As part of its 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.

The honorees in the first-ever Automotive Intelligence Awards: Industry Analysts include, in alphabetical order by last name:

— Jonathan Banks, Vice President of Product Development & Valuation Services, J.D. Power
— Larry Dixon, Vice President, Auction Data Solutions/AuctionNet, NAAA
— Kevin Roberts, Director of Economic and Market Intelligence, CarGurus
— Jonathan Smoke, Chief Economist, Cox Automotive
— Laura Wehunt, Vice President, Data & Analytics, Black Book
— Melinda Zabritski, Head of Automotive Financial Insights, Experian Automotive

These honorees were hand-picked by the Cherokee Media Group team to be among our inaugural honorees and are at the top of the game when it comes to powering the industry with the analytics and analysis needed to thrive.

The second part of the awards program, the Automotive Intelligence Awards: Emerging Companies, 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. More details to come.

These top Industry Analysts and Emerging Companies 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.

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