AI Can Find the Car. Creative Still Creates the Yearn.
How AI search is changing luxury automotive marketing and why exceptional creative is about to matter more, not less.
Humans are not particularly rational creatures.
Sure, we like to think we are, especially when we’re about to spend a fairly obscene amount of money on a car. We research range, boot space, depreciation and monthly payments. We compare specifications and we tell ourselves this is all extremely sensible! Luxury automotive has always understood something slightly different: desire usually comes first and the justification usually often comes afterwards.
First, the showroom moved beyond the dealership. The website became a showroom. Google became a showroom. Instagram, YouTube and TikTok became showrooms.
Now AI is sitting before all of them - a customer can increasingly ask AI to work out what car fits their life before they ever reach a manufacturer website, dealer stock page or physical showroom. And, well, that creates a very interesting problem. AI can become exceptionally good at finding the right car. But who makes somebody actually want it?
The showroom moved again
Until fairly recently, researching a luxury car involved doing a fair amount of the work yourself. Ten browser tabs. Auto Trader filters. Three configurators. Reviews. A slightly obsessive search for the colour you saw on somebody else’s car. Back to the configurator. Decide you hate the wheels. Start again! Conversational AI can collapse a huge amount of that. A customer can essentially say:
I want a luxury SUV. I need room for the kids. I don’t want full electric. I want something more interesting than black or grey. I need four-wheel drive. And ideally I’d like one within 50 miles of me.
The interface between customer and automotive brand starts shifting from filters and menus to conversation. And this isn’t theoretical anymore.
In July 2026, BMW launched a dialogue-based vehicle configurator inside ChatGPT, allowing customers to describe their requirements naturally and receive model, configuration and even stock recommendations. AI isn’t simply changing how automotive marketing gets made, it is of course now part of the buying journey itself.
Luxury buyers are already there
The luxury customer isn’t exactly waiting nervously for digital retail to arrive. Research from BCG and duPont REGISTRY found that around 80% of luxury and exotic car buyers browse for vehicles at least weekly, while 75% would consider buying their next car online.
But the figure I find more interesting is this: more than 30% said emotional attraction to the brand was their primary motivation for buying. Because this is where the whole thing gets interesting. The buying journey can become smarter, quicker, more searchable and more personalised.
And let’s not forget, the person buying the car is still very much a human being!
AI can find it but creative creates the want.
Imagine the brief: Around £100k. Luxury SUV. PHEV. Low mileage. Particular options. Within 50 miles. Available now! AI is incredibly well suited to that problem. It can narrow 500 cars down to five. But five technically suitable cars do not feel the same. We recently filmed a one-of-a-kind Range Rover Sport, custom green, one of a kind, SUV.
On paper, AI could describe it perfectly. Model. Engine. Mileage. Paint. Interior. Options. Price. However, these wre not the things that made this car extremely special. You needed to see the paint moving through natural light, the interior details, the proportions away from a forecourt, moving through an environment where this car made sense to the customer. This is the moment in which a customer will stop looking at stock listings and starts imagining owning it. Ai will find it, creative will make you want it.
Luxury automotive has a stock-content problem
This is the bit I think the industry needs to look at properly: At manufacturer level, luxury automotive creative can be extraordinary. Beautiful films, huge campaign worlds, incredible photography, immaculate art direction. Then the customer decides they actually want to buy one. And sometimes the whole experience falls off a cliff.
A £100k+ car becomes eight serviceable photographs under dealership lighting and a specification list.That gap already matters and AI search is going to make it much more obvious!
Because the better technology gets at connecting somebody with the exact vehicle that suits them, the more important the content around that specific car becomes. We spend a slightly ridiculous amount of time on shoots trying to capture Range Rover paint colours properly and there is a very good reason.
Luxury paint is rarely simply green, blue or grey. It shifts. Metallics change in sunlight. Pearls behave differently as the car moves. A colour that looks completely unremarkable in a stock photograph can become the entire reason somebody wants the car when it’s filmed properly. And that really is not marketing fluff it is is a core part of communicating the product itself. The same applies to leather, stitching, trim, wheels, scale, movement and sound.
The closer digital gets to the transaction, the less acceptable emotionally dead stock content becomes.
