Penske to install Reynolds' docuPAD in 130 U.S. stores

Penske Automotive Group, the second-largest dealership group in the U.S., will install Reynolds and Reynolds Co.'s docuPAD interactive tabletop F&I systems in its new-vehicle stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, deepening its relationship with the dealership software provider, the companies said last week.

Penske, which has been using Reynolds' retail management system since 2004, extended its agreement five more years. Penske also agreed to implement Reynolds' integrated electronic document management system at its dealerships, in addition to launching docuPAD, said Anthony Pordon, Penske's executive vice president of investor relations and corporate development. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"We look forward to taking the next step with Reynolds as we implement the docuPAD system and working with their team of talented individuals to improve our operations," Roger Penske, chairman of Penske Automotive in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., said in a statement.

DocuPAD rollout

Pordon said the timing of the docuPAD rollout is being determined, but the tool will be implemented in all of its 130 U.S. stores.

"The presentation and interaction with the customer will be much improved and interactive," Pordon said in an email to Automotive News. The dealership group expects docuPAD to help create a consistent F&I process and to reduce total transaction time and time spent in the F&I office, Pordon said.

Other benefits include reduced paper and the use of electronic signatures, which will help with compliance and ensure all necessary documents are signed, Pordon added.

The addition of docuPAD follows testing of the system in several Penske dealerships, Pordon said.

In November 2016, Automotive News reported that Penske was testing docuPAD in five U.S. stores and planned to add three dealerships to the pilot. At the time, a store testing docuPAD in the Atlanta area had an F&I gross profit per vehicle $100 to $200 higher than its local peers not using the technology, though Roger Penske said it was "hard to say if it's all due to docuPAD."

The company also was looking to determine how much time it could shave off a transaction.

Roger Penske then said the infrastructure to install docuPAD in its U.S. stores would run $4 million to $5 million, plus a monthly cost.

Penske hasn't finalized the number of docuPADs it will install, but most dealerships will get more than one unit, Pordon said.

And for the first time, Penske will be using an electronic document management system. Paired with docuPAD, it will store forms electronically, "hopefully substantially reducing the need for paper storage," Pordon said.

Tom Schwartz, spokesman for Reynolds and Reynolds in Dayton, Ohio, said dealerships using docuPAD typically conduct F&I transactions quicker and more efficiently. Participating dealerships have told Reynolds and Reynolds that their F&I profit per unithas increased about $200 to $225 after adding the tool.

Improved dynamic

Schwartz said docuPAD has helped to improve the dynamic between the customer and dealership F&I staff.

"The desk is no longer the barrier between the two," he said.

Reynolds, a private company, doesn't disclose how many dealerships use docuPAD. But it recently signed an agreement with Hendrick Automotive Group to install more than 350 docuPAD systems in Hendrick's 96 dealerships.

In 2017, dealers working with docuPAD closed about 1.6 million new and used car sales in the U.S. and Canada, a figure Reynolds expects to grow to 2 million this year, Schwartz said.

Penske Automotive ranks No. 2 on Automotive News' Top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S. and ranked by 2017 new-vehicle retail sales. The public company sold 248,800 new cars and 252,900 used cars last year.

Hendrick Automotive ranks No. 6 on Automotive News' Top 150 dealership groups. The Charlotte, N.C., company sold 113,267 new retail units last year and 91,839 used vehicles.