Shoppers Want It All, Including Affordability

How does the market adapt when shoppers expect one vehicle to deliver utility, efficiency, technology, comfort, and affordability all at once?

In this bonus episode of The Auto Market Brief, host Erin Keating is joined by Vanessa Ton, Senior Manager of Research and Market Intelligence at Cox Automotive, and Sean Tucker, Managing Editor at Kelley Blue Book, to explore the latest findings from the Kelley Blue Book Brand Watch study. The discussion reveals how consumer priorities continue to evolve as affordability becomes an increasingly important consideration, even among luxury shoppers. 

SUVs and hybrids continue to gain momentum

SUV consideration reached its highest level on record, while hybrid consideration also hit a new high. Despite affordability concerns, shoppers continue to prioritize space, utility, and flexibility, increasingly seeking vehicles that can offer fuel efficiency without sacrificing capability. 

Affordability is influencing more purchase decisions

Vehicle prices remain elevated, and affordability has become an increasingly important consideration across the market. While value-conscious brands continue to benefit, consumers are looking beyond price alone and focusing on the overall value a vehicle delivers.

Value means more than lower prices

Brands like Kia, Subaru, Lincoln, and Audi gained consideration by delivering strong value propositions, whether through design, quality, comfort, brand reputation, or accessible luxury. The discussion explores how shoppers are evaluating tradeoffs and redefining what value means in today's market.

The conversation also covers hybrid adoption, EV consideration, luxury and non-luxury shopper behavior, vehicle design trends, brand perception, and what Brand Watch reveals about changing consumer demand. 

The Auto Market Brief delivers timely data, clear context, and practical insight to help industry leaders make smarter decisions—what's happening now, and what's coming next.

The Auto Market Brief is powered by Cox Automotive. For more industry insights and expert perspectives, visit our Insights Hub at Cox Automotive Insights.

Creators and Guests

Host

Erin Keating

Erin Keating is an Executive Analyst and Senior Director of Economic and Industry Insights at Cox Automotive. She brings 30 years of professional experience, including 14 years in the automotive industry, providing analysis on market conditions, automaker performance, and consumer demand shaping the economics of the new-vehicle market. Erin spent 10 years with Audi of America, including leading Audi Motorsport North America, informing her perspective on both commercial strategy and competitive dynamics.

Guest

Sean Tucker

Sean Tucker is Managing Editor for Compact and Full-Size Vehicles at Kelley Blue Book. With more than 25 years of experience covering the automotive industry, he specializes in the intersection of transportation, insurance, energy, and consumer trends. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, Yahoo Autos, MSN, CNN, and the BBC. Throughout his career, Sean has approached journalism as a service, helping consumers make informed decisions about one of their most important purchases. Based in Washington, D.C., he combines deep industry expertise with a practical perspective on vehicle ownership, market dynamics, and car buying.

Guest

Vanessa Ton

Vanessa Ton is Senior Manager of Research and Market Intelligence at Cox Automotive. With more than 20 years of experience in the automotive industry, she specializes in consumer insights, market intelligence, and brand strategy. Throughout her career, she has led qualitative and quantitative research programs and supported the launch of major vehicle nameplates for Nissan and Kia. At Cox Automotive, Vanessa leads landmark studies including the Car Buyer Journey Study and Kelley Blue Book Brand Watch, helping the industry better understand consumer attitudes and shopping behavior.

What is The Auto Market Brief?

The Auto Market Brief, powered by Cox Automotive, breaks down the latest trends and forecasts shaping the automotive industry. The show is hosted by Cox Automotive Executive Analyst Erin Keating, coupling years of experience translating data and trends with the data and industry insights of the largest automotive services and technology provider.

Joined by other Cox Automotive experts and outside guests, you’ll get data-driven insights and industry outlooks from some of the industry’s leading voices.​

Erin Keating: 00:03

Welcome to The Auto Market Brief from Cox Automotive. Each episode, our experts and special guests break down the latest trends, insights, and news shaping the automotive market. We'll give you the information that truly matters so you can make smarter decisions and drive your business forward. Hello, and welcome back to The Auto Market Brief. I'm Erin Keating, your host and industry executive analyst here at Cox Automotive.

