Pinewood's CARS dealer management system - approved for use in Ford dealers in 2000 – has now been fully integrated with Ford systems including Vista vehicle ordering, GWE warranty submissions and Microcat menu and parts pricing.

The level of integration avoids the necessity to re-key information from one system to another and can also remove the need to move from one piece of software to another to complete a task, saving time and simplifying processes.

Neville Briggs, Pinewood's managing director, said: “We have worked very closely with Ford and, from our investigations, it is clear that we have achieved a higher level of integration than any competing DMS system.”

A 490-stage approval process was successfully completed by Pinewood to become an official supplier of dealer management systems to the Ford Motor Company. The approval means that Pinewood is one of a select group of suppliers authorised to provide dealer management systems to Ford's 744 UK dealerships as well as European outlets. (November 19, 2001)