Automotive Software Development Built Around The Systems You Already Run
Search for automotive software and you get a wall of products, each promising to run your store. Some are good. Plenty of dealers should just buy one. We build the layer between the systems you already pay for, and we only take the work when buying is the wrong answer.
Why Dealers Choose Our Automotive Software Team
Eight reasons dealers and groups keep the next phase with us after the first integration goes live and nobody has to re-key a deal.
We Confirm DMS Access In Writing First
Before we quote, we get written confirmation from your DMS vendor about which APIs you can use, at what cost, and on what contract terms. No confirmation, no fixed price.
- Written Vendor Confirmation
- Named API Endpoints Listed
- Access Fees Priced In
- Quote Follows, Not Before
We Have No DMS Product To Protect
We don't sell a dealership management system, so nothing we recommend is steering you toward our own licence revenue. If your current stack is fine, our answer is to leave it alone.
- No Licence Revenue At Stake
- No Forced Platform Migration
- Advice You Can Check
- Keep What Already Works
Built And Tested On Your Real Deal Data
Demo records hide the mess. We test against a copy of your actual deals, with trade-ins, negative equity, split commissions and the finance reserve rows that break otherwise tidy code.
- Real Deals, Not Fixtures
- Trade And Payoff Cases
- Split And House Deals
- Month-End Edge Cases
Attribution You Can Defend To The GM
We connect the lead source to the signed deal, through call tracking, form IDs and CRM records, so ad spend arguments stop being opinion and start being a query.
- Lead Source To Closed Deal
- Call Tracking Tied In
- Duplicate Leads Merged
- Reporting The GM Trusts
Pay Plans That Match The Actual Plan
Commission rules in dealerships are strange and specific. We write yours as they are: unit bonuses, packs, chargebacks, tiered gross, and the exceptions your controller keeps in a spreadsheet.
- Packs And Chargebacks Included
- Tiered Gross Calculations
- Manager Overrides Handled
- Payroll Export That Reconciles
One Store Live Before The Next
Group rollouts fail when every rooftop switches at once. We launch a single store, run it through a full month close, fix what surfaces, then move to the next.
- Pilot Store Goes First
- Full Month-End Run
- Fixes Before Rooftop Two
- Rollback Plan In Place
Source Code And Database Are Yours
You get the repository, the deployment scripts and the database on your own hosting. If you stop working with us, nothing switches off and no data stays behind.
- Repository In Your Account
- Deploy Scripts Handed Over
- Database On Your Hosting
- No Exit Fee, No Hostage
We'll Tell You To Buy Tekion, CDK Or Reynolds
A single-rooftop store with standard processes usually gets more from an off-the-shelf platform than from anything custom. When that's true, we say so and we don't invoice for it.
- Off-The-Shelf Named Openly
- No Fee For That Answer
- Build Only Where It Pays
- Referral, Not A Hard Sell
What Our Automotive Software Development Services Cover
Eight parts of the job: the systems you already run, the ones that refuse to talk to each other, and the ones nobody has built for you yet.
Dealership Management System Integration
We connect your DMS to everything around it: CRM, inventory, accounting, service scheduling. Deals, ROs and parts records move once, in one direction, with a log of every sync.
- Deal And RO Sync
- Certified Vendor Interfaces
- Field Mapping Documented
- Sync Failures Alert You
Automotive CRM Builds And Extensions
Either extend the automotive CRM you already run or build the parts it won't do. Lead routing, up logs, follow-up rules and desking data that matches the DMS.
- Lead Routing By Source
- Up Log And Floor Rotation
- Follow-Up Task Automation
- Desking Data Stays Matched
Dealer Inventory Management Software
Stock, pricing, ageing and photos in one place, pushed out to your listing sites and pulled back with the results. Aged units surface before they cost you floor plan interest.
- VIN Decode And Enrichment
- Ageing And Pricing Alerts
- Listing Feeds Both Ways
- Photo And Merchandising Status
Automotive Accounting And Reconciliation
Schedules, deal posting and reconciliation built to the chart of accounts your controller already uses. We match the accounting office's process instead of asking them to change it.
- Deal Posting To Schedules
- Chart Of Accounts Respected
- Reconciliation Exceptions Flagged
- Month-End Close Support
Automotive ERP And Group Reporting
For groups running several rooftops, we build one reporting layer across stores: consolidated inventory, gross, service throughput and headcount, all sourced from each store's own system rather than typed in.
- Consolidated Multi-Store Reporting
- Gross And Units By Rooftop
- Service And Parts Included
- Data Pulled, Never Re-Keyed
Automotive Chatbots And Voice Agents
Handle service booking questions, stock availability and finance queries on WhatsApp, web chat and voice. Anything the bot can't answer goes to a person with the full transcript.
- Service Booking Questions
- Live Stock Lookups
- Clean Handover To Staff
- WhatsApp, Web And Voice
Dealership Mobile App Development
iOS and Android apps for customers booking service, for sales staff working the lot, and for technicians logging their time. Each one is built against the same data your DMS already holds.
- Service Booking And Reminders
- Lot Walk And Scanning
- Technician Time Logging
- Same Data As The DMS
API Work And File Export Fallback
When your vendor won't grant an API, we build on scheduled file exports instead. Slower, but it works, and it keeps the project alive while access is negotiated.
