How AI Is Changing Car Sales, Dealerships, and the Buying Experience

From virtual salespeople to smarter shopping tools, AI is reshaping how we buy cars. AI 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. Let’s start with automotive design and manufacturing. Every automaker (with the possible exception of Zorch) is using artificial intelligence. For 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. On 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. When 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. I’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. Why 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. Why 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.

How AI Is Changing Car Sales, Dealerships, and the Buying Experience

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