Erin Keating: 00:31

Today, I'm excited that we're gonna dig into the latest Kelly Blue Book brand watch results and see what they're telling us about choices new vehicle shoppers are making right now. As always, I love having new guests join us. So today, have Vanessa Ton, our senior manager of research and market intelligence at Cox Automotive, and Sean Tucker, managing editor of automotive segments at Kelley Blue Book. Vanessa, Sean, welcome to the show.

Sean Tucker: 00:53

Good to be here.

Vanessa Ton: 00:54

Well, thank you for having us.

Erin Keating: 00:55

Of course. Always exciting to talk to colleagues, especially when we don't get to see each other all that often. So, you know, I was looking through the brand results. I know that we published these just a little bit, maybe under a month ago, about a month ago. And the headline really was that SUVs and hybrids have reached new consideration highs.

Erin Keating: 01:10

But the more interesting story may be what sort of sits underneath that shift. Affordability, we've been talking about this, I feel like, for decades, but really, it's probably been about a year and a half. It matters more, but we're really starting to see that in the results from shoppers themselves. Shoppers have become more selective, and they increasingly are expecting one vehicle to deliver everything for them, utility, efficiency, value, etcetera. So I'd love to dig into the details, but maybe, Vanessa, we start with you so that you could just tell us a little bit more about the Kelley Blue Book brand watch study.

Erin Keating: 01:40

You know, what does it measure? How long have you been tracking it? And why do these findings specifically matter to the industry and to consumers?

Vanessa Ton: 01:47

Great question. So we've been doing this study since 2007. So, nineteen years. Next year will be our twentieth year anniversary. It's our longest running tracker that we have at our company.

Vanessa Ton: 01:59

And it's really important because it's kind of predictive in the sense that it measures what brands new vehicle shoppers are looking to buy within the next year. So our clients can understand, hey, we have demand penting up. There's certain models that are driving the brand consideration, especially if there's product launches. Right? New product launches.

Vanessa Ton: 02:23

So we think that's really important from that standpoint. But also for a new brand that's out there, it also captures what the familiarity and awareness would be so then they could see how well their brand is doing out there and if people know about them. So it measures all these different type of factors that are capturing what the brand equity would be Yeah. Over time. And we have it trended.

Vanessa Ton: 02:50

So therefore, we're able to capture that from a brand perspective as well as from a model perspective as well.

Erin Keating: 02:57

Right. Yeah. No, that's it's really great that you say it because I was looking at it and keeping my sort of marketing hat on. I was picking up on that of just this brand equity and a couple names which we can talk towards the end about that were popping out to me that I know have been on like tears with their marketing and advertising. So curious, like, how it piques people's interest right as they're being surveyed around this stuff.

Erin Keating: 03:17

So what was like, you know, I think I sort of summed it up, but what would you say was the most important headline from the first half of twenty twenty six?

Vanessa Ton: 03:24

I think the thing that stood out from both a luxury and luxury standpoint is that SUVs consideration has been the highest that we've ever seen. And I was only surprised by that only because the fact that affordability and fuel efficiency are such two very important factors. And I thought that with that being more important, that people would consider smaller cars that are more fuel efficient and probably more affordable. But people still want their SUVs. They still want the space.

Vanessa Ton: 03:56

They want the utility, but they also want the value in that sense as well. So they want the best of both worlds. And considering the price of gas Right. Being the way that it is, I I honestly thought people would consider smaller car based vehicles.

Erin Keating: 04:12

Sure. I mean, so, Sean, of course, you're at the front lines of not only getting to see all these cars when they're coming to market, but really interacting with customers through the KBB editorial. What's your thought on that? I mean, because there there does feel like a little bit of a contradiction there, and yet SUVs have been consistently building popularity.

Sean Tucker: 04:31

They have. I think, there are two vehicles that have kind of an outsized influence on the market in the Toyota RAV four, which was last year's best selling vehicle if you take out fleet sales, and the Honda CR V, which is the best selling vehicle, again, if you take out fleet sales for the first half of twenty twenty six. The RAV four is now only available as a hybrid. There are no longer any non hybrid options. And the CR V is available both ways, but Honda tells us the take rate, the number of people purchasing a hybrid is sometimes over 50%.

Sean Tucker: 04:58

So I think there's a growing perception now that in buying an SUV, you don't have to settle for poor fuel economy because hybrid SUVs are such a big chunk of the market.

