Connect With Jonathan

Jonathan Smoke

Cox Automotive Incoming Chief Strategy Officer (Former Chief Economist)

Jonathan Smoke is chief strategy officer for Cox Automotive. As an executive vice president, Smoke leads Cox Automotive’s strategy team and is responsible for shaping the company’s long-term vision, developing and executing strategic initiatives and ensuring the company's success in a rapidly evolving market.  In his prior role, he was chief economist for Cox Automotive and economic advisor for Cox Enterprises. He led Cox Automotive’s Economic and Industry Insights team, which tracks key metrics and trends impacting both the wholesale and retail markets for vehicles, informed by the proprietary data from the company’s businesses and platforms. He also oversaw the company’s effort to track and forecast key aspects of the economic environment in which Cox Enterprises companies compete. For more than 30 years, Smoke has focused on translating data and trends into relevant, actionable insights for the industries that represent the biggest purchases that consumers make in their lifetimes: real estate and automotive. In 2025, Smoke was honored by Cherokee Media with the Auto Intel Award. Before joining Cox Automotive in 2017, he held the role of chief economist at Realtor.com and Hanley Wood, a media and market intelligence firm. He served in multiple leadership positions at Beazer Homes, including senior vice president of Strategy and Innovation. Smoke started his post-graduate career as a management consultant at Deloitte. Smoke holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and religious studies from Rhodes College and a master’s degree in business from The University of Texas at Austin.

Featured In