Cars.com Inc (CARS) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Cars third-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) This call is being recorded on Thursday, November 6, 2025. I would now like to turn the conference over to Katherine Chen, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

女士們、先生們，早安，歡迎參加汽車公司2025年第三季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）本次通話於2025年11月6日星期四進行錄音。現在我將把會議交給投資者關係副總裁凱瑟琳·陳女士。請繼續。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for the Cars.com Inc., third-quarter 2025 conference call. With me this morning are Alex Vetter, CEO; and Sonia Jain, CFO. Alex will start by discussing the business highlights from our third quarter. Then Sonia will discuss our financial results in greater detail along with our outlook. We'll finish the call with Q&A.

各位早安，感謝各位參加 Cars.com Inc. 2025 年第三季電話會議。今天早上和我在一起的是執行長 Alex Vetter 和財務長 Sonia Jain。Alex 將首先討論我們第三季的業務亮點。接下來，Sonia 將更詳細地討論我們的財務表現以及未來展望。我們將以問答環節結束通話。

Before I turn the call over to Alex, I'd like to draw your attention to our forward-looking statements and the description and definition of non-GAAP financial measures, which can be found in our presentation. We'll be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures today, including adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted operating expenses, adjusted net income, and free cash flow.

在將電話交給 Alex 之前，我想提請大家注意我們的前瞻性聲明以及非 GAAP 財務指標的描述和定義，這些內容可以在我們的簡報中找到。今天我們將討論一些非GAAP財務指標，包括調整後的EBITDA、調整後的EBITDA利潤率、調整後的營運費用、調整後的淨收入和自由現金流。

Reconciliations of these non- GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in the financial tables included with our earnings press release and in the appendix of our presentation. Any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. For more information, please refer to the risk factors included in our SEC filings, including those in our most recently filed 10-K, which is available on the IR section of our website. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

這些非GAAP指標與最直接可比較的GAAP指標的調節表可以在我們獲利新聞稿中包含的財務表格以及我們簡報的附錄中找到。任何前瞻性陳述都存在風險和不確定性。如需了解更多信息，請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中包含的風險因素，包括我們最近提交的 10-K 文件中的風險因素，該文件可在我們網站的投資者關係部分查閱。我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

Now, I'll turn the call over to Alex

現在，我把電話交給亞歷克斯。

Thank you, Katherine. We were pleased to achieve record revenue and drive strong customer and product momentum in the third quarter on our path to re-accelerating growth. Revenue of $182 million reflected continued contribution from websites, trade and appraisal solutions, and marketplace. These account increased for the third consecutive quarter as we reached a new three-year high, with marketplace in particular outperforming expectations.

謝謝你，凱瑟琳。我們很高興在第三季實現了創紀錄的收入，並在重新加速成長的道路上實現了強勁的客戶和產品發展勢頭。1.82 億美元的收入反映了網站、交易和評估解決方案以及市場持續的貢獻。這些帳戶連續第三個季度成長，創下三年來的新高，其中市場表現尤其超出預期。

Top-line strength combined with our strong operating model enabled investments for innovation while also producing adjusted EBITDA margin of 30%, up over 160 basis points year-over-year. And resulting cash generation support another $19 million of share buybacks in Q3 for a total of $64 million year-to-date. It's clear that our consistent execution is delivering compounding benefits, and we feel confident there is more improvement to come.

強勁的營收成長加上我們強大的營運模式，使我們能夠進行創新投資，同時實現調整後 EBITDA 利潤率 30%，較去年同期成長超過 160 個基點。由此產生的現金流支持在第三季再進行 1,900 萬美元的股票回購，使今年迄今的股票回購總額達到 6,400 萬美元。很明顯，我們持續不斷的執行正在帶來累積效益，我們相信未來會有更大的進步。

Our strong focus on 2025 growth initiatives continue to deliver measurable progress for the business in the third quarter. First, sales velocity and driving unit volume has lifted marketplace and solutions performance. Under new sales leadership and enhanced go-to market strategy, we added 270 plus dealers year-over-year with subscriptions up across all our leading products. In total, we powered 19,526 dealers in Q3, our largest customer base since late 2022, and only a few 100 dealers away from an all-time record.

第三季度，我們對 2025 年成長計畫的重點關注繼續為業務帶來可衡量的進展。首先，銷售速度和銷售量提升了市場和解決方案的績效。在新銷售領導和加強市場推廣策略的帶領下，我們年增了 270 多家經銷商，所有主要產品的訂閱量均有所增長。第三季度，我們共為 19,526 家經銷商提供技術支持，這是自 2022 年底以來我們最大的客戶群，距離歷史最高紀錄僅差幾百家經銷商。

New franchise dealer signups also increased appreciably quarter-over-quarter in Q3, complementing the share gain amongst independent dealers that we achieved in the first half of the year. Dealers consistently cite our unique consumer audience, data insights, and differentiated product suite as key factors that are motivating them to join our platform.

第三季新加盟經銷商的註冊數量也較上季顯著成長，這與我們在今年上半年在獨立經銷商中取得的市佔率成長相輔相成。經銷商們一致認為，我們獨特的消費者群體、數據洞察力和差異化的產品組合是促使他們加入我們平台的關鍵因素。

Second, our phased marketplace repackaging exercise intended to align pricing with product value and enhance platform benefits for dealers, launched in early summer. By bundling media products and features and new premium and premium plus packages, we are helping dealers drive up to 14% more leads per listing versus base packages, and we anticipate adoption of premium plus to accelerate with growing dealer awareness of these benefits.

其次，我們在初夏啟動了分階段的市場重新包裝活動，旨在使定價與產品價值保持一致，並增強平台對經銷商的益處。透過將媒體產品和功能以及新的高級和高級加強版套餐捆綁在一起，我們幫助經銷商每個產品資訊獲得的潛在客戶數量比基本套餐多出 14%，我們預計隨著經銷商對這些優勢的認識不斷提高，高級加強版套餐的採用率將會加快。

Finally, our product team remains at the forefront of helping consumers, OEMs and dealers navigate the changing auto retail landscape. We are putting AI powered search and recommendations in the hands of marketplace shoppers and simultaneously enhancing lead conversion for dealers through advanced analytics.

最後，我們的產品團隊始終走在幫助消費者、汽車製造商和經銷商應對不斷變化的汽車零售環境的最前線。我們正在將人工智慧驅動的搜尋和推薦功能帶給市場購物者，同時透過進階分析提高經銷商的潛在客戶轉換率。

Through our appraisal and wholesale capabilities, we are also directly helping dealers address used car scarcity and specifically how to profitably source attractive late model inventory. And we continue to be the only platform with integrated B2B wholesale and B2C retail capabilities, a key value proposition as dealers look for innovation and operating leverage.

透過我們的評估和批發能力，我們也直接幫助經銷商解決二手車短缺問題，特別是如何獲利地購買有吸引力的新車型庫存。我們仍然是唯一一個集 B2B 批發和 B2C 零售功能於一體的平台，這對於尋求創新和營運槓桿的經銷商來說，是一個關鍵的價值主張。

Our multifaceted AI first platform makes us essential for both consumer and dealer customers. We are seeing clear signals of traction in our platform strategy.

我們以人工智慧為核心的多面向平台，使我們成為消費者和經銷商客戶不可或缺的選擇。我們的平台策略已經取得了明顯的成效。

Starting with marketplace, we fired on all cylinders in Q3 with momentum carrying into October. We drew 25.4 million average monthly visitors, up 4% year-over-year, leveraging better optimization of our visitor acquisition strategy to attract strong consumer demand. Traffic year-to-date was 488 million visits to the end of Q3, setting a new record.

從市場業務來看，我們在第三季火力全開，並將這股動能延續到了十月。我們平均每月吸引 2,540 萬訪客，年成長 4%，這得益於我們更好地優化了訪客獲取策略，從而吸引了強勁的消費者需求。截至第三季末，今年迄今的訪問量為 4.88 億次，創下新紀錄。

Our leading editorial and brand expertise is evident from third-party data that shows that we were the most cited public automotive marketplace across AI tools like Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT with double the citations of our closest peer. And we continue to leverage our strong brand and steady stream of in-demand content as an integral part of our product and marketing strategy in this evolving landscape. AI is central to our product innovation roadmap as we enhance the quality of our marketplace to deliver a best-in-class personalized shopping experience for car buyers.

第三方數據顯示，我們在編輯和品牌方面的專業知識得到了充分體現，在 Google AI Overviews 和 ChatGPT 等 AI 工具中，我們的引用次數是引用次數最多的公開汽車市場，是排名最接近的競爭對手的兩倍。在這個不斷變化的環境中，我們將繼續利用我們強大的品牌和源源不絕的熱門內容，將其作為我們產品和行銷策略的重要組成部分。人工智慧是我們產品創新路線圖的核心，我們將利用人工智慧來提升市場質量，為購車者提供一流的個人化購物體驗。

Carson, our newly launched natural language search assistant, gives users an interactive experience more akin to a conversation you have with an AI agent to complement traditional search results. Carson currently assists 15% of searches and search refinement on web and mobile today. Compared to the average shopper, AI users also save three times more vehicles to revisit later, a sure sign that we're fueling deeper consumer engagement.

Carson 是我們新推出的自然語言搜尋助手，它為用戶提供類似於與人工智慧代理對話的互動體驗，是對傳統搜尋結果的補充。Carson 目前在網路和行動裝置上協助完成 15% 的搜尋和搜尋優化。與普通購物者相比，AI 用戶保存的車輛數量是普通購物者的三倍，以便日後再次瀏覽，這無疑表明我們正在推動消費者更深入地參與互動。

Just like we were a pioneer with AI integration on the Cars.com website, our next milestone will be integrating Carson into our number one most downloaded automotive marketplace app. Mobile apps are our highest converting channels, and we believe AI powered targeted search results may lift conversion even further as we drive search efficacy and our marketplace flywheel.

