Vehicle and parts salespersons
and advisers
Vehicle and parts salespersons and advisers sell new and used vehicles to the general public, and vehicle accessories and parts to garages, vehicle dealerships and the general public.
- Employees (UK)
- 12k
- Median annual pay
- £31,750
- Exposure score ?
- 1.4/10 Minimal 5.5/10 Moderate strict reading, with tools is 5.5/10 with-tools reading, strict is 1.4/10
- Wage exposure
- £53m £210m
Higher exposure than 67% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
A real share of the task list is within reach, especially drafting, summarising, research and analysis. People in this role who learn to direct AI well will pull ahead of those who do not.
If you are in this role
Treat AI like a capable junior you manage. Where you would hand a task to a junior with a clear brief, AI can do it now. Spend the time you get back on judgement and relationships.
Where the work usually starts.
These are the most important tasks a language model can already handle directly. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around them, so they stop eating the team's time.
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Maintain records related to sales.
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Prepare sales slips or sales contracts.
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Estimate cost of repair or alteration of merchandise.
These are the most important tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. The first wins usually come from building workflows around them. That is the difference between a model that could do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
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Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires.
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Maintain records related to sales.
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Compute sales prices, total purchases, and receive and process cash or credit payment.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "Retail Salespersons" (41-2031.00).
What AI can already do
3 of 24 tasks, unaided
Maintain records related to sales.
Prepare sales slips or sales contracts.
Estimate cost of repair or alteration of merchandise.
What still needs a person
21 of 24 tasks
Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs.
Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires.
Compute sales prices, total purchases, and receive and process cash or credit payment.
Prepare merchandise for purchase or rental.
Answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise.
Maintain knowledge of current sales and promotions, policies regarding payment and exchanges, and security practices.
Open and close cash registers, performing tasks such as counting money, separating charge slips, coupons, and vouchers, balancing cash drawers, and making deposits.
Demonstrate use or operation of merchandise.
Describe merchandise and explain use, operation, and care of merchandise to customers.
Ticket, arrange, and display merchandise to promote sales.
Inventory stock and requisition new stock.
Exchange merchandise for customers and accept returns.
Estimate and quote trade-in allowances.
Bag or package purchases and wrap gifts.
Help customers try on or fit merchandise.
Watch for and recognize security risks and thefts and know how to prevent or handle these situations.
Sell or arrange for delivery, insurance, financing, or service contracts for merchandise.
Estimate quantity and cost of merchandise required, such as paint or floor covering.
Place special orders or call other stores to find desired items.
Clean shelves, counters, and tables.
Rent merchandise to customers.
Tasks via O*NET "Retail Salespersons" (41-2031.00).
What AI can already do
15 of 24 tasks, with tools
Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires.
Maintain records related to sales.
Compute sales prices, total purchases, and receive and process cash or credit payment.
Answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise.
Maintain knowledge of current sales and promotions, policies regarding payment and exchanges, and security practices.
Prepare sales slips or sales contracts.
Describe merchandise and explain use, operation, and care of merchandise to customers.
Ticket, arrange, and display merchandise to promote sales.
Inventory stock and requisition new stock.
Estimate and quote trade-in allowances.
Sell or arrange for delivery, insurance, financing, or service contracts for merchandise.
Estimate quantity and cost of merchandise required, such as paint or floor covering.
Place special orders or call other stores to find desired items.
Rent merchandise to customers.
Estimate cost of repair or alteration of merchandise.
What still needs a person
9 of 24 tasks
Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs.
Prepare merchandise for purchase or rental.
Open and close cash registers, performing tasks such as counting money, separating charge slips, coupons, and vouchers, balancing cash drawers, and making deposits.
Demonstrate use or operation of merchandise.
Exchange merchandise for customers and accept returns.
Bag or package purchases and wrap gifts.
Help customers try on or fit merchandise.
Watch for and recognize security risks and thefts and know how to prevent or handle these situations.
Clean shelves, counters, and tables.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Sales and customer service occupations, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons