Overview
Car Wars introduced new artificial intelligence features for phone handling and service scheduling at the NADA 2026 Show, aimed at helping dealerships answer more calls, prioritize missed opportunities, and increase appointments. The rollout was paired with fresh 2025 benchmarks underscoring persistent challenges in connect rates and follow-up.
Key 2025 Benchmarks
- Average sales “Connect” score: 62.39%, indicating many inbound calls still do not reach a qualified person.
- Follow-up on missed opportunity calls: 44%, highlighting gaps in recapturing interested shoppers who didn’t connect on the first attempt.
What’s New and Enhanced
- Cari Receptionist: Expanded reporting surfaces routing decisions, transfers, and outcomes so managers can pinpoint where conversations break down and which paths lead to successful connections.
- Cari Service Scheduler: Built on AI tuned to dealership service operations, now with broader DMS and third‑party scheduler integrations, deeper reporting, and features to streamline booking and reduce manual work.
- AI‑Powered Pursue Opportunity Index: Analyzes missed calls and automatically ranks high‑intent callers so teams can prioritize outreach to the most valuable prospects first.
- Fresh Up Call Tag: Flags first‑time sales opportunity callers to help agents and managers quickly spot and prioritize new prospects.
- Summarized Call Coaching: Weekly snapshots distill each agent’s outbound performance into wins, misses, and targeted coaching points, offering consistent, concise feedback without sifting through full recordings.
Dealer Priorities Highlighted at NADA 2026
- Persistent connect‑rate challenges: Many inbound sales calls still fail to reach a live person or the correct department.
- Slow action on missed calls: Opportunities often age out before stores make contact, even when buyers signal interest.
- Higher bar for AI: Dealers expect practical value—better coverage and credible analytics—over novelty features.
- Visibility and accountability: Leaders want clearer, actionable insight into where calls stall and which missed conversations deserve immediate callbacks.
Why It Matters for Dealerships
The expanded receptionist reporting shows exactly how calls flow—such as IVR prompts leading to transfers and their outcomes—enabling evidence‑based routing adjustments to improve connect rates.
The AI‑driven prioritization helps BDC and sales teams focus callbacks on prospects most likely to convert, rather than working chronologically.
On the service side, broader integrations and deeper reporting address the complexity of fixed operations by reducing manual steps and revealing which scheduling pathways keep bays full and customers informed.
Weekly coaching summaries create a steady feedback loop, turning real call content into targeted, actionable training without overwhelming teams.
Additional Notes
Executives emphasized a shift from experimentation to reliability and measurable outcomes. “Dealers are looking for practical solutions that help them answer more calls, follow up more effectively, and understand what’s actually happening on the phone,” said CEO Stephane Ferri.
Dealers and industry figures joined panels on phone performance, staffing pressures, and using data and AI to drive improvement. Participants, including Allison Kemp of Rich Ford, described partnering with Car Wars to identify and fix phone‑process gaps.
The company did not disclose rollout timelines or specific store results and said it will continue refining tools based on dealer feedback and ongoing call‑performance data.