就像我們率先在 Cars.com 網站上整合 AI 一樣，我們的下一個里程碑將是將 Carson 整合到我們下載量最高的汽車市場應用程式中。行動應用是我們轉換率最高的管道，我們相信，隨著我們提高搜尋效率和市場飛輪效應，人工智慧驅動的定向搜尋結果可能會進一步提高轉換率。

For dealers who subscribe to our marketplace, we continue to deliver high performing tools for the sales and marketing teams, embedding into their tech stack to drive engagement, conversion, and ultimately sales.

對於訂閱我們市場的經銷商，我們將繼續為銷售和行銷團隊提供高性能工具，並將其嵌入到他們的技術堆疊中，以推動參與度、轉換率，並最終促進銷售。

Shopper alerts, which we launched in the third quarter to fast follow our new lead intelligence reports, proactively flag shopper engagement and buying indicators to dealers. Over 50% of marketplace customers have already used this feature at least once in its first two months of launch, and as you can see from customer feedback. Shopper alerts are quickly becoming a key part of dealership workflow, helping salespeople identify the best prospects to close more sales.

我們在第三季推出了購物者提醒功能，可以快速跟進我們新的潛在客戶情報報告，主動向經銷商發出購物者參與度和購買指標的警報。在推出後的前兩個月裡，超過 50% 的市場客戶已經至少使用過該功能一次，正如您從客戶回饋中看到的那樣。購物者提醒正迅速成為經銷商工作流程的關鍵部分，幫助銷售人員識別最佳潛在客戶，從而達成更多交易。

With such an enthusiastic response, we're quickly iterating to provide richer data and AI-driven insights directly into dealers CRMs, both with incumbent players and through new investments in disruptive technologies as we unlock the full potential of our platform with more AI and SaaS-based solutions.

鑑於如此熱烈的反響，我們正在快速迭代，以便將更豐富的數據和人工智慧驅動的洞察直接提供給經銷商的客戶關係管理系統，包括與現有企業合作，以及透過對顛覆性技術的新投資，以釋放我們平台的全部潛力，並利用更多的人工智慧和基於軟體即服務的解決方案。

Turning to our trading and sourcing solutions, AccuTrade and DealerClub continue to scale in Q3 as dealers increasingly gravitate to tech-first products that advance the industry's long-term goal of improving profitability.

就我們的交易和採購解決方案而言，隨著經銷商越來越傾向於採用技術優先的產品，以推進行業提高盈利能力的長期目標，AccuTrade 和 DealerClub 在第三季度繼續擴大規模。

The recent success of digital dealers who rely heavily on acquiring vehicles directly from consumers has put an even finer point on the importance of a diversified vehicle acquisition strategy for driving up GPUs. AccuTrade and DealerClub address this [GAAP] by allowing dealers to acquire from either service lane or other trusted dealers backed by the most accurate vehicle values in the industry.

近期，那些主要依靠直接從消費者手中獲取車輛的數位經銷商取得了成功，這更加凸顯了多元化的車輛獲取策略對於提升GPU的重要性。AccuTrade 和 DealerClub 透過讓經銷商從服務通道或其他值得信賴的經銷商處獲取車輛，並由業內最準確的車輛估值作為支撐，來解決這一 [GAAP] 問題。

AccuTrade grew to 1,150 subscribers in Q3, and DealerClub increased its active users by nearly 40% quarter-over-quarter. We're also pleased to share that AccuTrade surpassed 1 million quarterly appraisals, a milestone that points to enthusiastic and growing customer engagement.

AccuTrade 第三季用戶數成長至 1,150 人，DealerClub 的活躍用戶數較上季成長近 40%。我們也很高興地宣布，AccuTrade 的季度評估量已突破 100 萬次，這一里程碑表明客戶參與度不斷提高且熱情高漲。

Importantly, over 50% of vehicles acquired via AccuTrade are between one and five years old, highlighting the attractive pool of in-demand late model inventory that dealer's access when they expand beyond traditional physical auctions.

值得注意的是，透過 AccuTrade 獲得的車輛中，超過 50% 的車齡在 1 到 5 年之間，這凸顯了經銷商在拓展到傳統實體拍賣之外時，能夠接觸到極具吸引力的熱門新庫存。

[New] this quarter, dealers can now easily analyze their AccuTrade activity via profit funnel and trade capture reports, seeing how much profit is made on AccuTrade versus non-AccuTrade cars and conversion rates on appraisals. We're excited to see these products and features further scale as we continue to innovate.

【新增】本季，經銷商現在可以透過利潤漏斗和交易捕獲報告輕鬆分析他們的 AccuTrade 活動，了解 AccuTrade 汽車與非 AccuTrade 汽車的利潤以及評估轉換率。我們很高興看到這些產品和功能隨著我們不斷創新而進一步擴展。

Lastly, total subscribers for Dealer Inspire and D2C Media websites reached nearly 7,900 in Q3. We have grown website subscriptions for five straight years, an impressive feat that speaks to our differentiated technical capabilities and support model.

最後，Dealer Inspire 和 D2C Media 網站在第三季的總訂閱用戶數接近 7,900 人。我們的網站訂閱量已連續五年增長，這是一項令人印象深刻的成就，體現了我們差異化的技術能力和支援模式。

Similar to marketplace, website customers are also benefiting from our AI leadership. Our dealer websites also support discovery and data processing by popular AI search tools, and we are now proactively enabling customers to improve their own site visibility. By building more consultative relationships and innovating on behalf of customers, we're confident we can further expand our market share.

與市場類似，網站客戶也受益於我們在人工智慧領域的領先地位。我們的經銷商網站也支援熱門人工智慧搜尋工具進行發現和資料處理，我們現在正積極幫助客戶提高他們自己網站的可見度。透過建立更多諮詢關係並代表客戶進行創新，我們有信心進一步擴大市場份額。

Across marketplace, websites, and appraisal and wholesale, we delivered triple digit dealer count growth for the second straight quarter. We also achieved ARPD growth on a sequential basis, consistent with our expectations that repackaging and cross-selling would lift performance beginning in Q3. We're on pace to surpass all-time records for both direct dealer customers and ARPD before the end of 2026, on our way towards greater targets as we expand and enhance our product offering.

在市場、網站、評估和批發等各個方面，我們連續第二個季度實現了經銷商數量三位數的成長。我們也實現了 ARPD 的環比成長，這與我們的預期一致，即重新包裝和交叉銷售將從第三季度開始提升業績。我們預計在 2026 年底前打破直接經銷商客戶和 ARPD 的歷史記錄，隨著我們擴大和增強產品供應，我們將朝著更大的目標邁進。

While dealer revenue was at its healthiest level in several quarters, we did see some variability in OEM and national revenue, which was down 5% year-over-year in Q3. Specifically, two OEM partners significantly adjusted their immediate investments during the fall due to factors like internal agency changes that are unrelated to our performance or value. I'll also note that both of these customers remain advertisers on our platform and we're in active talks to win a greater share of their forward spending.

雖然經銷商收入達到了幾個季度以來的最健康水平，但我們確實看到 OEM 和全國收入出現了一些波動，第三季度同比下降了 5%。具體來說，由於內部機構變動等因素，兩家 OEM 合作夥伴在秋季大幅調整了其近期投資，而這些變動與我們的業績或價值無關。我還要指出，這兩家客戶目前仍然是我們平台上的廣告客戶，我們正在積極洽談，爭取贏得他們未來更大份額的廣告支出。

As we discussed in prior calls, our OEM revenue pipeline is strong. Planning discussions for 2026 have been positive, and our unique ability to drive better Tier 1 to Tier 3 outcomes via our marketplace is a winning asset for automakers as they compete for consumer demand.

正如我們之前電話會議中所討論的，我們的OEM收入管道非常強勁。2026 年的規劃討論進展順利，我們透過市場推動一級供應商到三級供應商取得更好成果的獨特能力，對於汽車製造商來說是一項制勝優勢，因為他們正在爭奪消費者的需求。

We're confident that this segment can resume its growth trajectory in the coming quarters and continue to be a strong contributor to revenue and margin expansion. Looking at this quarter as a whole, I'm pleased that our steady execution is showing up in the P&L and in positive trends that point to more gains ahead. We're driving our business forward, growing revenue and gaining customer market share, all while continuously innovating.

我們相信，該業務部門將在未來幾季恢復成長勢頭，並繼續為營收和利潤率的成長做出強勁貢獻。從整個季度來看，我很高興看到我們穩步推進的營運在損益表和積極的趨勢中得到了體現，這些趨勢預示著未來會有更大的成長。我們不斷推動業務發展，增加收入，擴大客戶市場份額，同時持續創新。

Q3 is the right step in the right direction, and we're focused on finishing the year with a healthy exit rate so that we can deliver even better results as we continue scaling our leading platform.

第三季是朝著正確方向邁出的正確一步，我們專注於以健康的退出率結束這一年，以便在我們繼續擴大領先平台規模的同時，能夠取得更好的業績。

And now I'll turn the call over to Sonia to discuss our third quarter financial results. Sonia?

現在我將把電話交給索尼婭，讓她來討論我們第三季的財務表現。索尼婭？

Thank you, Alex. We delivered a strong third quarter across multiple key financial metrics, producing record revenue, adjusted EBITDA expansion, and robust cash generation. Consistent execution of 2025 growth initiatives has been our top priority, and our new revenue trajectory reflects the positive changes we've implemented year-to-date. We're also confident that as these improvements compound in our subscription business, both revenue and margins will accelerate in the coming quarters.

謝謝你，亞歷克斯。我們在第三季各項關鍵財務指標均表現強勁，實現了創紀錄的收入、調整後 EBITDA 的成長以及強勁的現金流。持續推進 2025 年成長計畫一直是我們的首要任務，而我們新的營收成長軌跡也反映了我們今年迄今所實施的正面變化。我們也相信，隨著這些改善在我們訂閱業務中的累積效應，未來幾季的營收和利潤率都將加速成長。

Starting with our revenue discussion, third quarter revenue was $181.6 million, up 1% year-over-year and in line with our expectation for low single-digit growth in the second half of the year. Dealer revenue was up 2% year-over-year, driven by favorability from repackaging activities and better customer count. Our ongoing repackaging work resulted in successful renegotiation of additional OEM website agreements and the phased launch of new marketplace packages in Q3.

