AI Changes How Dealerships Sell CarsMotorTrendAI is taking over the world. Excuse me: has taken over the world. This may come as a surprise to you, but I’m not even a real car salesman. Nope. I’m an AI. I have an AI wife, an AI family, and an AI cat. Click. Wrrr. Sorry to disappoint you.So, it should come as no surprise that AI has taken over the automotive industry.AI in Car Design and ManufacturingLet’s start with automotive design and manufacturing. Every automaker (with the possible exception of Zorch) is using artificial intelligence.AdvertisementAdvertisementFor example, in the old days, cars used to be designed by real people on drafting boards with pencil and paper and later turned into full-size clay models. Today, companies like Ford still have real designers, but they’re using AI to turn a single sketch or a set of parameters into hundreds of high-fidelity images and even 3D models almost instantly. That frees them up to explore a vastly wider range of possibilities.AI also reduces the amount of time needed for a complex aerodynamic simulation from 15 hours to approximately 10 seconds—that’s 5,000 times faster, folks. This allows Ford engineers to optimize designs at previously unimaginable speeds.Photo: FordMotorTrendOn the assembly line, AI vision systems use cameras to screen components in real time to ensure there are no defects, such as improper electrical connections, that the human eye might miss, ensuring a higher-quality product.And at the local dealership level, AI reviews ROs, or repair orders, when they’re opened and predicts why the vehicle is being brought into the dealer. It then predicts the parts that will be needed to fix the vehicle and has those parts shipped to the dealership, shortening the wait time for said parts. It’s a win-win for the dealer and the customer.AI in Car SalesWhen you go to a dealer’s website to see what kind of specials they have, there’s almost always a friendly little smiling person who pops up on your screen wearing a headset and asking you what they can do for you—even if it’s two o’clock in the morning. You know the one. The person’s name is Sheila, or Bob, or maybe even Melanie. Guess what? That’s not a real person. That’s AI.AdvertisementAdvertisementI’m guessing 90 percent of the people reading this already knew that. But believe it or not, there are plenty of people who don’t. Some people think that’s a real person, sitting in an office at the dealership, with a white wall behind them, wearing a headset, replying to your questions in real time.At the last dealership I worked at, people would come in and ask to speak to Sheila, our AI person, all the time. “She’s so nice!” they’d say. “She’s the whole reason we came in!” When you told them Sheila worked at an “off-site location” and couldn’t meet with them, they were disappointed. They were looking forward to working with her ... and not some sleazy salesperson.Creative Images Lab - MotorTrendWhy do car dealerships use AI? Well, for two reasons. One, the human beings who work at dealerships are often too busy to answer telephones, much less monitor a website 24/7. As a result, prior to AI, lots of potential sales were being lost.Second, AI creates something critical to successful dealerships: engagement. Engagement is what happens when customers actually talk to someone (or something) at a dealership. They’re not sitting on hold listening to crappy music or waiting for a call back or an email that never arrives. They’re actively engaged, asking questions, and often getting good answers. And many times, these AI assistants are setting up appointments for them to come in and buy cars.AdvertisementAdvertisementWhy doesn’t this happen with human beings? Well, to be honest, people don’t like talking to salespeople. They’re trying to sell you something. And nobody wants to be sold. Sheila, and all the AI assistants like her, are programmed to be nice. Non-threatening. They’re just there to help. Cheerfully. Politely. And eagerly.It works.Two Can Play This GameDealerships aren’t the only ones using AI. What’s good for the goose is also good for the customer, and more shoppers are now turning to AI to help them buy cars.Let’s say you’re looking at a handful of pre-owned 3-row SUVs. The prices are all about the same, and you’re having trouble deciding which one you want. You can ask ChatGPT, or Gemini, or Claude, or whatever application you choose, to compare all three vehicles. Within a matter of seconds you’ll have a detailed breakdown, telling you the pros and cons of each. This will be relatively unbiased information, which is something you probably won’t get from a salesperson representing a particular brand. Which has the best mpg? Which has the best reliability? Which has the best third-row legroom? And which one has the all-important blind-spot monitor? AI can tell you.NurPhoto - MotorTrendBut AI doesn’t stop there. It can also help you negotiate. I recently had a customer take a price quote I had emailed him and ran it through AI. It came back with a few things that helped me. It said our discount was “great” (it should—we were taking $9,000 off!). But it also came back with a lot of nonsense. For instance, it said our taxes and non-tax fees—which cover the cost of registering the car and a providing a new license plate—were “padded.” Well, taxes and non-tax fees can’t be padded. They’re determined by the state and local governments. There’s nothing a dealer can do about them—except pass the revenue along to the state. So, AI isn’t always right.AdvertisementAdvertisementBut you want to know the one thing AI didn’t tell him?It didn’t tell my customer we were losing money on the deal. If it had, he probably wouldn’t have believed it. But we were.Where does the AI story end? The overthrow of humanity? Gosh, I hope not. The overthrow of conventional car sales? Maybe. I wish I knew. All I know is, there’s a place for AI in car sales, but there’s still nothing better than putting your own posterior in the seat and driving it to help you decide what to buy.AI can sure save you a lot of time before you get there, though. Click. Wrrr.