What automotive AI capabilities do you build?

Dynamic pricing that adjusts vehicle prices on demand, seasonality, days-on-lot, and market data. Predictive maintenance that flags likely failures from telematics signals before a breakdown. Demand forecasting for inventory planning across dealer or fleet stock. Personalised recommendations for marketplace users. Computer vision that grades vehicle condition from photos. It runs on the operational data your dealer, fleet, or marketplace system already generates, so there's no separate analytics infrastructure to stand up.

Can you build a dealer management system that handles inventory, CRM, and service in one system?

Yes. We build integrated dealer management covering vehicle inventory (new, used, fleet), CRM for sales pipeline, F&I workflow, service department management, and parts inventory, with VIN-based vehicle records throughout. We integrate with automotive data providers like Carfax and Cox Automotive where needed.

We operate a commercial fleet and need real-time telematics and maintenance scheduling. Can you build that?

Yes. We build fleet management with real-time GPS tracking, telematics data (fuel, engine diagnostics, driver behaviour), maintenance scheduling by mileage and time, driver management, and cost-per-vehicle analytics. We integrate with telematics hardware providers as part of the project.

Can you build a vehicle marketplace that aggregates listings from multiple dealer feeds?

Yes. We build vehicle marketplace platforms with inventory aggregation from multiple dealer feeds, VIN-based specification population, condition report integration, search and filtering, dealer portals, and lead management. We've built marketplace platforms across multiple verticals.

Can you build a mobility or car-sharing platform, not just dealership software?

Yes. Mobility applications, car-sharing platforms, vehicle subscription services, and chauffeur dispatch systems are within our scope. We build real-time vehicle availability, booking management, driver assignment, payment processing, and customer mobile apps. We've built on-demand platforms across transportation verticals.

Our sales team lives in the DMS. Will they actually use new software?

Dealers make their money from service, but the DMS suites are built around the deal desk. That mismatch is why staff work around the system instead of in it. We design with the sales and service teams from discovery: workflows that mirror how they already sell and service, VIN lookups that don't need a training course, and service scheduling that respects technician skill levels and real capacity. The system ships when your team can run a full sales day on it without scratch pads, side calendars, or rogue DMS entries.

AI in automotive software development

Q: How long does an automotive software project take, and what does it cost?

We launch a validated v1 in about 10 to 16 weeks, then grow it. We scope every project before pricing. Fixed cost, agreed before work starts, with milestone-based payment.

Custom software for automotive dealerships, fleet operators, vehicle marketplaces, and mobility businesses, with automotive AI (dynamic pricing, predictive maintenance, demand forecasting, condition grading) built into the platform, not bolted on after.

Automotive AI for dynamic pricing, predictive maintenance, demand forecasting, and condition grading
Dealer management systems with inventory, CRM, and service workflows in one system
Fleet management with real-time telematics, maintenance scheduling, and driver management
Vehicle marketplaces and listing platforms with VIN data, specifications, and condition reporting

The problem

Sound familiar?

Managing vehicle inventory, service history, and customer data across multiple systems that don't talk to each other?
Fleet tracking and maintenance scheduling done manually because your current tools weren't built for your vehicle mix and operation size?

Short answer

RaftLabs builds automotive AI and custom software for dealerships, fleet operators, vehicle marketplaces, and mobility companies: dynamic pricing, predictive maintenance, demand forecasting, and computer-vision condition grading, alongside dealer management systems, fleet telematics, marketplace platforms, and workshop management. A first module launches as a validated v1 in about 10 to 16 weeks, then grows into a full platform. We scope every project before pricing. Fixed cost, agreed before work starts. Every system is VIN-native, not a generic template adapted after the fact.

Software built for how the auto industry actually runs

A VIN ties together spec data, service history, condition grades, warranty terms, and telematics streams. Inventory arrives from manufacturer portals, auction feeds, and classified platforms, each in its own format. Generic business tools were never designed for this. We treat that complexity as a first-class design requirement, not something to bolt on later.