首先談談營收情況，第三季營收為 1.816 億美元，年成長 1%，符合我們對下半年低個位數成長的預期。經銷商營收年增 2%，主要得益於重新包裝活動的利多以及客戶數量的增加。我們持續進行的重新包裝工作促成了與更多 OEM 網站協議的重新談判，並在第三季分階段推出了新的市場套餐。

As Alex mentioned, our top two marketplace tiers now bundle more media features for better vehicle merchandizing and promotion, helping dealers attract and convert in-market shoppers. Migration of legacy preferred customers into new premium and premium plus packages was 100% complete as of the end of October. I'll also note that we've seen very few cancellations attributable to this exercise, another encouraging signal of the value dealers see in our marketplace.

正如 Alex 所提到的，我們最高的兩個市場層級現在捆綁了更多媒體功能，以更好地進行車輛行銷和推廣，幫助經銷商吸引和轉換有購買意願的購物者。截至 10 月底，原有優惠客戶向新的高級和高級加強套餐的遷移工作已 100% 完成。我還要指出，由於這項舉措，我們幾乎沒有看到任何取消訂單的情況，這再次令人鼓舞地表明經銷商們看到了我們市場的價值。

Marketplace, our most scaled solution, is also the tip of the spear for customer acquisition and cross-selling, and key to winning dealer market share over time. It's therefore encouraging to see that marketplace continues to be the biggest quarter-over-quarter contributor to dealer account growth and is the linchpin for our net gain of over 300 dealer customers since the start of the year.

Marketplace 是我們規模最大的解決方案，也是客戶獲取和交叉銷售的利器，更是長期贏得經銷商市場份額的關鍵。因此，令人鼓舞的是，市場仍然是經銷商帳戶成長的最大季度環比貢獻者，也是我們自年初以來淨增 300 多家經銷商客戶的關鍵因素。

We have multiple levers to inflect ARPD, driving new customer growth, as well as upgrading package tiers and cross-selling against our installed base, and this is amplified by our improved pricing. We saw early signs of these levers in action in Q3, with ARPD up 1% quarter-over-quarter, and we are optimistic that trends will improve as these positive changes gain further traction and annualize.

我們可以透過多種方式影響 ARPD，例如推動新客戶成長、升級套餐等級以及針對現有客戶群進行交叉銷售，而我們改進的定價策略則進一步增強了這種效果。我們在第三季看到了這些措施的初步成效，ARPD環比成長了1%，我們樂觀地認為，隨著這些積極變化獲得進一步的動力並實現年度化，趨勢將會改善。

Overall, dealer revenue growth more than offset near-term noise in OEM and national revenue, which was down just under $1 million or 5% year-over-year. As previously mentioned, lower spending by two customers accounted for almost the entirety of the OEM revenue decline in the quarter, and we're already at work rebuilding the revenue pipeline with those partners.

總體而言，經銷商收入的成長足以抵消 OEM 和全國收入的短期波動，後者年減了近 100 萬美元，降幅為 5%。如前所述，兩家客戶的支出減少幾乎佔本季度 OEM 收入下降的全部，我們已經在與這些合作夥伴一起重建收入管道。

More broadly speaking, media investments did taper in September as the industry digested large scale changes like strong pull forward demand from exploration of ED credits and continuing shifts in production, as well as downward revisions in SAR. Given last September was our best month of OEM revenue for 2024, we also had a challenging cost that accentuated this late quarter trend.

更廣泛地說，隨著行業消化了勘探ED信用額度帶來的強勁提前需求和生產的持續轉變以及SAR的下調等大規模變化，媒體投資在9月份確實有所減少。鑑於去年 9 月是我們 2024 年 OEM 收入最高的月份，我們也面臨嚴峻的成本挑戰，這加劇了本季末的趨勢。

We're observing that OEMs continue to prefer more flexibility in the current operating environment, and as such, we expect their ad spending may fluctuate through the end of this year. However, we remain confident in our audience and value delivery and in our ability to power growth in this segment.

我們觀察到，在當前的營運環境下，OEM廠商仍然更傾向於靈活的營運方式，因此，我們預期他們的廣告支出可能會在今年年底前出現波動。但是，我們仍然對我們的受眾和價值交付充滿信心，並且有信心推動該領域的成長。

Turning to our cost discussion, third quarter operating expenses were $165 million, down 2% year-over-year. Compared to the prior year period, cost efficiencies in headcount and lease related expenses, as well as lower depreciation and amortization, fully offset new DealerClub costs and slightly higher marketing and G&A spend. Adjusted operating expenses were $150 million, down 4% year-over-year for substantially similar reasons.

再來談談成本問題，第三季營運支出為 1.65 億美元，較去年同期下降 2%。與去年同期相比，人員編制和租賃相關費用的成本效益，以及折舊和攤提的降低，完全抵銷了新的經銷商俱樂部成本和略高的行銷和一般管理費用。經調整後的營運費用為 1.5 億美元，年減 4%，原因與前一年基本相同。

For the following line-item detail, all comparisons are on a year-over-year basis unless otherwise noted. Product and technology expenditures decreased $1.6 million on a reported basis and $1 million on an adjusted basis, fully offsetting DealerClub costs through lower compensation and third-party fees.

除非另有說明，以下各項明細中的所有比較均以同比為基礎。以報告基準計算，產品和技術支出減少了 160 萬美元，按調整基準計算減少了 100 萬美元，透過降低補償和第三方費用完全抵消了 DealerClub 的成本。

Marketing and sales increased $1 million on both a reported and adjusted basis, reflecting marketing investments. And general and administrative expense was up $2.8 million year-over-year on a reported basis but was roughly flat on an adjusted basis. The reported increase was primarily due to increased third-party costs that were partially offset by savings from the lease amendment completed in Q4 2024.

行銷和銷售額按報告和調整後的數據均增長了 100 萬美元，反映了行銷方面的投資。以報告數據計算，一般及行政費用年增 280 萬美元，但以調整後的數據計算，基本持平。據報道，此次成長主要是由於第三方成本增加，但部分被 2024 年第四季完成的租賃修訂所節省的費用所抵銷。

Net income for the third quarter was $7.7 million or $0.12 per diluted share, compared to net income of $18.7 million or $0.28 per diluted share a year ago. The difference in net income is primarily due to changes in the fair value of contingent consideration for prior acquisitions that were included in the prior year period. Adjusted net income for the third quarter was $30.4 million or $0.48 per diluted share compared to $27.7 million or $0.41 per diluted share a year ago.

第三季淨利為 770 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.12 美元，而去年同期淨利為 1,870 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.28 美元。淨利潤的差異主要是由於上年期間計入的先前收購或有對價的公允價值變化所致。第三季調整後淨收入為 3,040 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.48 美元，去年同期為 2,770 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.41 美元。

Adjusted EBITDA of $55 million in the third quarter grew 7% year-over-year, benefiting from both higher revenue and cost controls. Third quarter adjusted EBITDA margin of 30.1% demonstrated strong revenue flow through, benefit from the cost management initiatives described earlier, and timing of certain costs.

第三季調整後 EBITDA 為 5,500 萬美元，年成長 7%，這得益於更高的收入和成本控制。第三季調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 30.1%，顯示營收成長強勁，得益於前面提到的成本管理措施以及某些成本的發生時間。

Now on to key metrics. Dealer Count was up in the third quarter based on strength across all of our major product brands. Websites grew sequentially by 67 subscribers, with most of the growth coming in the US. AccuTrade grew by 82 subscribers sequentially, about half of whom came from the enterprise deal announced last quarter.

接下來是關鍵指標。由於我們所有主要產品品牌的強勁表現，第三季經銷商數量有所增加。網站訂閱用戶數量逐年增加 67 人，其中大部分成長來自美國。AccuTrade 的用戶數量較上季增加了 82 人，其中約一半來自上個季度宣布的企業交易。

Third quarter ARPD was $2460, up 1% quarter-over-quarter and down slightly year-over-year. Recent customer and product mix shifts like faster independent dealer growth and lower media attach rates continue to have a near-term leveling effect on this metric. However, as previously discussed, we have multiple ways to inflect ARPD over time.

第三季平均每戶營收為 2,460 美元，季增 1%，年比略有下降。近期客戶和產品組合的變化，例如獨立經銷商成長速度加快和媒體附加率下降，繼續對該指標產生短期趨於平穩的影響。然而，正如之前討論過的，我們有多種方法可以隨著時間的推移影響 ARPD。

First, new customer acquisition and continued up-tier migration will both benefit from new marketplace and website rates. A good example is marketplace premium plus adoption, which grew 50% month-over-month from September to October as dealer awareness increased.

首先，新客戶的獲取和持續的升級遷移都將受益於新的市場和網站價格。一個很好的例子是市場溢價附加服務的採用率，隨著經銷商意識的提高，9 月至 10 月該服務環比增長了 50%。

Second, moving website customers up tier remains a substantial opportunity. Recall, roughly 70% of marketplace customers are in a premium or better subscription relative to just 50% for websites.

其次，將網站客戶提升到更高層級仍然是一個巨大的機會。需要注意的是，市場平台用戶中約有 70% 是高級或更高級別的訂閱用戶，而網站用戶中只有 50% 是高級或更高級別的訂閱用戶。

Third, cross-selling additional products like AccuTrade or media add-ons to marketplace customers can be as much as a 60% chunk relative to current ARPD. The multiplier effect is especially evident when looking at customers who utilize all four of our brands and have an ARPD that is three times higher than our reported average. With these levers at our disposal, we're confident in future ARPD improvement as we expand our platform's reach.

