DETROIT, April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Steve Millstein, president and CEO of
ATX Group, the world's second largest telematics service provider to the
automotive industry, told attendees of the annual SAE World Congress yesterday
that the telematics industry is in the midst of a transition to a business
model centered on data-centric, vRM (Vehicle Relationship Management)
applications that more directly benefit automobile manufacturers and
dealerships.
"Telematics must be structured to address directly the key problems faced
by automobile OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and their dealerships
today," said Millstein, whose company provides telematics services in North
America to Mercedes-Benz and BMW and to other OEMs in Europe. "This is about
moving into the digital age the last mile of the automobile value chain -- the
showroom and the service bay."
While predicting a secure future for traditional, safety- and security-
oriented telematics services, Millstein emphasized that telematics has to
become standard on every vehicle to ensure the OEM a return on its investment.
That will necessitate low-cost, data-only hardware on mass-market vehicle
platforms. It also requires an emphasis on telematics applications that are
designed specifically to help OEMs and dealerships reduce costs in their
operations. Those applications will rely on vRM. 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.
The value of vRM data potentially cuts across the entire automotive value
chain by delivering specific benefits for automobile manufacturers, their
financing units, their key suppliers, their dealers as well as to auto
insurers and roadside assistance providers. Millstein focused primarily on
the variety of benefits to dealerships.
"Dealers make their money on aftermarket sales and service," Millstein
noted, "and yet the vast majority of vehicle owners do not return to the
dealership after the warranty period and that's where telematics comes in," he
said. "Providing real-time data about the car and driver to the dealer gives
dealerships a reason to communicate with the driver, thereby opening a new
opportunity to increase dealer revenue and margins."
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, visit http://www.atxg.com .
SOURCE ATX
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Related links:
http://www.atxg.com
CONTACT:
Gary Wallace, vice president, corporate
relations of ATX Group, +1-800-511-5891, +1-972-753-6230, or
gwallace@atxg.com ; or Carrie Cioffi of Eisbrenner Public
Relations, +1-248-641-1446, ccioffi@eisbrenner.com
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