America’s dealership service departments are generating record revenue even as they lose ground to competitors, and a new Ikon Technologies report suggests AI-powered tools are among the most effective weapons against the slide.

Author Christopher Schouten notes average dealership service and parts revenue reached approximately $9.23 million in 2025, up 33% over the past eight years. But dealers’ share of overall service visits fell from 33% to 29% over the same period, and only 54% of owners of vehicles two years old or newer returned to their selling dealership for service in 2025 — down sharply from 72% just two years earlier.

In his report, “How to Maximize Car Dealership Service Retention: A Guide for Franchise Car Dealers,” Schouten blames the defection largely on communication breakdowns, scheduling friction and trust deficits rather than price; dealerships charge an average of $261 per repair versus $275 at independent shops.

“Hold time benchmarks show that almost 60% of consumers hang up if kept on hold for just one minute, and more than 70% abandon the call entirely if hold times exceed three minutes,” writes Schouten, who serves as Ikon’s vice president of marketing. “In contrast, top-performing dealerships utilize overflow systems and AI routing to drop calls with hold times longer than two minutes down to just 2%, compared to the 13% industry average.”

Read more at Ikon Technologies