38% open rate
“Our service department open rates went from 11% to 38% in 60 days. The recall module alone paid for the annual subscription in month one.”
Derek Hollingsworth
Marketing Director
Hollingsworth Auto Group · 14 Rooftops
Industry Average: 14.3% Open Rate·Catalyst Average: 31.8%
Email templates that
outrun the benchmark
every send.
Pre-engineered for automotive marketers. Drag-and-drop modules for model launches, service recalls, dealer incentives, and OEM compliance — built to beat 14%.
app.catalyst.io/builder/q4-model-launch
LIVE
Now Available
2026 Apex GT-S
Starting at $47,990 MSRP
DRAG
In-Stock Inventory
Apex GT-S
$47,990
Vantage X
$38,450
Cruze EV
$52,200
Service Appointment CTA
Offer valid through March 31, 2026
©2026 Apex Motors. All offers subject to dealer participation. MSRP excludes destination. See dealer for complete details. Unsubscribe · Privacy Policy
Repositioning compliance block...|
31.8% avg open rate
across 847 campaigns
OEM compliant
Auto-updated disclaimer blocks
Trusted by dealership groups and automotive brands
AutoNation
Hendrick Automotive
Lithia Motors
Penske Automotive
Group 1 Auto
Asbury Automotive
Sonic Automotive
Ken Garff
AutoNation
Hendrick Automotive
Lithia Motors
Penske Automotive
Group 1 Auto
Asbury Automotive
Sonic Automotive
Ken Garff
Industry Report 2025
Automotive email is broken. Here's the data.
The average automotive dealership sends email that 86 out of 100 subscribers ignore. These benchmarks show exactly where the gap is — and how top performers close it.
Industry Avg Open Rate
0.0%
DMA Automotive Report 2025
Catalyst Avg Open Rate
0.0%
+122% above industry
Avg CTR — Personalized
0.0%
vs 2.1% generic
Best Send Time ROI
0AM
Tue–Thu, local TZ
Open Rate by Template Type
Source: Catalyst platform data, Q4 2025 · n=12,847 sends
Model Launch — Personalized38%
Service Reminder — Dynamic Pricing34%
Flash Sale — Urgency Subject Line31%
OEM Recall — Compliance Template28%
Generic Newsletter — No Segmentation16%
Industry Average (DMA 2025)14%
Personalized subject lines with vehicle-specific data consistently outperform generic automotive email by 2.3–2.7×
Click Zone Heatmap
High-converting service reminder email · 3,241 sends
Schedule Service Appointment
47% of all clicks · Hottest zone
Low clicks
High clicks
Optimal Send Times by Dealership Type
Source: Catalyst send-time analysis · 2025 Q3–Q4 · n=4,312 dealerships
Best Good Low
| Segment | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luxury Franchise | 3 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 2 |
| Mass Market Dealer | 4 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 3 |
| Service Department | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 4 |
| Aftermarket Parts | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 6 |
| Auto SaaS Platform | 3 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1 |
Score 1–10 · 10 = highest open rate lift · Based on local timezone delivery analysis
Top-performing dealers don't guess. They use the right template system.
The data above represents what's possible when automotive email is built on structure — not improvised in a generic email editor. Catalyst gives every dealership the architecture that top performers have spent years building.
Template Architecture
Every module engineered for automotive.
Not adapted from generic email tools. Built ground-up for dealership workflows, OEM compliance, and the specific conversion paths automotive buyers follow.
Model Launch
Hero Module
Full-bleed vehicle photography with dynamic MSRP injection, model year badge, and dealer-specific CTA. Auto-pulls from your inventory feed.
Open rate lift
+18%
CTR
9.2%
Included features
Auto MSRP injection
Inventory sync
OEM color compliance
Mobile-first layout
Model Launch Module
Learn More →
+18%
Open rate lift
Drag & Drop Builder
Reorder modules in seconds. No code, no HTML — just click and drag the structure you need.
Multi-Brand Ready
Manage 7 franchise brands from one account. Each gets its own OEM-compliant template library.
Real-Time Analytics
Open rates, CTR, and conversion data stream live. No 24-hour reporting delay.
Social Proof
Dealers who crossed the 30% threshold.
6 brands, 1 platform
“Managing compliance across 6 OEM brands was a full-time job. Catalyst's auto-update blocks cut that to zero. We just build the campaign now.”
Priya Mehta
Digital Marketing Manager
Premier Automotive Group
+44% same-day orders
“We run flash sales to 28,000 installers every Thursday. The urgency module with countdown timers lifted same-day orders by 44%.”
Marcus Webb
VP Marketing
ProDrive Aftermarket Parts
29% vs 12% open rate
“Our platform update emails now have 29% open rates compared to the 12% we were getting with Mailchimp. The automotive-specific segmentation logic is the difference.”
Courtney Zhang
Head of Growth
FleetOS · Automotive SaaS
20 min DMS setup
“The inventory grid that pulls live from our DMS is something I've wanted for 3 years. Catalyst had it working in 20 minutes.”
Tyler Okonkwo
Internet Sales Director
Lakeland Ford Lincoln
847
Active dealership groups
31.8%
Average open rate
4.2M
Emails sent monthly
99.2%
Deliverability rate
Get Started
Start free. Upgrade when the results speak.
Three sends per month is enough to prove the open rate lift. Most teams upgrade within 30 days — after seeing the data.
Free Forever
$0
No credit card required
- 3 template sends / month
- All 7 module types
- 2 OEM brand profiles
- Real-time analytics
- CAN-SPAM compliance
- Email support
Most Popular
Growth
$149/mo
Up to 25,000 sends/month
- Unlimited template sends
- All modules + custom blocks
- Unlimited OEM brands
- DMS integration (CDK, R&R)
- Advanced segmentation
- A/B subject line testing
- Priority support
- Onboarding call included
Enterprise
Custom
100K+ sends / multi-group
- Unlimited volume
- Dedicated account manager
- Custom OEM compliance rules
- White-label option
- API access
- SLA guarantee (99.9%)
- Custom DMS connectors
- Quarterly strategy reviews
Primary CTA
Build Your First Template Free
No credit card. No commitment. Just your first automotive email template — ready to send in under 15 minutes.
PDF
Secondary CTA
2025 Auto Email
Benchmark Report
The complete data behind this page — 47 pages, 12,847 campaigns, 4,312 dealerships. Open rate benchmarks by franchise brand, CTR by segment, send-time optimization tables, and a teardown of the 50 highest-performing automotive emails of 2025.
47 pages of data
12,847 campaigns analyzed
Brand-by-brand benchmarks
Top 50 email teardowns
Common questions
What does the free tier include?
How does multi-brand management work?
Does Catalyst integrate with my DMS?
How is the open rate lift calculated?