- Scheduled Export Pipelines
- Validation On Every File
- Switch To API Later
- Documented For Your IT
One Foundation. Five Very Different Dealer Setups.
A single-rooftop store and a six-store group need the same reliable base underneath. What changes is the integrations, the reporting and who hosts it.
Independent Dealers
Small teams, tight budgets, and usually one system that everything else has to fit around.
Franchise Dealers
OEM reporting requirements, brand standards, and a DMS contract you didn't get to choose.
Dealer Groups
Several rooftops, mixed systems, and a need for numbers that line up across stores.
Service Centers
Bays, technicians and parts. Scheduling and RO accuracy matter more than sales tooling.
Automotive Suppliers
Parts distributors and vendors selling into dealers, needing catalogue, ordering and stock feeds.
We Build On The Stack That Fits Your Dealership
How An Automotive Software Development Project Runs
Seven stages, in the same order every time, so you always know what has been agreed and what is still open.
Discovery
We sit with the people doing the work: the desk, the accounting office, the service drive. We write down where data gets typed twice and what that costs.
Vendor Access Check
We contact your DMS and CRM vendors, in writing, and get the API terms and fees confirmed. This stage decides whether the project is viable at all.
Scope & Fixed Price
Once access is confirmed, you get a written scope and a fixed price per phase. Anything outside it is quoted separately, before work starts, not after.
Design
Screens designed around how your staff actually work, at the speed a busy salesperson moves. We review the flows with the people who'll use them daily.
Build
Two-week increments with a working build you can log into at the end of each one. You see progress in the software, not in a status report.
Test On Real Data
We load a copy of your real deals, ROs and inventory, then run a full month cycle against it. Bugs show up here rather than on go-live day.
Launch & Support
One store first, with us on hand through the first month-end close. Support terms are written into the contract before launch, not negotiated after it.
Integration, Ownership And Honesty, By Default
We're not selling you a platform, so here is what that means in the contract rather than in the pitch.
DMS Access Confirmed Before We Quote
We won't price integration work on the assumption that access exists. Your vendor confirms the endpoints and the fees in writing, then we quote against that.
File Export Fallback
If the API is refused or priced out of reach, we build on scheduled file exports. Less elegant, still reliable, and it can be swapped for an API later.
You Own The Code
The repository sits in your organisation from the first commit. You get the deployment scripts and the documentation with it, not a zip file at the end.
You Own The Data
Your database runs on your own hosting account, under your billing. We hold access only while we're working for you, and it's revoked on the day the engagement ends.
Phased Rollout
One rooftop, one department or one workflow at a time. Every phase has a rollback plan, so a bad week never takes the whole group offline.
We Recommend Buying When Buying Is Right
If Tekion, CDK or Reynolds covers what you need, we'll say so in the first conversation. Custom work should only exist where a product genuinely can't reach.
What We Commit To In Writing
We're not going to show you star ratings or hand-picked quotes. These four commitments go into the contract, where you can hold us to them.
Ownership, In The Contract
Code, database and deployment access are yours from day one and stay yours if we part ways. Nothing is licensed back to you and nothing switches off.
Fixed Scope, Fixed Price Per Phase
Each phase has a written scope and a price agreed before work starts. Changes get quoted and approved separately. You never get an invoice you didn't see coming.
Phased Rollout, With A Way Back
We go live one store or one workflow at a time, with a documented rollback. If a phase goes badly, your other rooftops keep selling cars.
Support Terms Agreed Before Launch
Response times, hours of cover and the cost of support are written down before go-live. No discovering the maintenance rate after you depend on the software.
Automotive Software Development Questions Dealers Ask
The six questions that come up in almost every first call with a dealer or group.
An automotive CRM is built around how stores actually sell: ups, test drives, trade appraisals, desking and F&I. A general CRM tracks contacts and pipelines but has no concept of a deal jacket, a trade payoff or a lead that walked onto the lot. That gap is why dealers usually need automotive-specific tools or custom extensions.
Most single-rooftop dealers should buy. Tekion, CDK and Reynolds have spent decades on things you don't want to rebuild: accounting schedules, OEM reporting, parts catalogues. Custom software earns its place in the gaps between those systems, or when a group's processes genuinely have no product that fits. We'll tell you which case you're in.
Usually, but the answer depends on your vendor and your contract, not on us. Some DMS providers offer documented APIs through a certified programme, sometimes with a per-transaction fee. Others restrict access. We contact your vendor and get the terms in writing before quoting. Where access is refused, we use scheduled file exports instead.
For one or two rooftops, a DMS is usually enough. ERP starts to make sense for groups where numbers have to consolidate across stores with different systems, or where parts distribution and fleet operations sit alongside retail. If your controller is rebuilding a group report in a spreadsheet every month, that's the signal.
They're worth it for repetitive questions: opening hours, service availability, whether a specific stock number is still on the lot. They're not worth it for negotiation or anything involving a customer's finance position. The test is whether the bot hands over cleanly to a person with the full conversation attached. If it can't, skip it.
You do. The repository is created in your organisation, the database runs on your hosting, and the deployment scripts and documentation are handed over as part of each phase. There's no licence back to us and no exit fee. If you want to move the work to another team, everything they need is already in your accounts.