AI and car sales, October 19. Cox adds an AI summary of the buyer to dealer CRM

It is Monday, and this is world news from the last day. Today I cover AI inside a dealer CRM and how ChatGPT chooses which dealer to name to a buyer. I also cover a Chinese brand that starts in Europe with service and a UK group in a loss. Three fresh studies on buyers and stock close the issue. I added what I think about each story.

Cox adds an AI summary of the buyer to the VinSolutions CRM#

Cox Automotive announced on October 8 that its VinSolutions CRM will embed the Fullpath customer platform with AI summaries. Customers who have both systems get it. The rollout runs through the end of 2026. CBT News reported this, based on the press release.

The customer card gets a summary in plain English. The AI collects what the buyer did before the call. The timeline shows the buyer's activity on the dealer website. Users can open Fullpath with the same login as the CRM.

Fullpath is now part of the Cox Automotive portfolio. Fullpath CEO Aharon Horwitz calls the integration the first step, with more to come. The platform can later get AI agents. Don Erwin, marketing director at Mtn View Automotive Group in Chattanooga, calls the profile "a living picture" of the buyer's path. The release gives no results from dealers.

My opinion. The main point is not the AI. It is the place. The summary sits in the card that a salesperson opens before a call anyway. Today the history of a customer is spread across the website, calls and messages, and nobody opens three systems before each call.

I would read this as a vendor claim. I would check three things. Where the summary gets its facts and whether a salesperson can correct it. And whether the card shows what the buyer wrote to the agent at night. AI prepares the picture, and a person calls and answers for the talk.

Source CBT News

ChatGPT chose a BMW dealer by website and reviews, not a store with two matching cars#

Bruce Duguay ran premium dealerships in Canada for more than ten years. On October 13 he described a test with students in Canadian Auto Dealer. A class at Georgian College asked ChatGPT to find a used BMW 230i under $50,000 near Guelph, Ontario.

ChatGPT ranked a BMW dealer in Mississauga above a used-car store in Guelph that had two matching cars. Then it recommended a dealer in Kitchener that had no 230i and said one would arrive soon. The Guelph store has a 2.6 rating on Yelp and bad threads on Reddit. Its Google rating is the same as the BMW dealer's.

Duguay thinks the detailed website of the BMW dealer shaped the answer. This is an informal test, not a study. He did not check ChatGPT's claim that BMW dealers inspect and prepare cars more strictly.

My opinion. A buyer would get this answer and drive to a dealer who does not have the car. AI spoke for the store, and the store cannot argue with it. It can only change what the AI reads, which is the website and the reviews.

I would do two things. On each car page I would write whether the car is in stock and when the next one comes. Every week I would answer reviews as a real person, not with a template. Duguay writes that dealers should measure not only their ads but also how AI sees the store. I agree.

Source Canadian Auto Dealer

Li Auto starts service in Europe before sales, with dealer training in December#

Li Auto told the Paris Motor Show about its European plan and showed the Li 6 SUV. Sales and deliveries start in the Netherlands and Norway in the first quarter of 2027, and more countries follow later. The car has an 800-volt platform and 5C charging. The trade press reported this on October 15.

The company starts service before the cars arrive. From December 2026 it will run a regional parts centre in the Netherlands, roadside help, a customer call centre and technical training for dealers. From 2027 to 2029 the brand promises at least one new European model a year, electric cars and range-extender hybrids. Big over-the-air updates come every quarter.

The software works in eight European languages with local maps and navigation, Amap, Spotify and Apple CarPlay. CFO Tie Li said the European business "officially sets sail" from Paris. The source does not say who will sell the cars.

My opinion. A Chinese brand starts with parts and training because it knows what a European buyer asks. It is not about power. It is about who repairs the car in two years.

