U.S. auto dealers will have the opportunity to experience innovative new technology and solutions firsthand as Cox Automotive presents its latest advancements at the 2025 National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Show. The event, taking place from January 23-26 in New Orleans, will feature enhanced tools designed to revolutionize the car buying and selling process.
Cox Automotive will highlight significant improvements to its core retail solutions, including Deal Central, Xtime, vAuto, and Autotrader. In the wholesale market, Manheim will commemorate its 80th anniversary by showcasing new investments supporting used EVs and other developments. Additionally, Central Dispatch, Cox Automotive’s leading logistics brand, will unveil its all-new Market Intelligence capabilities.
ATLANTA, January 21, 2025 – Cox Automotive, recognized as the world’s largest automotive services and technology provider, is set to reveal its latest retail and wholesale solutions at the NADA Show 2025, the National Automotive Dealers Association’s annual convention. The event is scheduled to open later this week in New Orleans.
As the largest exhibitor at NADA 2025, Cox Automotive will present its innovative solutions in the “Cox Automotive Village.” This expansive space will cover over 23,000 square feet and include more than 180 demo stations. Cox Automotive’s thought leaders will also be present to support the company’s showcase. (A detailed schedule can be found here, though no link was provided in the original content.)
“We are heading into NADA with considerable optimism,” stated Steve Rowley, president of Cox Automotive. “The automotive market is well-positioned to maintain its strong momentum in 2025, even while undergoing transformations driven by EVs, GenAI, computer vision, and other technologies. The Cox Automotive booth in New Orleans will, as always, be bustling with conversations about these subjects and all the tools and solutions we are providing to ensure our clients can thrive in 2025 and subsequent years.”
Cox Automotive’s optimistic outlook for the auto industry in 2025 is backed by its unparalleled access to proprietary data. The Q4 2024 Cox Automotive Dealer Sentiment Index (CADSI) indicated a resurgence of optimism among U.S. automobile dealers. Furthermore, the 2024 Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study revealed that satisfaction rates for new car and EV sales are at an all-time high. Reflecting these positive trends, Cox Automotive’s forecast for 2025 projects continued industry growth.
Retail Innovation
Cox Automotive is providing dealers with key updates to help them achieve their new-vehicle sales and customer experience goals:
Deal Central Enhancements
- With robust AI and automation, dealers can create deals and sell vehicles that are not yet in their inventory, such as vehicles in their order pipeline or in transit. This opens new opportunities for both buyers and dealers, and helps keep consumer satisfaction high.
- Dealers can also streamline both in-person and online purchases with new features like the Digital Deal Jacket, which consolidates all shopper data and documents into a single deal experience. The Print Proposal feature, which enables dealers to print critical documents related to their vehicle purchase more easily will also be available.
Xtime Adds New Features
To meet customer expectations and boost fixed operation revenue, Xtime has introduced the following improvements:
- Simplified service lane reporting.
- Enhanced workflow efficiencies.
- Seamless new Dealership Management System (DMS) integrations.
- Two new communication enhancements to modernize the customer experience:
- Enhanced texting communications, using a new messaging center, will interact with customers.
- Bulk communications will reduce dealer effort, ensure timely and effective interactions with consumers, and improve customer satisfaction.
- Enhanced video capabilities, including noise cancellation, higher resolution images, subtitles, and branded multi-point inspection videos, will provide enhanced efficiency and elevate the customer experience.
vAuto Enhancements
At NADA 2025, Cox Automotive will be showcasing two new innovations to vAuto’s industry-leading solutions:
- ProfitTime GPS: A centralized inventory management system to provide dealer group oversight.
- Provision: A new appraisal experience, designed to help dealers win more trade-ins in a supply-constrained used-vehicle market.
Centralized Inventory Management
vAuto’s Centralized Inventory Management solution unlocks greater efficiency, consistency and visibility across all dealership locations. The new tool optimizes vehicle management, enabling dealers to align decisions with enterprise-wide strategies and maximize vehicle ROI across all locations.
- Key features include:
- Enterprise Transfer Portal: Dealers can quickly identify inventory issues, transfer vehicles where they are needed, and optimize retail potential across all locations.
- C-Suite Reporting and Actionable Insights: This feature delivers a clear, real-time view of performance at both the individual location and group level through dashboards.
- Dashboards: Dealers can track performance and drive accountability across their group, improving consistency across all locations.
