Finding 01p. 1
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Dealer customer data sits in 12+ silos. A CDP merges CRM, DMS, website and third-party data into one unified record per customer.
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Your Guide to Securing, Managing, and Activating First-Party Data
Read our one-minute summary, or ask your AI what this report means for your dealership.
This report explores the growing adoption of Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) in automotive retail, emphasizing the importance of first-party data management. CDPs allow dealerships to personalize customer interactions, increase marketing efficiency, and enhance the overall customer experience, ultimately driving higher customer lifetime value (LTV).
Dealer customer data sits in 12+ silos. A CDP merges CRM, DMS, website and third-party data into one unified record per customer.
The report expects the largest returns from recognizing callers, personalized websites and proactive outreach. Credible auto CDP case studies are still limited.
With cookies going away and platforms limiting audience data, dealers should build their own audiences. Third-party data still fills gaps, but each source must be tested.
Seven grids compare features, DMS and CRM integrations, data sources, data partners and media channels. Vendor self-reported, as of March 1, 2023.
Why dealer data is siloed, three CDP operating models & who the main vendors are
Data sources, CRM gaps, identity resolution, data enhancement & integration methods
Using unified data for marketing, the OEM co-op problem & uses beyond marketing
Dealer questions on partners, cost, ROI, timing, first use cases & switching vendors
Levels of identity resolution & the basics of US consent, opt-in & opt-out rules
Self-reported feature grids for 11 hybrid CDP/MAP platforms, plus a note on MAPs
Five future customer experience use cases & a portfolio management framework
Shift Digital & FordDirect data platforms & the outlook for clean rooms
Planned follow-up research, a glossary of data terms & the sources cited
Short on time? Read the executive summary (p. i) and the CDP deployment concerns (p. 32). About 8 minutes.
The team, the method, and where the data came from.
As the automotive industry continues to shift toward a data-driven approach, dealerships are increasingly adopting Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) to centralize and activate first-party data. CDPs provide a unified view of each customer by aggregating data from various sources, such as CRM systems, dealership websites, service interactions, and third-party platforms. This comprehensive data enables dealerships to create personalized customer experiences, streamline marketing campaigns, and improve service outreach.
The report highlights how CDPs help dealerships overcome the limitations of traditional data silos, where crucial customer information is often fragmented across multiple systems. By implementing a CDP, dealerships can resolve customer identities, build accurate profiles, and deploy data-driven marketing strategies that target both existing customers and in-market shoppers. The research also delves into the complexities of selecting the right CDP vendor and the role of data security, privacy, and regulatory compliance in CDP deployments. As the automotive retail industry faces rising customer acquisition costs and decreasing brand loyalty, the ability to leverage customer data through a CDP is becoming a critical factor for success.
Pick your seat to see what this report means for your job.
Quick answers about the report and who it's for.
A CDP merges CRM, DMS, website and third-party data into one unified record per customer. That matters because dealer customer data sits in 12+ silos. The Rise of CDPs in Automotive Retail explains how automotive CDPs work and how dealers can manage and activate first-party data.
In customer experience rather than marketing. The Rise of CDPs in Automotive Retail expects the largest returns from recognizing callers, personalized websites and proactive outreach. It also notes that credible auto CDP case studies are still limited.
On average, dealers engage 14.5% of their CRM data in a given year, per Fullpath data cited in The Rise of CDPs in Automotive Retail. The report also cites Foureyes data showing 12.4% of qualified leads were never entered into the CRM.
Yes, but test every source before relying on it. With cookies going away and platforms limiting audience data, The Rise of CDPs in Automotive Retail says dealers should build their own audiences. Third-party data still fills gaps alongside that first-party data.
Dealer groups that already have their own data lake can deploy a CDP in 90 days, according to The Rise of CDPs in Automotive Retail. The report also describes three CDP operating models and who the main vendors are.
Choice of partner, cost, ROI, timing, first use cases and switching vendors, plus data security, privacy and regulatory compliance. The Rise of CDPs in Automotive Retail covers each of these dealer questions, along with the basics of US consent, opt-in and opt-out rules.
It compares 11 hybrid CDP/MAP platforms in seven grids covering features, DMS and CRM integrations, data sources, data partners and media channels. The vendors self-reported their data as of March 1, 2023.
Through interviews with numerous CDP and MAP vendors, dealer group leaders and OEM program managers, plus over a dozen vendor sales presentations. Vendors self-reported the features of 11 hybrid CDP/MAP platforms as of March 1, 2023. Brian Pasch wrote the report, published in March 2023.
Yes. It's a free 70-page PDF from Pasch Group, written for dealer principals, GMs, marketing leaders and vendors. Download it on this page. Short on time? Read the executive summary and the CDP deployment concerns chapter, about 8 minutes.
The Rise of CDPs in Automotive Retail. Free, and yours in under a minute.
The Rise of CDPs in Automotive Retail · 70 pages
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 ImpelThe 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.
This investigative report reveals how many third-party scripts collect customer data on dealer websites, often without the dealer's knowledge, and gives you an inspection checklist to audit, optimize and secure your digital properties.