This latest expansion makes LPS one of the biggest rideshare servicers in the country, with experience servicing three of the largest rideshare portfolios as well as other related lease portfolios.

 FORT WORTH, Texas – Sept. 13, 2017 – Loan Portfolio Servicing (LPS) today announced the latest expansion of the company’s rideshare portfolio servicing platform, making LPS one of the biggest and most experienced rideshare servicers in the nation.

Most recently, LPS was retained to service 7,000 rideshare leases belonging to two different rideshare leasing companies. Prior to those partnerships, LPS helped Uber bring its Xchange leasing program to fruition and serviced over 30,000 short-term leases through Spring 2017.

“Three years ago, this type of short-term lease product was practically non-existent. But the surging popularity of ridesharing – especially among millennials – has contributed to the need for flexible lease programs,” said Scott France, executive vice president of strategic initiatives for Innovate Auto Finance and president of LPS. “From the beginning, flexibility has been one of our core values. We seek to understand what our clients are trying to accomplish and develop strategies that support their vision. For example, when Uber approached our company to service their upstart rideshare program, we needed to modify almost all of our processes to accommodate short-term, high-touch leases. We recognized a well-timed opportunity to service these portfolios, and our company has invested significant resources toward scaling our infrastructure to support this underserved niche.”

France emphasized the expertise needed to successfully service rideshare portfolios. “They are not your average leases. We have to manage vehicle maintenance, taxes, tolls, title issues, registrations, citations and excess mileage with a frequency much higher than that of a typical lease. All in all, rideshare portfolios behave much more like rental car portfolios and require a specialized servicing infrastructure.” 

LPS has serviced high-touch rideshare portfolios for the past three years. In addition to modifying its processes and procedures, the company has invested in technology that is essential to providing quality service on this type of product.

“It’s fun and exciting to participate in the evolution of the automotive finance and lease arena,” France said. “We are at the forefront of developing viable servicing solutions that support such dynamic financing alternatives. We are always interested in what is next.”

France will speak at Used Car Week, Nov. 13-17, in La Quinta, Calif., on how to maximize returns and minimize losses from auto loan and lease portfolios in light of today’s changing markets.

For more information about LPS / Innovate’s services, contact Scott France at scott.france@innovateauto.com or (817) 471-1182.

About Loan Portfolio Servicing

Loan Portfolio Servicing (LPS) specializes in the management of auto loans and leases, with niche expertise in rideshare portfolios. The firm provides its clients with a top-tier experience in title and records management, account administration, customer care, collections, loss mitigation, repossession and remarketing management, and loss recovery.

With decades of industry experience, the LPS team has serviced more than 2 million collateralized loans across the full credit spectrum. For more information, visit www.lportsvc.com.

About Innovate Auto Finance

Founded in 2009, Innovate Auto Finance provides liquidity solutions to both franchised and independent dealers, as well as finance companies, through bulk portfolio acquisitions. Innovate’s flexible, turnkey approach, which includes a single point of contact and open, consistent communication, provides beneficial solutions for its clients.

Since its inception, Innovate has provided liquidity to its clients through the acquisitions of more than $500 million of auto finance receivables. For more information, visit www.innovateauto.com.

September 11, 2017 - Touring the showroom in an automobile dealership is one of the most important parts of the car-buying process. The ability to engage a vehicle in person in all its dimensions is often the tipping point for cementing a purchase. To better understand the influence these spaces have in the car-buying experience, eye tracking provider Tobii Pro partnered with Dx3 Canada and Toyota Canada to measure the car buyer’s journey in a showroom.

The results: car brands only have a 20-second window to influence a consumer’s opinion, and, within that window, not everything from the showroom is going to have an effect.

Here are the key findings:

• The vehicles were the star attraction, capturing more attention than touch screens, brand ambassadors, or any other test area element; participants spent about 30 seconds on average viewing the interior and exterior of the vehicles. 
• The insides of the vehicles were viewed most carefully, especially the consoles, gear shift, and instrumentation, which accounted for close to 70 percent of consumer attention. While walking around the outside, consumer eyes were focused primarily on the vehicles’ side body lines and aesthetic features.
• Millennial shoppers tended to review the same material and features as older shoppers; however, older shoppers spent more time with almost all elements of the study environment. Millennials gravitated to the interactive displays, while older shoppers viewed the textual elements of the display with greater attention.
• All promotional materials and features were seen; they captured attention but not long enough to have a significant impact. Conversely, digital screens and interactive displays had a high level of engagement and were the real eye-catchers, capturing approximately 50 percent of all attention to showroom promotional elements.
• Informational materials don’t have to be that sophisticated, but they do need to be well positioned. Among the most viewed features was a freestanding “Safety Tower” with creative collateral highlighting key safety features of the vehicles. The Tower was central and upfront in the showroom, generating increased engagement from consumers.

