Quorum Joins STAR

MCLEAN, Va., Jan. 20, 2005 -- STAR (Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail), the IT standards organization for the North American retail automotive industry, has announced that Quorum Information Technologies Inc. (Quorum), a provider of automotive dealership and customer relationship management systems has recently joined STAR as its 48th member.

STAR, a non-profit entity, is leading an auto industry-wide initiative to implement voluntary IT standards supporting the business information needs and Internet links that dealers, manufacturers, and retail system providers need to communicate with each other.

As the developers and marketers of XSellerator(TM), a true Windows-based Dealership and Customer Relationship Management System (DMS), Quorum clearly understands the benefits of having one set of IT standards for this industry. Because Quorum's DMS was built using current technology, the STAR standard will make it very easy for our Company to help manufacturers (OEM) and dealerships move towards a paperless working environment by providing the OEM with integration points that work extremely effectively. Quorum is pleased to become the 48th member of STAR because Quorum believes in the long term value of this key initiative.

Quorum has been delivering XSellerator DMS to the North American market since 1996. What makes this company different to other DMS companies is the use of true Windows technology; it allows Quorum to develop and provide features to dealerships that other DMS companies cannot provide. For example, Windows enables Quorum to quickly and continuously develop its solution with input from dealer customers and manufacturer feedback loops. When a new version is ready for deployment, all dealerships are upgraded to that version. This means Quorum can deploy new features and new OEM integration quickly and efficiently. The end result is that the dealership is running a product that evolves to meet the changing needs of their business, and the OEM is assured of having all dealerships on the same version, making it far faster and easier to 'push' & 'pull' information. Quorum can also build OEM business rules and best practices right into the XSellerator software.

"I have been hearing good things about STAR for quite some time, and am pleased to see so many companies working together to achieve the STAR goal of delivering a more efficient, effective model for providing business information needs to dealers and OEM's," said Maury Marks, President and CEO of Quorum. "I am excited with the prospect of working with STAR in this very worthwhile endeavor."

STAR's initiatives can assist dealers, manufacturers, and other companies in improving their operational efficiencies. STAR standards promote the effective exchange of business information among dealers, manufacturers, and other companies which can result in reduced costs, increased availability of data, and improved customer satisfaction levels.

  About STAR (http://www.starstandard.org/)
   Source: STAR

The Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail (STAR) organization is the Information Technology (IT) standards organization for the retail automotive industry. STAR's goal is to use IT standards as a catalyst in fulfilling the business information needs of dealers and manufacturers while reducing the time and effort previously required to support this activity.

Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, STAR is a not-for-profit volunteer organization and its members include Dealers, Manufacturers and Retail System Providers (RSPs). As members, they are interested in developing, promoting, and implementing voluntary IT standards in the retail automotive industry and improving the effectiveness, timeliness and competitiveness of the IT solutions needed within the retail automotive industry.

  STAR membership roster:
  Dealer Groups: CCAQ, NADA

Retail System Providers: ADP, Advent Resources, Inc., AIAG, AFSA, Arkona, Autodata Solutions, AutoDESA, Auto/Mate Inc., CEICA, Cyclone Commerce, Chrome Systems, DealerTrack, Motorcycle Industry Council, NAT, Inc., NeoSynergy, PBS Financial Systems, OAGI, Oxlo, Procede Software, Quorum Information Technologies, Reynolds & Reynolds, RouteOne, Sprint, Sun, Tibco, Unipart Automotive Logistics, UCS, 5Square Systems Corporation

Manufacturers: American Honda Motor Co., Inc., American Suzuki Motor Corp., BMW of North America, Inc., DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corp., Hyundai Motor America, Jaguar Cars, Kia Motors America, Land Rover, Mazda North American Operations, Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, Inc., Nissan North America, Inc., Porsche Cars North America, Inc., Renault, Saab Cars USA, Subaru, Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Volkswagen of America

About Quorum Information Technologies Inc. (http://www.quorumis.com/)