01 Diagnosis

Where automotive software usually breaks

01
Problem
Half the cars listed in the system are phantoms
Solution
Automotive inventory data arrives from manufacturer portals, auction feeds, classified platforms, and DMS exports. Each source uses a different format with a different update frequency. The dealership can't tell what's on the lot compared to what's on the website except by going out and searching. Staff spend hours reconciling stock across systems instead of selling. We build a unified inventory data layer that ingests all feeds, normalises by VIN, and keeps one accurate record across every channel. The outcome is inventory the system and the lot agree on.
02
Problem
They make their money from service, but the systems are sales-first
Solution
Dealerships don't make most of their money selling cars. They make it from service. Yet the DMS suites are built around the deal desk, and service bays get double-booked while advisors can't answer "where's that car?" without walking the floor. Most appointment systems run on outdated templates that assume full staffing, ignore tech skill levels, and happily book more work than the shop can physically touch. We build service scheduling that respects real capacity and technician skill levels, connected to the same VIN record as sales. The outcome is service bays that book what they can actually touch.
03
Problem
Drinking through a fire hose
Solution
Data comes from everywhere and lands nowhere. Take all the many data sources and put them into one spot: manufacturer feeds, auction results, classified leads, service records, telematics streams. It's like drinking through a fire hose. Generic CRM and ERP platforms weren't built around a VIN as the central identifier. Spec lookup, history queries, and F&I workflows all need VIN-native data structures. We build DMS modules with VIN at the core, linked to specification databases, service history, condition reports, and warranty records from day one. The outcome is one record instead of a fire hose.
04
Problem
One vendor goes down, the whole industry reaches for pens and paper
Solution
When a single player has massive market share, the entire industry becomes fragile to product issues and malicious attacks. One ransomware attack knocked out the DMS for roughly 15,000 dealerships. Contracts lasting up to seven years make switching inordinately difficult and expensive, and the vendor becomes insulated from customer demands. We build on open integration layers and documented exports, so your data and your operations never depend on one vendor's uptime. The outcome is a dealership that can't be taken offline by someone else's outage.

02 What we ship

Automotive software we build

Automotive AI and analytics
Automotive AI features built on your operational data. Dynamic pricing that adjusts vehicle prices on demand, seasonality, days-on-lot, and market data. Predictive maintenance that flags likely failures from telematics before breakdown. Demand forecasting for inventory planning. Personalised recommendations for marketplace users. Computer vision that grades vehicle condition from photos. This is the same shift described below in "Where automotive software is heading": reading the telematics stream to predict failures and price used stock on real condition. The outcome is pricing and maintenance decisions made on data, not instinct.
Dealer management systems
Integrated dealer management covering inventory (new, used, fleet), CRM for sales pipeline, F&I workflow, service department management, and parts inventory. VIN-based vehicle records carry full history, specification data, and condition reporting. Multi-location support for dealer groups. Integration with Experian AutoCheck, Carfax, Cox Automotive, and manufacturer systems. The outcome is one operational backbone for the whole dealership.
Fleet management platforms
Fleet management for commercial fleets, rental companies, and corporate vehicle programmes. Real-time GPS tracking, telematics data (fuel, engine diagnostics, driver behaviour), maintenance scheduling by mileage and time, driver assignment, and utilisation reporting. Integration with telematics hardware providers. Automated maintenance alerts and service scheduling. Cost-per-vehicle and cost-per-mile analytics. The outcome is fleets serviced on condition, not on calendar.
Vehicle marketplaces and listing platforms
Online vehicle marketplaces with inventory aggregation from multiple dealer feeds, VIN-based specification population, condition report integration, and search by make, model, year, price, location, and specification. Lead capture and CRM integration. Dealer portals for inventory and lead management. Consumer-facing search and comparison tools. Private seller listings. Pricing recommendations based on market data. The outcome is search that returns accurate results instead of whatever the dealer typed.
Workshop and service management
Service department and workshop management: job card creation, technician assignment, parts ordering and allocation, labour time tracking, customer communication (estimates, approvals, completion notifications), and invoice generation. Vehicle history recorded at every service visit. Warranty claim management. Multi-bay scheduling for workshop utilisation. Customer-facing service booking and status tracking. Integration with parts supplier catalogues for real-time pricing and availability. The outcome is a workshop that knows where every car is.
Mobility and on-demand platforms
Mobility applications: car-sharing platforms, ride-hailing apps, vehicle subscription services, and chauffeur dispatch systems. Real-time vehicle availability, booking management, driver assignment, and payment processing. Customer-facing mobile apps for booking, access, and support. Vehicle access control integration for keyless entry. Utilisation analytics for fleet optimisation. The outcome is mobility software built for how riders and drivers actually work.

03 Buy, build, or wait

The automotive software decision is usually about the DMS: what it costs to keep, what it costs to leave, and what breaks in between.

Stay on the DMS

CDK, Reynolds & Reynolds, Tekion
When the system handles your inventory and service workflows and the vendor relationship works.

Build custom

When switching is inordinately difficult
Seven-year contracts and integration gatekeeping are the vendor's moat, not your protection. An open integration layer breaks the pattern.
When service is the business
The money is in service, but the systems are sales-first. Build the service operation the DMS never prioritized.
When the data is a fire hose
Many sources, one VIN. A unified data layer instead of reconciliation by hand.

Bottom line

Stay on the DMS while it fits. Build when the DMS owns your roadmap.

Where automotive software is heading

The vehicle is becoming a software platform. That shift reaches every business that touches a vehicle.

Three changes already reshape the systems we build:

Software-defined vehicles move features from fixed hardware to over-the-air updates. Dealers and fleets need systems that track firmware versions, feature entitlements, and update history against the VIN, not just the odometer.
ADAS and telematics turn every trip into a data stream. The operators who win aftersales are the ones who can read that stream: predicting failures, scheduling service on real condition, and pricing used stock on real usage.
EV adoption adds charging, battery-state, and energy data to the record. Fleet routing, depot charging, and residual-value models now depend on battery health, not mileage alone.

