At a recent industry event, several speakers discussed the need for dealerships to get on board with using text messaging to communicate with customers. Studies show the majority of customers prefer to receive text messages regarding the status of their purchase or repair.

Done correctly, texting keeps the customer informed, provides a record of the transaction, and leads to fewer disputes over what was authorized.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) requires “express consent” for nonsales calls or texts to a cell phone, and “prior express written consent” for any message that includes or introduces an advertisement.

Under the TCPA, individuals who receive unsolicited cell phone calls or text messages can recover a minimum of $500 per unintentional violation and $1,500 per willful violation. These statutory penalties have resulted in astronomical class action settlements, with new actions being filed almost daily.

Whether the phone system and equipment you are operating constitute an autodialer is a discussion for a different day. Arguments over a system’s capacity are plentiful and are given vague guidance by the Federal Communications Commission.

Regardless of the equipment used, you can protect your dealership by understanding the consent required for transaction and marketing texts, obtaining the necessary consent from customers for each, and maintaining a procedure to avoid costly pitfalls.

Prior express consent is required for nonsales text messages. These messages are deemed transactional and relate directly to a vehicle purchase or service. Express consent need not be written, and is deemed to have been given by consumers when they provide their cellular number as the one to contact.

Prior express written consent requires a written agreement signed by the customer clearly authorizing advertisements or telemarketing messages. The written agreement must include a clear and conspicuous disclosure advising consumers that by signing they are:

• Agreeing to receive advertising and telemarketing messages; and
• Not required to sign the agreement directly, or as a condition of a purchase.

The slippery slope occurs when a service-related text requiring only express consent introduces an advertisement or promotion that requires prior express written consent. This happens when a text concerning the service a customer had on a vehicle goes on to let him or her know about, for example, an upcoming tire sale, changing the message from transactional to marketing/advertising.

Avoiding messaging missteps and protecting your dealership may be done by:

1. Obtaining the customer’s preferred method of contact on a written form.
2. Using dealership forms, e.g., repair orders and sale documents, that include language consenting to phone and text messaging.
3. Creating a written consent form for customers to sign authorizing you to contact them via text, etc., for promotion and marketing purposes, with the required disclosures.
4. Ensuring all text messaging goes through the dealership, and not being allowed from personal cell phones.

When texting, erring on the side of caution is a sound business policy. TCPA violations are costly, and defending a class action suit is not cheap, even if it never goes to trial.

David R. Missimer, dmissimer@compliantnow.com, is general counsel for Automotive Compliance Consultants Inc. (www.compliantnow.com). He spent 28 years in private practice as a seasoned litigator and trial lawyer representing lenders, auto dealers, and numerous other entities and individuals.

MONTEREY, CA -- the Cardinale-Group of companies is pleased to announce that Bobbie Herron has been named Director | Dealer Marketing of ZMOT Auto, effective immediately. In this role, Ms. Herron will provide ‘Dealer to Dealer’ leadership of digital retail integration and performance management to ZMOT dealer clients within the United States, Canada and Mexico.

With more than 15 years of professional leadership experience in retail sales, marketing, operations and finance, Bobbie is sure to provide ZMOT Auto dealer clients with remarkable guidance and success throughout their entire digital strategy.

“On behalf of our entire group, we are very pleased that Bobbie has chosen to join our ZMOT Auto team. We have watched her career flourish over the past many years, and we appreciate her tenacity, decisiveness and bold vision of continuous improvement within the automotive retail industry”, said Erich K. Gail, COO of the Cardinale-Group of companies and CEO of ZMOT Auto. “We know Bobbie to be a visionary and proactive leader with our fellow dealers, and we are confident she will lend outstanding guidance and support to ZMOT Auto’s integrated retail solutions.”

As a featured member of the automotive sales, marketing and performance improvement community in the United States, Bobbie’s passion for excellence and commitment to precision have earned her repeated awards and acknowledgements, including most recently being named to the Automotive News ’40 under 40’ class of 2014.                                   

