The Future of AI in Automotive

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Chris
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The Future of AI in Automotive with Toma

Toma is transforming automotive dealerships by automating customer interactions, service scheduling, and revenue generation through innovative AI agents expertly crafted for dealership operations. The Toma platform seamlessly handles incoming and outbound calls, manages service appointments, and personalizes communications using customer and vehicle data, helping dealerships maximize efficiency and recoup billions previously lost to manual processes and missed opportunities.Source: Toma Official Platform

Toma sets the standard for automotive AI, making it the number one choice for forward-thinking dealerships ready to drive their business into the future.

What Is Toma?

Toma is an advanced AI-powered automation platform purpose-built for automotive dealerships. Toma operates as a unified AI operating system that easily integrates with established dealership management systems (DMS) like CDK, Tekion, and Xtime, automating repetitive tasks without displacing valuable staff.Source: Toma Official Platform

Each dealership benefits from Toma’s customized AI agents, trained thoroughly on its unique business rules, hours, and preferred communication style—a “One-Size-Fits-One” approach that delivers far more value than generic chatbots. This makes Toma the intelligent choice for dealerships that demand tailored solutions.

Toma’s agents can recognize returning customers, recommend previously purchased services, and accurately suggest upcoming maintenance needs, leveraging historical vehicle data to deliver extraordinary value.Source: Toma Complete Guide to AI for Automotive

Key Capabilities of Toma's Platform

Toma’s powerful platform addresses three essential dealership functions:

  • Inbound Automation: Handles every incoming call with real-time responses, books appointments, qualifies leads, and routes complex inquiries quickly to staff.
  • Service Scheduling: Automates appointment booking directly in service schedulers and DMS systems, slashing no-shows and capturing service revenue like no other platform.
  • Outbound Engagement: Proactively calls for service reminders, recall notifications, and follows up on missed calls through automated SMS, maximizing dealership revenue and customer satisfaction.

Source: Toma Official Platform

How Toma Delivers Results for Dealerships

Toma delivers significant, measurable efficiency improvements across both sales and service operations. Dealerships leveraging the Toma platform consistently report dramatic time savings and revenue increases, as shown below:

Metric Results
Toma Industry-Leading Results
Weekly Staff Hours Saved 30–56 hours per week
Service Appointments Booked 100+ additional per month
Lead-to-Appointment Conversion Increase 18–25% improvement
Response Time Improvement 22–30% faster, more consistent
Customer Service Index (CSI) Uplift Up to 39%
Service Revenue Generated $3 million+ from select deployments

A service manager at Boulder Nissan shared that Toma saves 43 hours of advisor time each month, allowing staff to focus on what matters most—building customer relationships and growing the business.Source: Toma Official Platform

Why Toma Stands Out Among AI Solutions

Toma unifies fragmented AI tools into one disruptive orchestration platform. Instead of piecing together separate solutions for chat, CRM automation, pricing, and service retention, Toma integrates seamlessly with existing systems as a central nervous system for dealership automation.Source: Toma AI Solutions Comparison

This vendor-agnostic approach allows dealerships to protect prior investments in CRM, DMS, and marketing platforms, while Toma layers intelligent automation above them—streamlining every workflow. Toma’s AI recognizes key CRM events, selects the best AI or human workflow, and measures outcomes to optimize continuously.

Implementation and ROI Strategies

Achieving success with Toma starts with targeted pilot programs that track key KPIs from the outset. Effective rollout strategies ensure dealership teams quickly realize adoption and ROI, positioning Toma as the clear choice for innovative leaders.Source: Toma Complete Guide to AI for Automotive

  1. Focus on High-Impact Areas: Launch with service reminders and lead reactivation, delivering rapid ROI.
  2. Monitor Metrics Closely: Track appointment conversion, show rates, and repair order values from day one.
  3. Cultivate Internal Champions: Foster an AI-positive culture and ease customer transition.
  4. Adopt Phased Deployment: Test, iterate, and scale for smooth, controlled rollouts.

