AI and car sales, October 15. Old used cars give Vertu a 15.1% margin

It is Thursday, and this is world news from the last day. Today I cover two AI agents for dealers, a UK group that makes money on old cars, and BYD, which does not have enough ships. I also cover payments and prices in the US, India, Australia and a Cadillac salesperson whom buyers find on social media. I added what I think about each story.

UK dealer Vertu sells cars older than seven years at a 15.1% margin, twice the usual#

Vertu Motors reported its half year to August 31 on October 14. Revenue grew 3.4% to a record £2.6bn. Adjusted profit before tax grew 19% to £23.8m. The group raised its profit forecast for the third time this year, now to £26.5m.

The most interesting number is in used cars. In April, Vertu started Value Cars, a unit for older cars. Sales of cars older than seven years grew 34.7%. They gave almost 90% of all growth in used car sales. These cars sell 11.5 days faster than standard used cars, and their gross margin is 15.1% against 7.5%.

The group now has 20 sites for Chinese brands, up from 9 a year ago. It plans up to 31 sites by mid-2027. The brands include BYD and Leapmotor.

My opinion. For years, dealers sent old trade-ins to auction because the work cost too much. Vertu shows the opposite. A cheap car sells faster and brings twice the margin.

I would count how many cars older than seven years went to auction last quarter, and at what price. People ask about these cars at night and from a phone. The agent answers at once with photos, the price and a time to see the car. The salesperson closes the deal.

Source Car Dealer Magazine

ProMax launched an AI agent that answers leads and books visits to the store#

ProMax is a US company that makes a CRM and other software for dealers. It launched ProMax BDC AI, an add-on to its ProMax Complete system. The agent answers a website lead at once by text message and email. It finds cars in stock, asks about the trade-in and moves the customer toward a booked visit. Auto Remarketing reported this on October 14.

When the customer needs a salesperson or asks a hard question, the agent passes the talk to a person. The full conversation stays in the customer record. After a visit is booked, the agent confirms it, sends reminders and moves the time if needed.

The company claims early results. It says it reaches 92% of leads, 65% of customers come to a confirmed visit, and lead conversion grew 8% in 30 days. In California, where the CARS Act started on October 1, ProMax added full price tools and forms at no extra cost.

My opinion. This is a vendor claim, not a test at a dealer, and I would read it that way. But the design is right. The agent does the first reply, the questions and the booking. The person gets a customer who already has a visit time.

Before I buy, I would ask three questions. How did they count the 65% who came, at how many stores and over what time? Where is the line after which the agent must call a person? Can I see every message from the agent in the customer record? No record of every message means no sales department.

Source Auto Remarketing

In the UK, dealers search an auction for stock with an AI helper in WhatsApp#

Motorway is a UK online auction for used cars. It launched Oto, an AI helper. A dealer writes in WhatsApp in normal words, for example "silver XC40s under £20k". Oto searches the live auction and sends matching cars with photos, details and a link to bid. The dealer can add details, for example mileage or distance.

The helper learns from the dealer's past purchases and bids. It also watches the auction on its own and writes to the dealer when a good car appears. Up to 2,500 cars enter the Motorway auction every day. The company did not say how much time Oto saves. It only reports "early signs".

My opinion. Here the agent does not work with the buyer. It works with the dealer's stock buyer. This is a good move, because buying used stock is also routine work that people do by hand in the evening.

I would give the stock buyer a simple rule. Every morning, the agent sends five cars that match what the store sold last month. A person decides on the bid. AI prepares, a person decides and owns the price.

Source Car Dealer Magazine

BYD sold 180,700 cars outside China in September and is building 10 more ships#

BYD sold 180,700 cars outside China in September. This is more than twice the number a year ago and almost 40% of all its sales that month. In China, its sales fell 33% in the first eight months. The goal for 2027 is 2.5 million cars abroad, and for 2026 it is 1.9 to 2 million.

