The DMS landscape at a glance

A sampling of dealership management system providers that work with U.S. franchised dealerships:

Headquarters: Hoffman Estates, Ill.

Dealerships: 8,997 automotive DMS customer sites in North America as of Dec. 31

Initiatives: Modernizing products, launching Neuron intelligent data platform, building Fortellis open network development platform

Quote: "We already have our sights set on how do we cross 10,000 [sites], and what does it take, and how do we have to improve, and how do we deliver a better service to our customers to continue to grow into that range." — CEO Brian Krzanich on CDK's Feb. 8 earnings call

Headquarters: Dayton, Ohio

Dealerships: Undisclosed

Initiatives: Enhancing its retail management system with new remote e-contracting and vehicle reconditioning tools

Quote: "Just as you would expect with leadership change, it gives us a great opportunity to take a look at everything that we do and decide how we can improve it." — Kasi Edwards, senior vice president of marketing

Headquarters: Draper, Utah

Dealerships: Undisclosed

Initiatives: Adding digital functionality, including to better connect sales and service departments

Quote: "We have deep expertise, but we also have a modern and capable, easy-to-use system. ... We've prided ourselves on being fully transparent, allowing dealers access to their data and with an offering that is at a reasonable cost." — Tracy Fred, vice president of Cox's Dealertrack DMS, VinSolutions and Xtime brands

Headquarters: Pittsburgh

Dealerships: About 2,000

Initiatives: Completing the rollout of new cloud-based Go platform to dealership customers

Quote: "There's a huge opportunity for us to disrupt with both the technology and the way we approach the value to market with the functionality and our pricing, as well as our services — making it easier to onboard and learn our product and do it remotely." — CEO Bryce Veon

Headquarters: DealerSocket is based in Irving, Texas; most Auto/Mate staffers are in Albany, N.Y.

Dealerships: Nearly 1,800

Initiatives: Creating a seamless and integrated experience and workflow across all products

Quote: "It's been a year since we acquired Auto/Mate and have really become one team and one unified solution. And that's really the overarching theme for us." — DealerSocket CEO Sejal Pietrzak

Headquarters: Grapevine, Texas

Dealerships: More than 500

Initiatives: Finished infrastructure and integration updates, investing in product development

Quote: "A DMS doesn't have to be just a system of record. ... You can be a dealer advocate, you can build products, you can remain nimble, you can be able to adapt and adapt quickly to change that our customers are asking for." — CEO Mike Trasatti

Headquarters: Mobile, Ala.

Dealerships: About 300

Initiatives: Launching Vue, its new cloud-native DMS platform

Quote: "We didn't build this from scratch just to replace the old platform. We built it from scratch because we think it's a better solution for dealers, and we have growth objectives associated with continuing to grow our market share." — President Sharon Kitzman

Headquarters: San Ramon, Calif.

Dealerships: Undisclosed

Initiatives: Launching its Automotive Retail Cloud DMS and integrating with more automotive brands

Quote: "There hasn't been much innovation at all. I think it would be great if the existing players bring that change." — CEO Jay Vijayan

Headquarters: Calgary, Alberta (corporate); U.S. headquarters in Arlington, Texas

Dealerships: More than 2,000; about one-third in U.S.

Initiatives: Growing its U.S. business

Quote: "From a true company growth standpoint, we know there's a huge future for us in the States." — Shelly Scott, vice president of business communications

Headquarters: Calgary, Alberta

Dealerships: About 400 for XSellerator DMS; 85% are in Canada

Initiatives: Expanding marketing and growth plans for U.S. franchised dealerships

Quote: "If we could grow into the U.S. marketplace and that could be, over the next five years, 25 percent of our business, as opposed to 15 today — and keeping in mind we'll continue to grow in Canada — then that'd be great." — CEO Maury Marks