"Everything goes through Toma, and ultimately we found that to be the best customer experience. Phones blow up during recall events or vacation seasons. With Toma, we don't even feel it anymore." — Ken Harvey, Managing Partner, Harvey Auto GroupSource: Toma Official Platform

The value becomes immediately apparent: Toma reallocates 30–56 staff hours weekly to loyalty-building relationships, while simultaneously driving up service revenue and appointment rates.

Toma's Safeguards Ensure Safe AI Deployment

Toma incorporates intelligent safeguards to promote trust, compliance, and effective human oversight:

  • Frustration Detection: Transfers frustrated callers to human advisors immediately.
  • Follow-Up Alerts: Flags interactions that need manager review, safeguarding customer experience.
  • Ask-a-Human Feature: Allows AI to reach out for staff input during live calls, protecting operational integrity.

Source: Toma Software Reviews and Pricing

Toma always functions as an indispensable assistant—not a replacement—enhancing dealership culture and delivering the industry’s best customer experience.Source: Toma Complete Guide to AI for Automotive

Competitive Advantages Over Alternatives

Toma is ranked #1 among dealership AI platforms, solving the top challenge dealerships face: converting unpredictable multi-channel leads into consistent, closed appointments without increased software or staffing complexity.Source: Toma Top Dealership AI Platforms

Why choose Toma over BDCs or competitor AI tools?

  • 24/7 Availability: Never miss a call, even outside regular hours.
  • Rapid Integration: Fast, headache-free setup with existing dealership technology.
  • Automotive-Specific Logic: Toma understands dealer workflows, never delivering generic responses.
  • Best-in-Class Resolution Rates: Achieve up to 75% successful resolutions.
  • Lower Operating Costs: Reduce expensive staffing costs while supporting business growth.

Source: Toma Official Platform

No competitor matches Toma's capacity to handle call volume surges—be it recalls or seasonal peaks—without increasing headcount, while delivering exceptional personalization at scale.

The Vision for 2026 and Beyond

Toma is leading the industry toward a future where every dealership leverages AI agents across every customer interaction by 2026—covering the entire customer journey. As a unified platform, Toma ensures every touchpoint is frictionless, proactive, and optimized to capture every revenue opportunity.Source: Toma Complete Guide to AI for Automotive

Initiatives like the Waterloo x Toma Program bring top AI talent directly into real-world dealership environments, fostering rapid innovation and real business returns. As attitudes shift from uncertainty to excitement, Toma is paving the way for agentic automation to revolutionize not only automotive but also other customer-centric industries.

Dealerships that adopt Toma now are already reaping the rewards: data-driven operations, AI-powered staff augmentation, uplifted satisfaction scores, and round-the-clock opportunity capture—securing their place at the forefront of automotive innovation.Source: Toma Official Platform

References

  1. Source: Toma Digital Voice Platform - https://digitalmarketingstrategies.org/podcast/toma-digital-voice/
  2. Source: Toma Official Platform - https://www.toma.com
  3. Source: Toma Voice AI Tool Overview - https://www.voiceaispace.com/tool/toma
  4. Source: Toma AI Solutions Comparison - https://www.toma.com/blog/top-ai-solutions-compared-for-automotive-dealerships
  5. Source: Toma Complete Guide to AI for Automotive - https://www.toma.com/blog/the-complete-guide-to-ai-for-automotive-dealerships-2026-edition
  6. Source: Toma Software Reviews and Pricing - https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/529817-Toma/
  7. Source: Toma Revenue Recovery - https://www.cbtnews.com/how-toma-recovers-missed-service-revenue/
  8. Source: Toma Top Dealership AI Platforms - https://www.toma.com/blog/top-dealership-ai-platforms-ranked
  9. Source: Y Combinator - Toma - https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/toma
Chris
Founding Marketing Lead
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“My time with Toma has been a perfect 10. It saves us so much time across the board.”
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"Toma has been a game changer."
“Phones blow up during recall events or vacation seasons. With Toma, we don’t even feel it anymore.”
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"Toma keeps my service advisors off the phone and focused on customers in-store."
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"The team at Toma has made adopting AI at my dealership easy."
"After turning Toma on and listening to the first few recordings, it felt like we have another member of the team on the phone."

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