“When it comes to attention, brands often overestimate the level of consumer engagement that they have to work with,” said Mike Bartels, senior research director at Tobii Pro Insight. “Consumers start with a broad scan of what is out there, but then they zero in on specific things to the exclusion of everything else. In this all-or-nothing, high-stakes sales environment, it is critical that automotive marketers understand which features influence shoppers to buy and how the showroom can be optimized to make them commit. Through eye tracking, we objectively determined what registered with potential buyers, both young and old.”

How the study was conducted:

Eye tracking research experts from Tobii Pro Insight fitted 92 study participants with Tobii Pro Glasses 2, a wearable eye tracker, and asked them to explore Toyota’s interactive automotive showroom at the Dx3 conference as they would normally do when shopping for a car. The showroom included a Corolla and a RAV4 surrounded by a variety of promotional materials, digital displays, and Toyota brand ambassadors.

The glasses unobtrusively recorded what the consumers paid attention to, for how long they focused on something, and what they ignored, whether that was the vehicle’s exterior, under the hood, or a piece of promotional material. The consumers were divided into two groups: millennials and older shoppers. The collected behavioral data was analyzed to understand what elements of the vehicle and marketing materials had the biggest impact on purchase intent.

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More information and media assets:

• Click here to download the full white paper, “Eyeing for Attention: Automotive Eye tracking analysis”
• Click here to view a video on the Tobii Pro Insight study for Dx3 Canada and Toyota Canada
• Visit the Tobii Pro Insight page for more details on the technology and research team behind the study

Contact:

Eric Mercer, Direct of Content, Dx3 Canada, Phone: 1-647-317-5764, email: emercer@dx3canada.com

Cecilia Lago Albright, PR & Communications Manager, Tobii Pro, Phone: +46 707 43 13 45, email:cecilia.albright@tobii.com

Anthony Suarez, Media Relations Manager, North of Nine Communications, Phone: +1 212-614-4331, email:anthony.suarez@nof9.com

About Dx3 Canada

Dx3 is Canada’s largest conference and trade show focused on digital marketing, digital advertising and digital retailing. It brings agencies, brands, publishers and retailers together for two days of networking and education.

Dx3 2018 is March 7-8, 2018 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, featuring more than 30 educational sessions, 100 exhibitors and 4,000 attendees from Canada's leading brands and agencies.

About Tobii Pro Insight

Tobii Pro leads the market in bringing eye tracking insight to commercial brands, researchers, and organizations. Tobii Pro Insight is the company’s team of researchers conducting attention-based studies, helping the world’s top commercial brands better understand how their products and messages can better engage with customers. Tobii Pro Insight provides venue selection, panel requirement, expertise, eye tracking hardware, analysis software, workflow, and execution. This includes small qualitative studies to broad globally-based studies. Customers include Microsoft, Google, Ipsos, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, and 18 of the top 20 global advertisers. www.tobiipro.com

About Toyota Canada Inc.

Toyota Canada Inc. (TCI) is the exclusive Canadian distributor of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Toyota has sold over 5 million vehicles in Canada through a national network of 286 Toyota and Lexus dealerships. Toyota is dedicated to bringing safety, quality, dependability and reliability in the vehicles Canadians drive and the service they receive. TCI’s head office is located in Toronto, with regional offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Halifax and parts distribution centers in Toronto and Vancouver. Toyota operates two manufacturing facilities in Canada. Having produced more than seven million vehicles, popular Canadian models built at these facilities include Toyota RAV4, Toyota Corolla, Lexus RX 350 and RX 450h hybrid. For more information on Toyota and Toyota products, please visit: www.toyota.ca.

Caroline O’Connor

North of Nine Communications

230 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10003

O: +1.212.614.4965 M: +1 508.361.9636 E: Caroline.OConnor@nof9.com

@Nof9PR

PartCycle tapped as North American representative for industry-leading recycled auto parts Marketplace, innovative software development, and marketing efforts.

