For car dealers and workshops
AI automation for car dealers and workshops
Workshop and parts deliver around 60 percent of a dealership's contribution, and at VW-group dealers the lubricant business alone carries 54 percent of pre-tax profit (IfA, Bench Pro). Two thirds of those appointments are made by phone, and vehicle technology is Germany's fourth-largest shortage occupation. So your most profitable business depends on a phone nobody has time to answer.
30 minutes, no obligation. German or English. Clicking loads Cal.com (USA); the call runs on Google Meet. Prefer to write first? Ask by email. We send the draft data processing agreement and our terms on request.
- 54%
- of pre-tax profit at VW-group dealers comes from the lubricant business aloneBench Pro via trade press, June 2026
- 66%
- of brand-workshop customers arrange their appointments by phoneDAT report 2025
- 13,327
- statistically unfillable vehicle-technology positions, Germany's fourth-largest shortage occupationKOFA annual average 2025
In short
Calls and inquiries are recorded and turned into appointment and order proposals in your workshop planner. The service advisor checks and approves before anything is confirmed. The trial run starts at €2,500.Last updated:
The gap
The platforms automated your listings. Nobody has automated your front desk.
mobile.de and AutoScout24 now include AI descriptions, price assessment and days-on-lot forecasts free with their service packages; use them. But no DACH dealer-management-system vendor offers its own phone voice agent. The trade press names the real bottleneck: AI that is allowed to write back into the DMS and the workshop planner. We build that connection.
Phone calls that end in a booked appointment
Faster, short-notice appointments are the top customer wish, named by 64 percent in the DAT report. Calls and inquiries are recorded and turned into appointment and order proposals in your workshop planner. The service advisor checks and approves before anything is confirmed.
Replies to sales leads in your house's tone
Inquiries from the platforms and your website arrive sorted, with a draft reply for the salesperson to approve. VW dropped direct sales Europe-wide in early 2026 and BMW postponed to 2027, so customer data and pricing stay with the dealer. Every investment in that data pays off for your business.
Service reminders that stay legal
Under competition law, service reminders count as advertising. So inspection and maintenance reminders go out on schedule, only on the channel each customer's consent allows, and are documented. The legal side is built in from day one, not added after the first cease-and-desist letter.
Handover and warranty records
Germany's highest court keeps strengthening the reversed burden of proof in favor of buyers. In the first year the dealer effectively carries it, and your documentation is your defense. We record condition, equipment and handover for each vehicle.
The rulebook first
Built around the rules of the trade
A dealership's customer data and reminder marketing fall under competition law, data protection and, from 2026, the AI Act. We build our systems for those rules from the first draft.
- § 7 UWG for every reminder
- Phone calls to consumers need prior consent, documented and kept for five years (§ 7a UWG). Emails can use the existing-customer exception of § 7(3) UWG, with its notice and opt-out duties. A reminder system without that is a cease-and-desist letter waiting to happen.
- The VIN is personal data
- The European Court of Justice ruled that the vehicle identification number is personal data for any business with customer records (C-319/22). So AI systems here need the same basics as anywhere else: a data processing agreement, EU hosting, and no training on your customer data.
- The EU Data Act is your opening
- Since September 2025, vehicle owners can have their car data sent to independent workshops free of charge. For the 22,000 independent shops that is a structural opening. Being able to receive and use that data is an automation project in itself.
- AI labeling from August 2026
- Since 2 August 2026, AI assistants that talk to customers must identify themselves as AI under Art. 50 of the AI Act. Every assistant we build does so, and a person takes over when the conversation goes beyond the routine.
How it starts
How we work together
Intro call
Free
30 minutes on your firm's bottlenecks. If AI is not the right tool, we tell you.
Trial run
from €2,500 · credited to the implementation
We find out where the hours actually go, from first inquiry to deadline, and rank the use cases by payback. You get a short list with expected effort, not a slide deck.
Implementation
Fixed fee, named in your proposal
We implement and test one workflow with your team, typically within two to four weeks once prerequisites are confirmed. We train your team, and your team checks and approves every draft before client data goes out.
The implementation of one contained workflow costs about €3,000 to €5,000. Projects with several processes and systems cost more, and the fixed fee is in your proposal before work starts. Ongoing care starts at €250 per month per workflow. 30 min · remote · no obligation. And if AI isn't the right tool, we'll say so.
Fair questions
What dealers and workshops ask us first
01Does this replace staff?
No. Vehicle technology is Germany's fourth-largest shortage occupation, with 13,327 statistically unfillable positions (KOFA 2025). The hours you cannot hire for come back from work nobody should do by hand: the phone queue, the lead inbox, the reminder list, the handover file.
02We run Loco-Soft, Werbas or another DMS. Does this replace it?
No. Your DMS stays your main system. The gap, as the trade press itself says, is AI that is allowed to write back into the DMS and the workshop planner. We build that connection, using interfaces where they exist, and the service advisor checks and approves.
03Is it true that workshops miss 45 percent of their calls?
Nobody knows, and we will not pretend otherwise. The often-quoted ZDK survey behind that figure appears nowhere except on vendor pages. What is measured: 66 percent of brand-workshop customers book by phone (DAT report 2025), and faster appointments are the top customer wish at 64 percent. That is reason enough without an invented number.
04May customer data go into an AI system at all?
Only under certain conditions. The European Court of Justice made the VIN personal data for any business with customer records. So our setup runs on EU hosting with a data processing agreement and no training on your data. Reminders follow § 7 UWG, including consent records. Without those conditions the honest answer would be no.
05What does it cost?
The trial run starts at €2,500. If you go ahead, we credit it in full against the implementation. If we advise against automating in writing, we refund the fee. The implementation gets its own fixed-fee quote. For market context, we published what AI automation actually costs, with sources, on our blog. The implementation of one contained workflow costs about €3,000 to €5,000. Projects with several processes and systems cost more, and the fixed fee is in your proposal before work starts. Ongoing care starts at €250 per month per workflow. Read the article with the cost examples. Calculate with your own numbers.
Robert Van YsendyckFounder & Managing Director
In 30 minutes we can tell whether automation makes sense for your business. If it does not, we tell you.