Erin Keating: 05:07

Right. And and there you know, two of the brands that are really popularizing those, both Toyota and Honda, you know, tend to be the ones that we really see as value to be price effective. You know, one thing and I'm I'm going a little off script here, but one thing, Sean, you and I have talked about is when did we make the transition into SUVs? Because it was in fact around some fuel efficiency regulatory, you know, requirements that in fact sort of pushed the industry towards SUVs because we used to be a sediment heavy market. Maybe just throw in that little fun nugget for people to to think about and consider why SUVs started to really build their popularity.

Sean Tucker: 05:43

Yeah. For a long time, the Department of Transportation treated them differently, and so there was a different set of fuel economy rules that applied to them that kind of encouraged manufacturers to build more. And that's now we effectively don't have fuel economy regulations as the government's no longer enforcing that, but the trend is with us. And just anecdotally, think we're in a little bit of a high core where, you know, buying a sedan these days means you can't see over traffic, and it it just bothers a lot of shoppers.

Erin Keating: 06:08

A 100%. I mean, I know that, my daughter's a new driver, and she got used to driving and learning on our SUV, but we ended up getting her sedan. And and and she's not a big person, so she's been saying, you know, oh, you know, I liked the other one because I could see over people. So to your point, that's when people from Europe and and other countries ask us why we have such big cars. It's like, well, because no one wants to go up against those big cars in a small car in The States anymore now that we have the cars.

Erin Keating: 06:34

You know, Vanessa, hybrid consideration has also reached that new high as we've just been talking about, while EV consideration has softened just a bit. Do you think shoppers are actively choosing the powertrain? Or do you think it's more about the fact that they're choosing some of these familiar vehicles that increasingly happen to be hybrids like Sean was just saying?

Vanessa Ton: 06:53

I think it's a little bit of both. From a standpoint of with this new administration, there's been a push away from EV incentives and everything. So I think certain people are going to hybrids as a bridge. But then also with these familiar brands that Sean had talked about or models that Sean has talked about, like the RAV four where it's only offered in hybrid and then CR V being offered both, I think that's a natural transition as well because they're both very high selling models, volume models. And now it's the only thing I can get is a hybrid on a RAV four.

Vanessa Ton: 07:31

I'm just gonna go for the RAV four because I trust the brand, the model name, and the brand that backs it. So I think it's a little bit of both. But also with, again, with the fuel prices being the way that they are, I think that hybrids are just more popular from that standpoint as well. So I wasn't surprised to see that in the data, and I also was not surprised to see the dip in EV consideration because of the the move away from EVs from a government subsidy standpoint.

Erin Keating: 08:02

Sure. I mean and I wonder, Sean, you know, we we sort of I I at least hypothesize that we'll continue to see whatever a hybrid does, that shift will ultimately happen with EVs. So if it is that people are now getting I mean, hybrids have been around when was the Prius brought out? What year? I don't remember.

Sean Tucker: 08:19

'97.

Erin Keating: 08:20

'97. Right? So it's taken this this long to recognize, you know, to really be talking about the hybrid. Right? And and I do agree with you, Vanessa, that, you know, people become accustomed to the nameplate that they like.

Erin Keating: 08:32

And if it's now only available on a hybrid and and I was speaking towards the end of last year with the EVs, I'm one of the people that finally did buy an EV because it came in a familiar shape, form factor. Factor. Right? It became you know, it was a three row SUV that I was used to seeing. It didn't look like something odd, like the Prius looked odd, you know, right, up until they built something different.

Erin Keating: 08:51

And so I wonder, Sean, do you would you agree with that hypothesis that it will still take a couple of years, but this might actually really benefit EVs because everyone's gonna start getting used to, like, form factor being the same, but powertrain just evolving?

Sean Tucker: 09:03

I do. It's a little bit complicated because you also have an infrastructure question that we didn't have with with the transition to hybrids. You know, there's both what is the infrastructure and what is people's perception of the infrastructure, and both of those things need to change. And people car shop a little slower now than they did, you know, in twenty probably twenty five years ago. There's still a subset of people that shop every three years or so, but more often, people are keeping their cars for longer times.

Sean Tucker: 09:28

So I think the public perception of cars and the we see the cars on the market change, and then we see public perception pick that up on a slower cycle than it used to.

