The DMS
A modern, AI-powered operating system for independent car dealers — stock, leads, deals, prep, team and reporting in one place, with an AI layer that tells you what to do next.
13,000+ UK independent dealerships are running a multi-million-pound business on spreadsheets, WhatsApp, a stock tool, an accounts package, and a legacy DMS that was designed for franchised groups in 2008.
Enterprise dealer management systems are expensive, slow to implement, and built for franchised networks. Independent dealers are stuck stitching together inventory tools, messaging apps, finance systems, and manual processes — losing leads, mispricing stock, and burning hours on admin that nobody actually owns. The independent market has been waiting for a system designed for the way they actually run a forecourt.
A modern, AI-powered operating system for independent dealerships — purpose-built for the way they run, not retro-fitted from a franchised playbook.
One platform for stock, leads, deals, customers, documents, team activity, and reporting — with an AI layer that highlights what needs attention now, drafts comms, and answers operational questions in plain English. Designed for fast onboarding, low-friction migration, and a 30-day pilot that gets a dealer from sign-up to visible ROI in days, not quarters.
Frontend
- Next.js
- React
- Tailwind
Backend
- Next.js API
- Node
- TypeScript
Database
- Supabase
- Postgres
AI Layer
- Claude
- OpenAI
- Operational reasoning
Integrations
- DVLA VES
- Autotrader
- Vercel
Wrote the spec around the operational reality of 5–200 vehicle/month independents — not a watered-down version of a franchised DMS. Every feature earned its place by reducing admin or surfacing decisions.
Built the unified platform: stock, leads, customers, deals, documents, team activity, and reporting. One interface, one dataset, one place where the dealership actually lives.
Wired AI in as an operational assistant — surfacing what needs attention today, drafting documents and notes, suggesting next-best actions, and letting the team chat with the system to create and update work.
Designed a 30-day pilot path: sign-up, data import (or demo data), AI analysis, and an ROI dashboard a dealer can read in under a minute. The product proves itself in the first session.
Live at thedms.app on Vercel, integrated with DVLA for vehicle lookups and Autotrader for stock advertising. GitHub-driven deploys, Supabase-backed data layer, and a clear path from pilot to paid.
The DMS is live at thedms.app — a working independent-first dealer operating system replacing the legacy + spreadsheet stack with one platform, one dataset, and an AI assistant.
The core platform is in production and pilot-ready: dealer workspace, stock, deals, AI analysis, and the 30-day onboarding flow. Aimed at the 13,000–15,000 UK independent dealerships the legacy DMS market has structurally underserved.
The DMS is sold as a per-dealership SaaS subscription with a structured 30-day pilot path. The pilot is the sales motion — the product has to deliver visible operational ROI in the first session, then scale across the dealership team.
Commercial breakdown
- Model
- SaaS subscription
- Status
- Live · pilots running
- Revenue
- Per-dealership monthly
- Ownership
- Founder
It's the first dealer system that fits how we actually work. Less admin, more selling, and a clear view of what's slipping.
Independent dealer · Owner-operator, pilot dealership