Is the Car Business Headed for a Meltdown or a Rebirth? with Jonathan Smoke

The David Spisak Show · Jul 10, 2025 · 1h 17m

In this episode, my guest is Jonathan Smoke, Chief Economist at Cox Automotive, someone I’ve wanted to have on the show for a long time. If you’re in the car business, you’ve probably read his reports, quoted his data, or heard his insights passed around. But in this conversation, we go deeper than the numbers.

We talk about how he actually ended up here—from a philosophy-loving econ major to building one of the most respected forecasting teams in automotive. You’ll hear how housing economics, the Great Recession, and a surprising DJ side hustle all played a role.

But then we roll up our…