Erin Keating: 09:36

Right. Yeah. So I'm curious, you know, affordability seemed to show up a little bit more or it was pronounced enough for this to kind of be a headline here. How in the past have we seen affordability show up in the brand watch? Has it come out just sort of by way of what models you see are rising to the top, or is it actually a piece of the consideration that you're seeing has truly, like, increased over time with the consumers who are answering the survey?

Erin Keating: 10:04

I hadn't thought to ask that question before, but because it's been brought out so much, I'm just curious. Is it showing up in what they're actually saying, or is it just really represented by the brands that they're picking?

Vanessa Ton: 10:14

I think it's what they're saying because I do notice that since the pandemic, you both know that prices are highly inflated. I think average transaction price is a little less than $50,000 which to me is really, really high. So with that, we do see that affordability factor of importance have gone up over time because affordability is a challenge. And I'm still very shocked at prices myself. Some of my girlfriends who have teenagers, they would get a Civic, a Honda Civic.

Vanessa Ton: 10:49

And Erin, I think you and I are in on the same page. Honda Civic for us is just like a starter car that you would give someone who's 16 and it's inexpensive, but they're not anymore. They're $33,500. That's what my girlfriend paid for her daughter. And I was like, wow.

Vanessa Ton: 11:07

Back in the day, you can get something really nice for $33,000. But she's like, no. 33,000 doesn't buy you very much these days. So therefore, the data is reflective of some of these consideration. But again, people want the best of both worlds.

Vanessa Ton: 11:22

They want the utility. They want the space. But they want fuel efficiency and affordable pricing.

Erin Keating: 11:28

I mean, to either of you, do you see a real difference also between luxury and non luxury, let's just say? So what came out in the in the BrandWatch study this year? Was there anything remarkable about how people think of luxury vehicles versus non luxury vehicles?

Vanessa Ton: 11:42

Well, even luxury, for example, we don't see affordability being such a high factor because people are more affluent. So they're more looking at, I'm gonna say, the emotional factors, like the performance, the exterior styling, the technology, and stuff like that. But for this data that we got for the first half of twenty twenty six, we started seeing affordability going up among luxury buyers as well. So even affluent people are feeling the pinch because all these brands, I mean, in order to get all these bells and whistles and options on it, it's an extreme premium where before these packages are a bit more affordable. But we're starting to see that with luxury buyers.

Vanessa Ton: 12:27

So, yes, that surprised me.

Erin Keating: 12:29

Sean, what would you say? Because I know you and I get to sometimes get out there and actually see some of these vehicles live, right, when the manufacturers are pulling them out. I mean, this is the fun bit of work that we get to do is is see these cars because it feels to me that there is a little bit more also affordable luxury. So in the non lux area, you know, some luxury buyers are really starting to go, wait a minute. Like

Sean Tucker: 12:50

Yeah. There's a very old trend in car design where, you know, high-tech features are introduced first on the most expensive cars, and then as economies of scale make them more affordable to manufacture, they work their way down. But within the past few years, it's really started to feel like some of the mainstream cars are almost luxury cars. Mhmm. Little things like, fake leather has become so much more affordable and so much more high quality that some of the major manufacturers have just dropped cloth.

Sean Tucker: 13:15

There are no longer cloth seats available. So, functionally, every car, no matter how affordable, has leather seats. It just feels as though a lot of the entry level cars are a little more, you know, luxurious than they used to be. And it occasionally, you know, I the ridiculous part of my job is I drive 52 cars a year because they give me a new one every week.

Vanessa Ton: 13:33

Yeah.

Sean Tucker: 13:34

And occasionally, I do get into, you know, a Toyota Camry and Camry and think, why would anyone buy a Lexus? This is basically a Lexus.

Vanessa Ton: 13:41

Right. Right. It's an ES. It's an ES.

Erin Keating: 13:44

Exactly. Yes. I recently was driving the Tiguan Turbo, and man, what a beautiful car that was. And I don't know that I You know, I worked with the VW Group for ten years, and I was, you know, on the Audi side. So we, of course, didn't necessarily you know, we turned our nose up a little bit over at the the blue floors of the building.

