GPS World

Tag: Spireon

  • Spireon launches GoldStar Connect for auto dealers, lenders

    Mobile app creates new connections for the vehicle finance industry and extends the value of GPS to consumers.

    Image: Spireon
    Image: Spireon

    Spireon Inc., the vehicle intelligence company, has introduced GoldStar Connect, a full-featured connected car mobile application that gives Buy Here Pay Here (BHPH) dealers and lenders the opportunity to increase customer loyalty and profitability.

    As the newest addition to the GoldStar GPS solution suite, GoldStar Connect helps dealers and lenders recoup the cost of GPS, while also increasing value, convenience and safety for consumers, the company said.

    The BHPH sector has long used GoldStar GPS to mitigate risk. Dealers and lenders rely on GoldStar to stay connected to their customers in order to facilitate payment collection, monitor default predictors, and streamline recoveries when necessary.

    With the new GoldStar Connect mobile app, consumers now have access to all the benefits of connectivity — real-time location access, trip history, vehicle health alerts and recovery solutions for stolen cars — as an add-on at the time of purchase, the company added.

    “In marrying the GoldStar solution with a consumer-facing mobile app, our dealer and lender customers not only improve asset management and protection, but also can offer their consumers a significant value add — modern connected car benefits regardless of the vehicle make, model and year,” said Reggie Ponsford, senior vice president of sales at Spireon. “We have had a number of larger BHPH dealers piloting the GoldStar Connect solution in the past few months and seeing up to 90 percent consumer sell-through.”

    With GoldStar Connect, consumers gain a host of added benefits with their car purchase, including:

    • Safety and Security. GPS tracking and geofencing capabilities enable consumers to know the location of the vehicle at all times, helping to ensure the safety of the vehicle and the driver
    • Trip History. provides visibility to the activity of the vehicle by date, time and duration
    • Smart Alerts. consumers receive notifications of speeding, geofenced locations and battery condition directly to their mobile devices
    • Stolen Vehicle Recovery. an in-app recovery guide provides vehicle location data and instructions to assist in reporting and recovery of a stolen car
    • Insurance Discounts. Many carriers provide discounts of up to 15%

    “Consumers want connected vehicle features and benefits, and the app helps dealers and lenders build customer loyalty while also driving additional revenue and margin,” continued Ponsford. “By bundling the purchase into the vehicle loan, it’s seamless and easy for dealers and buyers.”

    “We’re excited to help our customers in the vehicle finance industry evolve their thinking about GPS from solely managing risk to now providing an opportunity to increase consumer loyalty and profitability,” said Brian Deeley, director of product management at Spireon. “The GoldStar solution is trusted by more BHPH dealers than all of our competitors combined. The addition of GoldStar Connect creates even more distance between Spireon and the rest, maintaining GoldStar as the GPS gold standard for BHPH.”

    GoldStar Connect is now available and will be demonstrated in booth #208 at the National Alliance of Buy Here, Pay Here Dealers (NABD) Buy Here Pay Here Subprime Conference, Oct. 8-10, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. To book a demonstration at the conference, see Spireon at NABD.

  • Fleets go green — and get green — with GPS

    By Jason Penkethman, Chief Product Officer at Spireon

    Fleets looking to take their operations to the next level look to GPS solutions for the obvious benefits — driver/vehicle location tracking, driver behavior monitoring, improved efficiency — and some that are not so obvious, such as making a positive impact on the environment.

    “Going green” can be an arduous task, requiring constant calculations and adjustments to ensure that a fleet’s reduced environmental impact doesn’t negatively affect normal operations.

    Fortunately, GPS fleet management solutions have come a long way and go far beyond simple geolocation. We live in an age where technology empowers fleet managers to go green – both environmentally and fiscally. And with effective communication and transparency, even drivers who once may have perceived fleet tracking as “big brother” are now seeing how joining the green initiative puts green in their own pockets.

    The Case for Smarter, Eco-friendly Workdays

    No matter the size of the fleet, reducing unnecessary drive time saves time, gas, and reduces carbon footprint. When last minute changes or emergencies arise, fleet tracking allows managers to dispatch the nearest driver for faster, more effective resolution. Fleet tracking also allows better planning of a driver’s day with proximity as a guide.

    Image: Spireon
    Image: Spireon

    Eliminating Paper Waste. To properly manage a fleet, there is a seemingly endless stream of logs and diagnostics for drivers, cargo, vehicles and more. Implementing GPS tracking will cut back on the paperwork for managers and drivers alike by automating what once were manual processes and making compliance with new federal regulations such as the ELD mandate and the Food Safety Modernization Act a breeze.

    Cutting Unnecessary Emissions. Idling and abrupt acceleration or braking are the biggest culprits of wasting gas and producing excess emissions. Thanks to GPS logging, these can be avoided as feedback is provided to fleet managers and drivers, allowing active awareness for better driving habits.

    Better Maintenance, Better Mileage. Second to employees, vehicles are a fleet’s most important asset, and both need proper attention and care to succeed! While drivers can tell a fleet manager what they need, many vehicles won’t until it’s too late. With modern GPS devices, diagnostics are constantly run, keeping fleets informed and instantly aware of upcoming maintenance or surprises to keep drivers safe and vehicles running at maximum efficiency.

    Creating Driver Advocates

    While the benefits of GPS fleet tracking seem clear, overcoming driver apprehension sometimes causes pause for the business owner looking to implement a solution.

    However, drivers can become GPS’ greatest advocates with clear communication and transparency. It’s important to explain that GPS tracking works to a driver’s advantage when there are records of driver performance in the event of an accident, medical emergency or crime.

