STAR - Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail - is an industry-funded initiative whose 37+ members include OEMs, Dealers, and DMS providers.

STAR's mission: re-energize the automotive retail industry through voluntary industry standards that will reduce costs and complexity for dealers while increasing innovation and operating efficiency for all.

STAR will identify an Internet-based "blueprint" for connecting Dealer and OEM systems, replacing today's proprietary data exchange networks with a common IT link in the dealership and to all OEMs.

By joining STAR and becoming involved in the standards development process through STAR's special interest groups (known as "SIGs") or by joining STAR's Dealer Advisory Group, you can play a significant role in defining the future of both your industry and your business. Take charge of the IT-driven world to come by harnessing the power of STAR. It's the simple way to simpler dealership operations.

STAR's Dealer Advisory Group

In April 2004, STAR's Dealer Advisory Group was established. STAR's intent, through the establishment of the Dealer Advisory Group, is to gain valuable insight from this focus group. STAR's Dealer Advisory Group members participate in meetings and conference calls to assist in the guidance of the standards organization, identify critical business processes and procedures, highlight critical gaps in our technology roll outs, and influence the future IT direction of our industry.

Involvement in the Dealer Advisory Group offers members the opportunity to become an integral part of:

• Maintaining the standards implementation momentum achieved in the past year.
• Improving accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of ongoing standards development.
• Improving support for the growing number of standards projects (e.g., XML Messaging).
• Creating stronger commitment to common Data Transfer Specifications.
• Enhancing IT standards within the auto industry as an independent standards organization.
• Defining the standard XML message for dealer-to-OEM business transactions (i.e.: Parts Order, Sales Lead, Credit Application).
• Defining a standard IT infrastructure to support these messages between dealers and OEMs.
• Standardizing the IT infrastructure at dealerships.

If you are a Dealer and are interested in participating in the STAR Dealer Advisory Group, please send an email to with all your contact information.

How Does STAR Benefit Dealers?

• Builds a common data exchange between dealers and OEMs
• Provides more real-time transactions for their daily business
• Provides more reliable, accurate, and timely data
• Reduces their IT environment complexity and cost
• An open standard gives dealers a choice with a DSP (Dealer System Provider), thus reducing cost and improving application quality
• A multi-franchise dealer would only need one Dealership Management System (DMS) per dealership, not per franchise.
• Provides new profit opportunities for dealers (remote diagnostics, telematics services in the vehicle like email, weather, traffic, MP3, etc)
• Better upstream data integration to OEMs and downstream data integration to customers
• STAR BODs built by the DSPs are highly reusable and can be delivered to dealers more quickly

Dealership Infrastructure Guidelines

The Dealership Infrastructure Guidelines (DIG) is a publication for dealerships providing a guidebook and deployment handbook for IT infrastructure at the dealership.

The continuing growth in the need to deliver data and solutions to dealerships compels automotive manufacturers, herein referred to as OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), to evaluate both the current methods and plans for meeting future requirements. This document identifies the overall direction chosen. It also explains choices available to a dealer to standardize dealership infrastructures and communication solutions.

Dealership Infrastructure Guidelines

STAR White Paper - The Open Road for Information Technology

For a copy of the STAR White Paper, please click here: STAR Media Room.