“Having been blessed with a diverse career and responsibilities spanning nearly every variable role within a retail dealership; including General Manager - most recently Director | Digital Sales and Marketing for the Garber Automotive Group operations of sixteen stores across the United States; my focus has been to design and create solutions that increase efficiency and ROI within each department of a dealership in both generation (marketing) and conversion (people & process). 

I have watched the transformative growth of the Cardinale Group within their Automotive Operations, Vehicle Supply Group as well as the creation and success of ZMOT Auto and have been nothing short of mesmerized by the impressive grouping of products as well as the performance management offered to exclusive ZMOT Auto customers.  Joining the Cardinale-Group of companies / ZMOT Auto team; I am empowered to serve and support a Dealer-To-Dealer commitment, true to the CardinaleWay Brand Promise: We Develop Outstanding Relationships Where Everybody Wins.”

About Cardinale-Group of companies

The Cardinale-Group of companies consist of: the Cardinale Automotive Group (http://www.CardinaleWay.com), with 19 retail automotive locations throughout California, Arizona and Nevada; ZMOT Automotive Digital Velocity (http://www.ZMOTauto.com ), integrated and weaponized digital retail performance solutions for automotive dealers within the United States, Canada and Mexico; and Cardinale AG Vehicle Supply – North America (http://www.CardinaleAG.com ), providing vehicle supply, acquisition, transportation and risk management services to automotive manufacturers for use in sales training ride & drive events, consumer marketing campaigns, engineering and product development initiatives.

For more information, visit http://www.Cardinale-Group.com

About ZMOT Auto

ZMOT Auto (a member of the Cardinale-Group of companies) was created by dealers for dealers and is recognized as the only digital-partner managed by active dealers. ZMOT is best known for providing tailor-designed digital sales solutions, 1:1 sales attribution and regional exclusivity for automotive dealerships within the United Stated, Canada and Mexico. ZMOT targets and delivers a buyer direct to the client-dealership through an integrated digital strategy focused on a ‘zero moment’ buyer action.  To learn more about a ‘zero moment’ solution, visit www.ZMOTauto.com.

Albany, N.Y. – January 4th, 2016 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems announced today that Dave Druzynski, Director of Human Resources, will be presenting a FREE Automotive News Power Training Webinar titled "Social Media in Hiring and Employment." The webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, January 20th, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. EST.

"If any employee or hiring manager at a dealership has ever 'Googled' a job applicant or checked out their Facebook profile, this webinar will be eye-opening," said Druzynski. "I'll be presenting numerous real-life cases that demonstrate the sometimes outrageous things that both applicants and employees post on their social media profiles. Then, when a company responds with what they felt was appropriate action, they get slapped with a discrimination charge, an unfair labor practice charge, or even a social media blitz from the court of public opinion!” 

Phil Nussel, Online Editor at Automotive News, will moderate the webinar where attendees will learn:

1.The current laws that impact a dealership's use of social media as it relates to job applicants and the hiring process

2. The current laws that impact employees' use of social media and dealerships' policies when it comes to disciplining and/or firing current employees for inappropriate social media postings

3. How courts are currently interpreting these laws and how they affect dealers' decision making

4. How to craft a social media policy that will allow a dealership to take advantage of the tools available to them while remaining out of legal trouble

Druzynski presents a lively and informative look at the legal implications of social media usage in the workplace.

Druzynski's webinar is FREE for dealership personnel to attend and is scheduled for January 20th, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. EST. To register, click here. For more information, contact Auto/Mate at 518-371-4331.

About Auto/Mate

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems is a leading provider of dealership management system (DMS) software to retail automotive dealerships, typically saving dealers thousands of dollars per month from their current provider. Our Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS) is a user-friendly, feature-rich DMS in use by more than 1,100 auto dealers nationwide. Auto/Mate has received DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards in 2012, 2013, and 2014.

Auto/Mate’s employees have more than 940 years of combined experience working in franchised auto dealerships, the foundation of its “Designed By Car People For Car People^TM” slogan. Auto/Mate is committed to winning its customers’ business each and every month with no long-term contracts and free software upgrades. For more information follow us on Twitter @AutoMateDMS and subscribe to our blog at www.automate.com/blog.

