ATX CEO Predicts Telematics Will Forever Change the Way Cars Are Serviced, Sold

DETROIT, April 12 -- 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/ .