LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. — DealerTrack announced this week that its number of active financing sources has climbed to 475.

Moreover, officials said that industry concerns over a slight interruption in their platform on Saturday and Monday have been resolved.

Officials told SubPrime Auto Finance News dealers may have witnessed a short period of time Saturday and Monday where they couldn't transmit credit applications and other data via the company's platform.

However, the company explained that the blip was quickly fixed and it was a very isolated occurrence. Dealers should no longer experience any problems.

The company has invested millions of dollars in upgrading and securing its system. The issue that caused the disruption for 2 hours and 32 minutes on Saturday and 22 minutes on Monday was attributed to an unexpected upswing in the amount of data being transferred via the platform.

Once the company realized the problem, it quickly reacted to reconfigure the system to accept higher volume and the situation was corrected. DealerTrack even said it plans to invest another $15 million in 2008 to ensure the system is secure and continues to operate without interruption.

"We are very sorry about the recent service disruption and have taken steps to prevent it from happening again," Mark O'Neil, chairman and chief executive officer, told SubPrime Auto Finance News. "Our technology team has determined that the cause of the disruption on Jan. 26 and 28 was a configuration problem that occurred during a major upgrade in our Oracle database platform. 

"The database has now been reconfigured, and we are confident that the system will handle dramatically higher volumes with ease. Meeting customers' needs is our top priority and we have made significant investments in our technology infrastructure to provide the highest possible uptime," he added.

O'Neil went on to say the company is continuing to go full speed ahead.

"The power of the DealerTrack network continues to grow as we connect additional financing sources, dealers and other providers," said O'Neil.

"The number of financing sources on our network increased 52 percent in 2007," he continued. "We believe this continued rapid growth reflects the increasing awareness among lenders that joining the DealerTrack network can give them a competitive advantage in building their automotive business."

About 90 percent of franchised dealers in the United States are active users of DealerTrack's network, according to company statistics.

And these dealers can expect a new tool to be introduced at the upcoming National Auto Dealers Association's annual convention and expo next weekend. The new tool will take center stage Feb. 9, from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. in Room 228S of the Moscone Convention Center, where the product will be announced.