Timonium, MD – December 28th, 2015-- Helion Automotive Technologies, a leading provider of information technology (IT) solutions for auto dealers, revealed today the top four IT requirements to support productivity at auto dealerships in 2016. The recommendations are based upon data collected from working with hundreds of auto dealership clients, and recent trends such as the increase in usage of mobile devices.  

"More dealers have transitioned their DMS, CRM and other software applications to the cloud, so having an IT infrastructure capable of supporting the increased Internet and networking needs is critical to conducting business efficiently," said Erik Nachbahr, President of Helion Automotive Technologies. "If the IT infrastructure is outdated or insufficient, productivity can suffer."

According to Nachbahr, warning signs that a dealership's IT network may be hampering productivity, rather than improving it, include:

• Slow Internet
• Server or network crashes on a regular basis
• Emails get lost or are sent and received at inconsistent speeds
• Computer workstations regularly crash, freeze or are slow
• Frustrated employees

To ensure that dealerships' IT networks are capable of supporting business operations in 2016, Nachbahr recommends that dealers focus on these areas:

1) Sufficient Wireless Bandwidth. Dealerships that adopt mobile devices into their business processes require large amounts of wireless bandwidth to accommodate all the data. According to Cisco Systems, Inc., a worldwide leader in IT, the Internet of Things (IoT) that connects devices to the Internet will triple in capacity by 2020. If dealers apply that concept on a micro-level to their businesses, their Wi-Fi capacity should double or triple in the next few years. Enterprise-grade routers and multiple wireless access points will be necessary to support increased bandwidth requirements, particularly in the service department.

2) External Security. Hackers, both domestic and overseas, are an ever-increasing threat to auto dealers. Hackers want access to dealerships' customer information, including social security numbers, credit card numbers and bank account information. They also want access to dealerships' bank information. Hackers are using increasingly sophisticated scams to trick employees into giving them the information they desire.

"Recently one of our dealership customers had an employee who fell for a scam and transferred $100,000 into a bank account somewhere. Unfortunately that money can't be retrieved," said Nachbahr. "There is no technical solution that can prevent these emails from coming into the dealership. Employees have to be made aware of what to do and what not to do."

Employee training and ensuring that extra procedures are in place before transferring large amounts of money are recommended. When responding to requests from co-workers, vendors or customers, questions to ask include: Does the return email address match the one in my contacts list? Does this person normally ask me to make these types of wire transfers? In addition to phishing scams, breaches caused by downloading files can create an opening in the network through which hackers may access and steal information from thousands of customer files.

At the minimum, dealerships should have an Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), sometimes referred to as a monitored firewall, to help guard against hacking attempts.

3) Internal Security. As more employees and customers use mobile devices to tap into a dealership's network via Wi-Fi, internal security becomes an increasing concern. Every dealership should have a documented corporate security policy in 2016. Corporate security policies outline the steps and procedures needed to keep business assets safe. Security policies can list the types of devices allowed, software that can be distributed or downloaded, what do to in case of a breach, damage control procedures and more.

4) New Technologies to Enhance Productivity.  Two emerging new technologies that Nachbahr suggests for increasing productivity include TelePresence (videoconferencing) and Cisco Jabber.

Telepresence: Large auto groups use videoconferencing to enable employees to conduct meetings and connect face-to-face, greatly reducing travel time and expenses. Many managers find that conference calls are insufficient to convey important information, conduct interviews or for training purposes. Videoconferencing can bring multiple participants in multiple locations together on one large, high definition screen that creates a lifelike meeting experience.

"In dealerships meetings are a necessary part of business. Auto groups in particular often bring the various GMs, partners and managers together," said Nachbahr. "Videoconferencing virtually eliminates the need to fly to different cities because the experience is like being right there. You can read facial expressions and capture all the nuances of in-person communications, which is a critical part of how information is processed."

