
That's a perfect way to end this episode. On behalf of the absent Michael Cirillo, the present Kyle Mountsier, and the present Paul Jay Daly, we wanna thank you for listening to Auto Collabs.
26:22
Sign up for our free and fun-to-read daily email for a free shot of relevant news in automotive, retail, media, and pop culture. You can get it now at asotu.com. That's A-S-O-T-U.com.
26:35
If you love this podcast, please leave us a review and share it with a friend. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time.
26:44
[upbeat music] Welcome to Auto Collabs. Welcome to Auto Collabs. [laughs] Why are we recording? Are we rolling yet? Not yet.