6 Best Automotive CRM Software for 2022

Learn about the best automotive CRM software options and their primary use cases in our independent editorial review for automotive companies.

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Automotive CRMs help dealerships, OEMs, and garages connect with and organize leads and prioritize prospects ready to buy or service a vehicle. The top automotive CRMs offer general tools such as lead generation and pipeline management, plus industry-specific features like inventory management, license and VIN scanning, and dealership management system (DMS) integration. We’ve evaluated the top six automotive CRM software to help you choose the right one.

Here are the six best automotive CRMs in 2022:

  • Salesforce: Best overall CRM software for features and pricing (30-day free trial)
  • Zoho CRM: Best general CRM for omnichannel marketing tools (free starting price)
  • Elead CRM: Best automotive CRM for customer service management (free demo)
  • VinSolutions Connect CRM: Best CRM for advanced lead data insights (free demo)
  • AutoRaptor: Best automotive software for automated lead distribution (free demo)
  • Selly Automotive: Best automotive software for onboarding support (free demo)

How We Evaluated the Best Automotive CRM Software

In our evaluation of the best CRM software for automotive businesses, we divided our scoring into six major categories, each of which included several weighted subcriteria. We then assigned subcriteria scores and tallied up each category, which resulted in an overall score out of five for each CRM. Using our research, we assigned a primary use case to each CRM that scored highly enough to make our list.

Evaluation Criteria

Our scoring prioritized the features dealerships and other automotive companies need — including general tools that come with any quality CRM, plus automotive-specific tools — and their cost. We also looked at ease of use to ensure that each software can be used by anyone. App integrations and customization came next, followed by customer support.

Cost:
25%
Core Features:
25%
Ease of Use:
20%
Integrations:
15%
Customization:
10%
Customer Support:
5%

Note: All per-user prices are with a one-year commitment unless noted.

While all general and industry-specific CRMs performed well in various categories, a winner emerged after we totaled the results. Salesforce scored best overall and also placed first in the Core Features, Integrations, and Customization categories. None of the industry-specific CRMs list pricing on their website, which affected their scores, but all six software on our list are worthy options. Read below to understand how each CRM fared in each category.

Salesforce: Best Overall Automotive CRM

Powerhouse general CRM giving users the ability to personalize the software for automotive features.

Price Range: $25 to $330 per user, per month (30-day trial)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Cost star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Integrations star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customizations star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customer Support star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full

Pros:

  • Automotive-focused arm
  • Feature-rich general CRM
  • Robust reporting & dashboards

Cons:

  • Too complex for some dealerships
  • Setup can be time consuming
  • Customer service could improve

Salesforce is a popular CRM known for its strong analytics, automations, customizations, and contact management tools. Beyond these robust general features, it offers automotive-focused tools to market certain cars to potential buyers and even allow them to purchase the exact car they want. After the sale, send personalized resources and service reminders, all while storing ownership, service history, and other details within each customer's CRM contact record.

Salesforce is a powerful platform, but it's too complex for some automotive companies' needs, and its higher tiers are expensive. If you're looking for a simpler, more affordable CRM that still offers robust features, check out Zoho CRM.

Salesforce Pricing

  • Starter: $25 per user, per month
  • Professional: $80 per user, per month
  • Enterprise: $165 per user, per month
  • Unlimited: $330 per user, per month
  • Free Trial: 30 days

Salesforce Key Features

  • Purchasing Platform: Customers can buy and personalize a car with chat support.
  • After-Sales Engagement: Send custom info, resources, and service reminders.
  • Advanced Reporting: Build reports and dashboards around your key metrics.
  • Relevant Integrations: Salesforce AppExchange offers automotive-specific apps.

Salesforce automotive CRM

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Zoho CRM: Best for Omnichannel Marketing

Sales and marketing CRM that helps automotive companies connect with leads via social media, email, and more.

