Guidepoint News

DETROIT, Mich., November 18, 2019 — Detroit-based vehicle telematics firm Guidepoint Systems today announced it has hired Robert C. Jones, a veteran automotive engineering executive, as its new Director of Technology Strategy. Jones brings three decades of experience directing Tier 1 automotive-supplier programs for global OEMs including Ford, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Toyota, Nissan and Tesla. A graduate of General Motors Institute (now known as Kettering University), Jones has guided engineering teams and product-line management on a wide variety of high-volume automotive electronics systems, including safety, air-bag controls, child-detection sensors, body control modules, remote keyless entry systems and commercial SPC software. Jones joins Guidepoint from Farmington Hills, Mich.-based ZF, where he was responsible for Japanese OEM safety applications. Previously, Jones spent 18 years at engineering and technology supplier Robert Bosch LLC, where he directed programs suppl...

FORT MITCHELL, KY and NEW YORK CITY — When Terry Elliott opened his Guidepoint inventory management software, he was shocked. The department supervisor at Mercedes-Benz of Fort Mitchell quickly realized something was out of place when he saw one of his loaner vehicles parked in New York City, hundreds of miles from the Kentucky dealership. Mercedes-Benz of Fort Mitchell restricts its customers from traveling more than 100 miles away from the dealership with vehicles. Something was clearly wrong. Elliott quickly looked up the customer tied to the vehicle in question and learned that he had dropped off a 2008 Mercedes for warranty work about a week prior. In exchange, the customer was given a 2019 Mercedes GLC. Now, that 2019 Mercedes GLC was nearly 650 miles from where it should be and Elliott knew he needed to act fast. He quickly contacted local law enforcement and reported the vehicle stolen. At the same time, he dispatched one of his employees on a one-way trip to New York ...

Advanced vehicle telematics paves the way for smarter vehicle utilization, improved maintenance, accurate navigation, and great driving experience. With the deep insights into vehicle intelligence— including driver behavior—that advanced telematics provides, customers, dealerships, and automotive OEMs can explore great opportunities. While a handful of big players in the automotive industry provide advanced telematics, Guidepoint Systems is the leading vehicle telematics and services company that is servicing original equipment manufacturers and automotive dealerships. Unlike other telematics solutions, the company’s vehicle telematics offering not only includes the device but also call center support services and apps to provide the complete connected vehicle experience to the members. "Our tools can monitor the vehicle’s health for fuel efficiency, driver safety, engine health, and more" “Either manufacturers can install our telematics device in the factory,...

A new partnership with Dealerware will help automotive dealerships maximize their loaner fleets. DETROIT, Mich. and AUSTIN, Texas -Automotive dealerships throughout North America will be able to maximize the profitability and efficiency of their loaner fleet programs thanks to a new partnership between two automotive-retail technology leaders. Detroit-based vehicle telematics firm Guidepoint Systems and Austin-based Dealerware , a modern fleet management platform, today announced an exclusivity agreement between the two companies. Under the new agreement, Guidepoint will become the exclusive supplier of GPS-enabled telematics devices for the Dealerware Platform, which streamlines fleet management for dealership loaner-car operations, vehicle subscription programs and hybrids of each. The agreement also calls for Dealerware to serve as the exclusive software provider for Guidepoint’s Loaner Vehicle Program and Rental Management tools. Guidepoint and Dealerware have been worki...

Parents with teenagers or college-age students can get peace of mind when vehicles have Mopar EVTS Brandie Wagner believes there isn’t anything more powerful than personal experience when it comes explaining the value of the Mopar Electronic Vehicle Tracking System (EVTS) to sales personnel and managers at the 18 dealerships in her sales territory. Not only is Mopar EVTS essential for managing rental car inventory, Brandie says, but it’s a heck of a sales tool when dealerships decide to sell their stock as used vehicles to parents of teenagers and college-age drivers – customers just like herself. “I have it on my 16-year-old son’s Jeep, and I wouldn’t be without it now,” says Brandie, area manager for FCA (Mopar) in the Cleveland Outstate District. “I tell them that there is a lot more to the system than just theft recovery. “Then I tell them my terrible story.” By way of background, Brandie explains to sales and F&I personnel how much valuable information Mopar EVTS ...

Guidepoint Systems has teamed up with Intersection Technologies to provide F&I Express to dealerships. Guidepoint Systems has launched a new initiative to provide auto dealerships in the United States and Canada with a service that saves time and errors when filling out the paperwork in selling Guidepoint products and services. Thanks to a new relationship with a Texas software company, the Finance and Insurance (F&I) departments at dealerships can streamline the process of setting up contracts for Guidepoint products or services – supporting the most popular menu or Dealer Management System (DSM) they use in-house. “We estimate that dealerships will save at least 10 minutes on each initial transaction using the F&I Express® software, and who knows how much more time and hassle they will save on errors and further administration,” said Tom Gafford, chief technology officer and corporate vice president of marketing at Guidepoint. Gafford said Guidepoint has just s...

Guidepoint products are manufactured in Houston, Texas on state-of-the-art assembly equipment. With all the uncertainty that surrounds Chinese-made products today, dealers and customers of vehicle tracking devices made by Guidepoint Systems are enjoying an extra degree of confidence since the company’s hardware is designed and manufactured in the United States. “We’ve been having a lot of conversations with existing and potential customers during the past several months about Chinese-made tracking devices, where they’ve voiced concerns ranging from their rising cost due to tariffs to availability to security concerns,” said Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Marketing Tom Gafford. “I’d like to say we’ve been brilliant about our sourcing product in the U.S. due to the Trump administration’s initiatives, but we made the switch seven years ago to domestic manufacturing to better control our supply chain and manage overall costs.” Some dealers and customer...