第三，向市場客戶交叉銷售 AccuTrade 或媒體外掛程式等附加產品，相較於目前 ARPD，可佔 60%。當觀察同時使用我們所有四個品牌的客戶時，乘數效應尤其明顯，他們的 ARPD 比我們報告的平均值高出三倍。憑藉這些手段，隨著我們擴大平台覆蓋範圍，我們有信心在未來提高 ARPD。

Now over to cash flow and the balance sheet. Net cash provided by operating activities totaled $115 million for the first nine months of the year, compared to $123 million for the comparable period last year. Recall that the earnout for the D2C acquisition has a contractual step up from year one to year two and accounts for the majority of the variance in operating cash flow. Free cash flow was $94.5 million year-to-date, down slightly year-over-year through the acquisition item mentioned above.

接下來來看現金流量表和資產負債表。今年前九個月，經營活動產生的淨現金總額為 1.15 億美元，去年同期為 1.23 億美元。請記住，D2C 收購的獲利支付條款從第一年到第二年按合約遞增，並且佔經營現金流差異的大部分。今年迄今的自由現金流為 9,450 萬美元，受上述收購項目的影響，較去年同期略有下降。

Year-to-date, share buybacks totaled 5.2 million shares for $64 million as we utilize more than two-thirds of free cash flow for our repurchase program. Last quarter, we raised our full year repurchase target to $70 million to $90 million and we're pleased to be on pace to finish the year towards the high-end of that range. We also paid down $5 million of our revolver in Q3, bringing debt outstanding to $455 million as of September 30, 2025, equivalent to a total net leverage ratio of 1.9 times.

今年迄今為止，我們已回購股票 520 萬股，總額達 6,400 萬美元，因為我們將超過三分之二的自由現金流用於回購計畫。上個季度，我們將全年回購目標提高到 7,000 萬美元至 9,000 萬美元，我們很高興能夠按計劃在年底前達到該目標範圍的高端。第三季度，我們也償還了 500 萬美元的循環信貸，截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日，未償債務為 4.55 億美元，相當於總淨槓桿率為 1.9 倍。

Notably, this is also the first time that we have sat below the low end of our target net leverage range of 2 to 2.5 times. Total liquidity was $350 million as of September 30, 2025, which provides us ample capacity for capital allocation priorities and other avenues of value creation.

值得注意的是，這也是我們首次低於目標淨槓桿率範圍 2 至 2.5 倍的下限。截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日，總流動資金為 3.5 億美元，這為我們提供了充足的資金用於資本配置優先事項和其他價值創造途徑。

And now we'll conclude with Outlook. We are reaffirming our expectation for low single-digit revenue growth year-over-year in the second half of 2025. We expect to achieve this target through continued execution of our growth initiatives, namely improved dealer count and product adoption and repackaging for marketplace and websites.

最後，我們來談談展望。我們重申，預計 2025 年下半年營收將達到個位數低成長。我們希望透過持續推進成長計畫來實現這一目標，即增加經銷商數量、提高產品採用率以及對市場和網站進行重新包裝。

As in the prior quarter, this outlook assumes today's macroeconomic conditions as a stable baseline for the remainder of the year. Considering third quarter trends and historical fourth quarter performance, we believe that some degree of discretionary media investment is subject to greater variability, both to the upside and the downside, from factors like pull forward consumer demand, inventory levels, new model launches, and manufacturer incentives.

與上一季一樣，本展望假設當前的宏觀經濟狀況將作為今年剩餘時間的穩定基準。考慮到第三季度的趨勢和歷史第四季度的表現，我們認為，一定程度的可自由支配的媒體投資會受到消費者提前需求、庫存水平、新車型發布和製造商激勵等因素的影響，從而出現更大的波動，既有上漲也有下跌。

We are also reaffirming adjusted EBITDA margin outlook for fiscal 2025, between 29% to 31%, reflecting discipline cost management, high contribution margin from pricing initiatives, and revenue growth. Looking ahead, we remain focused on execution and are confident we will deliver improved operating and financial results.

我們也重申了 2025 財年調整後 EBITDA 利潤率預期，在 29% 至 31% 之間，這反映了嚴格的成本管理、定價措施帶來的高貢獻利潤率以及收入成長。展望未來，我們將繼續專注於執行，並有信心取得更好的營運和財務表現。

And with that, I'd like to open the call for Q&A. Operator?

接下來，我想開放問答環節。操作員？

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。女士們、先生們，現在開始問答環節。（操作說明）

Tom White, D.A. Davidson.

湯姆懷特，D.A.戴維森。

Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Two, if I could. First one, just on the dealer of revenue in the third quarter, it was impressive to see that you delivered a bit of -- kind of upside versus, kind of expectations on revenues despite national kind of declining sequentially when we all were fingers crossed that it might be up a little bit.

早安.謝謝您回答我的問題。如果可以的話，我希望有兩個。首先，就第三季的收入而言，令人印象深刻的是，儘管全國經濟環比有所下降，但你們的收入還是略高於預期，而我們都希望它能略有增長。

So, just can you help us -- I guess what I'm trying to understand is on dealer revenue, kind of the, obviously you guys are doing stuff on repackaging and product, but maybe first off just like on the industry backdrop and you know you added dealers again for the third straight quarter. It sounds like you're going to add dealers again and it sounds like marketplaces.

所以，您能幫我們了解一下嗎？我想了解的是經銷商收入方面的情況，顯然你們在重新包裝和產品方面做了一些工作，但首先，我想了解一下行業背景，你們也知道你們連續第三個季度增加了經銷商數量。聽起來你們又要增加經銷商了，而且好像是市場平台。

Kind of the, maybe one of the main areas where you're adding dealers, I don't know, how would you-- kind of characterize -- you know how dealers are sort of navigating the current just kind of industry backdrop like are they leaning into you guys on marketplace because they're -- they need to find new sources of demand. Is it because of -- maybe the word's getting out that some of the new media stuff that you're adding to the higher tiers is really attractive? Sorry for the long-winded question, but just maybe just trying to unpack that a little bit and then I have a quick follow-up.

或許，你們增加經銷商的主要領域之一，我不知道，你會如何描述——你知道，經銷商們是如何應對當前的行業環境的，例如他們是否因為需要尋找新的需求來源而傾向於你們的市場平台。是因為——或許是因為大家逐漸了解到，你們在高階套餐中加入的一些新媒體內容真的很有吸引力？抱歉問題有點長，我只是想稍微解釋一下，然後我還有一個簡短的後續問題。

Tom, thanks for your question. I'll start maybe then Sonia, if you get some color on the revenue mix, but. I'll start, obviously manufacturers have got some near-term headwinds that certainly are impacting their business. We feel good about the business because overall enthusiasm for our audience, particularly the concentration of new car shoppers that we have in our marketplace, remains scaled, healthy, and strong.

湯姆，謝謝你的提問。索妮婭，如果你能提供一些關於收入組成的信息，那我或許就可以開始了。我先來說說，很明顯，製造商們近期面臨一些不利因素，這些因素肯定會對他們的業務產生影響。我們對業務感到滿意，因為我們受眾的整體熱情，特別是我們市場上新車購買者的集中度，仍然保持著規模化、健康和強勁的勢頭。

And so the vast majority of our OEM partners are leaning in not only this year but also next year. We did have some pullback in the quarter from two OEMs that were temporary in sentiment, not performative, meaning that they had their own internal issues that delayed their investments with us in the period. That's why we feel fundamentally bullish about the business overall and our ability to continue to grow OEM revenue heading into next year and beyond.

因此，我們絕大多數的OEM合作夥伴不僅今年，而且明年都會積極參與。本季我們確實遇到了一些來自兩家原始設備製造商的回調，但這只是暫時的情緒波動，與業績無關，這意味著他們本身存在一些內部問題，導致他們在此期間對我們的投資有所延遲。正因如此，我們對公司整體業務以及明年及以後繼續提升 OEM 收入的能力感到非常樂觀。

I think on the dealer side it is a little bit of a mixed bag right now. I think dealerships are struggling with softening demand. And the vast majority of dealer investments are chasing impressions and clicks across the internet, and I think the smart dealers are realizing tapping into in-market car shoppers who are actively in the market is a much surer path to sales and so we're pleased with dealer adoption not only in the quarter and as you noted, that growth continued into October and so we're feeling good about dealers realizing the strength of our scaled audience.

我認為目前經銷商方面的情況有點喜憂參半。我認為經銷商正面臨需求疲軟的困境。絕大多數經銷商的投資都集中在網路上的曝光量和點擊量上，我認為聰明的經銷商已經意識到，吸引那些正在積極尋找購車機會的潛在客戶才是更可靠的銷售途徑。因此，我們對經銷商的採用情況感到滿意，不僅在本季度，而且正如您所指出的，這種增長一直持續到 10 月份。所以，我們很高興看到經銷商意識到我們規模化受眾的強大影響力。

Certainly, some of the product innovation that we're doing on the AI front has garnered some dealer interest as well. But ultimately, we feel like the market is realizing our strength and our value. Sonia, you want to comment on the revenue build up?

當然，我們在人工智慧領域進行的一些產品創新也引起了經銷商的興趣。但最終，我們感覺到市場正在認識到我們的實力和價值。索尼婭，你想對營收成長發表一下看法嗎？

Yeah, thanks for the question, Tom. Just to add a little bit more incremental color, I mean, I think we're pretty pleased to see growth across all of our dealer product lines. Repackaging was probably the most immediate benefit to the quarter if you think about revenue. We had repackaging in marketplace with upgrades into premium and then the launch of our new premium plus package and also, we continue to work on optimizing our website packages.

是的，謝謝你的提問，湯姆。為了更詳細地說明一下，我認為我們很高興看到我們所有經銷商產品線都實現了成長。如果從營收角度來看，重新包裝可能是本季最直接的收益。我們在市場上進行了重新包裝，推出了升級到高級版的產品，然後又推出了新的高級加強版套餐，此外，我們還在繼續優化我們的網站套餐。

I think the new dealer customer ads we've had in kind of you know really since the beginning of the year with the exception of January we've grown dealer count month-over-month. It is really just adding additional fuel to how we think about the opportunity to continue growth on a go forward basis as we upgrade and cross sell those incremental new dealers coming into the mix.

