To unify and empower our members by solving real-world business challenges through standards that are simple, scalable, and future ready.
About STAR
Our story, mission, vision and who we are.
Our Vision
Our Mission
To develop and promote open, collaborative standards that simplify integration, drive efficiency, and solve real-world challenges across the automotive ecosystem.
About Us
STAR exists to make life easier for both automotive dealers, manufacturers and system providers by using open, non-proprietary technology standards. Our mission is to reduce the time, cost, and complexity of dealer-OEM communication while supporting innovation and long-term value for our members.
As the automotive retail industry’s IT standards organization, STAR brings together manufacturers, retail systems providers, and other stakeholders to collaboratively develop voluntary industry standards and explore new technologies that benefit the entire ecosystem.
Founded in 2001, STAR began by defining open XML message formats to support common dealer-to-OEM processes — things like parts orders, sales leads, and credit applications. Since then, our work has expanded to include open architecture standards and consistent approaches to dealership IT infrastructure.
Over the past two decades, STAR has grown from a concept into a thriving organization — driven by a shared commitment to reduce duplication, improve interoperability, and support scalable, efficient technology solutions.
Our strength lies in our members. Each organization that joins STAR contributes subject matter expertise, business process insight, and a strong commitment to driving industry-wide progress. With every new standard, every workgroup, and every implementation, STAR continues to grow — and so does the value we deliver to the automotive retail industry.
As the automotive retail industry’s IT standards organization, STAR brings together manufacturers, retail systems providers, and other stakeholders to collaboratively develop voluntary industry standards and explore new technologies that benefit the entire ecosystem.
Founded in 2001, STAR began by defining open XML message formats to support common dealer-to-OEM processes — things like parts orders, sales leads, and credit applications. Since then, our work has expanded to include open architecture standards and consistent approaches to dealership IT infrastructure.
Over the past two decades, STAR has grown from a concept into a thriving organization — driven by a shared commitment to reduce duplication, improve interoperability, and support scalable, efficient technology solutions.
Our strength lies in our members. Each organization that joins STAR contributes subject matter expertise, business process insight, and a strong commitment to driving industry-wide progress. With every new standard, every workgroup, and every implementation, STAR continues to grow — and so does the value we deliver to the automotive retail industry.