What the 2025 Kerrigan Dealer Survey Means for Your Digital Marketing Strategy

The 2025 Kerrigan Dealer Survey just dropped, and if you're running marketing for a dealership, there's critical intelligence buried in these pages that should reshape how you allocate your budget in 2026. Based on responses from over 525 franchised dealers collected between June and November 2025, this survey reveals exactly where the industry is headed—and what it means for your digital strategy.

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The AI Tipping Point Is Here

Here's the number that should stop every dealer in their tracks: 90% of dealers are either using AI or planning to use it in their operations. Only 10% have no plans to adopt AI. We've officially crossed the adoption threshold.

What does this mean for your digital marketing? If your website vendor isn't talking about AI optimization, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and how AI search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews will find and recommend your dealership—you're already behind.

Traditional SEO was about gaming Google's algorithm. GEO is about being the answer when AI synthesizes information for car shoppers. That's a fundamentally different game.

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Profit Pressure Demands Marketing Efficiency

The survey reveals a complicated profit picture. While 32% of dealers expect profits to rise in 2026 (a 129% improvement from last year's survey), there's a sobering undercurrent: 42% of dealers believe OEM-required real estate and EV infrastructure investments will negatively impact their profits.

When dealers are being squeezed by mandatory capital investments, marketing budgets get scrutinized. The winners in 2026 won't be the dealers who spend the most on advertising—they'll be the ones who spend the smartest.

This is exactly why our "outsmart, not outspend" philosophy resonates. Every dollar needs to work harder. Every campaign needs measurable attribution. Every vendor needs to prove ROI.

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The Used Vehicle Opportunity

One of the most actionable insights from the survey comes from the tariff impact data. When asked how tariffs affected their business plans:

• 27% plan to stock more used vehicle inventory
• Only 7% plan to stock more new vehicle inventory
• 11% plan to reduce new vehicle inventory
• Only 3% plan to reduce used vehicle inventory

That's nearly a 4:1 ratio favoring used inventory expansion. If your digital marketing strategy is still primarily focused on new vehicle conquest, you're misaligned with where dealers are actually investing.

What This Means for Your Digital Strategy:

• Used vehicle VDP optimization becomes critical
• Local SEO for used car searches needs attention
• Facebook and social campaigns should shift toward pre-owned inventory
• Your website needs robust used vehicle filtering and search functionality

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Trust Drives Value—And Marketing Should Follow

The survey's franchise trust data is fascinating for marketers. Toyota dominates with 86% of dealers reporting high trust—3.4x higher than the survey average. Lexus follows at 77%, Subaru at 65%, and Honda at 57%.

On the other end? Nissan and CJDR both have 64% of dealers reporting no trust in the franchise. Infiniti is at 61%, Volkswagen at 47%.

Why does this matter for marketing? Trust correlates directly with valuation expectations. The franchises with the highest trust are also the ones dealers expect to increase in value. Marketing can't fix a franchise relationship, but it can help dealers maximize performance within their current brand portfolio.

If you're a Toyota or Lexus dealer, your digital presence should reinforce that premium positioning. If you're a Nissan dealer navigating brand challenges, your local marketing becomes even more critical—you need to build trust at the dealership level that the national brand isn't providing.

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Growth Mode Returns—Sort Of

32% of dealers plan to add one dealership in 2026, up from 2022's low. But here's the nuance: only 14% plan to add two or more (down from 31% in 2021). Dealers are focused on tuck-in acquisitions—adding stores in markets where they already operate, not aggressive multi-state expansion.

For marketing vendors, this means:

• Scalability matters, but so does local market expertise
• Dealers adding a store want proven playbooks they can replicate
• Consolidation creates opportunity for vendors who can handle multi-rooftop reporting

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The Bottom Line for 2026

The Kerrigan Survey paints a picture of cautious optimism. Dealers see a turning point—2024 was likely the trough in valuations, and the trajectory is upward. But they're not throwing money around. They're watching profit margins, investing selectively, and demanding efficiency from every vendor relationship.

Your 2026 Digital Marketing Checklist:

• Is your website optimized for AI search (GEO), not just traditional SEO?
• Are you tracking and proving ROI on every marketing dollar?
• Does your strategy prioritize used vehicle inventory alongside new?
• Can your vendor scale with you if you acquire another store?
• Are you building local trust that complements (or compensates for) your franchise brand?

The dealers who thrive in 2026 won't be the ones with the biggest budgets. They'll be the ones who adapt fastest to AI search, invest in the right inventory, and partner with vendors who prove their value every month.

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Want to see how your digital marketing stacks up? Savvy Dealer offers complimentary digital diagnostics for dealers looking to optimize their 2026 strategy. Visit us at NADA 2026 (Booth 6760N) or contact us to learn more.