CRM for Car Dealerships & Auto Trade
From first contact to repeat buyer – the CRM that sells vehicles and builds lasting customer relationships.
Why Does a Car Dealership Need a CRM?
Buying a car is not an impulse purchase. From the initial inquiry to contract signing, days or weeks often pass. During this time, the contact must be maintained, offers followed up on, and the right moment for closing identified. Without systematic customer management, opportunities are inevitably lost.
Anyone still working with Excel spreadsheets, sticky notes or memory alone is losing leads – and revenue. Especially for small dealerships, every lost deal weighs heavily.
From Lead to Sale – The 4 Phases
Capture Lead
Customer contacts you via mobile.de, AutoScout24, website, phone or WhatsApp. AutoPult automatically captures the lead, assigns it to the right vehicle and routes it to a sales rep.
Qualify & Advise
Clarify budget, timeline and vehicle preferences. Lead scoring prioritizes the most promising contacts. Vehicle matching automatically compares customer wishes with your inventory.
Offer & Negotiate
Schedule test drives, discuss financing, calculate trade-in values. Offers are created directly from the system. The calculation shows the contribution margin per vehicle in real time.
Close & After-Sales
Create purchase contract, record deposit, plan delivery. Then: satisfaction survey, workshop reminders and offers for the next vehicle change – all automated through the CRM.
AutoPult CRM – Built for the Auto Trade
Lead Management
All inquiries from mobile.de, AutoScout24, website, email, phone and WhatsApp flow into a single inbox. Automatic assignment to sales reps with lead scoring and response time tracking.
Customer History
Every customer record stores the complete history: purchased and inquired vehicles, all emails, calls and WhatsApp messages, workshop visits, preferences and documents like purchase contracts.
Follow-up Automation
24h after inquiry: reminder. 3 days after test drive: follow-up. 7 days after offer: tracking. 3 years after purchase: repeat purchase offer. All automated, nothing gets lost.
Sales Pipeline & Reporting
Pipeline value, conversion rate by channel and sales rep, average deal duration, loss reasons and revenue forecast – all at a glance on the dashboard.
WhatsApp as CRM Channel – A Game Changer in Auto Trade
More than 80% of car buyers prefer WhatsApp over phone or email for communicating with dealers. AutoPult integrates WhatsApp Business directly into the CRM: messages appear in the customer file, vehicle photos can be shared with one click, and automated templates speed up standard replies. Your sales staff no longer need to switch between personal WhatsApp and business software – everything runs in one system.
Follow-up Automation in Detail
Automatic Sales Follow-ups
- 24h after inquiry: reminder to sales rep if no contact made
- 3 days after test drive: follow-up reminder
- 7 days after offer: offer tracking
- 30 days after rejection: renewed contact attempt
Automatic After-Sales Follow-ups
- 7 days after delivery: satisfaction survey
- 11 months after purchase: inspection reminder
- For recall campaigns: automatic notification
- 3 years after purchase: offer for vehicle change
| Feature | Standard CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot) | AutoPult CRM |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle matching | Not available | Automatic with inventory comparison |
| Portal integration (mobile.de, AutoScout24) | Only via third-party | Natively integrated |
| Vehicle calculation in CRM | Not possible | Contribution margin in real time |
| Purchase contract creation | External tool required | Directly from the deal |
| Workshop history in customer profile | Not available | Fully integrated |
| WhatsApp Business | Only via add-on | Native in CRM |
Also Makes Sense for Small Dealerships
Many small dealers believe a CRM is only for large dealerships. The opposite is true: especially when you have fewer staff, every lost deal weighs more heavily. AutoPult is a cloud solution that is instantly ready to use, scalable from a single salesperson to a dealer group, and combines CRM, accounting, POS and workshop in one platform.
GDPR Compliance in Customer Data Management
In your CRM, you store personal data – name, address, phone, email, purchase history. The GDPR requires that you have a legal basis for processing, observe deletion deadlines and respond to information requests within 30 days. AutoPult integrates deletion deadlines, consent management and the right to information directly into the CRM – all data is stored in German data centers.
Never Lose a Lead Again
Try AutoPult CRM free for 14 days – including multi-channel inbox and automation.
Frequently Asked Questions About CRM for Car Dealerships
General CRM solutions start at about EUR 20-50 per user per month. Industry-specific solutions like AutoPult, which combine CRM, vehicle management and accounting, typically offer better value than multiple separate tools. The Starter plan is available from EUR 99/month.
Yes, AutoPult offers an import wizard for Excel, CSV and common CRM systems. Data is automatically checked for duplicates and cleaned during import. Our support team assists you with the transition.
Yes. AutoPult integrates directly with the major vehicle portals. Incoming inquiries are automatically captured as leads, assigned to the right vehicle and routed to a sales rep. Response time is tracked.
AutoPult uses the official WhatsApp Business API. Messages appear directly in the customer file, vehicle photos can be shared with one click and templates for common replies speed up communication. All messages are archived GDPR-compliantly.
Yes. AutoPult is a cloud solution fully usable in the browser – including on smartphones and tablets. Sales staff can view customer data, document calls and send offers on the go.