Jabber: Cisco Jabber is a collaboration tool designed to keep employees productive regardless of their location and device. One employee may be at their desktop PC, using email. Another employee may be on an airplane, with their iPhone. Another may be on a lunch break, using their mobile tablet to research vacation plans. Jabber works across all devices, platforms and applications, connecting employees in real-time, similar to an Instant Messaging (IM) app in function but with the additional ability to integrate with voice and video.

"I predict tools like Jabber may eventually replace email altogether, as anyone can instantly communicate with anyone, anywhere, using any method they want," said Nachbahr. "Dealers interested in keeping employees connected and productive may want to experiment with a collaboration tool in 2016."

For more information, contact Helion Technologies at 443-541-1500 or https://www.heliontechnologies.com/contact/

About Helion Automotive Technologies

Helion...Putting Your Dealership in the FAST LANE! Helion Automotive Technologies is a leading IT solutions provider, providing auto dealers with faster, more efficient networks and secure data protection. From managed services to IT assistance and service desk help, Helion offers both short-term IT fixes and long-term planning so dealers can focus on what matters most: selling more cars. Helion has specialized in IT for more than ten years and works with 650+ auto dealers nationwide. Dealers can request a free assessment of their IT needs at www.heliontechnologies.com.

New Features Increase Social Media Interactions, Views & Customer Share Rates

Huntington Beach, CA – December 22, 2015 -- Vboost Inc., (www.vboost.com), a viral marketing company focused on the auto industry, today announced the addition of three powerful new features to its highly successful marketing program auto dealers use to produce share rates from 60 percent to as high as 130 percent for their innovative “customercials.”

First, Vboost has signed an agreement with a top recording clearing house. Auto dealers now have a huge selection of music to use as background for their “customercials.” This further increases the impact with the customer, boosting social media interactions, views and customer share rates. For a sample click here:

“We now have the rights to use an incredible library of top music, from today’s artists to Rock and Roll classics,” said Paul Moran, Vboost CEO. “Music creates such a great emotional impact and our photo and video packages are now even more powerful. Dealers can match their ‘customercial’ song to the OEM music used for national TV ads if they like, or just choose a top-rated song that fits their brand or dealership style.” 

Click here to view a sample from a dealership that has a “Surf” theme at their store.

The second new feature is an upgrade that enables dealerships to get instant customer consent to post their photos and videos on the dealership’s website and Facebook page, as well as other social media properties. Dealerships can now post this content every day. On average, customer consent is given 60-70 percent of the time. And, the final new feature is the ability for dealerships to text the “customercial” photos directly to the customers’ cell phone. This leads to increased open rates and faster online sharing.

Vboost’s core product is a quick and easy process to capture photos at the time of vehicle delivery and immediately send these “branded” photos onto customers to share with family and friends. The captured photos are stitched into a slideshow set to music. Now the customer becomes the dealer advocate by posting and sharing the video/photo packages via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other social platforms, as well as emailing and texting them to their friends and family. 

Vboost then monitors and quantifies results from each viral marketing campaign and reports back to their dealers. The Vboost Viral Marketing Platform delivers and tracks thousands of viral messages monthly – all designed to create referral business for its dealers. Vboost dealers enjoy high share rates because the content is unique and relevant to their customers. These results go beyond simple page views -- they reflect customers that are actually clicking and watching the dealership “customercials.”

The Vboost “customercials” can be sent to the customer with an enticing message, such as a first service offer, to encourage the customer to connect with the service department and schedule their first vehicle service. Once the videos and photos are shared, the offer then changes to a sales offer for friends and family. Up to 25 percent of photo packages convert into online traffic for the dealership and enhanced reporting features enable dealers to better track all these interactions.

Vboost has been successfully helping auto dealers connect with customers and win the online marketing game for over 3 years, constantly upgrading the platform based on results and feedback from users. The next generation of the platform brings Vboost to a new level.

“Our dealers often enjoy 100 percent share rates and thousands of photos/video views through our proactive process. We bring them more referral business by creating positive viral marketing from customer photos taken at the time of delivery. These then get shared by the customer on social media. As our dealers see the huge value of video, they have been asking for more features and options. I think our dealers will be very happy with these new features,” Moran said.

