To auto-reply to CarDekho, CarWale and CarTrade leads on WhatsApp, get each portal enquiry out of the dealer app, email alert or CRM where it lands, and pass it to a WhatsApp Business API platform that sends an approved template to the buyer within a minute. In RichAutomate that hand-off is a call to the POST /api/v1/send-template endpoint or a flow's Incoming Webhook trigger, usually wired through your CRM or a Zapier, Make or Pabbly email parser, because none of these portals has a native RichAutomate connector.
This guide is for showroom general managers, used-car dealers and the person at the dealership who owns "the leads sheet". It covers why portal leads lose value so quickly, where they actually arrive today, the three honest ways to move them into WhatsApp, a ready-to-submit template, a four-step follow-up sequence and a rupee cost table for 500 and 2,000 leads a month.
Why a CarDekho lead is worth less every minute
A car buyer on a portal is rarely loyal to one dealer. Someone comparing a Hyundai Creta with a Kia Seltos taps "Get offers" or "Contact dealer" on two or three listings, and a used-car buyer looking for a 2020 Baleno does the same across four or five sellers. Each of those dealers receives the same name and number at roughly the same moment. Whoever replies first with an on-road price, a photo of the actual car and a test-drive slot usually becomes the dealer the buyer visits.
The research on response speed is old but consistent. The Lead Response Management Study run by MIT's James Oldroyd with InsideSales.com in 2007 found that the odds of qualifying a web lead were 21 times lower when the first contact came at 30 minutes instead of 5 minutes. That study covered B2C and B2B web leads, not cars specifically, and it measured qualification rather than closed sales, but the direction matches what any showroom sales team sees on a busy Sunday.
The volume makes this worth fixing. Per FADA data, India's passenger-vehicle retail sales reached 47,05,056 units in FY26, up 13% year on year, and dealer stock fell from more than 50 days to about 28 days by March 2026, as reported by Autocar Professional. On the used side, the FY25 Indian Blue Book report puts the pre-owned car market at 5.9 million units, projected to reach 9.5 million by 2030 at about 10% a year. More cars changing hands means more portal enquiries, and more dealers chasing each one.
Where portal leads actually arrive at your dealership
Before automating anything, map where each enquiry lands today. It differs by portal, by package and by whether you sell new or used cars.
- CarDekho: according to CarDekho's about page, it offers dealers apps that help sales staff track and handle leads, a call-tracking solution, digital marketing and an outsourced lead management service, and it lists tie-ups with more than 4,000 car dealers. In practice, dealers see enquiries in the dealer app, in email alerts or as tracked calls, depending on their package.
- CarWale and CarTrade: both belong to CarTrade Tech, which says on its services page that when customers express interest in a new or used car, "we connect them to the right" dealer, and that it provides dealers with technology such as dealer management systems.
- Your own CRM or DMS: many larger showrooms already pull portal enquiries into an OEM lead-management system, a third-party dealer CRM or a shared Google Sheet.
What none of these pages promise is a public lead-push API for any dealer who asks. Whether you can receive leads by webhook, API, scheduled export or only by email depends on what the portal offers your account. Ask your CarDekho or CarWale account manager directly: "Can our leads be pushed to our CRM by API or webhook, or exported as CSV?" The answer decides which route below you use.
Three honest ways to push portal leads into WhatsApp
RichAutomate does not have a CarDekho, CarWale or CarTrade integration, and we will not pretend otherwise. Tools that "scrape" a portal's dealer panel tend to break whenever the portal updates its screens and can breach the portal's terms. These three routes rely only on data the portal already gives you.
Route 1: CRM or lead system to RichAutomate (fastest, most reliable). If your portal leads already reach a CRM, add an outbound webhook or automation step there. It can call POST /api/v1/send-template with your RichAutomate API key as a Bearer token, passing the buyer's phone, the template name, the language and the variables such as name and model. Alternatively, point the CRM at the Incoming Webhook trigger of a flow in the visual flow builder, so the lead enters a full chatbot journey with buttons, questions and a hand-off to a salesperson.
Route 2: email alerts through an email parser. If enquiries reach you as emails, forward them to a parser mailbox in Zapier, Make or Pabbly Connect. The parser extracts the name, mobile number, car model and city, and the next step calls the same send-template endpoint or flow webhook. Expect a delay of one to a few minutes depending on your automation plan, which is still far quicker than a callback after lunch. Test it against a few real lead emails first, because a small change in the email layout can shift the fields.
