8:52 am, January 13, 2026
Car dealers will learn how to better handle leads and understand the customer journey by coming along to Car Dealer Live in 2026.
This year’s ticket-only event, which returns for its third year, will one again bring together dealers and leaders in the automotive industry for a fascinating day of insight.
Headline speakers at the event include the managing director of Peugeot UK, Nicola Dobson, and Sohib Ghafouri, founder and director of Infinity Motors.
Dealers will also be treated to panel discussions from a wide variety of dealers, dealer groups, and car manufacturers.
The full line-up is available on the event website alongside ticket details for car dealers and suppliers.
The event takes place on March 19 at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon.
One partner who will be delivering exclusive research at Car Dealer Live 2026 will be Impel.
Director James Leese will be taking to the stage to explain the importance of leads in the buying process, and how customers really like to be contacted.
Speaking to Car Dealer ahead of the event, Leese said Impel will be sharing fresh insight drawn from years of data analysis, consumer research and recent mystery shopping exercises, all aimed at helping dealers improve performance in 2026.
‘We’re going to be talking about leads and the importance of leads and, interestingly, how consumers perceive that journey of providing a lead and the responses they get back from the dealers,’ he said in the video posted at the top of this story.
Impel has analysed thousands of real-world interactions through its own systems, uncovering what Leese described as ‘some really interesting stories to be told’ about where dealers are succeeding – and where they are falling short.
As part of that work, the company has recently carried out mystery shopping exercises, submitting enquiries to both independent and franchise dealers to assess response times, quality of engagement and overall customer experience.
‘We’ve gone out and actually sat in the consumer’s seat,’ Leese explained, with the firm monitoring ‘how that response comes back and that journey and how the customer feels on that journey’.
Alongside this, Impel has gathered direct consumer feedback to better understand what buyers like, what frustrates them and what they want improved when enquiring about new and used cars. Those findings will form the backbone of Impel’s Car Dealer Live session.
As Impel is best-known for its AI-driven software, artificial intelligence will feature prominently in the session. Lease will be joined by an as-yet-unnamed dealer guest who will share their ‘warts and all’ experience of using AI in their business.
Commenting on why Impel wanted to appear at Car Dealer Live 2026, Leese said: ‘There are opportunities for dealers to make some relatively simple changes to their processes, to support better experience for the consumer and more sales for the dealer.
‘It’s about sharing those experiences so that everyone can benefit from it.’
Impel is just one partner who will be delivering its research at Car Dealer Live. Attendees will also be able to hear exclusive findings from Keyloop, Cox Automotive, Motorway, Google, and headline partner Auto Trader.
All research discussed by the event partners will be available for download on the event website.
Tickets are selling fast – to book yours visit our event website, and for queries you can email our team.
