J.D. Power has acquired Superior Integrated Solutions Inc., the parent company of Darwin Automotive, one of the largest finance-and-insurance software providers in the U.S., both companies said Wednesday.
The announcement comes within a week of the analytics giant announcing a partnership with JM&A Group, one of the largest F&I product providers in the country, to jointly sell co-branded products.
Terms of the Darwin acquisition were not disclosed.
Dave Habiger, CEO of J.D. Power, said in a statement that the acquisition represents the latest investment for the company in channeling its extensive data and analytics assets into products and services across the automotive industry supply chain, "empowering each link in that chain with critical intelligence, streamlined workflows and user-friendly software."
"By partnering with Phillip Battista and his amazing team at Superior Integrated Solutions/Darwin Automotive, we will be well positioned to help auto dealers maximize profits while delivering a world-class customer experience," he said.
Superior Integrated Solutions' senior leadership and its 88 employees will form the base of a new dealership technologies division, the statement also said. The company is headquartered in Edison, N.J.
More than 7,700 franchised and independent dealerships use Darwin Automotive software. Darwin offers F&I menu software and a digital retailing platform among other technologies. One-third of all new-vehicle sales are processed through the Darwin Automotive Platform, the company said in a statement.
J.D. Power is an "iconic brand" that drives consumer confidence, Superior Integrated Solutions CEO Phil Battista said in the statement.
"The auto industry is undergoing a historic transformation that will put powerful customer analytics and highly customized, multichannel solutions at the center of the vehicle purchase experience," Battista said. "The combination of the J.D. Power brand and our technology will be a game changer for the industry, affecting everyone from online consumers to dealers to OEMs to insurers."
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