Automotive creative has to do more than look pretty
This does not mean every car needs a 6 figure commercial, it does however mean that luxury automotive needs to be more intentional. Your creative needs to communicate colour, material, specification, character and presence. Dealer-level content should feel like a continuation of the luxury brand experience, not the point where it quietly dies a death.
And this is where video becomes especially valuable. A specification table can tell me what a car has. It cannot show me how the paint changes as it passes the camera. The weight of the door. The way the wheel fills the arch. The texture of the interior. The presence of the thing.
And no, the answer isn’t more AI sludge
There is obviously another route. AI makes content faster, so everybody produces more of it.
More captions. More images. More videos. More variations. And eventually everything looks exactly the bloody same! For luxury brands, that’s the danger. The opportunity isn’t to use AI to churn out more generic marketing. It’s to let technology handle the things technology is brilliant at: search, comparison, personalisation and discovery, while investing harder in the things humans remain incredibly sensitive to.
Taste. Point of view. Storytelling. Detail. The tiny thing about one particular car that makes somebody who wasn’t even looking for it stop and think:
Oh, god.
That one.
So, does AI make automotive creative less important?
I think the opposite. AI is about to expose where automotive creative isn’t good enough. If AI can give a customer five objectively right cars, the job of brand, retailer and creative is making one of them feel like the one.
AI can find the car. Creative still has to make you want it.
Why Social Media Is Now Non-Negotiable for Automotive Brands in 2026
It all begins with an idea.
If you sell cars, you’re no longer just competing on stock and price. You’re competing on attention. In 2025, that attention is being won – or lost – on social media.
This isn’t about chasing trends for the sake of it. It’s about recognising that for most buyers, the car-buying journey now starts, develops, and is often decided online, long before they ever walk into a dealership.
1. The car-buying journey has moved online
Multiple recent studies tell the same story:
95% of vehicle buyers use digital channels as a source of information. (invoca.com)
Twice as many buyers now start their research online versus at a dealership. (invoca.com)
One 2025 analysis found that 95% of car shoppers rely on online resources before visiting a dealer, and 64% conduct social media research as part of that process. (Demand Local, Inc.)
Another 2025 study from Snap and Havas showed 91% of consumers use digital sources during their vehicle shopping journey. (havasmedianetwork.com)
So by the time someone lands in your showroom or fills out an enquiry form, their perception of your brand has already been formed – largely by what they’ve seen (or not seen) across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat.
In other words: social isn’t a bolt-on. It’s now a core part of the sales funnel.
2. Social media isn’t just “influence” - it’s a decision-making channel
We’re well past the days where social media “raised awareness” and nothing more.
UK research in 2024 found that two fifths (around 40%) of car buyers are receptive to relevant social media advertising influencing their purchase. (AM Online)
A 2025 report noted that over 40% of automotive shoppers used social media platforms as part of their research process in 2024, with YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook leading the pack. (porchgroupmedia.com)
Earlier research into the connected auto buyer found that 78% of shoppers find social media useful when deciding which vehicle to purchase, and almost half have shared vehicle-related content with their network. (Facebook)
Snap & Havas’ 2025 study goes further:
60% of car buyers use social media at some stage in their buying journey, rising to 74% among Gen Z. (havasmedianetwork.com)
So social media isn’t just where people are “killing time”. It’s where they’re:
Building their shortlist
Comparing real-world experiences
Asking questions
And deciding who they trust enough to contact.
If you’re absent – or present but inconsistent – you’re silently handing those moments to your competitors.
3. The UK social landscape: your buyers are already here
From a UK perspective, the numbers are hard to ignore:
As of early 2025, the UK has 54.8 million social media users – around 79% of the total population. (Talkwalker)
TikTok alone has around 24.8 million active users in the UK, up from 16 million the year before – a 55% year-on-year increase. (Sprout Social)
UK TikTok users spend an average of around 49 hours per month on the platform, far above the global average. (Sprout Social)
Instagram remains a powerhouse, with 33.4 million UK users in early 2025 (around 48% of the population) and strong advertising reach. (Sprout Social)
On top of that, the UK social commerce market – people actually buying via social – is forecast to more than double to £16 billion by 2028. (Talkwalker)
Even if a car purchase still ends offline, the expectation of frictionless, shoppable, social experiences is bleeding into automotive.
