AI raises dealerships’ internet lead responsiveness

[Jeff Kershner]

Study finds AI raises dealerships’ internet lead responsiveness, but creates added risks

​

A study by Impel and Cresta reveals that AI has significantly improved dealership internet lead responsiveness, increasing top-tier response rates by 90% within 10 minutes. However, this automation introduces risks regarding AI "hallucinations" and a loss of personalization, necessitating a "human-in-the-loop" approach to ensure accuracy and customer trust.

26 of the brands improved their scores from the 2025 study, three of them gaining more than 10 points, while just six declined. Chevrolet was the most improved, rising 14 points to 74 and lifting its ranking from 25th to seventh.

The study found, 51% of dealers provided what Pied Piper calls a “perfect response” — an answer to a customer’s question through multiple paths, including emails, texts and phone within 15 minutes — twice the rate of five years ago.

"while AI lifts the averages it can also hide failures, with overreliance on AI automation introducing two types of “digital handoff risk.”

For the full analysis, visit Auto Remarketing.

 

[Richie K]

Interesting information there, @Jeff Kershner. Thank you for the post.

We're in the process of adding Impel to our "team". There are some grumbles from at least one person here. His concern isn't unjust.
We are a family owned & operated small Chevy dealership, and have been doing business on a more personal level since the beginning. Where our larger competitors treat customers like cattle with dollar bills stuck to them, we treat them with respect and dignity. Ok, not to step on any toes out there, but it's true. We are slow paced where it matters, and face paced where it matters. We value time and do a great job of not holding customers hostage for hours.

Our reason for adding Impel is to pick up the slack of our very small sales team (2 main salesmen). One would assume that two salesmen could answer leads in a timely manner and stay engaged with customers....one should not assume. We do a terrible job of lead handling, and the sales team and used car manager don't like to hear that. The truth hurts though.

What's my point? I said all that to say this: I understand most of the pros & cons to adding Ai, but I like to think that it will not completely change the way we take care of our customers. However, I do know that it will become more of a crutch for sales. I just hope that it ultimately helps us sell more cars.

We're at least going to give it a try.

To be continued...