Erin Keating: 14:03

But, man, I had one of those for a week, and I was like, this is a a fantastic car. I know, of course, it's the top of the trim, but, really, all the bells and whistles are on the Tiguan Turbo. If you're in the market for a five seater, you know, why wouldn't you? A perfect design and and, you know, heated seats and massage seats and everything. I mean, you don't need to go up upmarket to to get those types of accoutrements, if you will, now, these days in the in the luxury vehicles.

Erin Keating: 14:29

I'm curious, so, you know, speaking of brands, you know, what what did the brand winners get right? Because there was a couple of brands that were pulled out, you know, as having actually gained consideration, both in non luxe and luxe. So I'm just curious what you guys saw there.

Vanessa Ton: 14:44

With Subaru and Kia, they were the only brands on the non luxury side that gained while all the other brands remained stable or decreased. And I thought to myself, I'm like, wow. So people are more selective, especially when affordability is more of a challenge. Right? It's like, wow.

Vanessa Ton: 15:03

You know, I have all these choices, but everything's really expensive. I think I'm gonna drill down, do more shopping to figure out what brands I would consider. And I thought about those two brands. Kia, for example, does really well in times of fiscal challenges, right? When the economy is a certain way, when gas prices are a certain way, because the standard features are so good or the you know, the number of features are just so vast for what you're getting.

Vanessa Ton: 15:34

So it's value not from a cheap perspective, but value from, I'm getting all this more bang for my buck. So I wasn't surprised to see them. I was surprised not to see Hyundai because I thought Hyundai would be up there. So I was like, okay. I could see Kia.

Vanessa Ton: 15:51

And Subaru, I mean, think about it. It's all wheel drive, like four wheel drive. So it's more niche, and the quality is there. The brand trust, brand reputation is still there. So no matter whether it's affordable or not, people are gonna stick to it because it's niche, and it's exactly what they're looking for.

Vanessa Ton: 16:10

So I was not surprised from those two brands, but I did expect to see Hyundai on that list.

Erin Keating: 16:16

As far as the gear. Yeah. How about you, Sean?

Sean Tucker: 16:18

Yeah. Similarly, you know, Kia has been on an absolute tear from a design standpoint, and I think they're just more appealing when you see them in traffic than they were, you know, eight years ago the last time that a lot of these people were car shopping. So I think that plays a role, and then Vanessa is absolutely right. It's about the value. It's about that ten year warranty.

Sean Tucker: 16:35

If you really are, you know, looking for looking at value in your purchase, they make a lot of sense. Subaru is a little harder to tease apart because they have such a loyal fan base that Mhmm. Hard times to figure out sometimes how that fan base grows.

Vanessa Ton: 16:47

Right. Yeah. And, Sean, I wanna talk about the design factor of Kia because when I was there, working there, they brought in Peter Schrier. Remember him? Like, from Audi.

Vanessa Ton: 16:59

They brought this, like, German designers to kick it up a notch because we saw in the research at the time that people were rejecting the designs because they just thought, oh, it looks cheap. It looks like a cartoon. It looks like an anime, where they're like, okay. We're gonna have to get serious about this to get mass appeal. So they started bringing in all these German designers to bring it out of its funk.

Vanessa Ton: 17:23

And I think that's one of the best moves that they made.

Sean Tucker: 17:26

Yeah. It's been very successful.

Erin Keating: 17:27

Yeah. I was at Audi at the time when that happened. And I remember we came out with the a seven, and it's like now if you look across the market, you see a ton of, the fastbacks. You know, like a lot of people really the Accord now, you know, a lot of people really adopted that a seven beautiful sportback looking vehicle. And and it was because, yes, a lot of the German designers went ahead and went over to the Japanese and Korean brands or they borrowed from them.

Erin Keating: 17:51

But you know what? Borrow away. They they they now make beautiful cars. And and I think actually their SUVs, to me, they also leaned a little bit more towards Toyota, like the boxier look, the Telluride, you know, and the Hyundai is both of them. You know?

Erin Keating: 18:04

Hyundai stays a little bit more like Lexus curvy, if you will, to me from my perception, and then the Telluride sort of embrace that Toyota boxy look. Although the Lexus these days, they've got some big boxy SUVs coming out that a lot of people are really attracted to. What about in luxury? Speaking of speaking of Audi, I think that was one of the surprises. Right?