    Fleet managers can use the data to support drivers if they are accused of wrongdoing by customers or an insurance company. Additionally, the system can be used to offer incentives including higher base pay, recognition or bonuses to the best performing drivers.

    Fleets should convey that the main goal of GPS is not to point fingers at drivers or to spy on them, but rather to make the business enterprise more efficient and competitive.

    Part of the process necessarily means an overall improvement in their working conditions such as not having to call them all the time to keep track of their positions, sending the closest convenient driver to a location, establishing routes and schedules that are manageable and — yes — monitoring their behavior.

    This, however, is an incentive to keep drivers under the speed limit and make them feel more responsible — not least, protecting against legal and safety issues. In our experience, good employees have no problem with accountability and, in fact, welcome it as it sets them apart from less productive co-workers.

    Greenery on the Scenery

    Fleet tracking also helps to explain the savings in company costs made on fuel, maintenance and administration jobs.

    Fleet managers should explain to drivers how the new process can generate bonus programs, reduce customer call-backs, cancellations, complaints and paperwork (for timecards) and improve upon driver training.

    GPS will make for a better company with benefits everyone should realize and readily appreciate. The healthier the company, the more secure the jobs within it. Everyone benefits from a fatter bottom line, and job security is nonexistent without profitability. Helping drivers to understand why the fleet is adopting the solution will help recruit them toward a positive outcome.

    Whether a fleet business is interested in going green for the environment, or for its own profitability, GPS tracking solutions — and gaining driver buy-in — create a powerful catapult to achieving goals rapidly and effectively.

    Jason Penkethman is chief product officer at Spireon and is responsible for leading innovation in the company’s products and platform, and creating vehicle connectivity solutions to maximize customer value.

  • Spireon unveils connected car solution for dealerships

    Spireon unveils connected car solution for dealerships

    Spireon Inc., an aftermarket telematics company for risk management and business optimization, will introduce its latest connected car solution, Kahu.

    Kahu_Screen_Shots_Spireon-W
    Photo: Kahu

    Kahu is designed for dealers, providing streamlined lot management while delivering a new finance and insurance (F&I) profit center by offering consumers a modern location tracking and stolen vehicle recovery service, Spireon said.

    Additionally, Kahu empowers dealers to grow service retention with car buyers by providing accurate vehicle data for proactive maintenance reminders that can improve vehicle health and keep vehicles within warranty.

    “New car dealer margins have been flat for several years, driving a need to create new revenue and profit opportunities,” said Kevin Weiss, CEO at Spireon. “Connected cars are changing the industry, but dealers are receiving little value from this shift. Kahu changes that dynamic, giving dealers the tools they need before, during and after the sale to grow profits and benefit from the connected car revolution.”

    Kahu includes an aftermarket GPS device and mobile apps for both dealers and their customers. The solution provides these features and benefits to dealers:

    • Lot Management — Dealers can manage inventory, track specific vehicle location, and see low-battery indicators using a mobile phone or tablet, streamlining operations and creating a better buying experience for consumers. Virtual geofences and after-hours alerts allow dealers to identify and recover stolen vehicles within minutes.
    • F&I Profit Center — Kahu offers dealers a high-value add-on for consumers who seek peace of mind with a next-generation vehicle recovery service and an arsenal of easy-to-use mobile features. From 24/7 vehicle location visibility, so consumers can track their vehicle and family at all times, to smart alerts for speeding and low battery, Kahu is an attractive add-on that safeguards consumers while driving dealer profit.
    • Customer Loyalty — Kahu uses GPS-based mileage tracking to improve the accuracy of service reminders and increase service retention. Consumers benefit by being able to maximize warranty protection and ensure recommended service intervals are maintained.

    “Our partnership with Spireon has paid for itself tenfold,” said Jon Hansen, general sales manager, Burien Nissan. “Being able to offer a product that I find value in to our customers and making it a revenue generator for the dealership is really big for us. I would absolutely recommend Spireon to other dealerships.”

    Spireon’s aftermarket GPS devices are installed on more than 3.5 million vehicles and offered by 14,000 dealerships across North America. With Kahu, car dealers and consumers now have access to state-of-the-art mobile location services, which protect their vehicle assets and can lead to reduced insurance premiums.

    Kahu is already installed with a select group of early adopter customers, and will be generally available in the second quarter of 2017.

  • GPS Tracking Solution Now Offers DMS Integration

    Spireon, a Mobile Resource Management (MRM) and Business Intelligence Solutions provider, has completed an initial phase of the integration of its industry leading GoldStar GPS solution with Frazer’s Dealer Management System (DMS).

    Frazer is a provider of software solutions that auto dealers across the nation use to grow their business and increase their productivity, including its comprehensive DMS, which has functions such as dealer inventory management, credit application processing, electronic contracting, set up bank contracts and BHPH deals, dealer management tools, loan servicing and accounting systems.

    Joint customers of GoldStar GPS and Frazer can now experience online access to a single solution to execute critical commands. The integration allows dealers to execute commands directly from their Frazer application, interface saving customers time and improving their ease of use. Dealers can monitor and take action on their collateral within their day-to-day dealer management application.  Key features of the initial phase of integration include the ability to conduct an on-demand locate, and disable and re-enable the starter interrupt.

    “Spireon’s new partnership with Frazer is another example of Spireon’s ongoing quest to improve the ease of use of our solutions through key partnerships to enhance the customer experience for effective collateral management, vehicle tracking and risk mitigation. GoldStar GPS and Frazer users will experience a platform that will allow them to do more.”  Explains David Meyer, Executive Vice President of Spireon.

    “We have watched the incredible growth of GoldStar GPS and are very excited about now offering Goldstar GPS as an integrated feature within the Frazer DMS. This will make a lot of dealers’ lives just a little bit easier.” Michael Frazer, President.