Tekion is an independent, cloud-native automotive retail software company founded in 2016 by former Tesla CIO Jay Vijayan. Its flagship Automotive Retail Cloud (ARC) platform is an AI-native dealer management system (DMS) that unifies sales, service, parts, F&I, CRM, accounting, payroll, and analytics for car dealerships in one connected system. As of 2024, Tekion serves over 2,000 automotive retailers and has raised $665M in funding at a valuation exceeding $4 billion.
Community evidence
→ Stable
Tekion has 25 mentions across 20+ years of DealerRefresh dealer discussion — rated 50% · Mixed. The community includes 4 positive and 4 negative takes.
25 mentions · 4 positive · 4 negative · Scored from 20+ years of candid DealerRefresh discussion. Scores shift as new conversations happen.
POSITIVE
"Service/Connected Car Tech: Tekion [URL]https://www.tekion.com/[/URL] -A former Tesla CIO got told by his Telsa service techs that he had unknowingly created a pretty rad service experience tool. Turns out they were right."
Coolest Lead Response Tools →
POSITIVE
"This is rapidly changing as dealers are moving to Tekion and Fortellis is launching more APIs and people are starting to open up."
QR Codes - In or Out? →
NEGATIVE
"Tekion's CRM is also discussed as a future contender, but currently considered uncompetitive — particularly for multi-rooftop groups — and requires bundling with Tekion's DMS."
Best CRM for dealers in 2024? →
MIXED
"Tekion's Service Scheduler seems to be a preferred tool over XTime within our auto group. We moved, and it was painful, from DealerTrack and XTime to their DMS and Service tools end of last year... I'm waiting for their CRM team to give me the name of a single dealer who is "thrilled with their Tekion CRM". *crickets*"
DealerRefresh Top100 →
MIXED
"Dealers discuss Tekion's emergence as a potential disruptor in digital retailing, particularly for EVs, backed by major OEM investors like GM, BMW, and Nissan. Key advantages cited include a robust API and integrated suite (DMS, CRM, Finance, Service), which contrasts with competitors' closed-off systems, though one participant questions whether Tekion's digital retailing tool is actually being used by dealers in production."
Tekion - EV Digital Retail solution for car dealers? →
MIXED
"Dealers report genuine cost savings and a modern, integrated suite that covers DMS, CRM, F&I, and service — positioning it as the most credible challenger to CDK and Reynolds & Reynolds in years. However, the community cautions that 'promising' should not be mistaken for 'proven,' with nuanced real-world experiences tempering the enthusiasm."
Community Review: Tekion →
MIXED
"Tekion offers cost savings and has generated significant interest (selling out 2023 installations at NADA), users report issues with understaffing during migrations, incomplete CRM functionality despite sales pitches claiming otherwise, inconsistent implementation across locations, and a disillusioned implementation team—suggesting it's a promising but still-maturing platform not yet ready for risk-averse dealers."
Tekion? →
MIXED
"We just made the (maybe insane) leap to use Tekion as our DMS and crm for a new point. should be interesting. we are excited and terrified at the same time"
Rank the CRMs →
NEUTRAL
"The discussion pivots to alternatives like DriveCentric, eLead, Tekion, and DealerSocket, with a consensus that the best CRM depends entirely on individual dealership needs, integration requirements, and vendor support quality rather than any single 'best' option."
Is anyone using Autoalert CXM? →
NEUTRAL
"Tekion has filed an antitrust lawsuit against CDK Global, alleging anticompetitive practices that obstruct dealer access to their own data and unfairly disadvantage DMS competitors."
Tekion Lawsuit Against CDK →
NEUTRAL
"half were on MacBook Air M1's with no issues and the other half on Lenovo ThinkPad's (Tekion, VinSolutions, Volie). The PC users were the ones needing IT support on occasion."
Mac compatibility in a dealership →