"Fullpath Auto Intelligence Index Reveals Key U.S. Automotive Sales and Digital Engagement Shifts for 2025"

TEL AVIV, Israel, Jan. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Fullpath, automotive's leading AI and Customer Data Platform, today released the inaugural Fullpath Auto Intelligence Index, a recurring benchmark of AI-driven sales outcomes, automotive dealer demand, vehicle inventory velocity, and integrated consumer data in North America, revealing critical shifts shaping how OEMs and dealers plan, market, and sell vehicles heading into 2026.

Key Highlights:

AI in Automotive Sales

AI- and LLM-Driven Traffic Becomes a Key Growth Channel for Car Dealerships in 2025, with a 43% Spike in September

In 2025, artificial intelligence emerged as a significant driver of online engagement for automotive dealerships. Large language models (LLMs) became major referral sources, directly influencing car shoppers seeking detailed information about specific dealerships and vehicles. LLM-driven visits to dealership websites saw steady growth throughout the year, with a notable 43.03% month-over-month increase occurring in September. This trend highlights how AI-powered tools are reshaping how consumers research automotive options and how dealers engage with potential buyers.

Website Traffic
Dealer website traffic remained consistent year over year, increasing 2.5% in 2025, according to the Fullpath Auto Intelligence Index. While overall traffic held steady, several brands saw significantly higher online engagement, underscoring the growing importance of digital strategies in automotive retail. Mercedes-Benz led all OEMs with traffic up 111.09%, followed by Volkswagen at 48.67% and Hyundai at 31.68%. Notably, brand-level performance varied significantly, indicating that consumer demand is increasingly influenced by the quality of OEM digital experiences.

Day Supply Data
Day supply levels across OEMs rose approximately 1.85% year-over-year, signaling a modest deceleration in inventory turnover from 2024 to 2025. This trend may necessitate more targeted inventory management or incentivization strategies in the upcoming year. Exceptions to this trend include Nissan and Maserati, which experienced marked reductions in day supply ranging from 11% to 20%.

Consumer Data & Intelligence
On average, each dealership leveraged around 2,149,759 consumer data points, enabling highly granular personalization and targeted marketing strategies. Fullpath Auto Intelligence Index also shows a 24% increase year-over-year of consumer data points collected. The depth and breadth of these insights underline how sophisticated consumer data integration remains a cornerstone in driving smarter, AI-enhanced automotive sales and marketing execution heading into 2026.

Looking ahead
"By 2026, digital experiences and AI agents will be central to automotive operations and sales," said Aharon Horwitz, CEO & Co-Founder of Fullpath. "Consumer data shows a clear, upward shift toward digital engagement and advanced marketing influencing their dealer choices."

Methodology
The Fullpath Auto Intelligence Index Numbers for 2025 are derived from Fullpath's Customer Data Platform and AI analytics, which aggregate anonymized website traffic signals, advertising spend trends and day supply metrics across automotive OEMs and thousands of dealerships nationwide for the 2024–2025 period. Explore more data and insights from Fullpath here: https://www.fullpath.com/data-insights/.

About Fullpath
Fullpath is the automotive industry's AI-first Customer Data Platform (CDP). Fullpath unifies first-party dealership data and activates it by layering powerful AI and marketing automation on top. Dealerships that invest in the platform create exceptional, hyper-personalized customer experiences that drive loyalty and build resilient, lasting business.

SOURCE Fullpath