我認為，自從年初以來，除了1月份之外，我們推出的新經銷商客戶廣告確實帶來了增長，經銷商數量逐月增長。這實際上只是為我們思考如何繼續向前發展提供了更多動力，因為我們將升級產品並向新加入的經銷商進行交叉銷售。

Okay, that's really helpful. Maybe just a quick follow-up on that. I think I heard you say that in the marketplace, maybe 70% of the dealers were on something other than just sort of the base tier, but it was lower in websites. So I guess as you think about, how should we think about -- like what products you might -- maybe add to higher tiers in website to kind of get -- you know to get folks to upgrade is it more like kind of media add on or just any color and you can share there and maybe a timeline for how you expect that to roll out thanks.

好的，這真的很有幫助。或許需要就此做一個簡短的後續說明。我好像聽你說過，在實體市場，大約 70% 的經銷商使用的不是基礎套餐，但在網站上這個比例要低一些。所以我想，您在思考的時候，我們應該如何考慮——比如，您可能會在網站的更高層級中添加哪些產品，以吸引用戶升級——是像媒體插件之類的，還是只是顏色之類的？您可以在那裡分享，也許還可以提供一個預計推出的時間表，謝謝。

Yeah, look, I think one of the strengths of our platform strategy, Tom, is that our innovation can take place on our marketplace and then we can deploy that technology to our dealer partners on their website. So one of the big benefits that our website customers enjoy over the last year is the fortification of our cloud infrastructure to make sure your websites are meeting and beating core web vital standards because we're able to leverage our larger infrastructure to optimize speed and performance.

是的，湯姆，我認為我們平台策略的優勢之一在於，我們的創新可以在我們的市場上進行，然後我們可以將這項技術部署到我們的經銷商合作夥伴的網站上。因此，過去一年來，我們的網站客戶享受到的一大好處是加強了我們的雲端基礎設施，以確保您的網站達到甚至超越核心網路重要標準，因為我們能夠利用我們更大的基礎設施來優化速度和效能。

That's sort of an underlying benefit of our platform model I think if you look at what we've done on Cars.com with launching Carson and OpenText Generative AI search. We can now deploy that technology on dealer websites. So that's one of the utilities that we're looking ahead towards next year.

我認為，如果你看看我們在 Cars.com 上推出的 Carson 和 OpenText 生成式人工智慧搜索，你會發現這是我們平台模式的一個潛在優勢。現在我們可以將這項技術部署到經銷​​商網站上。所以這是我們明年著眼於的重要舉措。

But then I will see just even indexing dealer websites into the LLM. We use Cloudfare technology to help index Cars.com listings into the AI models and now that we have our dealer websites fortified with Cloudfare as well we can do more for dealer websites and get their content indexed in the LLMs as well. So I think there's multiple benefits for dealers running on our backbone platform but the product innovation is accelerating in the company, and we're excited to keep that going.

但之後我會看到，即使只是將經銷商網站索引到LLM中也是如此。我們使用 Cloudflare 技術來幫助將 Cars.com 的清單索引到 AI 模型中，現在我們的經銷商網站也透過 Cloudflare 進行了強化，我們可以為經銷商網站做更多的事情，並將它們的內容也索引到 LLM 中。所以我認為，經銷商在我們主幹平台上運行有很多好處，而且公司的產品創新正在加速，我們很高興能夠繼續保持這種勢頭。

Gary Prestopino, Barrington Research.

Gary Prestopino，巴林頓研究公司。

Hey, good morning, all. Hey, Sonia, really interesting when you're talking about the amount of entities that on dealers that are moved to repackaging and website, that have moved to repackaging you also gave some statistics on what the lift is in ARPD for some of these repackaging efforts, and I didn't quite get that.

嘿，大家早安。嘿，索尼婭，你談到經銷商轉移到重新包裝和網站的實體數量時，真的很有意思。你還提供了這些重新包裝工作在 ARPD 方面的一些提升統計數據，但我不太明白。

The list to ARPD, I mean, I think overall, we're pretty happy to see the sequential momentum that we started to achieve in the ARPD. So we saw quarter-over-quarter growth, and I think that puts us on strong footing as we look, from Q3 into Q4, to continue to accelerate that. We didn't -- I don't think we gave specific color on the portion of ARPD that was driven by packages. But what may be helpful is to understand like the spread difference between a premium and premium plus package.

就 ARPD 而言，我的意思是，我認為總體而言，我們很高興看到我們在 ARPD 中開始取得的持續勢頭。因此，我們看到了季度環比成長，我認為這讓我們在展望第三季到第四季時，處於一個堅實的基礎，可以繼續加速成長。我們沒有——我認為我們沒有具體說明ARPD中由包裹驅動的部分。但了解高級套餐和高級加強套餐之間的價差可能會有所幫助。

One of the key differentiators, and those are marketplace packages, one of the key differentiators between those two packages is we've bundled Vin Performance Media into the premium plus package. That's something that retail for around $1500 a month, but obviously for our premium plus customers since it's bundle, they're going to be getting a slightly better rate than that. But it'll give you a sense for how we're trying to create differentiation not just in price but also in terms of the overall value delivery we're offering to dealers across our packages.

其中一個關鍵區別在於，我們將 Vin Performance Media 捆綁到了高級加強版套餐中。這項服務零售價約為每月 1500 美元，但顯然，對於我們的高級 Plus 客戶來說，由於它是捆綁套餐，他們將獲得比這略好的價格。但這將讓你感受到我們是如何努力創造差異化的，不僅在價格上，而且在我們為經銷商提供的所有產品組合的整體價值交付方面。

Okay, I thought I heard you say something about a three time lift, so that's why I asked the question and maybe I just typed it down.

好吧，我好像聽到你說過三次舉重的事，所以我才問了這個問題，也許我只是把它打出來了。

I did talk about that as like an example of platform value and how as we increase product penetration, we're able to really meaningfully lift ARPD and I think the stat that I shared was that dealers who use our major product pillars will have a three times higher ARPD, than our reported average.

我當時確實談到了這一點，把它當作平台價值的一個例子，以及隨著我們產品滲透率的提高，我們如何能夠真正顯著地提高 ARPD。我認為我分享的數據是，使用我們主要產品支柱的經銷商的 ARPD 將比我們報告的平均水平高出三倍。

Okay, that's great. That's what I wanted to get to. And then, Alex, in terms of both AccuTrade and DealerClub, it's good to see that these things are starting to get more traction. But in terms of appraisals versus actual sell through to the dealer from the appraisal, can you kind of slap some metrics on that and then in terms of DealerClub, I know it's real early, but if you could give us some indication of what kind of volume is going through DealerClub that would be real helpful.

好的，太好了。這正是我想要達到的目的。還有，Alex，就 AccuTrade 和 DealerClub 而言，很高興看到這些平台開始獲得更多關注。但是，就評估與實際銷售給經銷商之間的差距而言，您能否提供一些指標？另外，關於 DealerClub，我知道現在還處於早期階段，但如果您能告訴我們 DealerClub 的交易量是多少，那將非常有幫助。

Sure, Gary, well, first of all, we were really pleased with the growing dealer participation in AccuTrade, as well as the improving appraisal volume. It's showing what we believe is a very durable trend of dealers realizing that sourcing cars directly from customers is a far more profitable strategy than traditional or legacy auctions.

當然，Gary，首先，我們對 AccuTrade 經銷商參與度的提高以及評估量的增加感到非常高興。這表明，經銷商逐漸意識到，直接從客戶那裡購買汽車比傳統的拍賣方式更有利可圖，我們認為這是一個非常持久的趨勢。

And so that realization is helping every dealer recreate the advantage of creating more inventory in their own service lane. Which increases their supply and then also it creates demand within their own dealership because now their customers need new cars and so we think this is a very durable strategy that dealers are adopting. You're seeing, dealers talk more at 20 groups about how they can source more cars directly.

因此，這種認知正在幫助每家經銷商重新創造在自己的服務通道中創造更多庫存的優勢。這不僅增加了他們的供應，也創造了他們自己經銷店的需求，因為現在他們的客戶需要新車，所以我們認為這是經銷商正在採用的非常持久的策略。你看，經銷商們在 20 個小組裡更多地討論如何直接採購更多車輛。

And we've got the tooling to enable them to do that at scale and on a very low cost basis when you think about the cost of an AccuTrade subscription, it dwarfs what buying cars at auctions is costing the industry. So, again very healthy trends on dealer adoption and appraisal volume.

我們擁有相應的工具，使他們能夠大規模地、以非常低的成本做到這一點。想想看，AccuTrade 的訂閱費用與在拍賣會上購買汽車的成本相比，簡直是小巫見大巫。所以，經銷商採用率和評估量再次呈現非常健康的趨勢。

I think DealerClub obviously complements this strategy, which is enabling dealerships to trade cars amongst themselves as a collective as opposed to paying the mighty toll booth operator, the physical auction. And so dealer adoption on DealerClub, we're pleased with it. As it's very early stage where we're barely getting started here with DealerClub, but we're pleased with the initial momentum that the platform is generating on a very low-cost basis because it's part of our platform strategy meaning that we're leveraging the infrastructure that we have today in house.

我認為 DealerClub 顯然是對這一策略的補充，它使經銷商能夠以集體形式相互交易汽車，而不是向強大的收費站運營商（即實體拍賣行）支付費用。因此，我們對經銷商採用 DealerClub 的情況感到滿意。由於 DealerClub 目前還處於非常早期的階段，我們才剛剛起步，但我們對該平台以非常低成本產生的初步勢頭感到滿意，因為它是我們平台戰略的一部分，這意味著我們正在利用我們目前內部擁有的基礎設施。

Dealers are pleased that now we've we're showing them their aged inventory from our marketplace in the club, and they can immediately launch those cars to a wholesale auction with limited to no additional data entry and so stay tuned we're going to continue to invest in the product, platform and give dealers more tooling that makes their workflow even easier but very pleased with the initial momentum both with AccuTrade and DealerClub.