We build for that direction today. VIN-native data models, telematics pipelines, and an architecture that treats connected-vehicle data as a first-class input, not a later integration.

04 How we work

How we build automotive software

01
Operational discovery
We spend the first two weeks understanding your specific workflows. The way vehicles move through your inventory. Where job cards get created and stall. Whether telematics data is used or just stored. What your current software landscape looks like. We document the current state before proposing anything. The risk this retires: the workflow nobody documented because everyone assumed it.
02
Scope and fixed price
Based on discovery, we define exactly what we'll build: which modules, which integrations (telematics provider, data providers, DMS APIs), which user roles, and which platforms. The first shippable slice is one module, launched as a validated v1 in about 10 to 16 weeks. We scope every project before pricing. Fixed cost, agreed before work starts. No hourly rates. The risk this retires: the integration the vendor wouldn't certify.
03
Core build with automotive data at centre
Development starts with the data model: VIN-linked records, telematics ingestion, feed normalisation. Then we build the application layer on top. Getting automotive data structures right at the start prevents the technical debt that comes from adding VIN-native requirements to a generic data model later. The risk this retires: the data model that can't express the VIN.
04
Handover with your team trained
We deliver the platform with your team trained on the admin and operational workflows. Documentation covers API connections, data mappings, and the operational processes the software supports. You can extend the platform with your own development team or with us. The risk this retires: the platform nobody can operate after handover.

Trusted by

05 Track record

What a first build looks like

Founded: 2015

Weeks for a validated first module: 10-16

Cost, agreed before we build: Fixed

06 Case studies

Automotive software we've shipped

Snelweg Deals vehicle auction marketplace

How Snelweg Deals moved offline car resale to a structured digital auction marketplace

08 Why us

Why choose us?

01
We've seen your problem before
Across dozens of industries, we recognise your situation fast, then frame the fix around your margin and your operations, not a generic template.
02
We own the number, not the ticket
We measure success the way you do: hours saved, revenue earned, margin recovered. We stay through launch and growth, so the result is ours to own.
03
Serious businesses trust us
Vodafone, T-Mobile, Cisco, Energia, Aldi, Nike. Building since 2015. Serious businesses keep coming back because we stay accountable long after launch.

09 Questions

Common questions

: Automotive software development is the creation of custom software for automotive industry operations: dealerships, fleet operators, mobility companies, vehicle marketplaces, and manufacturers' digital channels. The automotive industry has specific data requirements (VIN management, vehicle specifications, service history, telematics) and operational workflows (dealer inventory management, F&I, workshop scheduling) that generic business software wasn't designed to handle well. Custom automotive software is justified when your operational workflows or data requirements are specific enough that generic platforms create more friction than they remove.
: Yes. We've built integrations across the automotive data stack. Vehicle history providers (Experian AutoCheck, Carfax). Specification databases (Chrome Data, VIN Solutions, Motor Information Systems). Market pricing (Black Book, Manheim Market Report, JD Power). Telematics providers (Samsara, Verizon Connect, Geotab). Manufacturer dealer systems. The approach depends on what each provider exposes: most have documented APIs, some need file-based exchange.
: Yes. Telematics software collects data from vehicles via OBD-II devices, factory-installed units, or dedicated hardware. We build the ingestion pipeline that handles the volume and frequency. Storage is optimised for time-series vehicle data. On top of that: analytics for fleet performance and driver behaviour, alerting for maintenance thresholds, and dashboards and mobile apps for fleet managers and drivers. Telematics volume is significant, so the data architecture matters as much as the application.
: A focused first module, such as a dealer inventory module, a fleet-tracking dashboard, or a vehicle-listing MVP, launches as a validated v1 in about 10 to 16 weeks. We scope every project before pricing. Fixed cost, agreed before work starts.
: The VIN is the central entity in any automotive data model. Every vehicle record, service history entry, telematics reading, and transaction links back to it. The schema needs to handle multi-source inventory feeds (manufacturer, auction, classified), specification data population from automotive databases, and telematics time-series data separately from transactional records. Getting this architecture right at the start prevents the performance and consistency problems that come from bolting VIN-native requirements onto a generic database schema later.
: Dealers make their money from service, but the DMS suites are built around the deal desk. That mismatch is why staff work around the system instead of in it. We design with the sales and service teams from discovery: workflows that mirror how they already sell and service, VIN lookups that don't need a training course, and service scheduling that respects technician skill levels and real capacity. The system ships when your team can run a full sales day on it without scratch pads, side calendars, or rogue DMS entries.

Automotive software by product

Get a build-vs-keep plan for your automotive operation

Tell us the operational challenge, inventory, fleet, marketplace, or service management. We'll scope the right build.

Scope and cost agreed before work starts. No surprises. No obligation.
Working prototype within 3 weeks of kickoff.
Pay by milestone. You see progress before each invoice.
60-day post-launch warranty. Bug fixes, UI tweaks, and deployment support. No retainer.
All conversations are NDA-protected.

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