OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. — vAuto announced the launch of Nexi, billed as a digital assistant for dealerships. Nexi will debut at the 2018 NADA convention in Las Vegas.

Through a “skill” for Amazon Alexa, available on Echo Devices, Nexi helps dealers access their inventory, sell cars and generate profit. The cloud-based service is capable of answering a full range of questions on inventory, local market data, operations and more, said Dale Pollak, founder of vAuto and executive vice president of Cox Automotive.

“Dealers are incredibly busy and we’ve arrived at a time when voice-enabled assistance can help them multi-task and make the right decisions more efficiently and effectively,” Pollack said. “Nexi is the industry’s first skill that helps dealers know the critical conditions and tasks that need their attention now.”

Citing a Boston Consulting Group/MIT Sloan Management Review study of more than 3,000 business executives, managers, and analysts in 112 countries and 21 industries, Pollack said the majority of respondents believe artificial intelligence will enable them to obtain or sustain a competitive advantage; AI is a strategic priority for their businesses today; and the pressure to reduce costs will require their organizations to use AI in the next five years.

“Retail automotive is ripe for AI,” Pollak said. “Thanks to margin compression, dealers are working harder than ever while making less money. The answer to this problem is increased operational efficiencies, and Nexi helps dealers take a significant step in this direction.”

Nexi is available to vAuto customers using Stockwave, vAuto’s proprietary inventory analysis solution, for no additional charge, according to the provider.