FLORENCE, Ala. (Sept. 5, 2017)—PartCycle Technologies announces it’s participation at the 2017 International Roundtable on Automotive Recycling (IRT), hosted by the Automotive Recyclers of Canada (ARC) and the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA), in the internationally famous border city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, Sept. 6-8, 2017.

Held every 18 months, IRT brings together leading international automotive recycler associations, industry officials, guest speakers and local auto recyclers to discuss the global auto recycling industry. PartCycle Technologies is proud to represent the United States at the 9th IRT, and present on the future of e-commerce for the industry—specifically its niche-specific Marketplace, PartCycle.com—and showcase its marketing efforts for promoting the recycled automotive industry.  

“With Canada and the US as the host countries, we are working to present North America as an industry-leader in technology, innovation, and public awareness,” says Steve Fletcher, ARC Managing Director and IRT organizer. “When developing this year’s agenda, because of its online marketplace and marketing acumen, PartCycle was an obvious choice to present the most advanced technology for selling recycled parts online, and promoting public awareness for the industry.”  

IRT’s have been a catalyst for global automotive recyclers to share information about emerging technical and regulatory trends, business opportunities, and to highlight local and industry best practices. Following the 7th IRT in Kushiro, Japan, IRT members and participating organizations defined the major tenets of the industry’s collective direction through the Kushiro Declaration, including: environmental standards and best practice, public awareness, government engagement, manufacturer support, auto recycling industry stewardship, education and training, and research information sharing.

PartCycle Technologies’ Co-Founder Andy Alonso, who will be presenting, feels IRT helps to guide the international industry forward and advance the overall goals of each participating organization.

“We are thrilled with the opportunity to present and participate in this year’s IRT,” says Alonso. “IRT is a powerful force for the industry, and we are excited to represent the U.S. and North America as leaders in software development and public awareness for the recycled auto parts industry.”

About: PartCycle.com is an online recycled auto parts Marketplace, connecting buyers who need quality used auto parts with a national network of vetted professional automotive salvage yards, through a platform that allows them to sort inventory based on their buying parameters for part price, condition and location. 

For more information, please contact Betsy Heckert, VP Communications:betsy@partcycle.com

Alexandria, VA (September 5) – The American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA) today released August sales figures for the international nameplate auto industry. Brands sold by America's 9,600 international nameplate franchises accounted for 55.5 percent of all new vehicles sold in the United States in August, down from 58.5 percent in July.

AutoData Corp. reports that the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) for August was 16.14 million units, compared to 17.22 million units in August 2016. Unadjusted for business days, sales of all brands were down 1.9 percent from last August and 2.7 percent for the year-to-date. Industrywide, 1,483,330 vehicles were sold in August, up from 1,415,139 in July, but down from 1,512,605 units a year ago.

"Hurricane Harvey took a toll on August auto sales, but we expect this trend to be short lived," said AIADA President Cody Lusk. "As clean up continues and consumers find themselves in the market for new vehicles, dealers are optimistic that the industry will close out the remaining months of 2017 on a high sales note."

Hurricane Harvey, which left a large swath of Texas underwater late in the month, made a dent in overall auto sales figures. Sales for international brands were down 2.6 percent from last August and 1.4 percent for the year-to-date, with brands like Hyundai (down 25.5 percent from last August), and Nissan (down 14.8 percent) taking the biggest hits. Despite the month's challenges, several international brands finished the month on a high note, including Subaru (up 4.6 percent from last August), Toyota (up 8 percent), Volkswagen (up 9 percent), and Volvo (up 4.1 percent).

International auto sales in the U.S. totaled 822,952 vehicles in August, down from 828,772 in July, but up from 816,332 vehicles in June. Asian brands occupied 46.3 percent of the August auto market, down from 49.6 percent in July and 46.8 percent in August 2016. Overall, Asian nameplate dealers sold 686,824 vehicles in August, a 2.9 percent drop from August 2016.

European brands sold 136,128 vehicles in August, up from 126,157 in July, but down from 137,773 sold in August 2016. European brands held 9.2 percent of the August U.S. auto market, up from 8.9 percent last month and 9.1 percent in August 2016. Overall August auto sales for these brands were down 1.2 percent from last August.

To read AIADA's complete coverage of August international nameplate auto sales, click here. 

