Critical Shifts:
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Accelerated Co-Innovation: The Test Drive program lets dealers test and refine emerging software features in real time, ensuring new capabilities directly align with daily dealership workflows before full rollout.
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Data-Backed Sourcing Decisions: Early enhancements leverage AI and ecosystem history to flag model-specific mechanical issues and accurately project reconditioning costs during vehicle appraisals.
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Cox Automotive's inventory management platform vAuto has launched vAuto Test Drive, a new program allowing car dealers to preview, test, and offer direct feedback on emerging product features before they hit the broader market.
Following a 700-dealer beta test earlier this year, the initiative connects dealership operators directly with vAuto product teams to ensure new tools directly address day-to-day operational pain points and integrate seamlessly into existing workflows.
“The best technology partners innovate relentlessly and let dealers adopt on their own terms,” said Derek Hansen, Cox Automotive SVP of Dealer, Lender, and Inventory Management Solutions. “With Test Drive, we’re creating a more direct connection between our product teams and the dealers who use our solutions every day.”
Enhancements from Dealer Feedback
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Common Problems: An AI tool that scans public market data, owner forums, and online discussions to automatically flag frequently reported mechanical and feature issues for specific vehicle makes and models.
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Vehicle Journey: Integrates ownership and service history across the Cox Automotive ecosystem directly into the vAuto appraisal workflow, helping dealers accurately project reconditioning costs and assess vehicle condition.
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AI & Merchandising Automation: Ongoing tests include an updated AI Assistant and automated vehicle description generation to speed up inventory merchandising across entire dealer lots.
