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Telematics Future Is Here: Info From Your Car Is Transmitted to the Dealer in Real Time..."It's 11PM Do You Know What the Car Dealer is doing with YOUR Data?"

DALLAS-FORT WORTH, April 11 -- ATX Group, the world's second largest telematics service provider to the automotive industry, announced today that it has completed development of a telematics service that enables automobile dealerships to remotely pull mileage and other real-time data from a telematics-equipped vehicle they have sold to a customer. This capability, with the vehicle owner's permission, would allow dealerships to pro-actively offer enhanced servicing and maintenance of the vehicle.

Dealerships would also be notified in the event the car experiences a dead battery, an accident, flat tire or other incident entailing a problem with the vehicle's operation.

These services are part of a broader ATX initiative, called vRM (an acronym for Vehicle Relationship Management), which leverages telematics technology embedded in the vehicle to enhance the business objectives of automobile manufacturers and their affiliated dealerships as well as deliver better vehicle servicing to owners. An initial phase of the program, focusing on engine performance data and error codes, was launched in the fall of 2003.

The new vRM services initially will provide dealerships with real-time mileage updates anytime the vehicle owner interacts with the telematics system. In the future, the dealership would be notified anytime the vehicle reaches key mileage benchmarks for servicing or warranty periods. Data messages will alert the dealerships via the manufacturer's existing dealership intranet network or via a secured Website containing data about the customer and vehicle performance.

"There is probably no other real-time data from a customer's vehicle that is more critical to a dealership than mileage because it gives them an accurate snapshot of exactly where each one of their customers are at in their service interval and ownership cycle," said Ron West, ATX executive vice president of sales and marketing. "The result is that the vehicle owner receives more proactive service from their dealership and the dealership benefits from data that enables them to better manage the relationship with each customer, increasing their chances of a repeat buyer. We know today that only one out of four people return to the dealership for service after the warranty period. With services like this, we hope to increase that figure significantly."

With the customer's permission, dealerships will also be notified of roadside emergencies and breakdowns as well as when a vehicle has been stolen from the owner. Such notifications will enable dealerships to quickly offer customized assistance to customers.

ATX already provides a direct "hot button" voice link to an owner's preferred dealership whenever the driver requires immediate vehicle service or information. That will now be augmented with a data link.

"Telematics provides several channels for allowing dealers to get timely, unfiltered customer comments so they can take proactive steps to prevent a minor customer dissatisfaction from eventually mushrooming into simmering dissatisfaction and the loss of a repeat customer," said West.

Besides the in-vehicle button for directly connecting to the owner's preferred dealer and contacts generated via mileage-incident reports, other channels of feedback from vehicle owners that ATX can provide include creative uses of interactive or automated voice technology. For instance, ATX can provide an automated survey via the IVR system sent directly into the vehicle, polling for owner's opinions as they are using the product. ATX also has developed an owner's manual that allows owners to simply press a button in the vehicle and query for information on vehicle features or maintenance using automated voice technology; each press of the button could become an interesting data point to a dealer that could be the basis for proactive service, information or sale of additional vehicle options.

ATX introduced the concept of vRM in January, 2002, in which data is pulled from the telematics-equipped vehicle in real-time and then integrated with personal information provided by vehicle owners. The aggregated data is then used to enhance the existing service, customer relationship management (CRM) and warranty programs of an automotive manufacturer and its affiliated dealerships.

Based in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area and Dusseldorf, Germany, ATX Group is the world's second largest provider of telematics services for the automobile industry, serving both North America and Europe. ATX telematics services are designed to provide enhanced safety, security and driving convenience to vehicle owners. These services include location-specific emergency and roadside assistance, automatic collision notification, stolen vehicle recovery, remote diagnostics and real-time traffic and navigation assistance. ATX, the largest independent telematics provider not owned by an automobile manufacturer or telecommunications firm, also provides telematics services designed to help automobile manufacturers and their affiliated dealerships to use telematics data to reduce costs, enhance vehicle servicing, and more closely manage customer relationships. ATX services are provided to vehicle owners through the brand names of its customers -- Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Maybach, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. ATX is an unregistered trademark of ATX Group, Inc.

For more information, Google atxg.