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About AIADA: Established in 1970, AIADA is and continues to be the only association whose sole purpose is to represent America's international nameplate automobile franchises that sell and service the following brands: Acura, Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Genesis, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jaguar, Kia, Land Rover, Lexus, Maserati, Mazda, Mercedes, MINI, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Rolls Royce, Scion, Smart, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo. These retailers have a positive economic impact both nationally and in the local communities they serve, providing more than 500,000 American jobs. Visit AIADA online at www.aiada.org.

CLEVELAND, OH—August 31, 2017— Dealer Tire LLC and Southeast Toyota Distributors have entered into an agreement to work together to develop an enhanced tire retailing program for Southeast Toyota.

The two companies are both family run businesses with nearly 150 combined years of experience in tire and automotive retailing, and both companies are dedicated to building lasting relationships by providing exceptional customer service.

In addition to managing Southeast Toyota’s tire program, Dealer Tire will provide training, tools and services designed to help Southeast increase customer satisfaction and retention.

The agreement between the two companies is effective December 1, 2017. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

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About Dealer Tire

Dealer Tire is a family business that was founded in 1999 by the then owners of the former Mueller Tire & Brake, a Cleveland-based retail chain founded in 1918. Dealer Tire manages replacement tire and parts programs for 19 automotive OEMs. It serves more than 10,000 automotive dealerships from 39 distribution centers across the U.S. For more information about Dealer Tire, visit www.dealertire.com.

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., Aug. 29, 2017 — DealerSocket, the leading provider of technology platforms for the automotive industry, announced today that Sejal Pietrzak has joined the company as its new President and Chief Executive Officer. Jonathan Ord, who is the company’s co-founder and has been its CEO for the past 16 years, will remain a strategic investor and active on the company’s board of directors. Pietrzak has extensive experience leading teams across multiple functions within a successful software company throughout the past 12 years at ACTIVE Network, the premier global marketplace for activities and an industry-leading provider of intelligence solutions, where she was most recently its Chief Administrative Officer.

“I am particularly excited to support Sejal and DealerSocket’s leadership as a continuing investor and board member,” said outgoing CEO and DealerSocket founder Jonathan Ord, who will remain active on the company’s Board of Directors and continues as a significant investor. “My interactions with Sejal have made it abundantly clear to me that she is the right CEO moving forward, as DealerSocket continues to scale and innovate,” Ord said. “She has the skills, experience, and passion to continue to grow the company and serve our customers for years to come.”

Pietrzak is committed to applying her deep knowledge of software and her significant leadership experience to DealerSocket, where she plans to continue growth, operational excellence, and maintain the company’s commitment to more than 11,000 dealership customers. “I am very excited to be joining DealerSocket,” she said. “Jonathan and the DealerSocket team have built a strong foundation and tremendous company culture that values people, customers, and technology.  I look forward to continuing DealerSocket’s solid growth trajectory with its industry leading software to empower our dealership customers.”

Before joining ACTIVE Network, Pietrzak held leadership positions at Wells Fargo & Co. and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and she was a strategy consultant at the Boston Consulting Group.  During her tenure at ACTIVE, Pietrzak worked across all aspects of the software company globally, leading high-functioning teams and driving deep understanding of and responsiveness to customers’ needs and experiences.

Pietrzak looks forward to continued growth at DealerSocket. “I begin my tenure with a company that is in a position of strength,” Pietrzak said. “By staying true to DealerSocket’s high standards and commitment to customer success, I’m confident we will continue to deliver significant value to our customers and win new opportunities in the market.”

About DealerSocket
DealerSocket is a leading automotive technology platform that helps dealerships in the United States, Canada and Australia improve profitability through a fully integrated suite of marketing, sales, service, customer experience, DMS, data mining, digital marketing, website, digital retailing, and inventory management solutions. Headquartered in San Clemente, California, DealerSocket employs more than 1,000 people and serves 11,000 dealerships and 300,000 active users in the United States, Canada and Australia. DealerSocket's advanced technology provides benchmarking data that paces the industry, and its insightful experts identify trends and develop strategic roadmaps that help dealers optimize processes and operate more profitably. Visit DealerSocket.com for more information.

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., Aug. 25, 2017 — DealerSocket today announced the company has been approved as a certified digital vendor under the Mazda Digital Certified Program. Through the new program, Mazda dealerships can partner with OEM-authorized, best-in-class website and digital marketing solution providers to enhance their digital presence and provide a higher quality shopping experience for customers.

