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Tiny Canadian computer vendor Quorum Information Technologies Inc. has emerged from nowhere to become one of only two General Motors preferred providers of dealership management systems.
GM is encouraging its 7,300 dealerships in the United States and Canada to get their dealership management systems - computers, software and services necessary to run daily operations - from either Quorum or Reynolds and Reynolds Co.
Reynolds, of Dayton, Ohio, is a major player with a market share of about 40 percent, so its selection by GM was no surprise. But the selection of Quorum, with only 155 dealership customers in Canada and the United States, has technology vendors buzzing.
Quorum, of Calgary, Alberta, has 135 mostly GM dealership customers throughout Canada but only 20 dealerships in the United States. Quorum's XSellerator dealership management system is based on Microsoft's Windows operating system, which sets it apart from the leading vendors and their older but reliable UNIX-based systems.
Negotiated price
GM has negotiated with Quorum and Reynolds what GM thinks is an attractive price for a dealership management system for its dealers.
So how does a small technology...