5 best CRMs for automotive businesses in 2025

Fifty-seven % of consumers are actually keen to buy a automobile on-line, in keeping with 2024 Adtaxi research, up from 49% the earlier yr. As extra folks start their car-buying journey in your web site, gross sales groups should decipher who’s critical about driving the automobile off the lot — and who’s simply kicking the digital tires.

An automotive CRM solves that downside by utilizing buyer information to handle the gross sales pipeline and rating leads based mostly on their worth and intent to purchase. This helps create a sooner shut fee and, in the end, larger income to your dealership.

On this article, we’ll evaluation 5 common automotive CRMs, together with characteristic breakdowns, a comparability desk, and a how-to information that will help you resolve. Our employees author used AI to help primarily in analysis and enhancing to make sure probably the most useful information, and people reviewed this text earlier than publication.

Beneath, we’ll discuss VinSolutions, Salesforce, and HubSpot, to call a number of. Airstream used HubSpot to lower value per lead by about 44%. For those who’re able to optimize leads and gross sales with a CRM, learn on.

Desk of Contents

1. HubSpot

Greatest for: Dealerships wanting an all-in-one platform that unifies gross sales, advertising, and repair with a free CRM that scales with progress

Key HubSpot Options

• All-in-one buyer platform: Each automobile dealership worker is aware of that it’s not simply concerning the pre-sales and gross sales. There’s additionally post-sales, advertising, customer support, and extra. HubSpot Good CRM connects your gross sales, advertising, customer support, and operations so you’ll be able to guarantee all groups and information are aligned.
• Lead seize & lead scoring: By no means miss a lead once more. Use Advertising and marketing Hub types and sync them with HubSpot Good CRM to robotically unify and arrange leads from numerous locations — social media, walk-ins, emails, and kind submissions. Plus, you’ll be able to create customized lead scoring so your gross sales group is aware of which contacts to prioritize.
• HubSpot’s AI (Breeze): Breeze is the suite of AI instruments woven into the HubSpot buyer platform. Have Breeze floor related details about a prospect so you’ll be able to put together for a name, draft customized emails based mostly on CRM information, or reply buyer questions through stay chat — all in seconds.

HubSpot Pricing

• HubSpot’s CRM is at all times free, and it provides free plans for all six core merchandise (advertising, gross sales, service, content material, operations, and commerce).
• Every core product has a free, Starter, Skilled, and Enterprise plan. Paid plans begin at $15/seat/month and go as much as $3,600/month for the Advertising and marketing Hub Enterprise plan (which incorporates 5 core seats). Commerce Hub is a fee processor that’s free to make use of however fees charges per transaction.
• HubSpot pricing relies on your particular wants and add-ons. Use this HubSpot pricing calculator to see your customized value.

2. Salesforce

Greatest for: Giant dealerships searching for a fancy CRM with an automotive-specific add-on

Key Salesforce Options

• Automotive Cloud add-on: That is an trade vertical add-on to the CRM, constructed particularly for automotive corporations reminiscent of OEMs and dealerships. Automotive Cloud has native automobile stock administration so you’ll be able to monitor autos and components throughout completely different places.
• Pipeline inspection: Give your gross sales group the visibility they should handle and optimize their pipeline, reminiscent of buyer automobile preferences, prior purchases, and repair historical past. They’ll additionally get visible cues and alerts that sign whether or not they’re about to shut a deal — or lose it.
• Salesforce’s AI (Einstein): Use AI to foretell the chance of closing a deal, with tips on when to achieve out to the potential purchaser and the way, reminiscent of highlighting the newest automobile options.

Salesforce Pricing

• Salesforce provides a 30-day free trial.
• Salesforce’s CRM pricing plans are as follows:
• Starter Suite: $25/consumer/month
• Professional Suite: $100/consumer/month
• Salesforce’s Automotive Cloud is priced as follows (billed yearly):
• Enterprise: $325/consumer/month
• Limitless: $500/consumer/month
• Agentforce 1 Service: $750/consumer/month
• Agentforce 1 Gross sales: $750/consumer/month

Salesforce has many add-ons, so make sure you verify its pricing page for particulars or contact its gross sales group for a customized quote based mostly in your particular wants.

