IRVINE, Calif. — Spireon Inc. announced that its GPS-based vehicle telematics solution Spireon SkyLink will now give dealers the ability to offer connected car services to their customers, opening the door to a new F&I profit center.
To begin offering the services, car dealers partner with Spireon for a one-time install of the GPS tracking device to use for their inventory management, according to the company. Once the car is purchased dealers can add on the Skylink mobile app service for the car buyer, connecting them to the already-installed GPS tracking device.
“With over 14,000 car dealerships currently connecting their inventory with Spireon products, we are a trusted partner in the dealer community,” said Bill Stephenson, senior vice president at Spireon. “Our satisfied customers can attest to SkyLink’s win- win of being able to not only save time and resources dedicated to inventory and lot management, but also add a new F&I profit center to their business by offering the connected car features that car buyers really want.”
Car owners that use SkyLink can quickly locate their vehicle using the SkyLink mobile app, the company states. While the car owner locates his or her vehicle, Spireon SkyLink will work directly with law enforcement to recover the vehicle. SkyLink also offers optional theft guarantee coverage: If a vehicle isn’t recovered in 30 days of theft, Spireon will provide up to $5,000 in trade-in benefits, according to the company.
According to SNS Research, connected car services — telematics, infotainment, remote diagnostics, usage based insurance, semi-autonomous driving — will account for $14 billion in annual revenue by the end of 2016. According to Spireon, car dealers have still not fully tapped into this market.
