Dealer Industry News & Podcasts

Response to FTC demands about vehicle pricing among new capabilities of Dealer Digital Intelligence from DAS Technology

DAS Technology introduced expanded tools for monitoring website pricing transparency, AI search visibility, reputation, and other dealership digital performance signals. Dealer groups can use the platform to identify compliance risks and prioritize changes that improve customer trust and online discovery.

From 10 Cars a Month to 100: Best Practices for Dealers Ready to Scale Vehicle Acquisition

This article outlines the operational discipline dealerships need to grow direct vehicle acquisition beyond occasional purchases. It emphasizes clear processes, fast appraisal follow-up, consistent marketing, and accountability for turning consumer interest into acquired inventory.

How LPR Analytics Help Fight Fraud and Recover Losses

License plate recognition tools can help dealerships connect vehicle movements, security footage, and fraud alerts more quickly during a theft or suspicious transaction. Dealers should pair these tools with defined access controls, retention rules, and staff escalation procedures to support compliance and recovery efforts.

Central Dispatch Enhances AI-Powered Pricing Intelligence to Be More Responsive to Rapidly Shifting Vehicle Transport Market

Central Dispatch enhanced its Price Check Plus tool with more frequent data refreshes and more responsive pricing recommendations. Dealers moving inventory can use the updated intelligence to price loads more accurately, improve carrier acceptance, and reduce time to dispatch.

How Autobahn Dealership Group Streamlined Invoice Processing with Accounts Payable AI

Autobahn Dealership Group used accounts payable automation to eliminate manual invoice entry, prevent duplicate invoices, and streamline reconciliation. The case shows how dealer accounting teams can reduce back-office work while improving purchase order matching and approval controls.

June New-Vehicle Inventory Holds Steady as Sales Pace Cools

New-vehicle inventory remained generally stable in June, while a slower sales pace pushed days supply higher across the market. Dealers can use the brand-level inventory differences in this report to guide pricing, incentive, and merchandising decisions at the rooftop level.

Widewail releases Q1 2026 Automotive Voice of the Customer report

Widewail’s report finds that communication has become the leading source of negative dealership reviews, while digital inspections and automated updates are improving customer sentiment. Dealers can use the findings to tighten review-response discipline, improve handoffs, and provide more consistent sales and service communication.

Where did all the gravy work go?

Aging vehicles and complex diagnostic work are crowding out profitable maintenance work and reducing technician productivity. The article recommends stronger scheduling, advance preparation, parts planning, and inspection discipline to protect service capacity and technician earnings.

The Return of Digital Retail and Why It Never Went Anywhere

Digital retail has matured into a core dealership process, with buyers expecting transparent pricing and continuity between online and showroom steps. Dealers should integrate digital tools into daily sales and F&I workflows rather than operate them as a separate channel.

Fox Motors uses AI to tackle problems, capitalize on opportunities

Fox Motors is using dealership data and AI to speed reporting, distribute compliant offers, analyze customer reviews, and respond to after-hours leads. The examples show how dealers can target specific bottlenecks and pair automation with clear employee workflows.

Why Ken Garff sees itself as ‘a data company that sells cars’

Ken Garff modernized its data architecture to bring sales, service, finance, and third-party information into faster role-based dashboards. A governed data foundation can reduce employee wait time today while preparing the group for future dealership AI applications.

REPAY Joins the Tekion Strategic Partner Program to Streamline Vendor Payments for Automotive Dealers

Tekion added REPAY to its partner program to help automotive retailers streamline electronic vendor payments and reduce processing complexity. Dealers should evaluate how the integration fits their accounting controls, approval workflows, and existing payment partners.

Adapting AI to Auto Dealership Operations Is a Work in Progress

An Ohio dealership CEO explains how his stores use AI-driven tools to uncover missed sales and service opportunities. He warns that dealers must carefully manage the handoff between AI systems and human staff to ensure a smooth customer experience.

Dealership Digital Advertising Is Working Better Than Ever

New data shows a 37% year-over-year jump in ad conversions with cost-per-lead dropping 14.8%, as dealers move budgets into high-value channels like Google Performance Max and conversational AI to reach active shoppers effectively.

How AI Can Uncover Hidden Revenue in Your Dealership

Conversica CEO Mike Gilson explains that AI tools can sift through existing DMS and CRM data to surface missed service and sales opportunities — helping dealership teams act on them for additional profit without needing new data sources.

QoreAI Launches Unified Dealership Data Platform, Adds Lokam.ai as Application Partner

QoreAI unveiled a unified data platform that consolidates all dealer data — DMS, CRM, inventory — into one infrastructure layer. The platform has integrated Lokam.ai as its first AI voice assistant application, showing how dealers can run AI-powered tools directly on their own data.

The Hidden Cost of Slow Dealership Websites in 2026

Studies show most dealer websites fail Google's mobile speed benchmarks, resulting in lost traffic, higher customer acquisition costs, and lower search rankings. Slow load times are quietly draining lead volume and ad spend efficiency across the industry.

Cox Automotive Completes Fullpath Acquisition, Launches Integrated AI Data Platform for Dealers

Cox Automotive acquired Fullpath and launched an AI-powered customer data platform tying together dealers' CRM and DMS data with in-market shopper signals from AutoTrader and Kelley Blue Book — enabling dealers to identify active buyers sooner and act with targeted offers.