Fixed Ops Journal - August 2016 - (Page 56)

S056_revised_Fixed Ops.qxp 8/10/2016 FIXED OPS JOURNAL 10:28 AM Page 1 " "Automation [of information] is one of the last bastions of tightly controlled distribution channels." STEVE TOROK, CEO of Autonet Mobile DIRECT CONNECT Conversations ■ Click here to watch the videos ■ Auto industry vet, tech whiz team up to boost dealers' service work KATIE KERWIN foj@autonews.com W hat does a veteran auto executive do after a 30-year career in the Rust Belt? Steve Torok is working with a Silicon Valley expert in wireless systems to help franchised dealerships get a bigger slice of their customers' service business. Torok, a former senior vice president of DaimlerChrysler, is CEO of Autonet Mobile Inc. in Santa Rosa, Calif. The company is marketing a product called Dealer Connect, which enables dealerships' service departments to communicate with customers about service issues via a smartphone application. "He's focused on sales and dealer relations," Autonet Mobile President Sterling Pratz, said of Torok. "That allows me to spend time on the human element - how people use the app - and on technology integration." When Pratz launched Autonet Mobile in 2005, onboard diagnostics were widespread in the auto industry. His contribuTorok: Dealers tion was an in-vehicle are best source system that enabled auof fresh ideas tomakers to install Wi-Fi service, allowing customers to connect to the Internet. A later version connected a car wirelessly to automakers' parts and service operations, which could notify the customer when service was needed. Last year, Pratz sold Autonet Mobile's platform - whose customers included Chevrolet, Nissan and Fiat Chrysler's Mopar unit - to supplier Lear Corp. Even before the sale, he said, "in the back of my mind, I had another market": dealers, who were cut out of the vehicle-to-automaker loop. The Dealer Connect device plugs into a port under a vehicle's dashboard to connect to a 4G network. It enables dealership service departments to monitor diagnostics in real time and notify a customer through the downloaded app about service matters and recalls. The service department also can use the app to set up appointments, schedule recall work once parts are available, and push tar- PAGE 56 AUGUST 2016 In the loop Dealer Connect links dealerships to customers' vehicles in 4 ways 1. Lets customer know when vehicle needs repair 2. Sets up service appointments by text message or email 3. Sends service and other messages by smartphone app 4. Tracks vehicles on dealership lot Source: Autonet Mobile geted offers. Autonet Mobile charges dealers $75 and suggests a $200 retail price for Dealer Connect when sold to vehicle owners. The company does not sell directly to consumers. Dealer Connect comes with a free two-year subscription. Connecting with dealers Autonet Mobile's products had given Pratz experience in consumers' use of in-car Internet service. But to develop Dealer Connect, he needed an executive with experience working with dealers. Torok had been an automotive consultant after he retired from DaimlerChrysler in 2004. He already had agreed to look into Autonet Mobile on behalf of clients. Torok and Pratz got to know one another and decided their skills were a good fit. Torok joined Autonet Mobile early last year. During his career with Chrysler, which began in 1973, Torok held senior positions in sales, service, corporate strategy and business development. He was general manager of Chrysler-Plymouth and of the automaker's Mopar parts division. He spent four years in Japan as a senior executive of Chrysler's alliance partner Mitsubishi Motors. Torok was introduced to in-vehicle technology in the mid-1990s, through a Chrysler program that provided customers with information about onboard diagnostics. But most connected-car functions didn't involve dealerships, he noted. "Automation [of information] is one of the last bastions of tightly controlled distribu- tion channels," Torok said. Carmakers generally have refrained from installing hardware that feeds information directly to dealers. Using their own onboard systems, automakers may suggest to customers a handful of places to get service for diagnosed problems - usually a local dealership and several independent shops, Torok said. Ideas from front lines Potential competitors of Autonet Mobile were "scared to death of the dealer network" because they aren't familiar with it, Torok said. "So they tried to go around it," which didn't work, he said. Torok estimated he spends about onethird of his time talking to dealers. He has hired several ex-Chrysler colleagues, including Bob Williams, a former National Automobile Dealers Association executive who once headed dealer relations for the automaker. In addition to convincing dealers and fixed operations directors that Dealer Connect can help Pratz: Don't cut them build service vol- dealers out of ume and customer loyal- service cycle ty, Autonet needs dealership sales, finance and insurance, and service employees to tout the device to customers, Torok said. "We get most of our ideas from talking to dealers," he said. "They come up with stuff we hadn't even thought of." One example he cited is a dealership using Dealer Connect to keep track of mileage and service on leased vehicles. Knowing when a vehicle is close to hitting its mileage ceiling enables the dealership to offer a new lease before the current one expires. "We originally envisioned this as a new-car service," Torok said. But some dealers want to install it in used cars - something most automaker systems don't do, he added. Dealer Connect's pilot program includes Chrysler, Ford, Toyota and Lexus dealers. The company plans to market its services, at least initially, to large dealership groups, Torok and Pratz said. ■

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fixed Ops Journal - August 2016

Fixed Ops Journal - August 2016
Contents
Editor’s Letter
Service Counter
Legal Lane
Treading confidently
'Tis the season
Profit Builder
Valet service
Richard Truett
OEConnection
Changing oil:
Photo story
Trade-off
Toyota way
Feedback
Lone star
Airbag recall
Forging links
Top 50
5 Minutes With
Shop Talk
Fixed in Time

Fixed Ops Journal - August 2016