IRVINE, Calif. -

Spireon’s latest tool that the company says is the first connected car solution truly designed for franchise dealers is set to roll out this month.

Leveraging the strategic integrations with Cox Automotive’s HomeNet and Dealertrack DMS as well as CDK Global, and Reynolds and Reynolds, Spireon highlighted the six primary capabilities of Kahu Connect, which is designed to offer dealerships the visibility needed for retail inventory management, a new dashboard for ease of access to actionable data and the ability to track down specific inventory for customers.

With the integrated solution, dealers can now visualize and report on the current status of their entire inventory, not just the connected cars on the lot with the Kahu solution. This capability can give dealers deeper insight into inventory location, protection and usage as well as expedites customer sales.

“With dealerships facing increasing pressure to deliver top-notch service to buyers, it’s critical that they are buttoned up on backend operations,” said Brian Skutta, president of automotive at Spireon.

“We’ve created a holistic solution that allows dealers to seamlessly integrate Kahu into the operational DNA of the dealership, leading to lot health and a shorter, streamlined customer buying experience, which in turn, increases sales,” Skutta continued in a news release.

Kahu Connect can provide dealerships with stronger tools to optimize lot health and operational efficiency. Key benefits of the solution include:

• Automated Activation and Deactivation: Utilizing the DMS sales feeds, Kahu automatically can process activation into consumer accounts or deactivates devices without requiring staff to spend time with manual processing

• True Retail Inventory Visibility: Automatically can adjust reports and dashboards to help visualize how dealership management systems (DMS) data feeds and active retail changes impact a dealer's inventory landscape

• New Inventory Management Dashboard: Can deliver real-time data on a dealership’s retail makeup and problem areas, as well as highlights the most urgent and actionable data that dealerships need at their fingertips

• Increases the Ability to Connect the Right Vehicle to the Right Customer Quickly: richer vehicle information automatically can be populated and searchable within the Kahu app and online including interior/external color, stock number, trim and body style

• Inventory Classification: Can allows dealers to segment and view inventory by type including new, used, loaners, parts and shuttles

• Improved VIN Decoding: Key data integration with HomeNet Automotive can allow Kahu to utilize additional data sources as backup for VIN decoding

With visibility into both Kahu connected vehicles and those not yet paired with a device, dealerships are able to ensure all vehicles are accounted for and protected against theft. Spireon shared the experience of an Arizona dealer.

 “Kahu Connect promises to be a game-changer for us, in terms of our ability to clearly see the status of our entire lot,” said Shalee Bleecker, controller at Arrowhead BMW in Glendale, Ariz. “While other lot management service providers tout inventory management as a feature, it doesn’t apply to all of the vehicles in our queue, giving our team only half of the picture.

“Spireon has taken the much-needed steps to build an all-encompassing tool that not only gives us the confidence on our backend operations but also empowers our team to provide the best car shopping experience for our customers,” Bleecker continued in the news release.

Kahu Connect will be generally available starting this month, according to the company.

To learn more about Kahu, visit www.spireon.com/kahu. Kahu is only available through automotive dealerships. Dealers interested in selling Kahu can inquire at this website.