Polk, MaxIS Research Announce Agreement
8 February 1999
Polk, MaxIS Research Announce Agreement Companies to Provide High-Quality
Used-Vehicle Management Information Products
DETROIT, Feb. 6 -- Executives of The Polk Company and MaxIS
Research, Inc. announced today they have inked an agreement to combine efforts
in providing high-quality used-vehicle inventory management information
products. Under the agreement, Polk will provide market information data for
use in MaxIS Research's Inventory Watch Series(TM) and the two firms will
jointly market the products in the United States.
The MaxIS Inventory Watch Series is a subscription service that provides
dealerships with used-vehicle management reports containing inventory
acquisition, management and disposal directives on a weekly basis. The
program includes monthly and quarterly strategy reports that allow dealers to
develop and monitor their used-vehicle strategies.
"We are very excited about what this agreement entails," said Bill
Barrett, Polk's managing director of transportation information services for
dealer and regional programs. "The addition of Polk's title and registration
information to MaxIS' Inventory Watch Series creates a powerful tool for the
used-vehicle industry."
Ladd Christensen, president of MaxIS Research, agreed.
"Few tools are available to help managers cope with the complicated
variables associated with 'retailing' used vehicles," said Christensen. "Our
agreement with Polk makes our Inventory Watch Series that much stronger and
expands the service to dealers in every state. In its brief history, the
Series has quickly become known as a quality product that dealers can rely on
to make the used-vehicle segment of their businesses more profitable,"
Christensen added.
Polk's registration and title information will primarily be used in the
Match the Market feature of the Inventory Watch Series. This product feature
assigns a MaxIS Market Star Rating to each vehicle in a dealer's inventory,
helping managers to stock the most popular selling used vehicles.
"Our Match the Market feature combines internal sales history with market
reports," said Steve Clark, vice president of product development at MaxIS
Research. "Polk's registration information will provide us with an even
greater capability of informing dealers which vehicles are the most popular in
their area, thereby increasing their number of sales cycles per year."
Although the initial agreement primarily involves the Inventory Watch
Series, prospects for future joint product development initiatives between the
two companies are good.
"We are looking at this as the first step in a long-term relationship,"
added Barrett. "MaxIS brings a wealth of information technology experience to
the table. That, combined with Polk's extensive history in the automotive
industry, provides a solid basis for the development of high-quality
deliverables in the future."
Polk provides multi-dimensional intelligence information solutions to
companies as a statistician for the motor vehicle industry; as a direct-
marketing resource; as a supplier of demographic and lifestyle data and
database-marketing services; as a publisher of city directories; and as a data
enabler for geographic information systems. Based in Southfield, Mich., Polk
is a privately held firm that is expanding globally, currently operating in:
the United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, Australia, Spain, Holland
and Costa Rica.
MaxIS Research, Inc. is a nationally focused information services company
which provides practical, affordable management solutions for the automotive
industry. Based in Salt Lake City, MaxIS has a long tradition of success in
providing information products and services. The MaxIS Report - Inventory
Watch Series(TM) was introduced to the industry in Fall 1997.