3. Reynolds & Reynolds (FOCUS CRM)

Greatest for: Dealerships that desire a DMS, POS, CRM, and different automotive software program all from the identical supplier

Key FOCUS CRM Options

• Built-in with Reynolds & Reynolds automotive software program: The platform is a set of software program instruments for the automotive trade. You should use its automobile administration stock software program, AutoVision, to get real-time information on vehicles in inventory and join that with the CRM.
• Gross sales teaching: Get real-time information and insights to educate salespeople whereas the client remains to be within the retailer.
• ID scan: Automate your information entry and get clients in take a look at drives sooner with ID Scan. In lower than two seconds, salespeople can scan a buyer ID and add that info to the CRM.

FOCUS CRM Pricing

• Reynolds & Reynolds doesn’t publicly record its pricing for its FOCUS CRM. To get a quote, fill out the contact form or begin a chat on its web site. You may also name its gross sales group at 800-767-7879.

4. VinSolutions

Greatest for: Dealerships searching for a dealer-first CRM with native automotive software program integrations

Key VinSolutions Options

• GPS-based automobile stock administration: This built-in stock administration, powered by HomeNet, ensures you and your clients at all times know which autos are in your lot. This eliminates pointless back-and-forth and helps you promote sooner.
• Predictive insights: Predictive AI analyzes buyer conduct, together with service historical past, so your gross sales group can hone in on high-value leads which might be more likely to convert. Generative AI helps your group personalize and automate e mail and textual content follow-ups.
• Cox automotive integrations: It supplies many dealership-specific integrations, together with Dealertrack DMS, Kelley Blue Guide, and Autotrader. Moreover, third-party integrations can be found.

VinSolutions Pricing

• VinSolutions doesn’t record costs on its web site. To get a quote, fill out the VinSolutions contact form or name its gross sales group at 866-578-8152.

5. CDK (previously often known as “Elead”)

Greatest for: Enterprise dealerships searching for AI-powered fairness mining and seller administration instruments

Key CDK Options

• 360-degree buyer view: Maintain monitor of each lead that walks your lot or visits your web site. The CRM shops details about earlier communications, automobile preferences, and repair historical past.
• Dealership Xperience Platform: This devoted suite of instruments for dealerships consists of CRM, desking, automobile stock, and a seller administration system.
• AI-assisted fairness mining: Discover gross sales alternatives in your service drive by AI-assisted fairness mining. Determine current clients with sufficient fairness of their automobile to fairly commerce in and improve to a brand new one. It makes use of predictive modeling to attain clients and present sellers which of them are most certainly to purchase.

CDK Pricing

CDK doesn’t record pricing on its web site. To get a quote, name CDK’s gross sales group at 833-620-2129 or fill out its contact form.

Whereas HubSpot would not have native stock administration, there are many third-party integrations you might use, or you might use HubSpot’s API to build a custom integration along with your automobile stock administration software program of selection.

2. Retain clients past the preliminary automobile sale by bringing them again for servicing.

Automobiles are large purchases that occur each few years. It’s routine service and upkeep that retains income constant and helps clients get the very best ROI on their automobile. With an automotive CRM, you’ll be able to simply monitor service historical past and ship well timed reminders when a automobile’s upkeep is due.

With HubSpot, you’ll be able to use tasks to remind your service division to comply with up with a buyer after a specified period of time, or set up an automated email marketing campaign that nudges clients to come back in for servicing.

3. Break down silos and unify groups.

Within the fast-paced enterprise of promoting vehicles, service not often is aware of what gross sales promised, and advertising typically launches campaigns with out figuring out the small print of every phase. With a CRM like HubSpot, nonetheless, all of that adjustments. HubSpot Smart CRM comes with gross sales, advertising, and repair instruments so that each one of these groups can entry the identical buyer data, making certain a customized, constant expertise for each buyer.

4. Capitalize on the expansion of on-line automobile purchasing.

A great CRM may help you rating web leads so that you don’t waste time on web shoppers who aren’t critical about shifting ahead. A CRM with built-in advertising instruments, reminiscent of HubSpot’s Advertising and marketing Hub, can take it additional and make it easier to create compelling landing pages.

