Stronghold Technologies, involved in mobile sales applications and solutions, is setting itself a lofty and often-attempted, seldom-realized goal: "revolutionizing the automotive retail industry."

Founded in August 2000, the company has developed a mobile solution designed to put a wide range of information at auto dealers' fingertips.

Stronghold Technologies' main product, DealerAdvance(TM), is a wireless, Internet-based system that runs on a Compaq iPAQ(TM) handheld device. DealerAdvance operates on a local wireless network that allows for the fast communication of different applications connecting directly to the automotive dealer's accounting system and to the Internet through Stronghold's Gateway.

Planet Honda, the largest Honda dealership in the Northeast, is already using the DealerAdvance(TM) system at its Clifton and Passaic, N.J. locations. The system has also been implemented at Lehmer's FiveStar Dealers in Concord, Calif.

The DealerAdvance(TM) system reduces the transaction time to complete a car sale, and provides valuable information to the sales person, the consumer and dealer management, according to Chris Carey, president of Stronghold Technologies.

"The retail automotive market is ready for a handheld mobile solution that will significantly reduce the time to process transactions, improve information availability, manage sales and build best practices in customer relationship management," Carey said. "There are 22,300 automobile dealers in the country, and while there are a number of very comprehensive systems and applications available, there has not been a successful mobile solution introduced."

Dealerships are under increasing pressure to boost overall performance, especially since the growth of Internet users has allowed for more educated consumers. Forrester Research reports that 55 percent of potential car buyers enter showrooms armed with information gleaned from the Internet. "DealerAdvance(TM) offers a delivery system for the sales people that will arm them with product comparisons, real time inventory, used car appraisals, credit ratings, and provide e-mail capabilities to stay in touch with their customers," Carey said.

"We looked at the auto retail industry and judged it to offer a terrific opportunity. Consequently, we dedicated all of our resources to this market," Carey said. "There are a couple of companies that have tried to develop hand-held, Palm Pilot-like devices, but no one has taken a holistic approach to applying wireless, hand-held technology together with third party information sources and the Internet to improve the overall efficiency of the auto dealer."

Carey added that since the April pilot of DealerAdvance(TM), Stronghold Technologies is increasing company revenue by $100,000 a month, with projected revenue growth to $7 million to $10 million by next year.

Stronghold Technologies employs a process that determines "best practices" through partnering with industry leaders. This is then brought to reality through its development process and incorporated in the product application.

"We have partnered with some of the most successful auto dealer organizations, with the top dealer management systems providers, and with several third party information companies. We have accepted their expertise and leadership on the business process and information delivery, which our expert staff translated into a mobile solution," Carey said. "Our partnerships include agreements with Chrome Data for product information and N.A.D.A. Used Car Guide Company, Black Book and Galves for used car appraisal information."

According to Carey, Stronghold will be introducing new applications in the inventory management and service department functions of automotive retailing in the fall. Some of these applications will be driven by key relationships with auto manufacturers and other auto industry information providers.

About Stronghold Technologies

Headquartered in Whippany, N.J., Stronghold Technologies Inc. (www.strongholdtech.com) is a privately held company with offices in San Francisco and a product development center in Virginia.

Stronghold Technologies was founded by four technology industry experts including Carey, former founder and president of Datatec Systems, a publicly traded company that specializes in large-scale market absorption of networking technologies; Lenard Berger, former president of eB Networks, a subsidiary of Computer Horizons Corp.; Sal D'Ambra, the founder of Pagecount, one of the largest Internet portals in the mid 1990s; and Jim Cummiskey, former vice president of sales and marketing for Datatec Systems.