Gotta chuckle here... "Boy, sure is a lot of money in the auto industry... auto industry likes gadgets... let's build some software!!"
haha. It's (mostly) an inside joke.
Want to be an innovator in this space? Go find a dealer with 20+ years successfully running multiple dealerships -- New & Used -- has great relationships with OEM's and regional agencies: someone who understands the BIG PICTURE (not just simple sub-strata like Sales, Service, F&I, Collision, etc -- but all of them), someone as equally adept at managing the daily doc as accepting the Businessman of the Year award from the Chamber of Commerce -- give him/her half your business, and solve the problems he/she describes. The industry is already too crowded with "innovators" who know zilch about the industry.
I can promise you that the days of problem-solving in a silo are over
Good luck!