ALBANY, NY (August 11, 2014) – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (www.automate.com)is celebrating its fortieth anniversary as a leader in dealership management system (DMS) technology. Auto/Mate was originally developed as an F&I system and was introduced to auto dealerships by Wang Laboratories in 1974. Over the past forty years Auto/Mate has evolved into one of the industry’s premier DMS solutions and has twice been voted the “highest rated” DMS in the Driving Sales Dealer Satisfaction Awards.
 
“Many auto dealers don’t realize that Auto/Mate was an established technology solution long before any other DMS provider; even ADP and Reynolds were just service bureaus at that time,” said Mike Esposito, President and CEO of Auto/Mate Dealership Systems.
 
In the 1960s IBM was one of the only companies that sold computers, but the computers were large mainframes that filled an entire room and were not practical solutions for small businesses. In the early 1970s Wang Laboratories, Digital Equipment and Data General introduced “mini computers” about the size of a table, and began to market them to businesses. Wang was the leader in word processing computers and wanted to expand into different markets. Wang identified the dealership market as ripe for computerization and introduced the first in-house F&I system that did all the financial calculations and printed all the forms. Wang called their in-house F&I system Auto/Mate. What soon followed was the addition of an integrated accounting module that allowed the deals to be electronically sent to accounting and booked. This was something completely unheard of at that time. At one point in the 1970’s, of all the dealerships that had a computer system in house, 70% of them had Wang computers running Auto/Mate. In fact one of the colloquialisms in the dealership market at that time, when working a deal, was to “Wang-it”!
 
When Wang Laboratories closed its doors in 1992, the lead developer of the Auto/Mate F&I system acquired the rights to the technology and started Auto/Mate Dealership Systems. Shortly after, Esposito started with Auto/Mate as a sales representative, was soon promoted to Vice President of Sales & Marketing, and became the President and CEO in 2005 when the company was sold to a private investor.
 
Under Esposito’s guidance, Auto/Mate’s software development team has evolved the system into a cutting-edge, full-featured DMS solution currently in use by more than 1,100 auto dealerships nationwide. Today Auto/Mate’s DMS is user friendly and the company is known for having the best customer support and the highest level of customer satisfaction in the industry. Auto/Mate’s policy of hiring employees who have experience working in car dealerships ensures that the developers and support staff know exactly what auto dealer employees are dealing with on a daily basis.
 
“We’re really proud that Auto/Mate’s product and the company has been around this long, and we will continue to focus on doing one thing: being the top DMS for customer satisfaction in the industry,” said Esposito.

About Auto/Mate

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems is a leading provider of dealership management system (DMS) software to retail automotive dealerships, typically saving dealers thousands of dollars per month from their current provider. Our Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS) is a user-friendly, feature-rich DMS in use by more than 1,1​0​0 auto dealers nationwide. Auto/Mate received the “Highest Rated DMS for Customer Satisfaction” in 2012 and 2013 in the annual Driving Sales Dealer Satisfaction Awards.
 
This is a testament to the more than 900 years of Auto/Mate’s employees combined experience working in franchised auto dealership – the foundation of its “Designed By Car People For Car People™” slogan. Auto/Mate is committed to winning their customer​’​s business each and every month, which is why they require no long-term contracts, free software upgrades for life and free training for life. For more information visit them online at www.automate.com, follow them on Twitter @AutoMateDMS and subscribe to their blog at https://automate.com/blog/.