Beginning Aug. 25, franchise and independent dealerships can sign up for special DealerSocket packages for digital advertising and responsive websites powered by DealerFire™. The tiered packages, Campfire (basic), Bonfire (intermediate) and Wildfire (premium), offer various levels of digital support from SEM to dynamic advertising, credit solutions to inventory management, pricing and more.

With nearly 30% of leads coming from dealer websites, DealerSocket’s award-winning sites are uniquely designed for each dealership brand and offer tailored content and cross-platform compatibility to provide an engaging customer experience on mobile, tablet and desktop devices.

DealerFire websites are also fully integrated with dealership customer relationship management (CRM) platforms or dealer management systems (DMS) for a seamless web-to-store experience and information sharing. Through the Crossfire CRM integration tool, dealerships can identify when customers visit their websites, allowing them to track customer and prospect behavior more efficiently during website visits to find out what they’re most interested in.

In addition to creating an unrivalled online presence, DealerSocket helps build brand loyalty and drive more traffic and leads to dealership websites through integrated digital marketing services such as content marketing, paid search marketing and social media marketing.

 “DealerSocket offers the most comprehensive suite of digital services for dealerships in the industry. Our experience with building high-traffic, engaging websites and leveraging their success through customized digital strategies has already earned impressive results for many Mazda dealers across the country,” said Aaron Schinke, Director of Product, Digital, DealerSocket. “We continuously update and review our products to make sure we are staying two steps ahead of the digital marketing trends. For example, recent DealerFire upgrades make our websites faster than the industry average and provide an unmatched user experience for dealership customers.”

DealerSocket also offers a digital retailing tool, Precise Price™, which allows customers to begin a vehicle purchase online and finalize the transaction at the dealership. Precise Price is fully integrated with DealerSocket CRM so dealers can easily pick up where the customer left off at home when he or she arrives on the lot.

To learn more about DealerSocket websites, integrations like Precise Price and digital marketing solutions, visit DealerSocket.com/DealerFire.

Mazda Digital Certified packages, pricing and enrollment are available at MazdaDigitalCertified.com.

About DealerSocket

DealerSocket is a leading automotive technology platform that helps dealerships in the United States, Canada and Australia improve profitability through a fully integrated suite of marketing, sales, service, customer experience, DMS, data mining, digital marketing, website, digital retailing, and inventory management solutions. Headquartered in San Clemente, California, DealerSocket employs more than 1,000 people and serves 11,000 dealerships and 300,000 active users in the United States, Canada and Australia. DealerSocket's advanced technology provides benchmarking data that paces the industry, and its insightful experts identify trends and develop strategic roadmaps that help dealers optimize processes and operate more profitably. Visit DealerSocket.com for more information.

Integrations with DealerSocket, DealerVault and CDK boost dealerships’ customer engagement Matt Murray appointed SVP of Strategic Accounts, leveraging 10 years of automotive experience

Key points

• By integrating Podium’s technology into their existing Dealer Management Systems (DMS) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms, CDK, DealerSocket and DealerVault can now automatically send out a review invitation immediately following a car purchase.

• Dealership owners can then view, respond and collect this valuable feedback via a single dashboard.

• This direct engagement allows dealers to capitalize on customer insights to make faster, better-informed decisions about their business.

• Increasing the number of reviews for their dealership can also impact local SEO, increasing visibility and reach to prospective customers.

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Lehi, Utah – August 24, 2017 – Podium, a platform that enables local businesses and consumers to more effectively and conveniently interact through messaging tools and online reviews, today announced two new partnerships with DealerSocket and DealerVault, and the hire of Matt Murray as Senior Vice President of Strategic Accounts. Already strong in the automotive space – it joined CDK’s Third Party Partner Program in March this year – Podium has extended its coverage of the automotive industry even further. The company is now working with some of the industry’s biggest players to service a majority of the automotive market, and under the expert leadership of Murray expects to revolutionize customer interactions for both dealers and manufacturers.

Expanding Podium’s footprint, these new partnerships will allow thousands of DealerSocket and DealerVault customers to integrate Podium with their existing Dealer Management Systems (DMS) to automate the most common interactions like collecting reviews. The announcement follows news of Podium’s partnership with CDK, the largest global provider of integrated information technology and digital marketing solutions to the automotive retail industry, servicing over 27,000 retail locations.

