Inventory and website management system provider AutoCorner recently introduced its proprietary multilingual, SEO-aware VIN decoding system for its website services.
The solution currently supports English and Spanish, aiming to help its customers provide services for Hispanic customers in the United States.
“Dealers have asked for an easy way to add Spanish to their websites,” said Steven Carlson, the co-founder of AutoCorner. “With our new technology, dealers have everything they need at their fingertips.”
The system features “intricate syntax rules to produce natural diction and sentence structure,” according to the company. The system includes descriptions of every vehicle in both languages, each generated with SEO practices in mind.
A sample of the system can be viewed here.
In other related news, DataOne Software recently released a case study detailing how timely and accurate vehicle data and VIN decoding have helped Xtime’s customer retention products in the Canadian market.
According to Gerry Faro, Xtime’s director of catalog management, the data solution is of great value.
“To do this in-house would require a large investment in staff and resources,” Faro said. “DataOne delivers a valuable resource at a fraction of the cost and with a high level of accuracy.”
The VIN decoding and data solutions provided by DataOne allow Xtime clients to use targeted messaging via Xtime’s Marketing 7 product, schedule services with Scheduling 7 and upsell services with Check-In 7.
For more information about the two companies and their interaction with the Canadian market, view the full study here.
Four ADESA locations, in partnership with the Ford Global Action Team, announced they have raised over $283,000 for JDRF, a leading global organization focused on Type 1 diabetes research.
Employees from ADESA locations in Indianapolis; Boston; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Phoenix along with their families, friends and customers participated in local JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes events.
ADESA Buffalo, in addition to the charity walk, also organized several fundraising events, including a bake sale. ADESA Indianapolis and ADESA Boston both hosted car shows and motorcycle rides.
The Indianapolis location raised the most out of the group — $162,000, more than three times its original goal — through its aforementioned car show and motorcycle ride along with the raffle of a 1971 Pontiac GTO and the auction of a 2013 Porsche Cayenne Turbo, which was donated by a customer whose daughter was recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
Stéphane St-Hilaire, ADESA’s president and chief executive officer, commented on his organization’s long-standing philanthropic relationship with JDRF.
“We’re proud to work in partnership with the Ford Global Action Team to support JDRF and to help fund this much-needed research,” St-Hilaire said. Thank you to our employees, our customers and our industry partners who contributed so generously to this cause. Because of this dedication, we were again able to exceed our fundraising goals.”
Edsel B. Ford II, board director at Ford Motor Co., applauded the partnership between Ford, ADESA and JDRF.
“This unique team effort has significantly contributed to vital JDRF research that can bring us closer to turning type 1 into type none,” Ford said. “I am extremely proud of this partnership, and I look forward to continuing on this journey with ADESA until we have a world without T1D.”
For more information on JDRF’s research and efforts, visit its site here.
Dealer chat and website engagement provider Gubagoo announced Wednesday a strategic partnership with Zimmerman Advertising.
Rick Friedman, the executive vice president of automotive at Zimmerman, summed up the strategy.
“This strategic partnership with Gubagoo is a key capability to our retail automotive division’s exclusive integrated media messaging strategy,” Friedman said. “Gubagoo’s desktop and mobile chat management solutions allow us to deliver offers, real-time inventory, and other value-building media elements into an on-page slide-out window that keeps a consumer’s chat attention and click activity focused on our dealer’s website.
“In addition, the search activity tracking and scoring mechanisms in Gubagoo allow us to present the right offer to the right customer at the right time,” Friedman continued. “Since combining Gubagoo’s chat and on-page promotional messaged with our Zimmerman mobile and desktop website designs, we’re seeing record-level lead conversion on both platforms.”
Brad Title, Gubagoo’s chief executive officer, looks forward to seeing the fruits of the partnership.
“Partnering with such a leader in online retail marketing is a fantastic endorsement of how well our ‘smart’ chat and telephony solutions work,” Title said. “We look forward to continuing to deliver chat and telephony solutions that let dealers talk with their customers based on preferences and history, instead of talking at customers.”
For more information, visit the Gubagoo website.
Dominion Dealer Solutions announced Wednesday its dealer management system, Dominion ACCESS, has now begun integration with J.D Power’s Power Information Network, or PIN.
Via PIN, which serves over 12,000 franchises in North America, Dominion ACCESS is now integrated into J.D. Power’s PowerDealer tool, capable of creating customized, real-time F&I reports.
According to Dominion, there are also additional features available to members of the National Automobile Dealers Association 20 Group through their 20 Group Live reports.
“The inclusion in this program offers our customers better data about their performance in the marketplace,” said Van Koppersmith, the president of Dominion DMS. “This J.D. Power program offers clear value to participating dealers. We are delighted to be a part of it.”
