Automotive Business Magazine – Q2 2026 – Digital edition - Magazine - Page 23
OPINION
RE TA I L
AI in the dealership
→ Jens-Peter Sjöberg is chief innovation officer at Phyron
A
rtificial intelligence (AI) has
been part of the automotive
retail conversation for
several years now, but the
way dealerships engage
with it has changed. Not
long ago, AI sat on the
fringes of events and demos.
Today, it sits much closer to
the operational core of a business.
In the UK, most dealerships now use
AI in some form – content automation,
website personalisation, stock analysis,
administrative support. It’s no longer
about interest or awareness. It’s about
where AI genuinely helps, and where it
simply adds noise. Saying you use AI
means very little. What matters is where
it fits into your work, what friction it
removes, and how clearly it contributes
to outcomes.
Improving imagery
One of the most practical uses of AI
today sits in a deceptively simple place:
visual assets. Dealers have always known
that good photos matter. The challenge
has been producing consistent, highquality images at scale. Instead of
replacing photography, AI-driven image
enhancement automates background
handling, lighting balance, and visual
consistency so that every vehicle looks
clean and professional, regardless of
where or how the original photo was
taken.
One example is Phyron’s Enhanced
Stills. Rather than positioning AI imagery
as a creative experiment, the emphasis is
on removing friction from a routine retail
task: presenting every car clearly and
consistently, and getting it online quickly.
This means more realistic lighting and
reflections that better match studio
photography, environments that adjust
with the camera angle to avoid repetition
across large inventories, and much
faster image processing. Updated virtual
showroom settings also improve depth
and balance, helping images feel natural
rather than synthetic.
For a dealership, this means faster
turnaround, consistent and attractive
presentation, and less manual effort.
Where to experiment
Everyone should be encouraged to
experiment, but at some point it needs
focus. Internal use cases are a sensible
place to start. Planning, analysis, admin,
and internal reporting are low-risk areas
where teams can explore what AI can
do and build confidence. More care is
needed with customer-facing outputs
at scale. Publishing imagery, messaging,
or content without the right controls
can introduce brand or compliance risk.
This is where working with established,
automotive-focused partners matters.
The goal isn’t to adopt every tool on the
market. It’s to understand your own
business and spot where automation
improves performance.
What comes next
It’s foolish to try to predict what’s
going to happen with AI, because the
technology moves so fast. But over the
next year, we will go from standalone
tools to deeper integration. Instead of
logging into separate systems, dealers
will see AI embedded across platforms,
with content flowing directly into DMS,
CRM, marketplaces, and advertising.
AI will become more performance-led.
Rather than simply creating assets, it will
help test variations, learn what performs
better, and refine outputs. That applies to
imagery, video, and messaging.
AI won’t run a dealership on its own. It
won’t replace experience or judgement.
What it will do is remove wasted effort,
speed up execution, and help teams
focus on selling cars and serving
customers better.
Used properly, AI stops being a
buzzword and starts becoming part of
how modern dealerships operate.
Q2 2026 AUTOMOTIVE BUSINESS
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