The Reynolds and Reynolds Company announced Aug. 29 that Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) has identified the company to assist in the implementation of MNAO's U.S. Dealer Systems Strategy for 2003.

As part of the project, Reynolds says it will assist Mazda's U.S. dealers in building out a technology-rich, cost-beneficial systems environment. This will include the installation of a network that will allow Mazda dealers to leverage the Internet while giving them complete control over their individual computer environments. With this initiative, MNAO is transitioning all hardware and Internet Service Provider business to individual dealers.

"Mazda understands that dealers must change to meet new demands in the automotive retailing environment - the implementation of our Dealer Systems Strategy - 2003 is how we are going to start that change," said Jim DiMarzio, chief information officer and director of information technology for MNAO. "We identified Reynolds to assist our dealers because of its deep industry experience and its proficiency in automotive retailing technology. We are happy to have Reynolds and Reynolds as part of this program."

According to the company, the goal of MNAO's Dealer System Strategy is to pass control of the computing environment to the dealer and at the same time, ensure that the dealer is positioned to leverage the Internet to minimize the cost of doing business and to maximize e-business opportunities. This project was developed with Mazda dealers to ensure that this strategy would help grow the business and meet consumer e-business expectations.

"The opportunity to assist dealers with the Mazda Dealer System Strategy - 2003 is a testament to our network connectivity suite of solutions," said Scott Schafer, senior vice president of Sales, Marketing and InfoStructure Services for Reynolds. "We have a commitment to not only help Mazda dealers meet their needs, but also to help them succeed in today's competitive automotive retailing industry."

Mazda North American Operations is responsible for the sales and marketing, customer parts and services support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Canada. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., MNAO has more than 700 dealerships in the U.S. For more information, visit www.mazdausa.com.

Reynolds and Reynolds (www.reyrey.com) is a provider of integrated solutions that they say help automotive dealers manage change and improve their profitability. With 75 years of experience serving automotive retailing, Reynolds enables car companies and dealers to work together to build the lifetime value of their customers. The company's product, service and training solutions include a full range of retail and enterprise management systems, networking and support, e-business applications, Web services, learning and consulting services, customer relationship management (CRM) solutions, data management and integration, and leasing services.