AUTOHAUS Efficiency Forum 2024

Premium admitters rely on clever networking of proven IT systems

Kassel/Cologne. A shortage of skilled workers and high operating costs are also putting a strain on the automotive industry. One way out of the dilemma: the digitalization of standard processes. This conviction was expressed by Florian Cichon, CEO of Kölner PremiumZulasser eG, at the Efficiency Forum 2024 of the AUTOHAUS Akademie in Kassel.

According to Cichon, digitalization in car dealerships depends on the intelligent networking of proven IT systems that dealers use in their day-to-day business. After all, there is no such thing as a tool that can do everything. Instead of inefficient isolated solutions in which data is manually transferred from one source to another, the premium suppliers rely on the sensible linking of existing systems. This enables holistic solutions that would noticeably relieve the burden on both retailers and authorities.

Networking would avoid transmission errors, the correction of which can sometimes cost a lot of time in the daily routine and lead to unnecessary delays in vehicle delivery. This is why PremiumZulasser has networked its registration software pz-online, in whose basic and further development the Cologne-based company has invested almost two million euros to date, with proven trading systems such as GeNesys, easy-car-sales, Catch, Toca and BWSolution. And: pz-online is connected to the major customer interface of the Federal Motor Transport Authority. “We attach great importance to compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation,” emphasizes Cichon.

By linking to the key account interface, the cooperative’s tool offers member companies and their customers secure, fast and inexpensive access to i-Kfz Stufe 4. This eliminates the need for users to invest heavily in linking their IT infrastructure to the federal portal. All new commercial registrations, transfers of ownership and decommissioning of motor vehicles should have been processed via i-Kfz Stufe 4 for over a year now.

“The introduction of i-Kfz Level 4 is still proving difficult,” reported Cichon in Kassel. For this reason, many companies are very skeptical about the tool and are not yet using it. One particular annoyance is the inadequate performance of the local registration authorities, which makes work more difficult for car dealerships and registration authorities.

Nevertheless, Cichon appealed to the trade to use the implementation phase to familiarize themselves with the system. Ultimately, there is no way around i-Kfz Level 4 and there is no question that the software will lead to an optimization of work processes for the registration, re-registration and deregistration of motor vehicles.