Vanessa Ton: 18:23

Yes. That's one of the top 10 brands that moved up in consideration compared to the luxury brands. But with Audi, I mean, the styling is always there. I think beautiful styling, the engineering is there. But it also has that premium cachet, and premium means a bit more affordable luxury versus, like, luxury we call it legitimate luxury, like, in BMW or Mercedes.

Vanessa Ton: 18:54

So that's why with Audi, I think that's where the attraction is. And they also have so many models. Right? Like, so many lines, whether you're looking for a sedan, something sporty, or the different SUVs with, like, you know, q three, q five, q like, there's so many different variations that there's enough for people to choose from. So therefore, their consideration is still strong when the market is a little bit more stable or down.

Sean Tucker: 19:24

And correct me if I'm wrong, Vanessa, but I think a lot of Audi's consideration came specifically from the a five.

Vanessa Ton: 19:29

Yeah. A yes. A three and a five. So it's more sedan based at this point, and I I'm wondering if it's because of the fuel factor. Right?

Vanessa Ton: 19:42

I don't know. Possibly.

Sean Tucker: 19:44

But, yeah, the a five got a very successful redesign late in the model year, and I think it may have just sparked interest.

Erin Keating: 19:51

Yeah. Absolutely. I remember leaving the company just before they brought that a five sport back into the country and thinking, oh, gosh, I never you know, that was basically like the miniature a seven. Right? But but, yeah, I thought that was interesting too that it was the a three and the a five.

Erin Keating: 20:04

And it it could be that they were struggling with their SUVs. They had a, you know, really broad lineup and a lot of e trons that came into the market. And so they've been really trying to reorganize themselves and and figure out because because ten years ago, they were seen as sort of in the rule of three with BMW and Mercedes, and they slipped back down again. And so now I think, you know, trying to climb back up towards that. Any other interesting things that sort of landed as far as a surprise for you all from a brand perspective?

Vanessa Ton: 20:33

I'm trying to think of what was surprising. Okay, this was a surprise that we had to check our data a few times where you saw Lincoln. I think it did really well for, I think, at least three factors. And normally, we don't see domestic luxury brands being in the top three in terms of these different categories. But I think with, Lincoln and its positioning, because affordability has been such a challenge.

Vanessa Ton: 21:08

People who are looking for something affordable, luxury, with utility and all that, they can get it in a Lincoln. And, you know, and comfort is really important for people, especially when they're taking these road trips during the summer. Right? And also, luxury brands are known for their comfortable rides because it's a little bit cushier versus more of the sport suspension that the other brands, especially the German brands have. So I'm seeing that, you know, Lincoln is gaining momentum, and that was surprising in in a good way in a good way.

Vanessa Ton: 21:42

Great.

Erin Keating: 21:42

Yeah. Yeah. What about you, Sean?

Sean Tucker: 21:44

The big surprise to me was seeing the Toyota four Runner creep into the top five.

Erin Keating: 21:48

Yeah.

Sean Tucker: 21:48

It did get redesigned last year for the first time in fourteen years.

Erin Keating: 21:51

Right.

Vanessa Ton: 21:51

Oh, yeah. I was shocked.

Sean Tucker: 21:53

Yeah. It it is getting a lot of attention because it's new, and it's been a very, very long time since it was there. But I think of that as kind of a cult vehicle with off roaders following. It's a little weird to see it, you know, outperforming the Explorer or the Camry.

Erin Keating: 22:06

Yeah. That's that's fair. I am a diehard Forerunner fan. So I was I was very excited to see the new one, and I was lucky enough to go on some of the media drives for that and saw the original. And I was like, oh, this is amazing.

Erin Keating: 22:19

But you're right, is a bit of a cult following, and it had been a long time since they had redesigned that. You know, something that actually jumped out at me that I thought was really interesting we talked about before we got on the show was, you know, brands like Toyota, number one electrified brand. But then when you looked into the factors that drove consideration for electrified vehicles, you didn't necessarily see their logo pop a ton in all of the different factors. Similarly, I think it was Ram. So the Ford f one fifty is traditionally always the number one truck, and yet Ford was nowhere to be seen in the in the the driving, you know, considerations for for a truck.