The company does not have enough ships to carry its cars. BYD wants to grow its fleet from 8 to 18 ships by 2029, each for 9,200 cars. Renting a ship for 6,500 cars costs $95,000 a day, against $50,000 in February. Because of conflict in the Red Sea, ships from Asia to Europe now go around Africa. The trip can take up to 14 days longer.

My opinion. A Chinese brand that loses sales at home will push harder abroad. Dealers in Europe, Asia and the Middle East will see more BYD cars and more discounts near them.

I would not prepare salespeople to argue about brands. I would prepare them with numbers. The customer will come with a BYD price on the phone. The salesperson needs a ready monthly payment and a cost of ownership for their car against the nearest Chinese model.

Source Rest of World

A Cadillac salesperson in Tennessee gets buyers from five states through short videos#

Andrea Anderson sells cars at Andrews Cadillac in Brentwood, Tennessee. On social media, her page is called "Andrea Sells Cadillac". CBT News told her story on October 14.

The first results came after three to six months. A steady flow came after a year. Now people call her, write to her and send friends every day. People from five states, from Arizona to Montana, have bought from her. The article gives no numbers for followers or sales.

Her rules are these. Post on every major platform. Spend one to two hours a day on filming and editing. Answer the questions that customers ask every day in short videos. Keep small mistakes in, because buyers want to see a real person.

My opinion. The buyer meets the salesperson before the visit. The video does the first five minutes of the meeting before the customer comes to the store.

I would not force every salesperson to film. I would give the ones who want to a list of ten customer questions from the last month. The agent can collect this list from chats in one minute. One question, one video a day. I would also mark leads from videos as a separate source in the CRM, so I can see the numbers after three months.

Source CBT News

Research#

The average new car in the US costs $50,562, and incentives fell 8.8% in a year#

Kelley Blue Book, a service of Cox Automotive, released its September transaction price report on October 13. The average price of a new car grew 0.9% in a month to $50,562. In a year, it grew 0.7%, while the usual September growth is 2% to 4%. It is $52 below the record of December 2025.

The average incentive is $3,359, or 6.6% of the price. A year ago it was 7.3%. In dollars, incentives fell 8.8%. The average electric car costs $55,879. That is 11% more than a similar gas car, while in 2025 the gap was about 18%.

Erin Keating from Cox Automotive says the mix keeps the average price low. Buyers move to cheaper segments, even while each model gets more expensive. The report does not describe its method. The detailed tables are in a separate PDF.

My opinion. There are fewer incentives, and buyers move one class down. So the salesperson cannot close the deal with a discount. What is left is a talk about the payment and about what the customer needs.

For each popular model, I would give the salesperson a ready option one class lower, with the payment. When the customer says "too expensive", the salesperson shows two options in one minute. They do not go to the manager for a discount.

Source Cox Automotive

The average US new car payment reached $787, and one buyer in four takes a 7-year loan#

Jessica Caldwell leads insights at Edmunds. On October 14, she discussed third quarter loan numbers on CBT News. The average monthly payment for a new car reached a record $787. About one buyer in four takes a loan of 84 months or longer. More than 20% pay over $1,000 a month.

Over the full loan, the buyer pays about $10,000 in interest. Down payments have fallen. Leases are about 19% of retail sales. New car stock is 2.7 to 2.8 million cars, against about 4 million before the pandemic.

My opinion. A seven-year loan makes a customer who will come back in three years owing more than the car is worth. The salesperson closes the deal today. In three years, another dealer who offers a way out will take this customer.

For every 84-month deal, I would also show the customer a lease offer. Let the customer compare the two numbers. After two years, the agent reminds the salesperson about customers whose loan is now close to the car's value.

Source CBT News

65% of shoppers plan to use AI for holiday shopping, but only 8% of retailers are ready#

Mark Ruston leads global retail at Capgemini. On October 12, he wrote about new company research on holiday shopping in 2026. 65% of consumers plan to use AI for at least one step of their holiday shopping. Only 8% of retailers say they are ready for this. The page does not give the sample size or method.

Ruston also cites other sources. NIQ says 74% of shoppers use AI to find products. Search Engine Journal found that brand websites are less than 3% of the sources that AI assistants cite.

