Shadowing Practice: Why Cheaper Car Sales Have Fallen - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Affordability has been one of the biggest themes in the auto industry, and data show car buyers are feeling the pinch.
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The market has changed a lot, really concerned about continued escalation in the fuel price.
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We're seeing 84 -month financing, which a year ago was not really popular, almost a third of the market for new vehicles.
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So people are stretching more and more to buy that new Ford.
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Those 84 -month loans Farley mentioned have hit record levels.
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Now one in four car buyers are getting them.
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And monthly payments?
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Record high.
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Payments over $1 ,000 a month?
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Record high for both new and used car buyers.
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Total interest paid also hit an all -time high.
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Has it gotten any better?
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No way.
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We're at like breaking points with people.
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High -end vehicle sales dropped through the third quarter of 2026, while midsize and mainstream vehicles rose.
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Even midsize cars and minivans were up.
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But some of the least expensive cars on the market aren't seeing that same bump.
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More affordable segments like compact SUVs and compact cars priced less than $40 ,000 have fallen year over year.
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Even though sales in affordable segments are down year -to -date, lower -priced vehicles on dealer lots were selling faster in Q3 than in Q1,
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and faster than higher -priced vehicles.
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So if cheap cars are selling faster, why are sales still down?
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There are a few possible reasons.
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One, fewer options.
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Two, customers unwilling to trade down.
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And three, many buyers are still priced out.
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First, there is an argument that there aren't enough cars available, or the selection that customers would like.
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For one thing, the compact car segment has shrunk dramatically.
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We've seen a whole number of inexpensive vehicles disappear from the marketplace.
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And we still have Civics and Kia K4s and Toyota Corollas on the market, but you don't have a Chevy, you don't have a Ford,
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you don't have a Dodge.
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You have all these brands that have just abandoned the marketplace.
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And those buyers would typically move into those showrooms are going to the used car market
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and having to buy an entry level leftover 20 ,000, 30 ,000 mile compact or subcompact car.
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In the wholesale used market, compact car prices have risen faster than for every segment besides EVs.
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Compact vehicle buyers are very price sensitive.
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And so when the price of gas goes up, that eats into their car payment.
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That means that they can't afford a $500 or $600 a month car payment, and they have to move into the used market.
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That's pushing up the prices of used cars.
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A few popular SUVs in the lower price range have been in short supply as well.
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Ford discontinued production of the Escape to make way for its new midsize EV pickup,
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and some production changes have constrained the supply of the extremely popular Toyota RAV4.
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But analysts like Ivan Drury also think the degree to
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which consumers are stretching themselves financially suggests some are just not stepping down into a smaller, less well -equipped car.
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The moment you get into that other vehicle and it's a little bit smaller, it's not as comfortable, it doesn't fit all your stuff,
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all your kids' equipment for soccer practice, you're done.
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And as long as we can't give those things up, we're going to continue to persist with people taking out longer loan terms,
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stretching things financially, or just saying, you know what, I'll cut in other places in my life just to afford this vehicle.
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The one small vehicle segment that did see some growth was subcompact SUVs.
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Drury said that's a segment that attracts a lot of first -time buyers.
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Because this is their first car, these buyers don't feel like they're stepping down from something better.
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There are also a number of other financial and economic factors working against affordability.
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Manufacturers are being more disciplined about production,
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which means they are trying to match production with demand so they don't have to rely so much on incentives and leasing.
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This is great for their financial performance, but it means there are fewer deals to be had by consumers.
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Automakers are offering fewer incentives.
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Leasing, which offers a lower monthly payment, is less common than it was in 2019.
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We have kind of a resilient core of the market.
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But that entry -level buyer has kind of priced out and that's brought, it's brought a smaller, more profitable market overall.
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That entry -level buyer is looking at a daunting landscape.
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Nearly one in three shoppers trading in a vehicle have negative equity,
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meaning the outstanding cost of the loan is greater than the value of the vehicle.
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That balance is often rolled into the next loan, which raises the new payment cost.
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Lenders have been extending credit to customers with lower credit scores, but that comes with costs, too.
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If you have a lower credit score, and most lenders do risk -based pricing, so a lower credit score gets you a higher interest rate,
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all else being equal, well, that is going to add to that monthly payment.
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And consumers are facing higher gas prices and higher costs overall.
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There's three dials you can turn to do a deal to make a vehicle more affordable.
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There's the income of the buyer.
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There's the price of money, interest rate, and there's the cost of the vehicle.
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And there's no relief coming on any of those three anytime soon.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Why Cheaper Car Sales Have Fallen”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: vehicle, buyer, price, payment, compact. This video has 70 sentences and 903 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:37. The speaker talks at a natural 161 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| buyer noun | /ˈbaɪ.əɹ/ | A person who makes one or more purchases. |
| segment noun | /ˈsɛɡmɛnt/ | A length of some object. |
| compact adjective | /kəmˈpækt/ | Closely packed or densely constituted; having much material in a small volume. |
| stretch verb | /stɹɛt͡ʃ/ | To lengthen by pulling. |
| fewer | /ˈfjuː.ɚ/ | Less; a smaller amount of something non-integral commonly expressed as an integer |
| affordable adjective | /əˈfɔɹ.də.bəl/ | Able to be afforded; inexpensive or reasonably priced. |
| lease noun | /liːs/ | An interest in land granting exclusive use or occupation of real estate for a limited period; a leasehold. |
| financially adverb | In terms of finance or money. | |
| incentive noun | /ɪnˈsɛntɪv/ | Something that motivates, rouses, or encourages. |
| marketplace noun | An open area in a town housing a public market. | |
| lender noun | /ˈlɛn.dɚ/ | One who lends, especially money; specifically, a bank or other entity that specializes in granting loans. |
| auto noun | /ˈɔːtəʊ/ | A setting for automatic operation. |
| soccer noun | /ˈsɑk.ɚ/ | Association football. |
| sensitive adjective | /ˈsɛn.sɪt.ɪv/ | Having the faculty of sensation; pertaining to the senses. |
| landscape noun | /ˈlan(d)skeɪp/ | A portion of land or territory as defined by its landform, its geographical (and architectural) features. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| go up verb | To move upwards. |
| push up verb | To make (something) higher; to increase. |
| take out verb | To remove. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has been · has changed · have hit |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are still priced · be had · is often rolled |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 17 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, we're, aren't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: escalation /ˌɛs.kəˈleɪ.ʃən/, shopper /ˈʃɑ.pɚ/, showroom /ˈʃoʊˌɹum/
- Long words — get the stress right: affordable /əˈfɔɹ.də.bəl/, manufacturer /ˌmænjʊˈfæktʃəɹə/, inexpensive /ˌɪnɪkˈspɛnsɪv/, discontinue /ˌdɪskənˈtɪnju/, escalation /ˌɛs.kəˈleɪ.ʃən/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like buyer, segment, compact.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.