ADP Dealer Services Celebrates Grand Opening of Historic, Minority-Owned Harlem Dealership

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., July 17 /PRNewswire/ -- General Motors Corp.'s Harlem Auto Mall, Harlem's first new-car dealership in 40 years, celebrated its grand opening in June. Billed as "GM Harlem Day", ADP Dealer Services joined GM's Minority Dealer Association (GMMDA) and notables such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner, in honoring GM and Harlem Auto Mall's Chevrolet-Saturn dealer principal, ADP client Otis Thornton.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060717/CGM047 )

The Harlem Auto Mall is now the largest auto sales and service center in Manhattan. The facility has brought multiple jobs to Harlem residents.

Thornton, a GM dealer and ADP customer since 1993, also owns East Brunswick Buick Pontiac GMC in New Jersey. He is the first African-American to own and operate a dealership in Harlem, and is recognized as a pioneer for minority dealers nationwide.

Thornton's Chevrolet-Saturn of Harlem dealership uses ADP's w.e.b.Suite(TM) dealer management system (DMS), along with w.e.b.CRM and IP Telephony applications to help it sell more cars, parts and service profitably. ADP and its President, Steve Anenen, have supported and promoted the minority dealer segment for many years. Like GM, ADP wants to improve upon diversity in the automotive dealer market and boost overall vehicle sales in Manhattan.

"Minority dealers represent the fastest growing segment of dealer owners," said Anenen, who attended the GM Harlem Day celebration. "With leading edge technology solutions, ADP wants to help OEMs build upon this positive trend with more dealers like Otis, who understand the communities they serve and preserve a commitment of excellence to large, urban markets with diverse clientele."

Thornton emphasizes catering to his multi-ethnic clientele. Various employees can communicate in languages such as Spanish, Chinese, Korean and German, and employees work diligently to harness the significant buying power of upper Manhattan.

"We are a community-minded business. The employees come from the community and the emphasis on sales and service is based on our understanding of and involvement with the community we serve," said Thornton.

According to Marjorie Staten, executive director of GMMDA, companies like ADP make it easier for minority dealers to achieve the kind of success Thornton has had with both his dealership in New Jersey and the new Harlem store.

"We appreciate how ADP, from the executive management level on down, has prioritized the minority dealer segment in their business initiatives," said Staten. "They've actively supported GMMDA for many years and we're consistently impressed with their customer dedication and comprehensive solutions. Along with Otis, we're proud to have ADP as a vendor partner in the new Harlem dealership."

About ADP Dealer Services

ADP Dealer Services provides integrated computing solutions to nearly 25,500 auto, truck, motorcycle, marine and recreational vehicle dealers throughout the United States, Canada, Asia, China, Europe and the Middle East. ADP Dealer Services is a business unit of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. . ADP, with over $8.0 billion in revenues and more than 600,000 clients worldwide, is one of the largest providers of a broad range of premier, mission-critical, cost-effective transaction processing and information-based business solutions. More information on ADP Dealer Services is available on the Internet at http://www.dealersuite.com/ .