Automotive AI. An AI BDC that never misses a lead or a service call.
An autonomous agent for dealerships, dealer groups and service centres. It answers sales and service calls on the first ring, responds to internet leads the moment they arrive, books test drives and service appointments, and keeps following up until the customer is ready — handing warm, qualified buyers to your sales team.
AvailableWhat is an AI BDC for car dealerships?
An AI BDC is an AI agent that does a dealership business-development centre's work: answering sales and service calls, responding to internet leads as they arrive, qualifying buyers on vehicle, budget, trade-in and timing, booking test drives and service appointments, and following up until the customer is ready. Tribe's Automotive AI does this 24/7 and hands warm buyers to your sales team.
Updated
| Status | Available — built and ready to deploy for you |
|---|---|
| Best for | Dealerships whose BDC can't keep up with internet leads and service-lane calls |
| Channels | Phone, SMS, email and web chat |
| Hours | 24/7, 365 days |
| Languages | English and Spanish |
| Works with | Your DMS and CRM, scheduling tools, lead sources, telephony and texting. |
| A person takes over when | Pricing, trade-in values, finance, negotiation and any upset customer |
| Security | Role-based access, encryption and full audit trails |
| Platform | Runs on TIOS; built by CodingKey |
The work, done.
Real situations it handles.
An internet lead at 9 p.m.
A shopper asks about a specific vehicle. The agent confirms it's in stock from your inventory data, answers questions and books a test drive for the morning.
The service lane
Service appointments are booked, confirmed and rescheduled by phone or text, following your service menu and bay capacity.
'Is my car ready?'
Customers checking on a repair get a status update and a clear message to their advisor if they need more.
Recall outreach
Owners with open recalls get notified and offered an appointment — work that fills bays and matters for safety.
Aged leads
Leads that went quiet get relevant follow-up — new arrivals, a price change on a saved vehicle — until they re-engage or opt out.
Trade-in appraisals
Customers thinking about a trade are booked for an appraisal. Values are always left to your team.
An after-hours internet lead, handled.
Lead arrives
A marketplace lead comes in for a used SUV at 9 p.m.
Instant reply
The agent replies by text and email, confirming availability from your inventory feed.
Qualified
It asks about timing, trade-in and how the buyer plans to pay — no prices or payments quoted.
Test drive booked
It books a test drive on the right salesperson's calendar and sends a reminder.
Handed over
Your salesperson gets the full conversation in the CRM; no-shows get a polite follow-up.
Example for illustration — not a real customer conversation.
Plugs into your stack. Keeps humans in control.
Integrates with
Your DMS and CRM, scheduling tools, lead sources, telephony and texting.
What stays human
Pricing, negotiation, trade-in values, finance and anything involving an upset customer stay with your people.
Why it matters now.
U.S. franchised light-vehicle dealerships wrote more than 276 million repair orders in 2025, with service and parts sales above $164 billion.
In Cox Automotive's Car Buyer Journey study, 53% of buyers completed every step of their purchase at the dealership; only 7% bought entirely online.
Third-party figures, linked to their sources. They describe the industry, not Tribe's results.
What it takes, and what you can measure.
What you get: Every lead worked, more appointments that show, fuller service bays, and a BDC that scales without adding headcount.
What we need from you
- Your inventory feed and lead sources
- DMS and CRM access — or how you want appointments sent
- Sales and service calendars, and routing rules
- Service menu, hours and open-recall lists
- What the agent must never quote: prices, payments or trade values
What you can measure
- Leads received and time to first response
- Appointments set and shown
- Service appointments booked and confirmed
- Missed calls recovered
- Aged leads re-engaged
- Handoffs to a person, and why
Reported through TIOS. Tribe measures results on your own data rather than promising numbers up front.
The agent executes. Your people decide.
The agent handles the repeatable, high-volume work; your people own the decisions that matter. Human-in-the-loop escalation, full audit trails and security by default — built by CodingKey and proven in Tribe's own live operations before it reaches you. See our security & compliance.
Human. AI. Or both — your call.
Run it as an AI agent, keep it fully human, or blend the two — you choose the mix, and change it as your confidence grows.
People and AI together — your call. Agents handle the volume, your specialists own the moments that matter. Start where you like, and shift the mix as your confidence grows.
Not a demo — a running business.
This agent is informed by real operations inside Tribe's own companies:
Where this fits in our services.
Often deployed alongside.
Automotive AI, answered.
How do dealerships use AI to sell more cars?
Is Automotive AI an AI BDC?
Does it quote prices or trade-in values?
Can it handle the service lane too?
Will AI replace car salespeople?
Does it work with our DMS and CRM?
What is SWAI?
How much does Automotive AI cost?
How long does it take to deploy Automotive AI?
Put this agent to work.
Tell us the workflow. We'll deploy an agent that runs it — with your people in control.