When Bob Brockman bought Reynolds and Reynolds Co. a year ago, the intensely private dealership software developer remained in the shadows. But his coming-out party is in full swing, and he's got some things to say:
- Ignore those persistent rumors about altering dealer contracts and sticking customers with higher bills.
- He's not phasing out the lower-priced Reynolds ERA system in favor of the company's high-end POWER dealership management system that Brockman imported from his premerger company, Universal Computer Systems Inc.
- He's not backing down on Reynolds' controversial stance on dealership data security, which requires independent data providers to pay a fee to Reynolds in return for a secure data link.
- He's not the ogre of the industry that he's made out to be.
After the $2.8 billion acquisition of Reynolds by UCS, Brockman stayed out of the spotlight and let the popular Fin O'Neill, formerly Reynolds' CEO, be the point man for the acquisition.
But O'Neill left the company last month, and Brockman is becoming more visible with a road show for dealers that will hit 20 cities by year end.
"Frankly, I'm just letting (dealers) see me and talk to me," Brockman tells Automotive News. "My competitors have spread a lot of words about what kind of person I am. I don't think I'm that way, and after I go talk to these dealers, they don't think that I'm that way either."