Shift Magazine - February 2020 - Cover3

Autodata Solutions
and J.D. Power Merger
Allows Industry to
Harness Insights from
Explosion of CX Data

Craig Jennings, President of the Autodata Solutions Division of J.D. Power
and Bernardo Rodriguez, Chief Digital and Technology Officer of J.D. Power

The merger of Autodata Solutions and J.D. Power -- announced in December of 2019 -- creates a major player in
the data and analytics space for the automotive industry. The new integrated organization brings over 80 years of
experience tracking critical flows of information that have helped executives optimize their decision-making processes. To better understand the joint value-proposition of the merged company, we caught up with Craig Jennings,
President of the Autodata Solutions Division of J.D. Power and Bernardo Rodriguez, Chief Digital and Technology
Officer of J.D. Power. Here is what they had to say:
Q: How will the merger of Autodata Solutions and
J.D. Power address some of the key issues facing the
auto industry?
Jennings: The automotive industry has long realized
the importance of harnessing the power of data to
improve the customer experience. The current
digital environment has made capturing, analyzing
and acting on a wide array of data even more critical.
However, the big frustration for most players across the
ecosystem has been the fragmented and siloed nature
of the data.
Rodriguez: The problem of data fragmentation
cannot be overstated. There is, for instance, a large
gap between the experience that buyers have online
-- as they evaluate options for their next car -- and
what happens when they actually go to the dealership.
Many of these issues exist because it is very difficult
to develop alignment and integration among OEMs,
dealers and other value-chain participants.
Q: How do you solve this fragmentation of data
across the value chain?
Rodriguez: Addressing this issue requires the
seamless integration of customer-facing digital/ecommerce tools and back-office systems. If you think about
all the components of customer experience -- which
include delivering what people want, where and
when they want it, at the right price - dealers and

manufacturers need to have effective online tools that
support the offline world. This is important if you want
to avoid a compromised customer experience. This
happens whenever customers -- having researched
what they want to buy -- arrive at a dealership with a
clear idea of the vehicle they wish to purchase, only to
discover that it is not available. They either walk off the
lot without making a purchase, or buy a vehicle that
does not match up with their expectations.
Q: What about the implications for manufacturers?
Jennings: For OEMs this means being a lot smarter
about where and how customers are targeted, what
incentives to implement and what vehicles to put into
market. OEMs and dealers know what they want:
to sell more cars. With Autodata Solutions and J.D.
Power, mission-critical tools are being made available
to manage this complexity and support decisions that
accelerate the delivery of positive business outcomes
-- such as more efficient incentive spend and better
vehicle allocation.
We are looking forward to discussing our joint value
proposition with key stakeholders in the automotive
industry to explore how -- together -- we can get
better insights from the data that is available to improve
the customer experience.

go.autodatasolutions.com

http://go.autodatasolutions.com

Shift Magazine - February 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Shift Magazine - February 2020