Paragon Automotive, with its Paragon Honda/Acura dealership in New York, has worked to keep up with the latest technology. The business boasts that its Paragon Direct app helps customers purchase and service their vehicles from their mobile devices.

Efforts like that helped the company achieve what it says was a record-breaking 2018, and Honda has awarded Paragon with its 2018 President's Award Elite. Paragon said in a news release that the award is only given to 10 dealers nationally out of more than 1,100 dealers. Paragon also received the Acura Precision Team Award.

Paragon said in a news release that both honors are the highest awarded by American Honda Motor Co. The company said the awards recognize dealerships that “achieve excellence throughout their sales and service operations while maintaining strong and thriving relationships with their clients.” The company says Paragon Acura and Paragon Honda are the top-selling Certified Pre-Owned dealers in the United States.

Technology has helped in those efforts. Paragon says it became the first dealer to build an app for the Google Assistant. With the Paragon Direct app, drivers use just their voices to schedule service such as routine maintenance, oil changes, and tire rotations. With the app, customers can request to have their vehicle picked up, serviced, and returned to their home within 24 hours, without visiting the dealership.

The company says customers who use the Paragon Direct app make twice as many repair orders compared to customers who don’t use the app.

Paragon customers want to live their lives, and they don’t have time to drop their car off at the dealership and wait for it to be serviced, Anthony Petito, Paragon’s service director, said in a news release. “Technology has changed their expectations, and we knew we needed to change our approach to service and marketing in order to meet those.”