“The relationship between businesses and consumers is critical for driving purchase decisions and generating ROI,” added Eric Rea, CEO and Co-founder of Podium. “We're delighted to now support a broad network of solutions providers in the automotive space, giving a significant number of dealerships a better way to interact with their customers throughout the entire customer journey, and foster valuable, long-lasting relationships.”

Founded in 2014, Podium makes it easy for local businesses to generate online reviews and customer feedback, while also powering everyday customer interactions through familiar channels, such as text message. These convenient and efficient ways to communicate with car buyers help dealerships increase visibility in local search, build stronger, longer-lasting relationships, and improve business operations.

DealerSocket’s technology makes it simple for automotive dealerships to manage all their solutions through one platform, whether Customer Relationship Management (CRM), website and digital marketing, sales, inventory, service, or DMS. DealerVault allows dealerships to have greater control over their transactional and consumer data when sharing it with approved third-party vendors and manufacturers, in exchange for insights to help manage their business more efficiently.

In addition to the partnerships, Podium has announced the hire of Matt Murray,  who will serve as Senior Vice President of Strategic Accounts at Podium.  A recognized digital thought leader in the automotive industry, Murray brings 10 years of experience in the vertical, previously serving as Vice President of Strategic Growth and Retail Solutions at Cox Automotive Inc., Dealertrack Technologies and Dealer.com. His experience includes developing Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) endorsed programs to support the goals of both manufacturers and dealerships, liaising between the two entities, and promoting business development. In his new role at Podium, Murray will be leading the company’s cross-vertical strategic account strategy.

“I am excited to join the Podium team to oversee several new verticals. Within automotive, I intend to leverage my experience to help modernize the industry's approach to customer interactions,” said Matt Murray, Senior Vice President of Strategic Accounts, Podium. “Historically, local dealers and manufacturers have relied heavily on time-and labor-intensive email or paper communications when interfacing with customers. In Podium, I see a clean, impactful solution for updating and streamlining these processes while bringing auto executives and their teams into the digital age. I’m looking forward to helping the industry more conveniently and efficiently interact with their customers, providing better service and generating valuable data insights to improve business decisions.”

Podium’s growth in this sector comes on the heels of a $32 million Series A funding round from investors including Accel, Summit Partners, GV (formerly Google Ventures), and Y Combinator, alongside rapid momentum for the company as a whole. In the past year, Podium saw revenue increase more than 600 percent while adding more than 2,000 customers, growing its core team by 100 new employees, and reaching more than 80,000 users on its platform. In June, the company pledged its commitment to Utah with plans to invest $10 million in a new Utah headquarters and expand its workforce by 400, over a move to the Bay Area. This massive growth and investment in the local economy will be supported through a post-performance Economic Development Tax Increment Finance (EDTIF) tax credit rebate from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED).

About Podium

Podium helps businesses drive customer interaction in the form of online reviews to increase visibility, improve business operations, and drive purchase decisions. Podium serves 80,000+ users across nearly 10,000 businesses and is redefining the modern relationship between businesses and consumers. Headquartered in Lehi, Utah, and founded in 2014, Podium has received funding from Accel, Summit Partners, GV (formerly Google Ventures), and Y Combinator. To learn more, visit www.podium.com or contact us at press@podium.com.

About DealerSocket

DealerSocket is a leading automotive technology platform that helps dealerships in the United States, Canada and Australia improve profitability through a fully integrated suite of marketing, sales, service, customer experience, DMS, data mining, digital marketing, website, and inventory management solutions. Headquartered in San Clemente, Calif., DealerSocket employs more than 1,000 people, serves more than 10,000 dealerships and 300,000 active users in the United States, Canada and Australia. DealerSocket’s advanced technology provides benchmarking data that paces the industry, and its insightful experts identify trends and develop strategic roadmaps that help dealers optimize processes and operate more profitably. Visit DealerSocket.com for more information.

About DealerVault

DealerVault is product of Authenticom, Inc. that supports over 7500 dealers and over 450 vendors in a secure cloud environment, which provides visibility into the data movement between dealers and vendors.  Authenticom is the leading source of dealer management system integration and enterprise-level data enhancement solutions for automotive marketing agencies, CRM systems, and third-party service providers. The company integrates with more than 75 dealer management systems and connects with over 23,000 automotive dealerships across North America. Authenticom is a privately- held corporation founded by Stephen Cottrell in 2002 and headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin. (www.authenticom.com).