ATLANTA -

NCM Associates and EasyCare formed a long-term strategic alliance last week that the companies hope can deliver best practices and solutions to their dealer partners.

Executives explained this alliance will include leveraging the services and products of each company to provide an unprecedented level of support in assisting dealers in growing their businesses and serving their customers.

The companies said that the first step in this alliance began in the second half of last year. That’s when NCM Associates moderated the first-ever Motor Trend Certified Dealership 20 Group.

“The Motor Trend Certified Pre‐Owned program is powered by EasyCare and the success of this first group was the catalyst to creating a more formal alliance to deliver the assets of both companies to the more than 4,500 combined dealerships the two companies serve,” officials emphasized.

The company went on to say the second stage of the alliance will launch at the 2011 National Automobile Dealers Association Convention and Expo later this week in San Francisco. That’s when NCM Associates is set to showcase the EasyCare CoVideo program to dealers seeking to significantly increase their Internet conversion rates and expand their communication capabilities within and outside of their dealerships.

EasyCare and NCM are set to announce several dealership support initiatives over the coming months, including steps to increase the visibility and dealer accessibility of programs already available from one or both companies.

Examples of these programs are CarMark Certified — which is available to dealers who are members of the Pre-Owned Automobile Dealers Alliance — Jeff Cowan’s Pro Talk Service Advisor Sales Training Workshops, NCM Pinnacle Groups, EasyCare SOS and more.

“For over 60 years NCM has helped improve dealership operations through our 20 Group, Education and in‐dealership Retail Operations Consulting solutions," NCM president and chief executive officer Paul Faletti said.

“Our dealers continually expect more from NCM in the form of in dealership training, best practice implementation and profit development,” Faletti continued. "We believe that this alliance with EasyCare will give NCM and our clients additional tools to dramatically accelerate dealership growth.”

Also chiming in was Larry Dorfman, CEO of EasyCare, who added, “Early in our discussions with NCM, we recognized that both companies have very similar objectives.

“We share a commitment to helping dealerships improve their businesses and profitability by delivering leading-edge consulting, training, products and processes that also improve the overall consumer experience — ultimately building long‐term positive sentiment for the industry,” Dorfman went on to say. “We could not imagine a better strategic partner in helping dealers answer the challenges and opportunities in today’s market.”