經銷商們很高興現在我們可以在俱樂部裡向他們展示我們市場上的舊庫存，他們可以立即將這些車輛放到批發拍賣會上，幾乎不需要額外的數據輸入。敬請期待，我們將繼續投資於產品和平台，並為經銷商提供更多工具，讓他們的工作流程更加輕鬆。我們對 AccuTrade 和 DealerClub 的初步發展動能都非常滿意。

Rajat Gupta, JPMorgan Chase.

Rajat Gupta，摩根大通。

Hi, thanks for the questions. I had one like broader question on just the competitive landscape, one of your peers, recently announced their intention to go private, we've had some tough results from, some of our other public peers on the marketplace side, the auction side and the used car side.

您好，感謝您的提問。我有一個關於競爭格局的更廣泛的問題，你們的一位同行最近宣布了私有化的意圖，我們在市場、拍賣和二手車領域的其他一些上市同行那裡也遭遇了一些艱難的結果。

I'm just curious that if you're observing any changes in the competitive landscape, be it pricing, be it more adjacent players, maybe participating in the market, and I'm curious if anything has taken a step change in recent months that you're seeing, and if anything, like how are you planning to navigate that and I have a quick follow-up.

我只是好奇您是否觀察到競爭格局的任何變化，無論是價格，還是更多相鄰的參與者，或者其他市場參與者，我很想知道最近幾個月您是否觀察到任何重大變化，如果有，您打算如何應對？我還有一個後續問題。

Yeah, look, I -- Rajat, thanks for the question. I think on the competitive landscape, while there could be changes in terms of public versus private, we look at the competitive landscape a little bit differently in that dealerships are trying to drive traffic to themselves directly, and they're spending inordinate amounts of capital trying to interrupt consumers while they perform other tasks to drive them into their stores.

是的，你看，我－拉賈特，謝謝你的提問。我認為在競爭格局方面，雖然公共部門與私營部門之間可能會發生變化，但我們看待競爭格局的方式略有不同，因為經銷商正試圖直接吸引客流，他們花費大量資金試圖在消費者進行其他活動時打斷他們，從而將他們吸引到自己的商店。

The benefit of our platform strategy is we're the largest concentration of organic car shoppers that are spending their shopping time researching and deciding what and where to buy on our platform, and we think savvy dealers are realizing that interruptive advertising is less efficient than native marketplace traffic that we can source and drive consumers directly to their stores.

我們平台策略的優勢在於，我們擁有最集中的自然購車用戶群體，他們會在我們的平台上花時間研究和決定購買什麼以及在哪裡購買。我們認為，精明的經銷商已經意識到，幹擾性廣告的效率遠不如我們能夠獲取並直接將消費者引導至其門市的原生市場流量。

Particularly as average dealers are trying to compete with Carvana and larger platforms using Cars.com as a demand engine for their business, we think is a no-brainer. And so, I look at the competitive landscape more about how do we get dealers to spend less on Google or less than traditional media and do more digitally first and foremost.

尤其是在普通經銷商試圖與 Carvana 和使用 Cars.com 作為業務需求引擎的大型平台競爭的情況下，我們認為這是顯而易見的。因此，我更專注於競爭格局，思考如何讓經銷商減少在Google或其他傳統媒體上的支出，並首先更多地進行數位行銷。

I've got tons of respect for my digital peer set. I know auto is a very competitive category, but we feel very confident because again we source the majority of our traffic organically or directly and so we're a compliment to dealers and their advertising mix.

我非常尊重我的網路同儕。我知道汽車行業競爭非常激烈，但我們很有信心，因為我們的大部分流量都來自自然流量或直接流量，所以我們是經銷商及其廣告組合的補充。

I also will say, our platforms strategies differentiated, we're now powering north of 9,000 dealer websites, helping them optimize their retail presence online. We're giving them tools to operate their business more with more self-sufficiency, which we think we can help overall bring their profitability to new levels. And so we're excited about our innovation roadmap on AI and what that can do and help dealers add capabilities to their business. And again, like marketplaces are competitive, but we've got a much more differentiated and ambitious strategy.

我還要說，我們的平台策略與眾不同，我們現在為超過 9000 個經銷商網站提供支持，幫助他們優化其線上零售業務。我們正在為他們提供工具，讓他們能夠更自給自足地經營業務，我們認為這可以幫助他們整體上將獲利能力提升到新的水平。因此，我們對人工智慧創新路線圖及其能為經銷商帶來的功能提升感到非常興奮，並希望藉此增強他們的業務能力。再次強調，市場競爭激烈，但我們的策略更加差異化和雄心勃勃。

Understood, that's helpful, and then within your dealer demographic, I mean, is it possible to provide a split across, if it's meaningful difference across like luxury, domestic or import, on the franchise dealer side, I ask only because, we're starting to see some of the European brands, feel the brunt of tariffs.

明白了，這很有幫助。然後，就你們經銷商的人口統計數據而言，我的意思是，能否提供一份細分數據，看看在特許經銷商方面，豪華車、國產車或進口車之間是否存在顯著差異？我這麼問是因為我們開始看到一些歐洲品牌感受到了關稅的衝擊。

It looks like October started off a little weak, for those brands. I'm just wondering, if that can have any meaningful impact on churn rates, on RPD for your business, and just curious if you're hearing anything as well on that front.

看來這些品牌10月的開局有點疲軟。我只是想知道，這是否會對貴公司的客戶流失率和每日新增客戶數產生任何實質影響，也想知道您是否也聽到了這方面的任何消息。

Well, listen, I know it's a very dynamic marketplace right now. I -- as you know about our business that we tend to skew up market. The bulk of our dealers are franchise dealerships. The bulk of our audience tends to be late model, even new car shoppers. That's why we have a large OEM business, unlike our peers, because manufacturers know that new car shoppers are also considering late model used.

嗯，我知道現在的市場瞬息萬變。如您所知，我們公司的業務傾向於向高端市場傾斜。我們的經銷商大多是特許經銷商。我們的受眾群體大多是購買較新車型甚至新車的消費者。這就是為什麼我們擁有龐大的 OEM 業務，這與我們的同行不同，因為製造商知道，購買新車的消費者也會考慮購買較新的二手車。

And so we tend to skew upmarket and therefore don't feel some of the same pressures that perhaps some of the credit challenged or lower end of the market, may experience, and so we feel very fortified heading into next year and that the bulk of our audience tends to be more affluent, higher household income, and our dealer base also remains the stronger side of the market as well with franchise dealers making up the majority of our revenue mix.

因此，我們的市場定位偏向高端，因此不會感受到一些信用不佳或市場低端客戶可能面臨的壓力，所以我們對明年充滿信心。我們的客戶群大多比較富裕，家庭收入較高，而且我們的經銷商基礎也依然是市場上的佼佼者，特許經銷商占我們收入的大部分。

Understood. Maybe just final one on capital allocation. I know you're starting to see like a return back to top-line growth, maybe seeing some good progress with like dealer additions. I'm curious if we can expect -- I'm just trying to see like how you rank quarter capital allocation today is buyback still the number one priority, are there other avenues that you're looking at?

明白了。或許只是關於資本配置的最後一步。我知道你們已經開始看到營收恢復成長，或許在增加經銷商方面也取得了一些不錯的進展。我很好奇我們能否期待──我只是想了解一下，你們目前的季度資本配置排名是怎麼樣的？股票回購仍是首要任務嗎？你們還在考慮其他途徑嗎？

Yeah, Rajat, thanks for the question. I think we are still committed to share repurchases as an important portion of our overall capital allocation strategy. Pleased to see how kind of the growth and adjusted EBITDA in particular is helping to bring that leverage down. Our net leverage ratio continues to kind of improve, but we're tracking towards the high end of our share repurchase range based on how we've been buying back on a year-to-date basis and we still see the upside there.

是的，拉賈特，謝謝你的提問。我認為我們仍然致力於股票回購，將其作為我們整體資本配置策略的重要組成部分。很高興看到成長，尤其是調整後的 EBITDA，對降低槓桿率起到了多麼積極的作用。我們的淨槓桿率持續改善，但根據我們今年迄今的回購情況來看，我們的股票回購計畫正接近目標區間的上限，我們仍然看到上漲空間。

Marvin Fong, BTIG.

Marvin Fong，BTIG。

Great. Good morning. Thanks for the question. Very nice quarter here. I would like to start with AccuTrade a little bit deeper on that. So, kind of consistent in the 70-80 dealer edition range of the last three quarters. Just like to kind of get a little more color on the pipeline there and should we kind of think of this as a good pace of ads or do you think you can accelerate that?

偉大的。早安.謝謝你的提問。這片街區很不錯。我想先更深入地了解AccuTrade。所以，過去三個季度經銷商版銷售量基本上穩定在 70-80 美元左右。我只是想更詳細地了解目前的廣告投放進度，我們是否應該認為這是一個合適的廣告投放速度，或者您認為可以加快速度？

And is it going to be sort of lumpy with sort of the larger enterprise deal or larger dealers in there, or you kind of expect it to be kind of smooth, and then just remind us on that large dealer group that added about half, the ads this quarter, how many more stores are in their system that you haven't penetrated yet?

那麼，對於規模較大的企業交易或大型經銷商來說，這個過程會不會比較坎坷？還是您預計會比較順利？另外，請您提醒我們一下，對於本季廣告投放量增加了一半的大型經銷商集團，他們的系統中還有多少門市是您尚未滲透的？

Yeah, well, first of all, look, we're pleased to close an enterprise deal last quarter for AccuTrade, and that I think was about just about half the dealer count growth in the queue, because we still have steady dealer adoption and growth, we're also basically, continue to see dealer group interest in standardizing their vehicle sourcing strategy which we think is a big tailwind for AccuTrade.

