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Smart Auto Accessory Could Drive Sales, Service

H ere's a really smart way to use smart card technology - the kind of obvious application that makes you think, "Why didn't I think of that?" AutoSmart Inc. has been working on a way to bring smart card technology to the automotive industry for five years and has just recently released the AutoSmart Card.

One little chip-embedded card has the potential to change the relationship between new and used car dealers, service centers and their customers - in other words, anyone who buys and drives a car.

The AutoSmart card soon might become an indispensable, wallet-sized auto accessory, offering a unique range of benefits, services and informational resources.

All pertinent information about a vehicle's repair history can be stored, accessed and tracked. New and used car dealers can add special customer-incentive programs to the card for customer-retention purposes.

AutoSmart card will help harried drivers keep track of scheduled maintenance, manage repair records and provide them access to repair histories - no more looking through the glove compartment, under the car seats or in various file folders for receipts of work done.

AutoSmart provides car buyers, sellers and owners with permanent, updateable, mobile, secure and, most important, certified records of a car's operation, repair and service history. The AutoSmart program also will help dealers retain customers by allowing them to develop their own loyalty programs to add to the cards and create long-term relationships with their customers after the initial purchase and expiration of factory warranties.

The AutoSmart card stores virtually everything about a vehicle, including manufacturer and technical specifications; roadside service plans and extended warranties; registration and insurance; safety and emissions test results and manufacturer recalls; repair and service costs; and debit/credit and other financing information. Many of the uncertainties associated with buying a used car could be eliminated with the AutoSmart card. The fear of not really knowing what you're buying and the risk of repair fraud could go the way of the Edsel because the AutoSmart card stays with the vehicle when sold or traded.

The AutoSmart card uses the same technology used in other cards embedded with mini-processing chips, but it is the first patented application to record maintenance, operation, service and regulatory compliance of machines and the first patented automotive application. The information stored on the chip is read with a specifically configured reader/writer.

Although the AutoSmart card's first application will be specifically with new car dealers across the country, the card also will accommodate the needs of companies involved in leasing, vehicle rental, shipping, trucking and freight as well organizations like school districts, governmental bodies, airlines and utility companies.

The AutoSmart system also includes features for vehicle fleet management.

Bill Kelly, Chief Operating Officer of AutoSmart, estimates the cards will be used by more than 175,000 new car buyers nationwide by the end of 2002.

New car dealers in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Seattle, Buffalo and Washington, D.C., are already using the AutoSmart card.

By the end of the first quarter, Kelly also expects the cards to be adopted by dealers in Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama.

AutoSmart Inc. is based in Northern Virginia. Information about the AutoSmart card program is available online at www.autosmartcard.com.