Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Finbar O'Neill resigns at Mitsubishi to join Reynolds & Reynolds
This is a very interesting move...things were not going well at Mitsubishi. Car sales are down significantly and dealers are very unhappy.
Finbar O'Neill had the difficult task of reviving Mitsubishi after a disastrous 2002-2003. Appears that Mitsubishi tried too hard to meet their aggressive sales goals in 2002-2003 by underwriting high risk consumers. He's going from a very difficult situation at Mitsubishi into another difficult situation at Reynolds and Reynolds. Reynolds has essentially shrunken since 1999-2000. Although they are considered a "leader" in the Dealer Management System market, revenue has stagnated and it's not clear that Reynolds has figured out how to profit from the rapid transformation of the retail business. The good news is that Reynolds & Reynolds now gets a seasoned automotive veteran to help "right" the ship. The previous administration, although technology savvy, seemed to struggle with the direction of the company in the face of rapid changes in the retail environment.
Then, there's the onslaught from new and lean DMS companies like Neosynergy
If he can get the right combination of car business and technology people, I'm betting he'll be able to grow the company again.
Finbar O'Neill had the difficult task of reviving Mitsubishi after a disastrous 2002-2003. Appears that Mitsubishi tried too hard to meet their aggressive sales goals in 2002-2003 by underwriting high risk consumers. He's going from a very difficult situation at Mitsubishi into another difficult situation at Reynolds and Reynolds. Reynolds has essentially shrunken since 1999-2000. Although they are considered a "leader" in the Dealer Management System market, revenue has stagnated and it's not clear that Reynolds has figured out how to profit from the rapid transformation of the retail business. The good news is that Reynolds & Reynolds now gets a seasoned automotive veteran to help "right" the ship. The previous administration, although technology savvy, seemed to struggle with the direction of the company in the face of rapid changes in the retail environment.
Then, there's the onslaught from new and lean DMS companies like Neosynergy
If he can get the right combination of car business and technology people, I'm betting he'll be able to grow the company again.
