UK car dealers are curious about AI, but curiosity doesn’t drive conversions.
Major research published in March by, online used car marketplace, Motorway.co.uk, ahead of Car Dealer Live 2025, found that 57% of UK dealers are interested in AI, yet only 22% currently use it in their business.
“We don’t know where to start,” is the most common barrier cited. A further 73% of non-users report not understanding what AI could offer their dealership, a finding that mirrors broader industry patterns in UK technology uptake.
Despite the growing momentum behind AI across UK industries, automotive dealerships remain hesitant to embrace its full potential. While many express curiosity or tentative interest, only a small proportion have taken meaningful steps toward integration. However, the gap between interest and adoption isn’t due to lack of resource, it seems, but a lack of clarity and understanding,
This is not unique to automotive. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), AI adoption among UK firms was forecast to rise from 9% in 2023 to 22% in last year, with much of that growth coming from larger businesses. However, a 2025 survey by EY.com found that while 70% of people use AI in their personal lives, only 44% of professionals had integrated it meaningfully into their work, indicative of a significant lag in both workplace AI confidence and application.
What emerges from this data is not resistance to AI, but a level of inertia caused by uncertainty. Dealers are watching early adopters with interest. Some are cautious; others are simply overwhelmed by the pace of change and a lack of clear, trusted guidance or in-house expertise.
Yet, those who have begun using AI, even in small ways, are already seeing the returns.
Early Signs of Impact: What AI is Already Doing within Automotive
Among the dealerships already deploying AI, the most common use cases are marketing-driven:
- 80% use AI to write online vehicle ads,
- 50% for creating vehicle profiles, and
- 33% for answering customer enquiries (Motorway, 2025).
The automotive industry is following a similar trajectory. Insights from Impel’s 2025 AI performance benchmarking revealed:
- A 27% uplift in showroom appointment rates,
- A 26% increase in lead-to-sale conversions, and
- A 24% improvement in customer repurchase likelihood among dealerships using AI-enabled tools for personalisation, CRM, and marketing automation.
The impact of AI is real, though often confined to specific, tactical areas of dealership operations. This means that its adoption does not require a wholesale transformation to be effective; small, targeted integrations, when aligned to business goals, can deliver meaningful results.
Mindset Over Machinery: Why Are Auto Dealers Stalling on AI adoption?
A common misconception is that AI adoption requires significant technical infrastructure or budget, when in reality, the greatest hurdle is often psychological, not technological. Dealers hesitate not because they lack funds or ambition, but because they lack a roadmap, but this “wait and see” approach comes at a cost.
Motorway’s survey supports this, noting that many dealerships, particularly independents, are waiting to observe how others implement AI before making their own move
51% of business leaders, across the UK more generally, say they are prioritising AI investment over new hires due to rising employment costs and operational pressures (FT, January 2025). This marks a strategic shift in how UK businesses view AI: which is not as experimental, but essential. Which begs the question, why are some holding back while others move fast?
There is a growing divide between AI adopters and the hesitant middle, one that could soon shape competitive dynamics across the entire retail automotive landscape.
A Smarter Starting Point: Digital Marketing
For dealerships unsure where to begin, the most logical, and lowest risk, entry point is in their digital marketing.
We’ve worked with forward-thinking dealers across the UK to implement AI-powered solutions in:
- Local PPC and automated bidding,
- AI-assisted SEO content creation,
- Stock listing ad copy generation,
- Lead scoring and intelligent qualification, and;
- Customer support automation via chat and helpdesk integrations.
Enabling marketers to do more with better precision and less time, these small interventions don’t replace humans; they align with what dealers care about most: generating leads, converting enquiries, and improving return on investment. Whether it’s AI-powered ad copy, smarter campaign bidding, or dynamic lead scoring, as starting points, dealers can measure impact without disrupting existing workflows.
Dealerships leveraging even one of these tactics are seeing faster lead turnaround, improved conversion quality, and less wasted time on low-quality traffic or admin-heavy processes.
Future-proofing: Efficiency to Advantage
It is projected that by 2026, more than 45% of customer engagement in retail vehicles will be handled by AI tools Paddlup, estimates and while this doesn’t mean the end of the traditional dealership, it does signal a major shift in how customers are met, qualified, and served. It’s important to note that AI isn’t about doing everything, but about doing the right things, and better.
The dealerships making gains in 2025 aren’t necessarily larger or better resourced, they’re simply more decisive. They’re starting small, aligning AI with commercial goals, and building momentum from there. The most important step is the first one.
At Black Lab Digital, using our AI policy, we’re already helping dealerships navigate this shift with clarity, confidence, and commercial focus.
AI isn’t a strategy in itself but a lever to help you execute your strategies, even better.
