Texas Border Business
Texas Border Business is examining nine automotive retail predictions made by Car Dealership Guy founder and CEO Yossi J. Levi. Each article looks independently at one prediction, the changes behind it and what would have to occur for the forecast to become reality by 2029. The predictions are Levi’s and are presented as forecasts, not established outcomes. Texas Border Business will publish the nine-part series one article at a time, beginning September 30, 2026, with a new article released each day.
By Roberto Hugo González / Texas Border Business
Artificial intelligence could sharply reduce staffing inside automobile dealership Business Development Centers within the next two years, according to a prediction from Car Dealership Guy founder and CEO Yossi J. Levi.
Levi predicts AI will eliminate more than 50% of dealership BDC jobs as automated systems assume work currently performed by employees. The forecast is one of nine automotive retail predictions he published Sept. 29.
BDC stands for Business Development Center. At dealerships, those operations commonly manage customer contacts and help move prospective buyers toward appointments and conversations with dealership personnel.
According to Levi’s forecast, increasingly capable AI systems and AI agents could perform repetitive BDC functions including answering leads, conducting follow-up communications, scheduling appointments, and reconnecting with previous customers.
Levi does not predict the complete disappearance of dealership BDC operations. Instead, his forecast anticipates substantially smaller operations as software takes on more of the routine workload currently assigned to employees.
The prediction matters because it focuses on employment rather than simply introducing another software product.
AI is already a recurring subject in automotive retail. Car Dealership Guy has reported during 2026 on dealers adopting AI tools and evaluating how the technology can reduce repetitive work. Its coverage has also addressed questions dealerships should consider before entering contracts with automotive AI providers.
Levi’s prediction goes considerably further by attaching a specific threshold to the potential workforce change: more than half of BDC positions.
That makes the forecast measurable. If the prediction proves accurate, dealerships would still need to determine which customer interactions can be automated and which require employees. Levi’s forecast does not establish how individual dealerships would make those decisions or whether reductions would occur evenly across the industry.
It also does not establish that more than half of BDC jobs have already disappeared. The statement concerns what Levi expects to happen by 2029.
Levi’s background includes both traditional and digital automotive retail. He worked in his family’s dealership before founding online automotive retailer Gettacar. Car Dealership Guy says that the company eventually reached approximately $80 million in annual sales.
The BDC prediction is therefore a specific test of how quickly AI could move from assisting dealership employees to performing substantial portions of their work.
The outcome will depend on what dealerships actually implement over the next two years.
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