61% of car shoppers plan to use AI—but dealers lag behind

The Cox Automotive research reveals a familiar pattern in automotive retail: consumer adoption outpaces industry readiness. As Chase Abbott notes in the interview, this dynamic echoes the early days of digital retailing, when dealerships struggled to keep pace with shifting buyer behavior. The Tracker data—showing 61% of shoppers planning to use AI—reflects a significant shift in how consumers discover and evaluate vehicles. Yet dealer hesitation persists. Abbott suggests that many dealerships feel overwhelmed by the pace of change, despite AI adoption becoming industry-wide. The implication is that the bottleneck is not technology availability but organizational strategy and execution. Successful dealerships, according to the research, differentiate themselves through three concrete elements: a clear AI strategy, trusted technology partners, and practical implementation across their operations. This framing sidesteps the notion that AI integration is optional; it positions it as a competitive necessity.