• Automobile stock administration: There’s nothing worse than an internet lead exhibiting up on the lot solely to seek out out the automobile they noticed in your web site was offered way back. Guarantee your CRM can simply combine along with your automobile stock administration software program so that you by no means overpromise. Whereas HubSpot doesn’t have native automobile stock administration, you’ll be able to rent a HubSpot solutions partner to construct one thing customized for you, try HubSpot’s developer-friendly API documentation to do it your self, or use a third-party integration.
• Integrations with dealership software program: You‘ve obtained a sizeable tech stack already, together with your DMS and stock administration software program. Earlier than you select a CRM, you’ll wish to verify that it connects properly along with your present software program. Once more, HubSpot has an App Marketplace, but when none of these work to your software program, you’ll be able to at all times work with a HubSpot solutions partner or try HubSpot’s API documentation.
• Cellular app: Your gross sales reps are on the transfer — on the lot or on take a look at drives. They don’t at all times have a pc in entrance of them. HubSpot’s mobile app — with its caller ID, conversations inbox, and experiences and dashboards — ensures your gross sales group stays productive regardless of the place they’re.
• Appointment scheduling: Make your gross sales group’s lives simpler by getting a CRM with built-in scheduling. For instance, HubSpot allows you to create one-on-one scheduling pages so clients can ebook conferences with gross sales reps.

Even if the CRM you need doesn’t have native integrations to, say, your DMS, remember you can at all times hire a technology partner to build a customized integration or use middleware like Zapier.

Step 4: Assemble your decision-making group. Choose a handful of individuals, together with a gross sales group chief, an IT group member, and perhaps your normal supervisor. This decision-making group will take a look at out software program and make the ultimate name.

Step 5: Demo your high CRM choices. Each CRM supplier ought to provide a free trial or demo to present you a real really feel for the software program earlier than you spend any cash on it. Select your high three choices, and join free trials or demos. You’ll collect far more info this fashion than merely studying product pages.

Step 6: Select a good, confirmed automotive CRM. We extremely advocate that you just consider CRM choices and search for case research of automotive corporations which have efficiently carried out them. For instance, HubSpot has saved CarProUSA.com 50 hours per week and elevated MarineMax‘s annual income by 113%. No matter CRM you select, search for stats and proof that it will probably generate ROI for automotive corporations like yours.

Your automotive CRM ought to have the ability to simply combine with automobile stock administration techniques and different dealership software program like a DMS. It must also have appointment scheduling in-built, since that is an important a part of the gross sales course of. For instance, HubSpot comes with a free meeting scheduler so your reps can ebook calls quick. Lastly, search for an easy-to-use cell app so your gross sales reps can talk with prospects regardless of the place they go.

Is HubSpot good for dealerships?

HubSpot is nice for small to midsize dealerships, particularly ones that want an economical, easy-to-implement CRM. HubSpot’s CRM is at all times free, and HubSpot provides six core merchandise with free plans (advertising, gross sales, content material, operations, service, and commerce) which might be simply upgraded to paid plans because the enterprise grows.

How a lot does a CRM for automotive value?

It relies upon. HubSpot Good CRM is free, with paid core product plans beginning at $15/consumer/month. Relying on the variety of seats and the options you need, an automotive CRM can value upwards of hundreds per thirty days.

• Free Eternally CRM That Can Be Configured for Dealerships – HubSpot’s CRM is free (ceaselessly) with free plans for all of its six core merchandise for advertising, gross sales, content material, service, and operations. Although not dealer-specific, HubSpot might be configured for automotive clients, and in case you need assistance, solutions partners are skilled with HubSpot customization. Prospects incessantly touch upon how straightforward HubSpot is to implement. The HubSpot group has discovered that the typical time for purchasers to completely operationalize the HubSpot Starter Customer Platform is simply 5 days.
• Superior Advertising and marketing and Service Workflows – CarProUSA.com labored with HubSpot Options Associate Media Junction to automate its course of for getting member opinions, constructing a workflow to robotically ship emails soliciting opinions, and getting notified each time a brand new one is posted. Airstream makes use of HubSpot’s advertising automation to ship extremely focused follow-up emails with a content material provide and the consumer’s closest seller.
• All-in-One Gross sales, Advertising and marketing, and Service – Join your gross sales flooring, service drive, and advertising group with shared buyer data. Since they’re all working from the identical database, they’ll have full visibility and be higher aligned, with no leads slipping by the cracks.

Suzuki South Africa noticed a 21% improve in gross sales after implementing HubSpot, even whereas the general automobile market declined. Airstream boosted leads generated by 78% utilizing HubSpot’s advertising automation, all whereas reducing value per lead by higher concentrating on and lead distribution to their seller community.

Able to see actual outcomes out of your CRM? Take HubSpot for a spin totally free.