My opinion. The research is about retail, but the lesson is direct for a car dealer. The buyer asks AI which car to take and where to buy it. AI answers from other websites, reviews and ratings, not from the dealer's website.

Every two weeks, I would ask ChatGPT and Gemini the questions my customers ask. One example is where to buy a crossover on credit in my city. Another is which Kia dealer near me has good service. Then I would check if my store is in the answer and what AI says about it.

Source Capgemini

In short#

Hyundai Motor Group will invest $15.5bn in India over seven years. Hyundai Motor Group announced the plan on October 13 after its chairman met the Prime Minister of India. $700m goes to research and a test track, and the group may also enter car finance and charging. If the brand starts to give loans itself, I would count now how much of an Indian dealer's income comes from banks. Just Auto

Chery wants 687 sales and service sites in 20 EU countries by the end of 2026. At the Paris Motor Show, Chery said it works in 18 European countries and has sold more than 160,000 cars there. In the UK, CSH hybrids are 75% of Chery registrations, and four new or updated models come in the next 12 months. A new brand needs dealers fast, so a European dealer can talk about terms now while sites are still open. Just Auto

UK group Lithia UK almost tripled its profit to £60m with the same sales. The group belongs to US-based Lithia and owns Stratstone and Jardine Motors. In 2025, it sold 73,661 new cars and 107,533 used cars, almost the same as a year before. The directors credit common processes, shared best practice and better purchase terms, so I would start with one standard for handling leads in every store. Car Dealer Magazine

Leapmotor in Australia says it does not take extra cars from its head office. Andy Hoang, the brand's boss in Australia, said the company orders cars every month based on its own demand forecast. It sold 1,168 cars this year, up 158.4%. Stock based on demand protects the dealer from discounts, so I would ask any new brand who decides how many cars come to the store. CarExpert

A Harley-Davidson dealer in Indiana closes after 47 years. Benson Motorcycles in Muncie closes on October 31, and about 10 of 23 staff were still there when the news came out. The dealer named rising costs, lower margins and online shopping as the reasons. People look at bikes online, so I would give a motorcycle store an agent that answers stock and price questions at any hour. Powersports Business

In the US, five companies joined into one service that checks dealer ads for rule breaks. OfferWerks combines LeaseGenius, VinWhiz, ContactLogix, Autotek and FinServ Group. Its AI checks prices and ads against the rules of the FTC, the US trade regulator, and finds cars that are not in stock. Dealer ads are now a risk too, so I would check each ad before it goes live, not after a complaint. Auto Remarketing

CDK will run 12 short online sessions for dealers on AI in sales and service. CDK Global holds CDK CONNECT on October 20 to 22 and 27 to 29, and each session takes 15 minutes. The announcement names no AI products, only topics such as AI-powered sales that turn more leads into buyers. I would join the CRM session and ask what AI does with a lead and where I can see it. CBT News

The SaaStr founder says to ask a competitor's customer what would make them switch. Jason Lemkin of SaaStr writes that being 20% better is not enough, because customers switch when something is broken. He asks what one problem the seller must solve 100% to make the customer switch. I would ask this question to every customer who services their car at the dealer next door, and save the answers in the CRM. SaaStr

Hype of the day#

These are headlines without analysis. The most outlets write about them, or the source did not open.

• Fortune. Nvidia's Jensen Huang responds to Pope Leo's AI safety criticism, 24 outlets
• Bloomberg. EU plans measures to halve imports of Chinese hybrid cars, 11 outlets
• The Guardian. UK resists EU pressure to hit China with tariffs, 6 outlets
• Automotive News. Stellantis will fill European factories with Chinese partners' help, CEO says, 4 outlets
• Automotive News. GM's China sales fall 24% in third quarter, a fourth straight decline, 3 outlets
• Reuters. How China aims to beat European carmakers on their own roads, 3 outlets
• TechCrunch. Electric vehicle sales in the US are showing signs of life, 2 outlets
• Automotive News. Lincoln achieves standalone store milestone as push to shrink dealer network nears goal, 1 outlet