Question 01
Who controls the customer record when AI agents start talking to shoppers?
As CRMs, CDPs and AI platforms converge on the unified customer profile, someone has to govern identity and consent across every vendor.
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The Battle for Data Control: who will own dealership data and customer communication as CRMs, CDPs and AI agents converge?
The 2027 Automotive CRM Research Report examines how AI, CDPs, cloud data warehouses and evolving CRM platforms are reshaping who controls dealership data and customer communications, and the new standards dealers should demand as CRMs expand into service, F&I, lifecycle marketing, compliance and AI-agent governance.
Release dates firm up about a week before launch. Join the waitlist and you'll hear the moment it's out.
The topic and focus are set.
Dealer survey and interviews.
Drafting, then third-party peer review.
Free to download. The waitlist hears first.
We're still in the field. Here's what we're investigating, and where your answers come in.
As CRMs, CDPs and AI platforms converge on the unified customer profile, someone has to govern identity and consent across every vendor.
Data ownership, APIs, portability, integrations and consent: the questions that decide whether you can leave later.
Why the next CRM has to cover the whole relationship, not just the sales funnel.
The survey has closed. Thank you to every dealership that took part. Their answers are in the report.
Chapter plan from the research brief. Final contents may shift before release.
Why data control matters now, the five CRM controls and a scorecard on last year's calls.
Limited data access, clashing AI agents, cloud data security and sharper compliance risk.
Moving from lead to lifecycle workflows, the AI control race and aging software stacks.
Category leaders, platform SWOTs, top requests and complaints. Data still pending.
10 questions before a demo, contract standards and the Dealer Data Exit Checklist.
The data pyramid, CDP adoption, cloud warehouses and the OEM data overreach.
Why outsourced list pulls are dead and every message should check one central data hub.
Bringing the service lane into the CRM, from service-to-sales signals to declined work.
Sharing F&I coverage across the store and working declined products after the sale.
The DMS toll gate, agentic compliance, consumer AI agents and the proposed AACS.
Which platforms will win, and why dealer demands will decide the battle for data control.
Thank you to every dealership that took part. Join the waitlist and we'll send you the findings the day they're published.
The team, the method, and where the data is coming from.
The automotive CRM is entering a fundamental transformation. As dealerships adopt CDPs, cloud data warehouses, digital voice assistants, specialized AI agents and increasingly connected technology stacks, managing leads is no longer enough. The 2027 Automotive CRM Research Report: The Battle for Data Control examines why the next generation of CRM technology must govern the complete customer relationship, including identity, consent, context, communication cadence and pricing across every department, vendor, employee and AI agent.
This 2027 research report explores the changing relationship between CRMs, CDPs, DMS platforms, OEM programs and dealer-owned data infrastructure while addressing the operational and compliance challenges created by AI-driven retail. From CRM switching and data portability to lifecycle marketing, service, F&I, cloud governance, consumer AI agents and a proposed Automotive Agent & Consent Standard, Brian Pasch provides a framework for dealers evaluating where the industry is headed and what they should demand from their technology partners.
Pick your seat to see what this report means for your job.
Quick answers about the report and who it's for.
It's Pasch Group's 2027 research on who controls dealership data and customer communication as CRMs, CDPs, cloud data warehouses and AI agents converge. Subtitled The Battle for Data Control, it covers the standards dealers should demand as CRMs expand into service, F&I, lifecycle marketing, compliance and AI-agent governance.
It's expected in November 2026, and it will be a free PDF from Pasch Group. Join the waitlist on this page and we'll email it to you the day it's released, so there's nothing to check back for.
The report's dealer survey results come from a confidential CRM survey of dealership leaders, open through October 10, 2026. It covers category leaders, platform strengths and weaknesses, and the top requests and complaints dealers have about their CRMs. Results stay pending until the survey closes.
It combines a confidential dealer CRM survey, LinkedIn polls of dealer and vendor professionals from June and July 2026, and vendor interviews, product announcements and regulatory and legal sources. A prior survey of 463 qualified dealership leaders, from December 2025 to January 2026, is used for comparison.
Identity, consent, context, cadence and pricing. The 2027 Automotive CRM Research Report presents them as the dealer's new operating standard: the control points a CRM has to govern across every department, vendor, employee and AI agent.
Start with data ownership, APIs, portability, integrations, consent, AI capabilities and long-term control. The report's CRM switching playbook includes 10 questions to ask before a demo, contract standards and a Dealer Data Exit Checklist, so you can leave a platform later without losing your data.
The CRM used to manage leads; now it has to govern every conversation. As AI agents start talking to shoppers, the report looks at who controls the customer record when CRMs, CDPs and AI platforms converge on one customer profile, and at clashing AI agents and sharper compliance risk.
The AACS is a framework the 2027 Automotive CRM Research Report proposes in its Future frameworks section, alongside agentic compliance, consumer AI agents and the DMS toll gate. Vendors that serve dealers will want to read it before their customers do.
One that covers the whole customer relationship, not just the sales funnel. The report looks at how CRM, CDP, cloud data, lifecycle marketing and AI are converging, and why service, F&I and marketing need to share one governed customer experience.
Brian Pasch wrote it for dealer principals and GMs, marketing and digital managers, sales and BDC teams, and the vendors who serve dealers. Each gets practical takeaways, from contract questions for GMs to the standards dealers will expect from CRM and AI partners.
Join the waitlist for 2027 Automotive CRM Research Report, and we'll send it the day it's out.
2027 Automotive CRM Research Report
We'll email the day it's released. Dates usually firm up about a week before launch.
Based on interviews with dealership leaders using AI in sales and service, this report shows how the strongest stores split work between AI and people, manage the handoff, bring staff along and measure what AI actually adds.
In collaboration with ImpelAs dealership technology stacks grow more complex, dealers need their CRM to become the engagement platform for sales, marketing and service. This report analyzes feedback from 463 dealership leaders across leading CRM providers, scoring reporting, mobile, support, AI, desking and service CRM. The findings show how well CRM platforms support modern dealership operations, and where gaps still exist.
Dealers still struggle to verify where their ads ran, how their budgets were spent, and whether reported results reflect real business impact. This research gives dealers a framework for evaluating CTV economics, placement quality, format integrity, pacing, attribution and transparency.
In collaboration with Dealer Stream