When the internet threatened to put someone else between Ford and its customers, dealers built a company of their own. A quarter-century later, FordDirect sells the tools that keep the local showroom in the picture.
The North Carolina company started with blue vans and an app. After four million services, it is selling dealers the software, hardware and hard-won operating manual behind the fleet.
Dealer eProcess started with a dealer's frustration over websites that looked finished but did not sell. Its answer is Everest - one connected system that remembers shoppers, merchandises inventory and follows the deal from search box to showroom.