USA TODAY and NADA Name First Dealer Innovation Award Winner

MCLEAN, Va., March 25 -- USA TODAY and the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) will award today the first annual Dealer Innovation Award to Fitzgerald Auto Malls of Gaithersburg, Md. The award recognizes franchised new vehicle dealers who have positively impacted their dealerships through the use of technology.

Fitzgerald Auto Malls uses a Matrix Pricing system. Matrix Pricing is a software application that automatically updates new vehicle prices to reflect market changes and ensure consistency on inventory pricing across Fitzgerald Auto Malls' Web site and showroom floor.

Jack Fitzgerald, chairman of Fitzgerald Auto Malls, will receive the award this evening in a presentation on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. The award will be presented by Tom Curley, president and publisher of USA TODAY.

``We're pleased to partner with the NADA in presenting the first annual Dealer Innovation Award,'' said Curley. ``This award is a perfect fit for us. The automotive industry is an important one to USA TODAY and we like to take the opportunity to recognize excellence in the industry.''

``Dealers are embracing new technologies to enhance their businesses, and we are pleased to join USA TODAY in paying tribute to those efforts,'' said H. Carter Myers, III, NADA chairman.

Fitzgerald Auto Malls was chosen as the national winner from among 40 regional winners. The following criteria were used in the judging process: creative use of technology, business impact, customer impact, and leadership.

``The Matrix Pricing software developed by Fitzgerald Auto Malls resulted in substantial improvements throughout all aspects of the dealership,'' said Tom Shaver, senior partner, J.D. Power and Associates, and a judge for this year's Dealer Innovation Award. ``While internally Fitzgerald realized an increase in sales, decreased costs and an improved inventory management system, consumers equally benefited from clear, consistent and competitive pricing.''

The judges for the 2001 USA TODAY Dealer Innovation Award were:

* Thomas W. Shaver, senior partner, J.D. Power and Associates * Jake Kelderman, vice president, Automotive Industry, Newspaper Association of America * Steve Brown, president, SH Brown and Associates

The 2001 USA TODAY Dealer Innovation Award is awarded as a joint effort by the marketing division of USA TODAY and the Public Affairs Group of NADA.

USA TODAY is the nation's top selling newspaper. It is published via satellite at 36 locations in the USA and five sites abroad. With a total average daily circulation of 2.3 million, USA TODAY is available worldwide. USATODAY.com is an award-winning news and information site on the Internet with more than 28 million monthly visitors. USA TODAY is published by Gannett Co., Inc. .

The National Automobile Dealers Association represents more than 19,400 franchised new car and truck dealers holding nearly 40,000 separate franchises, domestic and import.