Darren Slind
As dealerships continue to assess and adopt new digital tools, artificial intelligence applications and core retail technology platforms, the second annual Canadian Automotive Retail Technology (CART) Study is aiming to provide a broader national picture of how dealers are using technology across their operations.
The 2026 study by the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), known as CART, is now collecting feedback from dealerships across Canada. The research is designed to benchmark technology adoption, satisfaction and emerging trends across key areas of dealership operations, including sales, F&I, service, marketing and customer engagement.
Now in its second year, the study builds on the benchmark established through the inaugural 2025 report. This year’s survey expands its focus on emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, AI-enabled lead management tools, service lane technology and desking platforms.
Darren Slind, President and Co-Founder of Clarify Group, the firm engaged to conduct the study, said the expanded scope reflects how quickly technology conversations are changing inside dealerships.
“Dealers are no longer just asking whether a platform works,” said Slind. “They are asking whether it integrates properly, whether staff are using it effectively, whether it improves the customer experience and whether it delivers a measurable return. That is why benchmarking this information across the industry is becoming increasingly important.”
The study continues to measure dealer satisfaction with core technologies such as dealer management systems, customer relationship management platforms and dealership websites. But the 2026 edition also takes a closer look at how dealerships are evaluating newer tools and how artificial intelligence is beginning to influence day-to-day operations.
Slind said one of the goals of the research is to move the industry conversation beyond broad technology trends and toward practical dealer experience.
“There is a lot of discussion in the industry about AI and digital retail tools, but dealers need more than hype,” said Slind. “They need to understand how other dealerships are using these technologies, where they are seeing value, and where there are still gaps between expectations and actual performance.”
The survey is also seeking input from a wider range of dealership roles. While dealer principals and senior executives can provide important perspectives on investment priorities and business strategy, the study is also designed to capture feedback from managers and staff who use these systems every day.
That includes sales managers working with CRM platforms, F&I managers using desking or finance tools, service advisors using service lane technology, marketing teams managing websites and digital leads, and IT managers supporting dealership systems.
In an article published in CADA Newsline, the association’s newsletter, Bruce Rosen, CADA’s Executive Director of Industry Relations, said dealer participation is central to the value of the study.
“The value of CARTS depends entirely on dealer participation,” said Rosen in CADA Newsline. “Every completed survey helps strengthen our understanding of what technologies are working, where dealers are finding value, and where there are still opportunities for improvement.”
Rosen also noted that the insights generated through the study will help dealers compare their own experiences with those of their peers and better understand where technology investments are having the greatest impact.
Slind said the study is intended to help dealers make those decisions with better context.
“Every dealership is making technology decisions, but most are making them based on their own experience or the experience of a small peer group,” said Slind. “A national benchmark gives dealers a clearer view of what is happening across the market and helps identify where the industry is moving.”
The 2026 Canada’s Automotive Retail Technology Study is supported through the exclusive sponsorship of RBC Automotive Finance.
