Another press release is forthcoming:
Genrad will release another press release and this time they are including Ford Motor Company's name. Ford will also issue a press release. However, Ford will not allow Genrad to include any numbers in the release. Therefore, I have done the following analysis for anyone that is interested:
Currently, Ford Motor Company has several different dealership diagnostic units throughout the world to support diagnosing vehicles at their dealerships.
1) SBDS - manufactured by Hewlett-Packard
cost: $30,000 - $50,000, depending on when it was purchased
High end diagnostics
1 language (North American English)
Used primarily in North America
# units (4,000)
2) NGS - manufactured by Hickok
cost: approximately $1,000
Low end diagnostics
8 or 9 languages
Used throughout the world
Also used by Mazda (Ford owns a major stake in Mazda)
# units (14,150) (Includes 3,950 at Mazda)
Sales are ongoing
NGS is used throughout Ford for engineering purposes
3)FDS2000 -manufactured by Genrad
cost: ?
Medium Diagnostics
18 or so languages
Supports Ford of Europe's market
# units (7,000 approximately)
4) PDU - manufactured by Genrad
cost: ?
Medium Diagnostics
8 or 9 languages
Supports Jaguar dealerships
# units (700 approximately)
Now here it is: Ford will no longer support multiple diagnostic tools throughout the world. There will only be one diagnostic tool and that is WDS. Yes that is right, the contract that Genrad just won.
SBDS, NGS, FDS2000, and the PDU will no longer exist. WDS will have a rollout plan for this transition.
ALL dealerships will be required to purchase a minimum of one WDS unit to stay in business. Plus, many North American dealerships (6,000 North American dealerhips) will need to purchase multiple WDS tools to keep their service bays from coming to a grinding halt. Look for Jaguar and Mazda to also jump on board.
Also, Genrad will also sell quite a few units to internal Ford engineering departments (at least a couple of hundred).
Ford currently has about 18,000 dealerships worldwide. But this number is increasing due to Ford's expansion into the "New and Emerging Markets" area. Look for this number to increase.
And get this --> WDS WILL BE AS POWERFUL AS SBDS! So don't go thinking that Genrad can just port the existing software over to the new hardware. Europe & Jaguar will be getting a much more powrful tool.
Genrad was awarded the contract for hardware, software, warranty, language translation, etc, etc. 1 FULL SERVICE PROVIDER!
This contract translates into huge profits!
Regards,
Jeff
P.S. --> No news yet on that Chrysler contract they are bidding on. |
