Nov. 9, 2025 | Bonus Episode: Slate not interested in self-driving; Gen Z loves auto shows

Interactive Transcript

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spk_0 Hey, it's DailyDrive, executive producer Jake Near here in Detroit.

spk_0 On today's bonus episode of the show, we'll hear some interesting, maybe even counterintuitive

spk_0 findings if I should be so bold, from a recent survey about auto shows in 2025.

spk_0 But first, earlier in the week, you heard the first part of my conversation with our own Lawrence I-Lift

spk_0 about slate, the affordable EV startup backed by Jeff Bezos.

spk_0 We talked about the company's novel plan to contract with independent repair shops,

spk_0 instead of fixing its cars through its own facilities.

spk_0 If you haven't heard that yet, go back, check it out.

spk_0 It's a fascinating look at slate's plans.

spk_0 In this part of the conversation, Lonnie and I talk about why the new automaker isn't

spk_0 interested in getting all high tech or throwing itself into the self-driving space like other

spk_0 EV startups.

spk_0 Here's that part of the conversation.

spk_0 So Lonnie, one thing that I wanted to make sure that we talked about is slate CEO Chris

spk_0 Barman was at an event that you were recently at as well.

spk_0 And you got some interesting tidbits about lots of things that slate, or at least some

spk_0 things that slate has no intention to get into.

spk_0 One of them being self-driving.

spk_0 What did the CEO say about that?

spk_0 Well, it was really interesting because she was very blunt.

spk_0 She was asked, what about autonomous driving?

spk_0 That's the big thing right now.

spk_0 At Rivian, what's it to do autonomous driving testless doing autonomous driving, Lucid

spk_0 just having an autonomous driving deal?

spk_0 She said we're not interested.

spk_0 And then software-defined vehicles and Rivian and Volkswagen are doing this thing where

spk_0 they have this zonal architecture that, rather than having 100 chips on every little

spk_0 thing in the car, it uses.

spk_0 You know, processors in like three zones that control all the electronics.

spk_0 And she said we're not interested in that either.

spk_0 We're using kind of an old school network.

spk_0 We're focused on the basic experience of car ownership and making that accessible and

spk_0 that, you know, the slate is kind of competing with used cars.

spk_0 You look at used car values.

spk_0 That's their kind of price competitive.

spk_0 And so, you know, all that stuff, all that fluff, you know, I mentioned it before, all

spk_0 that stuff costs money, right?

spk_0 And this is, you know, a basic experience.

spk_0 It's an interesting dichotomy as you point out.

spk_0 I mean, we recently heard from RJ Scaringe on Daily Drive talking about how Rivian sees

spk_0 itself as really setting up for kind of 10 years down the road more than anything.

spk_0 Like that's kind of where RJ Scaringe's mind is at, right?

spk_0 What will software define vehicles mean for the industry, not today, but 10 years down

spk_0 the road?

spk_0 It sounds like slate is taking kind of the exact opposite approach.

spk_0 Right.

spk_0 At least now with what would they, we know that they're doing, they're not talking about

spk_0 future projects or anything, right?

spk_0 They're focused right now is on affordability, customization, trying to get the imagination

spk_0 of, you know, young people or even young at hard people who maybe want to change the

spk_0 color or maybe want to have their pickup turn into a crossover by putting this bed kit

spk_0 on it that adds seats and a roof or seats and no roof, right?

spk_0 And then it's like a Jeep.

spk_0 And so I think they're really into that basic car owning experience.

spk_0 And I think that makes sense though, because you do look like down the future, you look

spk_0 at surveys and stuff, some day people don't want all that stuff.

spk_0 But right now if you look at, you know, the car market and you look at some of the surveys,

spk_0 people want affordability, they want affordable cars.

spk_0 I mean, sure they want all the fancy stuff too eventually, but all that costs money.

spk_0 And I think that, you know, slate's focus for right now, you know, they're really trying

spk_0 to do one thing really well.

spk_0 And I think, you know, that could work.

spk_0 It's interesting how they're focused on it.

spk_0 And you know, down the road, who knows?

spk_0 We don't know how long they'll survive maybe a long time.

spk_0 Maybe they'll get into some of these other things, have more expensive cars with more features.

spk_0 But right now they're very focused.

spk_0 Coming up, Clarefy Group co-founder and president Darren Slend discusses the latest findings

spk_0 in a survey about auto shows that's next on this bonus episode of Daily Drive.