New Appraisal Experience
To address the challenge of varying reconditioning expenses, which can differ by as much as $1,000 for approximately 39% of vehicle identification numbers (VINs), vAuto’s new appraisal tool streamlines the process.
- Notable features:
- Mobile Capture App: This mobile-friendly capture feature enables dealers to capture high-resolution, 360-degree vehicle images and document damage.
- More Precise Reconditioning Estimation Tools: Integrates with OBDII to improve the accuracy of cost calculations.
- Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer: Dealers can access Kelley Blue Book® Instant Cash Offer branded offer reports within their appraisal screen.
EV Battery Health on Autotrader
Cox Automotive has integrated EV battery health scores into Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book listings to provide valuable insights to consumers shopping for used EVs. This VIN-level data offers a detailed analysis of battery health, with battery capacity being a critical factor. Cox Automotive leverages its deep expertise from its EV Battery Solutions team and extensive data from the Manheim Marketplace, technology across Manheim’s 75 auction locations, and OEM relationships.
In 2024, Manheim saw a 108% increase in EV sales, with 106,000 EVs sold compared to 51,000 in 2023.
“According to our recent Car Buyer Journey Study, dealership satisfaction rates are at 81%, which is an all-time high,” stated Lori Wittman, president, Retail Solutions at Cox Automotive. “These new retail enhancements emphasize our commitment to keeping dealers happy and competitive. Over the past year, we’ve launched the Retail360 ecosystem to support seamless omnichannel car buying and enhanced our AI and automation capabilities to elevate dealer and consumer experiences. Looking ahead, we’re raising the bar by delivering the most advanced automotive retail solutions available, equipping dealers with the tools they need to thrive in 2025 and beyond.”
Wholesale, Inventory and Logistics Innovation
At NADA 2025, Cox Automotive will be showcasing investments across its Inventory Solutions division, which will build further confidence across the wholesale eco-system.
Manheim, the world’s largest wholesale marketplace, will be kicking off its 80th anniversary in 2025 with enhanced capabilities designed to support client needs for used EVs. A new Manheim Location EV Certification Program will also be revealed. In addition, Central Dispatch, Cox Automotive’s leading logistics brand, will be debuting all-new Market Intelligence capabilities.
Manheim Location EV Certification Program
- This program is designed to formalize auction location preparedness for the unique needs of used EVs.
- The program offers three distinct levels of location certification, each with increasing capabilities and expertise.
- This program underscores Manheim’s leadership in innovation, safety, and efficiency of EV servicing.
Suite of Market Intelligence Solutions from Central Dispatch
Cox Automotive facilitated over 16 million vehicle moves in 2024.
- This data is the foundation for Central Dispatch’s new Market Intelligence, a suite of solutions containing actionable insights that move businesses forward.
- Market Intelligence Report: This data-driven report will highlight key logistics trends and their real-world impacts.
- Price Check Plus: Combines Cox Automotive’s AI expertise with Central Dispatch’s first-party data to predict vehicle prices, giving clients additional insights to help them make more confident decisions.
- Market Intelligence API: This new API enables clients to integrate Central Dispatch’s pricing insights directly into their own systems for seamless workflow.
- Enterprise Data File: Select Enterprise clients with in-house data scientists can inquire about receiving the Market Intelligence data file directly on a monthly basis.
Grace Huang, president of Cox Automotive Inventory Solutions, added: “We have been investing and innovating across our leading marketplaces for years to deliver clients more AI, more confidence, and more solutions that can move their businesses forward. Given the rapid pace of innovation in EVs, AI, and other areas, the next five years will be among the most exciting the wholesale industry has seen – and we look forward to showing clients what we have in store.”
Dealers interested in discussing these new retail and inventory solutions at the 2025 NADA Show (January 23-26) can visit the Cox Automotive Village or request a meeting through the Cox Automotive NADA Hub.
About Cox Automotive
Cox Automotive is the world’s largest automotive services and technology provider. It is fueled by the largest breadth of first-party data, fed by 2.3 billion online interactions a year. The company has 29,000+ employees on five continents and a portfolio of industry-leading brands that include Autotrader®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, vAuto®, Dealertrack®, NextGear Capital™, CentralDispatch® and FleetNet America®.
Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately owned, Atlanta-based company with $22 billion in annual revenue.
Visit coxautoinc.com or connect via @CoxAutomotive on X, CoxAutoInc on Facebook or Cox-Automotive-Inc on LinkedIn.
Media Contact: Mark Schirmer, [email protected], 734-883-6346