Price Range: Free to $52 per user, per month (15- to 30-day free trial)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Cost star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Integrations star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customizations star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customer Support star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full

Pros:

  • Built-in onboarding features
  • Strong sales & marketing tools
  • Free version & affordable tiers

Cons:

  • Can be buggy at times
  • User interface could improve
  • Time-consuming to customize

Zoho CRM is a top sales and marketing CRM with omnichannel lead generation and nurturing tools. Automotive companies using Zoho CRM can market to potential customers via social media, Google Ads, and other marketing platforms, then direct them to your website where you can capture their info via webforms. Once you've generated the leads, Zoho CRM will help you send email campaigns to promote dealership sales or invite them for test drives.

Zoho CRM is a great general platform for automotive companies willing to spend time personalizing it to their needs, but some will want an out-of-the-box CRM. If this is you, consider Salesforce for its ability to easily customize the entire platform for automotive purposes.

Zoho CRM Pricing

  • Free Version: Supports up to 3 users
  • Standard: $14 per user, per month
  • Professional: $23 per user, per month
  • Enterprise: $40 per user, per month
  • Ultimate: $52 per user, per month
  • Free Trial: 15 to 30 days for all paid plans

Zoho CRM Key Features

  • Social Media Tools: Monitor conversations about your brand and market to leads.
  • Email Marketing: Segment your leads and send relevant email campaigns to them.
  • Self-Service Portal: Let customers book services and get updates, plus access invoices.
  • Inventory Management: Manage vehicle stock, track orders, and generate invoices.

Zoho CRM automotive CRM

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Elead CRM: Best for Customer Service Tools

Industry-specifc CRM designed to help automotive retail groups grow through service-oriented features.

Price Range: Call for quote (free demo)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Cost star-fullstar-full star-fullstar-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Integrations star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customizations star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customer Support star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Easy to find information
  • Robust desking features
  • Proprietary business tools

Cons:

  • Few agents can be active at a time
  • Prone to duplicate entries
  • Slowness & latency issues

Elead CRM is a highly-ranked automotive CRM that includes sales, marketing, and service features specifically to help car dealers build great relationships. Communicate with leads using their preferred method (phone, text, email, or in person), let them easily schedule their own appointments, send follow-ups prompted by alerts, and use data mining tools to know which prospects are ready to buy so you can personally reach out at the right time.

Elead CRM is our top automotive-specific CRM, but common user complaints include slowness, glitches, and other technical difficulties, especially when multiple people use the platform at once. For a more stable CRM, look into Salesforce.

Elead CRM Pricing

  • Call for Quote
  • Free Demo: Call for information

Elead CRM Key Features

  • DMS Integrations: Connects with all major DMS and third-party providers for key insights.
  • Communication Overview: Logs, records, and maps all calls within leads' contact records.
  • Multi-Point Inspection: Prompt a full inspection during every visit for your customers.
  • Desking: Give presentations to customers via payment matrix and trade evaluations.

Elead CRM automotive CRM

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VinSolutions Connect CRM: Best for Advanced Lead Data Insights

Streamlines the buying process with targeted data insights to ensure dealers identify the right customers at the right time.

Price Range: Call for quote (free demo)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Cost star-fullstar-full star-fullstar-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Integrations star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customizations star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customer Support star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Easy to use & intuitive
  • Feature-rich platform
  • Simplified contact tracking

Cons:

  • Cluttered dashboard
  • Limited email templates
  • No upfront pricing

VinSolutions Connect CRM is a data-driven auto dealer CRM with powerful lead analytics that deliver insights into leads and how they shop. Its database pulls lead data from thousands of third-party sources, which it imports into your CRM and uses to suggest likely vehicles of interest so you can appeal to potential customers’ preferences. It also analyzes leads' emails and texts to predict when they're ready to buy or losing interest so you can reach out.

Although VinSolutions Connect CRM provides useful lead data insights, the contact dashboard is cluttered, and it's not always easy to pull up the lead information you need. For a more well-designed and reliable option, try Salesforce.

VinSolutions Connect CRM Pricing

  • Call for Quote
  • Free Demo: Call for information

VinSolutions Connect CRM Key Features

  • Automotive Intelligence: Buying signals, engagement strength, and sentiment analysis.
  • Third-Party Data Integrations: The database pulls key data from relevant sources.
  • Inventory Tracking: Track vehicles in stock and print customized stickers on demand.
  • Accountability Tracking: Call tracking software keeps dealership staff accountable.