For more information, or to schedule a demo, call 800-799-3130 or visit www.vboost.com

About Vboost:

Based in Huntington Beach, CA, Vboost, Inc., is the first process to bring more referral business to dealers by creating positive viral marketing that is delivered quickly and gets shared. It involves a streamlined process, via a mobile application and three unique technologies, which collect customer photos at the time of vehicle delivery, convert them to custom music videos and send directly to the customer. By sending these branded messages to customers during the emotional highpoint of the buying process, it has been found that most buyers are compelled to upload and share these videos with family and friends via Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, email and other social media platforms. Best of all, results from each viral marketing campaign are monitored, quantified and reported back to the dealers. For more information or a demonstration call 800.799.3130 or visit www.vboost.com.

December 18, 2015 - Holding costs describes a daily charge assigned to each vehicle as it flows through the reconditioning process until it is retailed. Many dealers aren't aware of the erosion to sale gross that holding costs are for the typical dealership, noted Dennis McGinn, CEO of Rapid Recon reconditioning time-to-market workflow software.

To help auto dealers and their general managers grasp how traditional vehicle reconditioning practices increase holding costs and erode used car gross margin, Rapid Recon created an online Holding Cost Calculator.  

Long reconditioning cycles – the average is 10 to 12 days – not only delay getting vehicles frontline ready but waste dealership recourses. Dealers using Rapid Recon time-to-market workflow software reduce their recon cycle to five days or less.

NCM Associates notes that the average daily holding cost is $32 per vehicle. For dealers reconditioning 50 units a month at an average recon cycle of 10 days, that long cycle amounts to $192,000 in annual holding costs or lost opportunity.

Shave recon time to five days instead of 10 and the annual savings is $96,000.

"We thought we had good insight into how long it was taking us to get vehicles frontline ready, but when we turned on Rapid Recon, it showed us we were at 12 days!" said Jared Ricart, Service Operation Manager, Ricart Automotive, who has reduced recon time to four days. "That long process was killing gross."

"Looking at the first seven months on Rapid Recon, we've retailed 5,000 used cars. By cutting down the days in service by eight days, at $32 a day per vehicle, you can do the math on the savings we've collected," Ricart said.

Rapid Recon is the leading time-to-market reconditioning software for new and used car dealerships. Rapid Recon benchmarks and best practices help GMs, used car managers and service managers fine-tune their reconditioning practices to achieve faster time to market to retain vehicle gross. www.rapidrecon.com

ALBANY, N.Y. – December 15th, 2015 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today that it has recently integrated its dealership management system (DMS) software with CRMSuite. Dealers using both Auto/Mate and CRMSuite will benefit from the increased business intelligence that the DMS and CRM deliver via real-time data exchanges between the systems.

“Our Open/Mate integration program is very inexpensive compared with some other DMS certification programs," said Mike Esposito, President and CEO of Auto/Mate. "Keeping integration costs low for third-party vendors translates to lower costs and more choices for our dealership customers."

Real-time integration eliminates redundancies and helps to streamline processes in auto dealerships. Bi-directional data delivery allows for better customer communications in sales and service, helping to build loyalty and revenue opportunities.

“We designed CRMSuite to be infinitely customizable because of our fundamental belief that dealers are better off when they have options,” said Richard Keith Latman, Founder and CEO at CRMSuite. “So naturally, we are glad that this Auto/Mate integration will give our dealers yet another option when it comes to choosing their DMS vendor.”

CRMSuite is a highly intuitive automotive CRM that abandons the one-size-fits all model of selling cars. Its data-driven approach and cutting edge technology make it a robust business intelligence tool, with equity-mining features and custom reporting that are moving the needle for dealers across the country.

Auto/Mate is the number one DMS vendor in customer satisfaction and provides a comprehensive DMS solution to over 1,100 dealerships, from large auto groups to single franchises. For more information call Auto/Mate at 877-340-2677.