Erin Keating: 22:57

And interestingly, Ram was everywhere. And I think we've all know Ram has been on an absolute advertising marketing blitz and with their bumblebees and razor bees and whatever all the bees of bees bees. Kinescus is back in power, and he's he's bringing that Ram to to the forefront. But that just surprised me that there would be like this, you know, you could still make it in one of the top considerations of the brand, but not necessarily show up in the factors per se of what drives you to make that decision for for that particular category of cars.

Vanessa Ton: 23:27

So we've seen that happen. And you brought up a good point with Ram versus Ford in terms of trucks. If you think about it from that standpoint, Ford has obviously the f one fifty, but it also has the Mustang. It also has the Explorer. It has the Expedition.

Vanessa Ton: 23:44

So there's, like, a variety of models to choose from, and there's different impacts that each of those models make on the brand. So therefore, certain factors like ruggedness or weather, anything that's relating to pickup trucks or SUVs, it would be part of Ram's forte. Right? Because mold their their model lineup is a little bit more condensed, and it's like these tough, trucks or these tough, like, SUVs. Therefore, you're seeing that, drive up some of these, factors that drive people's decision and perceptions about the brand.

Vanessa Ton: 24:24

So, it's not always the consideration and the factors of importance that has to connect. Could be completely independent from that standpoint.

Erin Keating: 24:35

That's a great point. Well, as we wrap up here, any anything that you guys would say? You know, what are you looking out for for the next, second half of twenty twenty six? The parting thoughts on the brand watch?

Vanessa Ton: 24:46

I do think that pickup trucks are going to increase in consideration because we do have the Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra launch coming up. And I think that's gonna help the brand drive up consideration overall because those are two very big volume models, especially the Silverado. So I'm gonna say be on the lookout for these, GM brands.

Erin Keating: 25:12

Yeah. How about you, Sean?

Sean Tucker: 25:14

You know, we're seeing affordability climb the list of important factors in both, non luxury and luxury, and it takes this industry a long time to make a turn, on something like that because the design cycle for cars can be five to seven years sometimes. So if they they wake up in the morning and say, we need more affordable cars. We need more product below the $30,000 line. They can bring that out in five years. It's gonna take a long time to fix that.

Sean Tucker: 25:38

Right. And so we've watched a long term trend. I've got the numbers. Let me see. In 2017, there were 61 models priced $60,000 or higher.

Sean Tucker: 25:47

This year, there are a 117. In 2017, there were 36 models priced under $25,000. This year, there are four. So they have simply created this affordability problem by moving all toward the high end of the market. They've realized it, and slowly, we're starting to see more announcements about, oh, we're gonna have three products under the $30,000 line, but they won't get here until 2030.

Sean Tucker: 26:08

Right. So I'm watching to see as that as more affordable models gradually start to enter the market, do we see that turn take place, and how long will you can I pick?

Erin Keating: 26:17

I do like to point out that in nine years, inflation has also been there.

Sean Tucker: 26:21

Yes.

Erin Keating: 26:22

Well, we do we do like to remind people that over those nine years or ten years, you know, yes, the cars have gotten more expensive. People also made more money in theory. So the affordable but it's but it's still it's still a big number for people to swallow. Certainly, I'm right now in a phase of having to buy two cars from my my family, and let me tell you, Sean will be calling you later for some some recommendations from those 52 cars you've been testing every week. Well, this has been great.

Erin Keating: 26:46

Again, I love getting to talk to colleagues across the business, and and this is real fun getting to sort of talk from our consumer perspective side of Kelley Blue Book, the actual editorial side and the side that gets to deal with seeing the cars and and speaking to the cars. And, Vanessa, the work that your team does always in in seeing and getting the pulse of our consumers and shoppers is great. So thank you both for joining us today.

Sean Tucker: 27:07

Thank you.

Vanessa Ton: 27:07

Thank you.

Erin Keating: 27:09

And thanks again, everyone, for listening to the Auto Market Brief. Be sure to like, subscribe, and share the show with your friends and colleagues. As always, remember to check out all of our insights and updates at coxautoinc.com, and stay tuned to the Auto Market Brief for the high notes in our economy, the headlines that matter across the industry, and more conversations that help make sense of the market. Take care. Episode of The Auto Market Brief.

Erin Keating: 27:36

To stay up to date with all the latest news and perspectives from our team of experts, be sure to visit our insights hub at coxautoinc.com.