VinSolutions Connect CRM automotive CRM

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AutoRaptor: Best for Automated Lead Distribution

A powerful CRM that consolidates leads from various sources and assigns them to reps for follow-up.

Price Range: Call for quote (free demo)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Cost star-fullstar-full star-fullstar-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Integrations star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customizations star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customer Support star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • User-friendly
  • Built-in round robin assignments
  • Included automations

Cons:

  • No free trial available
  • No built-in desking
  • Insufficient reporting

AutoRaptor is an easy-to-use automotive CRM for independent dealers. Its sales dashboard clearly shows leads and customers plus their engagement touchpoints, letting sales managers and reps see all activities at different stages in the pipeline and manage contacts directly from the dashboard. Best of all, it comes with built-in (no-code) round robin rules for lead distribution so prospects interested in buying a vehicle are auto-routed to the next available salesperson.

AutoRaptor is a solid choice for those looking for an automotive-specific CRM with lead routing capabilities, but its reporting functionality is insufficient for many businesses. For the best reporting features, learn about Salesforce.

AutoRaptor Pricing

  • Call for Quote
  • Free Demo: Call for information

AutoRaptor Key Features

  • Sales Dashboard: Keep track of contacts and metrics through the entire sales funnel.
  • Round Robin Rules: Automatically distribute leads so sales reps can respond quickly.
  • Robust Communication: Connect communication with inventory and customer info.
  • License Scanner: Scan VIN barcodes and customers’ licenses to easily save information.

AutoRaptor automotive CRM

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Selly Automotive: Best for Onboarding Support

An auto CRM that helps dealerships new to CRMs learn how best to use it for lead generation, nurturing, and more.

Price Range: Call for quote (free demo)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Cost star-fullstar-full star-fullstar-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Integrations star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customizations star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customer Support star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Phone routing to a certain rep
  • Call recording & texting
  • One-on-one setup assistance

Cons:

  • Not very customizable
  • No pricing listed on the site
  • Lagging & latency issues

Selly Automotive is an automotive CRM and internet lead management (ILM) platform made for independent used car dealers. Its personalized customer support makes it a great fit for dealerships new to CRMs — Selly's onboarding team will help you set up the platform and then train your sales and management team to use it properly. Afterward, you'll have full access to phone support, plus self-guided articles and videos in the Selly Help Center.

Selly Automotive's support is a major plus for automotive companies that haven't used a CRM before, but it's the least customizable CRM on our list. If customizations and support are equally important to you, check out Elead CRM.

Selly Automotive Pricing

  • Call for Quote
  • Free Demo: Call for information

Selly Automotive Key Features

  • Social Lead Management: Connect with and capture leads via Facebook and Messenger.
  • Personal Support: Get one-on-one setup and usage help, plus ongoing phone support.
  • Smart Automation: Customize workflows, automate replies, and enable autoreminders.
  • Built-in Texting: Use Selly’s Notes feature to follow up with clients who prefer texting.

Selly Automotive CRM

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Top 5 Automotive CRM Features

The best automotive CRM software have these features in common:

License & VIN Scanning

DMS Integration

Enterprise Management

Communication Management

Accountability Tracking

With these scanning tools, you can scan customers' license and their car’s vehicle identification number (VIN) and save it within their contact record in the CRM.

This type of integration gives you access to major dealership management system (DMS) providers so you can stay updated on buying insights.

With enterprise management, dealerships with more than one location can track and modify inventory at each location.

Communication management helps you contact leads and prospects through email, phone, or SMS, plus pull up a history of interactions within their contact record.

By tracking your automotive company staff members' calls, you can ensure that they provide quality service to potential and current customers.

Bottom Line: Best Automotive CRM

Automotive CRM software helps automotive companies efficiently manage their interactions with existing and new customers. By giving dealerships the industry-specific CRM tools they need, these platforms can support dealerships and similar businesses to close more deals. The top six auto CRMs highlighted on our list provide useful features and resources to sell and engage with clients; check them out and choose the one that will serve you best.

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