About CRMSuite

CRMSuite is a business intelligence tool that eliminates conventional CRM thinking by combining ease-of-use functionality with Artificial Intelligence and social media activities. Intuitive technology erases the need for traditional action plans and linear work flows. CRMSuite amasses a storehouse of data on every customer. Tracking their patterns, contact preferences, and social media activity, the CRM’s Activity Focus algorithm provides dealerships with real-time information about the best customers to be contacted at that exact moment, replacing guesswork with precision and efficiency. CRMSuite is based in Sarasota, Florida. For more information, visit www.CRMSuite.com

About Auto/Mate

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems is a leading provider of dealership management system (DMS) software to retail automotive dealerships. Its Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS) is a user-friendly, feature-rich DMS in use by more than 1,000 auto dealers nationwide. Auto/Mate received the “Highest Rated DMS of 2012" and the "Highest Rated DMS of 2013" awards in the annual Driving Sales Dealer Satisfaction Awards.

Auto/Mate’s employees have more than 850 years of combined experience working in auto dealerships – the foundation of its “Designed By Car People For Car People^TM” slogan. For more information visit our website or follow us on Twitter @AutoMateDMS 

New Functionality allows Auto Dealers to Pre-Qualify Consumers

with GM Financial in Seconds

Dallas, TX, December 14, 2015 -- VehicleXchange, LLC (VX) www.vxdealer.com, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pearl Technology Holdings, LLC www.pearlsolutions.com (Pearl), today announced that the rapidly growing company has added automated GM Financial pre-qualification capabilities to VX’s service lane lead tool.

VX teamed with Experian last year to launch the first pre-screen equity platform for auto dealerships.  The system instantly pre-qualifies a customer for auto financing without generating a hard inquiry on the customer’s credit report.  A consumer can view all the vehicles in a dealer’s inventory they are pre-qualified to purchase. 

VX uses pre-screen technology from Experian to help auto dealers calculate which customers have equity in their vehicles, or can improve their current terms with manufacturer incentives and estimated payments, allowing dealers to offer an upgraded vehicle at roughly the same, or sometimes even lower, monthly payments. The VX platform automatically communicates directly to the consumer on the dealer’s behalf, with optimized custom offers via email and regular mail.

VX has expanded beyond service drive initiatives to monthly strategic mining campaigns that utilize the dealer’s sales history and manufacturer incentives.  VX can turn incentives into precisely targeted marketing campaigns within 24 hours of release, targeting those consumers most likely to respond.

VehicleXchange launched in January 2015 as a Pearl Technology Holdings subsidiary and has experienced one of the fastest adoption rates by auto dealers in history, with over 1300 subscriptions since January 2015. 

For more information on VehicleXchange, click on this video, visit www.vxdealer.com or call 888-978-1409.

# # # # #

About VehicleXchange, LLC:

With the formation of American Auto Exchange (AAX) in 2001, auto industry entrepreneur Bruce Thompson became widely known as the creator of the “used car inventory management” space. He went on to start RedBumper, LLC in 2010, which is also primarily focused on “used car inventory management.” In 2014, Thompson formed a new holding company, Pearl Technology Holdings, LLC, created to be an automotive technology incubator. The company’s mission is to create and deliver innovative new tools that have an impact on the industry. Pearl has launched five subsidiaries:  NewCar IQ, LLC; VehicleXchange, LLC; eCarTag, LLC; Trade-In Concierge,  and ShowroomXpress, LLC.

VehicleXchange is an automated marketing and business intelligence platform for automotive dealerships that leverages both dealership data and Experian credit elements to analyze, identify and engage the best sales opportunities in the marketplace. The company’s partnership with Experian enables a dealer to instantly understand equity on any customer, regardless of origin, and pre-qualify them for a vehicle upgrade. The system dynamically generates world-class marketing content for each pre-qualified customer based upon their equity, current vehicle, credit score, applicable OEM incentives and more and delivers it via multiple communication channels, with ROI and performance for all campaigns tracked and delivered regularly to the dealer. 