4. TikTok, Instagram & co: where car brands are winning
The last 12–18 months have produced a stream of case studies that show just how powerful social media can be for automotive brands.
TikTok as a performance channel – not just “brand fluff”
TikTok has evolved from “dance trends” to a highly optimised ad and performance ecosystem, with a product set built specifically for automotive. (TikTok For Business)
Recent examples:
Toyota – cutting cost per acquisition with TikTok Automotive Ads
A 2025 case study shows Toyota achieved a 38% reduction in CPA versus their standard lead-gen approach, with the Corolla model seeing a 65% decrease in CPA and other models achieving 31–50% savings. (TikTok For Business)Geely Italia – launch via TikTok
For its Italian launch, Geely ran a strategic TikTok campaign that reached 1.8 million people, drove a 0.88% click-through rate and generated 1,400+ conversions. (TikTok For Business)BYD Mexico – “always-on” TikTok strategy
BYD partnered with TikTok in 2024 on an always-on approach, generating over 1 billion impressions, 23,000+ leads, and significant awareness gains. (TikTok For Business)Carglass – expanding to TikTok
Carglass introduced TikTok in 2024 to reach a younger audience while maintaining a sustainable CPA and positive ROI, building on their existing Meta and Snapchat activity. (nativeadvertisinginstitute.com)
These aren’t vanity metrics. They’re leads, conversions and cost efficiencies on platforms that a lot of dealerships still think of as “experimental”.
The creator effect: Hyundai & Keith Lee
Hyundai’s collaboration with TikTok creator Keith Lee is a good example of how influencer partnerships can translate into automotive results. Hyundai used TikTok’s creator-led programme to have Lee – already known for filming his reviews in his Hyundai – tell genuine stories about ownership as part of their #ItsYourJourney campaign. (TikTok For Business)
The strength here isn’t just reach; it’s trust and authenticity in front of an audience that already sees the car as part of the story.
5. What this means for dealerships and automotive retailers
Taken together, the data paints a very simple picture:
Your buyers research online first
A large and growing portion use social media specifically during that research
They are receptive to well-targeted, relevant automotive content and ads
Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat are now proven acquisition channels for automotive, not experiments
So the key question for a dealership in 2025 isn’t “Should we be on social?”
It’s: “Are we showing up in the right way at the right moments?”
That means:
Consistent, high-quality video and photography that presents stock as aspirational, not just transactional
Content tailored for different stages of the journey – from shortlist-building reels to walkthroughs, test-drive POVs, and buyer FAQs
Fast, clear response to comments, DMs and form fills
Performance-driven campaigns that don’t just generate views, but enquiries and bookings
6. Five questions every automotive brand should be asking
If you’re a retailer, OEM or broker, here are the diagnostic questions we’d start with:
Can a potential buyer get a real feel for your brand from your social feeds alone?
(If someone finds you via Instagram or TikTok, would they understand what you stand for – or just see scattered stock posts?)Does your content move beyond “specs and price”?
The brands winning on social are selling the experience, trust and lifestyle, not just metal.Are you active where your next generation of buyers actually are?
With TikTok usage in the UK up 55% year-on-year and 24.8 million users, especially under 35s, ignoring it means ignoring tomorrow’s customers. (Sprout Social)Can you connect your social activity to real business metrics?
Case studies from Toyota, BYD, Geely and others show that with the right creative and tracking, you can directly tie social campaigns to leads, CPA and sales. (TikTok For Business)Is your content built for how people actually consume media now?
Vertical, short-form, mobile-first, with clear hooks and pacing – not repurposed TV creative.
If the answer to any of these is “not yet”, there’s opportunity on the table.
7. Where Acme & Bloom fits
At Acme & Bloom, we specialise in high-end automotive content and social strategy.
That means:
Cinematic video and photography that makes your stock feel premium, not generic
Social-first campaigns built for platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube
Content packages designed around dealer realities – stock changes, time pressure, need-to-move units
A focus on results: reach, engagement, traffic and, ultimately, enquiries and sales
We work with dealerships and automotive brands who understand that social media is no longer optional – it’s a core part of their sales engine.