Charisma! Insights says artificial intelligence is no longer a theoretical promise for the future or even a “nice to have” for dealership service departments — it’s evolved into a “strategic imperative” and “a growing reality reshaping dealership operations from the ground up.”

The dealership technology research and strategy firm’s new report, AI in the Service Drive: Unlocking Customer Data for Growth, uses survey data compiled from industry sources, interviews with dealers and technology vendors, case studies, ROI benchmarks and adoption trends to make the case for AI as an essential tool that’s “reshaping fixed operations” for dealerships.

“Service drives are stretched thin — fewer techs, more calls, higher costs,” Charisma! Insights co-founder Laurie Halter said. “AI can help relieve those bottlenecks today. This report gives dealerships and vendors a real-world, data-driven map of where the industry is headed, and how to get there.”

The report looked at AI’s impact in three broad domains: customer communication, shop operations and data infrastructure, including a breakdown of AI tools and use cases in those sectors by their potential impact versus dealership pain points.

AI-driven automated scheduling/call-handling and customer communication bots ranked at the top for the greatest effect in the highest priority area, with predictive parts stocking and AI upsell recommendations listed as high-value strategic enhancers.

Charisma! said the most common outcomes of adopting AI service drive tools include higher appointment capture rates, increased repair order volume and dollar value, improved customer satisfaction index scores, shorter service cycle times, and reduced advisor burnout and staff turnover.

In one of the dealer case studies, Allie Peters of Cavender Auto Group said her company saw “an immediate jump in CSI scores” when it launched an AI communication platform.

The report also included a forecast for the U.S. service-drive AI market, projecting the fixed ops segment to reach $500 million to $1 billion in annual spend within the decade, based on adoption scenarios and dealership spend models.

By 2030, the report said, the automotive AI market as a whole is expected to grow to $7.75 billion, up from $1.4 billion in 2023, “with near-universal adoption” of AI tools in dealership service departments.

In a separate AI Vendor Guide, Charisma! provided recommendations and rankings of AI providers in three categories — service communications, service marketing and customer retention, and service operations optimization — with breakdowns of the features and services they offer.

The analysis, designed to help dealers and investors identify the right fit for their operational goals, evaluated the vendors’ communication capabilities (voice, text, chat), depth of integration with DMS and schedulers, use cases supported, market focus, pricing structures and contract flexibility.

The top choices included STELLA Automotive AI for communication technology, Impel and AutoEngage for marketing and customer retention and TruVideo in operations.

“Dealers aren’t looking for hype,” Halter said. “They’re looking for tools that work with their people and systems. We’ve made it easy to compare vendors based on real-world deployment models, not just marketing claims.”

The full report and vendor guide are available for free download here.