Launched by industry veterans, SpringboardAuto.com empowers car buyers with a direct-to-consumer auto loan platform for today’s digitally-mobile, efficiency-demanding customer

Irvine, CA – December 9, 2015 -- SpringboardAuto.com, a new direct-to-consumer auto loan platform that completely reinvents the auto lending experience, was announced today by its founders, industry veterans Jim Landy and Stuart Holmes. Based in Irvine, California, the Company is set to launch the new auto loan service in early 2016. SpringboardAuto.com will enable consumers to refinance existing auto loans, or finance the purchase of a new or used car directly online or via a smartphone, leveraging data and analytics to facilitate a fast, convenient, and transparent online loan process.

“The market for auto loans has changed dramatically over the past few years, yet auto lenders have not kept up with today’s consumer demands, especially those of the technical-savvy millennials who live and breathe on their smartphones and account for 37% of all funded auto loans^[1],” said SpringboardAuto.com CEO Jim Landy. “In general, borrowers, especially those with less than perfect credit, are incredibly dissatisfied with the opaque and frustrating car-financing process. Our mission is to change that.”

According to the recent Car Buyer of the Future study by AutoTrader^[2], nearly three-fourths of consumers want to complete credit applications and financing paperwork online. Among the key factors driving this is a desire to save time at the dealership and have less pressure while filling out paperwork. Furthermore, a recent study from Price Waterhouse Cooper^[3] showed that the overall experience – including speed, transparency and customer service – often trumps interest rate as a consumer’s biggest consideration when choosing a lender.

“Our goal is not to simply digitize the same old process; instead, our platform, which is fully mobile optimized, will speed it up by reducing redundant data and endless document requests -- all while minimizing potential impact on an applicant’s credit score,” said Stuart Holmes, SpringboardAuto.com Chief Marketing Officer. “And, ultimately, the entire process will happen easily and efficiently - from loan, to trade-in, to final purchase - for both private party and dealer purchase.”

SpringboardAuto.com enters a significant, and, increasingly, stable market: record numbers of consumers are financing their vehicle purchases; the total auto loan market is over $932 billion^[4], with approximately 20% of these as direct-to-consumer loans. SpringboardAuto.com originates and services loans for institutional investors. Providing an alternative to investors purchasing prime unsecured assets, SpringboardAuto.com offers loans to below-prime borrowers that are secured by a high utility asset.

SpringboardAuto.com has assembled an A-team of industry veterans who have collectively over 110 years’ experience in automotive and below prime automotive finance, with billions of dollars of securitization execution and asset performance management, and includes leading technologists and data analysts.

SpringboardAuto.com provides benefits for all stakeholders:

• Consumers – Unlike other models that seek to monetize the loan applicant via the dealership, SpringboardAuto.com puts the consumer in control and at the center of the loan process, offering faster decisions and online tools. SpringboardAuto.com will ultimately deliver a better consumer experience.  Consumers will have insight into information they may not otherwise be privy to in other lending models.  Consumers will see how choices they make as they configure their loan, in variables such as loan term and reduced sale price, affect their overall final loan obligation.

• Private Party Sellers/Buyers – SpringboardAuto.com’s platform will bridge existing process challenges with private party transactions by enabling buyers and sellers to securely and easily transact and close their vehicle purchase and sale within the SpringboardAuto.com platform. This includes everything from financing and inspections to DMV paperwork.

• Dealers – SpringboardAuto.com funds loan applicants for a specific vehicle and funnels the qualified customer directly to the dealership at NO CHARGE. Even with lost rate mark up, this transaction is a much more efficient below prime transaction for dealers when accounting for the elimination of any lender fees, discounts and lead fees. The SpringboardAuto.com process will reduce the hours typically spent with subprime customers.

About SpringboardAuto.com:

SpringboardAuto.com is a financial technology (FinTech) company whose direct-to-consumer auto loan platform puts the consumer in the center of the loan process. Founded by industry veterans, and staffed with an experienced team of automotive finance experts and technologists, SpringboardAuto.com facilitates and educates consumers during the loan process, offering faster decisions, transparency, personalized loan terms and support resulting in a better consumer experience and outcome. SpringboardAuto.com, consumers are in control as they refinance auto loans or finance and purchase new or used vehicles directly online or via their smartphone. Uniquely leveraging data and analytics, SpringboardAuto.com empowers consumers, while offering benefits to auto dealers, credit unions and other lenders. 