Dominion ACCESS’ customers will now have access to the following reports, in real time, via the integration with PIN, as listed by the company:
- New- and used-vehicle gross per unit
- Inventory on retail turn rate
- Which vehicles are selling
- Finance buy rates for new and used vehicles
- Up to 2 years of historical data with trending capability and goal-setting features
- Booking tool for used vehicles
- Google Maps and ZIP code lists for dealer’s sales
For more information, visit the Dominion Dealer Solutions website.
Ford Motor Co. Emerging Market Services (EMS) announced Tuesday it has selected Oxlo Systems Inc. to optimize and expand its warranty data feeds.
Oxlo Systems — the owner and operator of ODIN, the Open Dealer Integration Network for the automotive industry — was selected by Ford for its SAAS software that will be utilized to enable timely registration of extended warranty service plans that have been sold by auto dealers across the globe.
The project is a collaboration between Ford IT and Oxlo Systems, and the companies explained the partnership leverages Oxlo’s software to optimize an existing integrated data feed and helps position Ford to expand Emerging Market Services to countries that are not currently able to register the plans.
The SAAS software solution — Oxlo’s Open Dealer Integration Network — accepts third-party warranty data feeds and performs pre-processing and data transformation prior to submission to Ford.
“The optimized business process includes warranty status responses provided by Ford and converted by ODIN,” company management explained.
"We are pleased to continue to expand our SAAS software information technology relationship with the Ford Emerging Market Services team. Our collaborative solutions rapidly deliver forward thinking dealer data integration solutions. We are confident that this next solution will continue to demonstrate the value of our growing Dealer Integration Network," said Gene Brothers, chief executive officer of Oxlo Systems.
Furthermore, the Ford EMS support team will be using Oxlo’s ODIN for Ford EMS, which is a secure online Web portal connected to the Oxlo Open Dealer Integration Network. Through this, users can view data feeds, registration process status and manage registration exceptions.
The companies assert the combination of these SAAS software solutions provide a complete integrated and managed data feed solution for Ford Emerging Market Services.
"The integration of the network with the ODIN for Ford EMS user portal is yet one more instance where Ford IT has rapidly leveraged Oxlo's existing saas software solutions to optimize business processes in support of the Dealer channel," Brothers concluded.
Perhaps answering some of the questions industry analysts and Tesla owners had regarding repair services and costs for the luxury electric vehicles, Tesla Motors announced Monday it has chosen to partner with Solera Holdings Inc.
Solera’s collision estimating and customer communication platforms are now the sole choice of Tesla Motors for its global certified collision repair centers.
The company explained through AudaExplore (U.S.) and Audatex (global), Tesla insurers and repairers will use the Solera solutions in an effort to process fast and accurate collision repair estimates and insurance claims on Tesla vehicles.
The automaker will also utilize the AutoWatch platform within the Solera solution designed to enhance both the driver experience and communication between Tesla and its customers.
According to the release, Solera expects to roll out the Tesla-related products to all AudaExplore and Audatex licensed users in the coming weeks, starting in North America, Europe and China.
"We have worked closely with Tesla over the past several months to develop highly accurate and data-driven integrated solutions for Tesla's collision repair network," said Tony Aquila, Solera's founder, Chairman and CEO. "Our goal is to fully leverage Solera's technology platforms to digitally transform the vehicle repair experience for all stakeholders."
Repair centers and collision services for Tesla owners will become even more important in the near future as the company officially launched its certified pre-owned program this past spring.
According to the site, every pre-owned Model S comes with a four-year, 50,000 mile limited warranty.
Every pre-owned Model S also receives a full inspection, remaining battery and drive warranty, and 24-hour roadside assistance.
As the CPO program grows and the Model S certified models age, a standardized, comprehensive repair service system for Tesla owners will be a must.
VinSolutions announced Wednesday that it has integrated its VinConnect Desking tool with Autosoft’s dealership management system Autosoft FLEX F&I.
Via the integration, VinSolutions hopes to reduce some of the redundancy of duplicate data entry between the two programs and increase visibility between a dealership’s departments and its DMS solutions.
Through real-time integration, Autosoft data is automatically pulled and stored in the VinConnect CRM databased for dealers desking a deal.
“This integration between two leading software companies reinforces our commitment to providing seamless solutions for our customers,” said Sean Stapleton, VinSolutions’ vice president of sales and marketing. “As technology evolves, dealership software solutions will only communicate with each other more.
“We look forward to helping our customers enhance dealership processes, increase efficiency and better serve their customers.”
