AI in car dealerships: where do we stand? (Anfa 2026 data)
6% of automotive professionals use AI, 94% not yet. Here's the data-driven picture: who adopts, for which use cases, and why the phone is still the first thing to fix.
According to the Anfa study (December 2025), relayed by Le Journal de l'Automobile no. 1349 (April 2026), AI is still a young topic in automotive retail. The vast majority of dealerships haven't adopted it yet.
This article takes stock of the numbers: how many professionals already use AI, which trades lead the way, and for which use cases. Without overselling: adoption is still a minority, and that's precisely what makes it an opportunity for those who move now.
Where AI stands in dealerships
The Anfa study is clear: 6% of automotive professionals surveyed say they use AI. In other words, 94% haven't adopted it yet. We're at the very start of the curve.
That number isn't a cause for concern, it's a measure of headroom. Dealerships that equip themselves today gain a head start on a practice that will become mainstream, just as CRM or e-signature did before it.
0 of professionals already use AI
0 don't use it yet
Anfa study, December 2025: 6 users out of 100 professionals surveyed.
Who adopts AI, and in which trades
Adoption isn't uniform: some trades move faster than others. According to Anfa, bodywork and glazing lead the way, with 19% of professionals equipped, more than three times the average.
Next come new-and-used vehicle sales (9%) and vehicle rental (8.3%). By company size, firms with 11 to 19 employees adopt the most (14%): large enough to have volume to handle, agile enough to test quickly.
Bodywork and glazing
19%
Passenger vehicle sales
9%
Vehicle rental
8.3%
Firms with 11 to 19 employees
14%
Share of professionals reporting AI use, by segment. Source: Anfa study, December 2025.
The six families of use cases identified by Anfa
The study doesn't just count users: it maps use cases into six broad families. A useful way to see where AI already creates value in a dealership.
Customer relations
Chatbot and voice-assistant support: answering calls and messages, qualifying the request, routing it.
Fleet and stock management
Vehicle tracking, optimizing parts and used-car stock, anticipating needs.
Predictive maintenance
Anticipating breakdowns and servicing from vehicle data, to smooth the workshop load.
Communication and marketing
Content generation, targeted campaigns, running the dealership's social media.
Administrative tasks
Drafting documents and emails, processing invoices, automated data entry and filing.
Claims handling
Assisted estimating and photo-based vehicle inspection, to speed up claims.
Use-case taxonomy: Anfa study, December 2025.
The weak spot: the phone
If there's one use case where AI has an immediate impact, it's phone reception. The study recalls a figure every dealership manager knows by heart: 30 to 35% of calls go unanswered. Receptionists busy in the showroom, lunchtime peaks, closing hours: the phone rings into the void.
This is exactly where a 24/7 AI agent changes things. Reachable by phone, SMS, email, social media or chatbot, it can handle up to 60% of contacts received outside opening hours: qualifying the need, answering simple questions, and booking a workshop appointment or a test drive.
How much does a missed call really cost a dealership? We broke the calculation down in a dedicated article, so we won't repeat it here.
Read: the cost of missed calls at a dealership"30% prefer a human": AI triages, then hands off
The study cites an honest caveat, voiced by Frédéric Mery (Managing Director of Alhena): about 30% of customers prefer to speak to a human. That's a real signal, but it's not an argument against AI, it's an argument for using it well.
The right model isn't "AI replaces reception", it's "AI triages". It picks up every time, qualifies the request, handles what's simple, and hands over to an advisor as soon as the topic is sensitive or the customer asks for a human. The customer who wants a person gets one faster, because the team is no longer drowning in first-level calls.
In other words: AI doesn't take the human's place, it gives them back time for the conversations that matter.
"About 30% of customers prefer to speak to a human."
Methodology and sources
The figures cited in this article come from an Anfa (French national association for automotive training) study published in December 2025, relayed by Le Journal de l'Automobile no. 1349 (April 2026, article by Jean-Baptiste Kapela).
Natalia is not cited in this study: we comment on it as the vendor of an AI agent for dealership customer relations. The percentages are quoted as published; the interpretations and perspective are our own.
Sources
- Anfa study (French national association for automotive training), December 2025 — AI adoption by automotive professionals.
- Le Journal de l'Automobile no. 1349, April 2026 — article by Jean-Baptiste Kapela.
Frequently asked questions
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