Faster Diagnostics, Dealer-Activated Navigation Now at Chrysler Shops

Hundreds of Chrysler retailers nationwide are benefitting from technology boosts this year the auto maker says will improve relationships between drivers and dealers.

Through its Mopar service arm, Chrysler introduces wiADVISOR, a wireless platform that allows service personnel to plug a tablet into a vehicle for faster diagnostics.

“The reception of a vehicle can be done in 15 seconds…and immediately the service advisor will have all information that is valuable,” Mopar President and CEO Pietro Gorlier says during a presentation at the company’s Auburn Hills, MI, headquarters. “It eliminates completely the drill of mileage, the name (of the customer), what is the problem…it performs an immediate diagnostic of the vehicle.”

Other information, from past experiences at the dealership and previous service records to system updates and required maintenance, is stored on the wireless platform at the dealership. It launches in the U.S. with plans for globalization, as Mopar increases its footprint in Fiat operations abroad.

“From an OEM standpoint, it will be an industry first,” Gorlier says.

As of this month, dealers also will be empowered to activate navigation systems in Chrysler vehicles with some Uconnect platforms – another industry first, the auto maker says.

Uconnect, Chrysler’s in-vehicle infotainment system, has navigation service, but most customers don’t readily opt for it at the time they purchase their vehicles.

“Sometimes customers don’t realize what they want until they need it,” Marios Zenios, vice president-Uconnect Systems and Services, says in a news release. “With dealer-activated navigation, we are adopting a ‘no-customer-left-behind’ attitude.”

Dealers can activate navigation on the ’13 Ram 1500 and SRT Viper and the forthcoming ’14 Fiat 500L – the first Fiat-branded vehicle to use Uconnect. Chrysler says dealer-activated navigation keeps residual values high in the long run.

For 2013, Uconnect also adds Internet radio capability, with apps such as Pandora and iHeartRadio, in ’13 models. Both the dealer-activated navigation and the Internet radio capability were unveiled this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NV.

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