是的，首先，我們很高興上個季度完成了 AccuTrade 的企業級交易，我認為這大約占到我們預期經銷商數量增長的一半，因為我們仍然保持著穩定的經銷商採用率和增長，而且我們也繼續看到經銷商集團對標準化其車輛採購策略的興趣，我們認為這對 AccuTrade 來說是一個巨大的利好因素。

Because we can provide dealer groups consistent tooling that puts a process in place that they can manage their vehicle sourcing strategy with tools that that give them enterprise leverage and consistency in how they run their operation so we're seeing strong interest in continued dealer demonstrations and a healthy pipeline there we're also hearing dealers asking us for more inventory syndication capabilities with AccuTrade, so that's on our innovation road map which could be another tailwind, but you know we're overall pleased with the organic momentum we have in our dealer count.

因為我們能夠為經銷商集團提供一致的工具，幫助他們建立一套流程，從而管理車輛採購策略，並利用這些工具賦予他們企業級的影響力，以及運作方式的一致性。因此，我們看到經銷商對持續的演示活動表現出濃厚的興趣，並且銷售通路也十分暢通。此外，我們也聽到經銷商要求我們透過 AccuTrade 提供更多庫存聯合銷售功能，這已列入我們的創新路線圖，可能會成為另一個利好因素。但總的來說，我們對經銷商數量的自然成長勢頭感到滿意。

We think enterprise deals with larger dealer groups can continue to be a strong in addition to our platform, if we're able to secure more of these enterprise deals in Q4 and beyond, but you know this is a slow roll strategy that will scale over time and it certainly adds meaningful ARPD and a high reoccurrence of revenue because the dealers that standardize with AccuTrade not only does that revenue, stay sticky in our platform but it has a halo effect for our other subscription offerings as well including DealerClub as well so we're feeling good about the business.

我們認為，如果能在第四季及以後達成更多與大型經銷商集團的企業交易，這些交易將繼續成為我們平台的有力補充。但你知道，這是一個循序漸進的策略，會隨著時間的推移而擴大規模。它肯定會帶來可觀的平均每日收入 (ARPD) 和較高的收入重複率，因為與 AccuTrade 達成標準化的經銷商不僅能獲得收入，還能在我們的平台上保持黏性，並且對我們的其他訂閱產品（包括 DealerClub）也具有光環效應，所以我們對這項業務充滿信心。

Got it. And thanks for that. And second question on AI, everyone's favorite topic, and I guess I'd ask it, a whole different way. So first, are you seeing any meaningful traffic today that's coming from like a ChatGPT type service, and how, if so -- how's the behavior of those customers? Is it --does it convert the leads any better than other traffic?

知道了。謝謝。關於人工智慧的第二個問題，這是每個人都喜歡的話題，我想我會用完全不同的方式來問。首先，您今天是否看到任何來自類似 ChatGPT 這類服務的有意義的流量？如果有，這些客戶的行為如何？它的轉換率是否比其他流量更高？

Yeah, well, first of all Marvin, thanks for the question. On the AI front, we're very pleased, as we mentioned during the call, when you look at all the leading AI consumer engines, we are in many cases 2x, our nearest closest publicly traded peer, and so that is a testament to the strength of the Cars.com brand and our decade-long commitment to independent expertise and editorial depth and breadth and quality. And so our strength there is being played back to us by these LLMs that recognize our authority. As you know auto is a multi-touch omni-channel experience, meaning consumers are seeking out multiple destinations prior to purchase.

嗯，首先馬文，謝謝你的提問。在人工智慧方面，我們非常高興，正如我們在電話會議中提到的，當你查看所有領先的人工智慧消費者引擎時，在許多情況下，我們的表現是與我們最接近的上市同行的兩倍，這證明了 Cars.com 品牌的實力，以及我們十年來對獨立專業知識、編輯深度、廣度和品質的承諾。因此，這些認可我們權威的LLM們正在向我們展現我們的力量。如您所知，汽車產業是一個多觸點全通路體驗，這意味著消費者在購買之前會尋找多個管道。

Our brand strength and our authority in these engines, while it may not generate a ton of traffic today, it is amplifying our brand strength, which is why we had record traffic in Q3 and feel very strong about continued momentum of our marketplace, consumers are going to seek out trusted independent expertise in auto, and these new AI models are affirming our brand strength and so we feel very good about the advent of AI and what it can do for our business, over time as well.

雖然我們品牌的實力和在這些引擎中的權威性目前可能不會帶來大量的流量，但它正在增強我們的品牌實力，這就是為什麼我們在第三季度獲得了創紀錄的流量，並且對我們市場的持續增長勢頭感到非常樂觀。消費者將會在汽車領域尋求值得信賴的獨立專業知識，而這些新的人工智慧模型正在鞏固我們的品牌實力，因此我們對人工智慧的出現以及它隨著時間的推移能夠為我們的業務帶來的益處感到非常樂觀。

I would just may add in addition to what Alex was talking about in terms of how we're showing up in the various like AI search tools. We're also really pleased with how leveraging AI and natural language search on our own marketplace is helping to drive increased consumer engagement.

我只想補充一下 Alex 剛才提到的，我們在各種人工智慧搜尋工具中的展示方式。我們也非常高興地看到，在我們自己的市場中利用人工智慧和自然語言搜索，有助於提高消費者的參與度。

We see on the order of three times more vehicles saved for consumers who use Carson. They're looking at two times more listings. They return more frequently, so we're actually playing this as like a -- it's a multi-pronged strategy, I really believe to leverage AI to the benefit of the business and we're seeing it translate into real engagement numbers.

我們發現，使用 Carson 的消費者節省的車輛數量大約是其他消費者的三倍。他們正在查看的房源數量是原來的兩倍。他們回訪的頻率更高了，所以我們實際上正在採取一種多管齊下的策略，我真的相信要利用人工智慧為企業帶來利益，而且我們看到它正在轉化為實際的參與度數據。

Right. And that was sort of my second part of the question. I guess through Carson, are you able to see how many people who are using Carson or your other AI related search tools are they purchasing, or more attribution can be given the cars, if they are using cars compared to someone that's not using their AI tools, or is it too early to say.

正確的。這算是我的第二個問題。我想透過 Carson，您是否能夠看到有多少使用 Carson 或其他 AI 相關搜尋工具的用戶購買了汽車？或者，如果使用汽車的使用者與未使用 AI 工具的使用者相比，是否可以對汽車的購買情況進行更深入的分析？還是現在下結論還為時過早？

Yeah. Obviously, this is still a category where the majority of time is spent online and the purchase is offline, and we know that dealer CRMs grossly underrecognize our value delivery. I mean there's only 5 million cars retailed every month in this country, and we know we're saturating the majority of car buyers on our platform.

是的。顯然，在這個領域，大部分時間仍然花在網上，而購買則在線下進行，我們知道經銷商的客戶關係管理系統嚴重低估了我們所提供的價值。我的意思是，這個國家每個月只有 500 萬輛汽車零售，我們知道，我們的平台已經涵蓋了絕大多數購車者。

What I like about what we're seeing with Carson is that. Users are saving more vehicles in their search history, so they're coming back at two times the rate of other shoppers. They're generating more leads compared to people that are using directive search as opposed to more exploratory. We also know that 70% of our users are undecided on make and model selection, so we're going back to OEMs who previously maybe haven't realized the power of our search engine that they can influence undecided shoppers on our platform and we're seeing higher conversion rate of these users in terms of tangible leads to dealers.

我喜歡卡森身上的這一點。用戶在搜尋歷史記錄中保存的車輛數量更多，因此他們的回頭率是其他購物者的兩倍。與使用定向搜尋而非探索式搜尋的人相比，他們獲得的潛在客戶更多。我們也知道，70% 的用戶在選擇品牌和型號時猶豫不決，因此我們正在重新與 OEM 廠商合作，他們之前可能沒有意識到我們搜尋引擎的強大功能，可以影響我們平台上猶豫不決的購物者，而且我們看到這些用戶在為經銷商帶來實際銷售線索方面的轉換率更高。

And so you know consumer engagement is critical to thrive in any marketplace, and Carson is showing us a lot more potential what we can do on the user experience front to connect brands and dealers to our audience using AI as an advantage. So I expect to see a steady quarterly stream of innovations here that both improve user experience and also drive down our operating costs.

因此，您也知道，消費者互動對於在任何市場中取得成功至關重要，而卡森向我們展示了我們在用戶體驗方面可以做的更多事情，即利用人工智慧優勢將品牌和經銷商與我們的受眾聯繫起來。因此，我預計每季都會有源源不絕的創新，這些創新既能改善用戶體驗，又能降低我們的營運成本。

Khan Naved, B. Riley Securities.

Khan Naved，B.萊利證券。

Great, thank you very much. Maybe just on the marketplace repackaging initiative, I know you've been using opt-in, from -- for dealers to kind of migrate up to the higher tier. Are there -- is there any plan to kind of accelerate that maybe, so that more of the dealers can migrate to the higher tiers, or do you continue to see it as an opt-in move? That's my first question.

太好了，非常感謝。也許只是關於市場重新包裝計劃，我知道你們一直在使用選擇加入的方式，讓經銷商升級到更高的等級。是否有任何計劃來加速這一進程，以便更多的經銷商能夠升級到更高的級別，還是您仍然認為這是一個自願參與的過程？這是我的第一個問題。

And the second question I have is, just around the traffic growth, kind of, can you just let me talk about organic versus state mix and AI overviews if it had any impact at all, at least from the headline numbers looks like not, but just talk about how we're thinking about the traffic.

我的第二個問題是，關於流量成長，您能否讓我談談自然流量與州際流量的組合以及人工智慧概述，看看它是否產生了任何影響？至少從整體數據來看似乎沒有，但請談談我們是如何看待流量的。

Sure. Well, first of all, our sales go to, I'll start, Sonia, and then you can maybe come on the repackaging. I think our sales go to market motion is constantly showing dealers the strength of upgrading to our premium tiers, and we've got demonstrable data that shows the more dealers spend, the more value and market share they can get on our marketplace. And so that will be a rolling benefit for us to educate dealers on the strength of higher tiers and as Sonia pointed out earlier like we've got a lot of headroom to go there on the repackaging front and I think we can also continue to introduce new tools and features that help dealers gravitate towards higher spending levels on our marketplace and even cross selling other solutions.

