No Love Left. AI Ends the DMS Lock-In
Most dealers don’t love their DMS; they tolerate it. They don’t leave CDK, Reynolds, or Keyloop because they want to. They stay because switching is painful, expensive, and risky. Contracts lock them in, data migration is a mess, and alternatives don’t always feel like a guaranteed improvement.
The frustration is there, but the exit is not easy. This isn’t about loyalty. It’s dependence.
Locked In, Not Loyal
The big DMS players have built their stickiness through control and complexity. They lock dealers in with long contracts, proprietary systems, and high switching costs. CDK, Reynolds, and Keyloop (formerly part of CDK) dominate the market, not because they offer the best technology, but because they are too deeply embedded to escape. Dealers rely on them for inventory, sales, service, and accounting. The systems are outdated, support is slow, and integrations are limited, but the cost of moving is high, and the alternatives don’t always feel better.
Cracks Are Forming
Tekion, Pinewood, and a few modern platforms are pulling dealers away. Especially those tired of clunky interfaces, bad support, and siloed systems that refuse to integrate. The shift is happening, but not all at once. Dealers leave when contracts expire, when they scale and need something better, or when OEMs start demanding change.
OEM Pressure is Real
Some manufacturers are pushing for standardized dealer platforms, and with Chinese brands expanding in Europe, they might bypass legacy DMS altogether. That kind of disruption could force the market to move much faster than it would on its own.
AI is About to Break the Cycle
AI will accelerate this shift. It won’t kill the DMS immediately, but it will change how dealers manage their business. AI agents will take over core DMS functions (inventory, service scheduling, customer interactions, financials) without needing a central, all-in-one system.
AI Agents Will Replace Core DMS Functions
DMS platforms today act as rigid control centers, forcing everything through one system. AI breaks that model by connecting data across multiple sources, running workflows in real-time, and making decisions autonomously. It can adjust pricing, respond to leads, schedule service, and handle compliance reporting. All of this without a dealer logging into a complex interface. Instead of working inside a DMS, dealers will interact with an AI agent that automates the heavy lifting.
DMS Will No Longer Be the Center of the Dealership
This shift means DMS will stop being the center of dealership operations. It will become just one tool among many. Compliance and OEM requirements will keep legacy DMS around for now, but as AI proves it can manage dealerships better, faster, and cheaper, the need for traditional systems will fade.
It seems the future is a dealership where AI runs the show, and the system it works on matters less than the results it delivers. Not another, all-encompassing, DMS platform.
