Paul D. Donahue: Hey, Christian, I would just tag on to what, Will said. We are encouraged. One, we’ll mention the industrial production numbers, which we saw nice a lift in September. But we’ve tracked 14 different indicators in our Motion business. Christian, we saw five of those indicators improve in September. So, categories like, I mean, automotive has continued to be positive food products, DC logistics, equipment leasing, all are trending up, including mining. So, yes, to Will’s point have — has the industrial downturn has had reached a trough. I think if it hasn’t, we’re darn close. And what we generally find is, as we see the major indices like industrial production begin to bounce back, we generally follow that somewhere 60 to 90 days later, we’ll see our business begin to shift. So, again, great team at Motion. They’ve had a phenomenal year, and, and we’re looking forward to better days here in 2024 on the top line for that group.
Christian Oberle: Got it. That’s very helpful. And as you think about gross margin, are there any one time or unsustainable items in 3Q just given and as you look ahead, you know, vendor allowances have historically driven a fair amount of volatility in 4Q gross margins. So, is there anything to call out there?
Bert Nappier: Hi Christian, its Bert. Nothing to call out, we had a really clean quarter on gross margin. Nothing related to some of the noise you just mentioned there. I’m super proud of the teams. They’ve executed at a very high level. So, our expansion of gross margin here in the third quarter of 130 basis points continues to come on the back of the investments we’re making in sourcing and pricing.
Christian Oberle: Got it. Thank you very much and best of luck.
Bert Nappier: Thank you, Christian.
Operator: The next question comes from Seth Basham of Wedbush Securities. Please go ahead.
Seth Basham: Thanks a lot, and good morning. My question is regarding the pricing strategy in the US Automotive business. Obviously, you’ve done a great job improving your gross margins there. But what gives you the confidence that your less aggressive pricing is not leading to some market share losses?
Bert Nappier: Yes, Seth. This is Bert. Look, it’s a good question. A thoughtful question. And we don’t believe that our work around gross margin has come at the expense of share gains. You all know that price is not generally the leading factor. And driving sales in the aftermarket. It’s more about availability and quality as Paul and Will have mentioned this morning. That’s a really strategic question. It comes down to pricing strategies that category and SKU level, and the long-standing balance of that against unit growth. We believe the investments we’re making in data analytics and pricing tool many of those we showcase at Investor Day have really given us an ability to be even more strategic and flex our strategy up and down, by both category and geography.
It allows us to remain competitive, respond to the environment as it moves and stay in line with the market dynamics. So, I think the short answer is no. We don’t believe that our work there is impacting, share gains or losses. And we continue to stay focused on driving our gross margin performance, we lifted our expectations for the year, now looking at 50 to 60 basis points of improvement for the full year. I’m pleased with that result.
Seth Basham: That’s helpful color. And you mentioned responding to market dynamics you know, talked about some of your smaller competitors being better in stock. Last quarter, you talked about weighing the cost and benefits of the major account segment. Can you give us an update on that latter point? How you’re thinking about major accounts at this point has become more price competitive there, and if you walked away for any business?