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spk_0 Welcome back.

spk_0 On a recent episode of the automotive news Canada podcast,

spk_0 publisher Tim Demopoulos talks with Darren Slend, president of Clarify Group,

spk_0 which recently conducted a survey about auto shows.

spk_0 It was commissioned by the Canadian International Auto Show, the Los Angeles Auto Show,

spk_0 and the New York International Auto Show.

spk_0 And it has some pretty surprising findings.

spk_0 Here's a piece of that conversation.

spk_0 So Darren, your new research challenges the idea that car buyers have moved entirely online.

spk_0 What do the findings tell us about why the in-person auto show experience still matter so much in 2026?

spk_0 Well, Tim, we know from not only this visitor experience research, but other work that we've

spk_0 been doing, that the new vehicle buying journey is really a blend of both the online and the in-person,

spk_0 you know, when you consider the steps through the buying journey for most consumers.

spk_0 In fact, only a relatively small minority of shoppers would be either all digital or all in person.

spk_0 The vast majority, it's a blend.

spk_0 And so for the auto show, and particularly the large multi-day multifaceted shows,

spk_0 like the ones we're talking about today, including the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto,

spk_0 the New York International Auto Show and the Los Angeles Auto Show, they offer consumers

spk_0 an unrivaled opportunity to see and to learn and to drive new vehicles that are of interest to them

spk_0 in one place. That's the key and at one time. And in fact, the data goes on to suggest that the

spk_0 average visitor at these shows is spending over four hours and combined having something like

spk_0 nine plus in vehicle experiences. So if you consider the cost for an OEM or a large dealer group to

spk_0 replicate that kind of consumer engagement outside of an auto show, I mean, it would be prohibitive.

spk_0 So what we're seeing from the data is that when you think about the show itself from a return or ROI,

spk_0 return on investment perspective, it delivers strong value to exhibitors. And I would argue

spk_0 that it doesn't replace digital marketing. In fact, it accelerates the impact of digital marketing

spk_0 because it drives consumers or drives behaviors of consumers that both OEMs and dealers care about.

spk_0 Still looking at ROI, most people that exhibit or most companies that exhibit are looking for,

spk_0 real sort of action from their visits to the auto show. So how much more likely are auto show

spk_0 attendees to purchase and what's driving that level of purchase intent?

spk_0 Well, I think the answer, well, I'm not sure whether it'll surprise you or not, but we've calculated

spk_0 this in comparison to the average North American consumer. A visitor to one of the three auto shows

spk_0 that we're talking about is 2.9 times more likely to purchase a new vehicle within the next 12 months.

spk_0 So the statistics are 14% for the average North American consumer in the next 12 months,

spk_0 as compared to 40% for the big three North American auto shows. So nearly three times.

spk_0 And when we ask visitors in these post-visit studies that we do, why they come, the responses

spk_0 are remarkably consistent across not only the big three North American shows,

spk_0 but also we work with Montreal and Vancouver and the results are remarkably consistent.

spk_0 The number one reason 80% of visitors come to see what's new in terms of models and brands.

spk_0 The second most compelling reason for attendance is that 50% of visitors want to learn more about

spk_0 new automotive technology. And as you know, things are rapidly changing on that front.

spk_0 And third and perhaps most significant for exhibitors is that nearly two and five visitors,

spk_0 37% come to the show to make the decision on their next vehicle.

spk_0 When the auto shows the perfect venue, the perfect way to accomplish all of these objectives.

spk_0 So one of the more surprising insights is that the Gen Z visitors are among the most enthusiastic

spk_0 regarding auto shows and they're also most enthusiastic promoters. So what does that say about how

spk_0 younger consumers engage with automotive brands today? Indeed, it was kind of a counterintuitive

spk_0 finding when we first saw it and we double and triple check the data. And of course, what we've

spk_0 seen now, this is three years on a row. We've seen the same result and we've seen the same result

spk_0 across markets. So this is not a fluke. But when we compare the likelihood of different age

spk_0 categories of visitors to recommend the show, you know, to family and friends, by far the most

spk_0 enthusiastic promoters are the 20 to 29 age group, essentially the Gen Z in America, the Gen Z

spk_0 cohort in Canada. And you know, when we sort of dig a little bit deeper, you know, as to why that

spk_0 might be the case, there's a couple of main reasons. Number one, we know that vehicle technology

spk_0 is changing at a very rapid pace, you know, everything from software defined vehicles to various

spk_0 forms of electrification. And we also know that new vehicle prices are at record levels. And so the

spk_0 stakes, particularly for younger consumers are very high. They don't want to make a bad decision,

spk_0 they want to be fully educated. And so these younger buyers essentially appreciate the show for

spk_0 not only its educational value, but also the efficiency it offers them in terms of being able to see

spk_0 and in many cases drive the vehicles that interest them. As you know, all of these shows have

spk_0 significant both indoor and outdoor test track opportunities. You can hear the full conversation

spk_0 between automotive news Canada publisher Tim Demopoulos and clarify group president Darren Slend

spk_0 on the October 31st edition of the automotive news Canada podcast. That's available now,

spk_0 wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to this bonus episode of Daily Drive.

spk_0 We'll be back on Monday with a brand new full episode of the show.

Nov. 9, 2025 | Bonus Episode: Slate not interested in self-driving; Gen Z loves auto shows

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