Media Relations: 

Melanie Webber

mWEBB Communications, Inc.

949.307.1723

melanie@mwebbcom.com

Cassandra Cavanah

mWEBB Communications, Inc.

818.397.4630

cassandra@mwebbcom.com

Patent covers “similarities engine” that enables CarStory Market Reports to automatically generate relevant and ‘like’ vehicle recommendations to car buyers, helping facilitate a better, more informed car selling/buying experience

Austin, Texas – December 9, 2015 – CarStory, the industry’s largest provider of search and inventory data and analytics on used vehicles, today announced that a significant technology used in its popular CarStory Market Reports has been awarded U.S. Letters Patent no. 9,104,718.

The patent, titled Systems, Methods and Devices for Measuring Similarity of and Generating Recommendations for Unique Items, was awarded to CarStory parent company Vast.com Inc. The technology automatically computes similar alternative choices from a pool of unique items, in this case used vehicles, based on available inventory and user search behavior.  

“Although this patent is not limited to the automotive industry, given the multiple variables shoppers contend with when searching for a used vehicle, its application to automotive – helping consumers make relevant and speedier decisions and dealers offer a more informed and better purchasing experience - has been incredibly successful, with over 6,000 dealers already having adopted CarStory Market Reports,” said Chad Bockius, CMO of CarStory.  

CarStory Market Reports help consumers understand, and sellers tell, a vehicle’s whole ‘story’.  By embedding important vehicle research directly in the Vehicle Detail Page (VDP),  CarStory Market Reports encourage consumers to stay and engage on dealership websites, rather than clicking off to find information on third-party research sites. The Reports’ robust and unique information is based on insights generated from a combination of real-time used vehicle listings and data from over eight million used car searches each week. Alternatives using the patented technology are distributed throughout the Reports and include options for fewer miles, different color and lesser price.

The newly patented ‘similarities function’ saves consumers and dealers time in the shopping experience: for example, if a car shopper identifies, through search, a vehicle he/she is interested in, and that car is already sold, then that consumer would typically have to start over in their search. The patented technology is able to salvage the consumer’s time  by automatically generating an alternative list based on their previous searches and  preferences as well as other shopper activity.

“By “crowdsourcing” the notion that if a consumer likes “A,”then he/she might also like “B,” we are able to expedite the shopping process,” said Dr. David Franke Chief Data Scientist at Vast.com and co-inventor of the patent. “We do this by learning from high information users to inform low information users. In other words, what we learn from people who know a lot about the car market can help people who don’t know so much. All of which can power a far more informed, relevant and positive experience for both shopper and seller.”

CarStory Market Reports are available free of charge to all US auto dealers.

About CarStory:

CarStory is the industry’s largest provider of search and inventory data and analytics on used vehicle pricing and preferences. CarStory Market Reports are powered by Vast.com’s patented technology, and synthesize over four million real-time used vehicle listings with data from over eight million searches a week to produce unique insights that help move consumers from online shoppers to on-the-lot buyers. By uncovering facts, features and competitive differentiators that make each vehicle unique in any given market, CarStory offers dealers and consumers the confidence they need to condense the sales process and drive happily ever after. A merchandising tool and lead source for websites, CarStory Market Reports are free to auto dealers. Learn more at www.carstory.com.

About Vast.com Inc:

Vast is the premier provider of big data solutions for life’s biggest purchases. Vast’s industry-leading big data platform and applications are currently in use at many of the largest automotive, real estate and travel businesses in the world. Vast serves Global 1,000 companies, including AOL and Southwest Airlines. Learn more at Vast.com.

Media Relations: 

Melanie Webber

mWEBB Communications, Inc.

949.307.1723

melanie@mwebbcom.com

Cassandra Cavanah

mWEBB Communications, Inc.

818.397.4630

cassandra@mwebbcom.com