As part of the inaugural Automotive Intelligence Awards, Cherokee Media Group is honoring a select group of outstanding auto industry analysts for their contribution to the knowledge base of the used-car retail, finance and remarketing industries.

To conclude our series of podcasts with these first-ever honorees in the Automotive Intelligence Awards: Industry Analysts program, we talk with Kevin Roberts, director of economic and market intelligence at CarGurus.

Roberts, who is from Detroit, has a deep family background in automotive.

His great-grandfather worked at Willys-Overland Motors in Toledo, Ohio — “that was Jeep before Jeep,” he said — and that tradition of working in the car business continued over three more generations. Combine that with his love of math and economics, and being an auto analyst was a “natural fit” for Roberts. He shares that story and more in our conversation, which can be found below.

 

Roberts and his fellow honorees will be recognized in the April edition of the Auto Fin Journal publication and at the Auto Intel Summit, which is April 8-10 at the Embassy Suites in Cary, N.C.

Also included in the magazine and conference recognition will be the Automotive Intelligence Awards: Emerging Companies program, which will recognize emerging companies and entrepreneurs charging forward to make their mark on the used-car industry. These companies will be honored for improving a specific aspect of the business through technology.

In addition to respective luncheons at AIS recognizing these honorees, there will be panel discussions featuring representatives from the Automotive Intelligence Award recipients.

More details on those luncheons, panels and the full AIS agenda can be found here: Agenda | AIS & NRC 2025.