Route 3: daily CSV upload (fallback). If the only option is a download from the dealer panel, upload the file as contacts and send the template as a small campaign twice a day. It is not instant, so use it as a stopgap while you get Route 1 or 2 working.
Whichever route you choose, a buyer who taps a click-to-WhatsApp link in your listing, website or showroom board starts the chat themselves, and your bot can answer inside the open window without a template. The Justdial leads WhatsApp auto-reply guide and the Quikr and OLX leads auto-reply guide use the same pattern for other Indian lead portals.
New-car vs used-car leads: what the first message must say
A new-car buyer and a used-car buyer ask different first questions. If your auto-reply answers the wrong one, it reads like spam. Split your templates and flows by lead type from day one.
| What matters first | New-car lead (authorised dealer) | Used-car lead (pre-owned dealer) |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer's first question | On-road price for the variant in my city | Is this exact car still available? |
| Proof to send | Price breakup PDF, brochure, colour options | Real photos, odometer, service history, ownership count |
| Qualifying questions | Variant, fuel type, purchase timeline, exchange car, finance | Budget band, area, finance or full payment, inspection day |
| Main call to action | Book a test drive or home test drive | Book an inspection visit at the yard |
| Hand-off trigger | Exchange valuation or "best price" request | Price negotiation or "token amount" question |
| Typical deal-breaker | Waiting period and stock of the colour | Car already sold, or the price differs from the listing |
For a broader view of features that suit showrooms, such as multi-agent inbox, round-robin assignment and catalogues, see our comparison of the best WhatsApp Business API for car dealers in India. Pre-owned specialists should also read our WhatsApp playbook for used-car dealerships.
A sample WhatsApp auto-reply template for portal leads
A lead that came through a portal has not messaged you on WhatsApp yet, so your first message must be a Meta-approved template. Keep it tied to the buyer's specific enquiry and free of offers. Meta assigns the final category during review, and an acknowledgement of a request the buyer made is the kind of message that typically fits utility. Anything promotional, such as an exchange bonus or a festive discount, makes it marketing.
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Template name: car_enquiry_ack | Category submitted: Utility | Language: English (add a Hindi version separately)
Hi {{1}}, thank you for your enquiry about the {{2}} at {{3}}. We have received your request and our team can help you with price, availability and a test drive.
Reply here or tap a button below to continue.
[Share price details] [Book a test drive] [Call me back]
Variables: {{1}} buyer's first name, {{2}} model and variant (for example, "Maruti Brezza ZXi" or "2020 Honda City VX, 38,000 km"), {{3}} your dealership name and city.
When the buyer taps a button, the 24-hour customer-service window opens and your flow can send free-form messages: the price breakup, photos, a location pin and slot buttons. A Hinglish reply inside that window could read: "Shukriya! {{2}} ka on-road price aapke sheher ke liye bhej rahe hain. Test drive kab karna chahenge? Aaj / Kal / Weekend."
Two rules keep this template healthy. Send it only to people who actually enquired, and include a way out, for example "Reply STOP to opt out", with a keyword in your flow that unsubscribes them automatically.
The follow-up sequence: T+0 minutes to T+3 days
Most buyers do not reply to the first message. A short, polite sequence recovers a meaningful share of them, as long as it stops the moment the buyer responds or a salesperson takes over the chat.
| When | Message | Type | Send only if |
|---|---|---|---|
| T+0 min | Enquiry acknowledgement with price, test-drive and callback buttons | Utility template | Lead received from portal, CRM or email parser |
| T+2 hours | "Shall we hold a test-drive or inspection slot for you?" with three time buttons | Utility template referencing the enquiry | No reply to the T+0 message |
| T+1 day | Two real photos or a short walkaround video of the car, plus the on-road or asking price | Free-form if the window is open, otherwise a template | Buyer has not booked a visit |
| T+3 days | Last check-in: "Still looking? We can share similar cars in your budget." with Yes and No buttons | Marketing template | Buyer has not opted out; stop the sequence after this |
Any reply such as "call me", "final price" or "exchange value" should end the automation and assign the chat to a person, with the model, budget and city already saved as contact attributes. A bot is good at the first two minutes of a conversation, while closing a car deal is a person's job.
What it costs for 500 and 2,000 leads a month
RichAutomate works on Client Pay: you connect your own payment method to your WhatsApp Business Account, Meta bills its message charges to you directly, and RichAutomate charges a flat platform fee of ₹0.10 per message. Your plan payment is credited in full to your RichAutomate wallet and the platform fee is drawn from that wallet, so you are not paying twice. Plans are Starter at ₹499 a month, Pro at ₹899 and White-label at ₹1,199, all GST-inclusive with ₹0 setup, plus a Custom plan for larger groups. Extra numbers are ₹399 a month and extra team seats ₹199 a month. Full details are on the RichAutomate pricing page.
