The new year is opening with mergers coming to fruition.

On the heels of a development involving First Investors Financial Services, Sonsio, a leading provider of vehicle protection and warranty programs to the automotive aftermarket, announced its merger with Evolution, Dent Wizard’s F&I vehicle protection division.

The merger, which was effective Jan. 1, creates one of the largest providers of services, expertise, experience and geographic reach in the vehicle protection and warranty markets in North America. The combined company will operate under the Sonsio Vehicle Protection brand.

According to a news release, Sonsio president and chief executive officer David Jones will remain CEO of the newly integrated company. Lindsey Bird, the division president of Evolution, will serve as the president of Sonsio.

With this union, the company said it will have customer service locations in Denver, Phoenix and St. Louis. Additionally, Sonsio will continue to service its appearance protection products through Dent Wizard’s network of technicians.

Together, the combined organizations said they will serve more than 74,000 locations across all 50 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Sonsio indicated that it will now be able to deliver a more extensive lineup of protection products for both new and aftermarket vehicles, increasing the company’s ability to drive value to partners through improved customer retention, new customer acquisition and increased profitability. 

 “Many of our relationships stretch out five, 10 and (more than) 20 years. We credit this longevity to our ability to quickly and expertly adjudicate claims, manage risk, and customize solutions to help our partners achieve their goals,” Jones said in the news release. “With our newly expanded organization, we will be able to offer an even more robust range of solutions to the marketplace.”

 Bird added, “We could not be more excited about the future. The merger of these companies will allow us to expand our resources to better serve both our existing and future customers, dealers, and consumers with the highest level of customer satisfaction, attention to detail, and quality services.”