11:09 am, October 5, 2026
More than one million car dealer leads have now been handled by Impel’s artificial intelligence technology as adoption of AI continues to accelerate across the UK motor trade.
The automotive technology firm – which was headline speaker at this year’s Car Dealer Live, and will return in 2027 – has reached the milestone three years after launching in the UK, with more than half of those enquiries handled during the last 12 months alone.
Impel says its Sales AI technology dealt with 519,982 leads between September 1, 2025 and August 31, 2026 – more than double the 258,956 recorded in the previous 12-month period.
It’s now being used across more than 300 UK dealership sites, including businesses operated by Sytner Group, Swansway, Vindis, Retail Renault Group and Available Car.
Impel’s system responds to online enquiries and continues conversations with potential buyers, answering questions, qualifying leads and booking appointments before handing customers over to dealership staff where required.
During the latest 12-month period, Impel says the technology engaged with 139,315 customers, generated 15,237 appointments, and handled 6.3m messages.
The company estimates that this saved its dealer customers 313,142 hours of sales executive time.
James Leese, Impel’s UK managing director, said the rapid growth showed how quickly dealers were becoming comfortable allowing AI to handle customer enquiries.
He said: ‘Passing one million leads is a significant milestone for us. The fact that more than half have been handled in the last 12 months shows how quickly dealer adoption of AI is growing.
‘Dealers are seeing the results for themselves, which gives them the confidence to use AI to handle and nurture more of their online leads.
‘We’re now seeing that across hundreds of dealerships and thousands of customer conversations all day, every day.’
Leese said the number of appointments generated was particularly important in demonstrating whether automated conversations were producing tangible opportunities for retailers.
The 15,237 appointments generated over the year equate to around one for every nine customers engaged by the system.
Leese added: ‘The 15,000 appointments generated over the last year is important too.
‘It’s proof that the value isn’t in automating activity for the sake of it; it’s in helping customers progress in their own time and creating opportunities for sales teams.’
Impel will join Motorway, Keyloop, Google and headline partner Autotrader as keys speakers at Car Dealer Live 2027. The event will be bigger than ever, and will focus on a broad range of motor industry topics. The action-packed day will include interviews with some of the biggest names in the motor trade and car industry.