On the Meta side, India template rates used on the RichAutomate pricing page are ₹0.8631 per marketing template and ₹0.115 per utility template, excluding GST, billed by Meta to your own account. Replies inside the 24-hour customer-service window follow Meta's current rules, set out in Meta's WhatsApp pricing documentation. Check your own WhatsApp Manager before budgeting, because Meta revises rates.
The table below assumes each lead gets one utility opener, an average of 0.8 follow-up templates (budgeted at the marketing rate to stay safe), and that half the leads reply and trade about six business messages and five buyer messages. In-window replies are not costed as Meta template charges here. The ₹0.10 platform fee is counted on every message in both directions, as a deliberate upper bound.
| Cost line | 500 leads/month | 2,000 leads/month |
|---|---|---|
| Utility opener templates at ₹0.115 (Meta) | 500 = ₹57.50 | 2,000 = ₹230.00 |
| Follow-up templates at ₹0.8631 (Meta) | 400 = ₹345.24 | 1,600 = ₹1,380.96 |
| Total messages, both directions | 2,400 out + 1,250 in = 3,650 | 9,600 out + 5,000 in = 14,600 |
| RichAutomate platform fee at ₹0.10 per message | 3,650 x ₹0.10 = ₹365.00 | 14,600 x ₹0.10 = ₹1,460.00 |
| Starter plan ₹499, credited to your wallet | Covers the ₹365 fee; you pay ₹499 | Covers ₹499 of the fee, top up ₹961; you pay ₹1,460 |
| Estimated monthly total (RichAutomate + Meta) | about ₹902, or ₹1.80 per lead | about ₹3,071, or ₹1.54 per lead |
Meta charges in this table exclude GST and are billed by Meta, not RichAutomate. Your real bill can be lower if fewer leads reply or your bot uses fewer messages, with your plan amount as the floor on the RichAutomate side. A dealership with five or six salespeople on the inbox should add seats at ₹199 each or compare Pro and White-label on the pricing page. Even at the top of this range, the monthly cost is a small fraction of the margin on one extra car sold.
Consent, templates and the DPDP Act
A buyer who submitted an enquiry on a portal asked to be contacted about that car. That is a reasonable basis for one templated reply about their enquiry and a short follow-up. It is not permission to add them to every broadcast you send for the next year.
- Template first: outside the 24-hour window, only approved templates can be sent. Free-form messages are allowed only after the buyer messages or taps a button.
- Ask before marketing: offer a button such as "Yes, send me similar cars" before adding a lead to promotional broadcasts.
- DPDP Act 2023: India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act expects personal data to be used for the purpose it was collected, kept secure and erased when the person withdraws consent. Do not share portal leads with other dealerships or reuse them for unrelated businesses.
- Portal terms: read your CarDekho or CarWale dealer agreement for any rules on how you may contact the leads you receive.
- Quality rating: blocks and reports lower your number's quality rating. No platform can promise that a number will never be restricted or that every message will be delivered, so keep messages relevant, short and easy to stop.
Common mistakes dealers make with portal-lead automation
- One template for every lead. A used-car buyer who receives a new-car brochure stops trusting the dealer. Route by lead source and lead type.
- Stale stock in the bot. If a car sold yesterday, the flow must say so and offer alternatives in the same budget band.
- No owner for the hand-off. Assign chats round-robin to named salespeople and track the time to first human reply, not only the bot reply.
- Not testing the parser. Send yourself a dummy enquiry from each portal every week and confirm the WhatsApp message arrives within minutes.
- Measuring only leads. Track replies, test drives or inspections booked, and cars delivered, split by portal, so you know which listing package actually pays.
Start replying to portal buyers first
You already pay for CarDekho, CarWale and CarTrade leads. The cheapest way to get more from that spend is to make sure every buyer hears from you within a minute, with the right answer for a new or used car and an easy next step. Set up one template, one follow-up sequence and a clean hand-off to your sales team, then measure test drives booked per hundred leads.
RichAutomate gives you the WhatsApp Business API, a visual flow builder with an Incoming Webhook trigger, a shared team inbox and a developer API for CRM and email-parser leads, from ₹499 a month with ₹0 setup. Start your 7-day free trial of RichAutomate, no card needed, with 100 free credits to send your first portal-lead auto-reply today.