DAYTON, Ohio — Reynolds and Reynolds reiterated that all current Reynolds customers operating with GM IDMS may remain Reynolds customers on the same ERA dealership management system (DMS), with no disruption and no change in how dealership personnel utilize the ERA DMS. Reynolds made the announcement to counteract misleading stories in the media and letters from competitors to GM IDMS dealers.

“There is no requirement for our 400 IDMS customers to change dealership management systems,” explained Trey Hiers, vice president of corporate marketing at Reynolds and Reynolds. “There is no requirement from GM nor is there a requirement from the standpoint of the functionality of the ERA DMS. There is a lot of misinformation being generated in the media and from competitors that misleads readers and customers into believing Reynolds customers are ‘being cut off’ and ‘must transition out of their (current) system’ to another DMS vendor. That is simply not true.”

Hiers pointed to several facts. First, the joint customer letter signed by Reynolds and GM, dated April 4, 2008, states unequivocally for Reynolds GM IDMS customers: “You can opt to continue with the exact same system currently installed at your dealership by contracting as a Reynolds ERA customer rather than as a GM IDMS customer.” And, for dealers who continue with Reynolds, this will involve no system conversion or migration, and no retraining.

Second, as an example, Hiers pointed to a recent letter from competitor ADP that was sent to a Reynolds customer. The letter, which was signed by ADP Dealer Services president Steve Anenen, states, “Dealers who have the GM IDMS system supported by Reynolds must transition out of this system within the next 10 months.”

Hiers discounted the statement. “That is false and likely to mislead customers into believing they are required to change their DMS. Of course, that is not accurate,” he said.

Hiers concluded: “Reynolds took the lead on IDMS with General Motors more than two years ago. We achieved significant success in implementing that program with GM. Now, although we are no longer participating in IDMS, we are pleased to have concluded our involvement in an amicable manner that minimizes any disruption for our GM IDMS customers. The option to remain a Reynolds customer without changing dealership management systems or incurring any additional one-time charges certainly minimizes disruption and enables the dealer to continue to reap the benefits of Reynolds’ software and support.”