As a dealer of another brand in the Netherlands or Norway, I would work out the cost of owning my car, with service, in advance. A buyer who compares my car with the Li 6 will ask about parts and repair time. An answer with numbers sells. "Our cars are reliable" does not. Just Auto

UK group Citygate lost £4.05 million as turnover grew 5% and costs grew 9.5%#

Citygate Automotive sells Kia, GWM, Seat, Cupra, Skoda and Volkswagen at 29 franchise sites in west London and the counties around it. Car Dealer Magazine reported its 2025 results on October 19. The pre-tax loss was £4.05 million, against a profit of £217,670 a year earlier.

Turnover grew from £414.84 million to £435.32 million, but costs grew 9.5%. Gross margin fell from 12.4% to 12.1%. The group sold 7,679 new cars against 7,281, and 7,729 used cars against 7,320. Net assets fell from £17.3 million to £13.2 million.

Citygate bought Volkswagen St Albans from Marshall Motor Group, sold a loss-making Seat store in Reading and ended retail sales at Chalfont VW. The GWM franchise in High Wycombe will end in 2026. Director Jonathan Moritz called the result "disappointing". He blames electric car quotas, cheaper Chinese brands, and higher rent, rates and people costs. That is the group's own view.

My opinion. The group sold more cars and kept less money. Each car brings a little less, and rent and pay grow faster than sales. A new site will not close this gap.

I would split the costs by site and check the loss at the entrance first. How many leads came in, how many got an answer within five minutes, and how many booked a visit. Closing sites is easier than fixing the entrance. But leads are lost at every site.

Source Car Dealer Magazine

Research#

Used-car stock in the US grew to 49 days, and the average asking price is $27,235#

Cox Automotive published its September used-car figures on October 16. The author is Scott Vanner. The figures come from vAuto Live Market View and cover franchised and independent dealers. Cox calls the sales numbers estimates and does not describe the method in detail.

There are 2.21 million used cars in stock, 3.9% more than in August. That stock lasts 49 days, against 44 in August. The average asking price is $27,235. It is the highest since December 2022 and almost 6% above last year. Retail sales are estimated at 1.35 million, 2% above last year and 6.3% below August.

About 213,525 certified cars were sold, 10% more than a year ago, and their share grew to 15.8%. Cars under $15,000 last 34 days, 15 days less than the average. Their share of stock fell from 19.4% to 15.7%. The Dealertrack Credit Availability Index is the highest since April 2015.

My opinion. Expensive cars are easy to find on the lots, cheap cars are not, and credit is easier than in recent years. A buyer under $15,000 has little to choose from.

I would put an agent on trade-ins. When a car under $15,000 comes in, the agent writes to everyone who asked about a similar car last month. It names a payment. A salesperson calls those who reply, before the car reaches the lot.

Source Cox Automotive

New-car stock in the US grew to 82 days of supply, Toyota has 35 and Jeep has 169#

Cox Automotive published its September new-car stock figures on October 15. The author is Erin Keating. The figures come from analysis of vAuto Live Market View. There are 2.80 million cars in stock, 4.5% more than in August and 1.9% fewer than a year ago. At the current pace, that stock lasts 82 days, against 75 in August.

Toyota has 35 days of supply, Lexus 41, Honda 48 and Subaru 59. Ford has 101, Buick 124, Dodge 149, Ram 152 and Jeep 169. Cars under $30,000 last 63 days, and cars over $80,000 last 111. Sales run at 34,300 cars a day, 3.4% slower than in August. Keating warns that the yearly growth looks high because Labor Day fell in September this year.

My opinion. 169 days at Jeep is more than five months on the lot. Every extra week eats money in interest and discounts. Next to it stands Toyota, where a buyer can hardly find a car.

For brands with more than 100 days of stock, I would put an agent on old leads. It writes to everyone who asked about that model in the last six months and tells them which offer is open now. A salesperson calls those who reply.

Source Cox Automotive

EV owners are the least loyal to their brand, 46% against 68% of EV skeptics#

The research firm Escalent published its Brand DeepDive 2026 report in its EVForward program. CDG News reviewed it on October 19. The article does not give the sample or the survey dates. The results are compared with a 2023 study.