Christopher Morris, the senior vice president at Autosoft, believes his company’s FLEX Connect integration program opens up more opportunities for its customers.
“The close integration between our FLEX DMS and VinConnect Desking reduces inefficiencies in the F&I process, driving more productivity and, ultimately, more profitability for our dealers,” Morris said.
More information about the integration can be found by contacting the company here.
Re3 Conference presenting sponsor Digital Recognition Network (DRN) announced on Tuesday that the company is providing its Event Links product to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) free of charge.
Company officials highlighted Event Links, often used by insurance company special investigative units, uses DRN’s vehicle location data to provide evidence of individual and collusive fraud. They indicated the tool successfully helped to identify instances of fraud and criminal action during the trial run for NICB, which led to the ongoing agreement of free usage.
“DRN’s vehicle location data is proving to be an invaluable tool for our agents,” NICB chief operating officer James Schweitzer said.
Using Event Links and the new unique data provided has given us insights into suspected fraud cases — insights that led to the confirmation of fraud and the apprehension of criminals,” Schweitzer continued. “I am excited that NICB investigators will have access to DRN’s solutions and data now that we have seen what it can do.”
In one case, NICB agents were asked to help investigate a string of home burglaries involving stolen jewelry. A police officer identified a suspicious vehicle in the neighborhood and recorded the license plate. The NICB agent entered the plate information into Event Links and was able to provide recent locations where the vehicle had been spotted, which eventually led to the apprehension of three individuals that were implicated in four home burglaries.
“Without Event Links it would have been more difficult for the NICB and its law enforcement partners to solve this case. The license plate in this case was registered to another address, so the vehicle location data was key to tracking down the suspects,” said DRN chief executive officer Chris Metaxas, who will be one of the presenters during the Re3 Conference, which comes at the midpoint of Used Car Week on Nov. 18 in Scottsdale, Ariz.
“We are excited to see the results from the NICB’s use of Event Links and are happy to give them access to our tools and data,” Metaxas went on to say.
DRN’s vehicle location data is comprised of license plate information gathered throughout the United States. DRN’s license plate recognition (LPR) data includes more than 100 million scans per month.
Dealer software provider ProMax Unlimited announced Friday it has integrated its customer relationship management system with GoMoto’s Digital HUB kiosks.
“As a company that has continually pioneered auto software for over 20 years, we recognize a great new platform when we see it,” said John Palmer, ProMax’s chief executive officer. “And GoMoto is exactly what today’s consumers are looking for.”
GoMoto, an in-dealership technology retailer, offers a suite of options that drive customer engagement to capture analytics via its kiosks.
Shane Born, ProMax’s chief operations officer, commented on the benefits of the two companies’ seamless integration of products.
“We’re excited to be partner with GoMoto,” Born said. “Dealerships spend so much money on advertising, but too often neglect to invest in the customer’s in-store experience beyond new sofas and coffee machines. The GoMoto HUB is a win-win, greatly improving customer engagement and satisfaction and giving dealers invaluable information and a streamlined process at the same time.”
For more information on ProMax Unlimited, visit its site here. More info on GoMoto’s offerings can be found here.
Online pre-owned car retailer Vroom announced today it has raised $54 million via its Series B funding round, bringing the total amount of equity funding to date up to $73 million.
This is in addition to the $19 million previously raised by Vroom during its Series A equity funding round. Some of that first-round investment was from well-known folks with automotive ties: Steve Berrard, the former president of AutoNation and Blockbuster, as well as former football player John Elway, who has also made a name for himself investing in car dealerships.
Investors for this second round of fundraising include Catterton and General Catalyst Partners as well as funds and accounts managed by T. Rowe Price Associates Inc.
Individual participants in the round also include Jeffery Boyd, the chairman and former chief executive officer of The Priceline Group, and Bob Mylod, the former chief financial officer of the same company.
Founded in 2013, Vroom reports sales for the month of May came in at $20 million, propelling it toward what it expects to be a $300 million sales year for 2015.
The online retailer provides a seven-day money-back guarantee, a no questions asked return policy, a 90-day bumper-to-bumper warranty and free shipping nationwide for both purchases and vehicles sold to them.
Mylod cited consumer confidence as one of the characteristics that helped him decide to invest.
“We see parallels to the travel and real estate industries in Vroom’s model, particularly with its focus on consumer trust,” Mylod said. “I’m looking forward to joining the Vroom board and helping the company continue to grow as the market leader in the online automotive space.”
Vroom also announced that Michael Akrop, a current Zappos executive, will be leaving his current position as vice president of finance for the online shoe and clothing shop at the end of the month to become Vroom’s chief financial officer. Michael Akrop has been with Zappos since 2006.