當然。首先，我們的銷售工作由我先開始，索尼婭，然後你可以參與重新包裝的工作。我認為我們的銷售市場動態不斷向經銷商展示升級到我們高級套餐的優勢，而且我們有確鑿的數據表明，經銷商投入越多，他們在我們的市場上就能獲得越多的價值和市場份額。因此，這將為我們帶來持續的好處，讓我們教育經銷商了解更高層級的優勢。正如 Sonia 之前指出的那樣，我們在重新包裝方面還有很大的發展空間。我認為我們還可以繼續推出新的工具和功能，幫助經銷商在我們的市場上提高消費水平，甚至交叉銷售其他解決方案。

I think also on the on the AI front, this is early innings we're really pleased with the initial response that we're seeing with consumers using AI in our marketplace, we also are pleased with how we're showing up organically in all the leading LLMs and the AEO optimization strategy I'd say is in the early stages here, but our brand strength and our unique content certainly give us distinct advantages to our peers. I don't know, Sonia, what else you'd add to that.

我認為在人工智慧方面，目前還處於早期階段，我們對消費者在我們市場中使用人工智慧的初步反應感到非常滿意。我們也對我們在所有領先的LLM（潛在客戶開發工具）中的自然排名感到滿意。我認為AEO（廣告優化）策略還處於早期階段，但我們的品牌實力和獨特的內容無疑使我們比同行擁有明顯的優勢。索妮婭，我不知道你還能補充什麼。

No, I think Alex, you covered it really well. I was just going to add on repackaging, we continue to be focused in on the opt-in model. It buys us better outcomes overall with the dealers when they're bought into the rationale and the expectation of why they're moving up tier, and we've seen good contraction with it, right? Like I think we cited a stat in in earlier around premium plus and we saw a 50% increase in premium plus from September to October, so we'll continue to focus on the benefits of moving up here in terms of the value delivery creation.

不，我覺得Alex，你已經解釋得很清楚了。我本來想補充一下重新包裝的問題，我們仍然專注於選擇加入模式。如果經銷商們了解升級的理由和預期，那麼整體上就能獲得更好的結果，而且我們已經看到這種情況有所改善，對吧？就像我們之前提到的關於高級會員的統計數據一樣，我們看到高級會員從 9 月到 10 月增長了 50%，所以我們將繼續關注升級到高級會員在價值交付創造方面的好處。

Joe Spak, UBS.

喬·斯帕克，瑞銀集團。

Thanks, good morning. So yeah, the first question just on the guidance, the way you guide obviously get some decently wide ranges based on your disclosures, but if I look the sort of the past few years seasonality, it's like -- it looks like 4Q EBITDA is about 10% higher quarter-over-quarter, which would mean something around $60 million which obviously clearly falls within that implied range.

謝謝，早安。是的，第一個問題是關於業績指引的，根據你們披露的信息，你們的指引顯然給出了相當寬泛的範圍，但如果我看一下過去幾年的季節性因素，看起來第四季度的 EBITDA 比上一季度增長了約 10%，這意味著大約 6000 萬美元，這顯然在隱含的範圍內。

I just want to make sure we're all level set. Is that sort of like a good level to calibrate upon and what do you really think sort of drives the higher end versus the lower end here with, basically two months left in the year?

我只是想確保我們都清楚彼此的立場。這算是比較好的校準基準嗎？你認為在距離年底還有兩個月的情況下，是什麼因素導致了高低端之間的差異？

Yeah, Joe, this is a great question. Thank you. I think in terms of adjusted EBITDA, what the benefit that we really saw in Q3, some of it came from revenue, some of the high flow through on revenue, some of it came from continued cost management, and then a portion of it was a little bit more timing oriented, so we feel pretty comfortable with our overall adjusted EBITDA range, but I would say getting towards the higher end of that range probably requires some -- a little bit more of that episodic revenue to come in that tends to be a little bit higher margin, so it would require a heavier lift on, let's say the OEM and national side of the business to get closer to the high end of the range.

是的，喬，這是一個很好的問題。謝謝。我認為就調整後 EBITDA 而言，我們在第三季度真正看到的收益，一部分來自收入，一部分來自高額收入流出，一部分來自持續的成本控制，還有一部分更多地與時間因素有關。因此，我們對整體調整後 EBITDA 的預期範圍感到比較滿意。但我認為，要達到預期範圍的上限，可能需要更多利潤率較高的偶發性收入，因此，我們需要在 OEM 和全國性業務方面付出更大的努力，才能更接近預期範圍的上限。

Okay, any update there was -- there's still some pause, and I know they committed to that spend, but it could bleed into next year. Is that, is that still?

好的，目前還有一些進展——雖然還有些停滯，我知道他們已經承諾了這筆支出，但這可能會延續到明年。那……那還是現在的樣子嗎？

Yeah, we're seeing a little bit more, like kind of like we talked about in September some of that pressure has been continuing into October. Now, as I mentioned, periodically we will see as we get towards the end of the year some of them will lean into those budgets a little bit more and also, I think some of the overhang, production numbers where SAR is sitting right now are probably a little bit of a drag on expectations as well.

是的，我們看到的情況有所好轉，就像我們在9月份討論的那樣，這種壓力一直延續到了10月份。正如我之前提到的，隨著年底臨近，我們會看到一些專案會更加重視預算，我認為，SAR 目前的生產數據可能也會在某種程度上拖累預期。

Okay, and then on Carson, and I apologize this might be a very ignorant question, but I'm just trying to sort of understand, all the AI stuff is it just trained on, like the data you have access to like your dealership customers or is it broader and then out of curiosity, is there anything that prevents other AI agents from accessing the data you have on your site? It sounds like you actually want to feed that, but if you do, is there a way to guarantee that those other solutions, almost like don't cut you out and go through your site and not around Cars.com? I don't know if that makes sense or I'm misinterpreting the technology, but if you could sort of.

好的，關於 Carson，很抱歉這個問題可能很無知，但我只是想了解一下，所有的人工智慧功能，它是否只是基於您能夠訪問的資料（例如您的經銷商客戶資料）進行訓練，還是基於更廣泛的資料？另外，出於好奇，是否有任何措施可以阻止其他人工智慧代理存取您網站上的資料？聽起來你確實想滿足這個需求，但如果你真的想這樣做，有沒有辦法保證其他解決方案（例如直接訪問你的網站而不是繞過 Cars.com）不會繞過你？我不知道這樣說是否合理，或者我對這項技術的理解有誤，但如果你能稍微解釋一下的話。

No, Joe, it's a great question. So thank you. So Carson we're leveraging our data infrastructure to power and train Carson. You know we've got millions and millions of data signals flowing through our systems every day and so Carson's intelligence continues to be self-taught and self-fed on all these automotive intentions and searches and behaviors.

不，喬，這是一個很好的問題。所以，謝謝你。所以，我們正在利用我們的資料基礎設施來驅動和訓練 Carson。你知道，我們每天都有數百萬個數據訊號流經我們的系統，因此 Carson 的智慧會不斷地根據所有這些汽車意圖、搜尋和行為進行自我學習和自我更新。

By the way, we put out a press release on Carson today so you can read more about how consumers are interacting with Carson. Certainly, we let the large consumer facing LLMs are able to train off our data as well and so while there is risk that consumers can render answers on these other environments, what they do is attribute their knowledge to Cars.com, and we think that is incredible brand exposure and leverages our deep authority to make consumers aware that Cars.com, has knowledge, and automotive is uniquely a multi-touch category.

順便一提，我們今天發布了一份關於Carson的新聞稿，您可以閱讀更多關於消費者如何與Carson互動的資訊。當然，我們也允許面向消費者的大型LLM（生命週期管理）利用我們的數據進行訓練，因此，雖然消費者可能會在其他環境中給出答案，但他們實際上是將自己的知識歸功於Cars.com，我們認為這是極佳的品牌曝光，並利用我們深厚的權威性讓消費者意識到Cars.com擁有專業知識，而汽車行業本身就是一個獨特的汽車行業本身就是一個獨特的汽車行業。

Unlike a lot of consumer goods or low price point purchases, consumers may only seek out one to two destinations, but buying a car is the second largest transaction in people's lives. They're going to seek out multiple sources of information prior to purchase, and we certainly think the LLMs constantly referencing Cars.com as an authority is going to continue to generate traffic directly to us.

與許多消費品或低價商品不同，消費者可能只會選擇一到兩個目的地，但買車是人們一生中第二大筆交易。他們購買之前會尋找多種資訊來源，我們當然認為，LLM 不斷將 Cars.com 作為權威來源的做法將繼續直接為我們帶來流量。

As consumers go to get additional information, research on which dealerships have the best reputations, what they could expect to pay any OEM incentives that are available, there's just a lot of information consumption in this category that makes me certain that that no one destination can disrupt the 20-year strength of our brand and our content expertise.

當消費者尋求更多信息，研究哪些經銷商信譽最好，以及他們可以預期支付多少費用才能獲得任何可用的 OEM 優惠時，這一類別的信息消費量非常大，這讓我確信，沒有任何一個平台能夠撼動我們品牌 20 年來的強大實力和內容專業知識。

Thanks, that's incredibly insightful.

謝謝，這真是太有見地了。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

If there are no further questions at this time, please proceed with closing remarks.

如果目前沒有其他問題，請您作總結發言。

Thanks everyone for joining the call. We'll see some of you on the road very soon. I appreciate the support and have a good day.

感謝各位參與通話。我們很快就會在路上見到你們中的一些人。感謝大家的支持，祝您今天過得愉快。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating and ask that you please disconnect your lines.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，請您斷開線路。