Among current EV owners, 46% would buy their next car from the same brand. So would 60% of those who plan to buy an EV. Among buyers who are open to an EV the figure is 65%, and among those who resist EVs it is 68%. In 93% of households with both an electric and a regular car, the EV came from a different brand. The reasons for switching were technology and software (32%), performance (20%), trust in the battery (20%) and confidence in charging (18%).

Escalent experts say Toyota has the strongest overall reputation and leads in trust and loyalty. They say Tesla is respected, but the brand is losing strength.

My opinion. An EV owner is the most open customer for a competitor. The reasons for leaving are software, battery and charging, not price and not the cabin.

I would mark all EV owners in the customer base and write to them separately. About software updates, battery health and home charging. An agent builds the list and a draft, and a salesperson calls and answers the battery questions.

Source CDG News

In short#

Volkswagen will bring China-built cars to Australia. Brand chief Thomas Schäfer told Autocar that "one or more" models from China will go where importing is easier, but he named none. Volkswagen sales in Australia fell from 60,225 in 2015 to 28,970 in 2025. Chinese cars took 38.9% of new sales last month. I would prepare an answer about origin and warranty in advance. CarExpert

Toyota asks the EU to treat Japan, the UK and Türkiye as partners in the "Made in Europe" rules. Toyota Motor Europe wants a local-content threshold of 70% instead of the proposed 85%, and no strict rules before 2030. It expects about 45% electric cars among new cars by 2030, while the current requirement is above 55%. Its CEO Yoshihiro Nakata said Toyota "is not a guest in Europe". The rules decide which cars reach the showroom, and I would ask my brand how they change the 2027 range. Just Auto

Subaru promises cars with over-the-air updates in the late 2020s and wants to cut development time by 40%. Subaru plans cars whose functions change through software updates. It wants to cut the development time of new models by 40% with digital design and testing, and Nikkei Asia names no partners. Buyers will get used to cars that improve after purchase. I would teach salespeople to say which functions come by update and which do not. Nikkei Asia

China will cut the VAT export rebate for electric cars from 13% to 9% in April 2027. The government wants the home price war to stay out of foreign markets, and Chinese makers face more dumping claims. CPCA counts retail passenger sales down 28% in September to 1.603 million. Electric car exports for nine months grew 139% to 3.887 million. A dealer of a Chinese brand abroad should check who pays the difference if stock gets more expensive in spring. Just Auto

GAC will buy 50% of FAW Toyota, and the two Chinese Toyota companies will join sales and development. GAC buys the stake of an FAW Group subsidiary for new shares, and FAW Toyota stays separate for now. Later it will form an alliance with GAC Toyota on development, purchasing, production and sales, with a focus on electric cars. In 2025 the bZ3X SUV had about 70,000 registrations, around 70% of Toyota's EV sales in China. When two channels of one brand merge, I would check first whose lead and whose customer base is whose. electrive

The head of Auto Agentic writes that AI in a dealership stalls because the store is not ready. Barry Hillier, CEO of Auto Agentic, wrote a column in Canadian Auto Dealer on October 13. He says pilots look strong in the first month and fade by the fourth. He advises connecting the CRM, the dealer system and the phones, and naming one person who owns answer quality. The column has no dealer examples and the author sells AI agents to dealers, so I would take only the advice about one responsible person. Canadian Auto Dealer

Hype of the day#

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

• The Economic Times. Santander builds its AI on Nvidia infrastructure, 4 outlets
• Reuters. Anthropic will commit a 5% stake to a new "public benefit fund", 3 outlets
• The Economic Times. Jaguar Land Rover India expands retail in Delhi and Gurugram and sees the NCR region as a key market, 2 outlets
• The Economic Times. China GDP and retail sales figures in focus as global markets face new volatility, 2 outlets
• CNBC TV18. Indian carmakers sell more vehicles, but rising costs could limit profit growth, 1 outlet
• Automotive News. A "blue wave" in the US midterms and what it would mean for auto trade and EVs, 1 outlet